Breakout Pittsburgh metal band 156/SILENCE have debuted a new single, ‘Wants I Need‘ featuring Craig Owens (D.R.U.G.S.), today from their highly anticipated album, People Watching, that’s out September 13th from SharpTone Records.
Massive riffs and pummeling rhythm rip and roar over waves of atmospheric synth and piano while blissful melodies and purging clean vocals counterbalance the ferociousness on 4+ minute song. Another stellar delivery from one of melodic-metal’s next giants.
Commenting on the song, vocalist Jack Murray says: “The title pretty much explains the gist of it all. Wants turn to needs and needs seem to dwindle. Priorities lessen and feelings of envy and loss tend to engulf some people. Craig absolutely nailed the feature just as we expected him to and before we even asked for it. Craigathan rules.”
Guitarist Jimmy Howell adds: “I think ‘Wants I Need’ is a very surprising song for us. The song is punishingly heavy through but then makes way for a climax that leans more into the emotional side of our band as opposed to just trying to be as heavy as possible. We’re incredibly grateful to have Craig as a part of our album and we hope to collaborate more in the future.”
Produced by Jonathan Dolese (D.R.U.G.S, Cane Hill), 156/SILENCE’s 4th album is an alternative metal behemoth, featuring 14 tracks of chaos and fury..
The band recently said of the record: “People Watching is the culmination of the last 9 years of 156. From the very beginning of the band we set the goal to push ourselves and make sure no two records we put out ever sound the same. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve created, this album has been a long time coming. Welcome to the new era of 156.”
156/Silence creates soundtracks for the pushed aside and marginalized. Equal parts frenetic, unhinged, passionate, and focused, their music resonates with outsiders of all stripes. 156/Silence is for anyone determined to peel back the façade of false pleasantries, shallow platitudes, and fakery.
It’s a mission the band began in earnest with underground missives. (Metal Injectionadvised readers to “wreck your speakers with 156/Silence” on the eve of 2017’s KarmaEP.) The group excels live, offering both community and devastation, while touring with the likes of The Acacia Strain, Unearth, Upon A Burning Body, D.R.U.G.S., Signs Of The Swarm, and Orthodox, among others.
Howling personal declarations, jagged riffs, post-hardcore, noise, thrash, sludge, and ambiance collide within 156/Silence.
In 2018, Kerrang! hailed the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania group as one of the 6 Underground Metalcore Bands Redefining the Scene. Less than a decade after their emergence, 156/Silence delivers again on that promise with an incendiary fourth album, People Watching.
No two 156/Silence albums are alike, from the unhinged frenetic chaos of Undercover Scumbag (2018) to the gloriously savage and technical Irrational Pull (2020), which Metal Hammer likened to Converge and Botch. The diverse ruminations found in Narrative(2022) took things even further.
People Watching continues the prolific outfit’s tradition of steadfast evolution. Produced by Jonathan Dolese (D.R.U.G.S., Emmure, Attack Attack!), the album embraces melodic hooks without sacrificing any heaviness. The band’s golden age of metalcore roots shimmer and swirl together with influences ranging from Aphex Twin to Thrice, Glassjaw, and Deftones, from movie soundtracks to horror games. As the band says: “People Watching is truly the culmination of the last nine years of 156.”
156/Silence sounds ravenous, ominous, and haunting. Their songs are literary and cinematic, cerebral and brutal, drawing from real and imagined horrors, all intertwined with melody and might.
