Holy Wars’ track-by-track guide to new EP, Cult Classic

It’s been a big year for Los Angeles duo Holy Wars, after signing with Pale Chord Records and taking things to the next level. Now, fresh from the release of their EP Cult Classic, vocalist Kat Leon talks us through each of the record’s six tracks – from the ominous to the high-energy…

“I wanted to start this whole EP with that old cult classic horror vibe. The music at the top of the track is a juxtaposition to our sound and so I wanted to create a feeling in the listener like they were watching the title credits of an old movie but once the screams come through, it is almost like the horror of reality is burning through the film strips forcing you to look at it. The horror in this is the power of mass media that has been influencing our society since the early 20th century and has been a growing power of influence ever since. We wanted this one to sound a little ominous and unsettling…”

“This one is a punch to the gut with a ton of energy and lyrical content that is poking the bear of media and our society. It’s actually the last song we wrote for the EP but pretty much summed up the whole feeling we were trying to convey. We wanted to write something that was also fast to start off the whole EP. I didn’t want the lyrics to just be a soap box preach session, as I wanted the listener to feel like a badass while blasting this track! But also hoping they listen closer to the lyrical meaning and the message I wanted to get out, about how our society makes us feel about ourselves and others. The never-ending rate race of greed breeding a feral human race. Even the robotic ‘American Dream’ in this track reminds me of that overused TikTok robotic voice.”

“I wanted it to be empowering where the lyrics in the verses are more poetic but the chorus lyric is very biting with a snarl. I always say if I could think of a diss to tell an enemy, it’s that chorus lyric. Sonically, the intro guitar was the very last thing written for the song in the 11th hour prior to turning the song into our label. Nick played that riff and pitched it up and once I heard it, I knew it was exactly what this song needed. I am very proud of this one and the music video for it. It was a hot set with a lot of bodies moving with visceral energy.”

“I always love sharing the fact how this song started with Nick tapping his guitar cable – it was making like a Morse code rhythm and that inspired the whole thing. It was Nick who said I should do a screaming spoken word type first, which really shows the mania in this kind of song. We weren’t going for ‘safe’ on this one. It has all sorts of twists and turns with different tempos and blends genres from pop to electronic, heavy riffs and hip-hop – everything we love. It feels like a rollercoaster in the mind and so the music video was literally that. Pure chaos.”

“We wanted to write something dark, sinister and a banger. We wanted some elements of Little Godz on this EP but more evolved and so VenoM was a great way to do it. I just wanted it to make the listener feel like a badass. It even has softer moments in the track like the plucking of an acoustic guitar and cello. This one’s meant to be full of spit and vinegar. Lyrically this song is a projection of a tormented mind. We are all spitting venom at each other, but why? What are we projecting?”

“I love that this one closes it all. It adds even more depth to a very high-energy EP. We recorded this one with our friends Mark Jackson and Ian Scott, and most of the track and the vocal performance is from that one day. There was something special in the feeling of it that I knew we couldn’t recreate later. This one is about depression and grief and how I cope with it all but in a very unhealthy way. While recording the verses, I was gripping my neck so tight that it was hard to get the words out, but it was exactly how I feel and something just made me want to sing this song with that strain. I know this is something I wouldn’t do again because it is not healthy for your throat or voice but it was exactly what it needed to bring out the emotion of what this song means.”

Cult Classic is out now via Pale Chord Records

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