Stoke-on-Trent-based The Thirteenth Turn fuse elements of punk, rock, hardcore and metal in a feisty sound that they describe as “hard, loud and unapologetic.”
The band got together when a former band of drummer Shaun and Dutch vocalist Jilles had a gig cancelled. They decided to have a weekend of pub crawls, which resulted in them writing music for fun. The results must have been pretty good, as they soon decided to bring new musicians in to start a new band, completing the lineup with bassist Tommo, lead guitarist Chris and rhythm guitarist Rat.
On the sound they’ve crafted since, the band said: “We try to stay away from labels, we all come from different backgrounds musically, and we just try to write what we like. That’s why you’ll hear influences from punk, rock, hardcore and metal.”
Our latest taste of this is their new single Wasn’t born to lose, which was released last month. It starts out with drawn-out guitar chords that continue over rolling drums and stabbing chords. A brief pause is broken by fast-paced guitars and rolling drums that drop into a feisty verse and flows into a big shoutalong chorus. Another lively verse supported by stabbing guitars continues into an extended chorus, then a cry of “Go” ushers in heavy guitars and drums that continue as a delicious guitar solo takes over. It drops into a final blast of the chorus before coming to a raucous conclusion.
On the track, they said: “It’s been amazing, it’s cool to see how the song has gone all over the world, it’s being played everywhere. This song captures everything we want to be: it’s got punk, rock, hardcore and metal all melted together.”
That follows on from a couple of double track releases, this year’s The Beaten Path and Emergency and Feed Me and Close the Door (under the title Tighten the Noose) in 2023.
On what inspires them to write music, the band told us: “Things that interest us on a daily basis, this can be history, the state of the world, the state of the working class. I think it’s easy to say most of our songs aren’t happy, but all bear a message of hope.”
Those releases are building up to The Thirteenth Turn’s debut album Bokkenrijder (Goat Rider), which is released tomorrow. They’ll be celebrating the album with a release party in Newcastle-under-Lyme before a big gig in December, supporting Discharge in their hometown Stoke. They’ll also be playing some festivals and gigs in Europe and the UK next year.
You can follow The Thirteenth Turn on Facebook and Instagram, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
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