lowheaven release new single

‘Mercy Death’

‘Ritual Decay’ due out August 29th via

MNRK Heavy

Photo by Fabiana Moreira

Toronto post-metal outfit lowheaven have today released their brand-new single, ‘Mercy Death’.  The crushing new single features on the band’s recently announced debut full-length album, ‘Ritual Decay’, due out on August 29th via their new label home MNRK Heavy.

Produced by Brett Romnes (Boston Manor, Hot Mulligan) and mastered by Mangus Lindberg of Cult Of Luna, Ritual Decay is full of heavy distortion, shifting dynamics, layering, and, as vocalist/guitarist Dan Thomson puts it, “earphone candy.” Pulling heavily from ‘90s influences like Cave In and Deftones, the record feels nostalgic in nature delivering ten tracks that explore the reality of complete social isolation and the acceptance of what it means to lose faith in life and yourself with technical prowess. “Mercy Death” encapsulates the dread lowheaven strives to convey.

Thomson elaborates, “This song feels like the soundtrack to my nightmares. It was one of the songs in the batch where I realized just how heavy this band was going to be. Our goal was always to find a way to musically transmit what we all felt going on around us, and this one hit the nail on the head. As with a lot of the songs on Ritual Decay, I came in with a rough framework of the lyrics, and then rewrote the whole song the night before recording it. I was spending the late nights in the studio isolated, just pouring over and scrutinizing every line. Every detail. Trying to find a way to free myself. This is the product of that.”

“The original working title for this song was ‘Godzilla,’” recalls guitarist / keyboardist Alex Pley, “and it earned it. Writing this song with Dan and (vocalist/bassist) Mikey (Buchta) in the early days of the band was when it started to really sink in how heavy we were going to get. One of the ‘themes’ that I really tried to stick with when writing for this band was a sort of ‘end of the world’ feel; terrifying and powerful. The end of this song is a fucking monster, and playing this song live is going to ruin some people’s lives if they aren’t ready. Chaos king still reigns”

Guitarist Pat Pajak adds, “This song almost feels like an elastic band that just won’t snap when playing it. Definitely encapsulates the dread lowheaven strives to convey, but with some melody and resolve as well. I feel it reflects the range lowheaven delivers rather well.”

lowheaven – ‘Mercy Death’

Formed in the Spring of 2020, beneath the dark clouds of the COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home orders, lowheaven is Dan Thomson (vocals/guitar), Mikey Buchta (vocals/bass), Alex Pley (guitar/keys), and Pat Pajak (guitar). Their sound oscillates somewhere between post-hardcore, screamo, blackened noise, and metal. They’re not quite genreless, rather, a band that blends genre so thoroughly that they are better characterized by their distinctive emotional intensity than by any one label. Thomson explains candidly, “We’re not a happy listen. lowheaven is something that has got a lot of weight.”

Each of the bandmates experienced a great deal of grief at the start of 2020, whether that be the sudden loss of relationships or dramatic changes in circumstance. The culmination of these seismic shocks were five full notebooks of lyrics grappling the line between self-hatred and forgiveness. In an effort to maintain this elevated emotional state, Romnes had the band record both Ritual Decay and lowheaven’s debut EP, Collapse, in a centuries old New Jersey church. Romnes’ intensity allowed the band to re-tap into their darkest emotions. According to the band, “everything that could be done to bring out performances or emotions was immediately on the table.” This meant watching David Cronenberg and various other horror films at all hours of the day on a television in the church. Specifically, the brutal and psychological nature of films like Cronenberg’s Crimes Of The Future and Julia Docournau’s Titane not only helped to set the tone for the recording process, but also to directly influence the final versions of the songs themselves. Many nights, the band members were only sleeping four or five hours and channeling this exhaustion into the hopelessness of the music.

Ritual Decay Track Listing:

1. In Grievance

2. Chemical Pattern

3. Cancer Sleep

4. Nothing Else Frail

5. Amherst

6. Mercy Death

7. Fucking Hell

8. Fighter Valley

9. Violence

10. Manic Grace

Pre-Order/Pre-Save:

lowheaven – ritual deacy

Forthcoming live dates:

JULY

18  PITTSBURGH, PA  Preserving Underground
19  HARRISONBURG, VA  Golden Pony
20  KINGSPORT, TN  VFW Post 4933
21  CHARLOTTE, NC  Milestone’s
22  BALTIMORE, MD  Ottobar
23  SELLERSVILLE, PA  Sellersville Theatre
24  BROOKLYN, NY  The Woodshop

lowheaven are:

Dan Thomson – vocals, guitar

Mikey Buchta – vocals, bass

Alex Pley – guitar; keys

Pat Pajak – guitar