Locrian

Locrian originated in 2005 as an experimental venture launched by academics André Foisy and Terence Hannum, both based in Chicago, Illinois. Their initial partnership unfolded in fragmented increments, producing an early catalog filled with numerous official and unofficial short-form releases issued in restricted quantities across varied formats. Over time these fragmented approaches consolidated into full-length statements, notably 2009’s Drenched Lands, 2010’s Territories, and 2011’s The Crystal World, each fusing elements of black and doom metal, noise rock, industrial music, and drone. The 2015 trio recording Infinite Dissolution marked another milestone before an extended pause that ended with 2022’s New Catastrophism and continued into 2024’s End Terrain.

The project’s name arose when Foisy and Hannum received an invitation for their debut live performance. Music-theory enthusiast Foisy proposed “Locrian,” drawing from an exotic scale once condemned by the Catholic Church as “evil” and from a little-known ancient Greek tribe. In 2010 the duo joined Jenks Miller’s Horseback for New Dominions, then issued The Clearing the following year on Fan Death Records; Relapse later reissued it as a double-disc set alongside The Final Epoch. Also in 2011, The Crystal World appeared with the addition of permanent member Steven Hess on drums, percussion, and electronics.

Two collaborative releases surfaced in 2012: Locrian and Christoph Heeman via Handmade Birds and Bless Them That Hurt You with Mamiffer. The 2013 full-length Return to Annihilation was tracked and mixed by Greg Norman without external guests. To mark the tenth anniversary, Relapse issued the June 1, 2015 single “An Index of Air,” featuring slide guitar from Dana Schechter of Insect Ark and vocals from Erica Burgner-Hannum of the Holy Circle (Terence Hannum’s wife), both of whom contributed elsewhere on the album. “An Index of Air” and “Heavy Water” previewed Infinite Dissolution, a conceptual work addressing human extinction and partly shaped by Elizabeth Kolbert’s Pulitzer Prize-winning volume The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History.

Career demands and separate musical projects kept the members apart for the next six years, while the global coronavirus crisis further postponed recording and touring. Locrian resurfaced in 2022 with New Catastrophism and its companion EP Ghost Frontiers, both echoing the group’s earlier electronic explorations. End Terrain arrived in 2024, again featuring Erica Burgner-Hannum on vocals plus cello contributions from Gordon Withers on two tracks. Anathemata Editions subsequently released two limited-edition cassettes extending the album’s sonic palette: End Terrain Addendum, Vol. 1: Our Dead Age and End Terrain Addendum, Vol. 3: Silence in the Sediment.