One year after its inception in Saint Louis, MO, rock’n’roll infused hardcore punks SLOW DAMAGE (members of Cult Season, Everything Went Black, Lobby Boxer, Braddock) are ready to reveal their debut EP, featuring 3 powerful tracks fueled by a wide variety of influences, led by heavy riffs able to plough the fields of your mind and pull you into a deep half-hypnotic half-ecstatic state. Inspired by the work of Black Sabbath, Black Flag, The Bronx, Every Time I Die, Converge, Hope Conspiracy, and The Chariot, SLOW DAMAGE is the band to watch and we’re here to help them break out of Missouri on an international scale. Check out their exciting debut below and read the first hand commentary for each and every track. Boom!
Luca: I wrote the original versions of these songs while I was living in Denver for a brief time. I was in a rough spot during that period and I think that definitely came through in the music I was making. There are very strong feelings of isolation and desperation throughout the course of the mostly up-tempo songs. Once I moved back to St. Louis and got together with these guys, we all took the demos I had recorded and started fleshing them out and everyone started adding their own parts and flair. It came together very smoothly from there and we quickly learned how to write and operate as a cohesive unit.
Brandon: We recorded the majority of this EP at a music venue here in Saint Louis. We did drums on the stage, I placed room mics out near FOH to capture the reflection of this giant room. We set up cabs in the green room, tracked out by the merch area, and I later did vocals at home.
SLOW DAMAGE is: Luca – Guitar; Chris – Guitar; Brandon – Vocals; Max – Drums; Guideon – Bass. “Slow Damage” was recorded, mixed & mastered by Brandon Hoffman. The band have scheduled 2 shows in support if this release: 1/25/19 @ The Ready Room, Saint Louis, MO. – Release the Hounds | A Benefit for Stray Rescue Saint Louis, *Black Flag cover, and 1/26/19 @ The Sinkhole, Saint Louis, MO. w/ Zeta, and De L’orme.
Dog Headed Men
“Billboard idols climbing mountains of filth, swimming for a soul with broken arms. Possessive souls with empty eyes,
world downfall for washed up stars.”
Luca: This was the first one we learned and bashed it out in less than a day. It’s a pretty simple, fast song with some neat quirks. I
wanted to write something upbeat and fun to play, but still make it heavy and angry. It feels like it’s rolling down a hill going faster
until it decelerates at the end. The atonal guitar solo during the bridge is one of my favorite things to play live, especially since it’s
tucked behind the vocals and not really the focal point of the section.
Brandon: When I wrote Dog Headed Men, I felt a strong disgust for a lot of things that I was exposing myself to daily. I had to disconnect myself from things like social media and television. I felt like those things were having a major impact on what I was
feeling at the time. It wasn’t that I was trying to escape the fact that we are all co-existing in this harsh reality, I simply didn’t need
any additional negativity or chaos in my life.
Continued below…
Pat Yourself On The Back
“And the serpents will speak, with the gnashing of teeth. Driving one eyed, 55, dodging all disbelief. I need a place to rest
my head, I need to open my eyes. I need to vacate, release, and revive. I need to feel alive.”
Luca: Another song that is overall pretty simple, but packs a punch. I love the main riff and the juxtaposition of it next to the more
atmospheric elements in the song. I was constantly pissed and depressed at the time I wrote it and this song totally projects those
feelings for me. The first time I heard it with Brandon’s vocals I was floored because he just made it even that much more angry.
Brandon: I was struggling to find some kind of peace or relief from everything that was dragging me down at the time. I really needed a moment to focus on myself. This band couldn’t have happened at a better time, it gave me an outlet and something to
focus on. We all need a place to get away from our day to day problems, hangout with likeminded people who aren’t going to pass
judgement on you, that’s what this song’s main focus is.
Thief
“ Cold shakes, ink stains, one to make it stop. Wet sheets, weak knees, two to kill the shock. Tongued tied, nightmares,
three to face the pain. Restless nights, poisoned fights, four to make it go away.”
Luca: This one also came from a place of intense anger. The chaotic nature of the song definitely reflects that feeling I was experiencing at the time. The song is impatient and pummeling and super cathartic.
Brandon: Thief is the most aggressive of the few. It’s about living with a crippling disease that takes and takes, and won’t allow you
to live your life to the fullest. It’s refers to the vices we feed ourselves that can take that edge off, but when you wake up the next
day, you’re still you, and your problems are still there.
The past year we spent time doing this EP and playing live locally. One of the great things about our sound is that we are hard to lump into a certain genre, so we fit on all sorts of bills. We played the Ken Mode / Bird in Row tour when it came through Saint Louis, which both of those bands put out amazing records last year. We opened for the legendary Leeway, not to mention all the great local shows we took part in. We just finished tracking two more songs for split at Encapsulated Studios, that should see the light of day earlier this year. Hopefully we can get on the road sooner than later.
