Thirty Nights Of Violence Explain Their New EP’s Crushing Metallic Hardcore

The Nashville-based group Thirty Nights Of Violence perform viciously pummeling metallic hardcore on their new EP You’ll See Me Up There, which drops June 26 via Unbeaten Records. The group includes caustic chaos and directly punching heaviness in their sound, which feels held together by the raw energy that’s at the core of the music.

Developing You’ll See Me Up There

“I think ultimately we wanted to make a record that had a lot of intention behind everything we did,” vocalist Zach Wilbourn shares. “We wanted the process to feel as honest as possible, regardless of what the final product ended up being. The process was very meticulous and there was a lot of reworking of ideas both lyrically and musically. We’re really happy with the final vision.”

The group includes a lot of richness in their sound. For instance, the song “Lost In Your Light” (which opens their new EP) veers from blast beats on the drums to brutal guitar-driven breakdowns, with plenty of crushing feedback-driven atmosphere amidst the tumult. The song feels staggeringly heavy — listening might be compared to feeling the crush of some giant tank rolling through a forest — but the melodic core simultaneously feels very strong, which helps the song land particularly hard. There’s not just heaviness — thanks to the sheer force of the music, and the richly swinging melodic dynamics, there’s also a readily apparent passion that really infuses the listening experience. The band members feel like they’re delivering their honest front-and-center perspective via the music, and listeners are along for the ride.

“It definitely possesses a cathartic element,” Wilbourn shares, discussing the process of crafting the EP. “To that point, I think it has a lot to do with writing about things you understand personally simply because it’s part of your own journey or environment. For that reason I think the cathartic elements are inevitable. I don’t necessarily write lyrics with that intention, though. It just sort of comes with the territory. It’s funny too because I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life which poses an interesting challenge for writing lyrics. Once you run out of hurt it forces you to change gears.”

The Sounds Of Thirty Nights Of Violence

In line with those very personal dynamics reflected in the thematic content of the songs, the group maintains rich dynamics throughout the chaos-infused pummeling of their music. On “In Vein,” for instance, the band include some particularly emotionally pulsating guitar melodies within the first couple of minutes and in the closing segment — although there’s also plenty of hoarse hardcore pummeling blended in as well.

Still, the EP’s title track is actually an atmospheric, electronica-driven “interlude” track of sorts — and then “Salt,” which immediately follows, is one of the heaviest segments of music on the whole record, featuring a mathcore-like intricacy amidst monumental heaviness a’la Converge.

“A lot of us, while we’re really into heavy music, don’t really listen to it 24/7,” Wilbourn explains. “We’re influenced by a multitude of genres and groups. I think having five different people coming from very unique musical landscapes brought a lot of interesting ideas to the table when we began writing.”

As such, there’s a real personal reflection of the band members’ perspectives in the music, Wilbourn explains, sharing: “The writing process for this record felt incredibly natural and I think was mostly due to us writing more collectively. There are multiple moments on the record where each member has a sort of extension of themselves tethered to it. Because of that I think the record as a collective work has so much to offer as opposed to just one or two really solid tracks. There are really special moments all over it.”

Going Forward

The band members seem firmly embedded in an invitingly familiar heavy music community.

“For me personally, a lot of my early influences in heavy music were from nu-metal bands,” Wilbourn shares. “I was heavily influenced by Slipknot, Korn, and Deftones at a very young and impressionable age. From there I would find new bands through the internet and when I was a teenager I became involved in my local scene. Coming from them to where I am now has just been a journey of seeing all kinds of bands and exploring the genre heavily—both old and new bands.”

There’s definitely a lot of inspirational artistry out there within heavy music at the moment.

“I have the worst tendency of being a creature of habit when it comes to listening to new music — notoriously late to the party on shit,” Wilbourn shares. “That said, there have been some new(ish) things I’ve come across that I’ve been enjoying a lot. Billy Strings — his latest album “Home” is awesome. It’s a lot of straightforward bluegrass ideas mixed with some conventional modern guitar effects. It can go from being super fast and fun to very spacey and experimental, especially live. Fleshwater — their demo that came out a few months back has stayed in my rotation since then. Very cool big fuzzy rock ideas blended with unique vocal production. Overall a perfect demo.”

The band will be continuing their personal ethos into future music writing. “We definitely have a lot of plans and ideas,” Wilbourn shares. “We’re in the process of conceptualizing the next record. I don’t want to give too much away but it will inevitably be more experimental. We want to continue to explore our influences outside of our genre. Whatever happens, happens!”

Photo via Joey Wasileski

Check out the crushing music below! Pre-order You’ll See Me Up There from Thirty Nights of Violence via Unbeaten Records at this link.