THE GREAT UNRAVELING - Discography (1995-1997)

(photo taken by cookiekixx AKA producer Chris Coady)

"The most important thing isn't really evoking the tension, but alleviating it. I know all three of us have found that the music that touches us the most has that liberating aspect."  --Tonie Joy

The Great Unraveling formed in Baltimore just nine months after the break-up of U.O.A (Universal Order of Armageddon).  Lead vocalist for the first time, Tonie Joy (MOSS ICON, UOA, BORN AGAINST, CONVOCATION (OF...)) showcases his distinctively squeaky yelp and furthers his reputation as one of the great underground guitar players. Where Anthony Malat (UOA, LOVE LIFE, BELLMER DOLLS) hardly knew his instrument when he started in U.O.A, he emerges as a beastly bass playing fashionista in The Great Unraveling.  While comparisons could be made to Drive Like Jehu and Unwound, the repetitious bass grooves and transcendental arpeggios here are more fixated on what lies behind the veil.   They released their first 7" on Vermiform Records.  Steve Albini produced their self-titled LP (Kill Rock Stars), and a 7" (released on Joy's own Vermin Scum Records) followed from the same recording session.  They called it quits some time in '97.

As legend has it, The Great Unraveling practiced in Tonie Joy's backyard, on the outskirts of Baltimore.   When the band played the song, "Wellness," ghostly spirits would congregate on the edge of the woods!  Joy has long held an interest in mysterious realms, both ancient and futuristic, from the cryptids in Moss Icon's artwork to the more celestial planes he's explored in his current group, The Convocation.  In contrast, Malat went on to plunge the depths with members of Jaks in the awesomely dark Love Life. 

 Alien landscape doesn't seem that alien at all...