HEAVY ANGST
Havok unleashes anger over ‘current state of the world’
Havok does not mince words and speeds up the thrash on its coming album, “Conformicide” in response to the nation’s current state of affairs. “We wanted the music to be harder and heavier,” Havok frontman David Sanchez said. “Just the current state of the world, looking around, there’s a lot of stuff to be really angry about, so the lyrics wound up fitting the music really well on this record because there’s a lot of problems right now.”
Writing for the album became a cathartic release for the angst Sanchez was experiencing.
“The music and the lyrics are very angry, and because I am able to get the ideas out of my head in the form of a song, it’s very therapeutic and it allows me to not be so angry in my regular dayto-day life,” he said. “I’m pretty happy, and for the most part, pretty easygoing. When I’m given the opportunity to get my frustration out in music, it’s a big relief for me. That’s my venting mechanism, I guess.”
“Conformicide” also was created to serve as a catalyst to jolt listeners into action and make a difference.
“I want to urge people to wake up, think for themselves, snap out of the television stupor and question things and promote independent thought,” Sanchez said.
“Conformicide” will be released March 10, but the band has released the single “Hang ’Em High” and plans to release its second single, “Ingsoc,” which Sanchez considers to be the new album’s standout track.
“There’s an intro on that song that a lot of people won’t expect from a band like us, and it’s kind of a longer song,” Sanchez said of “Ingsoc.” “It’s got a lot of different cool riffs in it. In the middle section , there’s a riff that doesn’t happen anywhere else on the record. When the solos happen, both Reece (Scruggs, lead guitar) and I each have a solo, and underneath the solo, there’s music that’s happening, which is exclusive only to those lead sections. So the whole middle of that song kinda like takes you
for a journey to somewhere else that is unexpected. ’Cause in a lot of songs, we’ll have a solo over a riff that you’ve already heard in a song, maybe a verse riff or a chorus riff or something, and ‘Ingsoc,’ the solo sections are completely independent and sit all by themselves alone on the record, and they’re unique.”
Most of the comments the band is receiving online about “Conformicide” is positive, but good or bad, Sanchez does not take it to heart.
“There’s mostly good stuff, and then there are some people commenting on there, like, ‘Oh, these lyrics are godawful,’ ‘These guys are crazy — what are they talking about?’ and those always give me a good laugh,” Sanchez said.