San Francisco's progressive/doom/stoner rock band GIANT SQUID, who have completed the studio work on their upcoming, self-released album The Ichthyologist with Matt Bayles (MASTODON, ISIS, PEARL JAM), have revealed several guest appearances on the new album including, Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-THE GATHERING, AGUA DE ANNIQUE) and Karyn Crisis (CRISIS).

Singer/guitarist Aaron Gregory posts online: "Giant Squid is extremely proud to announce the guest appearances on our upcoming album, The Ichthyologist, now scheduled for a February 3rd, 2009 release, available only through the band at myspace.com/giantsquid, and limited to only 1,000 copies.

Hopefully, while we have a bunch of you excited by the news below, we can convince you to throw down some cash in advance as we have also made The Ichthyologist available for pre-order from our MySpace page. You'll be guaranteed (if you live in the US) to have the album in your mailbox by the 3rd, if not a day or two earlier. The first 50 orders get a real sevengill shark tooth collected by yours truly from the bottom of the tanks in which I dive in daily at The Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco. Yep, a real shark tooth freshly fallen from the mouth of the beasts that inspire us so. Just don't hurt anybody with it.

Three female legends in underground heavy music adorn The Ichthyologist with masterful performances.

Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering, Agua de Annique) laid down goose bump inducing, soaring vocals on 'Sevengill' (speaking of sharks teeth). Just as in all the guest performers on The Ichthyologist, we had absolute faith in Anneke's ability to raise one of our songs to a level unimagined by us. Being that she resides in her homeland of Holland, she had to record her vocals at home. We gave her the song, lyrics and the basic parts to sing over in any way she saw fit. Her tracks were the last to come in on the final day of mixing. I had already laid down all my vocals by this point, not having any idea how they were going to relate or feel side by side with hers. We did not hear one note of her performance until it was mixed in to the song, and so when we sat down in the control room and listened to 'Sevengill' in it's entirety for the first time, chills ran through all of us. She delivered a larger than life performance, like only she could. All heart and power.

Here's what Anneke had to say about it: "When I was asked to sing on the new Giant Squid album I was just over the moon! After we did a small US tour together in 2006 I really got into their music and still there is not a week that goes by that I don't play their songs. From what I hear their new material is fantastic. The music is intense and emotional; rock that is heavy on the heart. I love it and I love being part of it!"

Kris Force (AMBER ASYLUM, NEUROSIS) also recorded her ethereal tapestry of violins on 'Mormon Island' by herself, taking our sparse, fragile little song into her own hands and effortlessly making it a personal favorite of everyone in the band. If there was a musical equivalent to being a forgotten spirit, forced to haunt the bottom of a murky lake for eternity, it would sound like the wall of ghostly gorgeousness that Kris created. Having her on our record is an immense honor for both Bryan and I, as Jackie (a veteran member of Amber Asylum for over ten years) can tell you what fanboys we are.

Karyn Crisis (Crisis), who is a metal hero to so many - inspiring countless female metal fans to take hold of the microphone themselves and brutalize audiences in ways never seen before years before it became almost commonplace - is the only woman on the planet who could deliver vocals like she did on 'Throwing A Donner Party At Sea.' Uncompromising, vein bursting, mountain lion like ferocity that perfectly captured the anxiety, fear, and pure pissed off punk rock rage that this song embodies. She is an icon and a pioneer, and has become a dear friend of the band. The Ichthyologist wouldn't have been complete without her roar on it.

Here is what Karyn Crisis had to say about it: "I am honored to be a guest vocalist on the new Giant Squid album! I've been a longtime admirer of the Squid's dynamic songwriting and clever storytelling… and with the dramatic addition of the cello, this album is sure to be epic!"

In addition to tracking Karyn Crisis's vocals, legendary bay area producer, Billy Anderson (Neurosis, HIGH ON FIRE) also took the time out of his hectic recording schedule to record the rest of the guest appearances by some of our favorite people at Shark Bite Studios in Oakland, CA.

Lorraine Rath (Amber Asylum, WORM OUROBOROS, THE GAULT) bestowed upon us some crushingly beautiful flute on 'Sevengill.' Lorraine is such an incredible song writer, who took a woeful song and just made it heart breaking. In addition to the tenderness she portrays in the song's much quieter first half, she literally wrote the perfect flute part to go over a 6/7, ultra heavy barrage of melody at the end of the track.

Nate Perkins (THE LESDYSTICS) has been a long time friend and contributor to Giant Squid's previous incarnations in our shared home town of Sacramento. He's a trumpet workhorse who we had coming up with incredible parts on the spot for over three songs on the record. Nate is a mind reader. He would listen patiently to my sometimes absurd descriptions of imaginary trumpet parts in my head, and then quickly come up with fantastic arrangements that were far superior to anything I could have conceived. Now if we can just get him to tour with us!

Last but not least, Jackie's own lovely sister, Cat Gratz, came in and played oboe on 'Emerald Bay,' creating the quintessential forlorn sea shanty sound we strived for in that track. Her touching performance is simultaneously heartwarming and foreboding – an eerie contrast to the grim nature of the song's lyrics.

On Giant Squid's MySpace page (myspace.com/giantsquid), you can watch a short you tube video in which, if you watch all the way to the end, you'll be able to hear bits of ALL the guest performances, as well as watch the studio footage of those who recorded their parts in Oakland with Billy Anderson. In addition there is a very short little video of Jackie and I doing some vocal takes and a bit of banjo jangling in Matt Bayles' studio, the Red Room in Seattle. Enjoy!"

The track listing of The Ichthyologist is: 'Panthalassa - Lampetra tridentata', 'La Brea Tar Pits - Pseudomonas putida', 'Sutterville - Vibrio cholerae', 'Dead Man Slough - Pacifastacus leniusculus', 'Throwing A Donner Party At Sea - Physeter catodon', 'Sevengill - Notorynchus cepedianus', 'Mormon Island - Alluvial Au', 'Blue Linckia - Linckia laevigata', 'Emerald Bay - Prionace glauca', 'Rubicon Wall - Acipenser transmontanus'.

The first 1,000 physical copies of The Ichthyologist will be self-released by the band through their websites, giantsquidlives.com and myspace.com/giantsquid in January of 2009, as well as offering the full album as a download for purchase. The band hopes to find a reputable label to release a full vinyl version of the record simultaneously as well.

Giant Squid will be touring heavily in 2009 to support the release of the record.