New Noise Magazine Issue #34

W I L L In

2017

Swedish

T O

P OW E R

Extreme

A R C H

Metal

Icons,

E N E M Y

will take their rightful position a t t h e t a b l e o f H e av y M e t a l r o y a l t y .

C at c h

A RC H E N E MY o n t o u r i n N o rt h w i t h T R I V I UM t h i s Fa l l October-December

America

OFFICIAL BAND DIRECT PREORDER BUNDLES AVAILABLE AT JSRDIRECT.COM/BANDS/ARCHENEMY & WILLTOPOWER.CENTURYMEDIA.COM

S C A N T O Stream the first single from the new album ‘Will To Power�

S T R E A M

Check out & Save other Arch Enemy releases to your collection!

new albums from topshelf records: Ratboys GN

CD / LP / CS /digital - June 30

Chicago’s Ratboys continue their trend of effortlessly creating country-inspired indie rock songs with an airy, leisurely charm.

For Fans of: Pinegrove, Rilo Kiley, The Weakerthans, Ben Kweller, Feist, Andy Shauf.

“The sumptuous licks of guitar and Steiner's honeyed vocals tell an intimate story.” -FADER “Rocks all the the way through.” -NPR

tricot 3

CD / LP / CS /digital - out now

Captivating guitar interplay and stop-and-start percussion abound amidst complex polyrhythms on the Kyoto, Japan three-piece’s energetic third album.

For Fans of: Chon, Hella, Cibo Matto, Marnie Stern, TTNG, Metric. “the nonstop time-signature shifts and torrid playing that animate their tricky pop is the work of a band in its own lane.” -Rolling Stone

“The greatest trio on Earth” -Noisey

Us and Us Only Full Flower

CD / LP / CS /digital - July 7

Featuring members of Teen Suicide, Us and Us Only expertly employ layered harmonies and orchestral arrangements over twelve emotionally charged and sonically concise tracks.

For Fans of: Wolf Parade, Bombay Bicycle Club, Vampire Weekend,

also available: No Vacation

People Like You

Summer Break Singles

Verse

7” / CS /digital

July 28

out now

CD / LP / CS /digital

additional new titles coming soon from: Special Explosion & Queen Moo

tour dates, merch & info: topshelfrecords.com

FOUR YEAR STRONG SOME OF YOU WILL LIKE THIS // SOME OF YOU WON’T

EXCLUSIVE INDIE RECORD STORE VINYL COLOR AVAILABLE

EXCLUSIVE INDIE RECORD STORE VINYL COLOR AVAILABLE

NEW CD // LP // DIGITAL - SEPTEMBER 8, 2017

FQP shines a light on the joys and heartaches that lie at the intersection of the LGBTQIA+ community and the world of alternative music. While queer representation is often refracted through the prism of normative curiosities and concerns, FQP features queer voices saying whatever they want, however they want. Don’t fear the realness.

venue’s staff, etc. It can definitely be a nightmare. However, for every band that behaves in such a way, there are two that are chock-full of creative folks with amazing energy and personalities. Those are the bands I live for and work with repeatedly. Those are the bands that leave a more positive lasting impression on the music scene.

PHOTO: MARISSA KM

FEATURING DONNIE MOORE OF ABSOLUTELY NOT

T

here’s something cinematic about Chicago trio Absolutely Not’s hot pink postpunk. Spacey, cheeky, and menacing, the 10 tracks on their fifth album, Errors—out July 28 via No Trend Records—play like lost soundtrack cuts from campy high school horror touchstones like “Jawbreaker,” “Pep Squad,” and Gregg Araki’s Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy. While Absolutely Not don’t actually endorse cutting down the prom queen with your bedazzled switchblade, they are dead set on murdering the mean girls inside your head. Their single, “Strictly Top,” is an outsider anthem promoting radical self-acceptance, its music video featuring a glittering rogues gallery of Chicago nightlife’s most fabulous misfits—including the phenomenal Lucy Stoole! These connections were likely fostered through running Glitter Creeps, a monthly queer rock event created by vocalist and guitarist Donnie Moore and his sister, co-vocalist and keys player Madison Moore, to further Absolutely Not’s ethos of inclusivity, celebration, and all things sparkly and pink.

ON BOOKING IN CHICAGO

Music is extremely important to me, so being a “musical matchmak-

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er” with all the incredible bands currently making noise around the country brings me great joy. A lot of booking agents can be very lackadaisical with their curation, which can be especially frustrating for out of town acts, so I always try to provide the performers and audience with genuinely entertaining and fluid lineups. If you like the first band, you’ll probably enjoy the headliner too, and vice versa—you get the idea.

That being said, keeping in line with those ideals can be extremely tough and thoroughly frustrating at times, and it definitely takes some thick skin to make it out unscathed. I’d like to think my skin is thick, but I’m probably a medium thickness at best. Bands cancel last minute, demand odd shit, say odd shit to you and the

ON PRODUCING WAD AND MY OWN DANG RECORD

WAD. Gosh, I love ‘em. Such an amazing band. Wall of sound postpunk that demands your attention and all of your emotions. Claire’s vocals haunt each track, which only heightens the already gripping music. Producing them was a breeze and a half. We all clicked so well. Claire’s need for darkness during her vocals sessions especially proved that we are kindred spirits. “You want the lights off when you sing, Claire? Like, I really want to put you in total fucking darkness with all your demons… cool?” To which she very quickly replied in a deep voice, “Mmm, yes please.” Swoon. I need the darkness too, with no one looking at me. That’s when the real raw crazy comes out.

With WAD’s record, and with my own record, Errors, I worked with the talented and knowledgeable Brian Fox. He engineered—and honestly, coproduced—both records perfectly. Brian and I work together well because we enjoy similar music, production styles, and tonality. I’m also not afraid to try my weirdo ideas around Brian, which is ideal, and sometimes, he even has a few weirdo ideas of his own!

Errors was the first Absolutely Not record where I really took my time not only writing the songs, but also recording them. I’ve always worked hard on my records, but this one was different, this one was the most important to me. I had a very specific idea of how I wanted the whole thing to be, a sci-fi/hor-

ror B-movie and bubblegum molded into a spastic post-punk record, and I hope that’s exactly what people hear.

ON WEED & ANXIETY

Weed. Medicine. Opens my mind to all sounds. Opens my mind to all films. Always slowing the pace of my ever-swirling thoughts and helping me focus and relax. My favorite time to smoke—besides all day every day—is when I’m working on a new demo for Absolutely Not or whatever fake second, third, or fourth band I’ve created in my own head that day. I just sit on the floor in my apartment with a laptop, guitar, Casio keyboard, and my Batman pipe (thanks Madison!). Bye world, I’m slipping into the shadows for a while, and who knows when I’ll be back and what I’ll be bringing with me.

Another favorite time to smoke is during shows. I do have some social anxiety, but mostly, it’s just being smashed in larger crowds that overwhelms me. Maybe it’s the heat or the noise, I don’t know, but it’s very consuming. It’s strange, because even though I can clearly be a very introverted person at times, I also equally crave going to shows, performing for people, and clucking away with my friends about all the latest gossip. It’s a constant battle of internal confusion that weed is helping me fight every day. I’m gonna just try to be all red-eyed and smiley as much as possible until the day I pass.

Weed, thank you for being my friend and my confidant.

PHOTO: J.P. RUSSELL

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cclaimed rock producers Joey Sturgis, Joel Wanasek, and Eyal Levi—whose production work has shaped the outcome of records

by The Devil Wears Prada, Miss May I, and Asking Alexandria, to name just a few—have created an online resource that is poised to revolutionize audio production education. Nail The Mix creates and fosters an online environment where subscribers can take remote courses. It’s a multifaceted, immersive production class environment directly connected to some of today’s most massive production talents, fostering a culture of collaboration that is nearly unheard of.

Wanasek observes, “Since most of the large studios in the music industry have gone away and been replaced by smaller, more efficient setups—in addition to the industry seeing a massive influx of hobbyists who want to record their own music—it is extremely important for this next generation coming up to learn from the previous generation so that they can continue advancing the industry. There are no places to get great mentorship now, and information floating in random places on the internet isn’t always credible. What we are doing is about empowering people so they can make better music and get stronger results. The music busi-

ness used to be very secretive, but now it is becoming collaborative.”

Each month, Nail The Mix invites a different producer to walk through their techniques via livestream and on their podcast, Unstoppable Recording Machine.

Plus, the service is offered at a cost that won’t leave subscribers with years of debt. “[A Nail The Mix subscription] costs between $25 and $40 a month,” Wanasek says. “Keep in mind that a recording school— with 1,000 times less real world teaching—will set you back about $70,000. We teach the skills [subscribers] need to be employable and effective, but for the cost of a few lunches. The value for cost ratio is insane. I would have paid thousands to even sit in on any of my favorite mixers for an hour when I was learning this craft.”

“Some people think mixing is a preset, meaning that they can just get a formula and make a song sound amazing,” he continues.

“That isn’t how it works. It is an art. A great analogy is cooking.

You watch someone like Gordon Ramsay take five ingredients and make an amazing dish. You try it, and it turns out terribly. The truth is that it takes a ton of hard work to get great at anything. I can give you every setting of a mix, and you

will always do it different because you hear, feel, and react in your own way. Our guests realize this because we aren’t teaching preset formulas, we are teaching problem-solving and workflows.”

Subscribers are also invited to submit their own mixes after being given access to real, original multi-tracks from various bands— the last few sessions have featured the likes of Meshuggah, A Day To Remember, Gojira, Papa Roach, Machine Head, and Periphery—to practice their abilities. They receive personal critiques from the Nail The Mix producers, and those who submit the best mixes are entered into the running for huge production gear prizes.

“Music has always and will always enhance our lives,” Levi says. “It expresses emotions for us which we are not capable of expressing through words or actions. We also believe that art serves as a mirror to society and shows it not only where it is, but in some ways, where it’s going. That is a very, very important role, and we are frightened that the up-and-coming generations may not have the tools they need in order to keep music evolving with society. This is where we come in. I want our students to be the next generation of A-list producers and mixers.”

NAIL THE MIX’S TIPS FOR UP-ANDCOMING PRODUCERS 1. DON’T BE SMALL TIME. No matter what you do, always put your all into it. You want people associating excellence with your name no matter what you do.

2. NEVER TAKE SUCCESS FOR GRANTED. If you aren’t growing, you’re dying.

Every day, you need to get up, work hard, and fight. No settling or getting lazy, because as soon as you do that, you will get smoked.

3. ALWAYS GIVE MORE VALUE THAN YOU TAKE FROM YOUR CLIENTS. Never let an artist leave your studio without feeling that they got an amazing value. Coach them, mentor them, teach them. Make them comfortable, push them to be better, and teach them how to be better.

4. DON’T STOP LEARNING. You need to learn about business, psychology, accounting, and marketing along with music production. Be a constant learner. Don’t slack.

5. GET GOOD AT WORKING WITH PEOPLE. Learn to be a good hang. It is a lot of stress for an artist to make a record. Make it seem like they are hanging out with their friends and they will always give amazing performances.

PHOTO: JAKE CUNNINGHAM

The lyrics also seem more angry, nihilistic, and misanthropic than before.

The world in 2017 has no shortage of things to get pissed about, so Murray leaned further into the darkness on this second EP. “I wrote all the lyrics,” he shares, “and they are mostly about suicidal ideation and wanting to abandon this mortal coil, to say goodbye to the buzzing human-hive that gives me a fucking headache most days. So yeah, I was just trying to spew pure hatred and vomit, lyrically, about the state of the human condition.”

OAKLAND. WEED. SATAN.- WILDERNESS DREAM INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST/GUITARIST BEN MURRAY BY NICHOLAS S E N I O R

On Paralysis Rise, Bay Area-based quartet, Wilderness Dream, play a form of nihilistic, riffy death-thrashpunk, but they approach this style very differently than similarly-defined band, NAILS. While NAILS indulge in extremity for its own sake, Wilderness Dream use their speed to pack as many horns-in-the-air riffs and glorious leads as they can into 20 minutes. These seven tunes are undeniably catchy— which makes perfect sense for an EP

helmed by Ben Murray of noted melodic punk group, Heartsounds—each one a fantastic display of making the old feel new again.

Three-piece punk band from Ontario, Cheap Whine, formed in 2015 and made their musical debut in July with their self-titled album, released on the U.K.based label, Drunken Sailor Records. The band consists of vocalist and guitarist Eric French of Feral Trash and Varsity Weirdos, vocalist and bassist Steve Adamyk of Steve Adamyk Band and Sedatives, and drummer Jordy Bell of Crusades.

er through different bands they were playing in and decided create their own group. “Pop punk garage,” is how French describes their sound. Think of the Ramones or The Clash mixed with Vacation.

Cheap Whine came up with their name due to the atmosphere of their persona onstage. “We just tossed around a bunch of band names, and a lot of stuff was kind of taken,” French laughs. “There’s a lot of whining, I guess, in the band. I don’t know, I think we thought it was clever—at least I did. I think the other two guys weren’t crazy about it, but we went with it.”

All of the members knew each oth-

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Paralysis Rise—released July 14 via Murray’s own label, CreatorDestructor—contains haymaker after haymaker, fueling the listener’s desire to rage against the state of the world, bolstered by some grade-A necksnapping metal.

musical elements just didn’t fit that aesthetic, so we wrote more crushing and dissonant riffs. Saying it’s ‘catchy’ is funny in regards to blackened thrash metal, but I do think that these songs are catchier—just more interesting song structures and memorable ‘melodies’ so to speak, more hard-hitting riffs.”

Murray shares vocal and guitar duties with Ryan Hansen, backed by the rhythm section of bassist Bret Fontaine and drummer Trey Derbes, also of Heartsounds. He explains that the band grew much more comfortable with their sonic vision on this second record, the follow-up to their 2015 self-titled debut.

“We definitely consciously wanted to strip away any remaining melodic or punk elements and concentrate on pure darkness and heaviness,” he says. “Those

On a lighter note, Wilderness Dream’s Facebook bio reads: “Oakland, CA. Weed. Satan.” Does Satan smoke weed?

“Satan definitely smokes weed,” Murray confirms. “That gives his third eye the clarity to determine what punisher motherfuckers deserve a one-way ticket to his house of fire! Everyone cool smokes weed, including Satan. He is no exception!”

A GLASS OF HOUSE GRIPE- CHEAP WHINE

Though the supergroup formed in 2015, they did not officially release anything until 2017 due to their other commitments. “I’m a bit of a stickler too; I didn’t want to put out—I don’t know, just anything, I guess,” French says. “First impressions are pretty important.”

The 13-track vinyl features songs such as “A Little Change,” “Where are you now,” “Step Off,” and “All the While.” There are no plans for a tour just yet, but the band are in talks for shows in the near future.

“We’re a pretty tightly knit little threepiece,” French concludes. “I guess, you know—a lot of reverb and a lot of whining.”

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST/GUITARIST ERIC FRENCH BY NATALYA DAOUD

Miss Taken—the third LP by San Francisco’s Male Gaze, released June 30 via Castle Face Records—could have just as easily been titled “Love Is a Battlefield.”

Navigating a pop-leaning post-punk landscape amidst fuzzy mortars and buzzing guitars, vocalist Matt Jones radios in his lovelorn shellshock to great effect.

and populating it around the corners.”

“I had recently broken up with a longtime girlfriend,” Jones admits. “I sort of used writing as a way to get through a bunch of different things. Turns out, I fall quickly and hard, and there were quite a few stumbles where I sort of picked myself off the ground and dusted myself off by writing these songs. It was an eventful few months. There’s obviously some wishful thinking and fictions and liberties and blah [blah blah]—it’s no tell-all—but there was a lot of heart and obsessions kinda poured into this one

In addition to changes in Jones’ love life, the band uncoupled from their second guitarist, settling in as a trio. “Turns out it was more trouble than it was worth, and it didn’t really add to the sound,” Jones says. “I would posit that the sound changed more as a result of the recording process than the lineup, though. For this one, I took tapes back and forth between two [Tascam] 388s—one at my house and one at our practice space. […]

I kept thinking ‘spiked lemonade’ is how I wanted the electric 12-string to sound,

“It’s funny, I recently started dating a girl more seriously,” he adds, “and when the band came up, I was like, ‘Well, I did just finish what amounts to a concept album about unrequited love—hope that’s cool.’

So yeah, uh, low-key concept album, I guess.”

MUSICORUM MALEFICARUM- L.A. WITCH

PHOTO:CAM EVANS

I N T E R V I E W W I T H V O C A L I S T / G U I TA R I S T S A D E S A N C H E Z B Y C H R I S T O P H E R J . H A R R I N G T O N The sun hangs low and dusty in Los Angeles, the city of angels. An eerie layer of haze encircles the mood, density, and outreach. It’s a place for smoky dreams and acid travel. L.A. Witch—a psych rock trio with a penchant for the past—are

the perfect L.A. vision, rising slowly over Venice Beach, haunting and real. The band’s self-titled debut, out Sept. 8 via Suicide Squeeze Records, pays homage to the mysticism and versatility of the city; it’s quick to the get to the heart of things.

It’s often when the future looks bleakest that things finally take a turn for the better. After struggling to get their name out there for six years, For The Win were overdue for a break. It finally came in the form of Victory Records, who signed the band earlier this year. All it took was a single email.

Finding a new label did lead to one new setback. For The Win were already set to release their sophomore full-length, Heavy Thoughts, but with Victory now onboard, Christensen says the band had to push the album’s release back three months to Aug. 25. “We had to refund people their preorders,” he explains.

“It was kind of a nightmare, but it was a good one.”

“I was having a conversation with our manager, Zach Goble,” vocalist Kyle Christensen describes, “and I was just talking about these ads that I was seeing on YouTube—like, on our videos, Victory bands on our videos—so I was telling him, ‘That’s crazy, I wish we had stuff like that. What can we do?’ He literally sent an email that night, and we got a response that night. Then, the next day, they were talking about buying us off of our contract with Artery Recordings.”

With this new album, the band hope to showcase a whole new era of For The Win. They feel Heavy Thoughts is their most cohesive and well-planned release to date, and their unique fusion of post-hardcore and pop punk comes through effortlessly in the new material. “We had the chance to write with a guy named David Strauchman; he’s the [former] lead singer of Every Avenue,” Christensen says. “It made me realize

LOVELORN AND SHELLSHOCKED- MALE GAZE

INTERVIEW WITH GUITARIST/VOCALIST MATT JONES BY TIM ANDERL and I played around with it until it made my lips pucker.”

Jones says he’s content with the end result for a number of reasons—and a reason of numbers. “I like threes,” he explains. “It had been a while since my focus was so straightforward: no impossibly proprietary sounds or fancy tricks, “That’s one of the beautiful things about L.A.,” vocalist and guitarist Sade Sanchez notes, “you can hide in a dark room in quiet isolation, you can go outside and find some weird activity outside your door, or you can just drive. You can go to the forest, the beach, or the dessert.

There’s lots of ideas floating around or weird people to draw them from.”

The new record is all psychedelic blues, drugged-out punk, and surf rock gone mad. It’s an album destined to be driven wide around each crevice of L.A.—a city with legendary corners. The mirror is tripped-out and stony with these gals: Sanchez, drummer Ellie English, and bassist Irita Pai. The record feels of a different age, yet completely of its time. “I love old music, and I always wish I lived in different eras,” Sanchez muses, “but the reality is that we don’t. So, we just write in the present, but I think our older influences can be heard from time to time in our songs, and that makes it special.”

just guitar, bass, and drums. A triangle.

Of course, I mess with alternate tunings and overdubs, but aside from that, real simple, straightforward stuff worked for me, and lo and behold: a three. Numerology-wise, I’m a three as well. So, ‘Return of the Jedi’—hopefully, minus the Ewoks.”

Sanchez sways loose and poetic throughout L.A. Witch, her lyrics like a ghost jukebox on the freeway. There’s a complete connection between the band’s instrumental drive and Sanchez’ spectral jaunts. Everyone’s there, man.

This is grooving stuff. “I do like using symbolism when writing lyrics,” Sanchez says. “I think it gives the listener a way to interpret them in a way they can relate to—or maybe it’s kind of a puzzle or mystery left for their imagination.”

The new album is like a time capsule, like the desert that surrounds L.A. It wasn’t easy to create, but it’s a spectacular sound, with the city as an eternal muse.

“It was fun making it,” Sanchez notes, “but it was torturous as well. The writing part was easy. The recording could have killed me. I think you’re lucky if you don’t lose your mind in the studio.”

ONWARD TOWARD VICTORY- FOR THE WIN PHOTO:BRIANNA CODALLOS

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST KYLE CHRISTENSEN BY ANNETTE HANSEN that [on] the last record, I really had no idea what I was doing.”

For Christensen, it was important to take the band’s songwriting to the next level on Heavy Thoughts. “This record, I feel like it was so much more thought-

out—every vocal harmony was thoughtout, every verse that led to a chorus, and every song tells a story—which I guess is important,” Christensen explains.

“I think this record gives more depth to what we go through and what I go through.”

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Katie Ellen—the new project from former Chumped members, vocalist and guitarist Anika Pyle and drummer Dan Frelly—released their debut LP, Cowgirl Blues, on July 14 via Lauren Records.

Borne out of the desire to create music outside the stylistic constraints of their previous project, the band’s first full-length features 10 tracks with intimate arrangements inspired by ‘60s girl groups and notable female musicians like Patsy Cline and Jenny Lewis.

“I really didn’t want to make a pop punk record,” Pyle admits. “When I started Chumped, I wanted a band that sounded like Alkaline Trio from a young woman’s perspective, but when I started writing songs for Katie Ellen, I wanted to pull from influences that I didn’t necessarily feel comfortable leaning on in my

last project. I had a lot more freedom in this project to put forth a different set of ideas, so [we] made a pop record that is a little bit fuzzy and a little bit folky.”

The songs came together over an extended period of time; some were culled from Pyle’s high school journals, while others were written during a weekly songwriting pact with friend and contemporary, Mikey Erg. Regardless of the drastically different timeframes in which the lyrics were written, the album reads as a cohesive and concise telling of Pyle’s desire to achieve personal autonomy—despite the barriers that have, at times, halted her progress. “The record encapsulates the experience of finding freedom through struggle. Freedom is the first step towards happiness,” Pyle shares.

“It’s about finding the strength to walk

LOVE AND BE LOVED- GRADUATION SPEECH PHOTO: JACKI WACKERLE

INTERVIEW WITH KEVIN DAY BY RENALDO MATADEEN Graduation Speech is the solo endeavor of Kevin Day, vocalist and guitarist for New Jersey pop punkers, Aspiga. It’s his affirmation of the aches and woes of life in one’s late 20s and early 30s, but—as his debut EP, Quiet & Calm, indicates—the bruises painted

on our portraits make us stronger, and, in his case, what emerges is a brighter Day.

