Peasant has been representing South Africa with their nasty take on metallic hardcore since forming in 2014. "After moving to Cape Town from Joburg and being in bands it only felt natural to do the same here," guitarist Pieter Jordaan told No Echo via email a few weeks back. "After going to enough shows I met up with the initial lineup and we decided to do an EP and tour the country. One of our first shows was with Comeback Kid in 2014."
Since then, Peasant has kept up a steady stream of releases, including 2019's Unrest Eternal album, their first with Pieter's brother, Adri Jordaan, in the lead vocal booth.
Adri's approach has worked seamlessly with the group's stylistic evolution. "We started out playing crusty D-beat and death metal-inspired hardcore, and today I would say our influences are more classic '90s metal and hardcore. Our main songwriting influences at the moment are Deftones, Slayer, and Sepultura."
Peasant's forthcoming Kingdom EP is being teased via a music video for the track, "By the Crack of the Bell," which you can check out below:
"Kingdom was written from the start of our national lockdown in South Africa, and we recorded it in Cape Town with Dean Bailey of Cloud Studios. It was mixed by Tim Vincent in Cardiff, Wales, and mastered by Brad Boatright of Audiosiege
"The EP uses the idea of a Kingdom being a metaphor for modern-day society. The topics range from fighting corrupt leadership, to dysphoria as a result of our tech-based world. Kingdom has not come, my will be done."
No Echo has never been to the part of the world Peasant call home, so we were curious about the South African heavy music scene and how Pieter sees his band fitting in. "The lockdown is the first time that we haven't toured since the beginning of our band, so I'd say we're one of the few underground artists in South Africa that has small followings in most cities across the country.
"We have booked tours for EU and US bands over the last couple years that I would say we feel more of a kinship to that most local bands, just because South Africa has a smaller scene. Tours with Magrudergrind [US], Prescriptiondeath [SWE], and God Mother [SWE] have all ripped. Another sick Cape Town band is Behest, and they have a dark hardcore/blackened grind kind of vibe."
Kingdom will be out across all streaming sites this Friday (May 28th).
Peasant on social media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Bandcamp
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