If you like your metal on the heavier and edgier side of the spectrum, then you’ll love the sound of DIY American band Pharmacy, who describe their music as “raw, aggressive, and assertive.”
The band members met at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina, through mutual friends. Vocalist and guitarist Joseph Castello knew a few people involved in the campus music scene were struggling to find bands, including drummer Hannah Johnson, who wanted to form a metal band. They jammed for a while before being joined by Owen Kennedy (vocals and guitars), who’d heard them jamming in one of the music buildings. The final task was to find a drummer, which was quickly solved when Joseph asked his friend Nathan LaClair if he knew any bassists, and he responded, “I am one.”
The quartet began writing together and had their first show in March 2024. Since then, they’ve helped to cultivate a DIY scene on the college campus, while releasing their debut single, Vodka and Lidocaine, last year and their debut EP, Grass Grows, earlier this month.
On the sound they’ve crafted, Joseph told us: “I would say Pharmacy’s sound is extremely versatile. If you like any type of metal or metal adjacent music, you will like Pharmacy. We are authentic and heavy-hitting with every aspect of our sound.”
To get a taste for this, the band sent us Leech, the second track on the debut EP that epitomises the band’s raw metal sound. It opens up with a stabbing riff that kicks into life alongside vicious screams and driving drums, which drop into heavy guitars and drums under intense vocals. It drops into choral vocals with whispered vocals underneath, before giving way to another heavy riff. The pace slows down with a bumbling bassline before blasting into a final smash of the big riff and intense screams.
On the track, Joseph said: “The reception for Leech has been insane. It’s our most-streamed song off our debut EP. We’ve been playing and workshopping this track for close to a year, so it feels really good to have it out there for people to listen to finally. If you haven’t listened yet, I would recommend listening to it on the loudest speakers you own. This song is meant to be blasted as loud as you can.
“The intro riff rips immediately and gets you to pay attention before the drop brings the full band and vocals in for a killer start. It’s a quick slam of a song that gives a great introduction to our sound and us as a band. I mixed the EP myself, which I think contributes to the rawness of it. I wanted everything to sound very in-your-face and have a very specific sound. I’ve had so many people come up to me on campus and tell me how it’s their favorite song and are glad to hear the studio version.”
The EP is packed with more raw metal goodness and, impressively, was recorded in one take with the full band in situ. That includes debut single Vodka and Lidocaine, the atmospheric Shatter and the moody final track Grass Grows, which starts with a menacing bassline before exploding into life with powerful guitars and vocals.
“It’s incredibly exciting to have Grass Grows released,” Joseph told us. “This EP has been in the works since we started as a band in 2024. Anyone who has been to a show of ours will recognize at least one of the songs, if not all. We’ve been playing some of these songs since our first show. The EP is fast-paced and aggressive. It blends genres such as hardcore, screamo, metal, and rock.
“We recorded each song in one take as a full band, which I admit was a little hard to mix, but I think it really contributes to our raw sound and sets the same tone as if you were seeing us live. We really enjoyed recording it. We record all of our music in the school’s recording studio. And with such a small music department, my friends are the ones who record us. Big shoutout to Fern Hofert, who is also a student here, for recording all of our music thus far. She’s a wizard and is always down to record whatever we have ready to go.”
The Pharmacy sound draws on influences like Catalyst, Deftones (specifically the Adrenaline album), Hum and Rage Against the Machine. And on their musical inspirations, Joseph explained: “One thing that inspires us to continue to create music is the community around it. Every show we do on campus or in Asheville brings people together, and it’s always super encouraging to see people enjoy our music and each other’s company.
“Music also serves as an outlet for many of us. It’s a place to voice our frustrations and thoughts on anything going on around us. Writing provides an outlet to say what we want and have it heard by others through our music. A lot of our music that we have out is about our gripes with the state of the U.S. currently. Corporate greed, warfare, wealth imbalance are all topics we touch on in our newest EP.”
There’s plenty more to come from Pharmacy, who’ve just added a new vocalist and are currenty in the process of writing and recording a debut album that will be released in the summer. The first single from that album will be Know I Know, which they’ll release at the end of April. They also have a few shows coming up in Asheville, including at Sly Grog Lounge on 27 February and at Static Age Records on 28 March.
You can follow Pharmacy on Instagram and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music, Soundcloud and YouTube.
Listen to Pharmacy and more new metal on our Spotify playlists GigRadar Core and GigRadar Metal
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yay pharmacy!! love the EP
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pharmacy i love youuuuuu
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