Primal Step
Photo Credit 📷 : @trumpetsmash
It’s New Music Monday here again at Not Just A Phase and we’re hyped to be debuting a single from the brand new Ontario Hardcore band Primal Step. Primal Step may be a new band on the scene but oldheads will recognize most of their members from previous projects. Their metallic hardcore sound brings out memories that echo of early 2000s bands in the genre like Buried Alive, Shattered Realm and Hatebreed in their Rise Of Brutality Era. I sat down with my old friend (and vocalist of Primal Step) Jay Scarlino to discuss his past projects and how this new one came together.
“Primal Step is a pretty cool mix of OG’s and new blood. Chris has been around the block and back in the local Toronto hardcore scene. Him and Conor were doing some projects together out Toronto way, and Conor is in Die Alone as well, Chris fills in there too. Lewis was in Battlecat and I was in Lions, early 2000s Hamilton hardcore. Our drummer Brad is completely new to hardcore and it’s been a lot of fun exposing him to what this shit is about. We work together at the steel mills, and on lunch break he was showing me a band he’s in and I showed him some of my shit, he said he’d love to be in a heavier project so I told him I can think of a couple guys that have been wanting to jam. That’s basically how Primal Step was born.”
Another notorious name in our provincial scene is Davis Maxwell who has recorded and mixed numerous bands of all genres and to no surprise was the brain behind the recording and mastering for this demo as well.
“Recording was a good time, we went with Davis at Schoolhouse in Hamilton. I met him awhile back through a mutual friend in the Niagara scene. I used him for Living Nightmare and I loved what he did with Reality Denied’s ‘Comes With A Price’ and so it was a no brainer for us. This demo feels like it was a long time coming for us. Pent up shit since the pandemic and years and years of hardcore influence dating back from the 90s.”
“THE RESURGENCE IN HARDCORE SINCE THE PANDEMIC IS UNBELIEVABLE. ONTARIO HARDCORE IS ON FIRE AND IT’S REALLY EXCITING TO BE A PART OF IT EVEN STILL AFTER 25 YEARS FOR MYSELF IT’S MORE EXCITING THAN IT’S EVER BEEN”
- JAY @NE.DESIT.VIRTUS
Tapes are being released by Jays fantasy label “Be On The Lookout” aka “Bolorecs”, tapes will be available at their first show coming up on September 1st in Toronto with Hoods and Sworn Enemy. Primal Step is open to discussions with any labels that may be interested in them.
“We’ve just been focused on putting this demo out we haven’t booked anything else. If y’all wanna book us or throw us on a set before September just holler at us on insta and I’ll get back to you. We just wanna play bomb ass shows with our friends. Whenever. Wherever.”
“This demo, for me personally, is a piece cut out from right inside me. It’s a demonstration and a protest. It’s my heart. It’s my pain and internal struggle with myself and the world in front of me. It’s all the love I have and the appreciation I have for my friends my family and this scene. As I said earlier this band was a long time coming. Past projects since Lions have mostly been for hobby but this project has meant so much more. This is me giving back to something that gave me so much. This is for hardcore. This is for you.”
Check out their first single “Cried All My Tearz” linked below and visit their bandcamp page. The full demo “Hardcore Spiritual Healing” is now on all streaming platforms and will be available on hand with them live on September 1st for their first show in Toronto with Hoods and Sworn Enemy.
