SECT is an American-Canadian vegan straight edge band formed in 2015, consisting of vocalist Chris Colohan, guitarists James Chang and Scott Crouse, bassist Steve Hart and drummer Andy Hurley. It released a self-titled debut album in 2016 and, after a signing to Southern Lord, the sophomore No Cure for Death in 2017.
SECT | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Raleigh, North Carolina and Portland, Oregon (United States) Toronto, Ontario (Canada) |
| Genres | Metalcore, crust punk |
| Years active | 2015–present |
| Labels | Southern Lord |
| Members |
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SECT members come from several 1990s and 2000s political hardcore bands, including Cursed, Catharsis, Undying, Earth Crisis, Day Of Suffering, and Racetraitor. The band's musical style has been described as a mix of metallic hardcore and crust punk, and their lyrics tackle several socio-political issues.
History
editSECT's origins date back to an Earth Crisis tour where Andy Hurley filled in as temporary drummer and invited guitarist Scott Crouse to form a band. The project swayed in different directions until guitarist Jimmy Chang of Catharsis and Undying joined them and helped to define their style. In the past, Hurley had also talked with vocalist Chris Colohan while he toured with Burning Love about starting a vegan straight edge band, and after trying two or three vocalists for SECT he remembered this and the lineup solidified with Colohan and Earth Crisis bassist Ian Edwards on board.[1][2]
On June 28, 2016, the band was formally announced and they premiered three songs along with the release date of their self-titled album.[3] On July 8, 2016, a few days after the shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, SECT released the track "Curfew" accompanied by a statement which condemns "the rising death toll in one of the worst mass murders in modern western history". The song was written in the aftermath of the death of Freddie Gray (April 2015), but they did not release it at the time to "not come off as insensitive, opportune or self-serving".[4][2]
SECT released their self-titled debut album on August 5, 2016, co-produced and mixed by Crouse and Chang, and mastered by Alan Douches. It was self-released in North America with distribution by Deathwish Inc., and available worldwide from various labels: Reflections in Europe, Alliance Trax in Japan, Caustic in Brazil and Cactus in Malaysia.[3]
In February 2017, SECT signed to Southern Lord Records for their upcoming second album, with Colohan citing their mutual respect and his previous work on the label with Burning Love for this. In March, the band played three shows in the Northeast.[5] On the first weekend of July, they began their recording sessions.[6] On October 11, 2017, SECT announced No Cure for Death, produced by Kurt Ballou at his GodCity Studio and mastered by Douches, in addition to Steve Hart of Day of Suffering joining as new bassist.[7] On October 25, the band premiered the song "Open Grave" and on November 9, a music video was released for the track "Day for Night", directed by Justin Reich.[8] The album was released on November 24, 2017. From the release date to December 10, the band toured the American Northwest, Vancouver, and the American Northeast.[9] In February 2018, SECT and Die Young played three shows in California, and in March, SECT and Hive toured the Midwest.[10]
From September to early November 2018, Cameron Joplin of Ecostrike filled in as drummer due to Hurley's professional commitments.[11] In November, SECT co-headlined a European tour with Gust and CLEARxCUT.[12] In March 2019, SECT and Earth Crisis toured Japan.[13] From June 29 to July 4, 2019, the band and Terror supported Converge on a European tour.[14] On August 30, 2019, the band released the album Blood of the Beasts.
