HoldDownTheOcean
New Music

PA hardcore legends ALL ELSE FAILED emerge in a new spacey, powerful project HOLD DOWN THE OCEAN; listen!

5 mins read

Featuring former members and the primary writing core of Philadelphia hardcore mainstays All Else Failed, HOLD DOWN THE OCEAN is a powerhouse of a band. Channeling the energy and emotional intensity of their previous work into something wholly different, these scene veterans have crafted a beautiful, heavy, emotive post-hardcore record, so sweeping and epic in scope that it is at times reminiscent of early ’00s era post-rock. Head2Wall Records is about to release “Sidereal Month” EP, the digital-only follow up to Hold Down The Ocean’s 2018 debut LP, and today we’re stoked to give you their new track called The Gravity Of Things, along with the band’s special commentary below!

“‘The Gravity Of Things‘ is the intro to the ‘story’ of Sidereal Month” said guitarist/vocalist Patrick Shannon.

“The project was originally some odds and ends type songs that just developed into something we were super passionate about. There is an underlying theme to the songs, but it developed subconsciously, when I found that much of what I was writing was maybe rooted in deeper things that I wasn’t even really aware of. “Gravity” for example, is really about my fear of flying, but when I dug deeper, it was like, ‘ok is being scared of flying really a metaphor for other issues in my life?’ Then a “story” just grew out of that.”

“Sidereal Month” will be released exclusively on Hold Down The Ocean’s Bandcamp page (www.holddowntheocean.com) and streaming services this Friday, July 3rd, with a physical release to follow in the Fall, in conjunction with the “Sidereal Year” LP.

As a preface, we wrote this Press Release about a month ago, when the quarantine was still the most pressing thing on everyone’s mind. Clearly, a lot more has transpired since then. I wanted to mention that fact, so the following does not read as though it is blissfully ignorant of everything else happening in our country and around the world, and I want to state unequivocally that Hold Down The Ocean stands with and supports the plight of the protestors and that Black Lives Matter.

πΌπ‘›π‘π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘Žπ‘ π‘’π‘‘ π‘–π‘ π‘œπ‘™π‘Žπ‘‘π‘–π‘œπ‘› 𝑖𝑠 π‘Ž 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑑 π‘‘β„Žπ‘–π‘›π‘”. 𝑂𝑛𝑒 π‘œπ‘“ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘”β„Žπ‘‘ π‘ π‘π‘œπ‘‘π‘  π‘œπ‘“ 𝑖𝑑, β„Žπ‘œπ‘€π‘’π‘£π‘’π‘Ÿ, 𝑖𝑠 π‘Žπ‘› π‘œπ‘π‘π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘‘π‘’π‘›π‘–π‘‘π‘¦ π‘‘π‘œ π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘Žπ‘ π‘ π‘’π‘ π‘  π‘œπ‘›π‘’β€™π‘  π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘™π‘Žπ‘‘π‘–π‘œπ‘›π‘ β„Žπ‘–π‘ π‘€π‘–π‘‘β„Ž π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘€π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘™π‘‘, π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘œπ‘›π‘’β€™π‘  π‘π‘™π‘Žπ‘π‘’ 𝑖𝑛 𝑖𝑑. π‘Šβ„Žπ‘’π‘› π‘‘β„Žπ‘–π‘›π‘”π‘  π‘π‘œπ‘šπ‘’ π‘‘π‘œ π‘Ž π‘ π‘π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘’π‘β„Žπ‘–π‘›π‘” β„Žπ‘Žπ‘™π‘‘, 𝑖𝑑’𝑠 π‘Ž π‘β„Žπ‘Žπ‘›π‘π‘’ π‘‘π‘œ π‘‘π‘Žπ‘˜π‘’ π‘Ž π‘π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘Žπ‘‘β„Ž π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘‘β„Žπ‘–π‘›π‘˜ π‘Žπ‘π‘œπ‘’π‘‘ π‘€β„Žπ‘Žπ‘‘ π‘’π‘£π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘¦π‘‘β„Žπ‘–π‘›π‘” π‘šπ‘’π‘Žπ‘›π‘ , π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘€β„Žπ‘Žπ‘‘ π‘Œπ‘‚π‘ˆ π‘šπ‘’π‘Žπ‘›.

For us, a huge part of our lives is music, and the art of creating it and putting it out into the world. Sometimes it’s a big record that you tour on and that gets a bunch of exposure. Other times it might be a voice memo that someone adds a track to and it never goes too far. The process feels the same, though. The process is the beauty, and the act of putting music together with friends (beyond friends, actually- lifelong brothers) and putting it out into the world, speaking for myself, that is entirely what I live for. To add our collective voice and our collective vision to the chorus of the world’s musical soul is something that is a necessity for us, and being given the opportunity and the audience to do that is never something we never take for granted.

