Moss was a three-piece

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

band that formed in 2001. Influenced by

H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Provi ...

and the

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

, songs usually average the 20 minute mark and incorporate dense and otherworldly atmospheres. Despite the use of extreme

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

frequencies, Moss features no bass guitarist.

Biography

Demo years

Formed in

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, England, at the end of 2000, the band consists of Olly Pearson (vocals), Dominic Finbow (guitar) and Chris Chantler (drums). Moss self-released several demo recordings during its early years, the first being in 2001, and also appeared on a number of split records and compilation albums with bands such as Wolfmangler,

Nadja Nadja may refer to: * Nadja (given name) * Nadja, pen-name of Louisa Nadia Green (1896—1934), British poet * ''Nadja'' (novel), 1928 surrealist novel by André Breton * ''Nadja'' (film), 1994 vampire film by Michael Almereyda * Nadja (band), ...

, Unearthly Trance,

Grief Grief is the response to the loss of something deemed important, particularly to the death of a person to whom or animal to which a Human bonding, bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, ...

and Torture Wheel. Live performances by the band are rare, the first gig being on a benefit all-dayer during the summer of 2002, with one-off shows in London and Manchester during 2003, bookending the releases of the demos ''Moss (2001–2003)'' and ''Tape of Doom''. 2004 saw the most live activity to date; in the summer Moss performed for the first time in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

at the Ashes to Ashes/Doom to Dust festival over two nights in

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. During the winter Moss supported

Sunn O))) Sunn O))) (pronounced "sun") is an American drone metal band formed in 1998 in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. The band is known for its distinctive visual style and slow, heavy sound, which blends diverse genres including doom metal, ...

on a boat, The Thekla. Chantler had temporarily left the band at the start of 2004, first replaced by Andy Semmens of

Esoteric Western esotericism, also known as the Western mystery tradition, is a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas and currents are united since they are largely distinct both from orthod ...

, then Jon Wilson, with Chantler to return in December 2004 to join the ''Cthonic Rites'' writing and rehearsal sessions.

''Cthonic Rites''

On 25 December 2005 the band released its debut album '' Cthonic Rites'' on CD via Aurora Borealis Records. ''Cthonic Rites'' was produced/recorded in early 2005 at Chuckalumba Studio by Jus Oborn of veteran UK doom metal band

Electric Wizard Electric Wizard are an English stoner metal, stoner/doom metal band from Dorset. Formed in 1988 under the name Lord of Putrefaction, the band have recorded nine studio albums, two of which have been considered genre landmarks: ''Come My Fanati ...

. The first press was available with a live CD-R limited to 115 copies, recorded on 20 August 2005 at the

Camden Underworld Camden Underworld is a music venue in Camden Town, London, England. The venue is a part of the World's End pub, situated in the basement of the building. It has a capacity of 500 people. History Over the years The Underworld has become t ...

on the 115th birthday of

. In March 2007 a split 7-inch single with the French band

Monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

was issued on the British doom/

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluci ...

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

label

Rise Above Records Rise Above Records is a London-based independent record label owned by Lee Dorrian, former member of Cathedral and Napalm Death. Founding Lee Dorrian started Rise Above Records in 1988 without the intention of the label being an ongoing pos ...

in an edition of 550 copies. On this release, Moss covers the track 'Maimed & Slaughtered' by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

d-beat punk band Discharge. Plans for another split 7-inch, with

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese d-beaters

Disclose Disclose were a Japanese D-beat band from Kōchi City, heavily influenced by Discharge. Their sound heavily replicates Discharge's style, with an increased use of fuzz and distortion guitar effects. The subject matter is also similar to Dis ...

, were cancelled with the death of Disclose frontman Kawakami on 5 June. Moss' track 'Crawl (Scrape)' was recorded during the ''Cthonic Rites'' sessions and will remain unreleased. The long delayed expanded vinyl version of ''Cthonic Rites'' was released on 12 October 2007 and limited to 1000 copies, 375 of which are a triple vinyl set consisting of the previously self-released extremely limited EP ''Live Burial''. An announcement was also made on the band's officia
myspace page
that their second album will be recorded in January 2008 and released on Rise Above Records. In addition was the announcement of two shows, dubbed the "Slow As Fuck Tour", which were played in December.

