Leeds trio Versus offer up a thrilling fusion of grunge and post-hardcore in a gritty sound that they describe as “heavy, emotional, and a whole bag of genre-juxtapositions.”
The trio of Shortie (vocals), Rob (guitar) and Calvin (drums) have been refining their sound for over a decade. They started out as, in their words, “a bunch of guys who needed an outlet as a form of catharsis when we were all hitting some of the lowest points in our lives,” before cutting their teeth in their local music scene. The trio began bringing together a variety of influences from various genres, which eventually became the glue that continues to keep the band together.
And on the sound they’ve honed since, they told us: “Heavy without remorse, yet melodic with emotionally charged lyrics that will hit you like a ton of bricks. The sound is kinda wild and all over the place, and every track is completely different and non genre-specific – a little bit of something for everyone.”
Our latest taste of this is This Is Everything, which was released in May. It opens up with a building synth sound that continues under driving drums and a lively guitar that drops into intense vocals. Repeats of the lines “What is wrong with you, there’s nothing wrong with me, There’s something wrong with you, there’s nothing wrong with me” develop towards a big powerful singalong chorus. The cool intro instrumentals bridge back into a lively verse that builds into another big catchy chorus, which drops into a wild synth sound and little blasts of drums before a huge breakdown and powerful blasts of piercing guitars. The pace suddenly drops with echoey vocals, setting up a big final rendition of the chorus.
On the track, the band told us: “For anyone that hasn’t heard the track, they should be expecting something heavy, angry yet unapologetic and FULL of energy. The reception so far has been amazing, and we have had some great feedback from the press and fans alike – it’s been an insanely wild ride, and we are here all day for it. The track is about quite an emotional experience and that penny-drop moment of self-realisation; it was written about toxic relationships and gaslighting, but the moment of clarity someone would have when they eventually managed to get out of that situation. As individuals, we need to recognise our own self-worth and continue to forge a path forwards, rather than let the toxicity of another person’s behaviour hold you back.”
That follows a steady stream of releases over the last few years, including debut EP Homegrown Paranoia 2.1 and debut album The Catalyst both being released last year. From the latter, we especially like the sound of tracks like Burning Bridges, the feisty Lost & Found and Overwhelmed, and the very 90s grunge sounding Breathe and All Good Things. And you can check out the album’s lead single Burning Bridges in the video below.
The Versus sound draws influence from the likes of Dayseeker, Bring Me The Horizon, Led Zeppelin, Enter Shikari and System Of A Down. As they explain: “Every single one of those bands are so passionate about their music and the meaning behind it, so it gives us the confidence to be way less genre conventional, and just love how dynamic and emotionally charged music can actually be.”
And on what inspires them to write music, they add: “I guess the main influence for us is being lucky enough to have a platform to express whatever we are feeling at the time and absolutely loving the way we do things as a band. It gives us a sense of belonging and hope of being able to write about our real life experiences and having the fans relate to some of the topics we put out there; we write about what we know, if you know what I mean.
“We don’t do politics as there is way too much division within our society at the moment to even make any salient points in the context of the evolution of humanity, and we don’t write about saving the world or anything heroic like that; we write about saving one’s own soul and have the junk downstairs to talk about traumatic and triggering experiences that we really hope the fans can find solace in. No one is truly alone, no one truly has the same emotional burdens and baggage as the next person BUT, we all share that deep emotional bond and we hope it gives the conflicted and isolated souls the hope to and willing to acknowledge the past, no matter the experience, and have the courage to move on and embrace you for who you really are.”
There’s plenty more to come from Versus, who are working on releasing another single in the next few months ahead of their second album due to be released in the Autumn. They’ll also be playing shows across the UK along with a few summer festivals, with dates available on their website.
You can follow Versus on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
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