Mouth For War shared animated video for 'Captivated' • GRIMM Gent

Brutal metalcore practitioners MOUTH FOR WAR are pleased to unleash their new video for “Captivated” from their new full-length Bleed Yourself to celebrate the record’s official release last Friday, October 27th, via MNRK Heavy.

Catharsis builds community. As if conducting group scream therapy, MOUTH FOR WAR incites a collective release of emotion set to a soundtrack of metal intensity, pit-splitting hardcore spirit, and earth-rumbling grooves. The Colorado quintet — vocalist Trae Roberts, drummer Mason Sego, guitarists Gabe Moya and Jonah Starbuck, and bassist Michael Guglielmi — rallies listeners together around unflinchingly honest and uncontainable bursts of aggression and emotion. After earning praise from Outburn, No Echo, and many more, they hold nothing back on Bleed Yourself, their second proper full-length and MNRK Heavy label debut.

A compelling video featuring animation by Torey Kervick and artwork by Caleb Butcher, “Captivated” stands as a pulverizing album centerpiece. Elaborates Roberts,

“‘Captivated’ is a song with a strange lyrical theme in a style I’ve never really written before, so we knew this would be the perfect track to bring our friends Caleb and Torey in to make a crazy visual for. I wrote this track about a mushroom trip where I felt like for the first time I was visited by my late sister’s spirit, oddly enough through the eyes of my cat, Adelaide. I love how this video came out and we’re so excited to share it with you.”

During 2019, MOUTH FOR WAR united members of underground favorites Bruise, Remain, and Sustain. Following the An Ear Kept To The Ground EP, the group unleashed Life Cast In Glass in 2021, earning widespread acclaim. Along the way, they carefully struck an elusive balance of modern and classic heavy music, nodding to Lamb Of God, The Devil Wears Prada, and Meshuggah as well as Pantera (hence their band name) and Metallica.

In early 2023, the band decamped to Chicago to record with producer Pete Grossmann at BrickTop Recording. Ultimately, the setting and circumstances enabled the musicians to hyper focus.

“The weather was insane in Chicago, so we didn’t really leave the studio,” recalls Roberts. “However, we were able to get more in tune with each other, have fun, and make memories around this record. We built a unified piece together.”

Opener “Roses In The Place of Your Ashes” kicks open the door with the force of a battering ram, setting the tone for the onslaught to follow.

“It’s in your face and it just sounds vicious,” Roberts smiles. “It comes at you nonstop.”

“Under The Gun” is another scorcher where Roberts’ guttural vocals growl just as deeply as the distortion while an airtight melodic riff cuts through pummeling drums only to recoil into a chugging stomp. “Saturate Me” hinges on the ominous warbling of a country-style prayer until the momentum blasphemously turns on a dime with a blast of bludgeoning percussion and incendiary riffing. Uplifted by an unexpected fit of melody, its unpredictability proves undeniable. The beating concludes on the title track “Bleed Yourself” where the group unlocks one final exorcism anchored by guillotine-sharp guitars and gut-punching roars.

“To me, it’s literally about bleeding your emotions and trying to let everything out all at once,” Roberts concludes. “That’s essentially what I did on this record—from the first song to the last. I touched on subjects I thought I was done with. It almost hurt again, but I bled myself out as much as possible.”

In the end, MOUTH FOR WAR will give you the space to scream with them.