''Sub Templum''/''Tombs of the Blind Drugged''

The album title of ''Sub Templum'' was announced via the band's Myspace, with a release on Rise Above Records to follow on 26 May 2008. The album was eventually released worldwide in June on CD and LP via Rise Above in Europe and Candlelight in the US. ''Sub Templum'' was recorded at Foel Studio, Wales and was again produced by Jus Oborn. In December 2008 Moss announced via Myspace that they will release an EP of new music in 2009. The title was revealed as ''Tombs of the Blind Drugged'', again recorded at Foel Studio one year after ''Sub Templum'', and was released in June on 10-inch vinyl consisting of two tracks. A CD version was also released on Rise Above and

Metal Blade Metal Blade Records (often shortened to Metal Blade) is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982 based in the U.S. state of California. The label primarily focuses on heavy metal. History Metal Blade Records was ...

in America, adding as bonus tracks 'Eternal Return' and the Discharge cover 'Maimed and Slaughtered'. ''Sub Templum'' and ''Tombs...'' saw the band move away from the simplistic tracks of ''Cthonic Rites'', and towards more song-based arrangements and classic doom influences, particularly on the ''Tombs...'' title track. During December 2009 'Eternal Return' was released as a 12-inch single in special packaging, available in three different versions. This was a co-release between Superfi Records and Fuck Yoga. On 17 April 2010, Moss played the

Roadburn Festival The Roadburn Festival is an annual music festival held each April in Tilburg, Netherlands. It was founded by Walter Hoeijmakers and Jurgen van den Brand in 1999, who ran a stoner rock blog of the same name. The festival has been held at Tilburg ...

at the 013 venue. This show celebrated the band's 10th anniversary. Many bands ended up cancelling their appearances due to the

air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption In response to concerns that volcanic ash ejected during the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland would damage aircraft engines, the controlled airspace of many European countries was closed to instrument flight rules traffic, resulti ...

. In time for

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

, Moss joined a short four date European tour with labelmates

, taking in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, and

Deventer Deventer (; Sallaans dialect, Sallands: ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Salland historical region of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel, ...

. A new song, 'Horrible Nights', was performed showcasing again a further progression in the band's sound, with clean sung vocals and faster tempos. Also released on Halloween via Witch Sermon Records and available on the tour in an exclusive version via Buried & Forgotten Productions was the live album ''Never Say Live'' - recorded from their Roadburn warm-up show in April at The Borderline in London. Available on cassette only in an edition of 200 copies.

''Horrible Night''

In 2012 Moss began recordings for the album ''Horrible Night'', which was released in March 2013 on Rise Above, followed by their first headlining European tour, including appearances at the

and a headlining appearance at the 2nd annual Heavy Days in Doom Town. This was Moss' final album for Rise Above Records, choosing to not re-sign following the release of ''Horrible Night''. On 31 October 2014 a 10-inch EP was released, ''Carmilla (Marcilla)/Spectral Visions'' self-released via the band's own Stone Tapes imprint and Scottish label At War With False Noise.

Line-up

*Dominic Finbow - guitar (2001-2015) *Olly Pearson - vocals (2001-2015) *Chris Chantler - drums (2005-2015)

Past members

*Ben Ayling - bass (2001) *Jon Wilson - drums (2004) *Andy Semmens - drums (2004)

Discography

Compilation appearances

* "Dreams of What Life Could Have Been" CD (Psychedoomelic Records, 2003) * "Humanless" CD (Humanless, 2003) * "Chariots Arrive Again II" CD (Foreshadow Productions, 2004) * "Slowmo Music Vol I" CD (Slowmo Music, 2004) * "Oaken Throne" CD (Oaken Throne, 2007) * "Bad Acid Tab6" CD (Bad Acid, 2008)

References

External links

Official Moss MySpace, including samplesMoss Facebook pageRise Above Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moss English doom metal musical groups Musical groups established in 2000 English musical trios Drone metal musical groups British sludge metal musical groups