Like so many groups featured on No Echo, Two Snakes rose out of the ashes of another one. "The band began as a project between myself and the vocalist Cas while we were both playing guitar in the deathcore band Hard of Heart," explains guitaist Shaun McDonald. "We wanted to do something a little more raw, stripped back, and old school.
"The pandemic ended up being the death sentence for Hard of Heart, the vocalist Marty went on to play bass for Saltwound, while Cas and I put our focus into Two Snakes."
Based in Merced, California, Two Snakes first appeared in 2020 via a record called Rituals. "We just try to play old-school hardcore with our own personal twist," says Shaun about their sound. "The three of us have played a variety of different instruments in many different bands here in the Central Valley for the past 20 years, and I think this group has allowed us to really just bring those experiences together and focus on making art, without too much ostentation.
"Collectively, I would say Have Heart, Verse, Rotting Out, Incendiary, Inclination, Strife, ETID, First Blood, and xRepentancex are some bands that are important to us from within the genre. Though, if you pulled up next to Cas at a stoplight, you'd probably hear him playing Peso Pluma's new album, if I had to guess."
Two Snakes' latest release is a 5-track EP called Tragic Magic:
"Tragic Magic was born out of us getting back together to write new music after a brief hiatus post-COVID shutdown. We recorded it with Pat at Earthtone Studios in Sacramento, which was a great experience. He really seemed to get what we were going for right away, and had a very discerning ear.
"We spent a very long time getting our first album, Rituals, recorded, with all kinds of setbacks. Things like the studio losing the files, moving locations, re-recording everything, etc. It was a multi-year situation when it was all said and done.
"By the time that was finally released, I think we had begun to cultivate a different sound, and Tragic Magic was us exploring that and seeing where it would go."
Though the Central Valley isn't known as a hotbed for hardcore compared to the rest of California, Shaun is still bullish about the state of the scene in Two Snakes' region. "There are some great hardcore and hardcore-adjacent bands here in the Central Valley and surrounding communities: Farooq, Burn Unit, Rise and Strike, Thrown Out, tons of great bands out here doing their thing."
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Two Snakes on social media: Instagram
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