A Deer A Horse
Grind
Bathed in dim light and firing down well-trodden paths, A Deer A Horse wear the dirt, grit and gusto of hundreds of shows like a badge of honor. The band fuses rock, metal and punk in an unholy union that has been praised by A.V. Club, Consequence of Sound, Village Voice and Revolver, who described them as "somewhere between the Melvins, Helms Alee, Red Fang and Sleater-Kinney." After making a splash in the underground, the group sharpened their edges with unsettling melodies and cathartic laments on their debut album 'Grind', released in 2022. The group initially gathered in New York City and showcased this lineup on their 2017 EP "Backswimmer". Two years later, they recorded "Everything Rots That Is Rotten" with engineers Jamie Uertz (Gojira, Anthrax) and Johann Meyer (Gojira, Rise of the Northstar) at Silver Cord Studios, owned and operated by French metal band Gojira. Along the way, they were recruited by Big Business for a regional tour, and they also packed houses on their own. In 2020, they came to the attention of GRAMMY Award-winning producer Sylvia Massy (Tool, System of a Down, Johnny Cash). In February 2020, they went on tour to Sylvia's studio in Ashland, OR, and recorded the majority of Grind to soak up the energy of their live show. "The main thing you hear on Grind is the sound of the three of us trying to capture our live energy," explains drummer Dylan Teggart. "Every take was a little different in terms of feel, tempo and orchestration, but the energy we wanted to capture - the primal scream of a band trying to make something of themselves - is there." "It was a fun and fast-paced recording experience," recalls bassist and co-lead vocalist Angela Phillips. "Sylvia was very welcoming. Every night after the sessions, she would take us out to dinner and tell us incredible stories from her career. That's an example of how unique the recording sessions were. It was also great to have Jamie there because he was able to impart some of our idiosyncrasies to Sylvia." Those idiosyncrasies pump blood through the heart of Grind's. The first single and album opener "Bitter" is based on a snappy beat and menacing distortion. The vocals vacillate between intensity and malice as Phillips growls, "It's bitter to be reminded of the happiness you'll never have." "'Bitter' is mostly about receiving unsolicited advice on how to 'improve' yourself from someone who comes from a privileged perspective," she reveals. "This song stems from my lifelong experience as a fat person who constantly receives unsolicited advice on how to lose weight from people who are naturally thin."