Over the course of the last few years, LA-based collective Melted Bodies has emerged as one of heavy music's most intriguing contributors. The band's incendiary full length debut Enjoy Yourself managed to color out of the lines of even the avant-garde, assembling a 10-track presentation that melded layered songwriting, uninhibited intensity and instrumental dexterity in an effort that could best be summarized as consuming.
For the band’s most recent effort, The Inevitable Fork Vol. 1 serves as the first of three unique, inventive EPs, and the first cohesive body of work since their emphatic 2020 debut. On Enjoy Yourself, the band embraced the broad thematic stroke of consumerism, arrogance, political ambivalence, and isolationism into a cacophony of musical chaos that properly soundtracked the volatility of the era. Now, the band offer a more introspective take – tackling personal fulfillment, artistic integrity, and the universal pursuit of purpose in a collection of songs that prove as equally effective, dynamically daring and dominant as all hell.
To better gain some insight into the creative headspace of one of heavy music's most unpredictable units, Melted Bodies' guitarist/vocalist Andy Hamm offered some explanation of the thematic weight that bolstered the substance of the EP. Elaborating on the personal element of such a musically pulverizing presentation, Hamm lifts the curtain and reveals the psyche of heavy music's DIY outliers and frame of mind that drives such dynamic artistry.
In his own words, Hamm details the four entries of The Inevitable Fork: Vol 1.
"Therapy"
Hamm - I have been in and out of therapy for years, and I still fight with the notion of paying someone to talk to me or just sit there and listen—that's not to say that it hasn't been helpful. The underlying realization is that we are growing to become so self-involved, so mentally drained, and consumed by making money, that the only people left who actually have the capacity to listen truly are those getting paid for it.
"Liars"
Hamm - We all have moments, days, years, or even lives where we often choose to lie instead of letting anyone in on the barrage of self-deprecations and troubles that actually plague our minds when asked, "Hey, how are you?" Instead, we get in line with everyone else and wait to self-implode.
"Think Safe"
Hamm - It makes sense if you don't think about it. Do not critique or ask questions and avoid uncomfortable opinions. Believe instead in what's easiest to digest and fits best with your personal lifestyle or what you think others want to hear—movement in place. Squirm slowly into failure.
"The Inevitable Fork"
Hamm - I'm told it's now or never, but I've heard that so many times it's become a stigma. The choice is made either when you choose take to take a chance or are forced to by the exhaustion of time. Either way, we know the inevitable fork is coming for us all.
The Inevitable Fork: Vol. 1 from Melted Bodies is currently available - HERE
