Guitarist Phil Sgrosso Says New Wovenwar Album Will Be More Metal, Less Rock

I really dug Wovenwar’s eponymous debut, but I know that there are fans who were bummed that the band didn’t go in a heavier direction more similar to As I Lay Dying (whose former members comprise 4/5ths of Wovenwar). Those fans will probably be heartened to hear that, according to guitarist Phil Sgrosso, Wovenwar’s sophomore effort will be way heavier.

While promoting the debut album from his metallic hardcore Poison Headache project (an excellent track from which, “Conspirator,” we recently debuted), Sgrosso recently made an appearance on the Into the Combine metal and hardcore podcast. When talk turned to the next Wovenwar offering, Sgrosso had this to say:

“I try to stay away from the word ‘heavier’ because every band says that, but it was a conscious goal to kinda leave the more mid-tempo of the first record… we just kinda wanted to see what we could do with more rock elements to our sound… but I think we’re [now] going back to just heavier, meaner [material], but still a lot of melody in the vocals, a lot of melody in the guitars, [the] drums are very driving… [and there’s] a lot more screaming.”

Sgrosso goes on to explain that Wovenwar vocalist Shane Blay developed his screaming skills while on tour in support of the band’s debut, which also played into the decision to do more of it on this album.

You can listen to the entire podcast here — the bit about the Wovenwar record appears around the 109:10 mark, but the interview is chock full of other interesting tidbits, too. For example: Sgrosso’s favorite riff that he wrote is “The Sound of Truth,” from 2008’s An Ocean Between Us. Apparently even In Flames’ Björn Gelotte is a fan, which understandably blew Sgrosso’s mind when he found out.

Also, don’t forget to check out  Poison Headache’s debut album which comes out June 3 on Metal Blade. Pre-order it here.