Their music may be crusty, dirty, and wickedly industrial in places, but don’t let that fool you; Cohesion are a pretty friendly group of mad bastards. The mysteriously noir-looking group have recently released their newest single, Avarice: nearly seven straight minutes of metal so heavy, so angry, so full of life, that you may require a suit of armour to survive hearing it. We managed to sit down with the group to discuss their inner workings and what makes them tick.
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
UK and Italy. Meaning rehearsal lunches always taste great…
How did you meet?
We were all students at the same uni but all at different times and I even teach there! We found Seven with a pack of stray dogs though, housetrained her and gave her a guitar. Now she’s one of us.
How long have you been playing as a band?
Cohesion has existed in some form or another for about 3 years now. In this new iteration, with the stars aligned and vying for world domination, four months.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
What do you mean before? Sadly I have no memory. One day I just started using it and that was that… I having a list of possible names and Cohesion wasn’t even on it!
What are your influences?
Too many to count… NIN, Deftones, Tool… In fact, anything that Maynard has touched! All of those bands that just keep pushing the boundaries everyone puts in front of them.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Alternative metal with a liberal dash of industrial edge. I don’t think we’ve recently heard a band that combines all the best bits of what we like, and isn’t that what everyone should be doing? Mix the favourites and create something new.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Death, depression, sex, love, lobotomies, greed, and aliens. Literally anything goes!
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Loud. Expect to rock the shit out, have strobes destroy your vision, and the noise to blast your ears! [We’ve played] quite a few, but only two with our new powerhouse drummer!!
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
Moving the drum kit into the audience for the last song and then becoming the moshpit, lying on the floor shouting into a mic whilst the bass man jumps on you. Seven was in the audience for that one headbanging back before she ed the band!
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Guitars; Seven and I use a variety. Her main axe is a Gibson Black Beauty LP: that nice rounded thickness only a LP Standard can provide, and occasionally a scalloped fret Fender Strat. I use my own custom build Strat, proper Franken-Caster with some Duncan ‘buckers. I’ve played it for years: you can throw it around and smash it up and it always sounds so raunchy and hot.
What are your plans for 2018?
World domination. Gig and maybe a tour, releasing some songs – the usual crap bands do… But we want to get out to Europe, and get ourselves sharing a bill somewhere with some heroes: that’s our goal this year.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be ing and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
Mate’s band – Prescription Happiness. They’re right up our street and just starting out! As for headliners, wouldn’t it be great to Tool? Then again by that time we’d be retiring after a long career…
Avarice is out now and is available to here.
Cohesion: facebook | twitter | youtube
