Band: Standover
From: New Zealand
Their formation story:
(Vasely Sapunov, guitar): "Rhys (xcrowdslayerx) and I have been close friends for over twenty years and had been working on this project for a very very long time. The stars finally aligned for us to be able to do this after writing some of the material, believe it or not, close to 10 years ago.
"Jason and I had also talked about him doing this band with us, but he was busy with multiple other projects initially until the stars aligned and the band finally came together with the 5 of us in 2022 to start rehearsing and writing before we dropped out first demo in 2023 and started playing shows. Everyone in this band is the exact right person to be in this band. The recipe had to be perfect.
"One angry straight edge dude and four wild animals. No fuckwits. We are all super close friends and have been in bands for fucking years so it’s been a lot of fun to do this and have the shows be so good, get to release this record and keep doing what we love, even though we are the oldest cunts in New Zealand Hardcore and the youngest guy in our band is literally, a grandfather."
Their sound in their own words:
"Aggressive metallic hardcore."
Latest release info:
"The full-length album dropped two weeks ago and has been in the works since thistime last year when we hit the studio in Wellington to start tracking the drums withTroy Kelly. The record was recorded in around 12 weeks total and then sent to italyto be mixed and mastered which took an insane amount of time, backwards and forwards and painstakingly difficult extended mixing sessions that made it feel like we had moved our deadlines and release plans at least two or three times, until it all came together.
"We approved the final mixes around Christmas time and a few weeks after the start of the new year dropped 'Forever Contempt,' our tribute to NZ legends Promise of Bloodshed and then shortly after announced that we signed with Gutter Prince Cabal and were releasing the album.
"The pre-orders went super well and the record is currently in it’s second consecutive week on the NZ Top 20 which is fucked up and funny, but shows you heavy music in New Zealand cannot be ignored. It’s the angriest fucking thing we have done and we are super proud of the album and very stoked on the reviews and support it’s received.
"Thanks to everyone who has picked up the LP or CD. It’s all gone much better than we could have hoped for and we are pumped to get back out playing shows now that people have the record in their hands and in their ears. If you missed out on the first two colors you can go and buy the exclusive white marble LP at JB HI-FI before they’re all gone."
Future plans:
"We have a bunch of great shows already on the cards this side of Christmas, like Foundation Fest, Battles in the North and a bunch of other things we are about to announce, but most imminent is our Auckland show on July 12 with Iron Mind, Martial Law and Dredge, our first live show since the record has come out, so we are pretty pumped for that one. Great line up, should be a fucking killer show.
"We plan to do a run of NZ shows for the release of the album in the next couple of months and then set our sights on getting over to Australia to support the record."
What other bands from their region should we check out?
"The New Zealand hardcore scene is thriving right now. A lot of killer bands from old and new generations playing shows and fests all year around for the first time in over a decade so be sure to keep an eye and ear out on what’s coming from our shores.
"A bunch of bands to name a few that you should be listening to include Brainwave, Lucre, Take Hold, Brawler, Drop off Point, Dredge, Martial Law, Shuv It, Cease & Desist, Heavy Step… too many to list, all different styles of hardcore, it’s very dope. The kids are gonna be alright."
…When a Clenched Fist Is No Longer an Option is out now via Gutter Prince Cabal and Deadboy Records.
Standover on social media: Instagram
Tagged: standover
