At the risk of sounding like a douchebag seventeen-year-old, the new BackWordz is pure fire.
If their name didn't immediately give it away, BackWordz are a mixture of conventional metalcore and hip-hop & rap. Despite the overplayed nature of that style these days, this is probably one of the better bands going. Their Eminem cover basically confirms that.
However, the band's debut album, 'Veracity' - which was recently crowd funded - is dropping later this year through Stay Sick Recordings. Which means that anytime a new single is released, like new banger 'Be Great', my inner hype train speeds along even faster. 'Be Great', which premiered over at Metal Injection earlier, starts off as a groovy metalcore/nu-metal jam but soon turns into a lengthy, tell-all hip hop track for singer Eric July before transitioning back into their usual commercial metalcore sound. It's a rollercoaster of a track, I assure.
With 'Be Great', the band also publically commented on their "unique partnership" with Stay Sick Recordings (owned by Attila's Chris Fronzac) for their album's release, the wait on their new album, GoFundMe supporters, and on why they haven't been touring as much as their peers; assuring everyone that they haven't stagnated.
"We are proud to announce that we have entered a Unique Partnership with Stay Sick Recordings for our upcoming album, “Veracity.” As many of you know, everything about this band has been unconventional, yet strategic; we had no interest in doing things that were industry standard, or doing things just because other bands are doing it. We’ve had label offers that we respectfully declined, and we’ve been in talks with others that were only entertained at the surface level. This has been by design. We’ve been able to lay down a foundation, solidify our sound, and control our direction. In just a year and a half, we’ve been able to put out some successful singles that have pulled solid numbers without any sort of label backing; we’ve kept it all in-house, and that’s been by design. SSR knew that we had no intentions of signing an actual, typical record deal; we wanted to self-release our upcoming album. Over the last months, members of SSR and BackWordz have been talking on the business & friendship tip. All parties have a similar vision, and as time progressed, it seemed to make sense to pool our resources together. SSR and BackWordz’ teams are far from the standard and are involved in ventures that extend beyond music, therefore there is a mutual benefit in this partnership. What does this mean? Our upcoming album is still being treated as a self-release. Though it has been pushed back, it will now be a far bigger release. The album will not only be jam-packed with a deep tracklist, but we will be able to more easily distribute everything surrounding the album to a greater number of people; so you will see physical copies in stores, as well as a lot of merchandise. BackWordz still has creative control, we own the publishing, and will be still funding several aspects. SSR on the other hand, will assist with many things behind the scenes. This a Unique Partnership that goes well beyond the surface level, as there are other aspects that we cannot yet discuss. This consists of 2 brands coming together to make gold, rather than one signing to the other. It works out in a way that helps both brands, and we are looking forward to teaming up with a great group of guys at SSR."
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The band continues, saying:
We did not sign deals because we had little interest in the industry standard terms and wanted to own much of our product; It was not because we didn’t have the offers. We have not toured constantly because we have been smart with our finances and doing so many of the things that have been mentioned in our press release; in other words, we’ve been laying the foundation. We do not want to be a band that gained success and immediately fell off or a band that is broke and in debt. We practice good economics. Everything that has (or has not) happened regarding BackWordz, has been exactly as planned, and by design. We’ve been in a great spot due to our unique approach and our loyal fan base. Even if it felt like we were stagnant or doing nothing, we were getting things done in the background. We will continue to spread liberty and give you the BackWordz you fell in love with: Uncut, Raw, Honest, and Blunt. Lastly, to those that donated to our gofundme to fund Veracity, you will still receive your exclusive merch and pre-order bonuses surrounding this album."
Well, it seems that everything is hunky dory in the land of BackWordz right now. I for one am very keen to see where these dudes go in the future!
Also, as you may pick up from the song's middle section, a lot of shade is thrown over July's previous band, Fire From The Gods - who are a pretty solid band in their own right - but with good reason, I'd say. After all, this is a band that tells it how it so, and to shy away from it would be a disservice to themselves, band "beef" or not.