Itâs 2015, Andy Hamm is staring at two of his favorite albums sitting above his record player – Cannibal Corpseâs The Bleeding, and Talking Headsâ More Songs about Buildings and Food.
For the past decade, Andy toured the world as a founding member of indie band Local Natives, but was unexpectedly pushed out of the group by his former bandmates.
Sitting alone, with unsatisfied ideas, he stared at those two albums and saw a template for a new project grounded in the music that inspired him in the first place. So he started writing.
A few months later, Andy met Scott McDonald at a screening of the Japanese cult film Why Donât You Play in Hell? The two realized their shared love of horror and anime extends to music too. With Scottâs drumming background for Portlandâs early 2000s Upon Beauty Rests, the two decided to meet up and explore Andyâs new ideas.Â
It quickly became clear that they needed to fill out the band, starting with bassist Houda Zakeri, a part of the LA punk scene for years with Holy Hydraulics, then ending with Ben Majoy, aka Diamondstein, electronic music producer and host of NTS Radioâs popular dark music show Night Shift. And with this, Melted Bodies was formed.Â
Over the next few years, Melted Bodies developed a reputation around SoCal for chaotic and unpredictable shows. Their difficult-to-pindown intensity led to as many mismatched billings as sold-out shows, supporting bands like Red Fang, Kikagaku Moyo, Horse the Band, Machine Girl, and Sleepy Time Gorilla Museum. Then as the world closed, 2020 became an ironically perfect year for Melted Bodies to release their breakthrough debut album Enjoy Yourself.Â
Self-recorded in their depraved Inglewood rehearsal space, this album introduced their fresh contradiction to a global audience of like-minded multi-hyphenate metalheads, and quickly became one of Bandcampâs top metal albums for the year, and a mainstay on many year-end lists, including a #1 from MetalSucks. Acclaimed for its new ideas in heavy music, âEnjoy Yourselfâ was labeled âthe Most 2020 album we could have hoped for” by journalists, due to its cheeky themes of consumerism, isolation, and police cannibalism.Â
A step removed from the sardonic nature of âEnjoy Yourselfâ, and now firmly established as a referential part of the metal music landscape, Melted Bodies is releasing the final piece of their existentially and sonically heavy 3 EP series, The Inevitable Fork. Finally heard in its totality, these three volumes tell a different story from their breakthrough âEnjoy Yourselfâ.Â
On the project, Andy says, âWe all have arrived at, or are approaching our own version of what I call âThe Inevitable Forkâ, and this overarching theme informs most of these songs in some way, much of which is very personal. Our bloodlines, mental health, past traumas, accomplishments, and regrets eventually lead us all to choose one of this forkâs many prongs to follow. Maybe we accept that itâs all imperfect, and we embrace our flaws to make anew or try again. Or perhaps we avoid, stall, numb, or overindulge. Weâve all been told âitâs now or never,â but yet we have heard that so many times. This stigma feeds our avoidance, unaccountability, and utter laziness. But rest assured âThe Inevitable Forkâ is coming for us all whether we appreciate it or appall it.âÂ
The Inevitable Fork is about the personal battle of survival vs. joy; our need to conform and stay afloat despite the pursuit of purpose. This is the next chapter for Melted Bodies, but for a band designed around reflecting on the very idea of metal with glaring intensity, thereâs much more to this story.Â
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