Today, one of the biggest names in modern hardcore, COMEBACK KID announce their seventh studio album, “Heavy Steps” will be released January 21, 2022 via Nuclear Blast worldwide (and New Damage Records in Canada). Alongside the album announcement, the influential punk rock heavyweights have unveiled the tone-setting, dynamic title track and its humorously entertaining accompanying video. Stream ‘Heavy Steps’ HERE and watch the video above.
UPDATE: January 10th: COMEBACK KID have cancelled their European tour with Be Well, Devil In Me, and Scowl. “We made it sooo far and…No shortage of trying to make it happen,” said Comeback Kid in a statement. “Sorry Devil In Me, Scowl, Be Well and XL LIFE but we will not be able to make the EU/UK dates happen. We are as mad as you are about this. Out of our control. We will make it up to you.” – comments the band.
Says lead vocalist Andrew Neufeld of the new single “I think of our new single ‘Heavy Steps‘ as a bold statement of a riff right off the bat, and lyrically coming from an unhinged perspective about tearing through life. Instinct over reason – without even realizing how easily our worlds could implode from under our feet. A bit of a “just test me” type sentiment is being echoed in this song.”
Picking up where the comedic mini-thriller video for their riff-heavy banger “No Easy Way Out” left off (spoiler; COMEBACK KID are chased in a forest and kidnapped), the video for ‘Heavy Steps‘ which is also directed by Kevin Keegan, kicks off with a mysterious masked individual walking towards a stage carrying a couple of guitars while eerie, unnerving horror-esque score plays in the background. To everyone’s surprise and for pure comic relief, it becomes clear that the band has been kidnapped by an over eager father in order to play his son Skip’s 10th birthday party. Watch the video for ‘Heavy Steps’ below.
“Heavy Steps”, the follow up to 2017’s critically acclaimed full-length “Outsider”, sees the hardcore veterans returning to their roots both geographically and musically. Although the members of the band are currently residing on different sides of the country in Vancouver and Toronto, the band decided to write and record their latest effort in the band’s originating city of Winnipeg, Manitoba at Private Ear Recording Studio and once again enlisted the services of producer John Paul Peters (CANCER BATS, PROPAGANDHI) who recorded the band’s debut album “Turn It Around”. In addition to co-production by Peters, on “Heavy Steps”, COMEBACK KID collaborated with prominent Grammy award-winning mixer and long-time fan of the band Will Putney (KNOCKED LOOSE, EVERY TIME I DIE). Featuring a guest appearance by GOJIRA’s Joe Duplantier, “Heavy Steps” is no longer a prerequisite to realizing COMEBACK KID’s influence on modern punk, but a delivery of pure anthemic chaos, sheer speed and force. It is a statement of intent.
“It’s about hitting the ground running, not knowing when or where the ground could break from underneath you.” summarizes Neufeld. “It’s heavy steps on thin ice. ‘Heavy Steps‘ on hollow ground.”
Kicking off with the pummeling title track that features punishing bass lines, masterful drumming, sludgy guitar riffs and an infectious singalong chorus, the 11 tracks that is “Heavy Steps” embody all the things that make COMEBACK KID so revered in their genre. It’s fast, fun, beautiful crafted melodic hardcore.
“Heavy Steps” Track Listing:
01. Heavy Steps
02. No Easy Way Out
03. Face The Fire
04. Crossed ft. Joe Duplantier
05. Everything Relates ft. JJ
06. Dead On The Fence
07. Shadow of Doubt
08. True To Form
09. Inbetween
10. Standstill
11. Menacing Weight
In support of their forthcoming release, COMEBACK KID will be playing a number of tour dates in 2021 and 2022. The band will first head out on a 9-date East Coast Tour that will kick off on October 29th in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and make its way up the coast ending on November 7th in Boston, Massachusetts. Direct support will be A WILHELM SCREAM with opening band ONE STEP CLOSER. Then, after kicking off the year 2022 with dates in the UK and Europe, COMEBACK KID are set to play a handful of shows in Ontario with CANCER BATS and A WILHELM SCREAM in March 2022. Tickets for all dates are available now. For a complete list of tour dates, see below.
