Hostilities
Location: Portland, Oregon
Album: Cowards, out April 15 via Bullet Tooth
While we tend to remember the cutesy elements (Toto the dog, the ruby slippers, songs) the world of The Wizard of Oz is incredibly dark, especially if you too were scarred by that horrifying/delightful sequel. Anthropomorphic creatures lacking basic human characteristics, two witches dueling for the souls of others, the literal curtain being pulled aside to reveal the wealth of corruption and lies. So much of that world mirrors our own, where people act like animals, systems of oppression are emboldened still, and the music of the popular world is catchy but never anything I’d listen to on purpose (sorry!). Hostilities have nothing outwardly similar to Oz, however their harrowing journey through human suffering and empowerment feels timeless and prescient. Their brand of thrash-centric metalcore likewise feels old and new, the kind of heavy music that gets at why we all enjoy it so much at an elemental level. The band share their thoughts on this here:
“[We have a] collective drive to make heavy music, sounds simple but we‘ve noticed more and more people wanting to drift away from aggressive music and do something else, which is great, but sometimes you just want to play fast, hard, and heavy. Aggressive music never goes out of style, all we are thinking now is how do we make something more aggressive after this record, how do we top this one.”
“This album came together,” they continue, “when the world was going (and still) crazy, some of us lost jobs, some of us had to look inward at our personal issues, and some of us had injustices shoved in their face that struck a serious nerve. Couple that with what felt like a life’s halt on the enjoyments we take for granted, the theme of the album is one of frustration and anger. That said, we aren’t pessimistic all the time and pointing out the imperfections of life should always be met with a push to fight through it and not let it get on top of you.”
Watch the video for “Cornered” now:
For more from Hostilities, find them on Instagram, Facebook, and their official website.
Photo courtesy of Hostilities and Scotty Fisher
