Despite Harm's Way's reputation for unrelenting ferocity, Common Suffering surprises at several turns with quieter moments of intricate songwriting that emphasizes light and shade. It's their understanding of how to effectively orchestrate these dynamics that makes their latest feel infinitely more merciless. This is Harm's Way at their best - the ambitious sound of a band traversing new ideas and succeeding with their strongest and most fully-realized effort to date. For their improbable new single "Undertow," the band united with Kristina Esfandiari (King Woman) whose haunting vocals add a whole new dimension. It comes with an arresting video directed by Finn O'Connell and features both Harm's Way and Esfandiari.
Of the single, the band reveals, "'Undertow' looks at the cycle of life and death, and one's process of coming to a space of acceptance with the latter. While we can argue that self-preservation is inherently human, finding peace in death and dying brings us that much closer to humility and our shared humanity."
Watch the video below:
For nearly two decades, Harm’s Way has evolved from whispered underground favorites to favorite sons with an arsenal of songs that helped shape heavy music’s trajectory - creating a roadmap for legions interested in “reinventing” themselves. Harm’s Way has never stayed complacent and constantly morphed shape- absorbing and reapplying influences in new and creative ways to create some of the most well-executed songs in hardcore punk and metal.
And yet, considering the changeling that they and their previous efforts are, Common Suffering is easily the most musically diverse undertaking in their catalog. The album beams with incredibly memorable riffs, breakdowns, and impeccable songwriting. The title is a clear nod to the collective experiences of the past three years of chaos, misanthropy, paranoia, disorder, confusion and anxiety, with the band exploring themes ranging from personal struggles with mental health, relationships, political upheaval, corruption, and political power.
This time around, Harm's Way shifted to recording at Studio 4 in Pennsylvania with producer Will Yip (Turnstile, Code Orange). Going into the recording, the goal was to improve some of the band's processes, examine vocal cadences and experiment during production to gain the best idea from each track. The first change dealt with refocusing members on their specific wheelhouses. While vocalist James Pligge had previously assisted with riffs, on this effort, his main objective was to ensure the perfect vocal attack- leaning into Yip for advice and letting the remainder of the band take the wheel with their respective parts. The result is each player pushing to the far reaches and creating material that has previously never been colonized by any band, or hardcore writ large, before.
As masterful and impressive as Common Suffering is, the precision-guided cluster bombs that make up the album are just ten more reasons for Harm's Way fans to queue up to see one of the best and most vicious live shows on the planet. There, amongst the wide smiles, flailing arms and bodies pinballing off of the edges of the pit, is where the world will see just how singular and uncommon the new effort is. This Fall the band hit the road for a month-long North American tour which routes them through the Midwest, Texas, both coasts and more. Fleshwater, Ingrown and Jivebomb are set as support. See below for a full list of dates.
Common Suffering sees its release September 29 across all digital streaming platforms, vinyl and CD formats via Metal Blade Records.
Variants include: Digipak CD, Grey / Black Marbled Vinyl (US Exclusive), Clear Smoke Vinyl (US Exclusive), Fog Marbled Vinyl (US Exclusive), White / Black Marbled Vinyl (EU Exclusive - Ltd. 500 copies), Silver Vinyl (EU Exclusive - Ltd. 500 copies), Crystal Clear w/ Black Dust Vinyl (EU Exclusive - Ltd. 300 copies), "Black Hole" w/ Red & White Splatter Vinyl (EU Exclusive - Ltd. 300 copies).
Pre-order at metalblade.com.
Tracklisting:
“Silent Wolf”
“Denial”
“Hollow Cry”
“Devour”
“Undertow”
“Heaven’s Call”
“Cyanide”
“Terrorizer”
“Sadist Guilt”
“Wanderer”
"Devour" video:
“Silent Wolf” video:
Harm's Way have also announced a month long North American tour which kicks off October 18 in the Midwest and routes them through Texas, both coasts and more. Fleshwater, Ingrown and Jivebomb are set as support. Tickets go on sale Friday, August 18 at 10 AM local time.
Dates:
September
22 - Mississauga, ON - Hold Your Ground Fest
October
18 - Milwaukee, WI - X-Ray Arcade
19 - St. Louis, MO - Blueberry Hill
20 - Louisville, KY - Portal
21 - Columbus, OH - Ace of Cups
22 - Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
24 - Pittsburgh, PA - Preserving Underground
25 - Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace
27 - Brooklyn, NY - Monarch
28 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
29 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
30 - Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Soundstage
31 - Richmond, VA - Canal Club
November
1 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade
3 - Dallas, TX - Studio at The Factory
4 - Austin, TX - Mohawk
5 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live Studio
7 - Phoenix, AZ - The Nile
8 - Las Vegas, NV - Eagle Aerie Hall
9 - Los Angeles, CA - 1720
10 - San Diego, CA - Brick By Brick
11 - Berkeley, CA - 924 Gilman Street
12 - Sacramento, CA - Goldfield Trading Post
14 - Salt Lake City, UT - Metro Music Hall
15 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater
16 - Kansas City, MO - RecordBar
(Photo - E. Aaron Ross)
