Set to have a breakout year, emerging extreme metal collective Escuela Grind has lived up to their name in throughout 2022. Earning a reputation for their relentlessness, the band has been on a tear in recent months, hitting the road in support of legends like EyeHateGod and delivering a highlight performance at this year's Psycho Las Vegas weekender.
Charging towards the September 30th arrival date of their sophomore release, Memory Theater, the previews thus far in "Cliffhanger" and "All Is Forgiven" are rife with the kind of blast beats meaty guitars that modernize grind. Substantiating the hostility that latent in the music however is an insightful, articulate approach to screaming in opposition. Escuela Grind manage to incorporate social commentary in their brand without soapboxing, weaponizing their powerviolence in a way that is compelling in meaning and commanding in execution.
For the band's most recent preview of the Kurt Ballou-produced project, the band sourced a cinematic cult classic in George Lucas' sci-fi dystopian epic THX-1138 as the visual companion to their stylistic show of force. Championing the spirit of confrontation and an anti-authoritarian ethos, "Forced Collective Introspection" asserts how Escuela Grind side-step the contrived angst, assert authentic aggression and deliver an audio onslaught that comes from a real place of opposition.
Vocalist Katerina Economou explained the headspace of the band with their most recent single and how the track is indicative of the ethos of the band as a whole. "Once again, we teamed up with director Michael Jari Davidson to create the video for "Forced Collective Introspection". The video references 1971's anti-authoritarian movie "THX 1138", where the band is held in a white void by masked guards, and reduced to objectified numbers. Harassed in prison cells, the band makes their escape in a Shawshank fashion. The theme of the video runs throughout all of our music: we must resist and attempt to escape their control to regain our humanity."
Leading up to the release of Memory Theater, Escuela Grind is currently on the road with Brazilian extreme outfit TEST on the Forced Collective Introspection tour. The run closes out in New Orleans on September 27th, just days before the arrival of their full length. Dates and cities can be found below.
Memory Theater from Escuela Grind drops September 30th via MNRK HEAVY. Pre-order the album - HERE.
Stream the Knotfest premiere of "Forced Collective Introspection" now.
Escuela Grind on the Forced Collective Introspection Tour
September 3 Salem, MA Old Town Hall
September 4 Montague, MA Millers Falls Rod and Gun Club (as part of RPM Fest)
September 6 Philadelphia, PA Kung Fu Necktie
September 7 Pittsburgh, PA Black Forge Coffee
September 8 Hamtramck, MI The Sanctuary
September 9 Cave-in-Rock, IL Full Terror Assault Festival (w/ Pig Destroyer, Suicidal Tendencies)
September 10 Rock Island, IL Wake Brewing
September 11 Cleveland, OH No Class (as part of Hacked Up for BBQ Fest w/Mortician)
September 12 Milwaukee, WI Cactus Club
September 13 Omaha, NE Reverb Lounge
September 14 Fort Collins, CO The Lyric
September 15 Salt Lake City, UT Beehive Social Club
September 16 Boise, ID The Shredder
September 17 Tacoma, WA Hammerhead House
September 18 Seattle, WA The Funhouse
September 19 Portland, OR High Water Mark
September 20 San Francisco, CA Elbo Room
September 21 Anaheim, CA Chain Reaction
September 22 San Diego, CA Brick By Brick
September 23 Scottsdale, AZ Pub Rock Live
September 25 Corpus Christi, TX Boozers Rock Bar
September 26 Dallas, TX American Legion Post 672
September 27 New Orleans, LA TBA
