Guilt Trip: From Rain City to the Ritz
Think of your favourite hardcore or hardcore-adjacent band in the UK right now and chances are they are a part of MLVLTD. Malevolated is a record label formed by none other than giants of the scene Malevolence and provides a sense of community for other similar bands that find themselves on the same bills as the leaders of the new generation of hardcore. Finding themselves a part of this community among the elite is none other than Manchester’s Guilt Trip.
With the release of new album Severance fast approaching, we caught up with drummer Tom Aimson and guitarist Jak Maden to learn exactly what has gone into producing this new offering.
“We sort of started to write about a year and a half ago in April last year,” says Aimson. “We got a couple of riffs down and then started the first couple of tracks around then but didn’t really take it as seriously as writing a full record until about September last year. It all happened quite quickly to be honest.”
Guilt Trip blends elements from a multitude of genres through metal, hardcore and thrash, picking and choosing the best components from each to enhance their own unique sound. This collaboration of genres stems from the collaborative nature in which they choose to write, with the band choosing to get bring what they have worked on separately into the group setting.
“I think it definitely works for us because we all have our own influences, but then we all have mutual influences as well,” says Maden. “Early days, it was kind of like one of us would do all of this. Now, Tom plays guitar, so there’s three of us playing guitar; there’s three people writing riffs.” This fact becomes apparent when listening to Severance, with each song sounding entirely unique. There runs a risk in this genre of becoming a predictable band, but with three separate people writing some of the most important elements of their music Guilt Trip are far from falling victim to this trope.
The crossover between genres is no more apparent than during Sweet Dreams, which features guest vocals from none other than LANDMVRKS’ Florent Salfati. Both met during a show in Czech Republic last year and after an expression of admiration between the two bands’ lead singers and an exchange of t-shirts, Salfati seemed the only logical option when it came to choosing who to feature on Sweet Dreams.
“[Sweet Dreams] was one of the really early songs we recorded, and we had it ready to go and we had this section, and we didn’t know who to get for the guest spot. We just sort of thought ‘let’s just ask him’. It was a shot in the dark and he just said yeah,” says Maden.
There is a genuine mutual appreciation between the bands that is so obvious when listening to the track. Though the metal community is often so obsessed with keeping bands caged within sub-genres, collaborations like this succeed in bridging the gaps that so many wish to keep. “He smashed that, completely smashed it,” reiterates Aimson. “That first reaction when we heard it was pretty mad.”
Guilt Trip has remained independent over the last few years, managing to play major festival slots at Bloodstock and Hellfest, along with a run supporting industry veterans Stray From The Path. These appearances put them on the radar of so many bands, but they are possibly the most interesting to aforementioned Malevolence, signing the band to their record label and giving Guilt Trip an “overnight” increase in popularity. Not only has the band benefited from the obvious increase in notoriety, but they have also used the opportunity to find mentors in the bands they are associated with.
“I think because we are around Malevolence a lot, we’re looking forward and we’re seeing how they do things and we’re never really looking back,” says Maden. “They’re teaching us new things every day and we can always ask them about what we should do and we’re not making as many mistakes anymore, especially with like touring and releasing music. It’s nice that they’ve got our back.”
“It’s like its own sort of community,” continues Aimson. “The MLVLTD fanbase branches a lot of things together – metal, hardcore, etc. But you notice there’s a huge following of it that strictly is committed to both of our bands and Desolated and the other bands that are in the community and the label. It feels good to be a part of that because it feels like they care so much about what we do and how we do it.”
Not only does Malevolence support the bands they sign by mentoring them and supporting them through release periods, but bands like Guilt Trip also get to join them on tour. After not playing in the UK for 12 months and their hometown of Manchester for a further six, Guilt Trip is able to return and play their biggest appearances to date in November alongside Malevolence, Sylosis, and Justice For The Damned. With them, they bring an entirely new and fresh set, ready to impress at some of their bucket list venues.
“Some of the venues we’ve been wanting to play since we were kids, especially in Manchester at The Ritz – we’ve been to so many gigs there between us all,” says Maden. “It feels unreal because the first ever Guilt Trip gigs were pretty good because for your first gig, all your friends go from school. And then the second gig, there’s no one there. Then it gets to gig number 30 and you start getting a couple of people in. It’s like we’ve done all the shitty stuff, and it feels like it’s built up to this moment really.”
