“Then the day I discovered Salted Caramel Twix changed my life forever. It was a warm mid-winter Gold Coast morning and the angels sang as I took my first bite.”
Sickly sweet and manically heavy, The Last Martyr create an effortless balance of the two on the new single Sugar.
The modern metal outfit bounce back and forth between extreme highs and lows musically, as well as emotionally, on the chaotic new single.
Sugar takes the listener through passages of spine-tingling double kick patterns, showcasing vocalist Monica Strut's brutal Valkyrie-like screams before rising up to a soaring and glowing chorus.
Spilling out truths of mental health struggles, Sugar lies close to home for Strut and her experiences with antidepressants and their effect on her headspace.
“I wrote Sugar about my experiences being on SSRIs last year when I was struggling with anxiety and depression," explains Strut.
"On one hand, they made life sweeter and much easier to deal with, but on the other hand, after a while, I noticed that my range of emotion really narrowed. I was unable to feel super high or low and began feeling apathetic towards people and things in my life which was super confusing. I’d never heard anyone else speak about this before and with everything we’ve gone through the last two years, I really wanted to share my experiences in case it helps someone else feel less alone.”
Sugar arrives at a moment when The Last Martyr are on a dizzying ascent, having played UNIFY Forever and supported Black Veil Brides (USA), Dayseeker (USA), Paledusk (JPN) and Sunk Loto. With appearances on festivals Big Sound, In Peril, Scorched and Froth & Fury still to come this year, the band are currently on tour for queer alternative party BONEZ.
In keeping with the sugary vibes, in celebration of the release of Sugar, we asked the band to hit us with a list of their favourite sugary treats.
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4. Raspberry Slushies
“I can’t see a movie without a raspberry slushy (usually accompanied by popcorn but not essential for me). I’ve always hated cola and I have so many memories walking around barefoot on summer days with friends drinking slushies.” - Monica
3. Hershey’s Cookies n’ Cream
"My parents took me on a holiday to Canada when I was 7 where we did a road trip around the country with a bunch of other random families. I remember constantly playing in the snow with the other kids on the trip. We were all so excited because it was the first time any of us had seen snow. At one of the pit stops we were making snow angels or something and I remember saying something about being hungry. Back then Hershey's wasn't very common outside the NA region so I had no idea it even existed. One of the girls in the crew who was about my age pulled out this little droplet-shaped candy wrapped in silver foil and asked if I wanted one. I then replied, "what's that?" She then kissed me on the cheek and said "it's a Hershey's kiss you dummy" and ran off.
We never kept in touch after that trip because there was no internet but I imagine she's somewhere out there living her best life. These days I'll have the occasional cookies and cream bar just to be taken back to a more innocent time" - Vin (drums)
2. Red Bull
“Honestly, this isn’t really a sweet treat, it’s more so an essential these days since we’ve been spending more time on the road.” - Monica “Red Bulls (sugar-free) keep us sexy and caffeinated for our performances. Please sponsor us.” - Ricky (bass)
1. Twix
“Then the day I discovered Salted Caramel Twix changed my life forever. It was a warm mid-winter Gold Coast morning and the angels sang as I took my first bite.” - Ben (guitar)
“A few weeks ago we were playing the Roundhouse supporting Black Veil Brides. For the first time, we got a huge dressing room to ourselves and our rider fulfilled. We were in awe as two men carried in trays of all these healthy snacks; Crackers and dip, an array of veggies, and a whole platter dedicated to a wide selection of fruit. It was amazing, we were shook. Since this was our first time ever experiencing getting a rider of this calibre, we had almost forgotten what we’d written on there. So when we saw that piled high in one corner of these healthy platters was a mountain of mini Twix bars, we burst into laughter.” - Monica (vocals)