The Worst Intentions recently released their first single, and this band of gentlemen are taking this project somewhere they haven’t been before. Ross Compton (vocals), Jabe Cravens (guitar), Michael Martin (bass), Lee Dudley (guitar), and Chris Hodebeck (drums) previously played together in 2007 in a Denton-based metal band, Surrounded by Monsters, but The Worst Intentions has them, "trying to do something we’ve never done before,” explains Dudley. 

 This new project within a new genre combines the technical aspects that you find in metal music but with an experimental rock sound. Compton had been working on projects with friends through his own in-house studio when all the songs that had been building up in his mind began to overflow, and he reached out to his previous band members to take their talents in a new direction. “I had a bunch of songs in my head,” says Compton, ”and I didn’t want to be a producer, I wanted to create.”

 Inspiration for the group spreads across multiple musical spectrums, including Minus the Bear, The Used, Thrice, Deftones and the heavier edge of metal making itself known through their latest track. The angsty lyrics and steady beat are reminiscent of your 90’s or early 2000's guilty pleasure, with the guitarist meshing their sounds, and the heaviness of the bass carrying the deeper meaning of the lyrics. We like to think about the warm and fuzzy moments of relationships, but the times where emotions are tested can be what bring two people closer together.

 The song slowly builds, until the quicker pace of the beats leads itself into the first chorus. “Find a way to slow down time/ I guarantee this won't be perfect”, sings Compton, using each set of lyrics to compliment and contradict each other, like the give and take in any partnership, lifting you up and still being able to bring you down.  “Don't expect me to decide/ please don't mind my slow reaction/ This is why I feel alive/ I give up on all compassion,” is the weight that comes with love when it’s most fickle. The change in sound of each line to the one before is as if the subconscious is being leant a voice. An echo that resonates through the guitar strings.

“The Weight” was their first song to be released, and became available in July of last year. With several songs currently in the works you can expect to see them begin playing shows and releasing more music later this Spring. This is definitely a band you want to keep on your radar for 2017, you can follow them on Facebook to stay up to date on their upcoming events. 

 Header image design by Brittany Keeton