Artist Spotlight ~ To The Grave

Artist Spotlight is a segment that we started to introduce our readers to some deserving up and coming artists/bands. They have made an impact on us for all of the right reasons. We think they kick ass, and we hope you do too! Today we’d like to shine the spotlight on Australia’s To The Grave..

One of Australia’s most uncompromising bands, To The Grave garnered international success with their 2019 debut album ‘Global Warning’. The caustic five piece have continued to collect international success, with 2021’s follow-up ‘Epilogue’, a re-issue of ‘Global Warning’ with bonus tracks, their 2023 album, ‘Director’s Cuts’ along with it’s subsequent Deluxe release, which featured a new collection of tracks on the ‘Offcuts‘ EP solidifying their position as “one of the country’s heaviest exports.” (Revolver).

To The Grave have steadily built an audience in the underground, accumulating more than 11 million Spotify streams, racking up over 5.4 million YouTube views, all whilst decimating live audiences alongside Parkway Drive, Polaris, Cattle Decapitation, Thy Art Is Murder, Shadow of Intent, Angelmaker, Enterprise Earth, Vulvodynia and Alpha Wolf.

Now, following a sold-out national headline tour in 2022, global critical acclaim for the release of ‘Director’s Cuts‘ and it’s Deluxe release, featuring the ‘Offcuts‘ EP and plenty of upcoming tours, the band are more focused than ever.

To The Grave lyrically expose a societal and environmental hell on earth whilst pushing the boundaries of accessible extremity, full of barbed hooks, thick with atmosphere and drenched in groove. Razor-sharp guitars played with an exploratory approach – blending everything from whammy pedal squeaks and chiming cleans to death metal chainsaw tones – are entwined with live drums to give a level of dynamism that musically sets this band apart from the extreme metal pack, yet they maintain the weight of the heaviest bands today. Vocalist Dane Evans commands a multifaceted performance, bursting with vocal energy from throat-ripping dissonant screeches to low end gutturals.

To The Grave are: Dane Evans – Vocals, Jack Simioni – Guitars, Programming, Matt Clarke – Bass, Vocals, Nic Webb – Guitars, Vocals, Rangi Barnes – Drums

We sat down with Matt and Dane for a short but fun Q&A session.

Every superhero or villain has an origin and a band is no different minus the radioactive spiders and secret government experiments. What is the origin of To The Grave?

Matt: The band started like any other band – I got some friends together with similar-ish interests in heavy music and we wrote some music. The band really kicked off more seriously when we got Dane as a vocalist and started to get some attention. We took a break for a bit but came back with a new lineup and really started pushing the band. Some people have come and gone, but the latest lineup feels the most cohesive and on the same page as far as musical tastes and goals.

Dane: I got into music through watching wrestling as a kid and hearing heavy entrance music etc. Aside from that, had a huge influence from my dad and sister making sure I was always surrounded with good music growing up haha.

Band names can have a meaning or it can be a name pulled out of a hat. What’s the story behind To The Grave?

Matt: The band name was originally just a phrase that sounded cool to me so at first it had no real significance. But now I think it represents our commitment to animal liberation. We’re very vocal about the fact that there’s no good reason for people to abuse, kill, or eat animals and everyone in the band now feels very strongly about this.

Dane: I always thought it was a reference to the movie Cars, someone told me once it was a Lightning McQueen quote and I just ran with it.

Are you working on anything right now?

Dane: Paper airplanes, it started as a prank on my cat but evolved and now it feels like more of a chore. I fucking hate folding and I’m sick of papercuts.

Matt: We’re in the middle of a US tour supporting Oceano which has been great. The whole lineup (with VCTMS and Half Me) is killer and everyone’s a fun hang. We released our new album “Everyone’s A Murderer” right before the tour and it’s cool seeing the reaction to the new songs, there’s been crazy moshing and stage dives during our set which just makes performing more fun.

We’re always working on more material – Jack is pretty prolific with songwriting so there’s always something new coming. The sound from the new record feels the most authentic to us – less tech, more fun and more mosh-y. It’ll be exciting to see how this sound get refined on the next release, but we are always experimenting so the next one might be something completely different.

We’ve got some exciting tours coming up, really looking forward to supporting Lorna Shore for their first Australian tour next Feb. It’ll be another big year for us, we like to stay busy.

Are you a good cook? What’s your best dish to prepare?

Dane: I haven’t really had time to cook lately because of all of the folding. It’s not that I’m incapable of making a nice one, they just won’t fly very far and even when they do it’s always a disturbance to the cashier.

Matt: Yeah I am actually. I’ve got a lot of favorites in the rotation but the meal I always look forward to making when I’m home off the road is chili garlic noodles with tofu and broccoli. It’s simple, quick to make, tastes great and completely vegan and cruelty free.

What was the first CD/album that you bought with your and what was your most recent CD/album purchase?

Matt: The first album I bought was Slipknot’s self titled – i’d started hearing metal hanging out with friends whilst folding. This was the heaviest creepiest thing I’d heard at the time and it really started my interest in going deeper into death metal etc.

I haven’t bought anything new in a little while but the latest Kublai Khan rips, it’s just so punishing and relentless. We’ve been listening to the new Chappell Roan and Post Malone albums on the drives on this tour – good songs are good songs, and it’s nice to have a break from metal when you’re listening to it for hours every night at shows.

Dane: the first CD I ever purchased was John Cena & The Trademarc’s debut record You Can’t See Me. My most recent purchase was Hospice Crew’s visiting hours for the digital instrumentals haha.