It seems we live in a time where the constant social and political unrest is inescapable at every turn. In the past this foreboding feeling of the oncoming end of days would be one of the most prevalent themes in heavy music, and while many of the old guard do still indeed use their voice as a platform, cynics would argue that younger and newer acts are shying away from stepping onto a soapbox. Allow Manchester metalcore mob Hometruths to set them straight.
“We’re all students, so when the Conservatives came into power and raised the cost of education, that directly affected us,” says frontman Gaz. “And we looked on social media and just saw people who were brainwashed into caring about all this Kardashians shit. There are real problems out there and no one is talking about them. That’s why the EP is called Open Your Eyes; it’s the entire point of our band – telling people to wake up and see what is going on around them.”
With this as their inspiration, Hometruths took the step of sending out a poster with their message emblazoned alongside the grinning, punchable visage of supreme UKIP dickhead Nigel Farage, complete with glowing red devil eyes.
“We wanted to send out something physical to people,” Gaz explains, “rather than just give people another reason to look at their phone. We’ve been putting them up around town and they’re getting a response. People are looking at them and starting to listen, so it’s working!”
All very admirable. But it’s ultimately meaningless without the tunes; after all, let’s be honest, if Rage Against The Machine sounded like Craig David we’d be admiring their political activism from afar… not down the front as we’d prefer. Lucky, then, that Open Your Eyes is six tracks of bastardly heavy, grit-soaked modern metallic hardcore.
“We have loads of different influences,” states Gaz. “I grew up with nu metal, and that had a massive impact on me. The other lads are massively into bands like Basement and While She Sleeps, so that’s a big part of our sound, too. We’re also into D’n’B, so we’ll be trying to incorporate some of that into our sound at some point. I’m excited to see how far we can take this. The scene is so saturated and boring at the moment. We want to do something new with this music.”
Armed with some top-notch tunes and a genuine reason for existing, there is surely nothing that can stop Hometruths from spreading their message.
“The whole cult following and standing by your DIY roots is something I want to live by,” Gaz tells us. “That might make us smaller but those people would be invested in us. I would rather have that than a massive following that get nothing from our music.”
SOUNDS LIKE: Socially conscious metalcore with the rough edges intact
FOR FANS OF: Bury Tomorrow, WSS, Brutality Will Prevail
LISTEN TO: Feral
OPEN YOUR EYES IS OUT NOW VIA CI
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