A band in Calgary got caught making their album and song art with AI. Benjamin Howells heard about it and it steered his own record the opposite direction — fully analog, one recurring image, a 1984 Minolta X-700 as the only camera. That image ended up being a white-tailed deer’s head, photographed across stages of decay. It’s the visual thread running through “Fade Into Being (Part 1),” the new EP from Calgary heavy alternative band Howells, out April 24 on Bandcamp.
Today we’re premiering the video for “Overflow,” the EP’s collaboration with fellow Alberta band Astrology Girl. Watch above.
Wyświetl ten post na Instagramie
Howells describe their sound as “halo-core” — something between emo, shoegaze, and metalcore that doesn’t fully sit in any of them. The name came out of a specific intent.
“The goal with our music has always been to give people a ‘religious moment,'” Benjamin Howells says.
“Something deific in scale that makes listeners feel a sense of awe. Our sound is influenced by many genres and as a result we have ended up on a lot of different bills playing with bands from emo, rock and roll, deathcore, and metalcore. It became hard to box us into 1 genre, that in combination with the religious imagery in our lyrics naturally evolved our description into Halocore.”
Reference points they cite: Deftones, My Chemical Romance, The 1975.
The decay imagery across the EP’s covers isn’t surface-level. It comes from a specific place Benjamin was in during the writing.
Wyświetl ten post na Instagramie
“I’ve always been a bit fascinated with time and death, not the macabre part but the spiritual part of it,” he says. “I entered a new stage of life while making this EP and I had been reflecting on the different stages of my life, wondering if I had already begun decaying metaphorically. The deer’s head reflects themes of transformation and wanting to fade away/Dissolve, which can all be heard lyrically on this EP.”
He’s done film photography for years, which is why the Minolta was the only way the covers were going to feel right. The local AI incident sharpened the choice — he wanted something physical that couldn’t be generated. Mercedes Arn-Horn of Softcult, who was nominated for a JUNO, worked with Howells on shaping the visual world across the release.
“Overflow” came out of a three-hour session with Astrology Girl’s Blake and Casper that Benjamin still flags as a core memory. He brought in the full instrumental with a first verse written and a chorus hook, then sat back while Blake and Casper went to work.
“Working with Blake and Casper was so unhinged,” he says. “We sat there and they just started spitting out ideas but their relationship with each other is so chaotic. Casper would just start singing something super enthusiastically out of nowhere and then Blake would be like ‘CASPER SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU ASSHOLE I’M THINKING!’ It was hilarious. I kind of felt like a kid watching their parents fight. That went on for like 3 hours and we came out with something I feel is truly special and unique. A core memory for me now.”
Folded Hand also features on the EP, on “8 Fold Fence.”
Wyświetl ten post na Instagramie
Splitting “Fade Into Being” across two releases wasn’t a packaging decision — Benjamin says it came out of how the songs actually sat next to each other.
Wyświetl ten post na Instagramie
“Part 1 is notably more dark and heavy than part 2,” he explains. “Part 2 doesn’t have any screams and the songs feel less somber and aggressive. The songs varied enough that I felt part 2 needed to have its own album cover theme to separate the 2 releases. The songs are definitely of the same ilk (we recorded them at the same time) but there is an unmistakable difference between the 2 sets of songs and I needed to highlight that.”
Part 2 arrives in the fall of 2026.
The EP was produced alongside Devin Taylor, a five-time Nail The Mix winner. Howells hosted a virtual listening party on April 20 at 6 PM PDT via their Bandcamp, playing the full record front to back with commentary on the songs, the visuals, and the writing process.
The band was nominated for Rock Recording of the Year at the 2025 YYC Music Awards and has had regular airplay on CBC Radio One, X92.9, and college radio across Canada. The following has been grassroots, built on sold-out hometown shows and a fanbase that consistently turns up.
🔔 IDIOTEQ is ad-free, independent, and runs on one person’s time. If you want it to stay that way: DONATE via PayPal 𝗈𝗋 SUPPORT via Patreon.
Stay connected via Newsletter · Instagram · Facebook · X (Twitter) · Threads · Bluesky · Messenger · WhatsApp.
