WALLS OF JERICHO By Rei Nishimoto
Biblical Distortion
Walls of Jericho spent the past decade perfecting its metallic hardcore sound and building a strong fanbase. Now they’ve taken a bold step by releasing Redemption, a five-song acoustic EP that ventures into territory rarely heard within their genre.
“It was something that we’ve wanted to do,” explains vocalist Candace Kucsulain. “I’ve been in choir and singing my whole life. But when we started Walls of Jericho — we didn’t want to incorporate this. We wanted to keep the live show energetic. We didn’t want to do the same screaming stuff the bands were doing. Even though I could sing, we never put that in. We wanted to keep it heavy.”
“We’ve always wanted to be able to create music like that,” she continues. “To be in the band for so long and never to get that opportunity is horrible. We got some downtime and we had met [Slipknot/Stone Sour frontman] Corey [Taylor] about a year and a half before. So we’re, like, ‘F*ck it, we have time…let’s do it!’ ”
Produced by Taylor, the band opted for tracks that weave together stories ranging from personal tragedies to everyday life. The five acoustic songs include “No Saving Me” from ‘06’s With Devils Amongst Us All and a cover of the Animals’ “Land of the Rising Sun.”
“ ‘House of the Rising Sun’ is a great song,” Kucsulain says. “We’ve been talking about doing that song and it came through. The Animals played around Detroit and I went to the show. That was what decided it for me. It has such a great mood to it, dark and it’s real. It talks about real sh*t. Everyone back in the day told a story. They told a story and that’s what I liked about the Animals.”
“ ‘Ember Drive’ is about how my mother passed before Ozzfest,” she continues. “‘My Last Stand’ is about me and about how most people are on a search for themselves, someone to be part of and how lonely that can be. ‘Addicted’ is about dealing with a family member, for both Corey and me. So we decided to do it as a duet. It’s about substance abuse and how it tears you apart to watch your loved ones living their way.”
Reactions were mixed prior to the EP’s release, but the band clarifies that this is not the band’s future musical direction.
“We got a lot of ‘It’s cool you did stuff like this.’ We have people, like, ‘I hope this is not what you sound like now.’ I try to make it clear that this is not our new sound. It’s something we’re doing separate. There are people I respect as musicians that called me or sent me a text, telling me how the songs really moved them. This guy I know said that he had to call his mom. We did this for us. We did this because when I’m 80 and hanging out with my kids and grandkids, I want to play them something they can understand. That’s why this music is different than the rest of the music on the radio. There’s a reason there’s this aggression and powerful noise we make. Not everybody gets it, and we wanted to make music that everybody else gets.”
Walls of Jericho will be releasing a brand new full-length release called The American Dream this summer.
ROCKSTAR ENERGY
DRINK MAYHEM FESTIVAL
DATE
July 13
VENUE
Glen Helen Pavilion
2575 Glen Helen Parkway
San Bernardino CA 92407
909.880.6500
livenation.com/venue/getVenue/venueId/453
WEBSITE
mayhemfest.com
TICKETS
$50 orchestra pit/first level orchestra
$25 second level
$6.66 lawn
LINEUP
Mayhem Stage
Slipknot
Disturbed
DragonForce
Mastodon
Jägermeister Stage
Machine Head
Airbourne
Five Finger Death Punch
Walls of Jericho
Hot Topic Stage
Underoath
Black Tide
Suicide Silence
36 Crazy Fists
The Red Chord
On the web: wallsofjericho.tv
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