New Zealand sludge/psych metal outfit Beastwars have been dominating the metal landscape ever since unleashing their self-titled debut album in 2011. Defying trends and convention, each subsequent album was just as good as, if not better than, the last, ensuring Beastwars maintained that elusive edge in a genre becoming more cluttered with each passing day.
Along the way, they have experimented with progressive rock elements, but for their upcoming sixth studio album, The Ship/The Sea, Beastwars have taken their sound back to its roots to deliver a punchy amalgamation of everything that got them to this point, with a stronger emphasis on metal.
The result has seen The Ship/The Sea described as one of the band's most intense and cathartic albums by the few who have laid ears on the album, but regardless of the backstory, there is no denying that Beastwars have come up with another winner, as we all shall hear when the album is released on November 7. With a run of shows in Australia to follow soon after the album drops, HEAVY sat down with drummer Nato to get the inside information, at one point asking him to describe the album musically.
"We've done six records and I think with most bands, their first album is probably going to be their best record," he measured. "And their second album is hopefully better, and then if they make a better second album, it means their career goes pretty well. I think that we did that on our level. I'm not saying that we changed the world or anything, but our second album was pretty good, and the people who are into this sort of music really liked it. And then the albums that came after that, we went down a little bit of a different path, getting a bit more proggy and maybe going away from the sounds that we first created, which was much more direct. A lot of the recent songs had a much more linear song structure. I'd start somewhere, and I'd end up somewhere completely different, which I really love. But this record has really gone back to what the first two albums were like, just a lot more direct, heavy, riff-based, but still being a more standard sort of song structure."
In the full interview, Nato described the album as a return to a heavier sound, contrasting it with their previous experimental work, and emphasised the thematic significance of water, representing purification and chaos.
He recounted their recording experience in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand, where the beachfront setting allowed for focused creativity, and explained the artistic choices behind the album's opening track and cover art by Nick Keller. The conversation also covered the band's tour schedule starting November 12, marking their first visit to Australia since 2020, and more.
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