Photo by: Matt Valler
Official press release:
This October, Pelagic Records will unveil Tabula Rasa, the engrossing new full-length from Florida instrumentalists Set And Setting.
Set And Setting merge instrumental rock with a thick metallic edge with elements of drone and ambient music, the end result rendering a “captivating, wordless, genre amalgam (Decibel).” Since their debut album Equanimity (2013), the quartet has been ceaselessly active throughout the underground and extreme music scenes in the US and Canada. In 2014, Set And Setting released their second album, A Vivid Memory, via Prosthetic Records and continued to tour internationally and locally with bands such as Mouth Of The Architect, Eyehategod, Inter Arma, and Kayo Dot. 2016 brought a tough year of writing and recording while battling injuries within the band thus limiting live performances. One year later however the band released Reflectionless. Stereogum championed a record of, “melancholic beauty suspended in the clouds with a birds-eye view of epic terrain…,” further hailing its, “soul-searing leads and shimmering, bending guitars that convey feelings of wonder and introspection.” Alternative Press concurred, “This quartet has a gorgeous and unexpectedly heavy sound.” The record led to Set And Setting’s first ever tour of Europe which includes an appearance at the renowned Dunk! Festival.
Set And Setting returns this year with their fourth offering of audio enormity in Tabula Rasa. Recorded and mixed by Ryan Haft (Torche, Wrong) in Miami, Florida, the nine-track production is inarguably the band’s heaviest album to date and first under the Pelagic Records banner. Guitarist Shane Handal notes:
“We purposely tried to extend the boundaries of our sound by adding more extreme metal and punk influences all while still sounding like ourselves.”
Fans of Russian Circles, Pelican, Mono, Alcest, Pg.Lost, and This Will Destroy You pay heed.
In advance of the release of Tabula Rasa, Decibel Magazine is pleased to offer up “Ecdysis” for public consumption noting:
“Set And Setting continues to push themselves forward and in heavier directions…The moods on the song vary, ranging from melancholic post-rock to heavier, almost Gojira-esque sections. An emotive melody runs through the song, assuring that something is always happening.”
Adds Handal of the track:
“When we were writing this album, we had a new lineup and felt a new energy. We named this song ‘Ecdysis’ [the process of shedding old skin in reptiles] because it felt like we were shedding old skin and pushing new boundaries we haven’t reached yet.”
Set And Setting’s Tabula Rasa will be available and CD, LP, and digital formats via Pelagic Records on October 12th. For preorders in North America go to THIS LOCATION, in Europe go HERE, and in Australia go HERE. Desirers of the digital edition can visit THIS LOCATION.
Tabula Rasa track listing:
1. “Circling Doldrums”
2. “Revisions Through…”
3. “…Perennial Longing”
4. “Ecdysis”
5. “Circuital Tension Among…”
6. “…The Black Swan”
7. “Elucidation”
8. “Desolate Waves Confine…”
9. “…Wandering Tribulation”
Set And Setting is:
Shane Handal – guitar
Ryan Fugate – guitar
Stephen Handal – drums
Grzesiek Czapla – bass