Harm’s Way: Unity Through Suffering
HARM’S WAY have only ever moved forward. Evolving from a scrappy powerviolence outfit to the metallic hardcore juggernaut they’re known and loved as today, the Chicago bruisers are the epitome of the ‘grow don’t change’ mantra so often espoused by their guitarist Bo Lueders on the wonderful HardLore Podcast, the latest proof of this found in their fifth full-length album Common Suffering. It’s a long overdue successor to 2018’s Posthuman, and though it still carries some of the industrial influences that made that record so powerful, it actually dials them back a little as the band step into bigger, more expansive and often more atmospheric territories than they have ever explored before.
“I think if you have been a band for a long time, it is important to constantly push boundaries and take risks,” affirms vocalist James Pligge via email. “Nobody wants to hear the same record over and over nor do we want to write the same thing again and again. With Common Suffering, we tried to branch into some of our other musical interests [while] still trying to maintain what makes us HARM’S WAY. We don’t ever go into a record saying we should do this or that, but we try to create an interesting experience to help capture the listener’s attention throughout the whole record.”
It probably helps that they’ve now settled comfortably on a full line-up, with Pligge, Lueders and drummer Chris Mills – all permanent fixtures in the band since its 2006 inception – having added guitarist Nick Gauthier and bassist Casey Soyk to their number before they made their Metal Blade debut with Posthuman. Neither are there just to flesh out the band pics either, they actually wrote most of the riffs on Common Suffering – of which there are too many to count – with this in turn freeing Pligge up to focus more than ever on his role as a vocalist and lyricist.
“When Nick joined the band in 2015 and Casey in 2018, it brought a new vision to the band and the writing process,” offers Pligge. “I don’t want to say I was completely out of riffs, but having band members who write music differently and have a different perspective really helped us create new and interesting music. The less involvement I had in writing the riffs definitely helped me focus more on the lyrics and the vocal cadences.”
As refreshing as all that sounds, Common Suffering didn’t come easy – as indeed may be obvious enough from the title, or from just how long fans have had to wait for it. “Common Suffering represents our personal struggles over the last four years,” explains Pligge. “It was the hardest record we ever had to make and at times I felt it may never come out. I want people to understand that no matter how bad you think you suffer, someone else at some point has shared the same feeling. I want this record to be a statement of unity through suffering because we all do in our own way.”
Of course, Pligge and co. have always worked hard to get where they are; two themes crop up repeatedly throughout his answers, one of the importance of pushing boundaries, and the other of only ever doing it for yourself and your bandmates. “As a band you open yourself up to criticism every time you release new music,” he elaborates. “You can’t let the comments or the critics dictate what you do. The minute you start doing it for financial gain or to please others, you are already on the downfall.”
From that perhaps it makes a lot of sense that HARM’S WAY refuse to conform to the conventions of the day; Common Suffering is very clearly designed as a full album experience, with two of its most evolutionary showstoppers placed right at the end of sides A and B in the form of Undertow and Wanderer respectively. “I know many people consume music differently now, but I think there is something important and impactful about the right track listing,” reflects Pligge. “To me it’s part of the art of creating a musical experience with each LP that we write. Even if most people listen to music through playlists at this point, even if a few people experience the record as a whole, it’s worth it.”
He’s right though; hardcore and indeed music in general has changed a lot in the 17 years since HARM’S WAY began, and it seems only fair to ask him how he feels about it. “One thing I always enjoyed about hardcore and metal when I was younger was the exclusivity,” he suggests. “You had to really search to find new music or hear about shows. Now hardcore and metal is available for everyone to hear quite easily. However, that allows more and more people to get into the genre and allows the scene to keep growing, so it has its benefits. But I think there will always be something cool about how dedicated you once had to be to get into new bands and be involved in hardcore.”
It is exactly that sort of dedication that has made HARM’S WAY such a vital pillar in the hardcore community for so long. They may have taken their time but Common Suffering is one of their absolute best, and proof of a band whose enviable muscles will no doubt continue to hold the scene up for years to come.
Common Suffering is out now via Metal Blade Records.
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