From in front of the stage I saw him snap the picture smiling then type a few words before his set. Jay later posted it with the caption: “Sold out again tonight. I can’t believe how fucking sick my life is. Love you all. Thank you.”
I realized I knew where and when it was from. I’d be smiling too if I’d started my tour strong with three sold out shows in Brooklyn, New Jersey, then Boston respectively. Honored, honestly, myself to have had tickets to all three.
END is Jay Pepito on bass, Billy Rymer on drums, Brendan Murphy on vocals, and Greg Thomas and Will Putney on guitar. The crew first came together in 2016 and released their first record, From the Unforgiving Arms of God, the following year. The album is thrashy and mathy with not a single moment of relent. In listening I am reminded of the hardcore royals of Jesus Piece, Boundaries, and Vein.fm.
Their second release and first LP, Splinters from an Ever-Changing Face, came in the summer of 2020. If I am to be asked, I would say the sophomore release takes a slight lean towards mathcore. It makes better use of negative space and hits equally hard, while being less overwhelming auditorily.
With this evolution I am excited to see what comes next. Of pending releases END tells me to “keep my eyes peeled” for new music dropping this year.
The crew has endless (pun fully intended) street cred with the band members having graced the stage as former and current members of Reign Supreme, Counterparts, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and Fit For An Autopsy. An unquestionably talented group.
Though Jay tells me that “Genre exercises are not useful” when pressed, lends the simple descriptor “metal." I can’t say that he’s wrong, but I am tasked with describing your sound, apologies King for this and all transgressions.
When asked which city END would like to be listed as representing, they told me: “None, we live all over the place, oddly enough.” As a band-following van-living nomad, big mood.
Check out the footage I shot on my phone from END's set at the Brooklyn stop of their run with Portrayal of Guilt, Wake, and Yashira. Fuck yes:
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Splinters From An Ever-Changing Face is available now via Closed Casket Activities.
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