First There Was The Emptiness

The long-awaited reissue of the debut full-length by THE pre-eminent noise-rock/post-hardcore band from the Midwest. Having been crowned one of the most important noise bands to watch by almost every important underground music publication and fans alike, Racebannon have been working hard on their next full-length for the past two years. It is tentatively titled ACID or BLOOD, and scheduled for a Fall 2005 release, which will be followed by relentless touring. In the meantime, their first full-length (originally released on Level Plane Records and out of print since 2001) has been impeccably remastered and made available on compact disc for the first time ever with three bonus tracks. An awesome debut, First There Was the Emptiness captures the band at a time when they had two vocalists (founding member Mike Anderson and Witching Hour Records creator Chris Williams) and were at their hungriest and most anxious to prove themselves. On this album, Racebannon established themselves as an instantly important group with an enormous amount of audacity and personality. No other band was able to so fluidly terrorize their audience while luring them in for more – while attracting a crowd that normally paid no mind to avant-hardcore music (including the folks at Secretly Canadian). At the time of this album’s release, Racebannon were getting banned from almost every club and established basement venue that they played in. Dozens of PA systems were destroyed within minutes of them plugging their noise-rig in and shredding through their explosive set. In their wake they left many a neutered punk-rock club, yet they kept getting invited to play at new clubs. Such is the paradox of Racebannon. The band is a cross breed of Gravity hipsters Antioch Arrow, Captain Beefheart/Mr. Bungle controlled spontaneity, Melvins/Blue Cheer sludgy heaviosity, and Melt Banana-like noisy spazz.

Release date: June 7th, 2005.