It's not often a band submission comes through the No Echo inbox from New Zealand, but that's how Severed Beliefs is landing on the site today. Formed in late 2018, the young outfit issued their self-titled debut EP last year and initially came together thanks to vocalist Fergus Stratford and drummer Ian Moore's shared love for a specific strain of heavy music. “Severed Beliefs was created as a project initially by Ian and I to create the type of music that we wanted to make, we then recruited [bassist] Josh [Ho] and [guitarist] Jaspar [Taylor] to join us," Fergus told No Echo via email.
"Primarily, I am inspired by '90s hardcore/metalcore bands like Merauder, 7 Angels 7 Plagues, and Unbroken," said the singer. Ian breaks his band's sound down in the same email: "I would describe Severed Beliefs as a metallic hardcore/metalcore band.
"We're drawing influences from the recent influx of US and UK bands, as well as appreciating acts like Arkangel, Disembodied, Day of Suffering, and early Eighteen Visions.”
Seen/heard above, Severed Beliefs recently dropped a music video for "Eternal Grey," a track that appears on Endangered Species Vol. 1, a mini cassette/digital compilation featuring New Zealand hardcore bands. “Musically, this was the first song we’ve written with a whole band instead of just Fergus and I," explained Ian. "The collaborative process made for a much more creative song and has let influences enter the band which wouldn’t before.”
Fergus offered some thoughts on the lyrics to the song: "I guess what 'Eternal Grey' was written about is a general disappointment at the actions of those in power. Seeing idiotic and and terrible events that happen in New Zealand and overseas just constantly wears you down. You just become 'grey' and apathetic having to deal with the future while also decoding the past.”
As stated earlier, No Echo isn't versed on the New Zealand hardcore scene, so we asked Fergus about how Severed Beliefs fits into their scene. “We have been very well-received by the NZ scene. NZ has a small as fuck hardcore scene compared to every other country. Pretty much everybody knows everyone from all over the country, so most new bands are well received.
"Probably since late 2016, the scene was pretty dead with not many bands/people doing cool shit, but it's way healthier nowadays with quite a few bands and releases recently (especially through my label Elimination Records). A couple of bands who are the bros are ColdxWar, Brainwave, Xile, Glassblower, Zone Killer, Soul Void. There’s heaps.”
Check out the Endangered Species Vol. 1 compilation on Bandcamp. Severed Beliefs on social media: Facebook | Instagram
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