Over the past few years, Grand Rapids, Michigan, native, Vagabonds, has made waves with his emotional live performances. These songs have finally been captured on his debut full-length, I Don’t Know What to Do Now, released June 30 on Blood & Ink Records.

Throughout the record, Luke Dean—the sole brain and voice behind Vagabonds— tiptoes through a myriad of personal issues ranging from mental health to his

faith. With each experience, Dean paints vivid images that move like scenes from a movie, each one more heart-wrenching than the last. His raspy voice carries the emotional burden of his lyrics, breaking at times, but never faltering.

Quiet & Calm—released June 30 via Black Numbers—is an acoustic novel that can be compared to acts like John

There is a level of honesty to Dean’s lyrics that make them cut deeper with each listen. I Don’t Know What to Do Now acts as open pages of his personal diary, on which he unravels the misfortunes of his life in hopes that others can learn from them. The record’s lead single, “Paralysis,” focuses on Dean’s internal struggle with depression, one that left him unable to fight back. “If I got up and went out, I felt like I was going to do something unhealthy, so I just stayed put,” he admits. “I would lie paralyzed on my bed, staring into nothing until the battle raging inside of me reached a calm.”

Despite the dark shadow cast by the subjects covered, a glimpse of hope

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FOLKY FREEDOM ANTHEMS- KATIE ELLEN

PHOTO: JESSICA FLYNN

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST/GUITARIST ANIKA PYLE BY SAMANTHA SPOTO away from things you need to walk away from, about accepting the mistakes that you’ve made and making peace with a transition in your life, so that you come out better for it.”

With Katie Ellen taking precedence in

K. Samson, Sufjan Stevens, and Elliott Smith. “I really feel like love is a huge theme on this EP,” Day says. “The music is very stripped-down, and the lyrics are honest. The entire thing feels vulnerable. I usually don’t shy away from making my lyrics a little more dark and depressing, but ultimately, the lyrics all seem to mention or circle back to loving yourself, your family, or your significant other.”

This is apparent on “Chances,” which talks about risk and reward. “[It] was the first song that I wrote for this EP, and it was a Christmas present for my girlfriend,” Day says. “You meet someone for the first time, and there’s just so much uncertainty. In our case, we were very much strangers, and to her credit, she did a great job peeling back a lot of layers from me, because I had closed a lot of doors mentally. It’s been the best decision of my life, and I’m not even sure that I would have recorded this EP without her support.”

Pyle’s life—now that Chumped and an 11-year relationship with her former partner have ended—the empowering singer-songwriter is fully embracing truth, happiness, and a freedom she has never known before.

On another key track, “Distractions,” he elaborates, “It’s about taking a pretty long look at yourself in the mirror. It’s about feeling the weight of school loans and not really applying any of that knowledge in your daily life. It’s that feeling you get when the walls really seem to be closing in on you. There is some hope, though. At the end of the day, you know you’re not the only person to feel this way, and if you focus that energy on the positive aspects of your life, you can find a way to keep moving.”

What keeps his sentimental side from influencing his work in Aspiga? “To me, Aspiga has always felt like watching a natural disaster from far away,” Day explains. “You can admire a tornado because it’s this crazy beautiful work of nature, but it’s absolutely destructive.

Graduation Speech still has very similar lyrical content, but it feels peaceful.

There’s some resolution.”

HERE I GO AGAIN ON MY OWN-VAGABONDS

INTERVIEW WITH LUKE DEAN BY YUNG LOS shines through in the light instrumentals.

Dean’s vocals are accompanied by the faintest guitar work, soaked in waves of reverb that crash and swirl with the flurry of emotions being spun through the record. Many songs rely on Dean’s voice and guitar to tell the story, but at times, thunderous percussion fades in and out of the background, adding to the storm.

With I Don’t Know What to Do Now, Dean cements what Vagabonds’ sound is: emotional and raw, yet hopeful. Dean’s ability to tell his story is captivating and inspiring. The waves of despair and pain coiled in his voice are balanced with a confidence that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Electric Century—the musical duo of former My Chemical Romance bassist Mikey Way and Sleep Station and New London Fire mastermind David Debiak—released their debut album, For the Night to Control, worldwide on July 14 following a highly limited physical release of the album with Kerrang Magazine in 2016. “We’ve been carrying this thing for so long, now to have the opportunity to share it with everybody is a huge relief,” Debiak says.

In the years since Electric Century’s inception, pop culture has again proven that there is an immense power in nostalgia. However, from the beginning, Way and Debiak planned to do nostalgia differently—not with a reunion or revival, but with something entirely new.

For the Night to Control harkens back to

the Britpop and new wave music that Debiak and Way grew up loving. “When I was really young, I was drawn to the pop songs that were sad,” Way says, “the ones that made you feel weird. You didn’t quite know how to articulate the feelings at that age.”

Way and Debiak have been friends since around the time Way first scribbled the name Electric Century in a middle school science notebook, but the two were never able to pursue music together due to Way’s commitment to My Chemical Romance. When the group disbanded in 2013, the two linked up almost immediately.

Though its creation was chaotic at times, discussing the themes of addiction, death, and loss on For the

CONJURING ORGANIC TUNES- SON LITTLE PHOTO:MARC LEMOINE

INTERVIEW WITH AARON LIVINGSTON BY SEAN GONZALEZ “It’s a funny thing, the idea of pop sensibility,” Aaron Livingston muses.

“You can look at it like billboard pop songs or as things: a melody or a chord progression that just resonates with people. I think those things are thousands of years old, and our job is to

find some new way of expressing that old idea.” Livingston plays music under the moniker Son Little, a blues and soul act releasing his sophomore LP, New Magic, via Anti- Records on Sept. 15.

This summer’s Van’s Warped Tour lineup is loaded with a number of intriguing up-and-coming acts. Amongst the notable many is Brighton’s The Gospel Youth. With their sweeping melodies and a touch of pop punk sensibility, the pop rock four-piece have all the ingredients necessary to stand out on the juggernaut that is Warped Tour.

“It’s been a great experience, and we’re super thankful to be out here,” vocalist Samuel Little expresses of the band’s time on the tour. “It’s pretty tiring, because it’s eight of us in an eight-seater van and we’re driving ourselves, but it’s the experience of a lifetime and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

tended to do anything with the music,” Maiden explains. “We were just bored.

We wanted to do it for fun, and then we just put a few songs out online, and it gained momentum. We never intended it to be what it is today, but somehow, it just happened that way.”

Back in 2014, Little and drummer Kurtis Maiden created The Gospel Youth as a passion project—a passion project that wound up taking the members on an unexpected journey. “We never in-

For Livingston, Son Little has continued

Besides continuing their run on Warped Tour, the band also released their debut album, Always Lose, via Rise Records on July 14. Creating a full-length record was a chance for The Gospel Youth to explore what they were capable of as writers. With Always Lose, they chose to offer a message of honesty, community, and hope.

“When you look at the artwork, when you look at the title, it looks like a really sad record,” Little says. “A lot of the songs are based around the idea of having hope and finding these reasons to do things. Despite your inclination

PREDESTINED DUO- ELECTRIC CENTURY PHOTO:JASON DEBIAK

INTERVIEW WITH MIKEY WAY AND DAVID DEBIAN BY ZACKARY MILLER Night to Control helped lead to Way’s recovery and allowed him to return to the formative music of both his and Debiak’s childhoods. “Every other time I tried to do something with Dave, I was in a fractured state, and now, for the first time in a long time, I’m not. It’s a gift,”

Way says. “It seemed like the perfect time to finally share it with everybody.”

to grow and develop naturally, finding age-old feelings to express within the music. “I made a decision at some point based on an observation that I found that writing and playing is most satisfying to me when it came without a lot of effort,” the singer-songwriter expands. Songs like “Blue Magic (Wakiki)” and “Charging Bull” have vibrant motifs centralized in the songs’ cores, resonating more like innate spiritual rituals than standalone songs.

Livingston attributes this to his focus on writing naturally rather than forcing complexity. “I think, for me to be natural about it, I usually start in a place where I am not looking for a concept or a theme,” he states. “I’m looking for something more nebulous than that. I am looking for a feeling first, and I want to usually start to write without worrying about what it is all going to mean in the end.”

maintaining a sense of atmosphere while feeling organic, as evidenced on “O Me O My.” The song has a steady snap, but welcomes multiple instruments to dance along to the rhythmic foundation: pianos, guitars, and Livingston’s voice.

“Having traveled and played so many shows over the past couple of years, I think I got to know my own habit as a player more,” he shares. “I found a lot of moments where what I want as a singer was for my guitar playing to get out of the way, and sometimes, the guitar playing wanted to have its own spot.”

There are a lot of influences behind the scope of New Magic. Its song structures validate the melodies in different ways,

“[At the time], things were fuzzy in Mikey’s life—and in mine,” Debiak says.

“Yet, we still managed to pull something off that we can be very proud of.”

These acute details give the songs an edge, even when bound by a soaring refrain or soothing ambiance. Closer, “Demon to the Dark,” is an emotional look at sin and a soulful end to an intimate experience, opening up at the end with warm vocals and tapping pianos and sparkling to a gradual fade out, letting the magic of music speak for itself within Son Little’s grandiose, passionate release—New Magic.

NEVER LOSE HOPE- THE GOSPEL YOUTH

PHOTO:GREG PALLANTE

INTERVIEW WITH SAMUEL LITTLE AND KURTIS MAIDEN BY ANNETTE HANSEN to just give up, there’s a lot of good left inside.”

According to Little, music is a source of hope and freedom for the band, and that’s a feeling they strive to pass on. “[Music]’s never going to judge

you; you don’t have to feel like you’re obliged to feel a certain way,” he says.

“You just feel however you want to feel.

It’s just—you can relate to lyrics [and] you can feel something through music itself. It’s just quite a special thing, and that’s amazing.”

NEW NOISE

11

Hundred Suns are that rare gem in the realm of side projects and “supergroups” who blow expectations out of the water while treading some unexpected musical ground. Featuring current and former members of Norma Jean, Every Time I Die, and Dead And Divine, the band’s debut record, The Prestaliis, has all the hallmarks of the members’ other work— choppy and aggressive riffs, dynamic vocals, otherworldly breakdowns—but Hundred Suns’ style is much moodier and more progressive. There’s also an assuredness and cohesion that rarely comes from debut records. The Prestaliis—due out via Dine Alone Records and New Damage Records on Aug. 11—comes together masterfully to create a cinematic delight.

Vocalist Cory Brandan—of Norma Jean fame—explains the band’s genesis and goals, saying, “We’ve been working on this record for about four years now. I think

it makes sense to get the comparisons to Norma Jean, because vocals play a large part in setting the character of music. I think when you get to songs like ‘December’ and ‘Infinite Winter,’ you start to see where our previous projects and Hundred Suns deviate immensely.

We wanted to create something almost cinematic with Hundred Suns, both in feeling and imagination. We wanted The Prestaliis to have a ripened sound with adult themes.”

The lyrics are more aggressive, yet more abstract, than Brandan’s work in Norma Jean. “The Prestaliis is a fictional idea based on some selected truths,” he shares. “In the past, I have always tried to write songs from a ‘based on actual events’ perspective. I have always written about things that I know about or things I have been through and then taken those ideas and tried to rewrite them in a way that can relate to anyone—

ROWDY ROCK ‘N’ ROLL REBIRTH- VACATION PHOTO: JACKI WACKERLE

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST/GUITARIST JERRI QUEEN BY SAMANTHA SPOTO Ohio-based punk quartet, Vacation, have made a handful of lineup changes since their last full-length release, Non-Person, in 2015. Featuring guitarist and vocalist Jerri Queen, guitarist John Hoffman, bassist Evan Wolff, and drummer Dylan McCartney, the band have returned in full

force with a 32-track double-LP, Southern Grass: The Continuation of Rock ‘n’ Roll Vol. I+II. Released July 7 via Recess Records, the final product reflects each member’s taste and style while managing to flow in a chaotic but seamless way.

“This is the first record we did together,”

Once again, the indie rock dream team of J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr.; John Petkovic and Tim Parnin of Cobra Verde; and Dave Sweetapple of Witch have come together and gifted the world with another Sweet Apple album. The new record, entitled Sing the Night in Sorrow, was released July 28 on Tee Pee Records, delivering more of their patented catchy hard rock, flavored with touches of power pop and glam rock.

& Desperation. Coming to terms with the distance and the fact that we can’t be together all the time has ironically helped make the music more interesting.”

Unlike other bands who get together to record, Sweet Apple are spread out all over the U.S., but instead of bemoaning this factor, they use it to their advantage.

“We’ve come to embrace the distance between us and have realized that the band can actually do things together,” Petkovic says. “As a result, it’s made the music more expansive and diverse, because we don’t all have to be in the room at the same time to record or work out songs. I think the new album reflects that more than our first album, [2010’s] Love

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CONTAINS ADULT THEMES- HUNDRED SUNS

PHOTO: JAY PERRY

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST CORY BRANDAN BY NICHOLAS SENIOR or at least can be interpreted in many different ways, so that anyone can get something out of it.”

“That is not the case with Hundred Suns, though!” Brandan exclaims. “The songs are based on things that I think people think about and do, but maybe don’t like to talk about: deep-seated issues and

Queen says. “I wanted these people in the band because I am a fan of all of them, so I encouraged them to write tunes to make this band more [a] collective rather than a dictatorship.”

All the songs for Southern Grass… started as demos sent back and forth via email, since Vacation’s members are scattered throughout Ohio state. When they finally met after countless online exchanges, they blocked out a week to record. Crammed together in a basement, they began tracking; if everyone liked the first take, it was the last. This laissez-faire approach is exactly what Queen loves about making music, and it always seems to work in their favor. “I don’t really like when albums sound like a whole; I like them to be scattered and all over the place,” they reveal. “I think we sequenced it really well, but it sounds more like a soundtrack or a collage art piece than a band with a single product.”

This casual and unconstrained style is

serious topics. I think maybe what we did differently, and maybe where other side projects or even most bands might fail, is they forget that feeling matters.

Emotion matters. The story matters.

Connecting with people was very important to us from the very beginning, so we started talking about these types of deep subjects immediately.”

what allows Queen to enjoy what they do. As someone who has been involved in a slew of other bands, they strive to create new music that breaks down boundaries. Queen is resolute in trying new techniques, wanting every project to sound different from the last—and with Southern Grass…, they achieved just that. “Playing together is so much fun, it makes music fun again,” Queen admits.

“I’ve been doing it for so long, and I think this was a breath of new life for the band in particular, because we all do so many other bands, so now, this one is at its peak.

I worked too hard to make this band what it is, and I think it’s the best it’s ever been.”

For those who listen to Southern Grass… and find themselves craving more, fear not! Vacation have already recorded another album. However, before they debut that material, they will be touring in support of their newest release. Fans can catch them on their jaunt around the U.S in late August through mid-September.

STAYING THE DISTANCE- SWEET APPLE

“I think the album came out sounding more varied and interesting,” he adds.

“The distance literally put some distance between us and the music, and the breaks would give us a chance to add different layers and ideas that we might not have otherwise.”

When it came time to write the lyrics for Sing the Night in Sorrow, Petkovic had very specific themes in mind.

“The ‘night’—and the darkness it brings—is associated with danger, but I find ‘daylight’ scarier,” he shares.

“Unfortunately, that’s the way the world is going; there’s a light on everything we do, beginning with our phones and running all the way through gadgets and social media and the ability to be found and tracked down at every turn. There’s

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST/GUITARIST JOHN PETKOVIC BY THOMAS PIZZOLA also the idea that all elements of our lives are open to illumination, and there is less and less night to hide behind. Lately, I’ve been thinking that the end of the world will come not with some cataclysmic crash, but with some slow-moving apocalypse where we are left with a dull light shining on us.”

Though humanity’s fate may be sealed, Sweet Apple’s future is still quite up in the air. “Honestly, I don’t know,” Petkovic says of the band’s future, “but we’ll probably do another album soon.”

DEMON EYE

With a gritty doom metal sound and a name like Demon Eye, one would expect the usual occult tropes from this Raleigh, North Carolina-based quartet.

Vocalist and guitarist Erik Sugg admits to including such fodder on their 2014 debut, Leave the Light, but with their third full-length for Soulseller Records, Prophecies and Lies, the band are forging forward.

“As much as I love the occult, I didn’t want to pigeonhole us as a band who kept returning to those overused themes,” he says. “I mean, I love witches, black masses, and esoteric religions as much as anyone else, but I figured there were so many other things I could explore.

The overall themes of this record are a response to the darker side of the human condition. I see what’s happening all the world over right now—with the violence and corruption and mankind’s increasing inability to coexist with their fellow humans—and I just don’t know how to react to it.”

For all his claims of indecision, Sugg reacted ferociously on Prophecies and Lies, set to drop on Aug. 18.

After the release of their second album, 2015’s Tempora Infernalia, Demon Eye supported Pentagram, Corrosion Of

THE YAWPERS

Denver cowboy punks, The Yawpers, have turned in a fantastic—and fantastically original—concept record… just don’t call it that. “I hate concept records,” vocalist and guitarist Nate Cook jokes when asked about Boy in a Well, the band’s latest LP. At least, it seems like he’s joking.

Regardless of labels, the album has a very specific story that plays out across a dozen tracks. “Really, it’s a pretty thinly-veiled metaphor for abandonment and sexual confusion,” Cook says. “The concept, for me, is couched in having been the victim of sexual violence in my childhood and trying to talk about it over the course of a record in a way that didn’t feel exploitative of my own experience. Put the kid in a well instead of a courtroom.”

The album—out Aug. 18 on Bloodshot Records—is wildly ambitious and personal. Set in France, with World

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Conformity, The Obsessed, The Skull, Saint Vitus, The Sword, and many others, bringing them to the West Coast for the first time. Catapulted from that energy, Demon Eye were set to record. The natural choice was fellow Raleigh native and Corrosion Of Conformity bassist Mike Dean. Sugg refers to this decision as a “no brainer,” and elaborates, “He and I were hanging out a lot and playing music together, so I already had a feel for working with him. He’s a pretty silly, high-energy kind of fellow, which makes him a lot of fun to work with.”

Dean and Demon Eye approached this recording by tracking it live. “He had a vintage tape machine that he thought would capture the feel of our music—and it totally did,” Sugg shares. “It certainly provided the rawness of our live performances. Some of songs you hear on the record are the first and only takes.” The growth in lyrical subjects is reflected by their expansion in recording and writing. “With Prophecies and Lies, we decided it was time to try some new dynamics,” he adds. “There are some prog off-timing moments, like ‘Infinite Regress,’ to the stripped-down simplicity of ‘The Redeemer’ to the melancholic vibe of ‘Kismet’ and the psychedelic flourishes throughout the title track and the closer, ‘Morning’s Son.’” Prophecies and Lies may have less of a straightforward occult vibe, but is still haunting and mysterious, finding dark horrors in this society. The killer open-

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST/GUITARIST ERIK SUGG BY HUTCH ing riff of “Infinite Regress” quickly engages, and the lyrics grab ears immediately as Sugg wails, “We’ll never learn from these times.” Demon Eye no longer need fictitious creatures; the landscape of conflict influences Sugg’s haunting words. “I think a lot about what makes people tick—like what drives them to perform unnecessary acts of violence and cruelty—and keep those perspectives in mind for our songs,” he explains. “‘Kismet’ and ‘The Redeemer’ are good examples of that. ‘The Waters and the Wild’ was based on the old British explorer, Percy Fawcett, who was marooned in the Amazon jungles in South America. Fawcett was faced with such hostile and barbaric forces of nature that he referred to it as the ‘green hell.’ I was fascinated with the thought of a human

being experiencing the humility and wrath of the natural world.”

The album’s title, Prophecies and Lies, is derived from the remnants of Sugg filtering a barrage of information—information disseminated with an agenda. “Since we are witnessing a bit of an unraveling within the fabrics of our societies, it seemed fitting to choose a title that conveyed everyone’s collective confusion,” he says. “What is the gospel truth? What is the golden rule? What is false? Those sorts of questions leave me feeling pretty existential these days— which is sort of the point, I guess. In the end, all I can do is pick up my guitar and write another song.”

War I as the backdrop, it centers on an unwanted newborn abandoned by its mother. It required a little bit of research to flesh out 12 songs in that setting. “I’ve always had an interest in that period and place. My wife is from there. Well, she lives there now,” Cook says. “Maybe still my wife, who knows.

Anyway, I did some cursory research.

I wasn’t reading primary sources or anything, but I feel like I’m as welleducated as an alcoholic with a poor attention span can be.”

The album, recorded in Chicago, was the first time The Yawpers ventured outside their backyard to record. “It’s definitely different than recording in your hometown, but to say we were more or less focused is hard to pin,” Cook says. “We definitely didn’t have our significant others, friends, and regular haunts to get us all hung up, but the thrill of a new city, the anonymity, and the middle ground between being a visitor and a resident proved hazardous at times. When you’re in your hometown, you have to worry about how far you go on a bender, because people you care about are there

INTERVIEWWITH VOCALIST/GUITARIST NATE COOK BY JOHN B. MOORE to witness and remember. Outside of that bubble, the most base behaviors are easier to get away with.”

They were also able to bring in a personal hero, Tommy Stinson of The Replacements, Bash & Pop, and Guns N’ Roses, to play on a few songs.

“Tommy was great, a firecracker,” Cook says. “He would run to the store for ‘a soda’ a few times a day and come back with some wild shit for us to try.

Those ‘sodas’ must have been pretty strong.”

With the new album just hitting stores and the band about to set out on tour in September, Cook admits to not thinking about the next record quite yet. “God no,” he asserts. “I’m still caught up in mornings wondering whether or not I’ve killed my career—and maligning the fact that I woke up.”

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15

DED It sounds antithetical, but Mis•an•thrope is an uplifting listen. The punchy, aggressively hooky debut from Arizona-based band, Ded—released July 21 via Suretone Records—is a wonderful introduction to the group’s brand of musical escapism.

Vocalist Joe Cotela tapped into his own personal existential darkness—with a nice assist from the only good season of “True Detective”—to add some gravity to Ded’s hardcore-meets-hard-rock style. Mis•an•thrope sounds like the last 20 years of hard rock distilled into one cross-generational record.

Ded have a great ability to blend their large range of disparate influences into a cohesive sound, even if no two tracks sound the same on their debut. Cotela says this was intentional. “We like so many styles of music. Just hearing one song might not be representative of the whole record,” he shares. “That’s what we tried to do—we call [Mis•an•thrope] a meal, like a dish. We just wanted to put the best parts of what we like [into it] and make one thing out of it.”

