Local band Ancient Shores to release new album on vinyl

Local metal act Ancient Shores is set to showcase its latest work this spring – but there's a catch.

Rather than moving into the digital age and releasing its latest album exclusively online or keeping things traditional with a CD release, Ancient Shores is going retro and releasing the album as a 12-inch split vinyl.

"We're all vinyl collectors and strong supporters of the format," said Ancient Shores bassist Joel Wadsworth. "Vinyl just has a different sound to it that you don't get from an mp3 coming through your headphones or laptop speakers."

The split will also feature tracks from Seattle outfit Cynarae and artwork courtesy of Andy Crawshaw.

While teaming up with the Seattle outfit may seem a bit random for Ancient Shores, the groups share a common bond – the streets of Morgantown, W. Va.

"One of the guitar players (Geoff Hohn) in Cynarae is originally from Morgantown, and I've been good friends with him for around eight years," Wadsworth said. "The minute I heard their demo I knew I wanted to help them in any way we possibly could."

Ancient Shores then pitched the idea of featuring Cynarae on the split to their record label, A389 Records, and the owner quickly agreed. Now the groups are teaming up for what promises to be a creative and original approach to a somewhat stagnant medium.

Sticking with the non-traditional process for this album, Ancient Shores decided to record the album itself rather than being crunched for time in a high-pressure studio environment.

"Digital recording has become easy for anyone to do," said Ancient Shores guitarist Brett Carpenter. "Since the band has a DIY attitude, we'd rather spend five weeks getting the album right (and recording ourselves) than be pressed with only five days to record it in a studio and risk not being 100 percent happy with the outcome."

Upon finishing the recording process, Ancient Shores plans to send the album to be mixed by Vince Ratti of The Skylight Studio and mastered by Alliance Mastering. This will ensure that, while the album may be a blast from the past visually, it will sound just as refined and crisp as anything out there today.

Ancient Shores has established itself as Morgantown's premier metal act through a unique and uncanny approach to the genre. This album, which is tentatively due out this spring via A389 Recordings, exemplifies this mentality and shows the Morgantown crew is never afraid to push the bar and go where few bands are willing to go.

Ancient Shores can be found online at www.myspace.com/ancientshores.

For more info on A389 Recordings, visit www.a389recordings.com.