Post-hardcore outfit, Weaponry, have released their sophomore EP ‘Forever Nothing’ on the 17th of June. Lead vocalist, Al Bristow spoke to ALTESCAPE about all things ‘Forever Nothing’, the band’s journey, as well as future plans.
For Weaponry, the first rule of making music is: ‘Just have fun’. Having been together since 2018, the band stands by their moto, and continue to make music for the sole love of it. Al outlined his belief that all bands should live by this rule and explained that ‘if it’s not fun anymore we’d stop’. That’s the beauty of this band, realness, and passion. In ‘Forever Nothing’ the band’s certainty and confidence in their sound is evident, and undoubtedly adds to the strength of this release.
Weaponry are a Leeds based post-hardcore 4-piece. The band is composed of vocalist, Al Bristow, guitarist, Rivers Ashworth, bassist, Jay Rozentals, and drummer, Tim Doyle. Having formed in 2018, Al delved into how the band found each other: ‘Jay and I are Brothers In Law and I’m really good friends with River's dad so I’ve known Rivers their whole life. River's dad was actually in the band, but he left last year as it was too much of a commitment. We’ve had a couple different drummers before we found Tim online. He’s a great drummer and we asked him to join after 1 audition when we hadn’t auditioned anyone else! It was there and then. “When can you be ready to play gigs?”
The concept for ‘Forever Nothing’ has been in the works since the very early days of Weaponry, in fact, Al outlined that: ‘Forever Nothing as an EP was something we wanted to do from Day One’. The second single released for the EP, ‘Take It Or Leave It’, is actually one of the band’s oldest tracks. Having been ‘released in a different form in a previous band’, vocalist, Al reflected that ‘it’s great to finally have that (Take It Or Leave It) recorded and in its final form’. Originally, ‘Forever Nothing’ was intended to be Weaponry’s first album release, but the band confessed that ‘it just felt like the right time for it now’.
The 4 track EP is centred around the band's personal beliefs and morals. An ideology concentrated on having fun rather than dreaming absentmindedly of the future, ‘Forever Nothing’ is a reminder that: ‘It’s good to celebrate your wins but don’t get too big for your boots, calm down and realise it’s just one good thing and although there will hopefully be other great things coming, don’t believe that there always will be’. Al highlighted that the band tend to remind each other that: “We are forever nothing', explaining that ‘it just means in the grand scheme of things, who are we really? Even if you play Wembley Arena, there’s still Wembley Stadium!’
Coming across confident and assured of their unique sound, it was interesting to discover some of the bands that have played a part in influencing Weaponry’s music. In the early days, Weaponry was heavily influenced by Deftones, however feel that they have now diversified to a ‘much wider mix’. As for Weaponry’s guitarist, Rivers, they tend to be predominantly take inspiration from ‘masters of guitar’ including the likes of Polyphia, whist
originally being influenced by bands such as: ‘Funeral for a Friend and Bring Me The Horizon’. Al extended that: ‘Rivers is younger than the rest of us though, so the rest of the band are probably more influenced from the 90’s and early 00’s sounds. Grunge, Nu Metal etc’. Interestingly, Al delved into the specific forms of inspiration behind his lyrical work, ‘I love clever lyrics and wordplay so I’ll take influences from a huge array of music but I also read a lot of books and I’ll always be internally taking notes from things like stand-up comedy routines or movies’.
Having created ‘Forever Nothing’, Weaponry signed with Prank Monkey Records ‘off the back of it’. Joining the record label has enabled ‘more promo, opportunities for gigs with their other bands, more funding for things like physical releases or promo’. Not only is Weaponry working alongside their record label, Prank Monkey, but they have also worked alongside major producer Daly George (producer for Creeper, Funeral For A Friend and Boston Manor). The recording of the EP occurred over the span of a week, in September 2021, at ‘The Ranch’ in Southhampton. The entire process was followed by the editor of MetalNoise.net, therefore the band’s week was packed with interviews and photo shoots.
‘Forever Nothing’ opens up with ‘Take It Or Leave It’, released as the second single for the EP on the 22nd of April 2022. This track Must be listened to on a deeper level. After the first time, you are sucked into listening over and over again, discovering the distressing realness of this track. ‘Take It Or Leave It’ battles topics of homelessness and poverty, and the harshness of reality that engulfs us all. Driving, chugging riffs combined with desperate vocals submerge you, until you feel like you are one with the song itself.
Next up is ‘Please Enjoy The Show’. This track begs to be heard live with it’s piercing vocals, pounding rhythms and necessity for a mosh. I wanted to discover more about the subject matter for this track, so Al delved into detail regarding the track’s inspiration. The process of writing this track began in the crowd of a show: ‘It’s about being in an underground band and being in a crowd at an underground show’. ‘I think sometimes bands lose sight of who the gig is for. It should be for the crowd, right? The bands are the entertainers. I find almost every band (including us sometimes!) will do things like asking the crowd to start a mosh pit or telling them to take a few steps forward. Who’s that for? It’s for the band, not the crowd’. Whilst admitting that most bands are culprits of this, even Weaponry themselves, Al acknowledges the discomfort and awkwardness that can come from this. The track is jam-packed with clever irony, as there is a section that encourages the crowd to ‘shout the words back’.
‘Mine’, similarly to ‘Take It Or Leave It’ possesses layers of meaning and Needs to be listened to repeatedly. This track is brimming with heartache, with shreds of hope embedded for good measure. Al reflected on what spurred the content for this track: ‘Mine was inspired by the movie No Man’s Land which is a Bosnian war film. I’ve never actually seen the movie (which is crazy now I reflect on this) but I know in it someone is on top of a land mine and if they move they die’. From that came the ongoing metaphor that runs through ‘Mine’, referring to an abusive relationship, in which every wrong move could lead to tragedy. While the track heavily expresses the toxicity of an abusive relationship, there is reference to a parallel existence in which perhaps this relationship could have flourished. Shards of hope are sprinkled throughout ‘Mine’, suggesting the beauty of something damaged: ‘Never believe that your life is mapped, hanging by a thread is still attached, a gift can be cherished if it’s been unwrapped, and a mirror can still be used when it’s cracked’.
Finally, the favourite of the EP, ‘My Name Is Glory’. This track is Weaponry’s proudest moment on ‘Forever Nothing’. Al expressed his feelings about the track: ‘It was so hard to record the vocals that I almost passed out. I had to take some long breaks while recording that song but I recorded the vocals to Take It or Leave It in one take! My Name Is Glory really pushed me to get better as a vocalist. I knew what I wanted to do and Daly (Producer) really helped me get there’. This song is perhaps the most complex on the EP. All the layers of ‘My Name Is Glory’ interweave naturally with Al’s complimentary vocals, and the track appears complex and yet so natural at the same time. The lead guitar is left echoing untamed through your head long after this track is over.
After releasing the EP last week, Weaponry still have plenty in store for fans over the coming weeks and months. A music video for ‘Please Enjoy The Show’ could be coming soon, and Al expects that eventually one will also be done for ‘Mine’. If you want to catch Weaponry live, they will playing in the near future, lined up with Harbinger, and will actually be playing their two EPs in full!
Regarding new music... ‘We have already actually recorded the next single after this EP! It was recorded too late to be used on the EP but it is a brand new song that we are really proud of. We wrote 2 songs aiming to write the 2 extremes of Weaponry, the hardest we go and the softest we go. The one we have recorded is the hardest! It’ll be out in the coming months’.
You can listen to the full EP here!
Find out more about Weaponry here!
Photo credits: Amie Cliffen
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