Band: No Known Weakness
From: Glasgow, Scotland
Their formation story:
(Lev, vocals): "We've all known each other from being in and around Glasgow hardcore shows together for a long time. We've all played in bands before... Probably most notably Dave and Alex were in By My Hands, Deakin was in Burning Scars of Betrayal and Pay The Price, I was in Kingpin, and Callum filled-in for a show with Burning Scars of Betrayal once and he also played a show or two with an older band known as Go Down Fighting.
"All these bands kind of existed at slightly different times, but there's a wee bit of overlap here and there and we all knew each other from just being around the local scene. All of the aforementioned bands eventually came to an end, and I'd been talking to the various members who are now in No Known Weakness about starting new bands for a while.
"Eventually, I was talking to Callum and Deakin about starting a new band, but we needed a drummer... My crossover thrash band, Hard Stare, had needed a fill-in drummer and Dave spoke to me about doing it, which never happened but he reiterated to me at that point how he was still looking to start a new hardcore band so to give him a shout if I knew anyone else wanting to get something going.
"It finally clicked for me at this point that Dave should just drum in the band I was talking to Deakin and Callum about, and Dave suggested Alex for second guitar, and that was pretty much that! Again, we all had known each other to different degrees for years before starting the band so it all came together quite easily and naturally. To be honest I don't know why we didn't all started a band together much sooner than now."
Their sound in their own words:
"We are metallic hardcore through and through, influenced by All Out War, Shattered Realm, Merauder, Fury of Five, 100 Demons, Everybody Gets Hurt, Irate, etc. It's big riffs, mostly mid-paced with some faster parts and big slow breakdowns, raging vocals and the odd Slayer harmony."
Latest release info:
"Deakin did the lion's share of the work writing riffs on these first few tracks long before the band even got together, but the overall flavour is really a group effort and we're all quite proud of our contributions, I think. My vocals and Dave's drums were recorded in the studio by our mate Malcolm Abbou, who plays in the band Heads on Pikes, and he did an amazing job capturing those.
"Malcom is recording, mixing and generally being a bit of a studio wizard for a lot of Scottish metal and hardcore bands at the moment - he's almost the centre of the entire Scottish heavy music scene's recorded output at the moment - so salute to Malcolm for being a total boss! Alex's own guitars, Deakin's guitars and Callum's bass were recorded by Alex on his laptop, and Alex also mixed all the tracks.
"Alex has produced his own electronic music for a few years now, but this is his first time mixing a full band for heavy music... There were a few things he learned on the job, and again Malcolm was a great help with that here and there, but I think Alex did a class job and the end result is a super clean, super punchy sounding release we're all pretty happy with. Hopefully other folk like it, too!"
Future plans:
"We already have more new songs written than we recorded for the first demo, and to be honest I like the new songs even more, so I think we'll record and put-out a follow-up release pretty quickly. We're organising a show for two cancer charities (Macmillan and Maggie's) at The Audio Lounge in Glasgow on 8th March 2025, which will be us with Broken Oath, Divide, Heads On Pikes and Suffering Rites. It's a rehearsal room show and is selling really well so far.
"That lineup in a studio space should be a fucking wild one for the GHC record books! More info and tickets for that charity show can be found here."
What other bands from their region should we check out?
"Glasgow Hardcore and music around Scotland in general feels to me like it's in a golden age just now. I've been around the scene a long time and can't think of a time there's been so many bands I genuinely love all active at the same time! Callum and I put together the lineup for that charity show I mentioned earlier to represent a solid sample of what we enjoy from what's currently going on, so I'd definitely recommend checking all those bands out.
"Broken Oath and Divide are GHC OGs who paved the way for all the bands who are doing it now, and deserve all the recognition and respect in the world for it and for still being as good live as anyone else to this day. Heads on Pikes are a newer metallic hardcore band, representing the up and coming crushingly heavy bands keeping Glasgow Hardcore on top just now.
"Suffering Rites aren't a hardcore band, they're a relatively new Bolt Thrower-worshipping death metal band, but some of their members used to play in the GHC band In Tongues a few years back and so many hardcore bands are influenced by Bolt Thrower now that the crossover appeal there is super obvious and I can't wait to see how their super moshable riffs go down on a more hardcore-centric bill. Beyond bands playing the charity show we're organising, there's literally too many great Scottish bands to mention... So I won't, in case I make a big list and leave someone out and end up with accidental scene beef.
"If you follow @NoKnownWeakness on Instagram I'm sure you'll see us share plenty of content from other local bands, though, so go do that. And obviously check out the other bands I currently do vocals in - Hard Stare (crossover thrash with two new tracks coming soon) and Lesser Beings (sludgy "Crowbar meets Converge" type who released our debut EP in August 2024)."
No Known Weakness on social media: Instagram
Tagged: no known weakness
