HORSEBACK

Post Rock/Math rock • United States

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Horseback biography
Horseback is the blackened post-rock project of American guitarist Jenks Miller, who resides in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Miller also records under his given name, as well as with ensembles like alt-country band Mount Moriah, psychedelic blues unit Rose Cross NC and black metal duo Poison Blood, and formerly with heavy kraut/psych group In the Year of the Pig. According to Miller, the moniker was suggested by a friend, which eventually took on "certain characteristics, such as a nod to both western motifs and the apocalypse riders," as he explained in an interview. After a failed attempt to materialise a band while studying at UNC-Chapel Hill, Miller began compiling material as Horseback in 2004, primarily to channel his recently-diagnosed obsessive-compulsive disorder into a therapeutic, productive outlet.

Horseback's style is a genre-agnostic hybrid of black metal, krautrock, psychedelic folk, drone ambient and Americana, explicitly using harsh vocals as a textural element against the backdrop of repetitive, hypnotic trance-metal and guitar squall soundscapes. While Miller prefers to work alone, he occasionally summons assistance in the studio (and the rare live performance) from guitarist Rich James (of Hog and formerly Tooth), bassist Nick Petersen (of Monsonia) and drummer John Crouch (of Caltrop and Solar Halos). The project is conceptually inspired by occultism and comparative mythology from around the world, the writings of Joseph Campbell and Carl Gustav Jung, and the films of Alejandro Jodorowsky. Miller has cited prime musical influences as Black Sabbath, Fields of the Nephilim, Swans, Earth, Neu!, Skullflower, Tony Conrad, Lungfish and the Coltranes, with additional love for black metal, post-punk and British and American folk like Neil Young, the Band, Fairport Convention and Sandy Denny.

Cajoled by friends to share the results of his private recordings on their new label, Miller co-released Horseback's first missive, 2007's Impale Golden Horn, via Miller's own label Holidays for Quince Records. 2009 saw the release of the more riffy, rock-oriented The Invisible Mountain on Utech Records, a loose concept album detailing a Campbell-esque "hero's journey" of transformation and transcendence, serving as a metaphor for Miller's OCD and his relationship with an unrelatable world. The Invisible Mountain caught the ear of Aquarius Records and Relapse, the latter of whom reissued it and signed Horseback in 2010, l...Horseback is the blackened post-rock project of American guitarist Jenks Miller, who resides in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Miller also records under his given name, as well as with ensembles like alt-country band Mount Moriah, psychedelic blues unit Rose Cross NC and black metal duo Poison Blood, and formerly with heavy kraut/psych group In the Year of the Pig. According to Miller, the moniker was suggested by a friend, which eventually took on "certain characteristics, such as a nod to both western motifs and the apocalypse riders," as he explained in an interview. After a failed attempt to materialise a band while studying at UNC-Chapel Hill, Miller began compiling material as Horseback in 2004, primarily to channel his recently-diagnosed obsessive-compulsive disorder into a therapeutic, productive outlet.

Horseback's style is a genre-agnostic hybrid of black metal, krautrock, psychedelic folk, drone ambient and Americana, explicitly using harsh vocals as a textural element against the backdrop of repetitive, hypnotic trance-metal and guitar squall soundscapes. While Miller prefers to work alone, he occasionally summons assistance in the studio (and the rare live performance) from guitarist Rich James (of Hog and formerly Tooth), bassist Nick Petersen (of Monsonia) and drummer John Crouch (of Caltrop and Solar Halos). The project is conceptually inspired by occultism and comparative mythology from around the world, the writings of Joseph Campbell and Carl Gustav Jung, and the films of Alejandro Jodorowsky. Miller has cited prime musical influences as Black Sabbath, Fields of the Nephilim, Swans, Earth, Neu!, Skullflower, Tony Conrad, Lungfish and the Coltranes, with additional love for black metal, post-punk and British and American folk like Neil Young, the Band, Fairport Convention and Sandy Denny.

Cajoled by friends to share the results of his private recordings on their new label, Miller co-released Horseback's first missive, 2007's Impale Golden Horn, via Miller's own label Holidays for Quince Records. 2009 saw the release of the more riffy, rock-oriented The Invisible Mountain on Utech Records, a loose concept album detailing a Campbell-esque "hero's journey" of transformation and transcendence, serving as a metaphor for Miller's OCD and his relationship with an unrelatable world. The Invisible Mountain caught the ear of Aquarius Records and Relapse, the latter of whom reissued it and signed Horseback in 2010, later releasing its companion-cum-sequel, Half Blood, in 2012. The critically-acclaimed LP served as the conclusion for Miller's semi-autobiographical story, wherein the protagonist returns home to share their newfound knowledge and accepts their impurities, scattered with allusions to Greek, Persian and Indian mythology. Around these major releases were several EPs and splits with like-minded kraut-metal band Locrian and blackened drone outfits Njiqahdda and Voltigeurs (the latter one of the many projects of Miller's hero Matthew Bower). Miller collected these curiosities along with other rarities for the 2013 compilation A Plague of Knowing, and temporarily pivoted to psych/folk label Three Lobed Recordings to release 2014's Piedmont Apocrypha, on which he began to scale back his heavier proclivities.

Horseback's last-known activity was 2016's Dead Ringers, explicitly nodding to krautrock artists Can and Faust and World Serpent titans Current 93, Coil and Nurse With Wound, jettisoning the metal in favour of entirely-clean vocals and a more pastoral, meditative atmosphere.

- Gordy, June 2025read more

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HORSEBACK discography

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HORSEBACK top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

0.00 \| 0 ratings Impale Golden Horn 2007	4.00 \| 1 ratings The Invisible Mountain 2009	0.00 \| 0 ratings Forbidden Planet 2010	0.00 \| 0 ratings Pyramids & Horseback: A Throne Without a King 2011
0.00 \| 0 ratings Piedmont Apocrypha 2014	3.00 \| 1 ratings Dead Ringers 2016

HORSEBACK Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

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Impale Golden Live
2007

HORSEBACK Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

HORSEBACK Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

4.00 | 1 ratings

A Plague of Knowing
2013

HORSEBACK Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

0.00 | 0 ratings

MILH IHVH
2009

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Horseback / Voltigeurs
2010

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Horseback & Locrian: New Dominions
2011

HORSEBACK Reviews

Showing last 10 reviews only

Thanks to gordy for the artist addition.

0.00 \| 0 ratings Impale Golden Horn 2007	4.00 \| 1 ratings The Invisible Mountain 2009	0.00 \| 0 ratings Forbidden Planet 2010	0.00 \| 0 ratings Pyramids & Horseback: A Throne Without a King 2011
0.00 \| 0 ratings Piedmont Apocrypha 2014	3.00 \| 1 ratings Dead Ringers 2016