Semuta’s Benjamin Caragol gave us a Portland list with bands, all-ages spaces, a woman who has filmed local shows for more than a decade, vegan Mexican food, waterfalls and dogs. His own band sit right in the middle of it: Benjamin on guitar, bass and vocals, Ben Stoller on drums and synth, playing long, proggy, sludgy post-metal as a two-piece. Their second album, “Thoughtless/Dreamless,” arrives October 9 through Accident Prone Records.
Benjamin has also watched Portland’s all-ages DIY scene come back over the last few years. Semuta’s album release show on October 16 is happening at High Water Mark, a room Benjamin and Ben have been playing since it opened, first with other bands and now together as Semuta.
He called his contribution “What’s Good in Portland?” and wrote it as a personal list of things he thinks somebody outside the city should know about. High Water Mark and Blackwater sit next to U Sco, Lesser Halves and Sea Moss. Blue Heron Video is there because somebody has to document all this. Then Benjamin leaves music behind completely and starts talking about waterfalls, restaurants and the local dog population.
The younger all-ages scene was already on his mind before we asked for the list.
“Portland’s music scene has been pretty wild the past few years. There’s a really explosive all ages and diy scene right now. Tons of really enthusiastic bands playing hardcore and weirdo punk shit, and they’re good! The kids are pissed off, and they should be, and it’s been really awesome to see it. I’ve been especially blown away by Rhododendron, Sea Moss, and Geremiah over the last few years. There’s also a lot of folks like us, getting older but still playing fringe punk and heavy music because we love it. There’s something for everyone in this town.”
Benjamin thinks Covid had a lot to do with what happened afterwards. He also admits that “a couple of dudes in their 40’s” are probably not the people with the clearest view of a scene being driven by much younger bands.
“Like it is a bi-product of all that time cooped up at home and watching the world fall apart in real time on their phones. It pissed the kids off. It made them yearn for community. It gave them time to learn about new things. And it made them want to do something loud.”
The first Rhododendron show he saw was the point when he realised all-ages Portland was properly moving again. The room was packed, the crowd was young and the band were already doing their own thing without apology.
“Young people needed this in a way that made this jaded old heart swell.”
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New all-ages and DIY spaces have opened around that wave, alongside renegade generator shows. High Limit Room is probably the most established at this point. It is sober and all-ages, and Benjamin compares the feeling around it to going to Gilman St when he was younger. He also singles out how inclusive these newer spaces and shows are.
“All of it is inspiring and makes me think at least some of the kids are going to be alright.”
Semuta come from the older end of the same Portland underground. Benjamin grew up as a metal kid listening to Gorguts and Enslaved, then found Radiohead and later gravitated towards heavy bands that could get strange with structure and melody, including Neurosis, Converge and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. He has described the two-person setup with Ben as especially satisfying once both players are fully dialled into complicated music.
That setup gets pushed much harder on “Thoughtless/Dreamless.” The album has four long songs adding up to almost 40 minutes, with each one running into the next. “Slow Decay” alone lasts around nine minutes and moves through 4/4, 5/4 and 7/4.
The title track is close to ten minutes and covers even more ground, beginning quietly before moving through slower sections, odd-time passages and death-metal vocals, then ending on big sludge-heavy major chords.
“We wanted to lean into the more complex and metallic aspects of our band, while also creating more space, atmosphere, and beauty. We wanted to embrace long-form song writing and create something cohesive, with all four songs flowing into one one another to create something seamless and expansive.”
Scott Evans recorded and mixed the album, and Brad Boatright mastered it. Benjamin’s writing also became much more personal during the process. “Glacial Erratic,” released in 2024, spent more time on political failure.
This time he was writing about trying to hold onto the things that give life meaning, what happens when those things start falling apart, depression and his own dissatisfaction with what he was doing.
The title track comes from something even more specific.
“This song is about insomnia. I often wake up in the middle of the night with my mind racing, and am unable to find my way back to sleep. In those moments all I want is to be thoughtless and dreamless, without all the worries about my little life and the world at large.”
The place Benjamin puts first in Portland is High Water Mark.
He calls it “arguably the most important small venue in Portland.” It has been there for more than a decade and will book a tiny strange solo act as readily as it will bring in touring bands. Benjamin has seen Kowloon Walled City, Pageninetynine, Big Brave, Thantifaxath and Thou come through. The room holds around 150 people, though he reckons 40 can still feel like a proper crowd in there, and he rates its sound as the best in town for a room of that size.
There is a big covered patio with a fire pit when Portland gets cold and misters when it gets hot. The food has options for different diets. More important to Benjamin, he knows the people running the place, from the owner and booker to the sound people and bartenders.
“We are lucky to have this place.”
His history there goes back to the beginning. Benjamin and Ben played High Water Mark in earlier bands including Burials, Hot Victory, Hang the Old year and Dark Numbers. Over the years, the venue has hosted their tour kick-offs, record release shows, benefits, Halloween cover sets and farewell shows.
That made October 16 an easy choice for the Semuta album release.
“The High Water Mark is a very special place for us as a band, and we’re excited to be having our Album release show there on October 16th. We have been playing shows there since it began; at the time in our previous bands like Burials, Hot Victory, Hang the Old year, and Dark Numbers. Over the years they’ve hosted our tour kick offs, record releases, benefits, Halloween cover sets, and even farewell shows, so it felt like a no-brainer to do this show there.”
