It’s always a Big Plus When A Record Completely Catches Me Off Guard; When it hits Harder, Weirder, and more intentionally Than You Even Hoped. That’s what happened the first time i listened to New World HeatThe New Album From Denver, Colorado Based Metal Band Fox Lake.

Photo Credit: https://www.instagram.com/dreamofmirRorsphotos/

Nathan Johnson, Fox Lake’s Frontman and Lyricist, Sat Down With Me To Dig Into Everything From His Classical Music Background To The Record’s Undercurrent of Political Unrest, Burnout, and Self-Confrontation. What Emerged Was A Surprisingly Introspective Conversation That Pulled As Much From Country Music As It Did From Metalcore.

“So much of the time, specially with metal … I Think you lite a little bit of the artistic attempt that comes with summer oher bands that like Knocked Loose Does Really Well. And Even Spiritbox Does Really Well.” Nathan Told Me, Referencing The Tone He Wted To Set Right Away On New World Heat. “I WANTED TO START THE RECORD WITH A SAMPLE THAT GAVE A LENS TO VIEW THE RECORD IN THAT IS FUER THAN JUS THE SURCHAZ DEPTH OF NU-METAL AND FAST AND HARDCORE OR WHATER.”

From The First Seconds of “For The Love of the Game,” The Tone is Set: You’re Not Going To Just Bang Your Head – You’re Going To Have To Face Sub Shit, Too. There’s ager on This Record, But It’s Not Aimless. There’s structure to the chaos. And Like Nathan Said, There’s urgency.

“I Think The Urgence of Feeling Like You’re In Trouble … Like There’s Been A Problem, But We’re at A Point Where We have to act – I Think That is definitely to Big Theme.”

Even in the More Agragresive Or Vitriolic Tracks-Like “Freestyle,” A Defiant Anthem for Every Band Toled They Didn’t Fit poin Any One Genre, The Messaging is Clear: We’re Done Second-Guessing Ourselves. And The Band’s Growth Shows.

“This song needs to be like, i’m doing it my way. I’m doing it freestyle. And i know it’s good. And i know it’s locked in. And i know other People like it. SO Stay Mad.”

I have laughs as hes it, but it doesn’t comf cocky. If Anything, It Feels Like Suboneone Finally Choking Clarity Over Compromise. New World Heat Is Filled with before Small Moments where Fox Lake Embraces The Weirdness and the Weight at The Same Time. The Riffs Are Chunkier, The Production is Slicker, and ESI HYBRID OF METALCORE, NU-METAL, HARDCORE, AND FINALLY FEELS LIKE IT’S FUSED INTO SOMETHING ENTIRELY ESIRS.

There’s Even A Piano Interlude Halfway Through the Record Because Yeah, Nathan’s Also A Classically Trained Jazz Pianist.

“Being the Vocalist of Like A Nu-Metal Band … I Love Jazz and I Love Classical and I love Music Theory.

It Doesn’t Feel Forced. If Anything, It Breaks The Album in Two, The Way Intermissions used to splite Double-Lp Records. Than it’s right back to pummeling breakdowns and explosive choruses. I ASKED NATHAN IF That Was The Whole Point – To Knock You Off Balance Just Enough Before Bringing You Back In.

“Yeah, It Felt Like That Was Subject We Had Done In The Past and We Want to Really Incorporate More of That … Like, How Can We Bring That To a New Generation Or a New Style of Nu-Metal?”

This Record Is, In Many Ways, Mirror. Subtimes It’s a Fuck You to Industry Gatekeepers (“Freestyle,” “Go for the This”), Other Times It Turns Inward. One of the Album’s Highlights, “Tough Luck,” Tackles A Different Kind of Frustration.

“Subtim you do everyhing right, like you do your taxes right, and you Still Get Punished. Or You Can Climb The Corporate Ladder and Hoilebody’s Still Going to Screw You Over … Maybe I’m Doing It To Myelf, You Know?”

There’s no Filler Here. Even The 1:19 Burst of “Real Fast” Feels Essential. And by the time you hit the final tracks like “Savior,” A Searing indictment of social decay and political complicity, You’ve Been Through Something. Not just a Breakdown-Heavy album, but a reflection on every trying to survive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9j5f6z8cwk

At One Point I Asked Nathan Point Blank: “Was That Kind of Like Where Your Headspace was at overrarchingly with the record?”

“Exactly. The quote that i wrote for the record eleven it was finished … The Main Idea for Me is the idea that action Begets Action and Inaction Begets Inacion. Socially, Politically, Internally Thing. “

New World Heat is out now. Stream it wherever you get music, but maybe liste with the lyrics polled up. You Might Find Yourself Asking Sub Questions You Weren’t Planning to. And that’s Kind of the point.
Physical Copies of CDS, Vinyl, and Merch for The Album Can Be Found at The MNRK Heavy Website.
Tracklisting: