Melodic metalcore band DIVISIONARIES have released their debut album, with plans to release a follow-up EP expected sometime next year! The band discusses these releases, playing some shows, releasing more material and much else in-store.
1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or did it come out just like that?
Back in 2021, we had a placeholder name that none of us liked, but we stuck with it until we came up with something better. One day we got an offer to play our first show, and I knew that we needed something new, so we were all scrambling in the group chat, throwing out tons of ideas for names. Eventually, I thought of “DIVISIONARIES” . I honestly have no idea where it came from or how I thought of it. Perhaps at the time I saw something on TV or online that stuck in my mind but if I remember correctly, it was more so just a random idea that happened to stick. 5 years later, there’s no plans of changing it.
2. Why did you want to play this genre?
I have been playing in bands since I was 11 years old and originally wanted to play hard rock similar to Guns N’ Roses, which was my favorite band at the time. When Covid hit, I got really into metalcore and never looked back. It instantly hooked me and I knew from that point that I wanted to play that style of music for a living. Our sound has taken years to evolve but we have finally landed on a sound that truly feels like it’s unique to us, although if I had to put us in a wider genre, I would say Melodic Metalcore.
3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?
Nope. I met my original band in school, and once they all left to do other things, I approached our current lead guitarist Sam Graves walking down our school hallway one day and asked him to join my band on the spot. I knew about Sam from mutual friends and had seen him playing guitar around school, but I had never actually heard him play and had never exchanged a word with him before that day.
Our current vocalist and rhythm guitarist Ian Gates was in another local deathcore band, and he found out about me through mutual friends in the scene and randomly messaged me to ask if I could fill in on drums for his band. We ended up becoming really good friends, and I eventually asked him to join my band as the rhythm guitarist. When we parted ways with our old vocalist at the beginning of 2026, he took over harsh vocals and I took over cleans.
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 based out of San Diego California. East County to be exact. The scene here ebbs and flows. There’s always something different happening, and the variety of genres present in our city has produced some interesting standouts. The metal scene was thriving a few years ago, there was tons of hype around some hardcore and metalcore bands, and lots of house shows. Recently we’ve seen a lot of staple scene bands come and go and I haven’t heard mention of a house show in a long time but we’re hoping for a bit of a revival with bands like The Dethroned, Osmium, Anvil Chandelier, callmetheboxer, Heathen God and Cascade Effect.
5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?
It’s no secret that Counterparts is a massive inspiration for us and our sound. We all love that band and aren’t afraid to say that they are a huge influence on us. Other bands that inspire our sound are Converge, Periphery, ERRA, Currents, etc. On a larger scale though, we all want to make a career out of this band and we want to be able to quit our day jobs and make a living doing what we all love, and that gives us the motivation and inspiration to continue and push forward harder.
Since all of our previous songs had been written over a 6-year period, and went through 3 vocalists, the vocal parts and themes changed quite a bit throughout the years and tends to be a bit all over the place on our last album. Some songs don’t really have a theme, while others are about tyrants or fighting through hardship. Overall, we have a general nautical theme throughout all of the songs and our identity as a band. Our logo is similar to a compass rose, our band color is blue, and many song lyrics have to do with the ocean and related elements.
7. Do you write your own songs? (Discuss the songwriting process in detail.)
Yes, we write all original music. Most of our sound is developed by our guitarist Sam Graves and I, with some input from other members throughout the years. Our songwriting process typically involves Sam writing riffs, and I make song parts out of them and create a song structure and composition that fits together. That was the process for almost every song on our recent album, but now that we’re starting to work on new material, Ian is becoming a much more integral tool in the writing process and is much more heavily involved.
8. What have you released so far and what can someone expect from your works?
On August 19th, 2026, we finally released our debut full-length album titled “Monarchist.” It took us 6 years of work to write and refine those songs, and we were so happy and proud to finally release it. It took us so long to release because it felt like we constantly had to find new band members, which changed the dynamic and sound of the band. But as of January 2026, we landed on a group of members that were equally as dedicated to the same sound, and had the same goals, and we finally felt comfortable officially putting our music out there. You can expect a combination of beauty and brutality on that record. We loved meshing orchestral elements, beautiful clean guitar parts and ambient soundscapes, with crushing heaviness that you would expect with metalcore/hardcore. You might find some thrash, death, and even black metal influence flowing through certain songs. In the future, we want to lean into a much more cohesive modern metalcore sound now that we are writing from scratch with the final iteration of the band.
9. Do you have any new music in the works?
Yes! Right now, we are in the early stages of the writing process for our next release. We plan on writing a concept EP about grief and already have some ideas and song parts demoed out. We’re hoping for a Spring release in 2027 if everything goes to plan!
10. How about playing shows and touring, have anything planned out?
Right now, we only have 2 shows planned for the remainder of 2026. One is early October that is still being planned, and one is at a small venue in Ocean Beach called “Humble Heart” on October 18th, both have yet to be announced. We’re hoping to get more bookings towards the end of the year now that we have begun promotion for our album. A small US tour around the southwest states for next June is being planned as we speak!
11. What plans do you have for the rest of this year?
As of now, we just have those 2 shows, and then we want to focus on promoting the album and working on writing for the next release. We want to dabble with covers for our YouTube channel and playthrough videos of our original songs to put out as well. We just want as many people to hear the album as possible and try to get our name out there!
12. Where can we find you online, listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
You can find us on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. Our music is available to stream on every streaming service, including our YouTube channel if that’s what floats your boat. Currently we do not have an online merch store, so the only place you can buy our stuff is at a live show, but we do have plans to get an online store up and running before the end of this year! Below you can find our linktree that contains every way to follow and support us.
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