Australia’s progressive music specialists Wild Thing Records recently welcomed Melbourne post-traumatic prog-death metal three piece, Growth, to their label roster. The band plan to release a trilogy of albums, through Wild Thing Records, that explore the very human aspects of connection, trauma, despair, and the fragility of hope.

The first two singles from Growth, Something Follows & Cigarette Burns, set the scene of what is to come. They see our character in a state of despair, forced to reach a decision to either collapse, or make one last push to break through. They then enter a state of reflection, do they continue to suffer and let their hell consume them?

Now with Soul Rot, a decision must be made...

Front man Luke Frizon explains; “Despair will reach a point where you no longer identify with any positive solution. Ideals of safety and opportunity feel beyond alien, they’re mocking you as they dance out of grasp. It feels like closure only exists in the space where life doesn’t. Images of a hopeless end, once flickering and nightmarish, coalesce and call invitingly to your mind’s eye.

Our character in this story has heard such a call and is falling in love with the promise of release it brings. The sense of control over their fate is back, horribly within reach. Paralysed with fear, trapped, embittered and alone, they look fondly towards the end even as it stretches hungrily towards them..."

Watch the incredible video, directed by Adrian Goleby of Caligula's Horse, here

Luke says of the video: “Soul Rot is such a pivotal point in the album, sound and theme-wise, that we really wanted you to see how this can appear and feel. The video almost wasn’t made due to the heavier lockdowns in Victoria we were under.

Enter Adrian Goleby to save the day. We tasked Adrian with this video up in Brisbane, and he and his team smashed it! Psychosis, Mark Rothko colour schemes, Kubrick, kabuki theatre (look at the eyes); we jammed a chaotic mix of influences in there. There are also several hidden references to the Cigarette Burns video. Ed did a fantastic job as our lead man too. While I’m sad he didn’t drink the motor oil I recommended, the waterboarding more than made up for it. Seeing that last sentence typed out on the screen gets me thinking that people should really stop asking for my artistic recommendations.“”

Listen to Something Follows, Cigarette Burns and Soul Rot & also pre order / pre-save The Smothering Arms of Mercy here smarturl.it/growthmercy

Growth began as a reflective space for brothers Tristan (guitars/bass/artwork) and Nelson Barnes (drums) who were united after returning to Australia after a decade apart pursuing music overseas. Tristan returned to come to terms with his personal demons and after receiving a mental health diagnosis that hit with closure and terror all at once, he became a recluse. Isolated and debilitated, he expressed his pain through writing. Meanwhile, vocalist Luke Frizon (ex Jack The Stripper) had withdrawn from life to enter a period of recovery after reaching rock bottom, seeking to reconnect with himself and make meaning of hopelessness, trauma and loss.

A chance meeting on a mutual first outing from respective isolation sparked a discussion about the empathic aspects of music and quickly led to a partnership and Growth was formed.

The result is The Smothering Arms Of Mercy, a claustrophobic narrative of total spiritual collapse written while in psychiatric care and thrown over nine suffocating acts.

The album marks the first part of a trilogy aimed at going beyond expressing emotion - illustrating pathways of recovery while acknowledging the most dread-filled aspects of it.

Trauma shapes us into grotesque forms, but we can reshape ourselves better. We need the right tools, space, and kindness. Our monsters are horrific, but they are familiar. Recovery and all its implications, however, are often alien. Recovery appears brutal, extreme, terrifying. And that is why we must tilt towards it.

Recorded in Melbourne, produced and engineered by Growth. Drums engineered by Troy
McCosker (Ne Obliviscaris) and mixed/mastered by Fredrik Nordström (Opeth,
The Haunted) in Gothenburg, Sweden, SAOM highlights the extremity of grief and asks the listener to reflect on their relationship with loss and vulnerability.

Growth represents the flourishing of life even amidst total wreckage. Connection in all its forms, and our constant strive to communicate in a raw manner. Bare to the world. Visceral and honest. Pain can be the source of your renewal. Learn to greet it as a friend.

The Smothering Arms of Mercy will be released on December 4 via Wild Thing Records