As the gears of the music industry turn and churn, it’s the artists that dare to tread their own path that leave an indelible mark on its fabric. One such act rising from the fertile grounds of Vancouver’s DIY scene is WARM, a band that skillfully straddles the line between post-hardcore and minimalist rock. Rooted deeply in their DIY ethos, WARM’s commitment to authenticity can be traced in every fibre of their forthcoming debut LP, “DEATHRON”.
With their new offering, WARM delves into the intimate quarters of human emotions. According to rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist Chris Merrell, “Deathron is about the insecurities, regrets and occasional triumphs that define contemporary life.” The band employs minimalism and tension as their tools to navigate this emotional landscape.
“Speaking in the only language we know how to – one of minimalism and tension – Deathron is three musical acts that explore our own regrets as if they were nostalgic.” – Chris Merrell
WARM, boasting the self-proclaimed title of “#1 Most Powerful Band”, has a rich history deeply entrenched in DIY culture. They craft their own gear, handle their own recordings, and organise their own shows – an extensive hands-on approach that is as much a testament to their commitment as it is to their creativity.
Their connection to the Vancouver’s DIY community extends beyond their music, with Chris Merrell being the founder of one of Vancouver’s longest-standing DIY and after-hours venues, 333, in late 2012. Merrell’s collaboration with lead guitarist Errol West, who opened a recording studio at the same location, was instrumental in the inception of WARM.
The band’s members share a collaborative history spanning over a decade. The relationship between Merrell and Jeronimo dates back to their shared past in Vancouver acts such as Sunearther and Silver Skeleton Band. Meanwhile, Merrell and Churchill have had a recurring presence in Vancouver’s DIY punk and metal community with their blackened screamo project BALANCE. Moreover, Merrell, West, and Churchill all had a brief stint performing under the moniker ‘TEETH DREAMS’.
The forthcoming “Deathron” promises to be an exploration of emotional nuances, steeped in minimalism and tension. WARM’s debut LP on Early On Set Records serves not just as an extension of their music but as a reflection of a decade-long commitment to DIY ethos and collaborative creativity.
1. Grain entrapment
One device that was important to me in writing and arranging this album was the presence of certain motifs and their reprisal. I suppose you could say the whole album’s intent is to scratch an itch you didn’t know you had; an attempt to sonically represent whatever the crossroads are between apathy, anxiety, sadness and exuberance.
‘Stop wasting time, start giving up’ was a refrain that kept coming to me, it first appears here as a tense, hopeless epilogue, and resurfaces in the second half of the album over instrumentation that’s far more jovial.
The rest of the song’s content speaks to the subtle differences between dishonesty and excuse making versus accountability and truth. It speculates with pessimism about people’s motives for doing things, and ultimately about the worth of giving too much of yourself to another.
2. All weight
This second track digs us deeper into the hole of self doubt and insecurity where one’s relationship to others is concerned.
I feel like this song expresses with some humour what it can be like to offer all of yourself to someone and getting a lukewarm response. It can be agony sometimes to make yourself vulnerable to someone without knowing whether they will show you the same in return
3. Deluxe Haiku
This is actually a chorus that I wrote 12 years ago, and it has existed around shifting accompaniments but withheld a certain abstract meaning.
‘Why can’t we?’ without any designation, followed by the reassurance that everything ‘should be fine’ to me encapsulates the panic of constantly being forced to make decisions of consequence without necessarily having the time or knowledge to make the right ones. The fear of not knowing and the anxiety of responsibility.
4. Perfectly Away
After getting as close to an Allegro movement as the album probably gets, we get to one of the more personal songs on the album. While lyrically it could be interpreted as being about a particular person or relationship, this song as actually more of a reflection on how each person that comes into your life goes into your makeup and your experience with nobody can be washed perfectly away.
5. FIAT
This one’s about my 2003 Mitsubishi lancer
6. Dedications
This is our dedicated song where I can remove my sweater if I am too hot on stage. The mood created and themes explored are those of isolation and failure to connect with people. So I suppose it’s fitting to isolate me from the rest of the band for that short beat before the third act.
7. Fencing
Sometimes lyrics and instrumentation really do just come alive spontaneously. This is probably the one song on the album that was improvised, the long, brooding overture, the tense, building verse and the crescendo of the final payoff were all there to begin with. Watch us burn.
8. Goodbye Cool World
I loved when Errol suggested ‘Goodbye Cool World’ as a title, because I feel like it has a real tapering quality to it, like you’re on a ship leaving the Cool World TM and you can see it slowly getting smaller in the distance.
This is of course where we finally have the payoff of our reprisal. We bring you to the final beat of the story by again reflecting on ‘Stop Wasting Time, Start Giving Up’
9. Deathron
I really thought it was interesting in a surreal way to play with the idea of someone being a really picky, high-maintenance customer for their last meal on death-row.
Like, sending back your last meal cause
it’s not cooked to your satisfaction.
We sort of wrote and arranged our music to this album in chunks, like acts to a play or film, and Deathron is the dunoument of the final act.
Deathron has been born.
Deathron represents our fear and insecurities, our triumphs and our anger. Deathron is coming.
