Patrol follow up their debut “Destinations” with an artful, soulful diamonds-and-barbed wire strewn landscape of a hard rock album titled “Zirconium.” Produced by Matt Bayles (Minus The Bear, BOTCH), the expansive eight song sophomore release sounds something like a more song-structured Mogwai, or perhaps Melvins melting into Pink Floyd. Bayles and the band recorded the album over several weeks, in a creative burst reminiscent of the work the heavy-sound designer accomplished with many other rock bands, including Raft of Dead Monkeys, the one that guitarist-vocalist Doug Lorig had shared with the late John Spalding. Patrol gave props to Lorig's band-mate and beloved musician and scene supporter at a benefit last winter, but they've been around for awhile before that. “The current Patrol lineup has been working together for about a year and a half,” drummer/keyboardist Eric Junge says. Additional guitarist Skippy King and Lorig are old friends from back before Doug was in RoDM. The behemoth bass drive comes from long-time Akimbo guitarist Burke. “After our first bass player left the group, we'd had a few songs we'd written with him, so we tried out a couple of bass players with little success. Burke was down with Patrol from the days he was playing guitar in Akimbo, so when we found out he was interested, it seemed too good to be true.” Patrol had opened for Akimbo in the past, “so it was an easy fit on a personal and musical level,” Junge continues. “Also, Burke's experience, stage presence, and monolithic gear setup really helped re-inspire the group's new sound/stage setup (now with the massive 6x12 Verellen guitar cabs). I feel like we're much stronger now with the new lineup than before - especially live.” Patrol has shared that stage with Life and Times, Karate, Dead Meadow, Helms Alee, Thrones, Sleeping People, Unwed Sailor, Since By Man, Akimbo, The Valley, Bronze Fawn, The Ruby Doe, Truly, Bacchus, Roy, The Cops, Schoolyard Heroes, The Abodox and many others. Lorig enjoyed recurrently playing local and national all ages and club shows with Roadside Monument and Raft of Dead Monkeys through the 90s. “I guess you could say that with age comes wisdom,” he says about the experience. “I have definitely just learned how to be a better constructor of a song rather than always trying to wow people with how many changes we can do. I think that whatever few RM fans that are still lingering out there somewhere will appreciate it and still hear similarities. I think that this is the best album I have ever done. I feel it's the most complete from beginning to end. I had been striving to have an album that was one complete idea and I feel that I have accomplished probably way later in my life than I would have thought.” For Junge, his previous band Vermilion “was very ‘fly by the seat’ and colorful in the way of free-form song structures and youthful chaos. Patrol is a more focused project, fixated on an over the top guitar sound, brooding atmospherics and developing songs with earnest craftsmanship. I still have the freedom to play simple parts that compliment the group while lashing out occasionally with heavy moments of explosive brilliance... that combined with the meditative parts makes everything seem more dynamic. And a band where a GONG is encouraged is a band I think any drummer would want to be a part of!" “One of our group’s goals is to make solid albums that have continuous elements between them and take the listener on a musical journey... but are also listenable, much in the way our favorite classic rock bands are,” Junge adds. “As pretentious as it could sound, I think we are capable of doing something similar... but with our own style and sentiment. It’s a lofty ideal I guess.” Patrol helped re-open the legendary club The Crocodile (once Cafe) with Akimbo and Brothers of the Sonic Cloth. “I think it was the perfect venue for our music in terms of capacity and sound system,” Junge says. “Everyone I talked to in the crowd said it was awesome! Some even said the vibe felt akin to the "old days" of Seattle (before the jadedness of the post-grunge era set in). But most importantly all of the bands complimented each other well. I'd never met Tad before and he was really supportive and enthusiastic!” About the deep, sparkling production, Junge explains: “Bayles is an old friend through previous bands. I worked with him in Vermilion and Doug did too in Raft of Dead Monkeys. Luckily, he agreed to work with us again. His production style is perfect for Patrol in that its precise, captures our essence, and simultaneously pushes us to get better and better. Plus he's really good at what he does. I admire his work ethic.” Lorig adds, “On this record, we took all the things that we learned from the first record with Matt, almost three more years of being a band and harnessed that into what you hear now. The result is a more accomplished song writing and playing. Matt noticed a huge difference himself.” Patrol are a Seattle band unusually on a Japanese imprint, the Stiff Slack label. “The owner, Tak, was a humongous Roadside Monument fan back in the day,” Junge says. “Once he caught wind of Patrol he agreed to put out the first record, after hearing some demos we did with Ben Verellen. It was really inspiring when we first got Japanese copies of Destinations and figured it would be a decent stepping stone to get on a US label. Later, when we still hadn't found a label, we didn't expect Stiff Slack to put out ‘Zirconium’ -- but lucky for us he did! I think it says something about the strength of the new album.” As for why the music that Patrol makes seems to make more sense now in the bust after the boom of a barrage of softer forms, Junge offers, “I think there's always been an underlying movement that has consisted of a pocket of Seattle musicians focused on making loud, progressive, heavy-as-**** music. People in bands like Akimbo/Sandrider, Helms Alee, TAAS, Kane Hodder, The Abodox, Big Business, Playing Enemy (now Hemingway) ... some of these people came from the hardcore scene, others (like Doug and I) just love all types of music and chose a ‘heavy’ genre as an outlet as opposed to a 'pop' genre. It seems most of these dudes aren't preoccupied with music careers. They have regular jobs, play for the love of the game, and take pride in contributing to the scene.” “Zirconium” is a full-length the band prefers to their debut. “I think it’s a more mature and more polished sounding band,” Junge describes. “Also the material is darker, heavier, and the production is tighter. The songs are more grandiose and epic in scope than on ‘Destinations’ (as is the album in general). Before we were going for concise songwriting and lately its been the opposite. I think at one point we asked ourselves - who is this imaginary audience we've created in our heads that we have to write 4 minute songs for? So we let the songs take more of a life of their own. The new material is much more open and cerebral. We've added a few new elements too like some synth, piano, experimental rock percussion (i.e. gong, efx cymbal) and it’s still tasteful. I'd say there are less vocals on the new album than Destinations, but when they come in, the vocals are stronger and have way more presence!” Doug Lorig on the album’s theme: “I wrote a lot of the lyrics right before we headed into the studio - which was right about the time that John Spalding was starting to slide downhill health-wise. A lot of them turned out to be about life and death. So I think that if there is any kind of theme that spans the record, maybe it would be mortality.” On the "Zirconium" wrap-around cover art and design by Aaron Hobson: Doug Lorig, "My girlfriend has a subscription to avant pop-culture art magazine JUXTAPOZ. I happened to be thumbing through the newest issue that she had received and came across this photo spread across two pages. I immediately just said out loud, 'That has got to be our album cover!' So we Googled the name of the photographer and contacted him about using the photo. He lives in upstate NY and has a alot of super dark photos. So, a few emails and and a few dollars exchanged and we got our album cover. It was actually very easy and painless." Eric Junge: "Not only is Aaron's work great, and worthy of attention, his style is similar to what we were going for on our new album so I felt it as a good fit. Dark, expansive, use of space, detail and the overall composition of his work were in line with the feel of the new album. His photos tell an eerie story that is completely at the discretion of the viewer. I feel that same element lies in our music as well to an extent -- especially in Doug's lyrics."