Novice is a melodic hardcore band that formed back in 2016 out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. After dropping several releases, including 2019's self-titled album and 2020's War Within EP, the group went on hiatus for two years during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Vocalist Alex VanRavenswaay and guitarist/vocalist Cameron Lawson reformed Novice in 2022 with current drummer Matthew Brand, with bassist Justin Riley rounding out the lineup in 2023.
"Novice’s music style is largely influenced by bands associated with 'the wave' of the late '00s and early '10s post-hardcore scene, as well as more traditional melodic hardcore bands of the same era," Alex told No Echo via email.
"We lean strongly on driving guitars and emotional lyrics and there is a clear lineage of Novice’s music from bands like Modern Life is War, Verse, More Than Life, and Landscapes."
Next month, Novice will be releasing a new album, Sorrow & Surrender. Check out some of the tracks they've already premiered from the forthcoming record below:
With the album coming out in a few weeks, Novice is looking to the road to help spread the word. "Our immediate future plans include a 4-day tour (9/28-10/1) through Ohio and opening for one of our favorite bands and another big influence, Casey, on September 30th in Grand Rapids at The Stache.
"The album comes out October 20th and we plan to continue to play more shows and do more tours in support of that the following year, while also slowly getting back into writing new music."
Alex wanted to shout out some fellow underground musical groups from their scene in this feature: "There’s so many great local bands from our area but some of our favorite include Split Up, Snakeout, Worst Self, Wept, and Peace Offering."
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Sorrow & Surrender will be out on October 20th via Cold Fade Records (pre-order).
Hit the Novice Linktree to find all of their social media pages.
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