You don't get more punk than completely bamboozling people without trying, and for this reason alone Melbourne duo Another Rotting Corpse (ARC) have won before even playing a note in anger.
On face value with a name like that, it would be natural to assume ARC were, at the very least, a deathcore sounding band but one listen to any song from their upcoming debut album Soaring Highs, Crushing Lows and you will get a quick education as to why you should never judge a cover by its book, or however the saying goes.
After a five-year hiatus, ARC returned to the live scene with a renewed fire a couple of years ago, marking their comeback with the 2023 EP, Exchange For Safe Passage. That snowballed quickly to become their debut long player, which is set to be unleashed on the world with devastating force this Friday, October 25.
HEAVY caught up with Nath and Ant to find out more.
"Just a two-person punk album, essentially," Ant offered when asked what they were going for with the album musically. "I write a bunch of songs and give them to Nath, and he puts his part in and that's how it comes out. We didn't want to mess around with the sound too much."
"I will say one thing," Nath added, "When Ant writes a song for a two-piece - we were a three-piece, but the bass player has moved to Gippsland - but writing songs for two pieces what Ant does really well is he keeps the sound really full. There's so many opportunities where he could do a solo or something else interesting, but what was great about the album was it gave us the opportunity to fill that sound out even more than what we already do."
In the full interview, Ant and Nath talk more about Soaring Highs, Crushing Lows, its musical direction and the high-energy songs on it. We discuss how ARC's sound has changed from their debut EP Exchange For Safe Passage to Soaring Highs, Crushing Lows and what sorts of things they discussed as a band going into it. We spoke about the album launch party at Nighthawks this weekend and what to expect, plus more.