Out of nowhere someone posted a link to Inferno by Null in a Facebook group I frequent. Out of curiosity I gave it a listen and was pleasantly surprised by their nineties inspired metal core. Get to know them with this interview

Null is a fairly young band, and for me came out of nowhere. Can you introduce the band and its members? Any past bands we need to know about.  

Null is a five-piece band. We’ve known each other for roughly 5 years through different bands. Myself Martin, Craig and Gerard were once in a hardcore band called Snake Eyes that went from 2012 to 2016. We set up an emo side project called Flakes and through playing shows in Glasgow we met another band called Veto which Joy our bassist and Euan our guitarist were members of. After both band recently split up we decided to get together and start up something fresh and heavy, so here we are

Musically you take 90’s edge metal but you give it your own spin. What bands would you say are the biggest inspirations for Null?

Our first release inferno was all about finding what we enjoy and where we wanted it to go.
We’ve taken on influences from various metalcore acts from late 90’s to modern era and we’ve now came into our own to channel what we want. Without a doubt in mind, Drawing Last Breath, Undying and Morning Again have been influences for sound and style. Fast, atmospheric and emotive.

Why do you think that the UK has such a thriving hardcore scene, while in the rest of Europe it seems to be so slow? 

We feel more so in Scotland that hardcore is thriving due to the scene residing in Glasgow, people travel from far and the shows pull people from all over the country. It’s more of a central hub for hardcore that involves various themes of bands in the scene. England has numerous cities which can pull a crowd to shows like Leeds, Birmingham or London while within Scotland Glasgow exists as this hub for hardcore. The UK scene thrives with big festivals such as Outbreak and Upsurge and although hardcore is more spread out within southern UK, events like these bring everyone and all the upcoming bands together under one roof. A few of us have played shows in mainland Europe with other bands and have really enjoyed the scenes in the places we’ve been. Because the European mainland covers so much space we think that Scotland and the rest of the UK scene having such a concentrated amount of shows benefits it in a way the Europe doesn’t. That’s not to say the EU scene doesn’t have incredible shows and bands, any time we’ve managed to go over its always went off and is producing some amazing bands.

Sower of discord seem to be about the control of capitalism over our society. Did I read your lyrics correctly? Care to elaborate or correct me? 

Sower of Discord is about how complicit the western world is and how we all inevitably fall into the rat race that is a product of capitalism. It’s all pressure and struggle for people who aren’t born into wealth. Our lives are already paved for us in that we need to abide by rules in order to life a decent standard of life no matter how hardworking you may be. It’s airing frustration that we are all forced into this regime from birth

In Avarice you address the oppression and pillaging of the third world by our western civilization.  Is Null a political band? Is there a clear set of values that you stand for?  

Avarice is definitely a criticism of imperialism. Which, by all means, is the highest stage of capitalism. It’s influenced by the expansion of the British Empire which has profited and continues to profit from the exploitation of third world countries.  As people, we all have varying views on politics, some more radical than others. Hardcore has always been political and as a hardcore band we believe it’s important to speak out on certain issues related to politics that we don’t agree with. Our values are anti-fascist, anti-sexist, anti-homophobic/transphobic and anti-racist and we believe everyone should share the same values.

The song Null seems to quite personal. Do you want to explain the meaning behind this song?  

I wrote the lyrics to Null with a small few people in mind. Some people are around throughout your course of life and some people drift away. It’s natural but it shapes who you are for better or worse. It’s about pushing differences aside and wishing them well wherever life takes them with their future which is sometimes painful to do. It’s about gratitude, not forgetting who’s been part of the journey and how I continue to value them because it’s laid the foundations to who I am.

How do people in Scotland think of the Brexit? And what is the opinion of Null? 

Scotland voted 62% to remain within the EU compared to the UK who voted 52% overall. Most people in Scotland don’t want Brexit and the economic and social turmoil it brings with it. We can agree that the EU is not the most perfect system and is a neo-liberal trap which promotes the interest of big business, however, we think change can be brought on from the inside. When the independence referendum happened in 2014 Scottish people were told that independence would affect our place within the EU. Now we are being dragged out against our will. Despite the obvious lying and scaremongering that occurred during the Brexit referendum we think it is unlikely for another referendum to take place as the Tory government are not going to go against what is seen as the democratic vote of the people. We all support Scottish independence and hope that through the nightmare that is Brexit an independent Scotland can emerge.

What is a Null live show like? Any plans for touring? 

We’re still finding our footing with live shows, we try to bring a good amount of energy to any live performances while still having fun. Currently we only have a few shows spread out throughout the UK. Touring is something we are interested in, finding the time can be difficult as we all mostly have full time jobs and Craig is in full time education but touring the UK and Europe is something we will be trying for soon.

Any plans for new releases? 

We’re currently writing some new songs with plans to release a few tracks by the end of the year.

What other bands should we check out? 

Bands we think people should check out include: Gay Panic Defense, Revulsion, Overwhelmed, Revolve, Splitknuckle, Grave Mathews, Cauldron, Kingpin, Mourning, Gray State, Minded Fury, Worst Doubt, Herbert Powell and the grand mac daddy Romeo Taylor.

Last words? 

Fuck the Tories, fuck the queen, up the Celts and mon the 45%

NULL