Q1 – Who is in your band?
Andy Mansell – Lead vocal
Ollie Gould – Guitar & backing vox
Mohannad Mamoun Abdul-Rahaman Bashir Ahmed Meckey Ghuleb – Bass
Scott Harris – Drums
Yes that is Mo’s real name.
Q2 – What is your take on your own sound?
OG – Wildly energetic and therapeutic hardcore metal, made up of seething vocals balanced out with beautiful melodies, face melting riffs, thunderous bass and a frenzy of drums. All of this coming out of the super fertile rock breeding ground of South Wales. Wales’ top 2 exports are actually iron and steel, and then riffs. We create freely without giving a fuck about sub-genre conventions and what we’ve ended up with is some kind of mixture of straight up metal and hardcore, which is cool.
AM – A fusion of metal, hardcore and good old fashioned rock ‘n roll with riffs for days.
Q3 – If someone was listening to your music for the first time, what song would you tell them to listen to and why?
OG – Paralysed. That is one hell of a riff. Written by Mo our bass player in fact. Pair that up with the chorus hook and you got a serious track!
AM – Check out our new single Paralysed, it shows what we’re all about and has a massive hook that will stick in your head for days.
Q4 – What is the plan for 2019?
OG – Play everywhere and anywhere. The purpose of this band is to connect with people through music and there is no better place to do that than in person at crazy, sweaty rock shows. Alongside that we’ll be finishing writing our debut full-length which will follow up our second EP. We’ve already written half the album and we’re very excited about releasing all this stuff.
AM – Play anywhere and everywhere that will have us and write material for a full-length release.
Q5 – What is the one song you wish you wrote?
AM – Bohemian Rhapsody! The thing is a work of genius and loved by so many people around the world
OG – Midnight Regulations by Alexisonfire. The vocal melodies are so sweet and the lyrics are about class inequality, so the dramatic vibe fits the deep and meaningful lyrics perfectly. Stunning work. AOF are one of the reasons I do this.
Q6 – What three bands inspired or continue to inspire you the most?
OG – Alexisonfire, Mastodon & Kvelertak.
AM – Pantera, Comeback Kid and Every Time I Die.
Q7 – Where can our readers see you live or listen to your music?
AM – Check out our music online on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp and YouTube.
OG – Old Blue Last Shoreditch London 26/7 with the awesome Chaos Reigns and a sick hardcore punk band from Bath called Pot Pouri.
The Zanzibar Liverpool on Aug 3rd.
Fuel Rock Club Cardiff with the excellent Dead At 27 on 10th Aug.
Iron Duke are doing a comeback show 23rd Aug to their local crew at The Fighting Cocks and we’re stoked to be main support for that.
Q8 – If your band was an animal, what would it be and why?
OG- Torchbearer is aggressive, huge, strong, loud, ferocious and volatile just like a silverback mountain gorilla!
AM- A motherfucking unicorn because we’re one of a kind! There’s no one else like Torchbearer.