Ded mine horror both lyrically and visually, but wisely take a more unnerving,

psychological approach. Most strikingly, the band members wear contacts that white out their eyes. “For us, we can’t wear masks, because Slipknot did it best, and no one’s ever going to do it fucking better than them,” Cotela explains. “So, we thought about sunglasses—because we liked wearing them, and for outdoor shows—because you can tell so much from someone’s eyes and we wanted to take that away. Even Slipknot left their eyes [uncovered by] their masks, and so, we thought we would do the opposite: take away the eyes and leave everything else open.”

“It’s subtle and small, but it makes a big difference, and it creeps people the fuck out when we’re next to them, which we like a lot,” he laughs. “You can’t tell where we’re looking. It might not seem like a big deal, but when you’re in person next to us or onstage near the front, people tell us that it really is much more impactful. By taking away our eyes, it gives us a leg up, which is cool.”

Lyrically, Ded explore how to conquer one’s inner and outer demons, and—despite Mis•an•thrope’s negative title—the overall feeling is one of empowerment.

On “Remember the Enemy,” Cotela states that he is “done with this suffering.” He explains, “I really harnessed a lot of the dark stuff from the past four, five years. I went through a huge, piv-

PHOTO: ANDREW STEWART

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST JOE COTELA BY NICHOLAS SENIOR otal time in my life where my anxiety and panic attacks had reached a high point and my depression was way up. I had started doing some research on the human mind and how unconscious we are and how much we live on autopilot, on our ego, and the reasons we do negative things. That was what I was going through at the time. It made me take a step back and include myself in all the negativity, because I need to be better than I am, and I want everybody else to stop and take a look at themselves.”

In the end, Cotela feels fortunate. “I think through suffering comes great clarity,” he acknowledges. “I feel like I’m

lucky to have the physical manifestation of anxiety and depression, because it made me stop and think about the way I was living my life and how I wasn’t living consciously.”

Their lead single, “FMFY,” references Rust Cohle’s misanthropic musings on season one of “True Detective.” “I thought it was an interesting idea to write from that perspective,” Cotela says. “For me, it’s hard to argue that he’s completely wrong. Maybe the earth would be better off without the human race. It’s an interesting thing to write about.”

THE MIDNIGHT GHOST TRAIN At first glance, it’s easy to write off The Midnight Ghost Train as your average, everyday stoner-sludge band. However, all it takes is one soulful bellow from vocalist and guitarist Steve Moss to be completely hypnotized. His voice somehow invokes both the pained urgency of a Southern Baptist preacher and the ferocity of an Army Ranger drill sergeant.

The Topeka, Kansas-based band have always made a point of setting themselves apart from their genre cohorts musically as well. Never has this been more evident than on the July 28 release, Cypress Ave., their second full-length for Napalm Records and fourth overall.

For Moss, the evolution of their sound on Cypress Ave. was both necessary and completely intentional. “We knew we didn’t want it to be a normal sludge-stoner album going into it. We’re not really fans of that kind of music,” he admits. “We just played that style in the past because it was a lot of fun, especially live. But we did that stuff already, so

it was time to move on, move forward, rather than taking the normal easy way out, challenge and force ourselves to be creative.”

One major part of the band’s effort to break up the monotony with their new record was the choice to enlist the help of Sonny Cheeba from hip hop group Camp Lo for their song “The Boogie Down.” “Sonny is from the same area of New York that I’m from—which is the cover and theme of the album—so I grew up listening to Camp Lo,” Moss explains.

“We wrote the music, kind of a James Brown-inspired funk song, then when we got to the studio, we were talking about how to do the vocals on it. We all thought it would be cool to have a hip hop artist on it, so I thought of Camp Lo, being they were from my neighborhood.

I got in touch with them, and Sonny just happened to be down to do it and available. So, we recorded the music, the next day Sonny came in and wrote the lyrics in the studio, laid down the verses, then the day after, we added the horn section.

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST/GUITARIST STEVE MOSS BY BRANDON RINGO It was definitely the most involved song on the album, but I love it.”

Though Cypress Ave. showcases The Midnight Ghost Train making a major change musically, there is also a large geographical change to the theme of the record, which sees Moss revisiting very familiar territory. “The city where my family is from was the major inspiration; all the album photos are from the Bronx [and] the title is a stop on the 6 train in the Bronx,” Moss shares. “All of our previous records had a country Kansas feel

to the photos, but since the music on this album is so different from what we’ve previously done, we figured we’d change the imagery as well and go with where I’m really from. A little-known fact: our drummer is the only member actually from Kansas.”

NO VACATION

As the spring semester wound to a close, indie pop band No Vacation prepared for a summer packed with excitement. Along the way, it seems as if No Vacation are receiving—well, no vacation. As recent signees to Topshelf Records, the five-member band expect big things from their impending EP release and are pleased to be spending more time in each other’s company.

Currently, vocalist and guitarist Sabrina Mai and bassist Marisa Saunders live in New York, while synth player Nat Lee, guitarist Harrison Spencer, and drummer James Shi reside in San Francisco. During their two-week tour in late May and early June, the band took advantage of the time together to record new songs and play in-studio sessions. “When we are physically closer together, we can get more things done,” Lee says. “Since we live across the country, everything is via FaceTime and the web.”

According to Lee, tourmates The Bilinda Butchers have always been inspirational to No Vacation. The two bands clicked after No Vacation covered some of their songs; they played several shows together and,

ultimately, became friends. “We are basically going to look up to them and ask them questions like, ‘What do you do when you’re so exhausted you don’t want to play?’” Lee said prior to the tour. The Bilinda Butchers’ lead guitarist, Adam Honingford, also heavily influenced the release of No Vacation’s single, “Mind Fields,” in March. When the band decided to record the song after playing it live, they knew they made the right choice.

“This one felt right; it didn’t feel like it was preplanned or had too much thought into it,” Lee says. “It was your gut feeling. Like it was ‘the one.’”

The band then released the song “Yam Yam” to fans in May, which had the same positive response as the first release. “I’ve felt a lot of support from people who listen to our music,” Lee says. “It makes me really happy when people message us saying they really liked the song and can relate to it.”

Fans can expect many new releases this summer, including more songs, music videos, the yet-untitled EP, and new merchandise. Lee says the band just made new hats and t-shirts to stack next to their albums and vinyl records at the merch booth, noting, “We like merch. It’s fun, and Sabrina designs all of it. It’s going to be like a big merch party.”

No Vacation’s dreamlike sound on their upcoming EP is in response

PHOTO: NATHAN MANDREZA

INTERVIEW WITH SYNTH PLAYER NAT LEE BY NATALEE COLOMAN to the band’s recent break, which let Mai start on a solo project and write more heartfelt lyrics. “I think it’s a very good representation of Sabrina’s personality with how the songs are written,” Lee says. “I also think it represents how everyone was feeling at the time when we weren’t together.” Lucky for No Vacation, when the band decided to regroup, they came back stronger than ever. “I think right before we took our break, it was more of a younger mindset on the band, like a fun side thing,” Lee says, “whereas now, we are really focused, and it’s something we spend the majority of our time outside of school doing.”

“We really like working with Topshelf,” she adds. “We have the support of a label, and I think we have a really good relationship with them on what we’ve been working on.”

The skies are looking clear for No Vacation. With all their upcoming releases, fans can expect the past year full of anticipation to finally pay off.

Plus, the band are hinting at possible East Coast shows in the near future, as they relocate to New York and continue writing new music together.

PHOTO: KYLE HART

WALTER ETC.

Portland’s Dustin Cole Hayes is no stranger to making music. Better known as just “Walter,” he put out nearly half a dozen EPs and LPs with his previous collective, Walter Mitty And His Makeshift Orchestra, whose lineup was constantly changing. His newest release, Gloom Cruise, marks the debut for Walter Etc., a new musical venture with a consistent band.

“Walter Mitty And His Makeshift Orchestra was a revolving door that was pretty solidified as a band by the end of it,” Hayes says. “Walter Etc. also started out as a revolving door while we got on our feet, but now, we have a committed lineup, which feels nice.” Along with Hayes, Walter Etc. includes Kris Schobert—who has been with Hayes since the early days—and previous collaborator Russell Park. Gloom Cruise is out on Aug. 25 via Lame-O Records and Lauren Records.

Despite having a new lineup for this latest band, Hayes didn’t change his

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writing habits, as a bulk of the new record had already been written by the time he officially formed Walter Etc. “But there are moments on the record where we really got to collaborate and sometimes improvise, and that was really nice,” he says. “In the past, I’ve usually written alone, and we never practiced much because we usually lived in different cities.

I’d have most of the song finished in my head, and when it came time to record, it would sometimes feel like I was dictating what to do. That’s cool to appease the side of the brain that wants creative control, but it’s often not as special as creating as a group.

Now that we have a real band and an actual practice space, I think our process will be much more collaborative.”

As a DIY band, a lot of Walter’s albums have been recorded in bedrooms and living rooms, and that just-get-it-done ethos has led to some odd performance venues over the years as well. “The oddest is probably this homeless camp deep in a jungle outside of Gainesville, Florida,” Hayes says. “They had a mini amphitheater built out of fallen palm trees and little nets around

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST DUSTIN COLE HAYES BY JOHN B. MOORE to keep alligators from coming into camp. There was a member of our band who was so uncomfortable after the sun went down that he almost just left and didn’t play the show with us.”

Other odd concert stops have included a porn shop, a laundromat, and, of course, a few donut shops.

“We wanted to play this cave in San Francisco last year, but it was super stormy the day of the show and [we]

had to move it to a house,” Hayes says with a bit of remorse.

Walter Etc. finished up a tour in June and are looking at additional jaunts throughout the summer. In the meantime, Hayes is busy running a small label and art collective called Making New Enemies and directing and editing the web show, “Sunday Night Salad.” “I also have a project in the works with my chum Milk Flud,” he adds.

“Other than that, just Walter.”

VENEMOUS MAXIMUS Burning up righteously down in the Texas heat, Houston occult rockers Venomous Maximus are part sun, part Milky Way, and totally full power: a quartet with direction and maximization. The group harness the heavy psychedelic mysticism of yesteryear with the bluntness of modern metal, a mix spiraling and wide. No Warning— released July 28 on Shadow Kingdom Records—is a blaster of riffs and magic dust: a true-blue Texas doom-sparkler.

“That Texas heat is just a part of our DNA,” vocalist and guitarist Gregg Higgins laughs. “It’s what creates our hot tempers and long nights. A few years back, we had a great time watching a band from Sweden play here during the summer, sweating it out in the heat. I’ll admit, they got us beat with their mountains, but those guys were about to melt after about 15 minutes. It takes a certain type of tolerance and a certain amount of ‘fuck it’ to live in South Texas.”

Environment is crucial to the band, but after listening to No Warning, one wouldn’t be alone in thinking they were birthed out of California in the

mid ‘70s. However, the record’s got a totality that is pure solar, and Texas—as Higgins suggests—is really just one eternally long, hot night. Burning everything in sight. “We have always tried to capture our environment with this band,” he says. “We’ve always had the idea that your sound should come from where you come from: where you live, where you work, where you laugh, where you cry, and where you die. It’s the only true thing that we have that is unique; nothing can be more personal than where you grow up.”

Giant-sized old-school doom rockers bend and slam throughout No Warning, with arty psych-folk passages and brief, Tangerine Dream-like electronic sections. The whole of it is a real killer trip with enough variance to keep listeners glued and clued.

You feel the past, the future, and the present: the sun a constant reminder of the oneness of all substance. Venomous Maximus rule with a freedom based on hard structure, something you can both hold and dream with: a circular rhythm.

“We took it back to basics,” Higgins notes. “We set strict rules when we

PHOTO: ALAN SNODGRASS

INTERVIEW WITH GUITARIST/VOCALIST GREGG HIGGINS BY CHRISTOPHER J. HARRINGTON created our style and how technical the band would be: no double bass and there must be choruses, intros, and you sing the name of the song in the verse. We wanted the song formulas to be very classic and very rock ‘n’ roll. Sabbath, Zeppelin, Stooges, Blue Öyster Cult, ZZ Top—these are the bands that influenced us. Only in recent years has it become cool to like Def Leppard.

Ten years ago, everyone talked shit if you liked a band that anyone had ever heard of, but we are too old to give a fuck. We believe that is why people have responded to our band.

There’s no secret underground agenda. When you come to a Venomous

Maximus show, be ready to drink beer, pump fists, and dump ‘em out!”

Venomous Maximus are heavy as shit.

Higgins leads a vision that feels utterly real—and what’s better than some truth under the sun? “‘Venomous Maximus’ was a title that was given to soldiers in Vietnam that spent the most of their time in the jungle—or the so called ‘shit,’” he explains. “I’ve always felt like I was that guy and that all of my friends got to finally go home, but due to either injury or mental collapse, I was left behind to fight it out. That guy was given the title Venomous Maximus. It’s not for everybody.”

SAM COFFEY & THE IRON LUNGS If there’s one thing fans of Toronto’s Sam Coffey And The Iron Lungs love, it’s the energy the band put into their performances, along with the positive attitude Coffey portrays in his life.

With the release of their new self-titled album on July 28 via Dine Alone and Burger Records and a coast-to-coast Canadian tour in May and June with The Flatliners and The Dirty Nil, their summer debut was packed with as much excitement as ever. “Everything’s been going really well,” Coffey says.

“The people are loving the guitar solos and the big high-kicks we do. They’re jumping around, they’re dancing, they’re feeling good.”

After two trials of recording the album, the third and final cut ended up being the best. “Compared to stuff we’ve done in the past, this album is more focused,” Coffey says. “We knew what we wanted, and this was something more strategized than previous releases.”

Ahead of the official release, the band previewed three singles—“Talk 2 Her,” “Judy,” and “Ragnarok”—and released a music video for “Talk 2 Her.”

Coffey describes the self-titled album’s nine tracks as going from heavy reverb and delay to straightforward rock ‘n’ roll. He believes capturing those sounds will help the band stand the test of time. “I feel like this album really encapsulates the spirit of radio,” he says. “If you were to ever listen to a classic rock station, our songs would fit right in there too. We want to make songs that you can hear now, 30 years from now, or 30 years in the past and enjoy it no matter what.”

Coffey is incredibly thankful to have such a strong team onboard with the new album, and attributes his success to not only his bandmates, but the two labels who’ve worked hard to make this release a success. “Burger and Dine Alone are being so incredible to us right now, and we just want to do good by them,” he says. “I want to make the guys in the band proud and happy, and I want to make these guys proud and happy. I think we have a good plan set up, and I think we’re all ready for it. I hope everybody else is ready for it too.”

After 11 years of playing in The

INTERVIEW WITH SAM COFFEY BY NATALEE COLOMAN Iron Lungs—from early open mic performances to the dedicated, focused live shows of recent years—Coffey sees only improvements and payoffs in his future, and their collaborative signing with Burger in Los Angeles and Dine Alone in Canada has been one of the biggest. “We have a nice little family going on,” he says. “Both sides were onboard and really came to bat for this record. Burger have been our supporters for so long, and I’ve wanted to be on Dine Alone since I was 18 years old.” Coffey says their relationship with Burger grew after their 2014 full-

length, Gates of Hell, caught the label’s attention. “I started talking with the Burger guys after we opened up for Red Cross in Toronto,” he says. “Ever since then, I’ve always been in contact with them, and they’ve helped us out so much.”

“We are really over the moon with this stuff,” he concludes. “It makes perfect sense, because I eat hamburgers alone all the time. I totally get it, and I’m there with them all the way.”

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LOST BALLOONS

Lost Balloons are the highly-motivated duo of Jeff Burke from Marked Men and Radioactivity and Yusuke Okada from Suspicious Beasts and Blotto. Originally from and currently based out of Denton, Texas, Burke lived in Japan for a couple of years in the early 2010s where he started The Novice, which eventually became Radioactivity. While there, he met Okada, and the pair quickly started playing music together. Now, some six years after meeting each other, they’ve released their second full-length record, this time on Dirtnap Records—home to most of the music under the Marked Men umbrella.

Logistically, this transcontinental setup would make it rather difficult to record music together, but since initially meeting Burke in Japan, Okada has relocated to New York, which makes things much easier. “All of the recording so far has been done in Texas,” Burke explains. “We usually have our song ideas before we meet up and just work out the details in the studio.”

This latest release, aptly titled Hey Summer, began just over a year ago when Okada flew to Denton to start recording.

“It took time to finish, since we live in different states,” Okada recounts. “I visited Texas several times last year.

I also worked on my own recording project and art in New York.”

PHOTO: PAIGE YOUNG

In the time since their debut record, Okada also released an album with Suspicious Beasts, while Burke put out a second Radioactivity album. “For recording, I prefer to focus on one project at a time,” Burke shares. “The recordings were all done at different times, so it’s pretty easy to keep it separate.”

Though Lost Balloons are only a two-man operation, that certainly didn’t stop them from expanding the instrumentation on Hey Summer.

There are layers and layers of sunny, atmospheric, dreamy power pop engulfing this record. “We used drums, bass, several guitars, a couple of synthesizers, and a couple different organs,” Burke says. Lost Balloons largely start with guitar or a base melody to which all the other parts are added.

In that process, not everything makes it through to the record. Burke elaborates, “There were a few songs that didn’t make the record. As we were recording and adding parts to each song, we figured out which ones worked the best together and just worked on those. Some parts and instruments also didn’t make the mix for the songs we used in the end.”

INTERVIEW WITH JEFF BURKE AND YUSUKE OKADA BY KAYLA GREET Hey Summer is filled with power pop riffs, lovely refrains, vocal harmonies, tambourine shakes, and lighthearted jubilation. While the duo didn’t set out to capture a central message or emotion in this album, Burke ruminates, “The way that other people listen to and interpret a song is often with a quite different feeling than what we have while writing or recording it. I think I prefer for the listener to interpret the music and sounds in their own way.”

What’s more, the two have grown to understand and work better with each other on this follow-up LP. “I feel this

record is more collaborative than the first album,” Okada reflects.

Burke then adds, “We spent more time working together on each sound for this record. I think we were able to get a more consistent sound throughout the record because of that.”

As far as shows go for the two, Burke reveals, “So far, we have one tour booked for the Midwest and East Coast later this summer. Hopefully, we’ll be able to do some more touring later in the year.”

PHOTO: KYLE HART

PEOPLE LIKE YOU

Indie rock and jazz are disparate genres.

The noise and navel-gazing of the former is a sharp contrast to the exploratory improvisation of the latter. So, when underground rock does cross paths with swing and bebop, it’s often in subtle ways, though complex chording or odd time signatures. While there are examples of indie bands liberally borrowing jazz trappings, it’s rare to find acts who own both labels in equal measure.

teau and Kevin Duquette. The fellow Bostonians—who have since relocated to San Diego—released the band’s sophomore full-length, Verse, on July 28.

People Like You have long been friends with the label; in fact, several of their members interned there in the past.

The record’s title refers to a fictional word meaning “to leave” in the Yuri Herrera novel “Signs Preceding the End of the World.” Translated from the book’s original Spanish edition, it can be interpreted as moving toward something new while leaving something else behind.

Maybe that’s what makes People Like You stand out—at least initially. The Boston-based five-piece self-categorizes themselves as “indie jazz” for the practical purposes of press releases and social media bios, but that label might not be inclusive enough to cover the band’s sound. Inspired by everything from pop to hip hop, the quintet seamlessly blend horns with shimmering guitars and DIY punk ethos. “On the past few tours we’ve done, we’ve played mostly house shows, and a lot of that whole scene—the DIY community—it’s not usually what they’re used to,” guitarist and vocalist Chris Lee-Rodriguez says. “It’s very different. We do like to play with different dynamics and play with different moods and stuff. But people are usually into it.”

It’s an apt metaphor for changes the band have experienced—both personally and musically—over the course of writing the record. When their previous band, I Kill Giants, split up in 2014, Lee-Rodriguez and drummer Sander Bryce released their first record under the name People Like You, “This is what you learned.” While writing Verse, they added trumpeter Matt Hull, keyboardist and vocalist Michi Tassey, and Animal Flag bassist Sai Boddupalli, which has helped the band grow toward a more collaborative creative process. “Musically, we’re leaving where we were on the last album and going toward something more refined, I feel like—or trying to create something different,” Lee-Rodriguez says. “So, we’re trying to leave people’s expectations of us.”

Two of those people happen to be Topshelf Records cofounders Seth Deco-

Confronting misplaced expectations isn’t anything new for Lee-Rodriguez.

22 NEW NOISE

PHOTO: ELLE DIOGUARDI

I N T E R V I E W W I T H V O C A L I S T / G U I TA R I S T C H R I S L E E - R O D R I G U E Z B Y B E N S A I L E R In high school, his ska band—composed of “a short Jewish kid, a tall blonde kid who wore Hollister shirts, a nerdy Asian kid, and one kid who looked like a punk rocker,” he says—were booked to play Warped Tour. However, when they showed up, the tour’s staff didn’t believe they were an actual band. Now, People Like You have been mistaken for a ska band so many times, it has become an inside joke.

All kidding aside, the band don’t treat prominent brass sections like a gimmick. “Variations on an Aria”—the lead single from Verse—sees Hull complementing Lee-Rodriguez’s guitar lines and Tassey’s vocal melodies. It’s an ex-

ample of how the band integrate their influences into one cohesive sound, prioritizing feel over convenient categorization. “I’ll never try tackling a song with a genre in mind,” Lee-Rodriguez says. “I’ll more just a tackle a song like, ‘Oh, I’ve listened to all this music, I have all these melodies, I have all this stuff that’s in my brain, and this is what comes out of it.’”

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MAKE THEM SUFFER Perth, Australia’s Make Them Suffer refuse to stagnate. Their impressive third record, Worlds Apart, saw the light of day on July 28 via Rise Records, cementing the band’s ability to constantly and successfully reinvent themselves. Despite leaving the blackened deathcore style of their debut behind almost entirely, Make Them Suffer’s latest features some of the group’s most complex and heavy material yet. Leaning hard into gothic and space-rock influences, Worlds Apart is sure to win over listeners with its storytelling and twinkly metalcore stylings.

How do they manage all this change?

“We’ve got pretty short attention spans,” vocalist Sean Harmanis explains. “Our perspective on it is this: previously, we were a blackened symphonic deathcore band or something along those lines, and then, we were, like, I don’t know—melodic hardcore [and] blackened something.

Fuck, I don’t know, whatever [2015’s] Old Souls was,” he laughs. “We just kind of see ourselves as a metal band with keys, and then we’ll just evolve and change every album.”

