Forged in Pittsburgh’s industrial shadow, Unreal City have always sounded like a product of their environment. Their 2020 sophomore album, Cruelty of Heaven, hit hard on Closed Casket Activities—but momentum stalled during the COVID shutdowns. Vocalist Joseph Sanderson eventually relocated to Southeast Asia, where he became a three-time Muay Thai champion.
Now fully reactivated, Unreal City will be returning with a new EP called Blood Memory. The material was recorded with the late Bill Korecky (Integrity, Undying) at the legendary Mars Recording Studio and paired with artwork by the late Stephen Kasner (Sunn O))), Rotting Christ). I love how their current bio describes the group's approach as "Slayer played at half speed with a NYHC swag" since it captures the Rust Belt unit's sound perfectly.
Newly signed to WAR Records, Unreal City is gearing up to tour with Haywire and Missing Link in early 2026. Ahead of the EP’s spring release, I caught up with Sanderson (formerly of Eternal Sleep) to talk about the band's absence, their return, and his thoughts on the Holy Terror sound some people have associated with them.
Cruelty of Heaven came out in 2020, and then everything went quiet when you relocated overseas. From your perspective, what did that break do to the band creatively—did Unreal City ever feel “finished,” or was it just dormant?
From my perspective, the COVID ordeal was pretty life-changing. Unreal City had just released the Satyr/Sheol 7” and were about to embark on a tour with Reserving Dirtnaps in April 2020, with Cruelty of Heaven in the pipeline. The timing of the shutdowns annihilated that bit of momentum. With everything silent, I spent 2020 really leaning into my hobby of Muay Thai, and although I had already had some amateur fights, it became my singular focus.
As uncertainty around live music and touring lingered, I decided to seize the moment to move to Thailand and chase the dream, since none of us is getting any younger. Rob was one of the most supportive and motivating people in my life about my decision to leave, encouraging me even as the band could no longer stay active, as shows and regular life returned in 2022 and onward.
We knew when the time was right, we’d return to it, and here we are. Now I have about 30 fights and a bunch of new scars to my name.
Blood Memory was recorded with the late Bill Korecky at Mars Recording Studio, someone I know had a deep connection to both the Midwest heavy music scene and the other bands you’ve all played with in the past. Talk to me a bit about the sessions for this new record.
I recorded a lot of music with Bill over the years with both Unreal City and Eternal Sleep. I learned a lot working with him and it was always a joy to listen to him wax about all the classic records he’d been a part of and all the characters that had passed through that studio.
These songs were done during the Cruelty of Heaven sessions as we knew he was closing his doors so we really dug into all the material we could to try to get it recorded with him before he shut down. He had become a friend and I’m glad we are able to put something else into the ether with his fingerprints on it. RIP Bill.
The Holy Terror sound and ethos come up often when people discuss Unreal City. What does it mean to you? What would you say goes into creating something in the Holy Terror spirit?
I’m not totally certain we really fit the [Holy Terror] bill. I know for me, I just consider Unreal City a hardcore band. Integrity and Cro-Mags were my favorite hardcore bands growing up and we’re undeniably influenced by those and all the other bands we like but we really just go into the creative process trying to make stuff we want to hear with little regard to fitting a specific sound. Anything past that is likely a side effect.
With Unreal City now signed to WAR Records and gearing up to tour with Haywire and Missing Link in early 2026, how does it feel to step back into the current hardcore landscape, older and wiser? What do you think about the current hardcore scene?
From what I can tell, one of the stand out aspects of hardcore in 2026 is the fact that bands as sonically disparate as Haywire and Missing Link enjoy an overlap of listeners (and moshers). It seemed to me that within hardcore, bands with those sounds were often at opposite ends of the musical spectrum and appealed to markedly different crowds of people.
It is cool to see younger kids not picking a lane and just taking it all as their own. I can’t thank Austin (Haywire) and Mike (Missing Link) enough for taking us out as well as Andrew (WAR) for all respectively helping us jump start this thing.
What newer hardcore bands/records have you been listening as of late?
I have really made a point to check out the (newer) bands we’re playing with on this run; Haywire, Missing Link, and Cross of Disbelief. As well as some of the records that WAR Records put out last year, specifically Berthold City, Home Invasion, Like Heaven, and Direct Measure.
Although not “new” the reissue of the Confront record is awesome. The new Missing Link EP, Miracle Smile, the recent C4 record, and Aaron Melnick’s Nuclae stood out recently in my ear.
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Blood Memory will be out this spring via WAR Records. Unreal City on social media: Instagram
Unreal City tour dates below w/ Haywire, Missing Link, Nasty, and Cross of Disbelief:
1/13 - Birmingham, AL - Workplay
1/14 - Nashville, TN - The 58 @ Eastside Bowl
1/15 - Cincinnati, OH - Madison Live
1/16 - Huntington, WV - Apostolic Life Cathedral
1/17 - New Kensington, PA - Preserving
1/18 - Syracuse, NY - Sharkey
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