Brooklyn metalcore veterans Merauder will be releasing The Minus Years, a double-LP compilation of the material they recorded with original vocalist Minus, including their 1991 demo, 1993 demo, and 1994 promo. It’s coming out via Upstate Records, and No Echo will be premiering some of the tracks on March 12. In the meantime, they also posted some background info on how this all came together:

Mike Valente (Brick By Brick) contacted longtime friend Minus with his idea of letting people hear the unreleased Merauder tracks from the 1994 Promo. Mike and Mario Cangemi from Upstate Records settled on including all the early Meraurder recordings in one package.

Meanwhile, Shaun “SD” Dixon was in contact with Mark Yoshimoto of NYC’s Generation Records with the same idea. Soon, all efforts were combined with the blessing of Minus.

Richie O’Brien (Darkside NYC, Everyday Dollars) sent Upstate Records the first generation copies of the master recordings. Bob Riley (Stigmata, Murderers Row) lent his copy of the 1994 Promo with the highly sought, previously unofficially released tracks.

Featuring new artwork by Craig Holloway, the recordings are brought to us without alteration from the originals with the exception for a little vinyl preparation TLC by Jason Bourdeau of Foster House Studios.

You can read more here and stay tuned for more.

After Minus’ departure, he was replaced by vocalist Jorge Rosado, who still leads the band today. They also recorded a demo in 1998 with Eddie Sutton of Leeway (who was sadly just diagnosed with cancer and is raising money for his medical bills via GoFundMe).

Watch Merauder perform with Minus in 1993:

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