A beautifully brutal alternative rock and metal record just dropped from November's Oath brings on a refreshing and familiar set of tones and takes some outstanding riffs and straight grunge elements and accompanies it all with a melodic and edgy female vocalist that fits the band perfectly.
The album is dubbed Rise & Fall and it's packed to the brim with vast and progressive songwriting, a killer arena rock undertone and some great breakdowns you didn't see coming.
This record is bursting with energy and really does quite a job of showcasing the bands presence as a whole as the players seem to feed off of each other's energies as kick drums roll, guitars crunch, and bass lines sit right up front and set the bottom end tone.
These songs have touches of early 2000's alt rock that blend in with bopping and bouncy metal styles and it all has this catchy feel to it even when things are more heavy.
You can sing along with blistering choruses where you can hear backing screams giving added intensity or you can mosh and headbang with the rhythms. Either way these songs have that something that gives them the right drive.
It's a pretty big album but plays through smoothly and almost like a concept album might.
With chorus explosions and an evident aggression, this album has pretty much everything you could want from a release of the hard rock, metal, grunge genre.
With the release of such a killer record, we wanted to have a chat with the band to find out where this all came from.
Here's what went down.
RAG: Okay so let's start with the Rise & Fall record. This album has a killer heaviness and alternative backbone but also a few surprises! Where did this record come from? Honestly this album was recorded a fair few years ago. We've each had extreme circumstances and difficulties that prevented us from getting this album to see the light of day but we pushed through and it's finally out. It's pretty fitting that it was such a struggle considering the title, we're definitely not the luckiest bunch of people. We recorded it in the span of 4 days with Dax Liniere from Puzzle Factory Studios, 3 days in Penrith and 1 day in Canberra NSW Australia back in 2014. The songs come from that feeling of being stuck in the middle of this constant pressure while being dealt with the harsh realities of life that we ultimately have no control over. There's always something or someone trying to pull you down but it's either do or die so you have to stay above it. RAG: I'm hearing some great styles on this release. Who are some of your biggest musical influences? Well, we have the big three among us which is Godsmack, Evanescence and Slipknot. Bands and artists like The Butterfly Effect, Delta Goodrem, Pete Murray, Avril Lavigne, Three Days Grace, Disturbed, Heart, Ed Sheeran, Muse, Karnivool, Tool, ill niño, Tonight Alive all influence us. The list will go on forever but we draw inspiration from all forms of music and musicians. RAG: So how did this all begin for you really? When did you fall in love with making music? We've been writing since we were kids, Bel (vocals) wrote the lyrics to Through With You when she was 8 years old so it's not about a relationship well not a romantic one anyway. A lot of the riffs heard in the album were written by Marty (guitar) from when he was 16 until the album was recorded but really, he was writing from around 14. It's safe to say we fell in love with making music very early on but in November's Oath every time we write something new, we feel the same rush of euphoria. RAG: What's next for you as a band? Right now, we're busy writing and recording new music as well as a few music videos. We've had all the songs off Rise & Fall for a while and played them a fair bit for a few years now even if it's new to everyone else, we're really excited to get some of our newer stuff out there and present it to the best of our capabilities. We're always working on our live performances too so as soon as our new stuff is out there and we're ready we'll be hitting the stage and putting on the best rock shows we can to present these songs as well as they deserve. RAG: What inspires you guys to write a song?
It's that feeling or spark from seemingly nowhere that drives us to do or create. Usually, Marty will come up with an arrangement and we'll dissect it and each put in our parts or ideas, essentially each of ourselves goes into every song. Bel (vocals) will draw from her own life experiences and everything around her, give the songs meaning and more often than not a pretty catchy hook. In short we pretty much inspire each other. RAG: What are you all doing when you're NOT working on music? Same as everybody, being miserable and working at our day jobs haha. We hang out sometimes outside of our music, play video games, go to the movies, play golf and bowling, take care of our animals. We are all still listening to music, going to concerts, checking out local gigs when we're not working on it ourselves. RAG: Who are you all listening to right now?
Right now, we are into Bring Me The Horizon, Relent, Papa Roach, Pete Murray, Well? (local band, they're awesome!), Yours Truly, Lady Gaga, Puscifer, Royal Blood. RAG: Are you doing live performances? We're not at the moment and focusing more on releasing new content. We plan to go back into live performances in a few months, performing the Rise & Fall album as well as a few new songs as strongly as we possibly can. RAG: This album seems like a big undertaking. What kind of advice might you have for other up and coming bands out there? It definitely was a big undertaking, not just writing and recording but everything that goes along with it and getting it out there. We don't know how much our advice means but we'd just say be true to yourself and your music. Of course, the world is run on being as polished and eye catching as possible in the span of 7 seconds these days but we're more interested in good songs and we think there will always be a place for great art amongst all this artificial nonsense even if only a few people hear it, you never know who those few may be. RAG: Before we go, what would you like to say to fans of the music? First of all, thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts for anyone who has listened to our music let alone became a fan. We write this music for us but the idea that anyone could hear it and be moved in any way is incredible. We hope you enjoy the new stuff coming your way and we can't thank you enough for being around when it does.