Band: Anticipate
From: Wilmington, North Carolina
Their formation story:
(Logan Matthews, bass): "Anticipate was founded in mid-2024 by vocalist Sean Ray and guitarist Michael McDermott. After meeting in a college music class, we bonded over our love of music, especially heavy music. Before long, Sean and Michael were writing songs together in Sean's apartment.
"Michael eventually met Dallas Jackson (Selfish Means) and DJ Bullock (Choose Your Weapon), who joined as drummer and bassist, completing the original lineup. After about a year, though, the band went quiet, and the four of us stopped playing together.
"In the spring of 2026, Anticipate was reborn. I joined on bass, DJ moved to second guitar, and everything started clicking again. The music has been a long time coming, and we're ready to bring a classic—but fresh—take on mid-2000s to 2010s hardcore to the scene."
Their sound in their own words:
"Metallic, groove-oriented hardcore. We take influence from early NYHC bands like Breakdown, Crown of Thornz, Outburst, Killing Time, and District 9, along with late-2000s and 2010s bands like No Warning, Fire & Ice, Criminal Instinct, Cruel Hand, and Dead End Path. It's a nostalgic but fresh sound compared to most bands in our scene right now."
Latest release info:
"We tracked our demo, Anticipate (The Worst), with Jacob Adams at Blue Karma Studios in downtown Wilmington, so it was extra special to record our first release right down the road from us.
"Our band shares members with Selfish Means and Root of Evil, and both of those bands have also recorded with Jacob. The experience was great, and we'll be back with him in the coming months to record a split EP.
"Our guitarist DJ also mixed and mastered all four songs on the demo, and we can't thank both Jacob and DJ enough for helping bring this release to life."
Future plans:
"We've got more shows lined up throughout the rest of the year, and later this fall we'll release a split EP with Root of Evil through Fragile Life Records out of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
"Beyond that, we're focused on writing and recording more music for our debut EP while playing as many shows as we can."
What other bands from their region should we check out?
"Selfish Means, Root of Evil, Choose Your Weapon, Respair, War of Attrition, God Glitch, A Man in Chaos, Chained, Guard Dog, Lowest Point, 80 Bagg, Dangerous Game, Kill Card, Death Dealer, Grave Hunter, Hymns of Blasphemy, 762 FAFO, Overturn, Skin You Alive, Chaos Must Bow, A Knife in the Dark, and Eyez Wide Shut."
Anticipate on social media: Instagram
