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Emery Take a Heavy and Dark Direction on 'We Do What We Want'

Posted on Apr 5th 2011 9:00AM by Matt Debenedictis Comments

Tooth & Nail Records

For over a decade, Emery have straddled the worlds of aggressive rock and post hardcore, mixing reckless riffs with melodic pop hooks. When the South Carolina outfit saw their screamer Devin Shelton leave the band for the stability of family life, it seemed like the band was going to have to step away from the heavier aspects of their sound. However, Emery didn't merely prove everyone wrong by turning it up a few notches; 'We Do What We Want' is by far the band's heaviest record yet.

"I don't think we ever thought we'd get as heavy as we are now, but I'm glad we have," frontman Toby Morrell recently told Noisecreep. "We thought it would be fun to try."

Shelton left just as the band was in the middle of writing an acoustic album -- a release the band still hopes to finish and release before the end of the year. Upon learning the news of Shelton's departure, the stripped down sound was put on hold as Emery began to see just how far into the realms of hardcore they could go without giving up melodies and hooks.

The results, according to Morrell, were something heavier and darker than he ever thought the band could pull off. This new musical direction also demanded a new lyrical outlook, which left the frontman looking to his own religious faith for inspiration. "I think sometimes people pass over Christianity, and I wanted to show how serious it is, what it takes, and what its effects have been on me -- good and bad. This is where I am at and I'm not trying to be preachy. I'm just telling a story."

"In the age of the Internet, when you put yourself out there, there will critics in every single way possible," the singer said. "If you are honest with yourself when you say things, then [there is always] a benefit, even if it [creates] a little backlash. It's still you being honest."

Morrell continued, "I don't know what we're gonna do on the next record. It's kind of funny that we've put out so many records that I kind of wonder what direction we'll try [next]."

The singer also revealed that a double album may in the band's future. "We've toyed around with the idea of putting out a record with two CDs where one is totally pop and the other is totally hardcore. One is totally singing and the other is breakdowns and screaming. That's the thing we always like, to do something brutal and then do the prettiest thing you can do. It's kind of our trademark."

Watch the video for 'Walls'

Download Emery songs | Buy Emery albums

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Nick

Who the Hell wrote this? I did not get through the first paragraph because I need to let everyone know that Devin Shelton was not the screamer of the band. He never was. Josh Head is the main screamer and only screams and plays keyboard. Toby Morrell sings, screams, and plays bass. Devin Shelton has always only sang, never screamed, but used to switch off on bass with Toby after their previous bass player, "Chopper," left the band after The Question. Devin, often times, sang right along Toby and provided harmony if he was not the lead singer for that particular song. It is obvious that without Devin they would have to take a more hardcore approach because without him they lost their ability for complex harmonies and they lost a main lyricist.

April 19 2011 at 6:06 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

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