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U Sco are also playing that night. The third band contains Ben Verellen from Helms Alee and Aaron Beam from Red Fang. Benjamin confirmed that both names are fine to publish. The band still do not have an official name, so for this show they are billed as Atumes, which is Semuta backwards.
“Those dudes are hilarious.”
Benjamin is equally happy to have U Sco there.
“It’s always rad to play with our homies in U Sco. It should be a pretty special night.”
His second Portland venue pick is Blackwater. It has existed in different forms and locations for something like 20 years. Its current home combines an all-ages venue, vegan restaurant, bar, record store and rehearsal space, plus a rooftop balcony. The shows lean heavily towards punk, though Blackwater also hosts drag events and gaming nights. The owners and people working there are long-time Portland punk people and friends of the band.
Benjamin likes the mix. Punk shows, queer-friendly events, games, records, food and rehearsal rooms all fit under one roof. He also enjoys the much less useful fact that two of his favourite Portland small venues have water in their names.
“Which aquatic named punk bar is the show at tonight?”
U Sco have been together for more than 15 years. Benjamin considers them local legends and still thinks most people outside Portland have no idea who they are. Math-rock is the quickest label he can give them, though the music also gets strange, loose and chaotic, with grooves running through all the technical playing.
“These dudes make ART. It’s weird, experimental, full of cool grooves, and indeed quite mathematical.”
For all the playing ability involved, Benjamin never hears U Sco showing off just for the sake of it.
“The ripping always serves the song, even if the song is meandering and chaotic. I really have no idea how they write music like this, I’m just stoked I get to watch them do it from time to time with my jaw on the floor.”
Lesser Halves are much newer. Benjamin’s description gets to the point faster than a stack of genre tags could.
“It makes me think of what Elliott Smith would have done if he started a mathy emo band.”
Sea Moss give Semuta another Portland two-piece to point towards. Benjamin reaches for noise, drum and bass and math-rock to describe them. Their setup pairs home-built electronics with a live drum kit, producing rhythms and sounds he hears as both alien and organic. He recommends the records, though the live version is where the handmade setup becomes easiest to understand.
Then there are the people making sure these bands leave some kind of record behind. Blue Heron Video is Shelby Kray, who has been filming Portland shows for well over a decade. Benjamin says she is out at shows close to every night, recording bands from several camera angles, editing the footage and putting complete sets online without charging the bands. Her archive stretches across local groups and touring acts passing through Portland.
“I can’t really overstate the service she is providing, free of charge, for the Portland music scene.”
Shelby also directed Semuta’s “Glacial Erratic” video, built around what Benjamin calls a “pretty hilarious B-movie thing.”
Benjamin’s Portland stops being a music guide at this point, which is part of why the list works.
First, waterfalls. Multnomah Falls is the biggest and, in his view, touristy enough to become underwhelming. There are many others within roughly an hour’s drive. His advice is simpler: if you come to Portland and skip the waterfalls, you are blowing it.
Then dogs. Lots of dogs. Benjamin’s link for this one goes directly to Oregon Dog Rescue.
“There are just tons of dogs in Portland, and it’s been scientifically proven that dogs are better than people or bands or venues. You can’t go anywhere without a cute lil pup wiggling its butt and gazing longingly into your eyes. As the empire crumbles, ecosystems collapse, fascism spreads, and AI takes over, at least we still have dogs to inspire some small amount of joy in our stupid little lives.”
Food takes up more space. Benjamin calls Portland something of a promised land for vegans, with vegan choices common even in restaurants that are not fully vegan.
Feral is his pick for something fancier. Its seasonal menu changes constantly, and the restaurant is owned and run by people he describes simply as “dirty punks like us.” Norah is an all-vegan Thai-ish spot, taking familiar dishes in less obvious directions and putting things like spicy tempura noodle soup on the menu.
Mis Tacones sits at the other end of the formality scale. It is a queer BIPOC-owned all-vegan Mexican restaurant making its own seitan asada, tortillas and hot sauces, with three cashew cremas on the menu. It also provides free meals to marginalised people who need food. Benjamin adds that none of these places require you to be vegan, and they can often accommodate other dietary needs as well.
He still had plenty left over. Divers, Geremiah, Jenny Haniver, Hiss, Nasaldrod, Chaotic Neutral, Lividus, Spirit Possession and Spares all make the band honourable mentions. The Alleyway, Turn Turn Turn, Swan Dive, Azoth, High Limit Room, The Fixin’ Too, Alchemy Cider and Shanghai Tunnel make the equivalent venue and bar list.
“We’re probably neglecting a bunch of friends by not including their bands and establishments on this list. Sorry friends! We love you.”
“Thoughtless/Dreamless” gives all of this a useful date stamp. “Glacial Erratic” dealt more directly with political failures. Benjamin’s writing on the second album comes from difficulty holding onto things that give life meaning, what happens when those things fall apart, depression and his own dissatisfaction with what he is doing.
The title track gets very literal about one part of that.
“This song is about insomnia. I often wake up in the middle of the night with my mind racing, and am unable to find my way back to sleep. In those moments all I want is to be thoughtless and dreamless, without all the worries about my little life and the world at large.”
On 16 October, Semuta take it back to High Water Mark, the room Benjamin and Ben have been playing since its earliest days. After Portland, the run continues through Tacoma on 17 October, Seattle on the 18th, Chico on the 23rd, Los Angeles on the 24th and Oakland on the 25th. For a record arriving alongside a personal guide to their hometown, High Water Mark is a pretty natural place to start.
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