One of the biggest metal bands to come out of Memphis in the past 10 years is releasing a new album this Friday, despite the fact that one of their key members is moving to California later this month. Since forming in the early 2000s, Nights Like These has been synonymous with the Memphis underground metal scene. They were the first group from the Caravan scene to sign a contract with a major label and the first to tour extensively around the country. After releasing two albums on Victory Records, the band went on hiatus for nearly five years before playing a handful of reunion shows last year.
Shortly after the reunion gigs, rumors of a new album from Nights Like These started surfacing, and in the spring of 2015, Nights Like These entered Ardent Studios to record Old Youth Culture with guitarist Matt Qualls manning the control board. Qualls describes Old Youth Culture as their most accessible album to date, with a more “mature and down-to-earth sound.”
Nick Hall
Nights Like These
“This album has the most straightforward song structure we’ve ever had,” Qualls said.
“When we were writing songs for The Faithless (the band’s debut album that sold 30,000 copies), we were just coming up with riff after riff. The song would go riff, riff riff, breakdown. Now we are more concerned with writing actual songs.”
With eight songs clocking in at the 40-minute mark, Old Youth Culture is a major departure from the band’s first two albums, but according to Qualls, it’s still a metal album.
“We feel like this album features some of the heaviest songs we’ve ever written,” Qualls said.
“This was going to be the final album, but we ended up being so happy with it that I doubt this will be the end of us making music together.”
Old Youth Culture will be available for download this Friday, with plans for a physical LP currently in the works.
Nights Like These Release New Album