Band: Will to Power
From: Detroit, Michigan
Their formation story:
(Brandon Mehl, guitar) "Mike (guitar) and I met each other when he came up to visit other friends when I was going to school at Central Michigan. Nick (vocals) and Mike met at Michigan State during a fire drill. Garf and I met through Mike, and we bonded over our love of hardcore and metal. We all met Ben (drums) and Sean (bass) from going to and playing local shows over the past few years.
"After college graduation, Nick, who is originally from California, moved back to Sacramento. That’s when he began writing the EP and creating the idea of Will to Power. After some time, he moved back to Michigan, and we ended up renting a house together. This is when Will To Power finally came to life. We were then able to jam the songs together over the past fall and winter, taking Nick's ideas and turning them into more complete songs as a collective. None of this would’ve been possible if hardcore hadn’t brought the 5 of us together."
Their sound in their own words:
(Nick Sanchez, vocals): "Our sound definitely lands on the metallic end of hardcore without being full-blown metalcore. We take a lot of inspiration from bands that ride that same boundary, like All Out War, Sentence, and Arkangel, with Kickback's music obviously being a big reference point for us as well. Lamb of God also comes to mind, and while they're not very easy to hear in our songs, that's the band that made me want to play the guitar, and definitely cemented in my head that a good riff can still hit hard while jumping around the fretboard.
"What I like about all those bands (and what I try to replicate in Will to Power) is that the songs have higher aspirations than just getting people to mosh. As much as I love moshing, it's really easy to write a terrible song that's just 3 breakdowns strung together. I find it's a lot harder (but far more rewarding) to write music that feels like it has room to breathe and makes you earn the big dance-floor moment. That's why our songs tend to be on the longer side. I really like earning that dance floor.
"In terms of the FFO thing, I know it's not 'cool' to reference more contemporary bands, but I think we occupy a very similar space sonically as Abrasion, and I remember it feeling like a lightning rod moment when I saw them cover Kickback a few years ago. One of the best bands to come out of California in a long time. RIP.
"Kickback, specifically the album Forever War, is where we get a lot of inspiration in terms of the groovier bounce parts in our music. There's such a distinct style to the drumming on that album that is at once so recognizable, but impossible to attain. And then, All Out War. It's an insane thing to compare yourself to arguably one of the best bands to ever make heavy music, but given how large their shadow looms over our writing style, I think if you like Will to Power - and somehow, inexplicably, haven't heard All Out War yet - you will find them to be one of your new favorite bands.
"Chief Keef - If you know, you know."
Latest release info:
(Nick Sanchez): "Man Will Always Fail is our very first release as a band, and we were adamant that it shouldn't be called 'Demo' or 'Promo 2026' or something like that. We didn't want this to feel like we were just testing the waters or leading up to something else; we wanted something that could stand on its own two feet, a declarative statement. The title is just a direct summation of the lyrical themes of the EP - how humans are generally hypocritical, self-interested creatures who facilitate their own downfall and are deserving of indictment. A negative band with negative feelings. That's the statement.
"'Shatter,' the first track on the EP, is also the first song we wrote for the project. Maybe that's poetic, but it's also just good sequencing, starting a project off with something fast and in-your-face that has a lot of substance. If you're looking for that aforementioned Lamb of God influence on any of our tracks, Shatter is where you're going to find it.
"'Ouroboros,' the second track, is also my favorite. I think it's able to do a lot musically in a little bit of time and has the most cohesive lyrics. It's our capital F - Fast song that ends just before you realize the breakdown takes up almost half the run time of the entire track.
"'Ashes and Dust' is probably our most grandiose song, clocking in at four and a half minutes with big open bounce riffs in the chorus. It's also where the Kickback influence shines the brightest, both in terms of song structure and the riffs themselves. I think if the first thing you clocked about this band was the reference to our name, then this is the track that will make it make sense.
"'Diseased' was and is difficult. To write. To play. All of it. Getting this song to its final form felt like pulling teeth, but in a greatly rewarding way. Every riff took an incredibly long time to extract, and even longer to find the part that would come after that. I couldn't tell you how long it took to write because it was on and off for months. While I originally thought Ashes and Dust would close the EP, Diseased became a no-brainer once we all played it together for the first time."
Future plans:
(Brandon Mehl): "Our next show is April 18th at Looney's Pub in Chicago with our good friends in Absent Soul and Saint Martyr. We’re also planning a 3-day weekend in May and are hitting Grand Rapids, Ft Wayne, and Detroit. We also have a couple of other fun unannounced things to look out for this spring/summer."
What other bands from their region should we check out?
"Decedent (Mount Pleasant), Southover (Toledo), Loveletters (Toledo), Torture Realm (Ft Wayne), Absent Soul (Chicago), Escalation of Force (Detroit), Anhedonia (Detroit), Kings Command (Detroit), Nuff Said (Flint), Act of Torment (Kalamazoo), Disfigurement (Ohio), Moretta (Grand Rapids)."
Will to Power on social media: Instagram
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