Photo by Miguel Casey | Written by Maddy Howell

Over the last 25 years, Comeback Kid have mastered the art of channelling frustration and aggression into something largely positive.

Consistently finding new ways to turn the darkest realities of life into something worth fighting through, that thread of hope has bound everything from the raw urgency of their earliest releases to the increasingly expansive sound that has defined their recent output, staying remarkably true to their roots throughout every chapter.

Remaining consistent in their determination to make music that truly means something and never losing sight of their community, that longstanding commitment has found the Canadian hardcore heavyweights in an interesting position with eighth album, Chosen Hell.

With their influence now woven into the fabric of modern hardcore, their latest full-length stretches those boundaries in new and exciting ways, proving that sometimes the only way forward is to confront the things keeping you in place.

“We chose very much on purpose to lean into our strengths and what would serve the songs the best,” frontman Andrew Neufeld explains.

“In the past, we’ve had our specific style, and we’ve been very careful not to veer too far out from that. We’ve just never been the kind of band to do that. Sometimes we’ve pushed stuff, but then we’ve reined it in on previous records. Honestly, I always regretted some of those choices.”

Of course, that sense of self-preservation has served Comeback Kid well, allowing them to retain their identity while plenty of their peers have struggled to find their footing. With Chosen Hell though, the band opted to resist pushing back on those more unexpected ideas, embracing the full breadth of their musical influences.

“We love fun production, and we love big production,” Neufeld says.

“We were leaning more into a metallic sound, but we were going to have some of our more rock-influenced songs in there as well. We decided to try and limit the sugary choruses but to still be super melodic in the way that we know and love. We weren’t afraid of doing some fun production stuff this time.”

That balancing act is what makes Chosen Hell what it is, from the blistering opening charge of ‘Target On My Back’ to the metallic onslaught of ‘Vindication’, its eleven tracks take everything you know and love about Comeback Kid and shine spotlights on it from brand-new angles, showcasing all their fury and fierce urgency as we’ve never seen them before.

A large part of that evolution spawned from the band opening up their creative process, working with legendary producer Will Putney at his Graphic Nature Audio studio in New Jersey.

“Will is one of the greatest hardcore and metalcore producers out there, and he was really involved in the songwriting, from the riffs to even the vocals,” Neufeld explains.

“He’s also the most switched-on producer I’ve ever worked with, and he knows everything about our scene and where we come from. Sometimes I’d have a part that I thought was okay, but I’d have some side eyes from another member about it. Will would just push it and say, ‘Write it again, and write it better’.”

“I always want to work with people that want to work with me,” the vocalist continues.

“Sometimes when you shoot for someone that you are a big fan of; they don’t necessarily care about you or even know your band. You’re not going to get the same love and care that you’ll get from someone who genuinely wants to work with you.”

With Putney having been a fan of Comeback Kid for years before his professional involvement with the band, the producer’s understanding of their core purpose and the key components of their sound is undoubtedly second to none.

Encouraging the five-piece to question every decision, the process ultimately allowed them to arrive at a record that felt stronger than anything they could have created individually, simultaneously opening things up for collaboration internally.

“Stu Ross, our guitar player, has been in the band for about 15 years,” Neufeld explains.

“As far as the writing goes, he’s edged his way in more and more with each record that he’s been involved in. He used to be in Misery Signals, who were quite an influential metalcore band, and he’s a crazy songwriter. He was the rock star on this record. Out of the eleven songs, six or seven of them came from initial riffs or ideas that he brought in.”

Ross’ more technical, metallic influences can be heard throughout the album, and the guitarist was also responsible for bringing its title to the table.

Having become accustomed to writing a finished collection of songs and seeing its overarching identity revealed over time, Chosen Hell brought a unique opportunity to explore a singular concept from the outset, with those two words nailed down from the very beginning.

“Usually, we’d write the record, and the title would just expose itself to us,” Neufeld nods.

“There’s something to be said about getting an album title, then writing to that album title though. It gives you a little bit of vision.”

“Chosen Hell is really about saying that there is a way out, but you choose to self-sabotage by staying in that cycle,” he continues.

“Over the last few years, we’ve definitely felt that. We wanted to explore the idea of being contained by your own will, and how you can hurt yourself and others along the way.”

Whilst Comeback Kid have never been strangers to exploring the frustrations and injustices of the world around them, Chosen Hell looks inward with a different kind of intensity. Exploring morality, responsibility, and the difficult decisions that shape our lives, it centres around painfully human contradictions, and the dangers of becoming trapped by your own decisions.

