Chester Doom take aim at depression with their explosive new single and eyepopping video Pull The Trigger — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
One of the most painful things about depression — or any other mental health issue — is how it makes your brain lie to you. Depression tries to convince the person dealing with it that there is no reason for them to keep living. In the latest single from their new Crows Go Home EP, the Halifax hard rockers give those with depression a voice.
The song opens with a heavy metal riff from Patrick Blackie that barrels towards the listener and encourages the most devoted metalhead to headbang. These riffs are accompanied by a steady drumbeat from Peter Arseneau. Then singer Josh Best comes in with gruff, angry vocals that make the song’s first verse and chorus hit the listener hard.
To an outsider, the song might seem to encourage self-destructive thoughts, but the band insist this isn’t the case. The song not only confronts the darkness of depression head on, but also discusses suicidal ideation in a way that is honest. The lyrics demonstrates that a person doesn’t necessarily want to die; they just desperately want their pain to go away:
“Need a rest
The system failure has begun
Hazard to guess
And it’s so damn scary
In distress
A body full of foreign fun
Pound on your chest
screaming
Can you hear me!?”
“When we were working on Crows Go Home, we wanted to delve into the core struggles that so many people face in their daily lives,” Best explains. “Each song on the EP represents a different battle, whether it’s anxiety, depression, hopelessness, or addiction.”
Although college friends Blackie and Glenn Arseneau started writing songs together in 2009, the band Chester Doom would fully form in 2020 when Glenn’s longtime friend Best jammed with them. Earlier this year, they released their first single Not Far Behind, taking inspiration from Best’s recovery from COVID and the resiliency of the Ukrainian people.
Watch the video for Pull The Trigger above, check out Crows Go Home below, and follow Chester Doom to their website, Facebook and Instagram.
