''The Moon Is a Dead World'' is the debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American hardcore punk band Gospel. It was released on May 10, 2005 by

Level Plane Records Level Plane was an American independent record label based in New York City that was founded in early 1997 by Greg Drudy for the release of Saetia's first 7". Drudy ran the label until it ceased to exist in 2009. It released records in a variet ...

. It was the band's only studio album during their initial existence. Upon its release, the album received positive reviews; the album has since been seen as a defining release in the screamo genre.

Recording and production

Gospel entered

God City Studio Kurt Ballou (born February 1, 1974) is an American musician and producer based in Massachusetts, best known as the guitarist for hardcore punk band Converge and for his prolific recording and production work at his own GodCity Studio. Early ...

with Kurt Ballou in early March 2005. While Ballou already had a set up drum kit in the studio, Roseboom wanted to use his own, so time was spent adjusting his drumkit. The band enjoyed working with Kurt Ballou; despite the fact that Gospel's sound was a departure from his usual hardcore material and the fact the band had one week to record the album, Ballou adjusted well and did not pressure the band during the recording process. "He captured the essence of the music very well, in a short period of time, and made it as painless as possible", Johnathan Pastir recalled. As most of the songs were already completed by the time he joined the band, Johnathan Pastir only contributes to the songwriting on "A Golden Dawn".

Composition

''The Moon Is a Dead World'' has been classed as screamo,

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

, progressive rock,

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. G ...

and hardcore punk. The band received comparisons to

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

, King Crimson, Hawkwind, Glassjaw and

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

. Pitchfork described the album's riffs as "King Crimson via Converge".

Album title

The album title was taken from a plaque describing the moon at the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

in New York City. "When reading the plaque describing the moon, the first sentence reads, “the moon is a dead world,” and we just kept it in mind.", Johnathan Pastir recalled. "We used it for the best reason possible: it ''sounds'' cool. In hindsight, I personally think it fits the atmosphere of the record really well." Adam Dooling supported this; "I like how at first glance it reads as a macabre statement, but under closer examination it’s nothing more than an objective assertion."

Release and touring

''The Moon Is a Dead World'' was released on May 10, 2005 by

on CD and vinyl. The first vinyl press was limited to 200 copies on red with white splatters.

Touring

To support the record, Gospel toured throughout the

East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

of the US with Menuwar and Converge, creating a

buzz Buzz may refer to: People *Buzz (nickname), a list of people *J. Buzz Von Ornsteiner (born 1967; aka ''Dr. Buzz''), American forensic psychologist and journalist Fictional characters *Buzz, a character in the 1987 American comedy movie '' Reve ...

for the band within Level Plane and the music industry. During the tour the band became a notorious live act, getting into fights and destroying instruments. a infamous event was at The Owl Music Parlour, where a fire broke out after a drunk fan threw a Christmas tree on a fire created by John Pastir after the show. Overall, the tour was a success for the band, however, they took the praise they were receiving with a grain of salt.

2019 remaster

In October 2018, it was announced that ''The Moon Is a Dead World'' would be getting a reissue on double vinyl. It was remastered by Josh Bonati, and released through Repeater Records on January 11, 2019.

Reception

Upon its initial release, ''The Moon Is a Dead World'' received positive reviews from critics.

Accolades

* denotes an unordered list

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes and Bandcamp.Gospel * Adam Dooling – vocals/ guitar * Sean Miller – bass guitar * Vincent Roseboom –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Johnathan Pastir –

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

/guitar Production * Kurt Ballou – producer, engineer, recordingArtwork * Alec Horihan –

cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game (box art), music album (album art), ...

* Dima Drjuchin – design * Gospel – design Remaster * Josh Bonati –

remaster Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...

ing

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moon Is a Dead World 2005 debut albums Gospel (hardcore punk band)