Will Haven

Your favorite bands salute their live show and revere their catalog. Will Haven never cracked the mainstream, but the deep respect from friends and contemporaries demonstrates what an unnatural force the long-running crew is to those firmly in the know. Tour mates and collaborators (like Deftones and Slipknot) champion the boys from Sacramento, California, whose reputation for challenging, combative, aggressive metallic hardcore and sonic dissonance stretches back to 1995.

Muscular, agitated, and colored by disparate influences from Neurosis to Jane’s Addiction, the music made by the cult heroes reaches critical mass with a 2023 state-of-the-union dubbed simply, VII.

VII is riff-heavy and unapologetically metal more than ever before, with nods to their catalog’s biggest strengths. Imagine Pantera throwing down with Mr. Bungle in an illegal California skatepark. Echoes of Carpe Diem, Voir Dire, Muerte; VII sounds like everything Will Haven devilishly crushed together.

+ WITCHING