I'm psyched to introduce you today to Slighted, a new hardcore punk outfit based out of Southern New Jersey.
The group was started by Zac Eisenstein, who No Echo readers might know as the vocalist of Man Overboard. But where that band is known for their melodic hooks, Slighted finds Zac going full-on psycho mode, delivering no-nonsense hardcore that wastes zero time getting to the point.
"In April 2023, I made some demos in my bedroom," Zac wrote me via email about the new project. "I barely had a vision. I was just pissed off. I had talked to Buehler and Michael about jamming and making a band before. It was always something we said we would do 'one day.'"
The seeds of Slighted had been planted, but it wasn't till Zac sent the demos to Jay Reason of Static Era Records. "I had always been a fan of Jay, but after doing Lord Ezec’s podcast, we became much tighter. Jay was super supportive and immediately hit me back in the morning like, 'Let's put this out. You gotta go to a real studio. Let’s hit up Zuess. Let’s do this for real.' Which I found amazing and inspiring, and it lit a fire under my ass.
"So I took the word back to the boys in South Jersey that we may have something here, and everyone buckled down and got really excited. We said, 'Okay, if this is what it is, then let's make the most pissed-off band we can possibly fathom.' And that's been the aim."
Take a listen to "Shit Show" from Slighted's forthcoming debut EP, This Means War, and you'll see that Zac and company accomplished their goal:
With the material coming out soon, Slighted still needed some help getting their lineup locked In. "We needed another guitar player. I asked my friend Wes [Fortier] (Death Threat). I have looked up to Wes as a hardcore musician for maybe over half my life. We were all kind of amazed when he said he was down, but here we are."
Zac wanted to share the following about why Slighted means so much to him:
"I have wanted to make a hardcore band for most of my life. I had a short-lived one with my friends when I was about 18, and that's it, but this music has had such a huge impact on my life. This scene has had such a massive impact on who I am, that I have always felt this project was inevitable."
This Means War will be available digitally via Static Era Records on September 29th.
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