20 Buck Spin first heard SAMOTHRACE at a party in Austin during SXSW 2007. A crude rehearsal recording, but instantly we recognized how amazing these songs were gonna be. After inquiring about who it was the label immediately got in touch with the then Lawrence, Kansas-based band and offered to release their debut record. Life’s Trade materialized in 2008, booming with ultra heavy doom and harsh alcohol-soaked vocals, yet with a somber melodic sense permeating the four massive tracks on Life’s Trade. Not in the overused, weepy Euro-doom tradition, but distinctly Midwestern, soulful and blues inflected. The songs shimmer with desperation, hopelessness and pain; both world weary for the plight of the oppressed and also intensely personal. Recorded and mixed by Sanford Parker (Buried At Sea, Pelican, Nachtmystium) Life’s Trade rates as a stunning debut which immediately brought the band to the top of the doom genre, where they remain today, now located in Seattle, Washington. [20 Buck Spin]