American metal outfit ERRA are preparing to drop their fifth, self-titled release, amid a wave of publicity and expectation that is justified by the overall sonic appeal of the album.
As ERRA’s fortunes have risen through the years the public has been able to connect with a visceral and ever-progressing side of the band that has culminated in an album featuring monumental riffs and enchanting melodies that take you on an endless journey that confronts depression, anxiety and desperation through the eyes and ears of a band who have given their all to reach this point.
Vocalist/guitarist Jesse Cash joined HEAVY for a chat about the album ahead of its release.
“I think mostly we were just trying not to overthink it,” Cash measured, “and do what felt right and get back back to the pure feeling of writing music, like back in the beginning. Like writing your first record. There’s no expectations because no-one knows who you are and then whenever you do gain fans for the first time its kind of a challenge for many years to figure out how to balance peoples expectations and not disappoint. At the same time, you don’t wanna pigeon hole yourself or box yourself in creatively by trying to meet expectations that may not even be there. They could just be your own that you are projecting onto the audience (laughs). With this record, I think we really found a nice balance of writing songs and making choices within the context of each song by not worrying about any preconceived notions about what we are supposed to because the fans have been around for a while and there’s a certain element that people expect or because we’re a metal band or whatever. It didn’t really cal for an over the top, extreme heavy section so we didn’t just do it. If there was an extreme, over the top-heavy song that didn’t merit high pitched, melodic soaring vocals then we didn’t do that either.”
In the full interview, Jesse talks about the songs released so far from the album, the overall feel of ERRA, the content matter within the songs, the album artwork, why the band chose their fifth album to call after themselves, how and why they chose to sign with UNFD and more.
Watch “Shadow Autonomous” below:
