“We just really wanted to make something that we were excited about,” enthused Karina Utomo, vocalist for Melbourne’s High Tension when asked about the bands recently released third album ‘Purge’. “We wanted to make something really brutal and I guess we wanted to do it our own way. I feel really authentic about the songs and the process and the way things came together and if I’m talking about it from a personal sense… we’re stoked (laughs).
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The press release for the album quotes Utomo as saying “this is the center of my repressed rage”, a quote that she elaborates on when pressed.
“I guess… a few things,” she measured. “I think in order to sing in that style it has to come from a very authentic place and for me, that’s what that was about. I think that there was such a process of writing to the music and mapping out which direction we wanted to go and it was going in a heavier realm so the references of these songs also had to come from a place that insighted real rage. It’s an exploration of that and a reflection of the way I was very, very sensitive to how it was executed and how it has to feel real when I was recording it and ultimately it has to feel like that when it’s getting performed as well.”
Listen to the full audio to hear Karina discuss the album in greater detail, the influence new band members Mike Deslandes and Lauren Hammel had on Purge, the importance of established bands in the development of the music scene and what role the Australian Music Industry plays in the nurturing of younger bands plus more.
HIGH TENSION “PURGE” TOUR DATES
15 JUNE – DARK MOFO, TASMANIA
22 JUNE – AMPLIFIER BAR, PERTH
23 JUNE – DAY OF CLARITY, ADELAIDE
29 JUNE – LANSDOWNE, SYDNEY
30 JUNE – CROWBAR, BRISBANE
7 JULY – THE TOTE, MELBOURNE
Tickets for the Purge Tour are on sale now at hightension.com.au
