Hitting play on their demo a couple of years ago you could have been forgiven for thinking Impunity might have been a bit of a ‘one and done’ type band.
Not because it was bad—far from it in fact—but essentially because about six minutes of Irate worship complete with a Go Go Gadget cover at the end felt more like a bit of fun than the work of a band who were about to become one of the most beloved and exciting outfits in today’s thriving UKHC scene.
Two years later though and that’s exactly what’s happened. The North Yorkshire mosh merchants have just released their best tracks yet on a killer split with Hudson Valley, New York’s Cross of Disbelief and they had one of the stand-out sets of the weekend at this year’s Outbreak Fest—as indeed they did the year before for that matter.
As you’ll see below they still have every intention of keeping things casual and organic, but the band were nonetheless kind enough to collectively answer a few questions about where they’re at, how they got there, and what might be next for them.
You had a huge crowd and great reaction at Outbreak, how do you feel about the growth of the band over the last year or so?
It's been really cool, we've still yet to do a tour and we're just playing off a demo, comp track, and a newly released split. Nothing we have done in the last year has been anything other than playing shows with our friends' bands and playing places we have wanted to go to.
Were you ever expecting it to go this far, so to speak?
Not really, it was a joke project we did whilst recording another record, at tops it was supposed to be just a demo tape and maybe a couple of local shows.
How did the split with Cross of Disbelief come about?
We were supposed to do a split with another band through Streets of Hate that didn't happen. Alex SOH said Cross of Disbelief would have some songs ready if we wanted to do a split with them instead.
We knew the guys through touring with Age of Apocalypse and Godskin Peeler in our previous band so it was a no-brainer.
What was the writing process like for the new tracks?
"Key Performance Indicator" has been around for near 18 months and was written shortly after the demo just as a faster take on the sound, Process Efficiency was from a bulk of songs written in the last year which was like the fastest one of the bunch. "98% Fake" is a Bogmonsta cover.
You've always had an obvious love for/history with the legendary Six Ft Ditch. What's the connection there and how do they influence your music in Impunity?
Derv used to see them at 12 Bar in London way back when and got asked to do a guest vocal spot on a Six Ft Ditch record in 2012 (that got lost until recently).
They've always been a staple of our UKHC diets and their influence seeps into our writing as they were the UK answer to a lot of late '90s New York and New Jersey hardcore that we are also inspired by.
What do you draw from to inspire all the aggression and hostility in your music and lyrics?
People and the wonderful ways they treat others.
Impunity has also seemed to have a very clear aesthetic since the beginning. What inspires that?
The demo artwork was done by an artist called Abrazive that usually does electronic and dance music artwork. We wanted something that wasn't hooded mosher, graffiti etc and from there we have just played off that, nothing too deep about it.
How do you feel about the current state of the UKHC scene? What new bands should people check out?
In terms of the amount of bands, shows and releases, I don't think it's been in a better place. As far as new bands go, Bathed In Sin, Bodybag and Ikhras.
What are your hopes for the future of the band?
LP, tour, breakup.
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New York v.s. North Yorkshire is available on CD via Streets of Hate.
Impunity on social media: Instagram
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