Semantic satiation is a phenomenon that happens when sure phrases or phrases are repeated a lot that they lose their that means. If there’s one phrase that’s overused to the purpose of meaninglessness in writing about heavy music, it’s “brutal.” This phrase, except it’s particularly getting used to seek advice from the Brutal Dying Steel subgenre, is bandied about in so many articles about steel bands that it primarily communicates nothing in regards to the music in query. There are occasions, nevertheless, when “brutal” actually is the one applicable phrase for a band’s output, instances when synonyms simply gained’t do.
Saintbreaker is brutal.
Even when no different band is making music that’s brutal within the truest sense, this band is. Within the songs on their eagerly awaited sophomore LP, Unrelenting Violence, the band offers not merely with the figurative brutality of the shredding riffs and pummeling blastbeat selection, but additionally with the very literal brutality of warfare, of orphaned kids, of leveled cities, of extinct civilizations, and of the legacies of unapologetic imperialism which might be nonetheless dictating world occasions in the present day.
Having constructed a popularity on extraordinary musicianship, considerate songcraft, and unforgettable stay performances, Saintbreaker has developed a faithful fanbase over their almost ten years collectively, a fanbase who has been frothing for a brand new full-length for a while now.
Most musicians have heard the recommendation sooner or later: “Don’t apply. Carry out.” If it weren’t clear from their tireless stay efficiency schedule, it could be clear from the precision and cohesion of their songs that the members of Saintbreaker have internalized this recommendation. Regardless of crafting songs that construct on the artwork of generations of probably the most skill-oriented thrash and crossover bands, regardless of boasting riffs that may drive probably the most prodigious gamers to dial the metronome again just a few notches to maintain up, the band is most spectacular in how collectively they at all times are, within the studio and on the stage.
That lock-step exactitude and the Gatling cannon rapidity are a part of what makes Saintbreaker’s sound so becoming for its themes of warfare, terror, fallout, and navy savagery. Although the mixing of the historical past of warfare into lyrical themes and imagery is well-established within the thrash style, Saintbreaker approaches these subjects with a information, sincerity, and gravity that’s all too uncommon, so as an alternative of simply utilizing the tanks and helmets to offer the impression of particularly violent songcraft, the band laces its songs with centuries of the stratified useless. Particularly literate within the adage that “warfare by no means adjustments,” Saintbreaker scavenges within the catacombs for lesser-known warfare tales, creating blistering soundscapes with fusillades of drums and semi-automatic string-slinging to sear the flesh together with the screams of these misplaced in trenches with out water rations. An particularly highly effective observe amongst an entire album of “better of 2023” songs is “Battle Diamonds,” which attracts uncomfortable parallels between the fashionable blood diamond commerce and the all too simply ignored Belgian genocide of Congolese individuals for his or her rubber. By no means shying away from the very darkest elements of humanity, and by no means treating them as easy fodder for chickenhawk fantasies, these “Desert Thrash Guerillas” are in a position to write critical music about critical trauma in a method that invitations the listener to channel a vengeful rage on behalf of the unjustly slain, and to organize for a warfare within the streets to forestall it from taking place once more.
Whereas Saintbreaker has at all times been an important band in trendy crossover and thrash, their long-awaited sophomore LP, Unrelenting Violence, brings followers a band that’s extra assured and extra masterful than ever, with a brand new infusion of demise and grind that enhances their already overwhelming firepower.
Should you’ve seen them carry out, Saintbreaker is already one among your favourite bands. Should you haven’t, Unrelenting Violence is all of the convincing you want.
Saintbreaker vocalist Nick Schellbach talked to Cvlt Nation in regards to the launch.
The final time Cvlt Nation coated Saintbreaker was your superb quarantine efficiency. What has Saintbreaker been as much as since 2020?
Within the time since then, we completed recording our second full-length album Unrelenting Violence, and we’re additionally at present writing new songs for a follow-up launch we hope to launch later this 12 months or early 2024. Aside from that, we’ve simply been having fun with having the ability to play stay exhibits once more because the lockdown ended. We undoubtedly missed enjoying and going to exhibits throughout that interval.
Are you able to describe the band’s growth because the 2017 debut LP, Overwhelmed Into Perception?