Make Them Suffer took a different approach to writing metal songs, and it paid off wonderfully on Worlds Apart.

“You don’t need too many elements to be a metal band,” Harmanis states. “My view is that you can kind of set yourself apart by writing a riff that you like—it doesn’t need to be in the spectrum of metal—and when you record it with distorted guitars and screaming vocals, it’s going to come out a metal song. It doesn’t need to follow the conventions of a metal song.”

There’s always been much more to the band than just colorful language and curse-laden breakdowns that fit perfectly on a t-shirt. “The record was sort of a metaphor for what I’d been going through in my personal life,” Harmanis says. “It timed perfectly with a breakup, which was a blessing and a curse. We’re getting to a level now where we’re not full-time—we’re touring in this sort of weird gap where we’re not full-time, so we need to hold jobs at home—but at the same time, we’re gone six or seven months of the year. Juggling life at home and things like relationships and jobs and stuff like that is very tricky. So, a song like ‘Fireworks’ was my metaphor for ‘wouldn’t it be nice if we could just burn the entire scene to the ground and just say fuck it and turn our backs on what we’re doing?’”

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST SEAN HARMANIS BY NICHOLAS SENIOR Did Worlds Apart help Harmanis come to terms with these feelings? Is there a happy ending? “I’m still kind of struggling with that aspect,” he admits. “Writing ‘Save Yourself’—that particular song, I wrote that for myself. It’s a very personal song to me. Putting that into words and listening to it back really helped me to get a grasp of where I was and to accept everything that was happening. There are, technically, two endings to the record: a happy ending and a sad one. It just depends on which one you want.”

utilized on the band’s three full-length albums? “Actually, I tried and realized I couldn’t [do it any other way],” he says. “With this new record, I’m trying to come up with a balance between writing songs that are catchy and have good vocal melodies and writing within the scope of a narrative. I’ve realized that’s sort of my thing. I love the idea of each album being its own journey, its own piece of art, a complete unified package.”

But does Harmanis actually like the sort of conceptual storytelling he has PHOTO: KYLE HART

WEAPöNIZER

Into a world of carbon copy retro thrashers and “Mad Max” fetishists glorifying a post-apocalyptic landscape they’d have no hope of surviving a day in were shat forth Denver’s Weapönizer. Years passed, booze disappeared, shots were fired, and now, the Lawless Age is upon us.

“Pretty close to it!” lead guitarist Ale Wülf laughs when it’s hypothesized that the five-year wait between their 2012 selftitled debut and the new album—released June 30 on 20 Buck Spin—was spent in an alcohol-induced coma. “We haven’t really just sat on our asses, though. We’ve done a few tours, played a good number of gigs, and recorded a couple demos and EPs since [then]. Lawless Age is a collection of tracks that we had been performing live between 2013 and now—some new, but some we’d consider ‘lost oldies’ at this

point. We’re also members of other bands that have taken some time away from full weaponization the past few years.”

And full “weaponization” Lawless Age is.

From the bone-thrumming “Rattenkrieg” to “Iron Clan Exiles” and its postapocalyptic snarl, Weapönizer’s second is a magazine full of short, sharp shocks, musically tearing through aural cavities with the force of Hydra-Shok rounds— and all in under a half-hour. “The Battle of Stalingrad is the subject of ‘Rattenkrieg,’” the guitarist explains, “while ‘Iron Clan Exiles’ is part one of a two-part fictitious story about a gang. The other part is the song ‘Temple of the Iron Skull,’ which comes right after it on the record. I lack the patience for long albums or long songs, and I assume our listeners feel the same.”

Safe to assume Weapönizer’s third won’t be a shoegaze album, then? Ale Wülf assures, “The shoegaze record will be only one etched, parallel groove 78 disc and will likely come out two albums from now, after I’ve killed [rhythm guitarist] Deströyer in order to generate more attention for the group—but before getting clean.”

Of note is the closing track of Lawless Age, a cover of “World War 2,” originally by metal punks ‘n’ madmen, English Dogs, and found on their 1984 debut album, the brilliantly titled Invasion of the Porky Men. Mr. Wülf reveals, “To me, it’s such a perfect song and, also, a fitting, semi-

24 NEW NOISE

PHOTO: ZEELA AESCHLIMAN

INTERVIEW WITH LEAD GUITARIST ALE WULF BY LORD RANDALL tongue-in-cheek choice for Weapönizer, since it seems we’re always writing about war. If you listen closely, [vocalist and bassist] Barbarian modified the lyrics slightly, I believe. It’s true that you don’t need to look much further than WWII for horrific things to write about.”

Well, most horror TV and film is pretty much shot as a point of inspiration these days, what with so many would-be horror films being sucked from the foundfootage sewer and zombies cropping up in everything from sitcoms to Disney Channel. “I give up,” Ale Wülf agrees. “[I] don’t care for computer-based, college student type stuff. Typically, I can’t stand most actors now—or modern things

in general. I prefer to stick to old films, war, history, animal, [or] nature docs if I’m actually going to watch something.

Some idiot chick made me sit through ‘Deathgasm’ once. It was unbearable!”

Then, why Weapönizer? Is it important for any band—influences patched onto their denim ‘n’ leather sleeves or not—to have at least a modicum of originality? Do we need another black-thrash-crossover band? “You don’t need to reinvent the metal wheel, but there should be something new or unique—otherwise, what’s the point, right?” Wülf bristles. “I don’t care if the world needs Weapönizer or not! We’re still making actual metal.

It’s what we do.”

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they can correct or complete the unfinished business. We can hand down our wounds to our children, and the legacy continues. So, is the parent responsible for the wound she is passing on? The transference is a symptom of a larger problem.” Layers, kids. Layers.

T

hat New York’s Sannhet have just wrapped up the recording of their third full album since 2013—So Numb, out Aug. 25 via Profound Lore—may not mean a great deal to some, but to listen to the band’s recorded work in consecutive order is truly a journey through the instrumental trio’s growth as musicians, attempting to carve out their own niche within an ever-expanding field.

In this age in which something as banal as having to wait 10 minutes for coffee gets posted about on all available social media with the addendum, #struggle, the cover art of Sannhet’s third full-length— and first for Profound Lore—doesn’t seem all that harrowing or bleak on the surface: a mother’s hand lain protectively over a child’s eyes as the child’s hand reaches upward toward her face. However, as bassist AJ Annunziata reveals, the image—and So Numb as a whole—cannot be understood with only a passing glance. “The thing about suffering is that it is required,” he says. “Life is suffering, as Buddha’s first truth states. And understanding that you will inevitably feel pain—that it is supposed to happen—will ultimately free you. Most of us spend our lives trying not to feel pain. We, or most, spend so much time escaping, protecting, shielding that they never truly rest.

Personally, I have my vices [and] tools, as do most escapists.”

Continuing onto the image itself, the bassist explains, “What we are specifically depicting in this photo is the ‘original wound,’ this primal pain that happens to us when we are developing our understandings of the world. This wounded child remains, and an adult ‘self’ is developed around it. The victim then spends their life ‘casting’ people in their lives that resemble the players involved in the original wound, so that

As an instrumental band, Sannhet must rely on the music and art to convey emotion, and So Numb is onion-like, an album on which more layers of skin are unwound than were previously. Annunziata, drummer Christopher Todd, and guitarist John Refano are as incendiary as ever, yet seemingly realize that catharsis can also occur during more subdued moments. “I think we’ve always really heaped things on to the point of oversaturation,” Annunziata says.

“However, you can only be additive for so long until you reach white noise, so finding another way to create impact is required. I personally wanted to focus on dynamics and space on this record so that the maximal parts seem even more so when they emerge from that space.

A quote that really speaks to me is from [French writer and aviator] Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: ‘Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.’ I’m not sure if we’re quite there yet, but I definitely would consider it a goal.”

Responding, Todd offers a bit of insight into his approach to So Numb. “For me, personally, in referencing the drum parts, I intentionally wanted to make a self-conscious effort when writing this record to not push parts over the edge,” he shares. “Not so much ‘scale back,’ but minimize certain parts to have other elements breathe or for the guitars to be heard more or just knowing when to push it and when not to. There is a lot to be said for having more of an impact with less, in a sense. This might be the first record that we have written together where we had a vision going in, then everything just started to mesh together.”

Of course, any personal experiences or life changes that occur during an album’s writing and recording cycle are bound to color the music, but Refano’s conclusion seems to be the most accurate when summing up of the duality at work within Sannhet’s sound—and So Numb as a whole. “I didn’t experience any drastic changes personally,” he says, “but to me, the record has a lot to do with themes of being mindful, present in the moment, and allowing yourself to give in to things you can’t control. To not constantly be struggling and battling against foes built up in one’s own head.”

PHOTO: ALAN SNODGRASS

W

hen a band have inspired Nine Inch Nails, Demon Hunter, and Korn over their inventive career, it’s clear they’ve been doing something right. Unfortunately for New York City’s Prong, their influence on other musicians is often seen as more notable than their personal success. Sometimes being way ahead of your time can be a blessing and a curse. If anything, that frustration has kept vocalist and guitarist—and sole original member—Tommy Victor creatively hungry.

Their latest release, Zero Days—out July 28 via Steamhammer/SPV—is Prong’s fifth record is six years, and each album has seen Victor and company strengthening what makes Prong so innovative and entertaining. Their brand of crossover-groove metal is as sharp as ever, and Victor’s vocals are fantastic. These songs are anthemic and neck-snapping in equal measure. It’s as if Prong have grown more confident and aggressive with age.

How has Victor remained so prolific?

“I just felt that we could do it,” he says.

“Right now, I may be a little exhausted after this batch records, but that’s how I felt after [2016’s] X – No Absolutes. We were talking about it [after that last record], if we’d have another record in 15 months, and I was like, ‘No fucking way,’” he laughs, “but I wound up doing it.”

I don’t know how much control I have over [my creative output],” he continues. “[Collaborator and co-writer] Chris Collier helps a lot; he’s a big asset. I have a couple friends and guest artists that help contribute. All of that helps me concentrate more on the lyrics and vocals.

I mean, I write most of the riffs, but the help is great.”

Victor never sounds bitter about Prong’s lack of mainstream success, though it’s clear he hasn’t lost the desire to pump out the best music he can for his fans. “I think the band gets ignored a lot, so we’re trying anything to get some attention,” he chuckles. “We went away for a while, so there were some amends to be made, and there have been some periods where there weren’t a lot of records. Now, we have a label that allows us to do pretty much anything we want. It’s a better relationship.”

“We have to [be ambiguous] with Prong,” he explains. “Unfortunately—really, fully unfortunately—we’re not Slayer, so to make it Prong, it has to be something that is annoying in a weird way. Hopefully, the Prong fans like it, though.”

Zero Days definitely feels like a record of the moment. Regarding its themes, Victor relays that he’s become a bit more irritated with the world around him— haven’t we all? “I don’t know, I’m kind of cranky these days,” he states. “I just could not stop writing lyrics. It started on the road, and it just came out of me.

After reading the news—from Fox News and CNN, then Breitbart and Huffington Post—looking at them all, and I try to read spiritual books and self-help books and stuff like that. It all went into this one big pile.”

“You have to develop your own opinions,” he continues. “You can’t automatically align yourself with anyone or anything.

Blind faith or allegiance is something that scares me, on either side. I’m trying to be moderate; that’s what comes out of the whole thing. The song ‘Forced into Tolerance’ is really angry and touches on how people are constantly being hit with opinions on both sides—it’s getting violent. It’s wearing everybody down. Hopefully, a record like this helps people out, that it’s a vehicle for release or relief.”

Creating moderate metal seems a difficult task. It’s hard to fight a war on two fronts, and telling everyone to come together because they’re both probably wrong is tough. How does “Kumbaya My Lord” translate to a hardcore song?

Victor counters, “Music is a good vehicle for this stuff, because you can’t do anything otherwise. You got to watch out with your social relationships and social media. You have to do it in music. I think there’s a certain responsibility you have to the general audience. A guy like Elvis Costello was good. He was able to throw this stuff into his songs, and people didn’t get too alarmed by it. A good artist can try to manipulate what he’s doing, and people can think a little about it. That’s the challenge that remains: you don’t want to be too obvious about it.”

D

esert Center—which provides the title for Guantanamo Baywatch’s latest LP—is a real place. Sandwiched between Los Angeles and Arizona, it is a blink-and-you’ll-miss it stop on the side of the road.

“We usually stop there to piss,” vocalist and guitarist Jason Powell says. “It’s pretty much a bunch of half chopped down palms—called the Tree Ring Circus—and dirt and some abandoned-ish buildings. It mostly serves as a spot for truckers to park and masturbate. Part of ‘Terminator 2’ 3D was shot up the road from it in Eagle Mountain. If I remember right, Kaiser Permanente hospital somehow started there.

The town was founded by some nut named Desert Dave. So, it’s got it all!”

Desert Center is out Aug. 4 on Suicide Squeeze Records. Though it’s not exactly a concept album, there are certain themes that snake throughout its 11 tracks. “I think that it has a specific vibe that came from writing all the songs around the same time in the same place,” Powell says. “My girlfriend and I had been road-tripping all over the West Coast and Southwest for almost a year in-between Guantanamo Baywatch tours. We finally landed in Mesa, Arizona, in this crazy little retirement community on a golf course that was built in the ‘60s. It had original green shag carpet, all tiki-ed out and right on the golf course. It was a pretty surreal and special place to write a record.

I was also working outside, pouring

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PHOTO: BRIAN ECHON

concrete with my brother, for the year. All that combined, I think it just put me in a weird, Southwest-y headspace that sort of leached into the record.”

Powell’s recent relocation to Mesa—with the rest of the trio staying behind in Portland, Oregon—didn’t seem to make things any more difficult for the band. “We didn’t practice much when we lived together anyway, so it wasn’t such a big deal. We just have to plan shit out a little more before we go on tour,” he says. “Honestly, I moved mostly to get away from being immersed in Guantanamo Baywatch and Portland stuff. There wasn’t much going on for me there. I wanted to make some money and have space to do creative stuff: paint, build guitars, collect and make weird furniture—stuff like that. So, it was great for me!”

Now, to address the band name that people either love or loathe… “Oh yeah, we have always got shit for

our name,” Powell admits. “Some people think it’s just dumb, some people outright hate it. I’m always like, ‘Dude, you think you don’t like our band name? I have to fucking play in this band! Trust me, I hate our band name way more than you do.’ There are people who get upset because they find it insensitive to what happened at the prison there—which I understand. A lot of times, it’s just recreational outrage, but other people have good points and concerns about what we’re about, and I appreciate that.

I would hope, though, that if you know any of us or talk with us, you know what kind of people we are and what we stand for and the shit we are against.”

“We know our privilege and are not trying to make some kind of sick joke,” he continues. “It does bum me out to think that some people think I’m some kind of insensitive prick who doesn’t give a fuck about anything or the garbage happening around the world. We wouldn’t

have named it Guantanamo Baywatch if I knew it would be taken that way. But damn, it sure seems like there is a lot more important stuff to get worked up over right now than our shitty, outdated pun band name. Honestly, if you need something to get up in arms about, come to Arizona. America needs your help here!”

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, for now, you can catch Guantanamo Baywatch on tour. “We’ve got some rad tours coming up: record release shows on the West Coast, some festivals, Europe [through] all of September, and a full U.S. run after,” Powell says. “We’re always playing shows.

In my mind, the records are really to support the tours and get kids stoked on us coming through town.

We take time off when we need to—or when we can’t stand each other anymore—but we’ve always done better driving around playing shows than in the studio.”

PHOTO: COLIN MAY

N

orthwest Indiana is said to be one of the safest places to be in America in the event of a nuclear attack.

That’s according to Cloakroom vocalist and guitarist Doyle Martin. Nestled deep in the middle of the country, defended on one side by Lake Michigan, it sounds plausible. While a citation may be required for this information, it might be more comforting to take his word for it.

Knock on wood we make it through the Trump presidency alive, but should he lead us into a Mad Maxian hellscape, Cloakroom have the perfect place to hide out. For their sophomore full-length, Time Well— out Aug. 18 on Relapse Records— Martin and his bandmates, bassist Robert Markos and drummer Brian Busch, built a full studio inside an abandoned office building, tearing out the ceilings and adding recording equipment.

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“Our drummer drove us out to Philly and bought a board for a pretty good deal,” Martin says. “It’s this Neotek board, and we’re like, ‘Wow, we can get all the means to do this.’”

That’s an impressive level of preparation, to be sure. Yet, it was necessary to remove constraints on time and space to create. The result is Time Well’s towering wall of sound: a product of passion and patience, crafted with care. Martin’s riffs swirl and soar over a thunderous rhythm section, sounding as enormous as the space in which it was recorded.

Not bad for the band’s first attempt at self-recording, though they didn’t have to go it completely alone. Cloakroom received help building out their studio space from Relapse Records. They were introduced through friends—and now, labelmates—Nothing, and that level of support is part of what led

the band toward working with the influential extreme music powerhouse after releasing their 2015 debut, Further Out, on Run For Cover.

Going from an eclectic—yet more punk and emo-oriented—label to a long-running metal enclave might seem like a stretch. However, Relapse have been venturing outside their traditional realms of doom, grind, and sludge for some time now. Positioned alongside labelmates like the atmospheric heavy rockers in True Widow, the oneman experimentalist, Horseback, and the aforementioned shoegazers in Nothing, Cloakroom look less like an anomaly and more like another piece in a growing and diverse roster.

“I’m just flattered they like our music,” Martin says.

Thick-as-molasses My Bloody Valentine-esque guitar rock isn’t any-

thing new. What sets Cloakroom apart may be the tinges of Americana they bring to the table. Influenced by sparse folk artist Gillian Welch as much as pedal-heavy ‘90s rockers Hum and Swervedriver, Time Well’s ambient heaviness is informed by more than the obvious shoegaze staples.

For fans who’ve followed the band for a while now, that’s likely no surprise. They’ve also been known to pull out an expected cover here and there, including cuts from Songs’ Ohia and Townes Van Zandt—the latter of which they throw into their live sets. Still, there’s at least one twist that might catch listeners off-guard.

“We did a cover of ‘Were You There,’ which is, like, this old church hymnal,” Martin says. “We recorded it— because it’s our own studio, and we have time to do these things—and were like, ‘Wow, it turned out so haunting that we should probably just keep it on there. We should probably put it on the record.’”

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dation of a daily crowd was personally draining. However, it was on Warped that Baxxter began to realize the importance of representing Broadside’s audience within their music. “I’ve grown a lot, mentally and physically, in the past couple years,” he says. “I [wanted] to put out an album that represents the person listening to it and, hopefully, inspires—if we’re lucky—people to really take a look at the world at large.”

PHOTO: JACKI VITETTA

“I use my voice to make a better life,” Ollie Baxxter sings on the title track of pop punk upstarts Broadside’s newly released album, Paradise. It’s the band’s second album out on Victory Records, following 2015’s Old Bones.

While Old Bones served primarily as a personal vehicle for Baxxter lyrically, on Paradise, the band sets their sights on current social issues—social media, depression, and feminism—under the colorful guise of chasing a better life in sunsoaked nirvana. “I’m not Superman,” Baxxter says. “I’m not Morrissey. I’m not gonna change the world. But I think it’s empowering to tell young people they are better than the person they see in the mirror or they feel like when they get off the internet.”

The concern comes from a genuine place. As Baxxter’s public profile has risen, he’s found himself falling into many of the reflexive habits that are covered in his lyrics. “Instagram, man,” he says. “Opening it, checking it, closing it. Opening it, checking it, closing it. And then, I realized I had spent two days and I hadn’t written a single verse.”

Perhaps it was part of the emotional fallout of the 2016 Vans Warped Tour. Baxxter speaks candidly on the track commentary for “Summer Stained” that after performing for increasingly larger crowds spanning the whole summer, coming home to an empty apartment and continuing to pursue the vali-

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“Those people […] are primarily young women,” Baxxter continues. “I don’t want them to ever feel that Broadside would misrepresent them or [that I], as an artist and writer, would ever think anything more than what was allotted to me from their own actions and their own words.” Baxxter refers, in disgust, to several instances that have recently taken place within the alternative music community involving musicians or bands using their position of influence to exploit underage peoples. He goes on to say that his single mother, younger sister, and partner all share stories that help him better think and write from the perspective of a woman in order to be more inclusive of his audience.

Baxxter insists that in volatile times, whether in the music industry or the political climate, starting a dialogue and reinforcing positivity, strength, and representation is a priority for Broadside—even if the same can’t be said for everyone else taking the stage. “I don’t want people to just be consumers that listen to this band. We are all [consumers], I know,” he admits, “but deep down, I don’t want people to feel empty after they buy merch or tweet at us. I’m really trying to build this crazy organic foundation, because for a while, before we were signed, that’s all we were doing.”

Now, two records in, Baxxter tries to concern himself less with Broadside’s current standing within the scene and more with making sure that what they create onstage or in the studio together in the future is made from love and respect for the people who got them this far. “This album isn’t for five years from now,” he says. “It’s very 2017. We knew this album wasn’t going to be, you know, 30 years from now, killing it. Let’s be honest, at the rate we are consuming things and putting them back out, it’s not for longevity. We hope we are a band then. But hopefully, […] we will have a different version of paradise.”

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W

when Donald Trump was elected President of the United States in November of 2016, punk rock fans knew there would be a retaliatory barrage of antiauthoritarian music coming out. It took a few months, but Bad Cop / Bad Cop have responded with Warriors—their sophomore LP and follow-up to 2015’s Not Sorry—released June 16 via the California-based band’s home label, Fat Wreck Chords.

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With the surreal election of a reality TV show billionaire and internet bully to the nation’s highest office; with the triumph of racism, misogyny, homophobia, and hatred; and with proposed rollbacks on environmental protections, necessary funding, and basic human rights across the board, the message to the underprivileged of America was clear: go fuck yourself and die. Millions of women and allies—rightfully appalled by Trump’s words and actions— marched on Washington and across the nation.

Warriors—the 11-track manifesto birthed by co-vocalists and guitarists Stacey Dee and Jennie Cotterill, bassist Linh Le, and drummer Myra Gallarza and featuring songs like “I’m Done,” “Womanarchist,” and the furious title track—is as much a call to arms as it is about finding the strength to love when all seems lost. “I don’t think that we really knew what it was going to be going into the record, […] but these ideas are things that we’ve been talking about for a long time,” Dee admits, Cotterill by her side. “Then, after the election, we were so upset, and we were scared—not only for women.” She adds, “[Our] coming at it with positivity is because positive will beat the negative every time if you let it.”

“We’re just trying our best to go out and make a statement,” Cotterill affirms, “because it’s time now, and we have a voice to do it with.”