Confronting the uncomfortable reality that we can sometimes become the architects of our own suffering, the album’s title track examines the destructive cycles that keep us rooted in place, whilst ‘Yesterday’s Gone’ offers a different perspective.

Featuring some killer rapped screams courtesy of Incendiary vocalist Brendan Garrone, it revisits one of the most fundamental ideas running through Comeback Kid’s entire catalogue: the necessity of making peace with the past in order to move forward.

“It goes back to something that has historically always been a part of Comeback Kid,” Neufeld explains.

“The first song we ever wrote was called 'All In A Year', and it’s about not living in yesterday. It’s a very typical hardcore sentiment, but that’s where 'Yesterday’s Gone' sits too. It starts off with feeling fucked and burnt out, but yesterday’s gone, and you have to move on. That can’t be what you focus on, you just have to find peace within yourself.”

Elsewhere, "Shedding Season" boasts one of the heaviest moments on the record thanks to a collaboration with Spiritbox vocalist Courtney LaPlante, delivering some of the most brutal, guttural vocals of her career.

“Spiritbox actually played their first ever show with Misery Signals and my old band Sights & Sounds,” Neufeld says.

“Our friend, Bill [Crook], was also in Spiritbox for a while before he passed a couple of years ago, so that’s how we know them. One of our friends mentioned collaborating with them, and initially I just blew it off. Over time though, we realised it could work, so I gave Courtney a shout.”

“They were super down and excited to work on it,” he adds.

“I had to follow up a few times to make it happen, but when they played Toronto, they got into a studio and were able to do it. They’re on this whole other level of stardom, and their band is huge, but Courtney was super cool and down to earth. We got along really well, and I’m glad we pushed to make it happen.”

Take one listen to "Shedding Season" and you’ll see that it’s a diss track of epic proportions, but the most emotionally significant moments on Chosen Hell arguably arrive when the band turn their attention towards grief.

"Heartland Elegy" pays tribute to former bassist and longtime friend Matt Keil, who passed away in 2025 following a battle with ALS. A deeply personal celebration of someone who played an important role in the band’s history, the song gradually fell into place, with its initial musical ideas taking on an entirely new meaning following Keil’s passing.

“Stu had the riff, then I had an idea for a bass line,” Neufeld recalls.

“Then Matt had passed, and it clicked that we could write the song about him. Stu was like, let’s actually shout him out on it, straight up, ‘Matt K forever’. Now, there’s no two ways about who this song is for.”

Elsewhere, "Lost And Found" approaches loss from a different angle, exploring the traces people leave behind and the small reminders of their presence that continue to surface long after they are gone. Musically, it also ventures into unfamiliar territory, gradually stripping away the intensity until Andrew is left singing over a softly strummed acoustic guitar.

Whilst there may be flickers of familiarity there for fans of Neufeld’s work with Sights & Sounds, it’s a moment that feels distinctly unique in the context of a Comeback Kid record, but it makes perfect sense on a record like Chosen Hell.

A band who have always comfortably moved between hardcore, punk, and metal audiences, Chosen Hell sounds the way it does thanks to Comeback Kid’s confidence in their ability to explore every side of their musical identity, without ever compromising what makes them who they truly are.

It's not the sound of a band desperately trying to remain relevant, nor one content to spend the rest of their career celebrating what they achieved two decades ago. Instead, it's five musicians drawing upon everything they've learned to create something that feels both reassuringly familiar and genuinely new, still driven by the same conviction that first brought them together.

“Right now, this is a band that wants to utilise all the strengths that we have,” Neufeld smiles.

“We can go on tour with Gojira, we can play shows with NOFX, we can play with hardcore bands, and we can play with metal bands. We know that we can spread our wings in all of those spaces, and that’s one of the biggest strengths that we have. We’re aware of where we fit into that now, so much so that we don’t really have to follow any preset rules. In fact, we’ve written a lot of our own rules over the years.”

“We’re still influenced by so many bands both new and old, and we’re just rocking,” he finishes.

“We love this music, and I’m so grateful to have so many incredible musicians in my band. I take a lot of pride in knowing that I have these crazy ass players behind me, and I’m so proud of everything that we’ve accomplished together.”

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Chosen Hell, the new album from Comeback Kid launches November 6th via SharpTone / Dine Alone Records. Order the release - HERE

Riding out in support of Chosen Hell, Comeback Kid will take on a slate of live dates with support from the likes of The Warriors, Defeater, Dead Heat, Barrio Slam and more. See the confirmed list of dates and cities below.