Houston’s A Winter’s Remorse didn’t start with a master plan. Like many bands, it came together out of boredom, curiosity, and a shared love for a specific sound that felt overlooked at the time. “We started in May of 2021… just writing music together out of boredom to see what we could come up with,” guitarist Mason Cole tells No Echo. One of those early sessions produced “Anatomy of a Headshot,” which landed on their demo, Cycles.
“We all thought it would be cool to play early/mid 2000s deathcore, which not a lot of people seemed interested in anymore.” At first, the project wasn’t even meant to be serious. It wasn’t until Paper Wings Records got involved that things began to shift into something more committed.
Since then, A Winter's Remorse have undergone a noticeable evolution. What started as a throwback to bands like Rose Funeral, Through the Eyes of the Dead, and Winds of Plague has expanded into something broader and more dynamic. “We started to get bored with repeating the same thing, so we did some soul searching,” Cole says. Lineup changes followed, including bringing in Dalton’s brother Jake on keyboards, and the band began pulling from a wider range of influences. “Now we play what we consider a mix of melodic death metal, black metal, and late ’90s/early 2000s metalcore… to boil it down, we usually just say we are a metal band.”
That shift is fully realized on their debut full-length, The Day Our Gods Abandoned Us, which was just co-released by Paper Wings Records and Tribunal Records. The path to working with Tribunal—a North Carolina label that released titles by the likes of Prayer for Cleansing and From Autumn to Ashes back in the day—came unexpectedly.
"I was at work just sending demos out to labels to see if anyone would reply,” Cole says. “To my surprise, Matt from Tribunal actually answered back with interest.” For a band that grew up on releases from the label, it was a surreal moment. “It’s really humbling and a great feeling.”
The Day Our Gods Abandoned Us was tracked with Angel Guerra and mixed and mastered by Ivy Jayne Lance, continuing a working relationship that has helped shape the band’s recent output. Lyrically, the album takes a wider view, focusing on the consequences of human neglect. “It reflects how humanity has bled our world dry without any consideration or care,” Cole explains. “We only have one home, and unless we start to take care of it, we will be doomed as a species.” Even without positioning themselves as activists, the band’s connection to nature and the lack of it in modern life runs deep. “We all find beauty in a world where there doesn’t seem to be very much good left some days.”
Back home, A Winter’s Remorse is part of a Texas scene that Cole says is thriving. From Houston to across the state, bands like Corpse Pile, Girl of Glass, xMercyx, Ink Dyed Hands, and Fromjoy are helping fuel a renewed sense of energy. “Seeing kids treat hardcore and DIY the way it’s meant to be treated is really refreshing,” he says. “It’s revitalized us.”
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The Day Our Gods Abandoned Us is out now digitally via Paper Wings Records (cassettes coming soon), and the limited edition CD version will begin shipping soon via Tribunal Records (pre-order).
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