Just a couple years ago, Bad Cop / Bad Cop almost lost that voice. See, War-

PHOTO: EDEN KITTIVER

riors almost didn’t come out, because the band almost broke up. One night in August 2015, on a stop in Minneapolis while touring with NOFX as part of the Fat Wreck 25 Year Anniversary Tour, Dee blacked out on a cocktail of Xanax, cocaine, and too much whiskey and became “demonically possessed,” according to Cotterill. She fought with nearly everybody there and was kicked out of the show by Fat Mike Burkett himself, only to wake up in a puddle with her knee torn up and Le walking away from her. She attempted suicide by cutting her arm with an X-Acto knife, like she had done in her youth as an escape, but luckily, survived.

Dee flew to Las Vegas and then San Francisco, leaving her bandmates to drive back.

She was now on painkillers for her knee, still using, and heartbroken over the recent death of her cousin. “I was in the worst pain of my life, and I thought my band was over,” she says. “I thought it was all over. I thought that I’d just ruined everything.”

“I assumed the band was over, because we couldn’t imagine doing it without Stacey, and we all didn’t want to be around Stacey at the time; it was like, ‘This is not her,’” Cotterill explains. “It was like, ‘You are not the person that I know, and you hate me, and I don’t recognize you.’ It was awful.”

Stacey’ in my head now, all the time,” she says, “because she’s a million times better than any Stacey I’ve ever known.”

Once back in California, Cotterill staged an intervention with an ultimatum: get off the shit or the band is done. “She was being really nice through all of that, and then, as soon as I got home, she was like, ‘No, here’s the fuckin’ deal!’” Dee recalls.

“These are relationships that are very important to my life, and I had no idea how bad it had gotten. People come up to me still, who were there that night, and say, ‘Do you know that you yelled at me?’

And it’s like, ‘Nope! I had no idea!’”

Cotterill may’ve provided the wake-up call, but it took the support of someone who had also gone through a drying-out period to convince Dee to get serious about getting clean: Fat Mike himself.

“Oh my God!” she exclaims. “I have to step in and say that Mike and his wife, Soma, and his ex-wife, Erin, are three people who have given me more opportunities in life than almost anybody else.

They stood by my side. Mike has always seen something in me. He—I didn’t stop, and he saw that and extended out the branch to help me get this going.”

After detox and counseling, overcoming years of self-abuse, doubt, and drug addiction, Cotterill says her friend is better than ever. “Her nickname is ‘Super

Now, Dee is focused on “honesty and humility. To be able to be well, you’ve gotta be able to see those flaws in yourself and know the bullshit behind it,” she asserts.

and I owe them a shit-ton,” she says with a laugh.

Bad Cop / Bad Cop have been bringing the message of Warriors to the masses this summer on Warped Tour, and the band are stronger and having more fun than ever. They have proven that— whether the struggle is personal or political—when all hope appears lost, through love, strength, unity, and the courage to fight, things can get better.

“I’m thankful that the situation happened,” Dee says of that night in Minneapolis, “because without this happening, and without these ladies coming to me and telling me I needed to get my life together, I would probably not be here. I owe them my life.”

“They’re like family to me. They’re really, really great friends, and I love them,

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37

: NILAY

PHOTO

VIC PAVLO

E

xit Wounds was a vital comeback record for long-running Swedish metal stalwarts, The Haunted.

The 2014 full-length proved they could be just as vicious, vital, and angry as ever eight albums into their career. The group’s excellent follow-up, Strength in Numbers— due out Aug. 25 via Century Media Records—is a step up in every way: better riffs, more dynamic songwriting, and a hefty dose of guitar wizardry.

However, what the band’s ninth record—and second in their latest and strongest incarnation—really highlights is that there truly is strength in numbers. With their combined experience, both together and apart, a greater sense of collaboration, and more non-Swedish influences, The Haunted are at their most potent yet.

Guitarist Ola Englund joined The Haunted before Exit Wounds and appreciates how important that record was for the band. “Exit Wounds was an album where The Haunted needed to show people that we’re back and mean business, in a way. We wanted to just do the fun stuff, basically, and that’s

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the fast songs,” he laughs. “The other guys wanted to prove that they’re back on track, and having [vocalist] Marco [Aro] back was big. With Strength in Numbers, it’s different. After [Exit Wounds], we could breathe a little bit; we realized we could take our time writing Strength in Numbers. It just turned out way more dynamic, up and down, and a bit more breathable as a whole album.”

Englund was much more involved in the writing process this time around and recognizes, with humility, the importance of having everyone involved. “With Exit Wounds, I probably wrote three or four songs,” he recalls. “With this new record, it just came out that way, but I probably wrote 50 or 60 percent of the album. We all work really well together. We try to mix up whose songs we use and provide as much input as possible, because we think it gives more of a dynamic to the songs. I know, for me, I’m getting tired of my songs all the time,” he laughs, “so it’s a good way of getting an extra set of eyes and ears.”

Englund’s biggest contribution is his non-Swedish writing style,

despite hailing from Stockholm.

This contributes to a groovetastic listening experience, as thrash, death, and groove coexist in a myriad of “invisible oranges” that appear with each spin of the record. “I don’t see myself as sounding particularly Swedish in my songwriting,” he explains. “I’m very influenced by ‘90s American [bands]: Pantera, Machine Head.

I’m kind of stuck in that era, so those Stockholm riffs probably aren’t mine. The difference is that [former guitarist] Anders [Björler] is not in the band anymore, and he has such a unique type of songwriting that I cannot touch in any way.”

The album’s title, Strength in Numbers, seems like a sort of wink to the audience, as the lyrics discuss a lot of the problems associated with group-think and being led as a congregation or affiliation. “Exactly, the title can be obviously interpreted in any number of ways,” Englund concurs.

“It could be interpreted that way, and it could be how a small group of dumb people are still going to make a lot of noise. It could be how insects come in waves, like how in the U.S., there are prime years

where a wave of certain insects arrive,” he laughs. “It could be interpreted however you want. It could also be that it’s The Haunted’s ninth album, but the political aspect was definitely one of the main aspects, for sure.”

“Fake news” and ideology-over-intellect isn’t just an American phenomenon. “That’s just how it is today,” Englund says. “You have to value the news outlets and pieces you see and hear. Now, it’s up to every individual to decide if they think there is a piece of real news or not, which is pretty scary, because I think you can’t trust a lot people to have that kind of critical thinking ability. People decide what they want to believe in, which is scary in that way, because people can believe very strongly in something that may be fake. That really divides us. People tend to be very one-sided about what they read and believe, which is also scary.

I’m trying to be very open-minded about all the news I’m reading, because there are always two sides to the story.”

PHOTO: ANGELA OWENS

PHOTO: ANGELA OWENS

T

rapped Under Ice rose to prominence in the hardcore world on the strength of their punishing 2009 debut, Secrets of the World, and their epic 2011 follow-up, Big Kiss Goodnight. Their sophomore album was a sonic game changer of epic proportions that catapulted the Baltimore-based band to new heights within the hardcore underworld.

Then, in 2013, after years of touring, carving out a name for themselves with their gnarly live shows, and releasing the biggest album of their career, Trapped Under Ice announced their unexpected hiatus from the scene they had just climbed atop of. The band’s members splintered off into other bands who went on to shape the hardcore realm in Trapped Under Ice’s absence, further cementing their legacy as short-lived, modern day icons.

Now, after all these years away, the Trapped Under Ice crew are back and ready to set the world ablaze once again—but this time, completely on their own terms.

Their ridiculous new record, Heatwave—out July 21 on their very own Pop Wig Records—is the opening shot of Trapped Under Ice version 2.0’s triumphant return.

“It was definitely the peak of the band at that time when we stopped playing shows,” vocalist Justice

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Tripp recalls. “With that comes every industry person, every promoter, every manager, every booking agent fighting over you, demanding you ‘do this.’ Everybody thinks they own a piece of the band.

There was a point of recognizing we don’t owe anybody anything.

We don’t have to do shows for the sake of doing shows. We could go two years without doing shows, and the band would be fine. The band is gonna be what the band is gonna be in two years. It was kind of a ‘fuck you’ to industry people. Not that all industry people are inherently bad by any means—but there are people who want to document it and be a part of something special, and there are people who see it as a quick grab for money. Everyone’s trying to squeeze a dollar out of us, you know what I mean?”

So, at the top of their game, Trapped Under Ice effectively went on ice, announcing a “lengthy hiatus,” but assuring fans that the band were anything but dead. “When you’re on tour with the same people for that long, you just kind of need a break from each other,” Tripp explains.

“Not in a bad way. We all stayed best friends, and I talked to everybody on the phone and everything, but it’s cool to have each other without the pressure of doing this tour. People think that we weren’t a band,” he laughs, “but yo, we were still the same people in contact all the time.

Writing music, sharing music; we just didn’t want to play shows for

two years. It’s not like Trapped Under Ice is my ex-girlfriend. These guys aren’t my ex-friends, they’re my best friends, and this is something we all care about a whole lot no matter what we’re doing. I just love my bandmates; they’re all cool.

We’re just on a good page. We all did a lot of growing in these past few years of having freedom to kind of rebuild ourselves as the kind of people who can do a band the way we want. For seven to eight years, I literally did no mental growing as a person. I was a dumbass kid until I had to step away from the band and was like, ‘Shit, who am I?’”

“I’m not trying to create music for people trapped in a box, that aren’t interested in exploring...”

During their hiatus, the fellas in Trapped Under Ice spent time discovering themselves, moving and relocating to different states, and mostly, rocking out in some of the raddest punk and hardcore bands to come out of the scene in years. Diamond Youth, Angel Du$t, Down To Nothing, and Turnstile have been releasing some of the best tunes, playing the wildest shows, and turning maximum heads—and they have all helped expand the Trapped Under Ice legacy. “Diamond

[Youth] had been a thing, Turnstile had been a thing, Angel Du$t had been a thing by the time we stopped doing the band full-time,” Tripp says, clarifying that Trapped Under Ice’s hiatus wasn’t a result of their members’ gestating side projects, but rather, the opposite. Each individual project went on to flourish due to their hiatus, and Tripp credits “taking time away to do different bands, meeting new people I wouldn’t have met had I been doing Trapped full-time on the road.”

With acts like Turnstile and Angel Du$t blowing up in their absence, fans couldn’t help but wonder when oh when would Trapped Under Ice return from their self-imposed exile? The answer is now—and it was well worth the wait. “So, we started the band again, and we just wanted to do everything on our terms,” Tripp says proudly. “Doing the record ourselves, booking the shows ourselves. We don’t have to do anything for anybody.” That’s where Pop Wig comes into play.

Tripp—alongside Trapped Under Ice drummer and Turnstile screamer Brendan Yates and Angel Du$t and Turnstile drummer Daniel Fang—created Pop Wig on a whim, but with a stacked roster of Trapped Under Ice-associated acts

onboard and other artists following suit, their mega DIY label seems poised to become a major force in the underground.

“I’m always mad about something,” Tripp shares, “and I’ve got two friends in my life that have to always hear about it because they’re my better parts, and that’s Dan and Brendan. They’re so proactive, so trustworthy, and [such] positive people—they’re my voice of reason.

It was such a common thing, where I’d call them and be like, ‘This label or this agent…’ or ‘I saw this happen to this band I care about,’ or ‘This should not be happening,’ you know? The joke was: ‘I’m gonna start a label!’ Then Brendan was like, ‘Why don’t you?’ He called my bluff. Then it was, ‘Why don’t we?’ since it was always us three having the conversation.”

Thus, Pop Wig was born, creating a new base of operations for Trapped Under Ice and their extended family of bands and allowing Tripp the creative freedom to rock the fuck out forever with every demographic imaginable. “I’m not trying to create music for people trapped

in a box, that aren’t interested in exploring,” he says. Instead of the tough guy posturing that certain sects of hardcore have become synonymous with, Tripp is more interested in “creating a space that’s welcoming to anybody,” he says enthusiastically. “Something as simple as having a girl sing a song on a recording. So simple, just having a voice that can connect with a female, and they can say, ‘This is for me.’ Trapped Under Ice said ‘bitch’ in our songs before I had time to reflect on that, before anybody ever talked with me about what that meant and that it wasn’t welcoming,” he recalls. “There’s nothing soft about creating an open platform for everybody to be a part of.”

There’s also nothing soft about writing catchy-ass punk songs that ooze fun, not bravado. That’s where Trapped Under Ice’s much anticipated third album, Heatwave, comes in, taking the band’s trademark aggressive sound off the rails into exciting and flat-out infectious new territory. Joyfully described as “a trailer park Sepultura” in the band’s press release, Heatwave finds the older, wiser, and

more musically daring Trapped Under Ice jamming out like never before. Songs like the album’s title track and its lead single, “Do It,” feature copious amounts of punk energy mixed with catchy hooks and rhythms that will burrow inside your head for days. Tracks like “No Relief” and “Slow Death” deliver the pummeling riffs Trapped Under Ice built their name on, but even these tunes are imbued with the main overarching element that runs throughout Heatwave: fun.

“To try to do the heaviest record possible is just contrived at this point,” Tripp says. “There’s so many incredible, heavy bands. Like, we can’t write a record heavier than King Nine, but we can put our spin on it—and we’re fun people. We’re goofy people. We joke in person, we joke on the internet. I feel like the persona of Trapped Under Ice is so serious, because that’s how certain people felt it was best to market us at that point. But fuck it, we don’t really have to market; we’ll just be ourselves and people fuck with us.”

“Some people didn’t get the fun aspect of our press release or the feeling of the record at this point,

and that’s cool,” he says nonchalantly. “If you don’t like fun, I ain’t sweating you. I just really love going in a different direction than people expect and like ruffling some people’s feathers. Some people had an immediate positive reaction to it, and others were like, ‘Fuck, this isn’t Trapped Under Ice.’ But who are you to tell me what Trapped Under Ice is, man? You don’t fucking know. There are so many dynamics to Trapped Under Ice. Trapped is and can be so many things, and I never want to stop creating more opportunities for it to be something else. The next record could be something completely different.

I never want to do the same thing. I never want to do something that’s easy to digest.”

“In punk rock music, the things that stick with me and mean the most to me were all offensive the first time I heard them. Punk is supposed to be provocative and controversial. If it’s not that, then you’re fucking up.”

PHOTO: DANIELLE PARSONS

NEW NOISE 43

PHOTOS: JOE CALIXTO

44 NEW NOISE

C

omeback Kid’s latest and greatest record is likely the only example in which writing hardcore is relevant to patent law.

One of the main standards for a product to be patent eligible is “non-obviousness”—hence the idiom “patently obvious”—meaning the invention is new and not obvious in light of prior art. It’s a silly, arbitrary requirement that only makes sense when viewed as the result of lawyers trying to work with engineers.

Regardless, Outsider—Comeback Kid’s debut for Nuclear Blast, due out Sept.

8—finds the long-running Canadian band crunching the numbers, being more open, and engaging in collaborative processes to create their most aggressive and honest album yet. This may be a reinvigoration of a band who didn’t need it, but Outsider succeeds thanks to the extra care that went into its invention.

Comeback Kid are realistic about priorities and production timelines, which keeps their creative fire churning. Their most vocal architect, Andrew Neufeld, agrees. “You see these bands, and they release a record every two years,” he begins. “The two-year cycle seems to be what most bands strive to do, but I think us taking our time between records has given us a little bit of longevity. It usually takes us three and a half years to make a record—we try not to make it four years,” he laughs, “but it allows us time to really work on the album. We’re not just try-

ing to churn something out really quick.

That’s not what we’re interested in at all.

To be honest, it gives it us time to play as many shows as we can, which we still love doing.”

One non-obvious aspect of Outsider’s creation was Comeback Kid’s decision to be more collaborative. “We’re really fucking excited about this record,” Neufeld shares. “We’re excited about every record we do, but on this one—as opposed to some previous records—everyone in Comeback Kid played on this record, which is kind of a funny thing.

There would be times when I would play the bass, [but] I write a lot of this stuff on the guitar—but I don’t play guitar any-

NEW NOISE 45

more. I did a bunch of that on this record as well, but everyone contributed a little bit more on this record. It was more of a group effort. We were trying to make certain songs as strong as possible, not being like, ‘OK, this song is at a decent place.’ We’re really pushing ourselves when we see that a song has potential and [focusing on] how to make this song the one. We’re stoked, but we’ll see if it worked,” he laughs.

“We had so many different cooks in the kitchen,” he continues. “It didn’t feel like too many cooks, but it was definitely more than in the past. The last few records, [guitarist] Jeremy [Hiebert] and I were the main songwriters, and we’re really different people, so we’re really butting heads towards the end goal. We’re trying to find that point in the triangle where we meet in the middle. This one, we all stepped up and were really critical of each other’s stuff, and that made us more excited when we came together and had consensus. We really pushed each other to create something better. That created a lot of frustration, but that made us all step out of our comfort zone a lot.”

“There were a couple songs where I would go, ‘Just follow me down the rabbit hole. I know you don’t get it now and it doesn’t sound good yet, but trust me,’” he recalls. “So, they called it ‘facing Goose,’” a reference to Neufeld’s nickname, “where it was kinda out there, and it turned out really well. That happened on the flip side [too], where I wasn’t really sure about a certain part, and I love it now. The songs that clicked right away don’t usually end up my favorite songs.

It’s kinda weird like that.”

One of Comeback Kid’s hallmarks is their ability to craft excellent “mo-

46 NEW NOISE

ments”—parts listeners will immediately rewind and listen to again. Neufeld utilized his time in the band and as a producer to really hone in on those moments, resulting in a set of songs that are distinct from each other, but equally powerful throughout. That attention to detail is what makes Outsider excellent.

“My goal in songwriting is finding those moments and realizing, ‘What’s the part of the song that is the feature?’ and ‘How do you accentuate that feature?’ What’s the part that feels the best, and how do you decide what part to make the feature? We were a little more focused in on that goal on this one.”

"There were a couple songs where I would go, ‘Just follow me down the rabbit hole.

I know you don’t get it now and it doesn’t sound good yet, but trust me..."

The album’s title reflects the band’s view—one shared by patent offices—that different often means better. “We’ve always kinda felt like we’ve done our own thing,” Neufeld expands. “We’ve never felt like we belong in any sort of group of bands. We’ve always done it our own

way, for better or for worse. What I took from it when I was writing the lyrics was this: people who are actually moving this world forward and coming up with those forward-thinking ideas or sentiments that end up becoming the norm, usually those people are the outsiders first, and a lot of those people get written off. Any kind of revolutionary always seems to get pushed to the side at first; their views are often thought of as wrong or blasphemy. [‘Outsider’] was a motivational song to challenge people to trust themselves and trust their intuition to act.”

For example, “Outrage (Fresh Face, Stale Cause)” features one of the most discernable subject matters in Comeback Kid’s career. Neufeld explains, “That song was kind of inspired by some alt-right assholes. At the time when we were writing, there were Soldiers of Odin doing these anti-Islamic marches in Winnipeg. Some of my friends were doing a counter-march against them, just to shut these assholes up. That song was just about how there’s no excuse for this kind of new face on a fucking old and stale cause.”

In the past, those more political sentiments have been more veiled. Neufeld states that, this time, he wanted to embrace a sense of clarity. “One thing we tried to do on this record was to be a little more obvious, even more than I would probably have liked,” he reveals. “Like, if it were up to me, the record wouldn’t have been called Outsider. I know there are a lot of outsiders in this world, and we want to reach out to them. We just wanted to be more obvious, for better or for worse.”

Comeback Kid may not have revolutionized the process of creating a hardcore record, but by recognizing their priorities and strengths and embracing the power of their message, Outsider finds the band at their creative peak. Their patent-pending variety of metallic and melodic hardcore has never been more potent.

However, Neufeld doesn’t want to be obnoxious about this increased obviousness. “There was a song on the record where I wanted to talk about what’s going on with the Trump administration and just the crazy conservative vibes that are becoming strong around the world,” he recalls. “I wrote a song and showed it to the guys, because I don’t want to be like, ‘Here’s my fucking ‘Fuck Trump!’ song.’ I was worried that the lyrics were too obvious, and they said they weren’t exactly sure what it was about,” he laughs. “I don’t mind that, because I’m glad that it still leaves room for interpretation. I don’t view myself as the most outspoken person.”

“I think, in this day and age, the scene has to come together,” Neufeld says.

“You have to be more aware of what’s going on a little bit more. There’s no way to avoid it anymore. In the past 10 years or so, we’ve always thought of Comeback Kid as a pretty conscious band, but we’re not in your face about it. Now moreso than ever, you can’t say, ‘We’re not a political band,’ or ‘I’m not a political person.’ I don’t think that’s really an option, because the climate is so crazy right now. We really want to stand up for human rights. That’s kind of what punk was based on, and it’s cool to see that people aren’t standing down to all the bullshit that gets pushed upon us. It’s almost baffling when people aren’t seeing what’s going on.”

cy between us and our audience, since we have nothing to hide,” Murphy adds. “We’re real people trying to make real music that we love.”

“I’ve always loved poetry.

When I’m not writing lyrics, I do spend a decent amount of time writing,” vocalist Brendan Murphy shares. “I’m not known to experience great bouts of mental health for long periods of time.

Writing is my way of coping with that.” Murphy’s lyrics are part of the melodic chaos of Ontario’s Counterparts.

The band’s work is the best of both worlds: crushing hardcore meets the elegance of poetry. “I’ve never been much of a storyteller, I just write about real things that have happened to me,” Murphy says of his lyrics. “I want to be as honest as possible with our listeners, almost to a fault at times.”

You’re Not You Anymore—out Sept. 22 via Pure Noise Records— marks the melodic hardcore act’s fifth studio release. The record aims to expand the beautiful strings of melody and brutal riffs that Counterparts are known for.

It is also Murphy’s desire to give listeners a closer look into his life.

“I would say that the record starts off immediately where [2015’s]

PHOTO: NICK ZIMMER

Tragedy Will Find Us ends and takes the listener up to my present-day life,” he explains. “I want to share real experiences with our audience, specifically the not-sopleasant topics such as relationships falling apart—romantic or platonic—and self-worth [and] esteem issues.”

If one were to go back in time and study hardcore music of eras past, it would sound much different than what one hears from newer acts like Counterparts. While the aggressive mosh pit mentality is still intact, the band always look to spice things up, adding touches of colorful melody. To Murphy, this combination is one of the best parts of the band’s writing, creating chemistry for engaging songs.

“I think what attracts us to this sound is the lack of limitations we find within the genre,” he shares.

“We can go from a very melodic and catchy section to the heaviest music we’ve written almost seamlessly. I love that. Who doesn’t like

catchy music? Who doesn’t like ass-beater breakdowns? We try to throw them together, often in the same song, to keep the listeners and ourselves interested.”

