Match For An Post-mortem are an indignant band. They sound indignant, their distinctive ‘post-deathcore’ a savage outcry in regards to the state of planet Earth. Whereas a few of their friends write posturing anthems pushed by aimless rage, on a regular basis heartbreak or juvenile gore and grisliness, FFAA dig into real-world trauma – like Gojira and Cattle Decapitation earlier than them, they’re making excessive music with a objective, tackling political injustice, the atmosphere and capitalistic corruption.
Additionally they look indignant. Promotional images present six massive, glowering, tattooed dudes staring down the digicam, and stay exhibits reveal a frontman who seems like a pissed-off Uruk-Hai as he screams and bellows his guts out. So yeah, Match For An Post-mortem are indignant. They’re livid, in reality. Scratch that: they’re positively seething. They’re… they’re… all bopping round this freezing-cold warehouse singing alongside to Haddaway’s 90s home banger, What Is Love. Wait, maintain on…
“I imply, my first ever live performance was Backstreet Boys,” grins frontman Joe Badolato, rapidly clarifying: “Into The Millennium tour!”
OK, so possibly Match For An Post-mortem aren’t at all times indignant. They principally save that for the studio, the place they will unleash their frustrations on the world in full, nailing their political colors to the mast, unbothered by the backlash which will comply with. In 2017 they launched Black Mammoth, a music written in solidarity with those that objected to the development of the ultimate part of the Dakota Entry Pipeline, which might carry oil from North Dakota to Illinois by way of an space simply north of Standing Rock, a Sioux Native American reservation. Protesters feared the venture would destroy sacred burial websites and contaminate ingesting water. The video for the one confirmed footage of earlier devastation brought on by oil spills, alongside protesters, police and historic art work depicting themes of colonialism.
Many supported the band, however there was pushback from some followers on social media. “I can’t purchase this album if a single dime goes to would-be protester thugs”, commented one. “So lame and political, you guys and Suicide Singalong ought to have a tour sponsored by Tampax and L’Oreal,” stated one other.
On social posts, they’ve proven assist for initiatives such because the Black Lives Matter motion and Worldwide Girls’s Day. When Hammer asks guitarist Will Putney the place the band’s curiosity in politics stems from, he attributes it to his and guitarist Pat Sheridan’s time spent within the New Jersey hardcore scene, the place bands would rage in opposition to societal injustice – “the final nature of that tradition was at all times extra lively in being conscious of social points,” he explains. It’s one thing that’s run by way of Match For An Post-mortem’s music ever since.
“If you already know the band, you already know the type of folks we’re, you already know what we stand for,” says Pat, as 5 musicians and one journalist try and cram right into a tiny kitchen house arrange subsequent to the spacious room the place our photoshoot is going down. “We’ve at all times caught just a little bit of warmth once we come out ‘ultra-political’, or if we take a stance on one thing, however we’re OK with that. It’s OK to disagree with us, so long as you’re not being violent or aggressive with us. We’ll discuss to anyone about something. We’ll show to you what sort of folks we’re.”
Pat, a founding member of Match For An Post-mortem, is an interesting interviewee. Wearing a thick North Face jacket and a black Finish cap that covers most of his head tattoos, he’s an intense however considerate fella. You quickly sense he doesn’t endure fools gladly; a fast apart on how he offers with individuals who object to his progressive ideological stances confirms this.
“Possibly you don’t perceive me, let’s have a chat,” he explains. “There’s not sufficient of that, so we are able to try this. However we additionally received’t be met with the alternative of that. And if you happen to meet us with the alternative of that, you’ll discover out rapidly. We are going to shut you down. We’ll combat. You convey a flamethrower, I’m bringing a fucking truck filled with gasoline. what I imply? There’s no in-between.”
It’s this zero-compromise mentality that has helped Match For An Post-mortem rise by way of metallic’s ranks. Fashioned in 2007 as a side-project for musicians in that New Jersey scene, their line-up has been fluid at finest: three singers, numerous touring members, no full-time bassist till 2019. The 2 constants? Pat and Will, the latter serving as an Oz-like determine behind the scenes of the band since its formation. He writes a hefty chunk of their music whereas sitting out touring duties to focus on his ‘essential gig’ as one of the in-demand producers in trendy metallic, working with the likes of Physique Depend, Thy Artwork Is Homicide, Northlane and Knocked Free.
Since lastly establishing a long-term line-up – Pat, Will, Joe, drummer Josean Orta (who joined in 2012), guitarist Tim Howley (2013) and bassist Peter ‘Blue’ Spinazola (touring musician from 2017, full-timer from 2019… maintaining?) – the band have developed drastically. From Gojira-esque pick-scrapes, to At The Gates-style melodeath hooks, to extra intense vocal harmonies and bursts of thrash, doom and tech metallic, their final two albums specifically have contained so many concepts and influences that they haven’t a lot outgrown deathcore as lapped it 5 instances over.
“We’ve emerged out of any type of genre-specific ‘factor’,” Pat observes. “Not that I thoughts being known as a ‘deathcore’ band. I don’t care what you name me, so long as you’re calling!”
