Hurt Division – Another Kind Of Me EP (Track By Track)

Posted on April 19, 2024 by walladmin

The Australian music scene is revered for producing some of the most exciting, trailblazing and tone-setting heavy bands. In recent years, a plethora of epic bands have emerged and immediately captivated listeners around the world. Hurt Division are not only the latest addition to the Human Warfare roster, but they’re also one of the new Australian bands who are bound to turn heads throughout 2024 and onward.

Featuring members of Australian stalwarts such as Gravemind, Hollow World & Boris The Blade, Hurt Division was born from a desire to dive into new sonic territories without being confined to a preconceived sound or legacy. Imagine the vibrant soundscapes of the Blade Runner or Cyberpunk 2077 scores, interlaced with immense, frenetic riffs, soaring choruses and bombastic breakdowns. Hurt Division is fresh, exciting and ready to conquer.

We were fortunate enough to premiere Hurt Division’s debut single ‘Another Kind Of Me’ back in January and today, we’re stoked to unveil an in-depth track–by–track breakdown of their full debut EP of the same name.

Another Kind Of Me

Miki: This is the track that created Hurt Division. We created countless versions of this song that all centred around the main riff written by Theo. Many of the iterations were vastly different in styles and flavours, to the point they’d be unrecognisable from the finished product. We were all unsure about some of the versions until one day Clint sent through a revision which we unanimously and instantly agreed was the one.

Creating ‘AKOM’ felt like we were giving ourselves permission to try something new. There were no preconceived biases or external expectations steering the creative direction and vision for the project. This allowed the music to explore some uncharted territory for us, but also to create a theme, a world, and an overall vision from the ground up.

The ‘AKOM’ music video was an opportunity to introduce this theme (and an eager debut into 3D work for me), as we tease the futuristic dystopian setting and themes of class and control within the “train” and the “conductor”.

Clint: The track that started it all. And overall, the most reworked track on the EP. In 2021, Theo and I had been talking about changing things up in our previous band. We discussed the popular use of pitch modulation, particularly in a band that we were both listening to at the time. Theo wrote ONE riff and had me hooked. That’s the main riff in ‘AKOM’. We then spent many months trying to complete the song, Theo had written all the synth elements you hear, Miki had even written vocal melodies for it at one stage. The track sat dormant for roughly six months, with no real motivation to continue writing it.

I eventually picked it back up and completely reworked it. Kept the synth elements and main riff that Theo had written. What you hear today is far different from the original. I had been motivated to get some writing underway after experiencing a very disheartening audition process for another band. Heavily influenced by one particular album at the time, I decided to simplify things A LOT compared to what we tried to achieve in the past. Very far removed from the melodeath style. I presented it to the guys and it was a winner. Lowtech’s vocals that you hear are actually his audition takes, they were never changed.

Theo: This track marks the inception of what would become Hurt Division, the main heavy riff was something I came up with almost as a throwaway joke idea. I was side-tracked and deep diving with some incredibly unconventional signal path on my guitars whilst writing music for Hollow World. I decided to export this idea and show the guys and the response was so strongly positive that work on it continued.

This new found spark suddenly had us chasing very different ideas and sounds as compared to what would typically be on the cards for a melodic death metal band.

One of these mad audio moments became an integral part of the Hurt Division sound, I borrowed a friend’s Casiotone MT-45 and did all sorts of horrible things to it before bundling it into my own custom digital instrument which I subsequently dubbed the “Casio from Hell”. This super ugly fuzzed out monstrosity is on every single track of the EP doubling either the guitars or the bass and really helps to bridge the gap between the more conventional instruments and the electronic elements giving us quite a cohesive end result.

Idle

Clint: Going into the writing for this track, I had a clear goal of wanting to dabble in the ‘Nu-Metalcore’ side of things, being my favourite genre. I love tough shit. And wanted the main riff to STOMP. This riff ended up being the most reworked on the EP. I did a few times, Miki and Theo once during recording, then me again in the production stages. I took further influence from the nu metalcore genre in adding accents with octave pitch shifted synth accents instead of the typical whammy guitar often heard in this genre. There’s been mention by listeners that they hear Korn influences in the track and when it comes to writing the interlude where Lowtech sings, it was exactly the influence I had in mind when creating the music and vocal melodies.

