For over a decade, Horrendous have been known for making increasingly boundary-pushing death metal, including on this year’s excellent Ontological Mysterium, and it should come as no surprise that their musical interests go far beyond death metal. “I’m not sure how obvious this is,” says drummer Jamie Knox, “but [Horrendous guitarist/vocalist and Jamie’s brother] Matt and I’s musical foundation is very much rooted in punk and punk-adjacent genres. These were the bands that started our musical journey – the first CDs we bought, the first shows we went to see, and the first sounds we tried to make our own.”
To show off more of their punk roots, Jamie made us a list of “5 punk-ish bands and albums that helped shape [their] musical personae.” “Our first band together (back in middle/high school) played a brand of punk/thrash that was heavily influenced by several acts on this list,” he says, “and I’d argue that fingerprints from these bands still remain on Horrendous’ music today.”
Read on for the list, and what Jamie had to say about each pick…
RKL – Rock N Roll Nightmare
This was the record that completely changed my perspective – it stretched my conception of what punk music could be and killed my interest in a number of bands I previously liked. Much of the punk world felt too safe by comparison. RKL played a manic, riff-focused type of thrashy punk, with very obvious metal influences. However, it never quite crosses the metal threshold and retains the angst and desperation characteristic of punk. I couldn’t believe this band had actual guitar solos! Their marriage of atypical, complex compositions with adolescent fury and Jason’s snotty vocals taught me that abrasive music can still be interesting. The brains behind the band at that time, the late genius Bomer, is a real inspiration to us. Besides writing most of the material, he also played bass and drums on this record (legend has it he recorded drums for their first EP, It’s a Beautiful Feeling, with a broken wrist after a skateboarding injury outside the studio). On Rock N Roll Nightmare, Bomer plays the kit like an unfettered lunatic–there’s hardly space to breathe between his constant fills–and his pummeling drives the entire band forward. He’s certainly an influence on my playing, and I do my best to channel his intensity on the kit. Rock N Roll Nightmare is the definition of an underrated record – a must hear if this band is news to you.
Zeke – Death Alley
My jaw hit the floor when I first listened to Death Alley. I had been familiar with Zeke prior, but this was the record that got us hooked. A blistering pentatonic solo starts the album and launches you into the raspy screams of Blind Marky Felchtone – no mortal neck is safe, and the full-throttle speed of drummer Donny Paycheck doesn’t let up until the record burns out. The mixture of rock n roll sleaze with high energy is what I always loved about Zeke – they are often compared to Motorhead in terms of riffing style, but imagine if Motorhead played 100 bpm faster and covered 25 songs in a 30-minute set. In my youth, I had a hard time listening to bands that felt like they were dragging – I wanted songs to be faster and more aggressive. With Zeke, that was never an issue, and I tried to embrace this idea of creating music with an assertive sound. Also, a close listen will reveal that I use Donny Paycheck’s trademark beat throughout the Horrendous catalog.
Propagandhi – Today’s Empires, Tomorrow’s Ashes
The Epitaph/Fat Wreck bands of the ’90s and early 2000s were collectively a big thing for us as teenagers. It was something about their mixture of pop sensibility with fast tempos that kept us coming back. Propagandhi started out with an early ’90s NOFX-type style, but on Today’s Empires, Tomorrow’s Ashes, they dropped any trace of pop-punk and fully embraced their hardcore punk and metal sides. To call this an angry record would be a crass understatement – these Winnipeggians were (and still are) absolutely disgusted by the destructive state of the Western world, and they weren’t holding in their anger any longer. This attitude was very much reflected in their music – the furious playing beats the listener over the head and forces you to engage with their worldview. This is another record that opened my eyes to the possibility of having actual riffs and careful compositions in punk music. I have to mention their drummer Jord, who I consider an unsung hero in the punk drumming world – the guy developed his own style on this record, and I still think he has some of the most brilliant fills in punk. Putting their music aside, this band might take lyrical content more seriously than anyone. Propagandhi are renowned for their activism and intellectual depth regarding the self-inflicted problems plaguing our planet. Their lyrics have profoundly impacted how I think about the world and my place in it – they led me to vegetarianism and served as the first spark to my sociopolitical awakening, putting the final nail in the coffin of my teenage solipsism. Of course, Horrendous’ lyrical style is quite different, but Propagandhi is one of the bands that made me want to write lyrics about something. Zombies and gore are certainly fun, but I wanted to create metal lyrics that had something to offer the listener beyond a passing thrill – lyrics that engaged with philosophical concepts or were critical explorations of experience. I wanted lyrics that were relatable on some level and maybe even presented a new perspective to the listener.
Paint it Black – CVA
The Dan Yemin bands (Paint It Black/Kid Dynamite/Lifetime) were a huge part of our adolescence and young adulthood. While I could talk about any album from any of these acts, Paint It Black was probably the band that had the largest influence on us. As a huge Kid Dynamite fan, I remember getting the Paint It Black demo and being disappointed – all the melody was gone, and brash, naked anger (and even shorter songs) had taken the stage. My acceptance of this new Yemin project was not immediate, but after CVA came out, it quickly became the first hardcore punk album that I truly loved. Minor Threat and Black Flag certainly had their share of spins in my bedroom, but CVA felt so much more immediate and relatable to me – it was like a modern take on ’80s hardcore punk, and a tonic capable of curing any instance of my teenage rage. On CVA, Yemin is in your face from the first second, with brief, to the point songs and candid lyrics expressing dismay and anger at the situation we find ourselves in. The first “serious” show I ever attended was the release show for their second album, Paradise, at the legendary First Unitarian Church in Philly. When they took the stage, the audience became a turbulent sea – nobody was standing still, as stage-diving continued from the first chord to the final yell, and moshing stretched across the entire room. You were a part of the show too, like it or not. The way they commanded the attention of the crowd and insisted on the crowd’s own participation was a revelation – I had never been in a situation where the separation between band and audience was completely blurred. That day was my first lesson on the importance of engaging with the listener.
Dwarves – The Dwarves Must Die
Here we have another shocker of a record. Blag Dahlia and crew’s extensive career is simultaneously legendary and controversial, going way back into the mid ’80s, and they’re proud of every second of it. If you see them live, you’ll hear that they’re “the greatest rock n’ roll band of all time”. And honestly, they might be right. Here’s another band where I could talk about a number of their records and my admiration for the vast number of risks they’ve taken. However, The Dwarves Must Die sticks out in particular from our developing years. This album functioned for us as a workshop in the virtue of variety. Despite covering every style from hardcore punk to hip-hop, ’60s pop, folk, and even with the occasional glimmer of metal, this album somehow avoids feeling like a bizarre decade-spanning compilation and stands as a cohesive effort. I’m still impressed by their brazenness and ability to write compelling songs across unrelated genres, all of which is held together by Blag’s characteristic obsession with sex and sleaze. This degree of irreverence was a revelation to two teens raised in Catholic school. I couldn’t get enough of this record as a pubescent, and I’m still listening to this and other Dwarves albums today (but with slightly less embarrassment).
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Horrendous’ new album Ontological Mysterium is out now via Season of Mist.
