Idaho

Description

New York, Boston, LA… The most acclaimed scenes of American hardcore better watch out for Idaho. Ingrown is not only the loudest export from Boise, it's one of the most vicious and compelling emerging bands in all of aggressive music, and their second album, Idaho, is the all-terrain vehicle armed with firearms - a proof of riding and hell. Ingrown – singer/guitarist Ross Hansen, bassist Gavin McWilliams, and drummer Charlie Ritch – started in 2015 and, over the last decade, they have gone from being the best-kept secret of their state to an international touring behemoth. The band released their first album GUN in 2021 (drawing attention from Stereogum, Revolver, Decibel, etc.) and toured in support of bands like Trapped Under Ice, Regional Justice Center, Drain, and Pain of Truth. Time spent on the road has further sharpened their already razor-sharp chops, laying the groundwork for the unbridled aggression that is Idaho. Recorded with Andy Nelson (Jesus Piece, Pain of Truth, Inclination, Weekend Nachos) at Bricktop Studio in Chicago, Idaho pushes Ingrown's visceral sounds even further into the red. "Andy understands our band and our sound better than we do sometimes," explains Hansen. "He has an amazing way of capturing a performance as accurately as possible without losing rawness or power." Comprised of eleven songs in just 18 minutes, the album oscillates between devastating heaviness and blistering speed, drawing on the technicality of death metal and thrash without losing the disjointed spark of hardcore and powerviolence. Idaho is above all an ode to Ingrown's home state and the indelible impact that life there has had on the band members. Tracks like "Cold Steel," "Bullet," and "Enemy" paint a picture of guns, bikes, and autonomy, but that's only one side of Ingrown's coin. The band's love for its local community permeates Idaho, giving it a surprisingly serious and sincere touch for a record that also makes you want to smash your head against a brick wall. It's an album that has nothing but vitriol for the terribly inadequate institutions that have been broken by corruption and greed, instead encouraging the kind of strength found within oneself and among those closest to you. "We are all left to our own devices in life and that can make you feel lonely and powerless," explains Hansen. "You only have your family and your community to support you. But knowing that can be liberating: you have the power to steer your own life. Idaho ends with three tracks that capture Ingrown in its most unexpected, compelling, and crushing form. First up is "Asylum," a song originally written by Hansen's father, Erik, for his 80s hardcore band, State of Confusion. The track first appeared on S.O.C.'s debut album in 1988, A Street ("one of the first songs I ever heard and one of the best hardcore there is," says young Hansen), and now it resurfaces with an Ingrown update on Idaho. The result is a moment of well-being in an angry song that still tears through 37 years later.