The world of metalcore has needed a fresh injection of remarkable music for some time now, as classic banger albums from bands like Killswitch Engage or Every Time I Die are more than a decade old, and some of the more popular bands in the genre have split up and gone their own ways. Fans of those bands and those looking for new blood should listen to Foxbat, a more recently formed metalcore band out of Louisville, Kentucky.
Foxbat made some regional noise in 2018 with the release of their strong debut full-length album, Rotgut. Singles like “Grim Reaper” and “Summer” have racked up tens of thousands of plays on multiple different music streaming platforms. The consensus behind Rotgut’s reception was that Foxbat’s talent and songwriting ability far outshined being placed in any singular music genre. Sure, the band dabbles in a lot of southern-feel metal and hard rock, inspired by bands like Periphery, The Bled, or He is Legend, but vocalist Clay Nevels’ ability to transition from clean singing to screaming, consistently and flawlessly, brings reminders of large-scale acts like Incubus and Deftones.
For their new album, “Due South,” the band delivers a much darker tone in their religious horror concept. The lyrics and music tell the depressing story of a lost and self-sabotaging man maneuvering through the religious confusion in his mind, often met by the horror he’s created there and blurring the line between reality and fiction. Due South keeps the catchy hooks and choruses that made revisiting Rotgut so easy, but this time through, there’s a melancholy vibe that keeps the listener invested in a story, eager to know where they’ll stand at the end.
The music acted as brooding darkness that slowly pushes the listener forward through the tale, never overshadowing and taking center stage just in time for the “scene change” in the concept. The difference in style and theme from the start of the album with “Destroyer” to the finale with “Oblivion” is extremely stark but connects the dots through a journey. A lot of the music in Due South felt like some of the best parts of Type O Negative’s hits.
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With the album’s release, Foxbat also released a Due South comic written by Clay Nevels and illustrated by JSB. The story is broken down into different segments, each being the same title as a song on the album. In beautifully done animation, filled with gorgeous warm colors, the pages follow the main character’s descent into madness, brought on by the religious traumas that continue to haunt him. The album and the comic complement one another to spin a perfectly spooky and bothersome religious horror tale.
Due South is now available to stream on Spotify and Apple Music, and you can purchase the new album and comic book from their merch store. You can follow Foxbat news on their Instagram (@foxbatband) or official website.
