Usnea formed in late 2011 when Zeke Rogers moved to Portland, OR from Chico, CA leaving behind his posts in The Makai and Amarok; and Justin Cory and Joel Williams decided to collaborate in the wake of the demise of their previous projects Absence of Light and Dopesmoker. After rounding out the line-up by adding recent Portland transplant Johnny Lovingood on second guitar, they fine-tuned the material they'd thus compiled for a debut record. Their eponymous debut was recorded in mid-2012 at Haywire Studios with Fester (Stoneburner, Nux Vomica, Atriarch, Burials, Knelt Rote, Rabbits, etc) and mastered by Adam Gonsalvez at Telegraph Mastering. Zeke's own label Orca Wolf Records released the first edition of the S/T LP in February of 2013 as a single two song LP with a download of two additional tracks that the band decided not to press to vinyl at the time. Eternal Warfare released a cassette version of the S/T album containing all four songs in late 2013. The album was met with favorable reviews, the only gripe being that the other two songs did not find their way to vinyl. In response, the band teamed up with Germany's Vendetta Records for a collaborative release of a second edition as a 2XLP featuring all four songs with Orca Wolf Records in early 2015.    Usnea embarked on a West Coast tour in May 2013 to support their first record followed by a short tour to Dead Fest in Oakland later that August with Stoneburner and Bastard Feast. In January of 2014, Usnea returned to Haywire to work with Fester again for a split 7” EP with Bielefeld, Germany's Ruins; co-released stateside by Halo of Flies Records and in Europe by Germany’s Twisted Chords Records in June 2014.   After negotiating a record deal with Relapse records, Usnea went back to Haywire and close friend Fester to record their 2nd full length LP titled "Random Cosmic Violence" for their Relapse Records debut. In August 2014, Usnea toured the West Coast with Boston's Fórn and their Oakland best-friends Augurs in anticipation of the new record's release. "Random Cosmic Violence" was released in November of 2014 and was met with positive reviews and a growing fan-base within the doom and black metal global communities.   In May and June of 2015 the band embarked on a 40 day US tour to support "Random Cosmic Violence" as the support act for Italy's UFOMAMMUT (Neurot Recordings). The tour also brought Usnea to Maryland Deathfest XIII for a memorable night there with Yob, Conan, Jex Thoth, Mantar, Primitive Man and Iron Man.   Next up for the band are plans to tour Europe in April 2016 with Australia's INVERLOCH (Relapse label-mates) and play several festivals including Roadburn and Doom Over Leipzig.   Previous projects members of Usnea have been in: The Makai, Amarok, Banishing, Dopesmoker, Absence of Light, Lasers for Eyes, Bodhisattva, Effrays, Electric Desert, and Descent From The Cross.

ex members of Burning Witch/Sunn o)))/ASVA/Goatsnake