To follow up on the success of the ‘Turned To Stone Chapter 1’ split record, Ripple Music announce an August 7th release for ‘Turned To Stone Chapter II: Masamune & Muramasa’, a mind-blowing and psych-laden collaborative effort from Howling Giant and Sergeant Thunderhoof. Stream a short snippet from the song “Masamune” now!

For the second installment of their ‘Turned to Stone’ split 12″ series, focusing on unique pairings from across the heavy underground, Ripple Music invited Nashville’s psych-metal purveyors Howling Giant and Somerset’s own cosmic fuzz groovers Sergeant Thunderhoof to deliver two interconnected 20-minute epics telling the story and face-off of legendary Japanese sword smiths Muramasa and Masamune.

Listen to an excerpt of Howling Giant’s track “Masamune” at https://soundcloud.com/ripple-music/howling-giant-the-forgemasamune-excerpt

Instead of the typical approach with two bands contributing stand-alone sides of a record, Howling Giant and Sergeant Thunderhoof wanted to write an album that was thematically and sonically cohesive. The result is a 40-minute piece of ambitious songcraft created by two riff-prog legends leaving another impressive mark on the heavy rock landscape. The album artwork was designed by Jane Swettenham.

‘Turned To Stone Chapter II: Masamune & Muramasa’ will be issued on August 7th via Ripple Music.Tracklist: Side A – Howling Giant “Masamune” (19:42) Side B – Sergeant Thunderhoof “Muramasa” (21:13)

Howling Giant comment: “We were so stoked to do the split with Sergeant Thunderhoof. After talking with those guys we both agreed that we wanted to do something a little different. Instead of the typical approach, where two bands each record a side of a record and the music remains completely independent, we wanted to create a record that feels like one complete thought performed by two bands, rather than two mini albums crammed onto a shared vinyl record. We decided to tell the story of two legendary Japanese sword smiths, Muramasa and Masamune, in which these they have a contest to determine who the superior sword smith is. They each crafted a blade of masterwork quality and held their contest at the rivers edge. We thought it would be cool to each record a 20 minute song telling the tale from our chosen sword smiths perspective. We then shared melodic ideas with the dudes in Sergeant Thunderhoof to insure a cohesive flow throughout the entirety of the record.”

Sergeant Thunderhoof add: “I don’t think we realised what an undertaking it would be to write and record a continuous 20 minute epic. We were a little apprehensive at what the response would be from Howling Giant and Todd and Jadd at Ripple. Luckily for us, everyone seemed to love it and a short time later, Howling Giant submitted their half which was a revelation. I have to say that the final product is something i’m really proud of. I really do see this as a fully realised concept LP rather than just a split release. I’m proud of what both bands have done and I hope other people find it as rewarding as we did.”