Oh What The Future Holds, launched in 2022, snuck contained in the Prime 25 of the Billboard 200 – an insane achievement for a band this heavy. 2024’s The Nothing That Is was one other profession high-water mark, rapturously obtained by followers and critics alike. As Hammer speaks to the band, they’re about to headline the 1,500-capacity Birmingham Institute – a venue they performed as essential assist solely a yr prior, and the place they performed fourth from high simply three years in the past.
“The loopy half is, it looks like I blinked and we bought right here,” says Pat. “Then I begin eager about all of the issues which have occurred within the interim. It’s been a fucking very long time! However I wouldn’t change it. All of us really feel like we’ve earned one thing, and we respect it in a different way than a band that simply is available in and instantly blows up.”
Whereas FFAA have been a comparatively gradual and regular success story, it was kicked into… effectively, let’s name it third gear by the arrival of Joe in 2015, following the departure of authentic vocalist Nate Johnson after which his transient alternative, Greg Wilburn. Joe takes up a lot of the door body he’s leaning in opposition to as he chats to Hammer – together with his lengthy hair and black longsleeve, he would reduce an intimidating determine if it weren’t for the truth that he’s all smiles. The one time he breaks his relaxed manner is when he speaks of his vow to make it within the metallic scene. Joe’s laidback heat contrasts with Pat’s hyper-focused depth, but when there’s one factor they share, it’s that dedication to knuckle down and get shit accomplished.
“I used to be in 4 native bands on the time, simply making an attempt to make it work,” Joe recollects of the second he was requested to hitch FFAA. “I used to be a barber; I’d simply been chopping hair and enjoying music time and again.”
Whereas chopping the hair of considered one of his bands’ bassists, Joe obtained the telephone name that’d change his life, as Will Putney invited him to demo some materials for Match For An Post-mortem. Joe smashed it, went for dinner with Pat and Will in New Jersey, and the remaining is historical past.
“They have been like, ‘We’re not making some huge cash in any respect, so we hope that you just’re not making an attempt to make some cash,’” chuckles Joe, who now owns a barber store in Arizona. “I used to be like, ‘Actually, I’ve been saving all my cash so I can do that.’ I used to be the one one out of my whole buddy group that didn’t cease doing music, as a result of I simply knew that it was what I wished. And I’m very cussed; if I actually need one thing, I’m gonna push as onerous as I can, even when I’m homeless, broke, doing no matter I’ve to do to make it work.”
With The Nothing That Is, Match For An Post-mortem launched a few of their most pressing, affecting and provocative work, maybe finest exemplified by the observe Purple Horizon. Written in response to the battle in Gaza, it contains some bone-chilling lyrics (‘The our bodies burned so vibrant that God closed his eyes’), in addition to strains that have been interpreted by some followers as antisemitic (‘Beasts of Zion, Curse your identify… Each pocket lined with gold has value a soul in different places’). It additionally ends with the extremely contentious phrase ‘From the river to the ocean’ – a line claimed by pro-Palestine campaigners as a slogan for peace, however criticised by many Jewish organisations as an antisemitic name for the dismantling of Israel.
“You’re allowed to name somebody who lives in a sure place a foul particular person with out saying everybody who’s there’s unhealthy,” says Will defiantly, when Hammer asks him about these lyrics. “My household is Jewish,” he provides. “Saying I’m antisemitic is loopy… we’re calling out a shitty concern.”
The music’s putting video is just a little broader in its themes. It options two women dwelling in parallel – one having fun with a cushty life together with her household, the opposite surviving in the midst of a conflict zone. Its message was made all of the extra pertinent by the very fact the lady within the conflict zone was performed by an actress named Milana Nashkova, who had escaped from Ukraine within the midst of the Russian-Ukraine Warfare.
“We have been on the lookout for folks to be within the video, and their household got here up,” reveals Pat. “So we’ve this one that is a refugee from a war-torn nation who needs to play the a part of someone who’s going by way of that very actual factor.”
“Singing the music is at all times highly effective, however watching all of it come to life by way of a video, after which understanding her story, it hits you actually in a different way,” says Joe. “It hit me fairly onerous. I used to be watching it the primary time, I used to be getting just a little choked. Like, that was actual.”
“That’s why we do it,” provides Pat. “It’s straightforward to say you have got an opinion on one thing you’ve by no means actually skilled. What would you do if these items occurred to you? What would you do if your loved ones misplaced every thing due to choices of a authorities or companies? And the way would you get by way of that? These are the concepts that push us lots.”
Seventeen years and 7 albums in, Match For An Post-mortem’s anger feels extra important than ever. However how far can a band like theirs go? Contemplating the ferocious music they make, they’ve already smashed all practical expectations. What’s subsequent?
“We simply transfer ahead,” responds Pat, matter-of-fact as ever. “When the wheels fall off, we decide this up and put it on our backs and carry it up the mountain.”
Joe, it appears, has extra crystallised ambitions in thoughts. “We undoubtedly have goals of desirous to do sure issues,” he says. “We noticed Sleep Token the opposite day in Glasgow on our time without work. 14,000, bought out. It simply makes me hungry, seeing stuff like that. I’ll work as onerous as I’ve to to get there, and if I don’t get there, it’s nice. On the finish of this profession, I’ll nonetheless go away, my head held excessive, understanding that I did a lot actually cool shit.”
Match For An Post-mortem in arenas? It’d sound unlikely, however so does an excessive metallic band dropping chart albums and singing alongside to Haddaway…
