great falls split

Great Falls and The Great Sabatini: Two Great Tastes that Taste Great Together

great falls split

At the end of last year, The Great Sabatini and Great Falls released full-length albums within about a month of each other. Goodbye Audio by The Great Sabatini and Great Falls’ A Sense of Rest show the bands to be kindred spirits, purveying pummeling sludge-core, and evidently they were both also prolific enough to have extra tracks lying around.

Given the aesthetic similarities, it’s not a huge shock that the two groups would collaborate on a split. Even hailing from opposite ends of North America (and in fact from different countries) couldn’t stand in their way. Both bands credit Dale “Bawlz” Kibbins, known for co-hosting “Thick and Friendly Radio” on 101.5 UMFM Winnipeg alongside Jesse Matthewson from KEN Mode, as the one who instigated the pairing.

“My recollection on this is dogshit but the man in the middle of it all was Dale,” Great Sabatini vocalist/guitarist Sean Arseniam recalled. “He is a mutual friend among both bands. I think he may have informed me that the Great Falls guys thought our tunes were cool, which was flattering, as I was (and am) a big fan of their band.”

“It may have been some ‘parent trap’ styled massaging on Dale’s part, because nobody wanted this record to happen more than him. He was in touch with us and them for what seemed like years, until we finally got in touch directly to hammer out details. Once Ryan [Canavan at] Hex got involved, the pace quickened and here we are.”

“The record really should be named for Dale,” he continued. “He started this, I love him and Great Falls, and I’m real jazzed to have our band involved with this project.”

Great Falls bassist Shane Mehling was just as effusive about The Great Sabatini, the deejay who diligently paired them up and the label honcho who released it.

“I think we were still in the stage of just having a vague idea that we’d go in and record a few songs,” recalled Mehling. “We must have mentioned it in passing to our old Canadian friend Dale Kibbins, who was struck with the idea that we absolutely had to do a split with his other friends The Great Sabatini. I believe he pitched us on the international appeal of it, and we obviously liked what the band was doing.”

“We talked with Sabatini and it seemed like a really cool idea that would never in a million years actually come together. Then, like two years later, thanks to Ryan from Hex being a necromancer, it all of a sudden materialized into one of the coolest releases we’ve ever been a part of. I’m actually not even sure how he pulled it off, but I’m excited to finally put this ‘international appeal’ to the test.”

The split LP, previewed in its entirety below, is available as a limited LP. Great Falls guitarist/vocalist Demian Johnson did the cover art, and Sean from The Great Sabatini designed the laser-etched design that makes up the b-side. Each band contributes two tracks and they collaborate on an ambient “interlude” smack dab in the middle.

Pre-orders for the split can be found here.

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