Heavy Rock band Howling Giant are set to release their second album entitled Glass Future on October 27th. The band’s drummer/vocalist Zach Wheeler took the time to talk with Metal Express Radio about their upcoming album, their recent European tour, his favorite albums of the year, and more. Check out the chat below!
Metal Express Radio: Your band, Howling Giant are set to release their second album entitled Glass Future on October 27th, what can you tell fans about the upcoming release?
Wheeler: We’re extremely stoked for people to hear the new record. Each song included on Glass Future tells its own story, although they’re all tied together by the common theme of an impending apocalypse.
MER: How was the writing and recording process having this being your second album?
Wheeler: We’ve been writing songs for this record since 2020 and we knew since the beginning of this process that we wanted to write as many songs as possible. After writing 18 songs, we then chose the 9 that felt the most cohesive and best reflected our current direction as a band.
MER: Have you noticed some changes within the band since the release of your first album?
Wheeler: Our writing style has become more focused, and we’ve been able to define our sound as a collaborative effort. We’re becoming more confident in our lyric writing with the help of our good friend, James Sanderson, who has producer credits on this record. We feel that this record has a stronger ebb and flow as a complete work, compared to The Space Between Worlds. We hope that the listeners enjoy the record from the first song to the last every time.
MER: How does it feel to already receive such positive feedback from the press with Glass Future?
Wheeler: It feels awesome, and we’re so grateful that people are taking the time to listen and review this record. We’ve spent a lot of time and energy creating Glass Future, and we hope that people dig it for many years to come.
MER: You recently just finished a tour in Europe, how has that experience?
Wheeler: We actually just got back home to Nashville as we’re writing this. We had an amazing time, and we can’t wait to go back. All of the shows were rad, although some of our favorites were Desertfest Belgium, Keep It Low Festival in Munich, and Into The Void Fest in Leeuwarden. We’re already scheming some European adventures for next year.
MER: What do you see as plans for you and the rest of the band for the rest of the year?
Wheeler: We have 10 days to recover at home before we head out on our US album release tour. We’re excited to hit the states again and play some of these new tunes. On this run we’ll have shows with both Black Tusk and Restless Spirit, both of whom absolutely slay.
MER: Who do you hope to tour with that you haven’t yet and why?
Wheeler: Someday we’d love to go on tour with Red Fang, Clutch, or Mastodon. We’ve been huge fans of them for years, and we love how they’ve managed to reach a wide audience across multiple genres of heavy music. Other bands we’d love to hit the road with include Slift, Slomosa or Dozer.
MER: What have been some of your favorite releases of 2023?
Wheeler: Dozer – Drifting in the Endless Void, Mutoid Man – Mutants, Kvelertak – Endling
MER: For anyone that’s familiar with your band, how would you describe your sound?
Wheeler: We include elements of prog, stoner, psych, and various flavors of rock and metal. We like to focus on strong melodies, vocal harmonies, and big riffs.
MER: What are your hopes for the band’s future?
Wheeler: We hope that someday we can quit our day jobs and record/tour full time.
Be the first to comment