When Decibel last checked in with North Carolina blackened hardcore quartet Joy, we were premiering the band’s video for “Moon and Sky” and questioning if “blackened hardcore” was still an accurate descriptor. Of course, the release of most recent album No Light Below confirmed that it was, in fact, still an accurate descriptor. If you didn’t listen: remedy that starting with the video for “Calloused,” one of the later tracks on No Light Below.
The video’s bright, psychedelic colors juxtapose the relentless, 2:20 beating that is “Calloused.”
“We are very proud of No Light Below,” vocalist Andrew Langhans says of the album. “We tried to write something familiar, but at the same time, very unique. We don’t want to be put into a bullshit subgenre or category, and we hope that shows with the record. We enjoy different styles and forms of heavy music, and try to pull our favorite aspects from all across the spectrum and combine them into something that is uniquely us. Lyrically, I try to keep it very honest and transparent. Everything I write about has to be personal. There’s nothing more that I dislike in music than uninspired or hollow sounding lyrics. The album touches on, self hate and suicidal thoughts, dislike of human nature, loss of love and of religious faith. All things I’ve felt with in the past few years. It’s a healthy way for me to process all these thoughts and emotions. My hope in writing about such personally dark things is that someone else might be able to see that someone else feels the same way they do, and that they might not feel completely alone in those thoughts and seek to better themselves. We put a lot of time and hard work into this album and hope others enjoy it as much as we do.”
Watch the video for “Calloused” below. You can grab the album here via To Live a Lie and acquire an exclusive variant through Holy Mountain Printing.
