ONCE HUMAN – “GOOD THINGS CAN HAPPEN OUT OF CHAOS

 

I’m just glad it’s coming out. I’m really happy that it’s finally time,” says vocalist Lauren Hart, who along with guitarist Logan Mader (Machine Head / Soulfly) spearhead modern metal band Once Human. The group will release their explosive third album, Scar Weaver, on February 11 via earMusic. Described by the label as, “a versatile and sinewy new strain of brutal but accessible metal,” Scar Weaver is comprised of ten musical compositions that are both captivating and dynamic.

“It was done a year or two ago, pre-Covid,” reveals Hart, referring to Scar Weaver. “But then when we were given more time; I’m a perfectionist! So, I’m going to take it and re-write and re-write and re-write. I work best under deadlines, and I write best under pressure. But if I’m given too much time, I’m just going to try and make everything better. Max (Karon, guitarist) did some re-writes, I did some re-writes; we scrapped some songs and put some new ones into the mix. But the good news is, it really helped us through that first year of being in lockdown. We were all in a studio together, cause at the time we all lived together in Vegas. Logan (Mader, guitarist) had a studio in the house, so it was very productive. We were all really lucky that we had that access.”

Scar Weaver is super aggressive and energetic, while simultaneously being cathartic, making the frustrations of everyday life due to pandemic-related restrictions easier to deal with. Logan commented, “The first two albums, we were still finding our way.” Lauren shares what sets Scar Weaver apart from its predecessors – The Life I Remember (2015) and Evolution (2017): “The biggest change was the introduction of (guitarist) Max Karon. We met during the tour for the first album with Fear Factory; he was their guitar tech. Max showed us his music, and the riffs that he wrote. We immediately asked if he would be interested in joining the band or writing with us. He said yes, and soon after he began writing, he did join the band officially. So, Evolution was the introduction of Max; yet Logan and I still played a big role in the writing of everything. But Scar Weaver is 100% Max Karon! Logan didn’t write on this album. Max wrote all the music; I wrote all the lyrics and the top lines (vocal melodies). Maybe the next album won’t be like that, but we wanted Max to feel like he could be 100% himself on this album. He wanted to express himself as a musician, and we wanted to give him that. Plus, Logan was on tour with Machine Head (celebrating the 25th anniversary of Burn My Eyes). When he came home, Max had already done ten songs! And Logan felt they didn’t need any re-arranging or changing, so that’s how the music came about. Then I took my time with the lyrics and the top lines, simply because I had a lot of extra time.”