Dredg set to release “The Pariah”

Dredg are set to release their highly anticipated release, The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion on their own Ohlone Recordings through Warner Music Group’s Independent Label Group June 9, 2009. The album will be available online and in stores with a limited edition disc featuring alternate artwork and a vinyl recording also to be offered.

In support of The Pariah, Dredg will headline a special North American club tour with Torche, kicking off March 15th in Iowa City before taking the country by storm this summer. Drawing massively as an underground favorite, Dredg has toured extensively, headlining multiple tours as well as supporting some of the most respected and popular of their peers.

Produced by Matt Radosevich, The Pariah marks the Bay Area band’s fourth full-length studio album. On this release, Gavin Hayes (vocals, guitar), Drew Roulette (bass, moog, speak & spell, samples), Mark Engles (guitar) and Dino Campanella (drums, keys) combine to create equal parts punk aggression and metallic complexity – a sound that brings together the artistic instrumentation, haunting vocals and emotional intensity that is Dredg.

Though driven by rhythms and guitars, The Pariah is far from a typical rock album. Inspired in part by Salman Rushdie’s essay “Imagine There’s No Heaven: A Letter to the 6 Billionth Citizen,” Dredg capture the madness of the modern world, particularly its battles over religion and science, within a musical missive to the future. Fittingly, The Pariah is packaged and constructed like a letter, its songs and instrumental interludes connected by eerie, evocative Wurlitzer piano-and-voice segments. Diverse and textured, these intentional imperfections allow some of Dredg’s mellowest recorded moments to mingle with some of their harshest.

After forming in 1993 and self-releasing two EPs, Dredg’s independent 1998 debut Leitmotif threaded melody into their heavy sound. Leitmotif was re-released in 2001 on Interscope, followed by 2002’s El Cielo, which was more ambitious in its concept and instrumentation. Inspired by a Salvador Dali painting depicting sleep paralysis, the album was dark and atmospheric. Dredg responded to the density of El Cielo by focusing on songwriting over concept for 2005’s Catch Without Arms. Coming full circle, The Pariah combines the raw power of the band’s earliest records with both the epic, cinematic sweep and operatic ambition of El Cielo as well as the exceptional songwriting and searing ballast of Catch Without Arms.

As creative as these albums have proven to be, Dredg’s members have artistic wings that span beyond the band. Engles and Campanella scored the 2005 independent film Waterborne, while Campanella scored the ’06 comedy Carbabes on his own. Hayes also collaborated with founding Queensryche guitarist Chris DeGarmo to create music for the ’06 film Expiration Date and has toured numerous times as a vocalist for Dan the Automator. In addition, Hayes and Roulette are accomplished painters whose work has graced Dredg’s records and merchandise. Roulette has also designed album art for many other bands, and he and Hayes have contributed lyrics to the experimental rockers The Sounds of Animals Fighting.

The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion will be available June 9, 2009. Tickets to the upcoming Dredg North American tour are now on sale exclusively at www.dredg.com. See below for initial tour stops. For more information, check out www.myspace.com/dredg or www.dredg.com * Press Assets w/new photos: http://eastwest.ilgpress.com/dredg/media/

UPCOMING SHOWS:
March 15, 2009 – The Picador – Iowa City, IA
March 16, 2009 – Riot Room – Kansas City, KS
March 17, 2009 – The Marquee – Tulsa, OK
March 18, 2009 – Scout Bar – San Antonio, TX
March 20, 2009 – Buffalo Billiards (SxSW – ILG Showcase) – Austin TX
March 21, 2009 – Emo’s (SxSW) – Austin, TX
April 3, 2009 – Hawthorne Theatre – Portland, OR
April 4, 2009 – Nightlight – Bellingham, WA
April 5, 2009 – Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
April 7, 2009 – Avalon Theater – Salt Lake City, UT
April 8, 2009 – The Marquis Theatre – Denver, CO
April 10, 2009 – Varsity Theatre – Minneapolis, MN
April 11, 2009 – Vaudville Mews – Des Moines, IA
April 12, 2009 – Empty Bottle – Chicago, IL
April 13, 2009 – Eagle Theater – Pontiac, MI
April 15, 2009 – Middle East Downstairs – Boston, MA
April 16, 2009 – Theater of Living Arts – Philadelphia, PA
April 17, 2009 – Chameleon Club – Lancaster, PA
April 18, 2009 – Sonar – Baltimore, MD
April 19, 2009 – Highline Ballroom – New York, NY
April 21, 2009 – The Brewery – Raleigh, NC
April 22, 2009 – Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
April 24, 2009 – Social – Orlando, FL
April 25, 2009 – Culture Club – Ft Lauderdale, FL
April 26, 2009 – State Theater – Tampa, FL
April 30, 2009 – Meridian – Houston, TX
May 1, 2009 – Grenada – Dallas, TX
May 2, 2009 – Emo’s – Austin, TX
May 4, 2009 – Launchpad – Albuquerque, NM
May 5, 2009 – Martini Ranch – Phoenix, AZ
May 6, 2009 – Club Congress – Tucson, AZ
May 8, 2009 – Glasshouse – Pomona, CA
May 9, 2009 – Velvet Jones – Santa Barbara, CA
May 10, 2009 – House of Blues – San Diego, CA
May 12, 2009 – Starlite – Fresno, CA
May 13, 2009 – Downtown Brew – San Luis Obispo, CA
May 15, 2009 – The Underground – Reno, NV
May 16, 2009 – Senator Theatre – Chico, CA
May 19, 2009 – Great American – San Francisco, CA
May 20, 2009 – Bimbo’s 365 – San Francisco, CA
May 21, 2009 – Catalyst – Santa Cruz, CA
May 22, 2009 – Troubadour – Los Angeles, CA
May 23, 2009 – Troubadour – Los Angeles, CA