East Coast Tour with A WILHELM SCREAM & ONE STEP CLOSER:
29.10.2021 Local 506 – Chapel Hill, NC ^*
30.10.2021 The Fest @ Knockin Boots – Gainsville, FL *
01.11.2021 Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
02.11.2021 The Camel – Richmond, VA
03.11.2021 Soundstage – Baltimore, MD
04.11.2021 First Unitarian Church – Philadelphia, PA
05.11.2021 House Of Independents – Asbury Park, NJ
06.11.2021 Brooklyn Monarch – Brooklyn, NY
07.11.2021 Middle East Downstairs – Boston, MA
^ No A WILHELM SCREAM
* No ONE STEP CLOSER
West Coast Tour with NO WARNING, ZULU, & SCOWL:
06.12.2021 American Legion Post 8 – Las Vegas, NV
07.12.2021 Valley Bar – Phoenix, AZ
08.12.2021 Soda Bar – San Diego, CA
11.12.2021 For The Children @ Echoplex – Los Angeles
12.12.2021 For The Children @ Echoplex – Los Angeles
13.12.2021 The Vets Hall – Santa Cruz, CA
15.12.2021 Dante’s – Portland, OR +
16.12.2021 Vera Project – Seattle, WA +
+ No NO WARNING
COMEBACK KID European Headline Tour 2022 w/ BE WELL, DEVIL IN ME, SCOWL:
19.01.22 Germany Berlin @ Hole44
20.01.22 Germany Hannover @ Faust
21.01.22 Germany Bochum @ Matrix
22.01.22 Germany Karlsruhe @ Weisse Rose
23.01.22 Netherlands Utrecht @ Tivoli Pandora
24.01.22 UK Bristol @ Fleece
25.01.22 UK Birmingham @ Mama Roux
26.01.22 UK Leeds @ Key Club
27.01.22 UK Manchester @ Rebellion
28.01.22 UK London @ The Dome
29.01.22 Belgium Hasselt @ Muziekodroom
30.01.22 France Paris @ Gibus
31.01.22 Switzerland Wil @ Gare De Lion
01.02.22 Italy Milan @ Circolo Magnoilia
02.02.22 Germany Munich @ Backstage
03.02.22 Czech Rep Prague @ Futurum
04.02.22 Germany Leipzig @ Conne Island
Upcoming Canadian Tour Dates:
03.17.22 – LONDON, ON @ RUM RUNNERS ^
03.18.22 –TORONTO, ON @ PHOENIX CONCERT THEATRE ^
03.19.22 – OTTAWA, ON @ THE BRASS MONKEY ^
03.20.22 – KINGSTON, ON @ MANSION ^
04.15.22 – WINNIPEG, MB – PARK THEATRE *
04.16.22 – REGINA, SK – THE EXCHANGE *
04.17.22 – SASKATOON, SK – AMIGOS *
04.18.22 – GRANDE PRAIRIE, AB – BETTER THAN FRED’S *
04.22.22 – VANCOUVER, BC – RICKSHAW THEATRE
04.23.22 – VICTORIA, BC – CAPITAL BALLROOM
04.24.22 – WHISTLER, BC – GARFINKEL’S
04.26.22 – NELSON, BC – THE ROYAL
04.27.22 – FERNIE, BC – NORTHERN BAR & STAGE
04.28.22 – RED DEER, AB – BO’S BAR
04.29.22 – EDMONTON, AB – STARLITE ROOM
04.30.22 – CALGARY, AB – DICKENS
^ w/Cancer Bats and A Wilhelm Scream
* NO MISERY SIGNALS
The tour remains subject to the current global situation
Over the last twenty years Comeback Kid have been hailed as one of the major counterparts when it has come to shaping and pioneering both the Canadian and international modern punk and hardcore sound and scene alike.
Having formed in Winnipeg, and breaking into the mainstream with 2005’s career defining, Wake The Dead, Comeback Kid broke boundaries and both literally and musically stormed across new terrains, projecting the once underground genre on a globally touring scale alongside the likes of then Victory Records label mates, Earth Crisis, Terror and Refused.
“We’re a hardcore band, but we don’t feel like we belong to any particular sect of that,” states Neufeld alongside band members, Jeremy Hiebert (guitar, Figure Four), Stu Ross (guitar, Misery Signals), Chase Brenneman (bass, Living With Lions), and Loren Legare (drums, Living With Lions). “We don’t want to be limited in any sense and prefer to work on our own terms.”
Now with their seventh record on the horizon, the band are defining what it means to be both an integral, yet impressive units within both the foundation and edges of punk..