Hardcore and metalcore music resonate within Murphy, acting as mediums for him to channel his art. “I think I was attracted to hardcore and metalcore because when I was growing up, we were the outcasts, but [when you were] at a show, you could forget that,” he says. “You could forget that everyone in your high school thinks you’re psycho for listening to ‘that screamo crap’ and just jam to your favorite bands without judgement.” The soul of hardcore is a lot like poetry, but with a little more grime clinging to its edges.

It’s a form of music that speaks directly to one’s heart. “I always want to maintain a transparen-

Counterparts are an extension of Murphy’s feelings and art—and a passion and energy he is eager to share. “I’m just proud of the fact that we can go almost anywhere in the world and have people care,” he says. “I want our music to be timeless. The band stopped being ‘friends just jamming’ around 2009 when we all started making real sacrifices to do this full-time.

I think the greatest lesson I’ve learned from this band is that if you want something bad enough, you can make it happen. It may take almost 10 years of sleeping on people’s floors and being broke as hell, but someday, it may all work out.”

moral void Chicago nightmare rippers, Moral Void, are infinitely punishing. With each mind-swirling passage on their debut full-length, Deprive—out Aug. 11 via Translation Loss Records—the blackened hardcore trio traverse the crustyverse tenfold, again and again. This is some mean and lean shit. Music that evaporates as a whole: a complete statement of force.

“We all grew up in the extreme metal and hardcore scene in North Carolina, and it definitely shaped this band,” guitarist Matt Russell explains. “I feel like we have a very strong ethic to do everything on our own. We came from such a thriving scene that, at least for me, it heavily influenced the way I think about song structure, album structure, and trying to have a complete idea when creating a record.”

Deprive succeeds as such. The intensity is wicked and unforgiving, but each corner introduces nuance and exacting

architecture. This record is as a storm cloud, floating with presence and purpose: full and blunt. “We’re very fortunate to be able to develop our songs in a unique way,” Russell notes. “I’m an audio engineer and our drummer Ryan [Emmans] is very competent with [digital audio workstation] software, so we’re are able to do a lot of preproduction and critically listen to songs before we finalize them.”

“We’ll listen to them to death,” Emmans adds, “tear them apart, move things around, bounce it back and forth, and keep doing that over and over until it seems right or we scrap it altogether.”

Vocalist and bassist Rus Holler completes the mix with some harrowing lyrics and grind-infused fret work, heightening the whole thing mightily.

Moral Void are a crashing storm, with energy that destroys ships and darkens the skies. This is some real music, and Holler’s shrieks and screams are the high voice from above, the conscience of the chaos. “Matt and Ryan have developed a writing method that has worked well for the band. From observation, I understand that method to mainly con-

INTERVIEW WITH RUS HOLLER, MATT RUSSELL, AND RYAN EMMANS BY CHRISTOPHER J. HARRINGTON sist of them arguing with one another in a small, dimly lit room for hours,” Holler laughs. “With ears in, I’ll pen some lyrics as they quarrel and craft, chiming in when my role as intermediary is needed.

The process is fastidious from beginning to end—and generally without compromise.”

In a world of seemingly never-ending shit, Deprive is the soundtrack to the mayhem: all spiraling and void of

loy al unt il d eath Loyal Until Death. That’s a bold statement. It is honorable to be able to predict your bonds and values decades down the line. One listen to Loyal Until Death’s second full-length, Remain Defiant—released July 7 via the band’s new imprint, 1732 Records—and all will be convinced of this trio’s solidified convictions. Enmity is released with tsunami-level impact. The dual vocal approach, heavy riffs, and blistering drums secure that only the most vicious audience will relate. The Pompano Beach, Florida-based band—started by guitarist and vocalist Nakia Romero and vocalist Greg Lebeau in 2012—just added a new drummer, Lance Martin.

The new LP is a heavy, energetic, vital album. The furious message starts with contempt. “Loyalty in anyone is extremely rare these days,” Romero vents. “People are really narcissistic these days.” That repulsion spawns the disgust in the dual title track and album opener: “Remain! Defiant!”

As Romero’s growl continues, more superficial concepts are decried. Each song features Lebeau—with a screamed delivery and condensed lyrical content—bandying with Romero’s lower vocals and succinct phrasing.

Romero handles guitar and bass along with backing vocals and focuses the

pretense. It’s a light, even in darkness.

“There is no limit to the depths [to which] we can sink,” Holler notes of humanity. “Every opportunity that arises to redeem ourselves is stamped out just as that fleeting glimmer of hope begins to flicker.”

PHOTO: MELANIE SCHWEIGHARDT

energy that propels the frenetic pulse of Remain Defiant.

Fans of First Blood, Hoods, Hatebreed, 100 Demons, Ramallah, and Strife will find familiar ground here, but coming from the South, metal is also an enormous influence for Loyal Until Death. Romero recalls, “Chuck Schuldiner [of Death] was huge influence on me. Obituary.

Massacre. Being from Louisiana, I have always been into Crowbar. They have been one of my all-time favorite bands.

Loyal Until Death tunes in B standard, basically because of Crowbar.”

Crowbar are also a visual inspiration.

Romero tapped Eliran Kantor, who did Crowbar’s The Serpent Only Lies artwork, as well as covers for Hatebreed, Testament, Sodom, and Hate Eternal.

The Belgian artist paints vivid, saturated images, illustrating emotion, gravity, and depth not usually seen on a hardcore cover. “I wanted to be sure the artwork was really eye-catching and profound,” Romero says. “I am huge fan of the older dark Renaissance-type oil paintings.” He adds, “I sent [the title] to him and kind of described what that meant. It’s just one of the most amazing paintings I’ve ever seen. The color scheme […] was a little different from his previous works.

He said he made it a point, because he wanted it to really stand out.” The

INTERVIEW WITH GUITARIST/VOCALIST NAKIA ROMERO BY HUTCH transparent vinyl version of Remain Defiant is a vibrant companion to the striking cover.

The music embedded in the wax is staggering as well. A continuous flow is present and captivating throughout the 11 tracks. Inspired by New York hardcore’s crushing weight mixed with bounce, Romero is proud of the band’s organic and dynamic ability to adapt the songs. “The recording process went very well. It was smooth and natural,” he confirms. “It was our first time recording at Iceman Studios with Daniel Colombo.

We recorded pretty much live. I would play guitar standing in front of Lance, playing in his ear, and he would just play. We basically just played three to four takes on all the songs and just went with the best take—old-school style. We

wanted the more natural feel.”

Invigorating are Lebeau’s penetrating words: “We’re all just part of the machine,” leading to “death is the destiny.” Cursing the higher structures of our society, the album’s ire is central to its title. Romero reports, “We are all still the same motherfuckers that listen to the same music and are brothers to the same people since we met and started this shit in 1991. We don’t change with progression. We don’t participate in fads or trends. Our way of life and thinking in this day, to younger kids, is incomprehensible.”

NEW NOISE 49

event. It was at a friend’s metal show in New Hampshire where Gonyea got his first official gig, making a deal with the The Bomb Shelter’s management to shoot regularly in exchange for entrance to the venue. This deal kick-started his career, landing him spots shooting for bands such as Against Me! and Murder

By Death. “By the end of 2005, I was going to a show almost every weekend,” he reflects. “Every one of those trips was about an hour-plus drive, but I just loved it and couldn’t get enough.”

recalls. “It ended up being on t-shirts, and it was a really cool moment to have people react that way when I just knew the song and knew people would chant there.” He says capturing it took a desperate jump, camera in tow, trying to get a good angle while miraculously staying in focus. “A lot of my shots I feel best about end up being from last shows, because the crowds are so energetic and emotional,” Gonyea shares. “One thing I try to pull out in my photography is emotion from people.”

While it is easy for Gonyea to recall his break-out photo of Williams, he finds it more difficult to pick out a favorite from the hardcore scene. One memory that sticks out is Guns Up!’s last show in Boston. “There was a moment where I got literally everyone in the crowd’s arms up, screaming at once, and people were just like, ‘Holy shit, this photo is Boston hardcore right now,’” Gonyea

Ultimately, Gonyea hopes to master his photography to the point where he doesn’t have to worry about anything besides being at a show, capturing it, and spending time with friends. “Maybe it’s OK if I set my camera down for half a set and hear how [the band] are playing for the night,” he admits. “Just because you shoot photos doesn’t mean you can’t be a part of the show too.”

PARAMORE IN BOSTON, MA - 2007

I

t was one of the first shows Paramore played in Boston, and Dan Gonyea had to switch from the usual color settings on his camera to black and white. He was worried that due to the heavy use of red light onstage, he couldn’t produce quality photos. Vocalist Hayley Williams was leaning toward the crowd right next to Gonyea’s camera. Just as he was about to take his shot, someone’s point-and-shoot digital camera in the front row let off a bright red light. The miraculous synchronization created the perfect image.

Gonyea established his career as a photographer under the moniker Future Breed in 2005, roughly a year prior to taking the photo of Williams, which was picked up as a pull-out two-page spread in Alternative Press. However, Gonyea did not expect that very photo would launch his career with record labels and magazines. Now, he has relocated from

the East Coast to Seattle and is widely recognized for his work.

Before really digging into the scene as a professional photographer, Gonyea went to extraordinary lengths to take photos at shows. One of his most memorable moments was on his 15th birthday when he duct-taped disposable cameras to his inner thighs for his first time at Van’s Warped Tour. Gonyea has always been into the alternative scene. His brothers would bring home mixtapes from friends, and Gonyea was happy to be a part of the music discovery. “I was younger, so I would hear whatever they were listening to all the time,” Gonyea says. “I was the second grader who liked the Circle Jerks.”

In 2001, Gonyea got to go to his first hardcore show. As he started to become more involved with the scene, he found himself snapping pictures at every

FEAR BEFORE THE MARCH OF FLAMES IN EPPING, NEW HAMPSHIRE - 2006 HAVE HEART IN LAWRENCE, MA - 2006

BLOOD BROTHERS IN BOSTON, MA - 2010

ty at the time. Not only was she one of the few women shooting at shows, there wasn’t a notable number of women in the crowd or performing onstage. “The photos taken forever ago were not really inclusive to other people—there weren’t many women, it was the same group of white boys over and over again,” she states. “I think that’s changed a lot, and it’s definitely a good thing.” Owens began photographing more women, both in the crowd and onstage, as the hardcore scene became a safer place for everyone. “I try to include a lot of the crowd, because that’s the point of hardcore: the community,” she says. “I like shooting energy and people having fun, so wherever that’s happening, that’s where I’m going to focus.”

Owens has made plenty of friends through her career as a photographer, whether they are band members, fellow fans, or professionals like herself. “It’s more fun when it’s someone you know personally, and you can watch them succeed.

It’s just a good feeling,” she says.

“This is where I’ve met some of the best people in my life.” She most enjoys highlighting her friends doing what they love, especially when they are women, and hopes it will inspire other women to get involved in the scene. “I want to capture hardcore the way I’m experiencing it—with my friends, most of whom are women,” Owens says. “It feels really good to be surrounded by other women and feel supported.”

BAND: PRIMAL RITE

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en years ago, it would be difficult to spot any all-around inclusivity in the East Coast hardcore scene. Show attendees were primarily male, as were the onstage presence and backstage crew. Luckily, the scene has changed for the better. Now, the hardcore community is welcoming to all—and women are taking advantage of the opportunity.

One woman successfully taking her place in hardcore is photographer Angela Owens, who discovered her love for the scene in her early teens. Her brother began taking her to shows when she was in middle school, and she would bring along her point-and-shoot camera, wiggling her way through the crowd to take a couple of photos before running away to hide in the back. Her prior photography experience included sneaking her dad’s camera out of the house to take photos around the neighborhood. “Photography really helped me as a person,” Owens admits. “I became less shy and more outgoing through working up the courage to do this seriously.”

Owens has always been humble

about her photography. It wasn’t until more of her friends asked her to shoot their shows and wanted to use her photos that she realized this could be a career.

Even today, she remains modest about her work—which has appeared in The New York Times and Rolling Stone—crediting the bands as the driving force behind her photography. “I would have never found my love for photography if I hadn’t started very young,” she says. “I kind of owe all of this to hardcore.”

As she grew older, many of Owens’ friends in the scene began forming bands and booking shows. She wanted to contribute and knew her love for photography was the perfect way to get involved. She started attending more shows and shooting thousands of photos every night. “It’s so much different listening to a record and then seeing them in person and getting to know them,” Owens says of the many bands she has worked with.

“It’s like another dimension to it.”

As Owens furthered her career in the scene, she noticed a pattern in her pictures that was reflective of the hardcore communi-

BAND: TURNSTILE

REID HAITHCOCK

BAND: FREE

How have hardcore shows changed or evolved over the past decade?

I think, while there has been change, it’s mostly superficial. Politics, styles, dress, [and] ways of crowd participation all have an ebb and flow as new kids come into the scene. There’s growth one way or regression the other, but the core experience stays pretty consistent. Navigating the social aspect has always been part of music culture, and hardcore is no different. Kids mosh or kids dance or kids are wearing white belts or kids are wearing double-XL jerseys or kids are writing political screeds or kids are writing deeply personal lyrics. It all comes and goes, but kids getting together and making music and having a release never stops.

BAND: GLORY BAND: MODERN LIFE IS WAR

JACKI VITETTA How did you get into shooting shows?

For years, Colorado Springs was a struggling scene that couldn’t support small bands, and then suddenly, it exploded around 2013.

No one was documenting it, and it made me proud to be a part of it.

I love my town and everyone in our scene, and this is a small way I can give back.

BAND: GAG BAND: BANE

BAND: AMERICAN NIGHTMARE

BAND: FULL OF HELL

KIABAD MEZA

BAND: ABUSE OF POWER

How long have you been shooting?

It’s been roughly four years since I started shooting shows. I think it all started when I shot For The Children 2013, which featured Donnybrook!, NAILS, Twitching Tongues, DOWNPRESSER, and plenty of local favorites at the time.

BAND: BIND

BAND: FURY

JOE CALIXTO

BAND: BIRDS IN ROW

What makes a hardcore show different from any other genre?

I feel like there is more sense of community in hardcore and punk compared to other genres. I mean, obviously I’m not saying, like, the indie scene or the rock scene doesn’t have it, but I just feel like community is key in hardcore and punk. Also if you stage flip at rock show, you’d probably get a cup of Bud Light thrown at you and get punched by a guy with an Ed Hardy shirt.

BAND: INCENDIARY

BAND: FREE

CELL: 7” DEMO: DRUNKEN SAILOR RECORDS

From the U.K., Drunken Sailor Records brings us Montreal’s Cell. This five-track 7” demo writhes in discomfort with Cell’s caustic, lo-fi hardcore. Noisy and ornery, the spiked assault has a gnarly delivery. Spastic yet focused, Cell’s version of punk rebellion screams and erupts off the turntable. Echoed, filtered vocals yell with abandon of concern. Twisted shards of recognizable notes are mere projectiles from the speakers, just a weapon for Cell’s agenda. Get ready. 300 units on black vinyl. –Hutch

MIRACLE DRUG: HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH: WAR RECORDS

Miracle Drug boast ‘90s hardcore royalty, including members of Mouthpiece, Supertouch, C.R., and

By The Grace Of God. But Miracle Drug focus on the now. They eschew praise for former acts and reclaim adoration by creating current, angry, urgent hardcore with a nod to D.C. groups like Swiz and Dag Nasty. Chaotic swirls of feedback manifest a disturbing yet invigorating melee with thick riffs and passionate screams. Miracle Drug depend on no formula. The band switch time signatures: hammering away at times and caught in sludge at others. Whether it’s the dark tones of the disorienting “Jury’s Out” or the sweeping stomp of “Grudge,” Miracle Drug master their immediate rage. The band are playing gigs throughout the Eastern U.S. for the summer, including This Is Hardcore festival.

Vinyl available July 21: 200 on translucent blue and 250 on clear with black smoke. Would hang with Threadbare, Tension, 108, Speak 714, BL’AST!, Burn, World Be Free, or Vision.. –Hutch

VARIOUS ARTISTS: JUST FOR US HARDCORE KIDS: TRIPSQUAD RECORDS

Ah, the hardcore compilation. Once a way for a scene or label to unveil the giants of the pond and give exposure to lesser known and newer bands. With the digital age, comps have become a nostalgic endeavor.

Now, Tripsquad Records presents some new bands from an eclectic community on Just for Us Hardcore Kids. Older fans will salivate to hear Eddie Sutton of Leeway with his new band, Truth & Rights; Rob Kabula of Agnostic Front, Cause For Alarm, and Loved And Hated has a new band, Dead Blow Hammer; and Russell Iglay of Underdog’s new band, Huge. Full Scale Riot have been making noise for a few years, gaining momentum with their raucous blend of metallic punk, crust, and hip hop. New Jersey’s Silence Equals Death bombed the scene with their Eulogy Recordings debut and now throw an extra track here. The total 16 tracks also include offerings from Crime Scene, Strong, On Point, ska-punk from New Jersey’s Choke Artist, Strike Against All, Decimate The Living from the South Bronx spitting thrash metal, Crossface, the punky NYHC of The Carbomb Parade, Sardonica, Pave The Way, and New Jersey trio Despairadisio conveying snarling, short punk songs. –Hutch

MISERY SIGNALS: “YESTERDAY WAS EVERYTHING” DOCUMENTARY

“Yesterday Was Everything” is a sneaky bastard. What starts as an ode to the 10-year anniversary tour for Misery Signal’s legendary debut, Of Malice and the Magnum Heart, slowly morphs into a reflection of friendship, of broken men using art and time to heal, and a love letter to the underground music scene. The film explores the fatal tragedy that brought the band together and follows their journey along the anniversary tour. Director Matthew Mixon does a fantastic job portraying the intensity that underlies the overarching story, and viewers get to watch long-separated band members come together and begin the process of reconciliation. It’s an intimate portrait of a band, telling the story of what brought them together over a decade ago and still serves as a uniting force all these years later. Highly recommended, even for those with only a passing familiarity with Misery Signals. –Nicholas Senior

54 NEW NOISE

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ina Halladay—the vocalist for Philly’s “it” band, Sheer Mag—feels that a lot of people are missing out on a big element of the band.

Yes, their sound is rooted in guitar licks that call back to Thin Lizzy, Nazareth, and AC/DC. Yes, Halladay is a fiery, bombastic singer who can go toe-to-toe with any rock ‘n’ roll belter there is. But, she adds, “When making comparison between Sheer Mag and classic rock, I think some people miss the point of it. We’re subversive. I’m not some white dude in a band trying to bang chicks. I’m the opposite of that.”

Indeed, subversion is kind of the band’s core element. Between 2014 and 2016, they released a string of buzz-generating singles that featured a classic rock sound bed with Halladay dropping her Billie Holiday-meets-Kathleen Hanna vocals over the top. Instead of singing about cars and “hanging with the boys,” Halladay contrasted confrontational, revolutionary anthems with tender love ballads.

“Fan the Flames” from the Sheer Mag II 7” featured the incendiary lyrics, “When our neighbors

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burned / The realtors shook hands with their backs turned.”

The band’s new debut full-length, Need to Feel Your Love—released July 14 via Wilsuns Recording Company—ups the ante. Just check out the lyrics from the French Revolution echoing track “Expect the Bayonet,” which include: “I’ve been reading the news and you’ll surely regret / If you don’t give us the ballot… expect the bayonet.”

“I really hope that things change,” Halladay explains, “but violence is often the only way things do change. Violence is the only thing that people in power respond to.

They’re not going to pay attention to petitions and protesting. Destruction of property is what they respond to. It’s not what I would choose for those people to respond to, but if we look at history, that is what causes change.”

In part, Halladay’s stance has been supported by recent events.

The president—possibly the most powerful man in the world—has used his public platform to threaten news reporters, ridicule the

disabled, make fun of women’s facelifts, and, of course, claim that he’s able to “grab ‘em by the pussy.”

“I think that the current situation has brought out a really ugly side of people,” Halladay says, “but it might have always been there. The difference, maybe, is that people used to have shame—they were shameful of their racist and sexist tendencies.

But now, those people don’t try to hide those things. Racists are just out there in the open, and they feel vindicated because someone who feels the same way is in power. It’s bringing people out into the open, and I don’t know if that’s better or worse. We’ll see if we can eradicate them now that they’re out in the open.”

While Sheer Mag have some of most combustible lyrics in modern punk, they’re even subverting that path. There are any number of bands who take cues from Crass or Discharge and crank out one bythe-numbers political tune after another. Sheer Mag—while they do have their fair share of partisan paeans—aren’t scared of the love jams. Some of Need to Feel Your

Love’s most profound moments are the soulful ballads. “It’s not an either-or thing,” Halladay says, referring to the band’s duality. “It’s a conscious move. Love is political.”

That stance goes all the way back to the early blues singers, who, not incidentally, inform Halladay’s massive, multifaceted style. After getting involved in the Long Island punk scene—all while loving NOFX and ‘90s hip hop—she started a few bands in college at SUNY Purchase before relocating to Philly and starting Sheer Mag. The whole time, her perspective was informed by a classic source.

“When I started singing, I loved soul music and I loved rock,” she says, “but my go-to music is soul music and Motown—the points of view that you see in those songs. I mean, [mine is] not a perspective that most people see in rock and punk. Usually, you don’t see a woman’s perspective at all, and when you do, you don’t see a lot of women who look like me. My being a performer in and of itself is resistance and political.”

PHOTO: JEN CRAY

NEW NOISE 57

I

t’s been a pretty good year and a half for Chris Ojeda and Byzantine. The Charleston, West Virginia-based progressive groove metal band got signed to Metal Blade Records, Ojeda’s girlfriend had a baby girl, and they unleashed their 11-song salvo, The Cicada Tree, on July 28, taking the metal world by storm.

Or, more appropriately, by swarm.

The symbolism in the album’s title and cover is the story of the band themselves—embodied by their frontman, a 42-year old Chapmanville, West Virginia, native from a coal mining family —and typical of the values held for generations by families in southern West Virginia: work hard, love your family, and hope for a better life. Having grown accustomed to the hard work of toiling in the metal underground, Ojeda and Byzantine are prepared to take flight with their sixth studio album.

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In 2015, the band’s self-released effort, To Release Is To Resolve, caught Metal Blade’s attention, and they signed them a year later. Anytime a lesser-known band have a song charting ahead of Slayer and Lamb Of God on SiriusXM Radio, people are gonna notice. Now, as the band prepare to step up and head out on tour with Sacred Reich on their 30 Years Of Ignorance Tour this September, Ojeda is rightfully stoked.

