Band Of The Week #331 - heavy wild
Lo-fi London rockers heavy wild have just released their sophomore EP 'Paradise Forever' via Submarine Cat Records.
With a strikingly more darker and bigger sound, while more fully honing the lo-fi aesthetic which has become their signature. Sonically, the record is a mix of fuzzed out basslines, chaotic noise-rock guitars and swirling de-tuned synths, which provide the vessel for Harte’s introspective lyricism and emotive vocals to draw the listener in. Lyrically, the record sees songwriter, Wolfgang Harte digging deeper into the existential themes of 2025’s debut EP, Death Dreams, interrogating ideas of lost youth, changing identities, broken relationships, grief and self-destructive behaviour. These lyrical themes are well reflected in the sonics of the record which feel bruised and chaotic, helping to build a cohesive world for the listener to step inside. Pounding drums and soaring synth lines create a constant feeling of tension and simmering frustration throughout the EP which explode in places into cathartic, euphoric phases which help take the EP into grander territory while still retaining the lo-fi integrity of the project.
Due to headline the Lexington in London this week - the band took a moment to talk to us about how the EP came together.
Hey there, how are you? So your EP is out now – how does it feel to have it out there?
In lots of ways, releasing music always feels more like an ending than a beginning! For fans it’s the first time hearing the tracks but for us, at the point the music comes on we’ve lived with these songs for months and months and heard them thousands of times – so it’s always very freeing to finally have them out in the world but then the mind turns to what’s next and gets excited for ‘new’ music – and the cycle repeats!
It is called ‘Paradise Forever' – what is the meaning behind that?
Was intended as a kind of antithesis to the John Milton poem ‘Paradise Lost’ but was also a response to a religious sermon about how without God’s forgiveness one can never enter paradise – I got obsessed with listening to lots of like vintage religious sermon’s and actually sampled this particular one on the EP track ‘paradise’
Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories you are willing to share with us?
Recorded at Third Floor Recordings in Camberwell by my very dear friend and exceptional producer Paolo Ruiu... when we first started working on it in January of 2025 we were going through a crazy cold spell in London and it was fucking freezing in the studio, so I think lots of the tracks ended up gaining a few bpm simply because we were trying to play faster and stay warm
What are the key influences behind the EP?
Musically, the main driver was to achieve a very honest, lo-fi sound and to also capture or hold onto the energy of the original demos so there’s lots of stuff from my shitty GarageBand demos that made it onto the final versions which is cool
If the EP could be a soundtrack to any film – which one and why?
I mean I’d love to see a version of True Romance with all these tracks playing instead…
Do you have a favourite lyric on the EP? If so, which one and why?
In the track nightmare I say ‘ the house inside too empty, still too filled with you’ it’s about being at home again after my mom died…was so fucking weird to be in a place that so strongly embodies a person and they aren’t there… whenever I sing that life I can remember that feeling vividly – I spent a lot of time in the garden because it just felt overwhelming to be in the house.
Now the EP is out there – what next for you?
We have an EP release show at The Lexington Oct 27th which is our final show of the year and then we’ll shortly be announcing a tour for early 2027…
