Planning for Burial is the musical project of American musician and singer-songwriter Thom Wasluck. Based in

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in th ...

, Wasluck started to perform as "Burial" in 2005 and released the debut album, ''Leaving'' in 2009. Wasluck plays all instruments during both his

home recordings Home recording is the practice of recording sound in a private home instead of a professional recording studio. A studio set up for home recording is called a home studio or project studio. Home recording is widely practiced by voice actors, narrat ...

and live performances.

History

Before performing as Planning for Burial, Wasluck played in local bands and recorded music with his 4 track recorder. In 2009, he released his debut album, ''Leaving'', which was re-released by Enemies List Home Recordings in 2010. Following the re-release of the album, Wasluck recorded and released a series of tapes, EPs and splits in the following years. In 2014, Planning for Burial released its second studio album, ''Desideratum'', through The Flenser record label. In 2016, Planning for Burial released the ''As a Lover'' single through New York based record label The Native Sound. Planning for Burial has shared the stage with a wide range of music acts, including Chelsea Wolfe, Have A Nice Life and

Deafheaven Deafheaven is an American post-metal band formed in 2010. Originally based in San Francisco, the group began as a two-piece with singer George Clarke and guitarist Kerry McCoy, who recorded and self-released a demo album together. Following i ...

Musical style

Planning for Burial's music takes influences from a wide array of genres, and is labeled as "gloomgaze" and "

experimental metal Avant-garde metal (also known as avant-metal, experimental metal, and experimental) is a subgenre of heavy metal music loosely defined by use of experimentation and innovative, avant-garde elements, including non-standard and unconventional sou ...

." According to

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

critic Andy O'Connor, Thom Wasluck of Planning for Burial "filters

post-metal Post-metal is a music genre rooted in heavy metal but exploring approaches beyond metal conventions. It emerged in the 1990s with bands such as Neurosis and Godflesh, who transformed metal texture through experimental composition. In a way simil ...

, doom, ambient, and

goth-rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...

through his own terminally miserable lens." ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or Habit (psychology), habit generally considered immorality, immoral, sinful, crime, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refe ...

'' described the band as "a fully-contained, one-man band who delves into

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...

, metal,

black metal Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw ( lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an em ...

and other elements to craft somber, emotional songs," and compared its style to those of English post-metal band

Jesu Jesu may refer to: *Jesus (c. 4 BC – c. AD 30/33), Jewish religious leader and central figure of Christianity **Jesu (name), vocative and poetic form of Jesus' name Music * Jesu (band), a British experimental band formed by Justin Broadrick ** ...

. ''New Noise Magazine'' argued that the act's sound "contains elements of

slowcore Slowcore is a subgenre of alternative rock and indie rock. The music of slowcore artists is generally characterized by bleak lyrics, downbeat melodies, slower tempos and minimalist arrangements. Slowcore is often used interchangeably with the ...

, shoegaze, doom,

drone Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

, '90s

alt rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s wi ...

, '80s goth, and black metal, while never being defined by any one of those genres." Jason Cook of ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, f ...

'' also drew parallels between the band's debut studio album, ''Leaving'', and

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the ban ...

' 1999 album, ''

The Fragile ''The Fragile'' is the third studio album by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released as a double album by Nothing Records and Interscope Records on September 21, 1999. It was produced by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor ...

''. Wasluck releases Planning for Burial on various mediums, including on

floppy disk A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, or a diskette) is an obsolescent type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined ...

s and cassette tape.

Discography

;Studio albums * ''Leaving'' (2009; re-released in 2010 by Enemies List Home Recordings) * ''Desideratum'' (2014; The Flenser) * ''Below the House'' (2017; The Flenser) ;Split releases * ''Lonesummer Split'' (2010; Music Ruins Lives) * ''Dreamless Split'' (2013; Altar of Waste) * ''Lonesummer Split'' (2013; Music Ruins Lives) * ''Vile Process (Troubled By Insects Split)'' (2014; Apneic Void) * ''Mischief Night (Liar in Wait split)" (2014; Broken Limbs Recordings) * "Mother Room / Planning For Burial "To Be Everything" 7" Split (2015; The Native Sound) * "Planning For Burial / Stress Waves 7" Split (2016; Nostalgium Directive) ;Other releases * ''Untitled'' (2011; Music Ruins Lives) * ''Late Twenties Blues'' (2011; self-released) * ''Quietly'' (2012; Tycho Magnetic Anomalies) * ''I Miss Our Conversations, I'm Sorry'' (2012; Tycho Magnetic Anomalies) * ''Reminder'' (2012; self-released) * ''An Autumn Cassette or Leaves Will Bloom, Leaves Will Fall Long After We Are Gone (2012; self-released) * ''Glowing Windows / Walk Alone'' (2013; self-released) * ''Heaven or Atlantic City'' (2014; Tycho Magnetic Anomalies) * ''Distances'' (2014; Bathetic Records) * ''As A Lover'' (2016; The Native Sound) ;Music videos * "29 August 2012" (2014; dir. Gardenback)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Planning for Burial Musical groups established in 2005 Heavy metal musical groups from New Jersey Rock music groups from New Jersey American post-metal musical groups Shoegazing musical groups Shoegaze musicians One-man bands American post-rock groups American avant-garde metal musical groups Ambient music groups Ambient musicians People from Matawan, New Jersey