FROM AUTUMN TO ASHES: Don't Call It A Break-Up

WARSHIP, the new band featuring Francis Mark (vocals, drums) and Rob Lauritsen (guitar, bass) of the Long Island, New York post-hardcore act FROM AUTUMN TO ASHES, is currently in a New York studio recording its debut release with producer Andrew Schneider (MADE OUT OF BABIES, CAVE IN, PELICAN, UNSANE). The as-yet-untitled disc is due out on Vagrant later this fall.

Fans can hear a brand new WARSHIP track, "Toil", on MySpace. The song will also be featured on the Vagrant '08 summer sampler that will be available for free at the Vagrant tent at this summer's Vans Warped Tour.

Commented Francis Mark in a statement: "At this point I feel that we have accomplished everything we could have hoped for with FROM AUTUMN TO ASHES. It doesn't feel much like a break-up. Just feels like the end. It's complete. I would say that we are going on indefinite hiatus because the term breakup suggests a more negative circumstance. There have been no quarrels between band members. It is also not a question of fan support because we are lucky to have some of the most loyal and impassioned friends a band could ask for. Thank you again for the overwhelming support of our last album. I've dedicated almost 9 years to FROM AUTUMN TO ASHES and it's become something of a security for me. I'm looking forward to feeling uncertain and the freedom of starting a new band that has no definition. We don't have any expectations or specific goals with WARSHIP. We just want to play loud, have fun and share some positive music with our friends."

"The name WARSHIP comes from a time last year when I was making worship candles (the tall, skinny glass jar candles you get in Brooklyn dollar stores and bodegas)," continued Mark. "They have paintings of saints on one side and a prayer on the opposite. I was buying blank candles and doing my own paintings on them. A friend asked me on a phone call what had I been up to and when I said 'making worship candles,' she thought that I meant candles with actual warships on them. This led me to thinking about the relationship between the two. How discouraging it is when 'worship' begets 'warships.'"

Late-summer touring plans for WARSHIP will be announced shortly.

On January 8, 2008, FROM AUTUMN TO ASHES performed a benefit show at Looney Tunes record store in its hometown area of Long Island, New York and recorded the concert for fans that attended the performance. Now the disc, entitled "Live At Looney Tunes", will get a wide release on June 17 through Vagrant.

The 10-track disc features songs from the band's entire catalog, including its latest, "Holding A Wolf By The Ears".