“I don’t think I could’ve scripted it any better,” he admits, listing Sacred Reich vocalist and bassist Phil Rind as a huge influence. “For them to be on this comeback at the same time that we’re here, and for them to choose us as their direct support? I’m over the moon.”

With recently recruited drummer Matt Bowles, lead guitarist Brian Henderson, and bassist Sean Sydnor rounding out their ranks, Ojeda says it feels like the first time Byzantine were on a label a decade or so ago. “It definitely feels like a family,

like a tight-knit unit now,” he says.

“It reminds me of the time when we put out [2005’s] …And They Shall Take Up Serpents; that was probably the most tight-knit Byzantine had been during the Prosthetic [Records] era, was that second album.

We felt like we were on fire, and we kind of feel that way now.”

The band again made the trek to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to work with producer and engineer Jay Hannon at his 7over8 Studio. “On this album, I turned even more control over to him,” Ojeda confides. “Some of the finer points on this album were probably handcrafted by Jay. He really pulls out the best in our songs.”

So, the lineup is tight and the recording went smoothly—coming up with an album title, though? Not so much. It all worked out in the end thanks to good old fashioned entomology. “I have a tree out in the front of my yard,” Ojeda explains.

“We had, this past spring, an emergence of cicada, and we had a giant swarm that came out of the ground underneath that tree. They live 16 years underground as a pupa stage, then they come up for, like, three or four months. They breed and they die, and that’s it. The life cycle repeats every 17 years. We were catching them, and I was trying to

educate my daughter—who was 8 at the time—on it.”

“So, we were looking for an album title, and my girlfriend was fuckin’ around with me, and she was like, ‘Why don’t you call it The Cicada Tree?’ And I was like, ‘Whatever!

Get outta here!’ She knew I was frustrated,” Ojeda laughs. “A couple weeks after that, it hit me, and I was like, ‘Oh my God! My band is turning 17 this year, and we’ve been practically underground for 16 years.’ It almost brought me to tears. Like, ‘That’s it! She was right!

It’s The Cicada Tree!’”

“The main centerpiece of this album is our emergence after 16 years of being known by, maybe, five percent of the metal community,” he concludes. “Now, just like the cicada, we get to come out and produce this loud, swarming chorus and let everybody hear it on a larger scale.”

And his new baby girl? Coming up with her name was much easier. “At that point, my girlfriend was pregnant, and we didn’t know what we were having, so we used to just call our baby Baby Cicada,” Ojeda says, laughing. “So now, my daughter’s name is Ada. We took cicada and shortened it, and her name is Ada.”

PHOTO: ALAN SNODGRASS

C

hannel 3—also known as CH3—began in Los Angeles in 1980, and in 1981, they stoked the scene with a self-titled 7”. In the following years, they continued to drop classics on Posh Boy Records, including the Fear of Life LP in ‘82 and the After the Lights Go Out LP and I’ll Take My Chances 7” in ‘83.

Each subsequent release pushed their abrasive audio agenda further.

Now, the band have written a harsh but catchy album in Put ‘Em Up, to be released on TKO Records Aug. 18. An elder of the scene, vocalist and original member Mike Magrann explains the glory of still screaming punk anthems. He pulsates with energy about the band’s first album in 15 years. “It’s great to get back and do a complete top to bottom project!” he says. “We’ve been releasing sporadic singles and videos the last several years, but this year, we decided to sit down and write a fully connected record—really, the first time since our days on Enigma Records back in the ‘80s.”

Channel 3’s legacy—with songs like “Manzanar,” “I’ve Got a Gun,” and the anthem, “Strength in Numbers”—relied on its rougher sound, emulating U.K. buzz guitars but with a SoCal backbeat.

The OGs in Channel 3 have been busy this year already, playing large fests and small bars like Denver’s Streets of London Pub. “Denver was a blast! We love playing intimate bars, especially out of town,” Magrann says. “It really lets us connect with the local fans, many of them still supporting us after we first visited three decades ago.”

“We’re very fortunate to get invit-

ed on these major festivals too,” he adds. “A fest setting really gives a band the opportunity to play in front of a huge crowd who may be unfamiliar with your band. Although those bigger stages may be removed from the immediate crowd, the amplified energy is still a thrill.”

Put ‘Em Up was inspired by the writings of author Jim Harrison, known for “Legends of the Fall” and “Farmer,” which was adapted for film as “Carried Away.” While these grand novels seem distant from punk, Magrann connects the two. “Well, Jim wrote in a very sparse, direct style; not a lot of time for flowery bullshit, you know?” he explains. “So, he wrote in almost a hardcore punk style: clean, short, and direct. But he never shied away from any theme or extremes of appetite, and that goes along with the punk rebel stance as well.”

Put ‘Em Up continues the CH3 legacy, punching and jabbing against society and its hypocrisies. The current miasma of vitriol and spite unearths Magrann’s ire and suspicions. “I do think the political and cultural climate seasoned each track,” he shares, “and though some songs are overtly political and some songs unashamedly romantic, they share the same sense of space.”

Magrann’s humility manifests an appreciation. It also motivates the band’s rebellious urge. “We have been writing and recording for quite a long time and never take for granted how fortunate we are to still be allowed to do this,” he concludes. “We celebrate rage against the daily madness as well as the storms raging within the heart on this one. So, we hope it will get through to some people!”

PHOTO: ALAN SNODGRASS

60 NEW NOISE

W

ith a musical identity as diverse as their considerable lineup—they have nine members total—Gogol Bordello have managed to craft an impressively unique sound made up of snatches of punk, Latin rock, dub, and Klezmer, winning over a wide expanse of music fans across several continents.

like being on any treadmill, and [we took] the necessary time to make a record so it reaches its highest potential. That was the goal.”

The title track became a focus for the rest of the record and acts as a keystone to the sentiments that precede and follow it. “I believe that one fell into place nicely,” Hütz says. “This song is central to the record. In For close to 20 years now, the fact, everything on this record New York-based Gypsy Punk springs out of the line: ‘Not all band—led by Ukrainian-born seekers will be finders.’ Sort frontman Eugene Hütz—have of our internal filter for pseuplayed alongside everyone from do-spirituality, which is nicePrimus to Cake to Flogging ly packaged these days on any Molly, proving to be agnostic fucking corner.” when it comes to genres.

Hütz also brought in longtime With their seventh album, friend and fellow Eastern EuSeekers and Finders—out Au- ropean transplant, Regina gust 25 on Cooking Vinyl—the Spektor, to sing a duet on the band once again demonstrate beautiful “Still That Way.” “Rethat they have one of the widest gina duets on this song blissselections of influences imag- fully,” he says. “Once that song inable. The record comes four was completed, the idea to ask years after their last LP, Pura her arrived naturally. We both Vida Conspiracy, their lon- share a lot culturally being from gest gap yet between records. Eastern Europe, and we’re both “There wasn’t any break at all,” from the same bubble of New Hütz says. “We just didn’t feel York newcomers that set out to

persevere in the way that only the Eastern European do.”

He was excited that Spektor loved the song and quickly agreed to accompany him on it.

“I believe that Regina’s singing escalated the song tremendously, ‘cause you know how I sing,” he admits, “it’s pretty mysterious whether there is even a melody, but when she touched that same melody it’s like, wow, there’s a fucking cathedral.”

Seekers and Finders also marks the first time Hütz served as producer on one of his own records, a job that was not exactly easy. “It was the most exhausting fucking thing ever,” he laughs. “Luckily, I got the stamina of a long-distance runner.”

Many late, late nights followed, with Hütz attempting to capture the magic and authenticity of Gogol Bordello on record.

“No matter what are the other attributes of any record, the only thing that matters in the end is whether it contains that which is magic to you, so you

slip into an infantile delirium and give it all, like it’s the most important fucking thing in the world, capturing again that feeling you had when you made a first recording ever,” he explains. “Convinced that it might be worthy to be shot in the Challenger [space shuttle] to other civilizations. That kind of high.”

Having recently moved back to New York after spending six years in Brazil, Hütz and the band are preparing to take their massive show on the road. As those who have seen Gogol Bordello live already know, it’s an amazing spectacle. “What you call an amazing show is actually witnessing unbridled life and inner spirit,” Hütz asserts.

“We are devoted and addicted to that. Opening all gates and heaving spirit rendezvous. This method of performance is literally pretty close to teleportation—it’s like having erotic drama with another side and, in some sense, disappearing there. Naturally, that can never collect any dust. Dust burns there.”

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A

side from fronting Los Angeles icons of third wave ska, Goldfinger, vocalist John Feldmann has been busy. Like, producing albums and writing songs for blink-182, All Time Low, 5 Seconds Of Summer, The Used, and many others busy. Not to mention, he just turned 50. His legendary band have been around longer than some of the fans they’ve found in the now-digital age. Yet, their age doesn’t show on their new record, The Knife, out July 21 via Rise Records. It’s an anthemic, modern punk album that Feldmann says is the truest to date for Goldfinger.

The proof is in the bubbly, nostalgic ska tracks and the heartfelt, booming ballads on which each instrument has its own intricate light and composition. The album was born out of a couple months of time off and showed Feldmann that the music scene is a completely different place than it was even as recently as 2008, when the band released their last record, Hello Destiny… With streaming involved in distributing their single, “Put the Knife Away,” Feldmann asserts that the scene “is basically a completely different business model.”

PHOTO: ALAN SNODGRASS

While some songs on the record, like “Am I Deaf,” express the aging punk’s frustration that “no one is speaking the truth and guitars don’t happen in music anymore,” there is something to be said for how long Goldfinger have persevered through the chaos. “I’m still an anxious kid; a lot of musicians are anxiety-ridden,” Feldmann says. “I started the band in 1994, [and] 23 years later, everything worked out. I showed up, I said yes most of the time, I never cancelled any shows. Everything worked out. I would tell that kid, that 26-year-old kid, ‘Dude, take it easy on yourself, man. Go get a chair massage at the mall. It’s going to be OK.’” Growing up on John Hughes movies like “The Breakfast Club” and “Sixteen Candles,” Feldmann says the movies “never really get into details [of ] what real relationships are like.” Now, through “Put the Knife Away” and the record’s overarching theme of wearing your heart on your sleeve, The Knife shows real vulnerability. “My mom and dad were deeply religious people, they never really showed emotions,” Feldmann shares. “They never really talked about how they felt inside. I didn’t have a barometer on what it was like to have a real relationship. Now that I’m 21 years into being married to the same woman, I now know; I have real life experience.”

Referring to the band’s current lineup as “mellow,” Feldmann says Goldfinger have changed a bit with The Knife. Mike Herrera of MxPx and Travis Barker of blink-182 filled in to pump out the record, and even Josh Dun of Twenty One Pilots makes a cameo on the album. Feldmann is stoked that working with other iconic bands through his A&R role at BMG led him back to the stage with Goldfinger—though he might prefer to see fewer cell phones in the air. “That ability of being able to connect in the moment with that many people was magic,” he says. “It was magic to be there, to be able to experience the melody, the lyrics, and the song as it’s being played by a band onstage was incredible.”

At the end of the day, Feldmann says making The Knife was something he set out to do for himself. “Ultimately, kids are listening to music that isn’t necessarily real drums, real guitars, and politically-minded or angry,” Feldmann says. “A lot of songs are more about heartbreak or sex. Even the hip hop is just sex or drugs. That’s not my life. Really, my life is so different than what I hear in modern music. I made a record for myself that I’m proud of, and that’s what this album is.” One thing is for certain: Goldfinger have been in the trenches before, and they’ll keep doing it because they’re fucking Goldfinger.

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G

rindcore is extreme in an altogether different way. It’s a musical sport of technique, fury, and artistry, something that sort of bounces past you, then bounces back, insanely hard.

It’s also uniquely detailed, packed with immense and intricate power.

Belgium grindcore legends, Leng Tch’e, know of this magic. The band have been ruling the underground for the past 15 years. The group’s newest offering, Razorgrind—their first in seven years, due out Aug. 25 via Season Of Mist—is a slab of circuitry so quick and full, it’ll have you dreaming in the multiverse, shaken and mathematic.

“It feels liberating,” bassist Nicolas Malfeyt notes. “It’s been quite a long process, but we feel the end result is more than worth it. It’s our strongest output on all fronts: musically, vocally, sonically, visually—you name it. We couldn’t be more proud.”

Razorgrind jumps out at you with the band’s signature hyper-fast mode, often reversing direction so

nimbly that it leaves you stuck in the last passage while the new one colors in the holes of the former, forging together an echo so unique, it blinds you. The record has variance as well, toning things with thrash and avant-garde nuance.

The whole package is a steeple in a grey horizon atop a portal from Hell. Grindcore can sometimes bleed into and over itself, but Leng Tch’e are composed of great songwriters, and Razorgrind showcases technical prowess with soft and knowledgeable songcraft. These guys know what a song can mean.

“It can be much harder to write a short, compact, yet interesting song than a seven-minute prog composition with riffs and solos going in every direction,” Malfeyt opines. “I feel, with a lot of today’s metal, technical prowess is often applauded in favor of songwriting.

It’s a skill that’s been largely lost, and we try to bring some of that back. The flow of a song is very important to us. It has to feel right, and we need to be able to convey that energy in a live setting. Otherwise, it’s down the rubbish bin.”

Razorgrind manages to swirl you deep into the nexus and then lift you high up with its sheer tastefulness. Sections bend with extended growth and outward fearlessness.

Leng Tch’e have always been one of the most colorful grindcore bands, but Razorgrind shows a whole new level. This is an album with depths and heights, moods and feelings.

Grindcore was never supposed to be this emotional.

“The aim is always to make it brutal yet still interesting in a musical sense,” Malfeyt muses. “We’ve never approached this band as something that needs to fit into a specific genre. There are plenty of bands out there that neatly match a predefined mold where the listener can pretty much know what to expect. Not that there’s inherently something wrong with that, but we enjoy many different styles of music, and the challenge is always to incorporate this into something that sounds like Leng Tch’e.”

Playing grindcore night after night for 15 years is like playing three-

chord rock ‘n’ roll for 80—perhaps more. It’s a musical form with a unique feeling and energy. It’s like jazz in that it’s most epic when experienced live. This is Leng Tch’e’s secret. The band are true practitioners of the form, grinding out because the passion is real.

“The energy, man—that’s where it’s at,” Malfeyt enthusiastically states. “We perform at our best when the crowd reacts and interacts. It’s an exchange of energy and emotion after all. Playing such a violent style of music evokes extreme responses and can be a sort of catharsis. It’s a good way to feed that primal instinct, which we often neglect in today’s modern and sheltered society, but in a safe and controlled environment. I think that’s why people are attracted to extreme music.”

F

ew bands are as synonymous with the death metal genre as California’s mighty Decrepit Birth. Over the course of their 16-year career, the band have evolved from ultra-brutal riff merchants to psyche-shattering, technical-prog-inspired wizards.

It’s been a long seven-year gap since their last release, 2010’s Polarity, leaving death metal fiends clamoring to fill the void left by one of the genre’s heaviest hitters.

With the release of their new album, Axis Mundi, on July 21 via Nuclear Blast Records, that long and arduous wait is finally over.

Since their legendary debut, 2003’s …And Time Begins, Decrepit Birth have steadily evolved into one of death metal’s most technically proficient and awe-inspiring bands.

Beginning with 2008’s Diminishing Between Worlds and culminating with Polarity, the band’s sound has transcended the realm of brutal into flat out jaw-dropping.

Many have wondered what path Decrepit Birth would follow on their much anticipated fourth album. The answer lies in their brutal

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beginnings. “I had some songs that I was working on, I’d say about a year after Polarity, and I thought that was the direction we were going down,” guitarist and ringleader Matt Sotelo reveals. “They were really long songs and just a technical mash of riffs. We kind of listened to that and said, ‘Nah, this isn’t what we’re going to do.’ I decided that I would write some more catchy, heavy, brutal riffs, rather than try to be this technical onslaught,” he explains. “We wanted to have something a little more groovy.”

Not groovy in the hippie, 1960s sense, but groovy in the headbanging without scientific NASA equipment to keep time kind of way. The songs on Axis Mundi are the perfect blend of …And Time Begins’ bludgeoning slam attack and the blistering musicianship of Decrepit Birth’s last two albums. The end result is a pummeling death metal record with enough “groovy” elements to really sink your teeth into. The band’s newly refined sound is due largely to Sotelo’s varied tastes and influences—he cites the three Ds: Disgorge, Deeds Of Flesh, and classic Death as in-

spirations—as well as the addition of drummer and YouTube phenom Samus Paulicelli to the mix.

“On the three other albums, I did mostly all the songwriting and arrangements and everything,” Sotelo explains. “On this one, I did a lot of the riffs and stuff, but I presented them to my drummer Samus, who’s really good at song arrangements and compositions and stuff. He was the one who said, ‘Why do another album that’s just a bunch of run-on sentences? Let’s try do something a little different.’

Rather than just focusing in on little pieces of songs, we’re standing back and looking at the song as a whole—rather than needing to be a music major to understand what we’re playing, you know?”

Thus, Axis Mundi was born: a head-spinning sonic journey that plays like a highlights reel of death metal’s greatest moments. Crazy fast BPMs give way to spine-shattering breakdowns, infectious riffs, and inventive solos, mixed with some of the gnarliest vocals Decrepit Birth frontman Bill Robinson has ever recorded. “We

were trying to go for something ultra-brutal with the vocals,” Sotelo says proudly. “Some people are saying, like, ‘Oh, you can’t understand him, it doesn’t sound like he’s enunciating.’ Well, that’s on purpose. I thought if the music is more brutal, we should go back to that old style brutality on the vocals. It’s definitely a callback to the …And Time Begins stuff. He really went for some un-understandable stuff.”

Songs like “Epigenetic Triplicity,” “Hieroglyphic,” and “The Sacred Geometry” demonstrate Decrepit Birth’s complete mastery of all things death metal. “The technical thing is a really popular thing these days,” Sotelo says. “That’s cool, I like the challenge of playing technical music, but I feel that everybody keeps lumping us in to being a technical death metal band, and I don’t think we’re that. We are a death metal band, and we play all different death metal styles.”

Complete mastery.

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PHOTO: SCOTT KINKADE

S

ummoning the voices of Satanic hordes should be left to the pros.

Pennsylvania’s Incantation have reinstated their resume for this beckoning several times. Their monumental 1992 debut, Onward to Golgotha, has been cemented as legend, and their 2013 LP, Dirges of Elysium, declared that the band are still vital and challenging in contemporary times. Incantation’s first three albums—Onward to Golgotha, 1994’s Mortal Throne of Nazarene, and 1995’s Upon the Throne of Apocalypse—were released on Relapse Records, and they returned to the label for Diabolical Conquest in 1998 and The Infernal Storm in 2000.

The band ventured through five more studio albums and numerous other releases on different labels—Listenable and Candlelight Records included— mastering thick, evil riffs and demanding reverence. Now, Incantation return home to Relapse with Profane Nexus, which drops on Aug. 11.

“Been a long time coming for us,” bassist Chuck Sherwood begins. “Some of

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these tunes have been in and out of sessions for the past year, so we’re more than pleased to see it finally surface.”

Something new for Incantation was recording Profane Nexus on their own equipment, dubbed Incantation Studios. “Its inception was right after Dirges of Elysium. We had used the expertise of so many friends, […] we thought the next logical step was to take on the recording process ourselves,” Sherwood reflects. “The most recent process was a testament to that by creating synthetically what we create organically while writing. Using those programs and filters, but not letting it become a crutch and certainly never to alter our sound.

There is too much built on what Incantation is known for to destroy it with something ‘new.’”

Sherwood reports that recording the nefarious tones on Profane Nexus was a plodding journey. The slaughtering of riffs took “about a year!” he laughs.

“There was a number of production snags. Some unavoidable, some not so much. Bit by bit, to be sure. We each had our time at tracking—and going ber-

serk. As edits returned, we’d go back and redo it all. I think we each had to redo our tracking at the least three times each for [guitarist] John [McEntee], [guitarist] Sonny [Lombardozzi], and I. [Drummer] Kyle [Severn] was just a little more fortunate, I guess.”

Kicking off with “Muse” and “Rites of the Locust,” the album boasts staggering guitar work with dive-bombs and solos that pummel relentlessly as the tempo charges forward on galloping double bass rides and pounding snares.

Demonic growls speaking of the world’s evils ride over trudging rhythms and twisted chords. The punch added to Profane Nexus was provided by Dan Swanö, who mixed and mastered the record—as he has for Dark Funeral, Bloodbath, and Asphyx. “Dan is a wizard,” Sherwood asserts. “Seriously, his name and expertise speaks for itself.

He has an ability to get the very best out of your performance. Input is always a two-way street with us and Dan, I find.

But I am far from too proud to accept his criticism when he offers it. I actually welcome it.”

For Dirges of Elysium, Incantation’s touring was—well, to quote Sherwood, “extensive!” He continues, “It was awesome, man. I recall two legs of the Scorched Earth Policy [tour], 20-plus dates from New York to Hawaii, a couple of European runs with Bolt Thrower and Morgoth. Both were an absolute honor to share a stage with. Which then bled into the release of XXV, our 25th anniversary LP, which we toured for a lot as well. [We] did everything from Portugal to Russia and a number of Stateside ragers.”

On Aug. 18, Incantation begin a tour with Marduk and Abysmal Dawn from California to Boston, then up to Canada until Sept. 3. Sherwood scampers from subtlety when describing his anticipation. “Rabid for this Marduk tour! Can’t wait!” After that tour, Incantation will continues creating. “We have so much material in the waiting,” Sherwood reveals. “Another album—and then some—worth that I am equally amped to hammer down. Onto the next album!”

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F

or the better part of 40 years, Rob “The Baron” Miller— ex-vocalist of crust punk icons, Amebix—has never been a stranger to pushing his music to the extreme. With his current project, Tau Cross, the lyrics and music might have changed slightly, but his extreme approach is still very much alive.

Formed in 2015 with Voivod drummer Michel “Away” Langevin and members of Misery and War// Plague, the band exploded out of the womb with a bang on their self-titled full-length debut. They quickly garnered a dedicated following and inspired widespread excitement over their lethal mixture of punk, hardcore, black metal, and crust, infused with lyrics that lean more toward mysticism than inyour-face activism.

Now, two years later, Tau Cross have returned with their sophomore effort, Pillar of Fire—released July 21 via Relapse Records— which continues down the same path as their debut, but this time

around, the forest has become much darker and the trees have become far creepier.

Never ones to allow stagnation, the band wasted no time in reigniting the songwriting process. “The writing really began immediately after the first album was released. We just had the same Dropbox account, and all of a sudden, it was getting filled up with songs from [guitarists] Jon [Misery] and Andy [Lefton],” Miller explains. “I was writing too, but it seemed that everyone was energized by the success of the eponymous debut and wanted to make sure we kept the ship afloat.”

