New EP “Tunnel Vision” out now!
HAZING OVER guitarist and songwriter Owen Traynor comments, “We wanted to dive further into the chaos and suffocation that comes with our music, but with more hardcore influence. Over time, we’ve been shedding our math-y deathcore origins in favor of something just as heavy, but more memorable. There are some tracks we have rewritten riff for riff. We did whatever was necessary to make these songs the best they could be.”
This time around, the group teamed up with producer Taylor Young (Twitching Tongues, God’s Hate) and recorded the six-track collection at Young’s The Pit Recording Studio in Van Nuys, California. During this time, the band leveled up from every angle. They sharpened their sound with throat-slitting hooks, hardcore grooves, and even moments of clean singing on the standout “Disavowed.” Elsewhere, “Tunnel Vision” illuminates the band’s knack for a mind-numbing metallic barrage, while “Tightrope Walker” never relents with sixty-five seconds of pure bloodletting. However, it just paves the way for a whole lot more from HAZING OVER.
As if harnessing the energy of the apocalypse in short-controlled bursts, HAZING OVER tempers unapologetic metallic bludgeoning with a hardcore groove, pit-splitting power, and unexpected catchiness. The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania quintet — Jake Yencik (vocals), Owen Traynor (guitar, synth), Patrick Fabila (guitar), Shantanu Vyas (bass), and Ryan Yester (drums) — teeters between a gloriously repugnant distorted buzz and searing rhythms.
After initially making waves under the name of Shin Guard, the band reconfigured and officially roared to life as HAZING OVER on the 2021 Pestilence EP. It clocked over a half-million streams on Spotify—unprecedented for a collective this extreme. Stereogum fittingly hailed it as, “some wild shit.” Meanwhile, they incinerated stages with the likes of Nothing, Nowhere. Building a rabid audience independently and earning widespread acclaim from taste making outlets like Flood, BrooklynVegan, and more, they hone this approach into a more dynamic and dangerous beast on their 2023 EP, Tunnel Vision.
(Photograph by Cody Walsh)
