Fresh off a summer tour with Kittie, Texas metal four-piece GORE. — vocalist Haley Roughton, guitarist Alex Reyes, bassist Devin Birchfield, and drummer Wills Weller — have announced their new EP, titled …Then You Cannot Love Me, out October 9 via Spinefarm. Pre-save it here.
…Then You Cannot Love Me follows the late 2025-release If You Do Not Fear Me… EP — making two very distinct and inseparable halves of an impactful whole.
Today, they have released the second single from the EP with”Crucified.” Watch the video here.
“This song is about someone who is so seductive that they lead you right into temptation,” says Roughton. “They have you wrapped around their finger, and they know it. You idolize them. You try as hard as you can to resist, but there’s something both painful and pleasurable about their presence, so you give into them and whatever chaos you know they’ll bring.”
…THEN YOU CANNOT LOVE ME EP TRACK LISTING:
“What You Paid For”
Gore.’s two new EPs were always meant to be sisters. One is not complete without the other, and even though If You Do Not Fear Me… was released a year before its counterpart, the ellipsis at the end of its title made it seem like it was holding its breath for something else to come.
“We always wanted to release it like that,” explains Roughton. “We wanted a more looming, cynical sound in the first EP and as time went on, we wanted to develop the sound towards something closer to what we want to sound like as a band together. I’m hoping the fans, especially those who have been with us since day one, can see the evolution and how those two connect.”
Gore. rode into the creative process off a wave of momentum arising from their debut EP, A Bud That Never Blooms. Soaring to success off the back of uploading songs to YouTube, their international acclaim, not to mention co-signs from Motionless In White, Papa Roach and Flyleaf, quickly cemented them as one to watch.
Thinking the most exciting thing for their fans would be to drop songs as breadcrumbs, leaving a trail towards something bigger, they decided to split the songs up across two bodies of work. Thematically, they are foils, with If You Do Not Fear Me’s… engrossed in darkness while … Then You Cannot Love Me is its more measured, accepting foil.
Similarly, much of these two EPs wrestles with the internal battles of experiencing “irreconcilable” feelings – feelings that don’t inspire action, but that curdle and sit uneasily within an individual, with no easy passage for release. As an example, it’s particularly relevant, in Roughton’s eyes, for women trapped in relationships with abusive men.
The EPs’’conjoining titles nod to similar kinds of damaging relationships too, in which fear and love become inseparable bedfellows whether a relationship is abusive or not. “There’s always some form of power dynamic in really unhealthy relationships. Women are taught from a young age that if a man doesn’t fear losing you, that he doesn’t love you. Men are taught to be nonchalant and not care too much, and so we just grow up with all these wounds that just show up.”
Gore.’s first EP might have nodded to buds that never bloom, but they’ve blossomed ever since. The goal, Hayley says, is to be expansive enough to make any attempts to box them in seem futile, or even impossible. They want to be known for being who they are, not a carbon copy of any other big name.
With early press nods from Revolver, NME, Behind the Screams, New Noise, The Pretty Cult and more, Gore. continue their ascent up the metal ladder.
PHOTO CREDIT: Shane Speal (@vuhlane)
ABOUT SPINEFARM:
Spinefarm represents some of the biggest and most important rock acts in the world. Founded in Finland in 1990, the label established itself as an independent powerhouse for successful European metal acts from Nightwish to Children Of Bodom. Acquired by UMG in 2002, Spinefarm Music Group is now home to a host of artists that reach millions of fans across the globe and showcases the very best in rock, punk, and metal. From massive metal names such as Bullet For My Valentine (with over 3 billion streams) to alt-rock legends Killing Joke and the breakout success of cultural phenom Sleep Token, Spinefarm’s artists are — and always have been — true leaders in their chosen field. The roster also includes renowned names like Atreyu, Airbourne, Black Veil Brides, and While She Sleeps, as well as fast-rising young artists like Dayseeker, Dead Poet Society, Kid Kapichi, Deadlands, and Creeper. Spinefarm, now flanked by associated SMG labels Candlelight (Emperor, Ihsahn, Urne) and Snakefarm (Marty Stuart, Austin Meade, Mark Morton), has grown from its independent origins into a true global rock powerhouse.
