New Music

A Necessary End Marks A Promising New Era For OVTSIDER

Aug 5, 2021

4 min read

Adelaide's OVTSIDER are proving to be solid upcomers in Australia's metal mecca this year. Having supported the likes of some of the country's biggest acts from Alpha Wolf, Justice for the Damned to Melbourne outfit Starve, this promising new hardcore outfit is off to a rocket start.

Their brand new double header, A Necessary End, features two tracks that'll surely whet your musical appetite. Opening up with 'Disgust', the song stomps in with thumping riffs and low growls that stems from increasing levels of frustration and heavy emotion, acts as quite the teaser for 'Decay', which really is the centrepiece of A Necessary End. Mixing together raging emotion and jarring guitars with some of the most intense screams I've heard all year, OVTSIDER have outdone themselves here. While the track feels like a wild combo of The Ghost Inside and Knocked Loose, that monstrous drop halfway through definitely foresees the band transcending down a bigger path on future releases.

OVTSIDER, currently consisting of vocalist Tom Drizner, Josh Lim (guitars), Coen Miller (bass) and Harry Mason (drums), together have forged their own jarring brand of hardcore/metal that acts as the soundtrack to your worst nightmare. While this sound is is being heard from international heavy hitters Gideon, Varials and Knocked Loose, I must say, to hear it come from our own backyard is something else.

To celebrate this insane new release, I caught up with the OVTSIDER boys to get to know the band behind the music a little better, and after this chat, I reckon we are now looking at Australia's best new metal upcomers...

Hi guys! Thanks for stopping by Wall Of Sound! You lads first caught my attention earlier this year when you unleashed ‘Coward’. How have you guys been doing since then?

Ovtsider: Hey Tamara! We’ve been doing great, thank you!

Tom: I don’t think we can complain to be honest, we’ve had a handful of reschedules and things pushed back, but Adelaide has been pretty lucky all things considering.

Coen: Since the release of ‘Coward’ we’ve revised our lineup slightly by welcoming our friend Josh in on guitar and played a handful of shows which have been the best we’ve played yet. Safe to say we’re pretty content on how the year has been so far and can’t wait to keep the ball rolling for the rest of the year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-GpRsebaFI

Congrats on the massive effort you put on A Necessary End though! I took one listen with ‘Disgust’ and was bought within the first 30 seconds. Talk us through what conspired this explosive introduction to this new EP?

Coen: Thank you! Originally ‘Disgust’ was a few ideas that Josh had jotted down while we were in the process of writing ‘Decay.’ When we all caught up for a writing session one day he showed us what he had and we all loved it.

Tom: We’ve always wanted to do a short punchy song and it fit perfect for what we had in mind! It wasn't long until we decided to include it to open ‘A Necessary End’.

You guys have mentioned your style is influenced by Kublai Khan and Varials. But who were you guys inspired by when producing A Necessary End?

Josh: Before joining the band the boys told me their main influences, so I listened to a lot of Varials and Gideon! Learning the set prior to joining the band itself was also a big influence so I could really get the writing process right.

Harry: A lot of the drums take inspiration from Traitors and Bodysnatcher, I wanted to strip them back and simplify, but still give that heavy hit and impact.

Follow-up track ‘Decay’ is honestly the centrepiece of A Necessary End. It’s like, I’m getting an insane hybrid of The Ghost Inside and Knocked Loose. That drop is filthy! Was this the style you were aiming for here?

Josh: In terms of style I would say I was going for something that was just straight to the point. When writing the demo (now known as ‘Decay’), I had the challenge of writing something that sounded like it would work as an Ovtsider song but I also wanted to have my own sound to it. I have a lot of metalcore influences so that paired with the early influences of Ovtsider is how ‘Decay’ came to sound how it does.

The song sounds quite angry and built on frustrations. Besides writing it all down on ‘Decay’, what helped you to overcome those strong emotions of hurt and anger?

Tom: I guess I’m not sure if its something I’ll ever be able fully get over, but there was a definite shift from our previous songs to ‘A Necessary End’; I’m still angry and am fine with it being known, but I also see and feel the pain that is caused to people around me. It hit me pretty hard when tracking vocals this time and everyone was super good while we went through that together.

You guys are huge teasers though with this cheeky two-track EP. We need more! Why’d you go down this avenue as opposed to producing a full EP?

Coen: We actually only had plans to release ‘Decay’ as a single. This was the first track we had put together since bringing Josh in and ‘Disgust’ was originally just a few ideas, but in the end a piece we all thought would be great to contribute to the release. A full debut EP is certainly on the cards for something we’d love to release next year.

Tom: Attention spans are a big factor haha. While touring is still semi-pending for the whole country we want to grab your attention but also wait for the right time to do something bigger.

You’ve already built up quite the following, having played shows alongside DREGG, Alpha Wolf, Justice For The Damned and recently Starve. What are the band’s intentions like over the next 6 months?

Coen: The next 6 months are looking pretty exciting for us, namely for our first headline show at The Crown and Anchor on August 28 which we’re very excited for. We have a really fun lineup booked in with Vatic coming over from Melbourne, Tunnel Vision and Exhuminator (Country SA).

Tom: Hopefully restrictions can get back under control and touring safely becomes an option, we’ve been rescheduling and holding off announcing a few things for a while now but hopefully they’ll be able to happen before the end of the year!

How would you describe A Necessary End to someone who’s never heard of OVTSIDER before?

Harry: ‘A Necessary End’ is like a boxing match between what’s familiar to your youth vs the reality of growing up and forming your own opinions. Stemming from hardcore and metalcore foundations, we want to bring the public some heavy hitting lyrics matched by some equally as brutal instrumentals that’s certain to go the distance. If tasty guitar riffs, growling bass lines, no nonsense drum beats, and gut wrenching vocals are your thing, then you’re sure to enjoy the fight.

Coen: ’A Necessary End’ is a release compiled of feelings of resentment and frustration to people who do nothing else but let you down.

It’s been a pleasure boys — I really think this is going to be one of my top releases of the year. Is there anything else you’d like to tell our readers?

Ovtsider: The pleasure is all ours Tamara, and we’re glad you’ve enjoyed it. A quick thank you is in order to everyone who made this release happen, and our friends who have supported us along the way, booked shows with us or have seen us perform. Other than that really, we suppose all we can ask is that you keep an eye out for our name appearing in your city later in the year as it’s looking to happen sooner rather than later. Thanks again!

Interview by Tamara May @citylightstam

Follow OVTSIDER on social media: Facebook | Instagram

OVTSIDER's new EP, A Necessary End is out now. Listen here