downset. announce new album ‘Maintain’

DOWNSET. have announced a new album!

Titled Maintain, the upcoming album from the Los Angeles-based hardcore rap metal/hardcore band is the long-awaited follow-up to 2014’s One Blood, and is scheduled to be released in June this year, via Nuclear Blast Records.

On the upcoming album, the band intend to draw inspiration from their early hardcore and hiphop roots while reigniting their passion for the streets and fury for the current societal and political injustices. “From the beginning I’ve had concerns about the problematic nature of society,” explains founder and vocalist Rey Oropeza. “I reflect on the experiences of my life. There are concepts that should be challenged and thought about. Everyone is going to come to their own conclusions on how they feel about inequality, misogyny, political topics, etc. but all of these things have kept me critically focused on my activism over the years. My abilities as a vocalist revolve a lot around what I’m feeling, going through, or witnessing at the time; pretty practical.”

“During pre-production, Maintain was the first song that we plucked out of the air,” describes founder and guitarist Rogelio “Roy” Lozano. “Going through hard times you’ve got to hang in there, hang on, Maintain and hold it down. During the first wave of the pandemic, we had a lot of fear. Everyone was getting sick, people were dying like our manager Scott Koenig (RIP). It was amazing that we were able to pull all the work off that we did for this album through lockdown.”

Speaking about the new song, guitarist Rogelio Lozano says, “this was one of the first tracks written with the new members Bobby Ponte and Philip Gonzales. With Nick Jett (TERROR) engineering and co-producing, our first objective was to try and revisit the original DOWNSET sound of the first ever recorded demos. To try and recreate the tone, we first unwound our guitars and basses back to drop “C,” and then created heavy rhythmic beats and riffs to facilitate a platform for Rey Oropeza’s Hard Rap flows.”

Lozano adds about the lyrical content, “the lyrics to this song combine several subjects into one song and at the end all tying in together. Represent yourself with class, responsibility and courage. Setting a good example for our youth is my interpretation of the message.”

Watch the official music video for The Place To Be here:

Also, you can view both the track list and artwork for the upcoming album below:

Track List: 

1. Maintain
2. Blackest of Days
3. New Respect
4. Won’t Forget
5. Wreck It
6. On Lock (Only the Defest)
7. The Place To Be
8. Your Power
9. Positive Mind
10. Hear Me Now
11. Deeper

Maintain is set for release on June 10th via Nuclear Blast Records. Pre-orders are available now and can be purchased here.

For more information on DOWNSET like their official page on Facebook.