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CANDY announce album ‘Heaven Is Here’

• 4th May 2022

In pushing the limits of standard chaos, US band CANDY have been a transitory force within the hardcore music scene since their debut in 2017. Refusing to adhere to the paradigms and principles of hardcore, punk, metal, pop, or whatever genre the listener has tried to assign them; they’ve manufactured a space all their own.

Today they announce their highly anticipated second album and debut for Relapse Records, ‘Heaven Is Here’, due for release on June 24th. Known as much for their show-stopping live performances as their unique brand of hardcore, CANDY’s forthcoming10-track project was produced by extreme music powerhouse Arthur Rizk (Power Trip, Black Curse, Prurient) alongside CANDY guitarist Michael Quick. ‘Heaven Is Here’ showcases their uncanny power to shatter the limits of what is expected of metal, hardcore and punk.

In tandem with the album’s announcement, CANDY shares the lead single “Human Condition Above Human Opinion“ to introduce Heaven Is Here. The entirely digitally-rendered visual for the track was co-directed by Quick and digital artist Nikita Gorshkov, whose 3D art masterfully brings the song’s dystopian themes to life.

Pre-order/save ‘Heaven Is Here’:https://orcd.co/candy-heavenishere 

‘Heaven Is Here’ proves to be a record where the songs feel like a merciful reprieve from the screeching interludes; a masterful almanac of noise welded together by the unpredictable ways that we hear and reproduce the music we love in the era of unending dopamine hits and virulent technological doom.

During the fall of 2017, Candy ushered its audience into their dystopian soundscape with the breakout 7″ ‘Candy Says’. Synthesizing global influences from across the punk/hardcore spectrum, from forefathers such as Bastard, Discharge, Cro-Mags, and Integrity, the group demonstrated their ability to match the energy of their inspirators while providing a uniquely visceral experience. Frontman Zak Quiram’s guttural bellows propelled with Michael Quick’s contemplative guitar work, we see all the working parts of a band hell bent on warping the reality of its listener. The use of chorus pedals over down-tuned guitars further affirms the saccharine & grotesque dichotomy that has become Candy’s calling card

Aligning with the esteemed engineer and producer Arthur Rizk, Candy achieved the type of artistry that transcends the confines of its own medium, with their first full-length record ‘Good to Feel.’ Noise and image bled together throughout the album’s brief but resounding 9 song tracklist. Lyrically, Quiram addressed the rampant environmental devastation, suicidal ideation, police violence, and corruption that plagues the news cycle, while fellow band members provided its soundtrack.

Following the release of their debut full-length, Candy left an impression on spectators near and far with their brooding and bloody performances. Touring alongside contemporaries, such as Fucked Up, Terror, and Harms Way, as well as making appearances with hardcore icons like Quicksand and Iron Age, showed bystanders that the company they keep reflect their larger rejection of genre conformity.

In their latest lockstep along the yellow brick, Candy has found an ally in Relapse Records. Having shared the stage with acts from Relapse’s roster, such as Full of Hell, Nothing and Gatecreeper, the band is geared to make some of their most jarring, yet satiating, musical offerings to date.

Candy is:
Michael Quick – Guitar
Drew Stark – Guitar 
Steve Digenio – Drums
Zak Quiram – Vocals
Kaleb Perdue – Bass