Introducing: Cold Culture

It’s been a while since we covered any bands from Denmark (over a year) but we’re putting that right with the delicious post-hardcore sound of Copenhagen newcomers Cold Culture. The quartet offer up a post-hardcore meets hard rock and metal sound laced with elements of pop, which they describe as “modern, electronic and emotional.”

Cold Culture began with Michael Mentz Hansen and Mads Zelasny simply writing a bunch of songs together. They soon realised they needed a drummer and guitarist to complete the lineup, which saw the arrival of Andy Morielle and Andy Paul, and the band was born.

On the sound they’ve crafted since, they tell us: “We often jokingly call it Pop Metal. We really like to take pop elements and put it into the rock/metal world, post-hardcore is a good way of describing it we think.”

Our latest taste of this is their delicious third single Downfall, which was released last month. It opens up with an effects-ridden riff before a cheeky cry of “downfall” ushers in a bouncy instrumental section. That drops into a laid-back opening verse of mellow vocals, which intensify in a huge chorus “I’m breaking down, ‘Cause I need you, To guide me through, You’re looking like a stranger, Can’t recognise you, It feels like we’re no longer, In the same room, You seem so distant, I can’t recognise you.” A second chorus drops into chilled synth sounds and the light vocals, before drums jump in and build up to a final blast of the chorus.

On the track, they said: “We’ve received a lot of heartwarming reactions from people we know, and even from people we don’t know! People should expect a groovy song with heavy riffs and modern electronic elements, with a big cinematic chorus.”

That follows on from Cold, which was released in June, and their debut single Faded, which came out in May. Cold opens up with a cool stabbing riff that drops into big guitars and backing vocals supported by a pulsing synth. Engaging vocals are supported by light instrumentals, before drums come in to build up to a catchy chorus “Cold, But now I know you’re, Cold, Treat me like an animal, You’re so irrational, Thought you were an angel, But my god, You’re so cold.” Check it out here:

Faded begins with a light piano line, then a pulsing synth sound continues under laid-back vocals. Drums again creep in through the verse, before flying into a huge chorus. A little drumroll introduces another laid-back verse, which intensifies before big screamed vocals set up another chorus, which this time drops into a delicious driving guitar riff then huge low-tuned guitars and screamed vocals. That tees up a big final blast of the chorus before ending on vicious vocals. This song is absolutely superb and you can check it out in the video here:

Those singles build up to Cold Culture’s debut EP Afterthoughts, which is out on 6 October. On the EP, they said: “We are so excited to show people Afterthoughts, the response so far has been great, so we can’t wait! The EP is a mix of different genres, and all together we feel like it really shows what we’re made of.”

The Cold Culture sound is heavily influenced by the likes of Bring Me The Horizon, Linkin Park and Post Malone. And on what inspires their music, they tell us: “Our EP is based on pasts, problematic relationships, which is reflected in the instrumentals as well.”

And, having not covered any Danish bands in a while, we asked the band for their insight on their local scene. They explained: “The rock/metal scene overall has gotten better over time, and it’s peaking at the moment in our opinion. We don’t have the biggest metal crowd here, but it’s for sure one of the greatest! We’re really looking forward to seeing what it will bring us in the next couple of years.”

Cold Culture’s debut EP Afterthoughts is out on 6 October. And you can see them play these songs live along with a bunch of talented new artists at Hotel Cecil ‘Class Of 2023’ on 5 October, which is organised by their record label Prime Collective and tickets are available here. The band is already in the process of writing more material, so look forward to even more new music soon.

You can follow Cold Culture on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Deezer, Amazon Music and YouTube.