For some bands, simply getting together to write can be a pain, despite all living in the same city. Tau Cross, however, are forced to keep the train rolling despite having members located in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. Due to their geographical separation, the recording situations for both Pillar of Fire and their debut weren’t exactly ideal. “There are

going to be difficulties when you record in three different countries,” Miller acknowledges. “We realized this with the first album, [that] it would be a lot easier to all be in the same room together and able to discuss the process as you go along.

The best we can do is to Skype or message and try to work from that.”

Despite these complications, the band’s spread out recording situation has proven to serve their music in a way, rather than hinder it. “The original reason for this approach was necessity: no money, no label, no resources,” Miller notes.

“It kind of continued into this new album without anyone paying attention. So, there you have it: punk rock DIY in essence and spirit.”

Lyrically, Miller’s writing on Pillar of Fire is as insightful, poignant, and weird as it’s ever been. “I notice a tendency to talk in terms of very earthy subjects on this album: hollow earth and the emergence of strange creatures that are really representative of our collective unconscious,” he reveals, referencing

“Raising Golem” and “Deep State.” “‘On the Water’ is an examination of a true story of cannibalism at sea and the moral questions it poses,” he adds. “Pillar of Fire is really a collection of short stories or narratives that are meant to engage the listener on a couple of levels, hopefully.”

While Tau Cross are still a relatively new band on the scene, the project has also become both Miller’s main focus and a gratifying labor of love. “A lot of people were a bit cynical about the ‘project band’ kind of tag, maybe thinking this was a oneoff,” he admits.

“I did try to explain that, for me at least, this is the way ahead,” he concludes. “Amebix is done. Tau Cross is my way of continuing to write and record.”

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hen Burlington, Ontario, post-hardcore unit Silverstein were working on their eighth studio album, Dead Reflection—released July 14 via Rise Records—vocalist Shane Told was dealing with a lot of dark, personal issues. He ended a lengthy relationship, which sent him down a self-destructive spiral that eventually culminated in Told working through his problems with music.

Although the album is deeply personal, he believes it was important to share his experience with fans.

“I remember when we did our first record, all those songs I had written, I didn’t think anyone was ever going to really care or even read the lyrics,” he says. “I had to decide back then that I’m always going to be honest with what I say, I’m always going to say what I mean, and I’m never going to dumb myself down. People being able to relate to the things that I talk about—not to sound dramatic—can really mean the difference between life and death.”

Deciding on an album title was a difficult but important choice for

the band. Told explains that Silverstein worked through a couple of different titles before finally settling on Dead Reflection, which was a perfect summary of his emotional state at the time. “It wasn’t an easy choice. I knew it was going to have something to do with the subject matter of the record, which was myself personally having a pretty rough year,” he says. “It was something I came up with that meant to look at yourself—whether that was to physically look at yourself in the mirror or you just think about yourself—and kind of think, ‘What do you see?’ And that’s how I felt. I felt dead inside.”

Dead Reflection is a much heavier album than previous Silverstein records. The band used a lower tuning than they typically do and ramped up the intensity in all aspects of their music. The choruses sound bigger, the breakdowns are more pummeling, and Told’s vocals are fiercer than ever before. “[The tuning] gives the songs a different vibe,” he says. “It’s kind of lower and heavier, but also it’s a tuning that lends us to making things more riff-heavy rather than

chord-based. I find that the record has a lot more riff base, which, in some ways, people might see as darker or heavier, but a lot of that was the tuning we used on this record, which was something that we never used before.”

Despite the dark subject matter on the album, Silverstein are a band who want to provide hope for people dealing with rough situations. Told spilled his emotional baggage across these 12 tracks, but ultimately, he feels it will help people through their own struggles. “It’s dark, and there’s a lot of bad shit that I’m talking about going through, but at the end of the day, we always try to have a hopeful message,” he says. “We always try for people to think you get through these dark times and there’s light on the other side, and that’s really how I feel now. Sometimes, people are going through hell and don’t realize that, ultimately, when they get through whatever they’re going through, it’s going to be better. You have to go through these hard times, and I think that’s a big part of this record. Under-

standing that and not letting go and not giving up.”

Silverstein formed when many of the current band members were very young, but Told thinks their discography holds up despite some of their early releases being written when they were still kids.

He explains that they’ve simply grown—not only as musicians, but also as a cohesive unit. “Every song needs to be its own entity,” Told asserts. “Every song needs to tell its own story and have its own journey that it takes. That’s a big part of what we do and maybe part of why records in our catalog are pretty consistently good, because we never really just stick to a formula because it’s working.”

“We’ve all become better songwriters; we didn’t know what the fuck we were doing in the beginning either, and I think we are all listening to different music, and we all have an impact when we listen to each other,” he concludes.

“If you try to make things fit, they won’t. It has to be an organic experience every single time.”

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rtists sometimes need to shift their perspectives to create a more realized vision, one that is truer to themselves. Such is the case for the fantastic sophomore record from Alice, Texas-based metal group, Shattered Sun. While their 2015 debut, Hope Within Hatred, mined the darkness for optimism, The Evolution of Anger—released via Victory Records on July 21—flips the script.

Dealing with inner turmoil, personal confrontations with hatred and despair, and, of course, the veritable shitstorm that is life in 2017, Shattered Sun found themselves at a crossroads. Thankfully, they have come out the other side revitalized and ready to take on the world.

The Shattered Sun formula is pretty great: play a modernized and melodic form of metal that’s part groove, part thrash, and part melodeath. This new record seems to take every aspect of their sound to the next level..

Shattered Sun recently experienced such significant internal conflict that they almost burned the band to the ground. Instead, these problems—and the maturity to learn from past mistakes— lit the band’s creative fire. “It definitely fueled a lot of this record,” vocalist Marcos Leal confirms. “We were pissed off about a lot of things and basically took it out on each other. We were just in a bad spot, and it caused [guitarist] Daniel [Trejo] to leave for a little bit. We did some tours while he was gone and some writing, and even though we would have never have admitted it, we needed each other.”

“There was a lot of looking in the mirror and accepting our problems,” he continues. “The first song Daniel showed me was ‘Burn It Down,’ and I remember while I was sitting and listening to it, I immediately knew it was going to be the song that brought it all together. It, coincidentally, was his batch of songs that helped us start gluing our relationship back

together, [get] back to talking and understanding each other, remembering we were friends, first and foremost. We used all that as the gasoline to keep this machine going and to turn things around.

I know from day one of [preproduction], we sat in front of each other and basically pointed out all of the flaws in our music and each other and wanted to take it on the chin and own it.”

Naturally, Hope was a big theme of Shattered Sun’s debut, Hope Within Hatred, but this record drastically shifts that perspective.

No longer willing to turn lemons into lemonade, Leal recognized he wanted to know why life kept shoveling him—and the world around him—so many damn lemons.

“While on the road, and just in my everyday life, a lot had happened since I wrote Hope Within Hatred,” he explains. “I was a lot younger and more hopeful, you could say. A lot of things have happened to me from then to now that, like anyone else, would

make you question things and your existence. I’ve had to bury friends and family members; I’ve looked in the face of death and seen the emptiness and uncertainty in it, seen the lies around it. I’ve seen racism and hate in its purest form, and on top of the internal problems in this band, it just made me look at things differently. I wanted to explore the darker side of my mind. I channeled it into every word, every grunt, and every breath. There was no way to fake the anger that came out on this record. It’s real, and this record was my therapy.”

What lessons did Leal learn from all of this? “What I’ve learned from it is to be more involved,” he states, “don’t let [life’s struggles] consume you. The best advice I ever got was to live while I am alive and love as hard as I can, so that when my day comes, I can say I did what I wanted to do in this life and that I was the best I could be for everyone in my life.

That’s what I want people to take away.”

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long with sticking it to the Man and screaming for the sake of rebellion and individuality, the essence of punk possesses a distinct honesty. With Pittsburgh singersongwriter Derek Zanetti and his project, The Homeless Gospel Choir, that honesty is conveyed in a stripped-down, acoustic way, proving that you don’t always have to plug in and turn it up to 10 to make some noise.

Zanetti is one of the nicest, funniest people in punk today, and he has an uncanny way of putting his soul into his art.

On The Homeless Gospel Choir’s third album, Normal—due out Aug. 18 via A-F Records—Zanetti confronts insecurity, self-doubt, depression, and the trials and tribulations that come with growing up.

“When I was a kid, my parents went to a very conservative, evangelical Christian church, so I wasn’t allowed to listen to my own music,” he says of his introduction to punk. “There was a predetermined type of music that I was allowed to have.

I initially thought of punk as

something really foreign; I didn’t really consider checking it out in the beginning. I just thought it was an outsider thing that I would never get the chance to participate in. When I was in middle school, I remember a kid coming up to me and giving me a Green Day cassette tape and telling me that he thought it was something that I would really like.”

“Punk, for me, was always this closeted thing that I participated in,” Zanetti continues. “I knew that it existed, I knew it was good, and I knew that it was the right thing to do, but I was always under this umbrella that was contrary to what I liked and thought was good. It was always about what was evil or a sin or whatever. My experience with punk rock, even though it was widely transformative, was still a struggle and a journey to find it.”

On Normal, there’s a mix of acoustic tracks and songs that feature a full band. “The acoustic songs by themselves lend a transparent and honest way of delivering the lyrics,” Zanetti explains. “This new record—just as the past records have been— is very lyric heavy. I wanted to continue to maintain the acoustic show, but these songs are a lot bigger than just an acoustic song, so I wanted to record them as a full band. When we got the players together to make this record, we wanted to make it like a loud and

live punk record. I want the songs to be played clearly so you can understand the story, and then, on the second half of the album, we switch it over to full band accompaniment.”

“Whenever we got together in the studio, we sat down and talked about what we wanted the vision of the record to be,” he mentions.

“Chris #2 from Anti-Flag was very good at producing and guiding it, while also allowing me to take the reins and control it. He’s like the best producer of all-time. […]

It has a dynamic, it takes you on a journey, so the whole record is a whole story. It’s not like we wrote three singles and wrote the rest of the record with a bunch of bullshit. We wanted to make a full piece that’s all congruent, and that’s what we really went after.”

The Homeless Gospel Choir will be spending much of 2017 on the road. “There’s a lot of touring this year,” Zanetti confirms. “I have a short run of the Northeast, and then I’m home for a few days.

Then, I go back out and do some shows with Frank Iero from My Chemical Romance on the East Coast. Then, I go up to Alaska to do a headline run up there, then there’s more U.S. touring before I head over to Europe to do some touring overseas. We’re really, really excited about the release of the new album and hitting the road for a while with a lot to say.”

NEW NOISE BOOK NOOK PRESENTS...

Unlike authors of other more personal lists, McCabe had very specific criteria for what he deemed an essential metal album. “I was very clear from the start that this was not a ‘best of’ or ‘greatest’ list, because those terms are so subjective, especially when it comes to music,” he says. “I wanted instead to create a list of albums that I thought were essential—essential to the formation of the metal scene as it exists today.”

This meant excluding some huge-selling albums. “I didn’t want to be tied to albums sales alone, so, while there are some obvious multi-million sellers in the book—i.e. the first four Metallica records—I thought it just as important to shine a light on some of those unheralded bands that helped in the formation of so many subgenres and niches in the metal world today,” he explains. “I’d rather focus on acts like the founding fathers of grindcore or the unsung heroes of crossover thrash, for example.

To me, at the end of the day, those bands played just as much of a role

INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR CHIP MCCABE

BY THOMAS PIZZOLA Many people love heavy metal, but not many people are willing to put that love into action and assemble a list of what they consider to be the best 666 albums in the history of the genre. Connecticut-based writer, creator of “The Metal Dad” blog, and former staffer for Relapse Records, Chip McCabe, decided he would be different. He would take his love of metal and compile a list to beat all lists.

and still feel great about it. I had a brainstorm of making a list of 666 albums, because that number has just become so ingrained into metal culture. From there, I thought it would be a unique concept to reveal the albums one per day for 666 consecutive days. That’s how the original 666 Days of Metal blog was born. Roughly midway through, I thought it would be a killer idea for a book as well.”

So began the original “666 Days of Metal” blog.

From 2012 to 2014, McCabe posted one entry per day, counting down his list of the most essential albums in metal history. What did those closest to him think of this undertaking? “I think most family and friends thought I was either a little too ambitious or a little too crazed about metal music,” he says. “I’m definitely the latter.”

“The list started when I was asked to create a ‘100 Greatest Metal Albums’ piece to run on Halloween for the media company I was working for,” McCabe says. “I just couldn’t narrow down the list from the 200plus albums I initially came up with

76 NEW NOISE

in where we are today as a fan base and a genre as someone like Slipknot. There are a lot of different types of metal represented in this book: thrash, speed, traditional, proto, power, doom, sludge, grind, death, black, crust, stoner rock, hardcore. You name it, it’s probably in there. To me, that is the true essence of this project, not how many records a band sold.”

Though there was no doubt which record would be the number one on the list—spoiler alert: it’s Black Sabbath’s first album—McCabe put a lot of thought into which entries would fill the higher spots. “I hemmed and hawed for quite some time on what albums should be included in the top 10, top 25, top 50, top 100, etc.; it was a long and sometimes painful process,” he says. “As for the number one record? No, there was no doubt in my mind which album deserved that spot, because, to me, it’s the album that almost single-handedly created the metal genre.”

EPs ABORTED: BATHOS: CENTURY MEDIA

Belgian masters of brutality, Aborted, are back with a—very small—dose of their unique brand of musical mayhem. Released July 7, Bathos is their first release with new bassist Stefano Franceschini of Hideous Divinity. These two gore-splattered numbers offer up a little more melody and groove than the group’s excellent 2016 full-length, Retrogore. There’s a certain grandiosity on display, especially on “Fallacious Crescendo.” The band explode after the song’s impressive guitar solo, with pathogen-level hooks that cleave into your cranium with bombastic speed and fury. Fans will surely want to bathe in Bathos’ wonderful goregrind.

–Nicholas Senior

CHEECH: OLD FRIENDS: WTF RECORDS

Boston’s tried and true warriors of underground sound, Cheech, have a long history of mixing heavy hardcore punk with brutal thrash and savage breakdowns. Smart and sardonic lyrics address social injustices, beer, and horror films.

Old Friends—as alluded to by the bulldog on the cover—is an homage to their Albany, New York, brethren in Bulldog Courage, whose vocalist Shane Williams passed away. “Old Friends Die Hard” is a cover of that band’s song. The other three tracks blaze through a vicious sound that continues from their prior LP, Beast from the East. –Hutch

FALSE: HUNGER: GILEAD MEDIA

Spewing snarling vocals, False paint two sinister portraits of concise black metal. Keeping the genre’s usual indulgence to a minimum, each track is under five minutes. This is notable after the band’s 2011 and 2015 LPs, which created 10- to 16-minute journeys with each track. False’ sound on Hunger harnesses grandiose themes by championing haunting tones and a choral feel. The dark essence hits with penetrating riffs and galloping drums, which weigh heavy both in feel and sound. The production is dense while still feeling open. Belligerent, chaotic spurts in “Anhedonia” build on themselves: escalating and growing fraught.

Released July 28. –Hutch

MUSH: PROTECT YOUR BRAND: SKELETAL LIGHTNING

Mush—featuring members of La Dispute, Pet Symmetry, and more—paired the June 28 release of their debut EP, Protect Your Brand, with a limited-edition card game designed by bassist Adam Vass in collaboration with his indie gaming company, World Champ Game Co. “Protect Your Brand was recorded after a year of tinkering around with the band’s sound, adding members and even changing instruments,” vocalist Erik Hunter Czaja says. “Being our first release, we wanted to make it special, so Adam had the idea of making a game component to go along with our demo.

It’s a satire on the music biz and also on ourselves.” –John B. Moore

THE SAINT JAMES SOCIETY: COVERED IN BLOOD: BLANK CITY RECORDS

Austin’s The Saint James Society created their limited-edition EP, Covered in Blood, through a process known as X-ray pressing. During the 1950s, the Soviets created bootleg copies of western records by pressing the music onto medical X-rays. “It was something we have wanted to do for a long time,” guitarist Marc Sallis says. The psychedelic indie—or “Desert Glam”—band released the EP on July 14. It is composed of covers such as Siouxsie And The Banshees’ “Arabian Nights” featuring Anna Bulbrook from The Airborne Toxic Event and “All We Ever Wanted Was Everything,” originally by Bauhaus. –Natalya Daoud

SLOW DEATH: HATE FILLED WORLD: CORPSE FLOWER RECORDS

Slow Death are a band ready to amaze with their aural arsenal, then reiterate their intensity with a visual component. Featuring Randy Larsen—ex-vocalist and bassist of Cable and Empty Flowers—drummer Matt Spearin of Disappearer, guitarist Jeremy Medeiros, and bassist Jesse Sherman, Slow Death create grimy, low-tuned destruction. Their misanthropic metallic punk sludge is fast and pungent, drenched in organ blood. This 12” release’s A-side is backed by a screen-printed B-side, illustrated by Mark Rudolph. The image is of a severed arm clutching a blood-strewn axe, and the stellar cover catches eyes in 3D, accompanied by 3D glasses. Released on June 1. –Hutch

REISSUES AMEBIX: MONOLITH: DISSONANCE PRODUCTIONS

In 1987, Amebix combined metal and punk with brilliant execution on this crusty, down-tuned vehicle, rising to the next echelon with Monolith, then splitting up. Inspired as much by Exploited as Celtic Frost, as much

by Voivod as G.B.H., Amebix ventured into a realm that felt nuclear—specifically, the wake of a nuclear attack.

Lemmy-esque vocals spit heed and loathsome aspirations. Metal tropes used as visuals and punk basslines merge to conjure a necessary album for any fan of the underground genres. Reissued on June 30, tracks like “Nobody’s Driving,” “Chain Reaction,” and “The Power Remains” secure Amebix’ station in metal, punk, and hardcore’s canons. –Hutch

LIVE

VIOLENT FEMMES: 2 MICS & THE TRUTH: UNPLUGGED & UNHINGED IN AMERICA: PIAS RECORDINGS

When the Violent Femmes were touring in 2016 behind their comeback record, We Can Do Anything, they played a slew of acoustic radio sessions, captured here on this fantastic set. It includes rearranged classics, songs played live for the first time, spontaneous requests, and random improvisations. Though played mainly on acoustic instruments, the songs boast The Horns of Dilemma, Violent Femmes’ ever-evolving cabal of multi-instrumentalist backing musicians. The record is available on CD, digital download, and a double-LP vinyl set on July 21. –John B. Moore

SOUNDTRACKS TWIN PEAKS: MUSIC FROM THE LIMITED EVENT SERIES AND TWIN PEAKS: LIMITED EVENT SERIES ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK: RHINO

David Lynch fans rejoiced when they heard he was bringing back “Twin Peaks” for a limited run this summer.

Music fans rejoiced when they realized that meant more music from the legendary show. Rhino is putting out two soundtracks made up of music from this new series, including songs by Chromatics and Grammy-winning composer Angelo Badalamenti—a Lynch favorite. Both releases will be issued on CD, as well as on double-LPs, on Sept. 8. –John B. Moore

“EVIL DEAD 2”: ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK: WAXWORK RECORDS In honor of the 30th anniversary of this 1987 camp horror classic, Waxwork Records is putting out a deluxe vinyl reissue of the Sam Raimi-helmed feature’s soundtrack. Comprised of music by the trilogy’s composer, Joseph Loduca, the LP package features entirely remastered audio—reworked for vinyl directly from the original master tapes—all new art, and 180-gram colored vinyl. Fanatics can pick between “Ash” blue and red swirl and “Oldsmobile Delta 88” yellow. This release is essential for any fan of horror, cult cinema, or soundtracks on vinyl—and really, who isn’t? –John B. Moore

MICHAEL POTTER: GARDEN PORTAL ALMANAC: ALREADY In a swirling universe, with a fixed medium and irrational logic, Michael Potter’s latest gem, Garden Portal Almanac, lends a quick guide to the sensuality of escapism. You can’t get there without taste. Something Potter yields in abundance. Progressive rock, electronic counter, psychedelic pop, and pure art coalesce into a bubble of wind, swimming through the air, layering the mind and blowing muscles into the movement of a post-indie universe. This is a tape to dream to, to travel to, and to keep by your side with your Sony Walkman—circa ‘96. It’s still kicking, and Potter has reached it so: a beautifully epic little cassette for a beautifully epic little Walkman.

AMERICAN: VIOLATE AND CONTROL: SENTIENT RUIN LABORATORIES The power is raw. American—sort of a mysterious freeform black metal noise band who use mysticism and madness as their cornerstone—offer some unholy organics on their behemoth of a cassette, Violate and Control. When I think of black metal, I think of Fenriz as a youngster in a basement in Norway, with the lights dim and the universe dark, raging punk rock on his drum set—all silver and science fiction-like.

The sheer brutality is the real piece of quality there. Well, you can hear that in American, a scary band who utilize both technology and grime to their advantage. You’ll be playing this thing and scaring people, then smoking a joint and leaving the stratosphere, entering the multiverse like some Demon from the hill, running long and out of wind.

Nature rules.

HEAVEN COPY: FINAL COUNTRY: SUMMER ISLE Heaven Copy occupy a space between worlds. There is light, memory, and things seen and felt—and there is the infinite abyss, the vibrations that are never really grasped and never really believed. The whistle of noise that this experimental cassette tape offers is a thing like a dream in a rectangle box. It patters around like a David Lynch film, pulsing with horror, but offering beauty as well.

Hidden beauty, the kind you fall in love to, the kind you feel in the sand under your toes on long midnight walks along the Oregon coast, filled with monsters and visions and things that will never actually reach you. This is a unique specimen, an arty statement indeed.

SAINTES: MELANCHOLIA: CRASH SYMBOLS Annie-Sophie Le Creurer’s haunting vision that is Saintes is a like twisted oak of a dream. There’s sweetness—albeit in flux—that sticks to the weathered roots waxing and waning in the giant pool of sound.

Experimental in nature, with French pop excursions, psych rock jaunts, and eerie nightmarish extensions, Le Creurer’s newest work, Melancholia, feels like a Swiss mountain vibrating from a different universe. The beats are hard, the ambiance alluring, and when you really get to the heart of it, the avant-garde nature of the whole tape drifts across your brow like a drop of sweat: cool, tingling, and perpetual. You want to wipe it, but you let it drip, because it’s sweet and original like a snowflake on Mars or the Grand Canyon. Play this for your friends.