If you're already familiar with Abrupt Decay and their wild sound, you might be surprised by the Alberta band's origin story. "The idea started as a joke band in 2017," says vocalist Grant, who is also the primary songwriter in the quintet, penning schizophrenic-like metalcore-meets-grindcore with labyrinthine arrangements that seldomly come up for air.
But let's get back to Grant. "I was in a band at the time that was trying to write less mosh parts, and all I wanted to do was write more [laughs]. I wrote an EP that was about how much I hated working at Walmart while I was in college. One of the songs had more personal lyrics, and I ended up enjoying writing that style a lot more.
"I ended up writing our first record [I Was Never Here] across 2018, mostly while I was at work in my head. I started recording it with my friend Scott, but was really broke while I was in school. And then of course the pandemic put stuff to a halt for a while, so it just took years to come out."
After the COVID lockdowns, Grant was determined to keep Abrupt Decay going. "Fast forward to March of 2022 and the record was finally mastered and done. Truthfully, I didn’t think anyone would listen to it outside of a few friends. But the day after it came out, we were extremely lucky to have it included in a Brooklyn Vegan article with a bunch of bigger artists like Motionless In White and Behemoth. The Mathcore Index community was really supportive of it as well, and we had promoters reaching out to the band account to see if we would play shows. I convinced (tricked) a few friends to join, and now we’re here!"
2023 saw the release of the As It Came for Me, So Shall It Come for You. EP, and a standalone single, "Castigate." But the latest material from the band is their strongest yet. But before we get to that, check out "9B," the dizzying first single from their forthcoming sophomore album, The Illusion of Our Choices In A World of No Options:
Since his writing approach for Abrupt Decay is pure chaos, I asked Grant to talk a bit about how got there. "I had two cousins growing up who would babysit me pretty regularly. One was really into pop punk like Billy Talent and blink-182, and the other was really into nu metal like Korn and Slipknot. Growing up with those two was a recipe to finding metalcore and power violence as a teen.
"I’m hugely inspired by bands like Converge, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Gaza, and Protest the Hero, but on the flip side of heavy, I love bands like Weekend Nachos, Nails, and Full of Hell. If it’s heavy and fast, I probably like it [laughs]."
READ MORE: Bo Lueders (Harm’s Way, HardLore podcast) Discusses His Journey in the Hardcore Community
Grant sent me a link to The Illusion of Our Choices In A World of No Options and it's every bit as discordant and intense as Abrupt Decay's earlier output. "A big chunk of it was written while working rural EMS up in the mountains. There was a lot of isolation, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how seemingly random everything felt.
"The title 'The Illusion of Our Choices In A World of No Options' is a combination of my feelings behind how people will discount others being born into certain situations, and how there feels like an overarching dread of the current world state that is forcing its way into everything. There is a complete lack of control of the circumstances of our births, and so many people across the world are just born into modern day slavery and poverty. Right here at home, the First Nations people of Canada are so disproportionately affected by the choices of our government and the effects of colonization in our society. If you’re born on a reservation, you are more than likely born into poverty because of the absolute inhumanity our government has forced onto the First Nations people."
Abrupt Decay are gearing up for the August release of the album, and it looks to be a busy fall for the group. "We have a cross Canada tour planned with a band that I have been a huge fan of for years. I wish I could say more, but you will just have to wait and see!
"Other than that, we have a lot of big plans for next year that we are currently working towards. We want to be road dogs, and just tour as much as we possibly can in 2026.
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The Illusion of Our Choices In A World of No Options will be out on August 1st.
Abrupt Decay on social media: X | Instagram
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