I feel we consciously simply wished to progress naturally in a method plenty of bands like us do. We wished our subsequent launch to be heavier, have higher songwriting, be quicker, tighter, et cetera, et cetera; we’d simply attempt to discover new methods to outdo ourselves in comparison with the final time. Particularly in the course of the lockdown, we had nothing actually to distract us from having the ability to concentrate on writing these new songs, and I feel the quantity of care we took actually exhibits.
Saintbreaker appears to have an infinite vitality for performing and touring. What position does enjoying stay have in who the band is? What position has enjoying stay had in creating the songs on Unrelenting Violence?
I don’t find out about infinite however we undoubtedly attempt our greatest to hustle our music and artwork as greatest we will. We’re nonetheless very a lot an underground DIY kind of band, so it’s plenty of work together with loads of trial and error, however there’s nonetheless nothing that makes us happier than seeing a bunch of music followers go completely nuts after we play. So yeah, our music is certainly geared extra towards that stay viewers than attempting to sound fairly on some mainstream rock radio. For this album, we undoubtedly had that mentality on the forefront of our minds after we had been jamming and writing. I’d say this new album could be very mosh-heavy, the best way our long-time followers know and adore it!
The 2020 deaths of Wade Allison and Riley Gale introduced further consideration to thrash and crossover within the steel and even mainstream musical worlds. Has Saintbreaker seen a shift of their audiences since that point?
First off, Relaxation In Energy to each of them! Energy Journey, in my humble opinion, might be the very best thrash band in recent times to hit it big-time within the steel world. And Iron Age? Should you’ve by no means heard of them, go hearken to them now! Basically, Iron Age walked so Energy Journey might run.
So far as audiences go, there’s undoubtedly been much more new faces from this new youthful technology of music followers post-2020. It undoubtedly feels just like the lockdown made individuals anxious for exhibits once more and naturally much more so for the younger people who find themselves most likely simply starting to discover extra heavy and excessive music for the primary time.
What had been a few of the main musical influences for this album? Are you able to describe the writing course of?
Oh boy, the place to start? The band’s basis is certainly rooted in thrash, however we additionally draw plenty of inspiration from demise steel, grindcore, hardcore punk, d-beat, energy violence, and crust punk. I feel we undoubtedly doubled down on extra of the thrash and demise steel influences for this launch. However all in all, it’s a reasonably good combination of all of our influences. There are songs which have extra S.O.D. and Cryptic Slaughter vibes. Some songs are extra Razor- and Exodus-sounding. Others lean extra in the direction of Terrorizer, Darkish Angel (RIP Jim Durkin), traditional Sepultura, or Slayer. Sprinkle in just a little Ringworm and Napalm Dying for good measure and a few Demolition Hammer or Kreator perhaps? It’s undoubtedly a mutt-like combination of bands we love and there are a lot extra influences than those I simply named.
And so far as the writing course of goes, there’s nothing actually too fancy. Usually, one among us has a musical concept that we jam on and attempt to construct a music round it piece by piece. I’ll say that having such a variety and open-mindedness in the direction of our musical influences can imply we typically take longer to complete writing in comparison with different bands. However on the finish of the day, all of us must be creatively glad and pleased with how the songs come out, so it’s price it ultimately from an inventive standpoint.
Historical past and particularly navy historical past have lengthy been a spotlight of thrash bands, extra so than bands in different subgenres. What’s it about thrash that pairs so nicely with navy historical past? Are you able to describe Saintbreaker’s relationship to the historical past of warfare, particularly lesser-known points of it?
For higher or worse, heavy steel is a style that thrives off of darkish and edgy imagery. Thrash is a steel subgenre that’s identified for its velocity and aggression, particularly in comparison with the steel bands that got here earlier than them. However I additionally are inclined to assume individuals undersell the affect that punk and hardcore had on thrash again then. To me, it is smart a few of these bands would ditch the fantasy lyrics in favor of stuff extra like Discharge and Useless Kennedys.
