New Jersey Deathcore/Metalcore band Liminal traverse the boundaries of their aggressive sound with their new single, "Born2Hate."
Sometimes the smallest of ideas can trigger the best creations. For the deathcore/metalcore band from Rahway, New Jersey, the idea for a band would manifest from a YouTube video about backrooms and liminal spaces. Since February 2022 the band has been going strong, but the journey to get there was not as easy. Marking the one-year anniversary since Liminal started, the band has dropped a new single, “Born2Hate.”
"Lyrically, "Born2Hate" is a concept song taken from a concept album I was in the process of writing. It was this vision of a serial killer in his last moments before getting the needle thinking back to all the things he’s done and how his death will never stop his reign of horror and hate."
A band with a layered orchestral cadence and aggressive soundscapes, Liminal has prided themselves on being willing to stretch their abrasive wings. Mixing genres such as Deathcore, Nu-Metal, Metalcore, Hardcore, and Thrash, Liminal shows no bounds for where their vision of heavy can extend to. While their first two singles are just a taste of what is to come for this up-and-coming band, these New Jersey heavy hitters are kicking down the walls to create something unapologetically brutal. New Jersey just got a bit heavier, and Liminal is here to extend that narrative.
How did Liminal start? What is the story behind your band's name?
Welsey Robinson (Vocalist): Well, Chris is the “founder” of the band, he was already starting the project with Sean and Chris. I guess he was watching a YouTuber talk about Backrooms and liminal spaces and immediately thought that’d be a sick name for a metal band, thankfully it stuck very well! We’ve been in and out with second guitarists but the core four have been here since February 2022. This single dropped 2 days before our 1-year anniversary as a band!
What made you guys want to pursue this genre as a band?
Welsey Robinson (Vocalist): Well we wanted to be extremely heavy but not so heavy it gets boring, so it’s almost impossible to put us in just one box. We can go from Deathcore to Nu-Metal, Metalcore, Hardcore, and Thrash in a matter of 5 songs. Really, we just wanted to make music you can enjoy with your friends or alone, just heavy music for the not-so-average heavy music fan.
What are your influences? You guys have these massive modern variations that extend from Deathcore to classic metalcore elements working in your latest track, "Born2Hate."
Welsey Robinson (Vocalist): We’re really influenced by a lot of older metalcore, nu-metal, and deathcore bands but the main influences on this song were Attila, and Emmure for the animated intro, Rings of Saturn, and Shadow of Intent in that chorus area, Vildhjarta and Humanity’s Last Breath in that breakdown. The rap section was just my fun way of separating us from others. Where others would do long screams or a catchy line I decided to switch it up and throw a complete curveball with a vibe change.
How was this creative process different from your last single, "Burn?"
Welsey Robinson (Vocalist): With "Burn," I had come to the band with the intro and the first riff and didn’t know where else to go from there but Chris had come to Connecticut and we sat down and worked through it all for the demo and then of course once we hit Pasquarella Recordings everything changed. The song had new elements and we were adding parts we have before, but Hate was already prewritten from a project I was working on. The only thing we as a whole had to do was make some changes in the studio, but this song's process was 1000 times easier than any other song we have.
Lyrically, what is "Born2Hate" keying in on?
Lyrically, "Born2Hate" is a concept song taken from a concept album I was in the process of writing. It was this vision of a serial killer in his last moments before getting the needle thinking back to all the things he’s done and how his death will never stop his reign of horror and hate.
Is "Born2Hate" a part of a larger project?
Welsey Robinson (Vocalist): “Born2Hate” and our other single “Burn” are part of a slightly larger collection we’ll discuss later this year!
What have you taken from this single experience personally?
Welsey Robinson (Vocalist): We all grew as musicians making this song. It challenged us to think out of the box and made us go left when similar bands might have gone right if you get what I mean. We all challenged ourselves with the pace of the song and with how nonstop it is, it just pushes forward the whole way up until that final breakdown, and writing something so moving has pushed us.
What do you want others to take from this that you feel didn't come across in the last single?
Welsey Robinson (Vocalist): We seemed to give off this party metal vibe with the first single and that’s cool cause we’re a lit band, but we want people to look at us as another party band but an actual talented group of individuals. This song adds depth to our catalog because it’s descriptive. The lyrics are complimented by the orchestral aspects, and the instrumentals set a mood for the whole song from front to back, even without the big breakdowns and huge moments, the whole song is just a talented piece of music.
What is next for you guys?
Welsey Robinson (Vocalist): We have some huge announcements to make for the rest of the year but really it’s just getting the record out and available for people to enjoy. Hopefully, with all this momentum our next release will be massive.