Melvins Recruit Ministry’s Drummer for New ‘Tarantula Heart’ LP

Watch out, Taylor Swift. The Melvins will release a new album named Tarantula Heart on April 19.

You can hear the first track from the album, “Working the Ditch,” below.

Tarantula Heart finds the band’s current long-running trio of singer / guitarist Buzz Osbourne, drummer Dale Crover and bassist Steven McDonald joined by Ministry drummer Roy Mayorga and We Are the Asteroid guitarist Gary Chester.

“The way we approached Tarantula Heart was different than any other Melvins album,” explains Osborne. “I had Dale and Roy come in and play along with Steven and I to some riffs, then I took those sessions and figured out what parts would work and wrote new music to fit. This isn’t a studio approach we’ve ever taken. Usually we have the songs written BEFORE we start recording!”

Osbourne said his bandmates were happily surprised when they heard the result of the hours he spent writing and re-recording songs to fit the already recorded drum tracks. “When the rest of the band heard these songs I’d created from the sessions, they were blown away,” he shares. “These were fully developed new songs that they’d never heard before that had seemingly appeared out of thin air. Presto!”

The five-song, 39-minute long album kicks off with a 20-minute epic named “Pain Equals Funny.” You can pre-order Tarantula Heart now from Ipecac.

The band will tour Australia and Japan in March. Melvins alumni Coady Willis, who currently splits his time between High on Fire and Big Business, filling in for Crover, who has recovered from recent surgery but was unable to get travel visas in time for the trip.

In August Osbourne will team up with bassist Trevor Dunn for a 45-date tour that will see the duo playing songs from the King Buzzo albums This Machine Kills Artists and Gift of Sacrifice. You can get complete tour information at Ipecac.com/tours.

Hear Melvins Perform ‘Working the Ditch’

Melvins, ‘Tarantula Heart’ Track List

1. “Pain Equals Funny”

2. “Working the Ditch”

3. “She’s Got Weird Arms”

4. “Allergic to Food”

5. “Smiler”