So far as the band is anxious, I can solely actually converse for myself relating to this matter, as the opposite guys just about depart all of it to me to write down the entire lyrical content material for the band. However I might say I’ve at all times had a morbid fascination with warfare since I used to be a child. I grew up going to Blockbuster with my dad and mom and renting outdated traditional WWII movies to observe. Stuff like The Nice Escape, A Bridge Too Far, Halfway, and so forth. That and early pc video games like Battlefield 1942 are what I might say kickstarted my curiosity and keenness for historical past. And provided that our fashion of thrash undoubtedly leans extra in the direction of the brutal aspect of the spectrum for this style, it felt like a pure factor to mix my fascination with the darker points of historical past with my love for excessive music.
For this album, I undoubtedly nerded out a bit extra for a few of the music lyrics. For instance, the lyrics for the music “Free Hearth Zone” makes reference to the reconcentrado-style focus camps america used towards the Filipinos in the course of the Philippine-American Struggle of 1899 to 1902. The music “Zachistka” is a music written from the angle of each a Russian Soviet soldier preventing in Afghanistan within the Eighties and a member of the mujahideen preventing towards the Soviets in the identical warfare. Stuff like this that’s not so well-known however continues to be vital to find out about due to the way it formed the world of in the present day and finally our future as nicely. No less than, that’s how I personally really feel about it.
Are you able to describe the heavy music scene in Arizona? Who’re some bands that extra individuals must be listening to?
Plenty of cool bands. Particularly new youthful bands, which is superior! Some to take a look at would undoubtedly be Misanthropic, Nuclear Stays, Kthulu, Everlasting, Carpet Bomb, Blood Loss, and Grail. So far as extra established AZ bands go, I clearly have my private biases however I might say individuals ought to jam extra Ceremented, Thra, Intercourse Prisoner, Magnum Power, Sorrower, Gestation, Aftermath, Groin, Get A Grip, Savage Necromancy, The Executed, Pig Metropolis, Goya, Six Million Useless, Skullcrush, and Scattered Guts (our drummer’s different band). There are such a lot of different cool AZ bands I might listing however then this listing would drag on for method too lengthy.
What do you like about steel typically and thrash/crossover particularly proper now? What ought to change?
I might say musically steel is in an excellent place proper now. I grew up in the course of the heyday of what my technology’s model of glam steel was within the type of bands like Asking Alexandria and Assault Assault! being marketed as steel music. So seeing bands like Gatecreeper, Frozen Soul, Energy Journey, Enforced, and others hit it big-time looks like a breath of contemporary air in comparison with again then. There have at all times been sick underground bands however particularly with the web age, steel music has turn into extra accessible than ever. Some individuals may assume that sucks, however I might say, the extra, the merrier.
Slowly, we’re additionally seeing extra crossover between hardcore and steel scenes nowadays as nicely, which is cool. I’m undoubtedly extra of a steel dude who occurs to like plenty of punk and hardcore. Steel, punk, and hardcore have a tendency to stay to their very own lanes, for probably the most half, nowadays (from what I’ve noticed) however regularly I feel we’re going to see extra boundaries and gatekeeping between scenes go away over time. No less than, I hope so. I might completely be flawed about this. Extra scene solidarity! To cite Infest: “WHERE’S THE UNITY?!” No less than the totally different scenes don’t actively beef with one another from what I hear the way it was again within the Eighties. Solely time will inform on that one ultimately.
What ought to individuals find out about Saintbreaker? About Unrelenting Violence?
Is there the rest you’d prefer to say?
Actually, this band has performed greater than I ever anticipated it to do. The truth that we’ve managed to stay round for nearly ten years now and our followers nonetheless share the identical pleasure we now have for writing and enjoying steel music is nothing in need of superb. We’ve gotten to play with bands I by no means imagined we’d ever be capable of play with. And whereas it’s been an honest anticipate us to lastly be capable of put out our subsequent full-length launch, we’re tremendous stoked to have everybody jam these new songs. We will proudly say that that is our greatest high quality launch we’ve put out as a band. So if you happen to choose your thrash riffs ugly and brutal over flashy and horny, make sure to decide up a replica and are available out to one among our exhibits if we occur to roll by your city. Aside from that, be glorious to one another and social gathering on! Peace!
Unrelenting Violence was recorded at Villain Recording with Byron Filson.
The artwork is by Diego Garza.
Photographs by Bearded Gonzo Pictures.