Musical style and lyrics
editMost SECT songs are fast-paced, rarely exceeding two minutes, and feature blast-beats, raspy screamed vocals, a crude, low-tuned guitar tone which uses HM-2 distortion along with noisy feedback, and both atypical breakdowns and song structures.[8][15][16][17] SECT style has been described as "filthy and sinister ... metallic hardcore"[8] and "blasting ugly ... D-beat crustcore".[17] Record label Southern Lord billed them as a "barrage of grinding crust and metallic hardcore wrath".[12] Kerrang! called them a "NAILS-ish vegan straight edge hardcore" band.[18] New Noise Magazine stated that SECT inspirations include D-beat bands including Wolfbrigade, Anti Cimex and Totalitär, in addition to other heavy bands such as Hail of Bullets, Skitsystem and Amebix.[17] Scott Crouse cited His Hero Is Gone, Behemoth and Entombed as main influences on SECT .[16]
SECT lyrics deal with socio-political diatribes against the status quo, which, according to the band, is on the verge of "Orwellian police states and irreparable social and ecological disasters".[18][9] Among its many targets are systemic racism, religious beliefs, nuclear warfare, drug use, ecological catastrophes, economic slavery and the animal industry.[16][17][8] SECT members are vegan straight edge.[12] When asked about his lyrical motivation, Chris Colohan said, "Catharsis. ... If music is a vent for your frustrations, and you're drawing those on the bleak, authoritarian, unfair realities of the world around you, you could hardly have a more urgent moment in history to find things to scream about in all directions than the present".[17]
Discography
edit- Studio albums
- SECT (2016)
- No Cure for Death (2017)
- Blood Of The Beasts (2019)
- Plagues Upon Plagues (2024)
References
edit- ^ Yanick, Joe (September 13, 2016). "SECT Inspires Fall Out Boy's Andy Hurley to Balance His 'Job'". Clrvynt. Archived from the original on September 16, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
- ^ a b Alvarez, Jamez (September 6, 2016). "Hardcore Supergroup Supreme-SECT". New Noise Magazine. No. 27. p. 8. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
- ^ a b Kelly, Kim (June 28, 2016). "Sect Breathes New Life into Vegan Straight Edge Hardcore with a Supercharged Debut". Vice.com. Archived from the original on August 7, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- ^ Sharp, Tyler (9 July 2016). "Fall Out Boy drummer Andy Hurley's hardcore band release new song—listen". Alternative Press (published July 8, 2016). Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
- ^ "SECT: Hardcore Outfit Featuring Members Of Cursed, Burning Love, Earth Crisis, Catharsis, And More Signs To Southern Lord; Band To Record Second LP With Kurt Ballou". Southernlordeurope.com (published February 15, 2017). 15 February 2017. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
- ^ Shawgo, Kelsey (28 June 2017). "SECT, featuring Fall Out Boy, Earth Crisis members, set to record new album". Altpress.com (published June 28, 2017). Archived from the original on April 10, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- ^ Thiessen, Brock (October 11, 2017). "SECT Announce Sophomore Album 'No Cure for Death'". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on October 11, 2017. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
- ^ a b c d Zorgdrager, Bradley (October 25, 2017). "SECT | "Open Grave"". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on October 25, 2017. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
- ^ a b Camp, Zoe (21 November 2017). "Hear Cursed, Earth Crisis, Fall Out Boy Members Unleash Sociopolitical Rage on New SECT Album". Revolver (published November 21, 2017). Archived from the original on August 17, 2019. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
- ^ "SECT To Play Three California Shows This Weekend + March Midwest Dates Announced; No Cure For Death LP Out Now Via Southern Lord". Southernlord.com (published January 31, 2018). 31 January 2018. Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
- ^ "Hyper Focus: Cameron Joplin of Magnitude". Digitaljasonevans.com (Podcast). June 18, 2019. Event occurs at 3:31-5:44. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
- ^ a b c "SECT Announces Co-Headlining European Tour With Gust". Southernlordeurope.com (published July 29, 2018). 29 July 2018. Archived from the original on June 12, 2019. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
- ^ "Earth Crisis and Sect Announce Japan Tourdates". Unite Asia (published November 20, 2018). 20 November 2018. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
- ^ "TERROR - Confirmed As Support To Converge On Select EU Tour Dates!". Nuclearblast.de. 6 March 2019. Archived from the original on August 17, 2019. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
- ^ Bushell, Glen (August 18, 2016). "Sect – 'Sect'". Punktastic. Archived from the original on August 18, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
- ^ a b c "(((O))) : Under the Influence with Scott Crouse from SECT". Echoesanddust.com (published November 11, 2017). 11 November 2017. Archived from the original on March 25, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e "Savage Catharsis: SECT On 'No Cure For Death'". New Noise Magazine. December 4, 2017. Archived from the original on December 9, 2017. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
- ^ a b "SECT, Featuring Andy Hurley Of Fall Out Boy, Debut New Song". Kerrang!. October 25, 2017. Archived from the original on October 25, 2017. Retrieved August 17, 2019.