Heavy metal band OBSOLESCENCE have not one but three EP's, and a single released just this year. With new music in the works currently! Playing live has been a thing actively going for sometime, with a tour set this spring! With the rest of the plans set for more show playing, and releasing more music. The band discusses all of this plus much else below.
1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that?
We were actually originally called Exit To Eternity back in 2020, but there was another band from New York who threatened to sue us with a cease and desist if we continued using that name. So we went back to the drawing board to search for a new name, and our original drummer had come up with a list of about 50 different ones. The one that stuck out to all of us at the time was Obsolescence, taken from Gojira’s song “Planned Obsolescence”. When we realized that Obsolescence is just another form of the word ‘obsolete’, which is an adjective to describe technology being no longer produced, we found it fitting. At the time, our music was very 90s and early 2000s inspired, being a form of music that was no longer produced, and so we ran with Obsolescence and have been ever since.
2. Why did you want to play this genre?
Heavy music has just always been a way to exert energy. I’d say that everyone in the band is a pretty chill or positive person, so we use the music to put out our negative thoughts. Keeps us all balanced.
3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?
I have probably known Dan (bass player) the longest. His other band and my former band played many shows with each other, so we just became known to each other that way, but became way better friends when we started playing music together. Then I met Liam in 2020 or 2021, we worked at the same music school. We had asked him to be in the band in 2021 around the time of our first EP, but he did not officially join until about May of 2022.
And then we met Nick when he was in another band, and we played a basement show together. I’ll be honest, I didn’t remember him until he showed up to one of our Philly gigs and when it came time to look for a new guitarist, our former drummer said “we gotta get this guy.” We asked him and the rest has been history!
4. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
We are primarily based out of the Philadelphia, PA and Wilmington, DE area, but our music scene expands across many different states. The scene we typically run in is the best, every band is super dope. Everyone has each other’s backs, we support each other, and we all do it for the same love for music. Highly recommend checking out Desolation (Philadelphia, PA), Farsight (Long Island, NY), Choke Out (Westfield, MA), Lost Continent (Wilmington, DE) and so many more.
5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?
I can’t speak on behalf of the rest of the band, but my inspirations come from so many different avenues. A lot of the melodic stuff that you hear in our music comes from Linkin Park or Avenged Sevenfold, but then the heavier stuff can come from Knocked Loose, Norma Jean, or The Acacia Strain. One day we will write a riff that sounds like it could have come off of Laugh Tracks, and another day we write a chorus that could have come off of Meteora. We definitely do not pigeonhole ourselves to one specific style!
6. What are your songs about? (What specific themes do they cover?)
We have a lot of different themes that we cover. Dan is really great because he puts in a lot of effort into his lyrics, and I put just as much into mine. So together, we have a pretty vast catalog of themes.
A lot of Dan’s themes surround mental health issues and coping with death, where my lyrics are questioning my beliefs, things that personally make me angry, or writing horror stories. We also both take shots every now and then at the political climate of our country if we feel the need to, haha!
7. Do you write your own songs? (Discuss the songwriting process in detail.)
Absolutely! The way we have done things in the past, we all individually write our own music. Once we have all written a handful of music (sometimes up to 60 songs), we’ll get together, listen to the demos we have, then narrow down and select songs that feel like a cohesive piece of art. We rarely sit down together to write a song. At most, two of us will get in a room and we can bounce ideas back and forth to each other. The only song in our catalog where all of us were in the room together was “Fed Up”.
8. What have you released so far and what can someone expect from your works?
We currently have three EPs and a standalone single released right now, which I will list below. You can expect a wide variety of music from classic metalcore to beatdown. If you’re looking for that late 90s nu metal and early 2000s metalcore, check out our first EP, Ways To End It All, Vol. I. If you are looking for more deathcore and hardcore inspired music, check out our second EP, Ways To End It All, Vol. II. And if you are looking for mathcore inspired hardcore, check out our latest EP, Natural Violence.
Ways To End It All, Vol. I (2021)
Ways To End It All, Vol. II (2022)
Natural Violence (2023)
Kentucky [Single] (2025)
9. Do you have any new music in the works?
We do! I will not speak on it too much to keep it under wraps a bit, however I can confidently say
that we are finishing up recording and will have our tracks shipped off for mixing and mastering
by March.
10. How about playing shows and touring, have anything planned out?
We have touring plans in April of this year, where we will be heading up along the east coast. After
that, we plan to do a handful of one-off shows to keep active, and then possibly tour again in late
summer.
Tour Dates w/ Choke Out:
03/29/25 - Newark, DE @ Halftime Sports Bar*
04/03/25 - Philadelphia, PA @ MilkBoy
04/04/25 - Baltimore, MD @ Shamrock Inn
04/05/25 - Summerdale, PA @ The Champ
04/06/25 - Newark, NJ @ QXT’s
04/10/25 - Manchester, NH @ TBA
04/11/25 - Feeding Hills, MA @ The Tank
04/12/25 - Burlington, VT @ Despacito
04/13/25 - New Haven, CT @ Cafe Nine
04/19/25 - TBD*
04/26/25 - Providence, RI @ AS220
04/27/25 - TBD
*no Choke Out
11. What plans do you have for the future as a band?
For right now, we are going to continue playing shows while we plan our new record. To stay up to
date on new information, look for us at our socials at @obsl.pa!
12. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
We are on all streaming platforms, but I will link everything below!
Landing Page: https://flow.page/obsl.pa
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6IxEerSy0GrEJo2At5NIKd
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/obsolescence/1580483450
Merch: https://obsl.bandcamp.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/obsl.pa/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/obsl.pa
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@obsl.pa
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