ABOUT MUGSHOT:
While most heavy bands mellow out—even if just a little—as they move through their life and career, Mugshot are not most heavy bands. Just under a decade on from the release of their acclaimed 2016 debut, Dull Boy, the San Jose, CA four-piece are back with All The Devils Are Here. The metalcore/hardcore outfit’s second studio full-length (and first for Pure Noise), from the moment it kicks off with opener Die In Fear, it’s clear that this is Mugshot at their most extreme and brutal, both musically and thematically.
That shouldn’t really be a surprise. At least not to anyone who heard their 2023 EP, and debut Pure Noise release, Cold Will. The perfect re-introduction to the band—vocalist Ringo Waterman, guitarist Michael Demko, drummer Connor Haines and bassist Ciro Abraham—it was the perfect appetizer for the 12 intense and blisteringly violent songs that make up this record.
While Cold Will was a set of songs centered around the abuse of power and authority from a more political point of view, those on All The Devils Are Here appeal more to personal human emotions. So rather than a call to arms, these songs deal with the consequences and impact external forces have on everyday people’s lives.
Recorded in New Jersey with producer/engineer Randy Leboeuf (Kublai Kahn, The Acacia Strain, Gideon, Bad Omens – and not one of the people making the band pull their hair out), it’s the first Mugshot record not produced entirely by Haines. That led to a renewed energy in the studio that’s almost tangible when you hear these songs. It also sees Waterman fully settle into his role as vocalist, after joining the band in 2023. And while All The Devils Are Here doesn’t entirely represent a new era for the band, it does still signify and continue what Haines refers to as the “new vibe, new energy and new presence” surrounding and propelling the band since Waterman joined. |
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