Glass Ghosts

Clint: This was my favourite song on the EP to write. While constructing the EP I really wanted to write a track playing a real guitar. (Every other track I wrote was from brain to midi, no instrument physically used) The main riff was actually written on my 3 year old son’s ¾ size guitar tuned to drop G. It was all I had in the house at the time. I pitched the song to the guys and everyone loved it. Miki is responsible for the breakdown riff, as most would be able to tell. It was originally far more simple.

Clean vocals have always been something that I’ve never really dabbled in properly, until this EP. And the vocal melodies on this track, I can say, I am very proud of. Lowtech put forward some lyrics, told me what they were about and I completely resonated with them.

Lowtech: With ‘Glass Ghosts’, I wanted to lyrically chronicle the trials and tribulations of being an artist and trying to navigate an unforgiving industry while having your patience, pride and passion constantly tested. Between the two of us, both Clint and I have been doing music for a long time and can resonate deeply with the stresses and feelings of resentment that trying to make it as a creative can cultivate. ‘Glass Ghosts’ is an expression of these frustrations.

“Here I stand with nothing left, with weathered hands kissing the ghost of regret”

Exit Code

Clint: Initially my thought process going into writing this song was that I wanted a prelude to ‘Termina’. Something that set the scene, lyrically and musically. Originally the composition for the most part was the same, but thanks to Miki’s brilliance, he shifted the track from being more pop-like, to being very dramatic and hard hitting. Introducing various synths and percussive elements to really help the track shine in the right way. Especially the ending. Lyrically this song sets the scene of the very sad story to follow, ‘Termina’.

Miki: ‘Exit Code’ came after writing ‘Reanimator’, as an effort to further explore the dark 80’s synth flavours we’d incorporated into the rest of the EP. Clint sent through a great interlude idea that nailed all the 80’s motifs, but being quite poppy and upbeat as a result of the territory of the 80’s sound I insisted we push it in a darker direction. Based on the conversation we’d had about starting the band, the particular part that interested me most were the dark 80’s inspired synth sounds, and not the 80’s as a whole. I rearranged and re-wrote some parts to suit my own tastes and it seemed to stick. I initially intended it as an instrumental, but after Lowtech and Clint laid on their vocal ideas it lifted to the next level and stands out as its own fully fledged track.

Termina

Clint: When it came to writing for ‘Termina’, my aim was to create something a little more straight to the point, musically. It obviously has modern metalcore influences as a whole and stands out on the EP as the ‘faster’ track. This song really is in its original form. No changes were ever made throughout the writing or production process. Lyrically, this is the darkest track I’ve ever written. Based on a love and bond so strong, and true events that occurred within my family, this song goes into the complex thought process of a man who is confronted with the choice of ending his lover’s suffering with terminal illness, at her wish, then ending his own life because he couldn’t bear to live without her.

Reanimator

Lowtech: The acceptance of death and the weight of grief. ‘Reanimator’ speaks to embracing and making peace with our finality and the inherent selfishness of grieving. When loved ones pass we often wish for them to return, even if it means prolonging their own personal suffering. Exploring the dichotomy between being ready to be received and those close to you struggling to come to terms with your leaving, even if it’s by your own wishes.

“I don’t want to exist as a ghost, a spirit confined to a flesh host, please just let me go”

Miki: This is the song that cemented my place in Hurt Division. When Clint initially pitched the vision he had for the music, he expressed incorporating 80’s inspired synth elements with modern heavy music. Being reluctant to start another project from scratch due to being time poor at the time, this concept still managed to tickle part of my brain. Wanting to see how far I could push the polarities of these two sounds into one track organically, I went home inspired to write Reanimator (music). Two days after sending the song to the group Lowtech had sent a full draft back with vocals, which is more or less the final version (including a lot of the takes used). After seeing the potential of this hybrid, we went back and retrofitted the EP with more of the 80’s synth sound, and successively Exit Code.

Side Note: The abrupt and obnoxious Synth intro in ‘Reanimator’ was inspired by a Family Guy skit about a 70’s sci fi movie. One night trying to sleep after watching that scene I had that obnoxious synth sound in my head on repeat which kept transforming into the beat and progression that drives ‘Reanimator’. As abrasive and out of place as it is in context of the song, nothing else seemed to set the beat up quite as well.

Hurt Division’s debut EP Another Kind Of Me is out now via Human Warfare. Go hit up your streaming service of choice and dive into what is bound to be the next big Australian heavy act.

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Stream Another Kind Of Me here