Rough Justice: Men Of Steel

When it comes to modern heavy music, Sheffield is a truly unique place. In recent years we have seen the rise of such acts as BRING ME THE HORIZON, WHILE SHE SLEEPS and MALEVOLENCE who have all made a name for themselves in the metal/hardcore world before returning to the Steel City to set up camp (quite literally) with all three now having their own units for recording/rehearsals within the same area. One of the aforementioned acts, MALEVOLENCE, play a big role in the world of ROUGH JUSTICE. 

With Josh Baines playing guitar in the former, and drums in the latter. The lads are also signed to the record label MLVLTD which is owned and operated by MALEVOLENCE themselves. This, however, is no reflection of the way that ROUGH JUSTICE have made a name for themselves. Rather, they have been a band who have paid their dues, having originally demos more than a decade ago. Since then, the band have been wrapped up in everyday civilian life with things such as full-time work, further education and family putting music on the backburner.

With the influx of modern bands coming out of South Yorkshire in recent years, it is fair to say that making a name for yourself and finding your way could be seen as quite the uphill struggle. However, ROUGH JUSTICE have made their own way by sticking to their guns and grafting. “Sheffield has always had a rich heritage of unique heavy bands,” explains vocalist Jimmy. “There has always been a divide between the real out and out metalheads and the hardcore lads, and we have always come down somewhere in the middle of all that.” The band have made their way by fusing the two genres together and have made people pay attention with their DIY ethos and hard hitting, energetic live performances.

For their debut album, Faith In Vain, the band have come together to craft eight slabs of honest, emotive metallic hardcore. Tackling some pretty in-depth and personal subject matters along the way, including the past ‘misplaced’ faith of Elliot with the title track for the album. “For a large portion of my life I was very angry about falling out of religion and losing my faith. The weight of that felt massive,” explain guitarist Elliot Reynolds. “I then took the idea to Ed [Armitage, guitars] and he ran with the idea. With his background in philosophy, he was able to take the concept and move it forward in a way that I never could.”

The whole album has a very personal, real feel about it. And the whole band have a heavy hand in how the songs come about. For example, when it came to penning the other main single for the album, Backwards Mask, all of the members grafted together to create the crushing song that we now know as Jimmy elaborates. “Elliot wrote the core of the music for the song and Ed brought the idea of ‘backwards masking’ to us, he was very specific about how he wanted the lyrics to come across with regards to the cadence and structure so together down and hashed it out together and I think it came out really well.”

The opener to the album, Coward, is another personal track. “This one is my perception of myself,” tells Jimmy. “I split it down into three sections lyrically. The first section is me being angry at myself for my own cowardice, the second is recognising that I need to do something and the third is a more defiant stance and realising that I am okay within myself, as well as acknowledging those that have helped me realise that fact.”

 It is this kind of self-awareness and raw humility, couples with a penchant for breakneck riffs and crushing breakdowns that makes Faith In Vain such an exciting album. One that was built for the live scene and frankly, that’s exactly the way that the lads like it. “We’ve always been that sort of band,” concedes Elliot. “Writing and the studio is all well and good, but we like to get on the stage and have fun, that’s what we’re really all about.” And in the new year, they are going to get their best chance yet as they set out on the road with MALEVOLENCE and PAIN OF TRUTH, no more than two weeks after the release of the album.

With the new album already in the bag and chalked up for a mid-January release, and a fresh tour lined up to follow. You would think that ROUGH JUSTICE would be rushing to fill their schedule with as much possible, as quickly as possible, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. And before you think that it is down to laziness or anything else silly like that, you couldn’t be more wrong. The actual fact of the matter is that the lads are taking their time to assess their options and are not simply jumping on the first offer that comes their way. “We’ve already had some cool offers come in, but we are a little hesitant to commit just now,” explains Jimmy. “We want to focus on getting the album out there and see where abouts the ceiling is before we sign up for anything. There’s no immediate hurry.”

Its refreshing to see a group take a more reserved approach to their business. With many bands diving headfirst into whatever comes their way without much caution. And it goes without saying that with an album the calibre of Faith In Vain up their collective sleeves, there will be plenty to come and you will be hearing a lot more for the Sheffield lads very soon.

Faith In Vain is out now via MLVLTD.

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