Employed To Serve release re-working of 'Harsh Truth' with Drew Dijorio (Stray From The Path)

22 February 2020 | 10:20 pm | Alex Sievers
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Employed To Serve reenvision 'Harsh Truth' with help from Stray From The Path's leading man.

Employed To Serve reenvision 'Harsh Truth' with help from Stray From The Path's leading man.



'Harsh Truth,' culled from 2019's metallic hardcore/metalcore ripper of an LP, 'Eternal Forward Motion,' was another big win for Employed To Serve as a musical collective. It was a brutal, bleak portrayal of depression and suicide ideation brought on by how the noisy modern world operates. Outside of the relative, hard-hitting lyrical content, it was quite the confronting, ominous hardcore track from one of the hardcore and metalcore's best bands around currently.

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This week, ETS unearthed an alternate version of 'Harsh Truth,' and I think I love it more than the original. On this new take, the riffs are thicker and fuzzier, there's some added delay layered over Justine Jones' screams, it explores a digitized remix of the songs' gnarly breakdown, there are more distorted lo-fi sections, and Drew from Stray From The Path lends a sizeable guest feature that adds so much vigor and venom. It's somehow darker and heavier than the original version ever was, coming in hot with grooves galore.

Speaking about the track in a new presser, Justine talked about how this Relived version reflects the dominating, returning presence of mental illness and our worst demons over time, sharing:

“‘Harsh Truth (Relived)‘ is a reminder that past demons have a habit of rearing their ugly heads again, and that doesn’t spell defeat. It means you stare back at them with more determination than ever before. This song is a reworking of the album track ‘Harsh Truth‘ that sees the song take a more primitive and visceral shape.

The track also features a guest spot from our friend Drew Dijorio (Stray From The Path) which takes the song to a whole other level. As soon as the guest spot started to take shape when we were reworking the track, we knew instantly Drew was the person for the job. The way he articulates his words with such venom fits perfectly with the groove whilst adding even more aggression to the tracks already punishing presence.”

If ETS are thinking about "reliving" other material from 'Eternal Forward Motion', and if its anything like this new reworking of 'Harsh Truth,' then I shan't be saying no.