I refuse to lose I refuse to be silent I refuse to bow down to the corruption that rules the world around us! STRESS TEST’s debut comes out on Feb. 27th via Transylvanian Recordings is my soundtrack to the inner rage that is swirling around me! Over the course of 11 blistering Metal-Punk anthems, this band lays down the law and also refuses to be silent! All you have to do is blast their banger “God Sucks” to hear their brilliant aggression Ladden style in full effect! STRESS TEST flips the script because they are Metal heads kicking out straight feral Hardcore punk jams!
“I started writing what would become the first few Stress Test songs during the peak of the pandemic in the US. On the day that most things officially shut down here, I was on the road to Denver with Idle Hands (now Unto Others) for the ill-fated 2020 Decibel Magazine Tour, which was supposed to start the next day. I lived alone at the time and had way too much time on my hands after that—time to sit around and do nothing but soak up all the world’s chaos as curated to me by the algorithm, in its infinite wisdom. Of course, there’s always chaos, corruption, unjustifiable violence, religious fanaticism and so on, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to give these things less of my mental and emotional bandwidth. The isolation of that year effectively destroyed my well-rehearsed routine of mostly ignoring the things that have always sucked about humanity, civilization, and the modern world for the sake of mental health. I remember feeling like I did as a teenager again in that way. And as I was back then, I became inspired to express hopelessness, anxiety, and anger about the bleak reality we’ve created for ourselves with contemptuous music that feels like it belongs here. So, that’s the environment this band was born from. This record documents an ongoing struggle—and failure—to maintain a positive outlook on the future of our species.”
“Life wouldn’t be worth living at all if it were filled only with misery, and my own has had plenty of pleasure to go with the pain so far. But with Stress Test, I’m motivated by all the hours and days and years that leave you demoralized and disgusted. Disgusted with the world, or especially with yourself.” -Brandon Hill
Cover art by @bargainbinblasphemy
