Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead

Sep 26

I know I’ve been saying it all year, but 2024 really has been quite the year for Screamo, the genre as a whole has never been more popular than it is today. With such a huge growth in the international community there are new bands popping up literally every day and I can no longer keep track of every new band and every new project so a few of them may end falling through the cracks unfortunately. One band that is too big to fall in any cracks and has been directly on our radar since day one is “Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead”. This year they’ve come back to the wheel to plow over everyone’s bones and ears with their signature style that makes the listener feel like they’re base jumping without a parachute.

Today we’re very excited to be debuting their brand new single “Spirit Incantation”. Citing influences like Joshua Fit For Battle, Ostraca, Lord Snow and Senza, the Vancouver based trio will be releasing their first full length album titled Tragedy As Catharsis on November 5th. The album was mixed and mastered by the legendary Will Killingsworth at Dead Air Studios and will be available for purchase on vinyl through No Funeral Records & Middle Man Records will have 50 cassettes as well.

I recently had a chance to conduct some interviews with the band over email to discuss this upcoming album and get their thoughts about and their future path and what the future has in store for the band.

WHAT WAS THE WRITING LIKE FOR TRAGEDY AS CATHARSIS?

Miffy (drums) : More often than not Jens (bass) and Kyle (guitar) bring riffs or completed songs and I write drum parts after the fact and do some arranging and editing. Thankfully none of us are precious about anything we write and a lot of stuff gets discarded. I really appreciate having band mates who are open to just throwing things out regardless of how much work we’ve done on them. When songs are only a minute long we have to be extremely editorial.

HOW WAS THE RECORDING PROCESS IN THE STUDIO?

Miffy : We play and record as live a set as possible, if anyone is unhappy with their parts we re-record a whole song to get a take we all like. We try not to do more than a couple of takes of anything - to keep a fresh sound that doesn’t feel too polished. Heig - who does engineering for us - always has great advice and honest opinions about what needs to be redone. Once the music is done, Jens and Kyle will add vocals and guitar overdubs. I roll around the studio reading and playing video games at that point.

Jens (Bass / Vocals) : It’s just been such a relief to have the opportunity to make music as a release. Screaming and playing aggressive music has always been a way for me to process my feelings of regret, guilt, anger, frustration and sadness. This is my meaning of the album title.

Miffy : I’m so proud of the work we make and the sheer intensity of it. It’s a blast playing with Jen and Kyle and getting to just scream rage and sorrow into the world. I’m so glad people resonate with it and I’m especially honored to have such a queer and trans audience. I’ve been aching for people to hear this album after the demo got such a positive response and I really hope this feels like a step up musically.

“I THINK SO MANY OF US AROUND THE WORLD ARE SO INVESTED IN EXPRESSING THIS MESSAGE TO OTHERS: YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN WHAT YOU FEEL. NOW MORE THAN EVER WE HAVE TO WORK TO STRENGTHEN SOLIDARITY AND (RE)CONNECTION IN THE FACE OF NEO-LIBERAL AND FACIST IDEOLOGIES THAT SEEK TO ISOLATE US FROM EACH OTHER. I HOPE THIS ALBUM REMINDS EVERYONE WHO HEARS IT THAT ANGER IS THE CORRECT RESPONSE TO INJUSTICE, AND WE ALL HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO EACH OTHER TO FIGHT THAT INJUSTICE WHEREVER AND HOWEVER IT ARISES.”

- MIFFY @DRIVEYOURPLOW

ANY SHOWS OR TOURS PLANNED FOR THE ALBUM?

Kyle (Guitars / Vocals) : Right now we just have our album released booked for November (but not announced yet). We are hoping to play some festivals in 2025 though! Getting out of Vancouver would be great!

WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE BAND AFTER THE RELEASE?

Kyle : The main focus after the album release is writing new material for splits with bands we love and look up to.

ANY CLOSING WORDS FOR US?

Miffy : Extend grace to your communities. Don’t act like cops to each other or yourself. Choose to do good everyday. Don’t give in to despair. Build a better world because it brings you joy. Death to all empires and tyrants. Long live The Communist International.

Kyle : Start a band, play some shows, and be nice to everyone you meet. you never know where you'll end up and we are all in this together.

We eagerly await the sonic assault of their debut album Tragedy As Catharsis to be released on November 5th. In the meantime checkout the new single premiere for “Spirit Incantation” below and follow the band on bandcamp and all their socials to show some love and support.

Follow them on Bandcamp : Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead

Writer : @just_reidz

Editor : @obijuan.cannoli

09/30/24