When the world went on lockdown, Hold Down The Ocean was about 75% through the recording process for 2 releases that were intended to come out around the same time, and that had intertwined themes. β€œSidereal Month” is an EP of a few odds and ends type songs that spoke to us outside of our wheelhouse, and upon realizing that lyrically, a subconscious narrative had emerged, became a story unto itself. β€œConcept Album” is weird and not really applicable but for lack of a better term, it is a β€œconcept” EP.

HOLD DOWN THE OCEAN

β€œπ‘†π‘–π‘‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘Žπ‘™ π‘Œπ‘’π‘Žπ‘Ÿβ€ 𝑖𝑠 π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑙 π‘™π‘’π‘›π‘”π‘‘β„Ž π‘π‘œπ‘’π‘›π‘‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘π‘Žπ‘Ÿπ‘‘, π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘€β„Žπ‘–π‘™π‘’ 𝑖𝑑 π‘‘π‘œπ‘’π‘  π‘›π‘œπ‘‘ π‘“π‘œπ‘™π‘™π‘œπ‘€ π‘Žπ‘›π‘¦ π‘ π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘‘ π‘œπ‘“ π‘™π‘–π‘›π‘’π‘Žπ‘Ÿ π‘ π‘‘π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘¦π‘™π‘–π‘›π‘’, π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘’π‘šπ‘œπ‘‘π‘–π‘œπ‘›π‘Žπ‘™ π‘‘π‘–π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘π‘‘π‘–π‘œπ‘› π‘œπ‘“ π‘’π‘Žπ‘β„Ž π‘ π‘œπ‘›π‘” 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 π‘€π‘–π‘‘β„Ž π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ 𝐸𝑃, π‘‘π‘œ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘π‘œπ‘–π‘›π‘‘ π‘€β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘’ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘’ 𝑖𝑠 π‘ π‘œπ‘šπ‘’β„Žπ‘œπ‘€ π‘Žπ‘› π‘’π‘›π‘‘π‘’π‘›π‘–π‘Žπ‘π‘™π‘’ π‘π‘œπ‘›π‘›π‘’π‘π‘‘π‘–π‘œπ‘› 𝑏𝑒𝑑𝑀𝑒𝑒𝑛 π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘‘π‘€π‘œ.

The bad news is that our studio of choice being closed down put everything on an indefinite hold. The good news is that the EP, which was always intended to drop a little bit before the LP, was just about 100% done. One properly distanced vocal session and a mix down via gmail later, and β€œSiderealMonth” is complete.

SO, since there is no real timeline on when we will be able to finish the LP, and given that we have this impossible drive to put our music into the world, and with the blessing of our partners at Head2Wall Records, we are going to call an audible. β€œSidereal Month” will be released on Friday, July 3rd exclusively on our bandcamp pages and digital streaming services. When life resumes, we will finish β€œSidereal Year” for a proper vinyl release on H2W, and a combination CD release of the LP and the EP together will drop simultaneously. The target for that is the Fall, but as is the case with everything, that remains to be seen.

In the meantime, we are thrilled to be able to continue to put our art into the world, even if it isn’t quite the way we drew it up. We hope you like it, we hope it brings you some joy, and we hope you all stay safe, both physically and mentally, through the duration of these challenging days.

HoldDownTheOcean

Please consider donating to IDIOTEQ to keep this magazine going

πŸ’‰ With no-ads policy and mission to give independent artists space they deserve, IDIOTEQ is a place to get inspired, learn more about lesser known artists and their perspective. Reporting on DIY music is our priority.

π–―π—…π–Ύπ–Ίπ—Œπ–Ύ π–Όπ—ˆπ—‡π—Œπ—‚π–½π–Ύπ—‹ π–½π—ˆπ—‡π–Ίπ—π—‚π—‡π—€ π—π—ˆ 𝗁𝖾𝗅𝗉 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 π–Όπ—ˆπ—π–Ύπ—‹π—‚π—‡π—€ π—ˆπ—Žπ—‹ π–Όπ—ˆπ—Œπ—π—Œ 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗄𝖾𝖾𝗉 π—π—π—‚π—Œ π—‰π—‹π—ˆπ—ƒπ–Ύπ–Όπ— 𝖺𝗅𝗂𝗏𝖾

DONATE via PayPal π—ˆπ—‹ SUPPORT via Patreon

Become a Patron!

100% of the funds collected go toward maintaining and improving this magazine. Every contribution, however big or small, is super valuable.

Tags:

Karol KamiΕ„ski

DIY rock music enthusiast and web-zine publisher from Warsaw, Poland. Supporting DIY ethics, local artists and promoting hardcore punk, rock, post rock and alternative music of all kinds via IDIOTEQ online channels.
Contact via [email protected]

You might be interested in

Spitiworld by Jennifer Olsen
Previous Story

10 alt-country records that inspired SPIRITWORLD’s new hardcore masterpiece “Pagan Rhythms”

TREE HOUSE, by @jakeowensphoto
Next Story

Emotive post hardcore / screamo trio TREEHOUSE delve into themes of mental health, desperation and worthlessness on their new excellent EP “Unappealing”

Latest