Horehound just gave us a massive and distinctively rigid and deepening metal EP that blisters and burns as much as it pounds and shakes the ground beneath your feet.
The Collapse EP is a vast open sea of swelling and swarming progressive sludgy hard edged rock music that feels cinematically driving and impactful.
The songs on this release are engulfing and have a way of crawling under your skin in all the best ways possible.
If you're a lover of slow and thunderous riffs, trudgery, and fire, this record is for you for sure.
An air of witchcraft fills the air around you and it's like listening to an action-packed horror flick at times.
The female fronted band has a doomy undertone and her vocals haunt and persuade like a siren.
This EP is brimming with wildness and guitars being slammed with open chords and a vicious touch.
Vocal melodies draw you in and swirl around you while drums slam and bass rumbles.
This record has layers to be peeled back and plenty of head banging moments that you can feel in your bones.
With the release of Collapse, 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 Collapse EP. This record had a massive metal style to it that crossed into each other perfectly! Where did this EP come from?
We do consider this a full album, though it does not come in at the standard LP length. The vinyl will be pressed at long play. The band has always gone through line-up changes but with each record, we got deeper and darker. It all comes down to the players, and this was our best formation yet. I believe we finally came into our own on this record and am looking forward to writing our next with that in mind. The music comes from our place and time now, we pull our collective energy from now. You write what you know. RAG: I'm hearing some great styles on this release. Who are some of your biggest musical influences?
I think our influences are collectively pulled from everything we like and pick up on and we all have different musical backgrounds and tastes. We’re all old enough to have a culmination of influence and not just a few bands that we reference. It’d be easier to say we’re not influenced by popular music even if we love some popular bands but more from underground, heavy artists across the board of doom, sludge, stoner, post and even more traditional metal music. RAG: So how did this all begin for you really? When did you fall in love with making music?
We all have our own version or story but we were all into music as kids. None of us grew up together, in fact, we met through the evolution of Horehound. We’ve all been trying our hand at an instrument by our teen years if not earlier. RAG: What's next for you as a band?
We have just performed at Descendants of Crom IV and we have some more festivals this year, including Maryland DoomFest, Ohio Doomed and Stoned, and New England Stoner & Doom. We’ll pepper in some weekender trips, hitting a few cities at a time until winter, and we’ll sit down then and write some new material. I believe next year we plan to really tour. Right now it seems too competitive and like every band is on tour at once so we’ll wait that out. RAG: The "Godful" video was awesome! Did you guys plan this out? Did you like the end product?
Thank you. I put most of our content videos out there for the sake of having some visual with the music. I put some thought and work into them but it’s really just something to have. We plan on doing our first actual music videos soon. Those will have a more personal touch and I think fans will appreciate that. RAG: What inspires you to write a song?
There is a saying that it’s not a choice to be a musician. If you have it in you, you write. Brendan will bring some riffs together and we’ll all play with them in our rehearsal space and start to create a composition that lends to the main riffs. Once that’s put in some sort of form I come in and write lyrics and that’s based off what I am feeling combined with what the music makes me feel. I usually free write something in a matter of a half hour or so. I just get something out and don’t really edit much although we may go in and move parts around for it to all come together in the end. I’d like to think the process is raw (emotionally) but not unrefined (intuitively). RAG: What are you all doing when you're NOT working on music?
We all have “day” jobs, pets, and family. I think for main hobbies a lot of them involve music. Dan likes to brew beer, Russ likes to tinker with things like making his own effects pedals, and Brendan reads a book like every few days. I dabble in art and illustration but really, promoting bands and going to shows takes up a good bit of my free time. RAG: Who are you all listening to right now?
Russ: Author & Punisher, Converge, Run the jewels Brendan: Crowbar, Nothing, Yob, Amenra Dan: Horseburner, Rebreather, and Slow Wake Shy: Come to Grief, Churchburner, Axioma, Foehammer RAG: Are you doing live performances?
We have resumed playing since summer of last year. We haven’t extensively travelled but it seems like things aren’t being cancelled as much and are running more regularly so that will be following soon. RAG: This EP seems like a big undertaking. What kind of advice might you have for other up and coming bands out there?
I think you sort of have to make a record before you make a good record and just go through the experience, but make sure you’re well-rehearsed and ready to perform like you would a show. Especially if you’re having someone else record you. Be sure that you have the sound you want before you go into the studio. If there are any songs even one band member feels that they don’t really like, nix it. Everyone should love what you’re performing. We pre-recorded everything in our rehearsal space and figured out things like the BPM for each song before going in to record it. It keeps you in sync and true to what you were aiming for in the production end. RAG: Before we go, what would you like to say to fans of the music?
Thank you for taking a chance to listen to us. Thank you for supporting us through record sales, merch, and seeing us perform. We know there is an endless amount of music out there and we appreciate you choosing us in your playlists. We love you all. Keep it heavy, keep it underground.