“We had a rehearsal yesterday cuz there’s a few festivals coming and a tour coming up in Europe. So with a new album, new material, we’ve just rehearsed yesterday. Everybody seems to be really happy. There’s a lot of work to do and a lot happening right now with all the interviews and the new singles and everything. It’s pretty electric right now.”
Quebec City’s GET THE SHOT seem to be in a good place right now as we catch up with them over Zoom ahead of the release of their upcoming fourth album, Merciless Destruction. After more than 500 concerts on three continents, including some on the biggest international stages such as Hellfest, Jera On Air, Summerbreeze and Groezrock, the five band members remain committed to the core values of authenticity, integrity, and equality at the heart of the hardcore movement, while addressing with disillusioned realism the flaws of an era defined by blind individualism.
But unsurprisingly, the band members being somewhat content does not translate into a more positive record. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth!
“Well, I mean, if we were actually, you know, pacified human beings, I don’t think we would play hardcore music at all,” admits frontman JP. “This is definitely a way to give meaning to the suffering that is always there, always present in our lives. But somehow you have to shape it; you have to give it a form, you know? So that suffering, that negativity, that anger, that resentment all finally gets its meaning. So you have that cathartic means of expressing it and that’s why we play hardcore, so we can go on with the rest of our lives and be like casual human beings. But I don’t mean because we smile that we are happy.”
As with No Peace In Hell (2014) and Infinite Punishment (2017), Merciless Destruction sees the band exploring new territories of extreme music while sticking to its roots and its fierce DIY approach to music.
The record consolidates its independent approach despite a tedious and fraught recording process. Hardcore community anchorage has never been greater, driven by a clear strategy, a group on top of their game and unwavering dedication.
“We actually, as a band, we never wanted to do the same record twice,” Dany tells me. “So it’s very important for us to always create something new or at least have an album that presents something different than what we used to do before. Get The Shot was always a hardcore crossover band. So with this record, I really wanted to have, you know, more extreme and heavy influences on the songs. So that’s why this record sounds a lot like a slam death metal band, everything blended with hardcore music. So it’s a heavier and maybe tougher album, maybe the heaviest we ever released so far. And it really blends with the feelings that were at the core source of the writing process. You know, this record was written just before the pandemic and you know, it was a bad time personally in my life. And I really wanted that super powerful record that would be like a vengeance to this world that I hate so much. So that’s how it came out, complete annihilation!”
Dany admits that his anxiety and view of the world have been heightened after becoming a father.
“The term to be happy in life is an overstatement, and I guess I’ve always struggled. And when I met JP like 13 years ago, I feel like we connected because of our own struggles, like facing our daily lives, our own struggles, dealing with anxiety, depression, and some sort of different mental illness and stuff like that. So like to say that we’re happy in life, I don’t think I’ll ever be happy. Like, even when I’m holding my kid, I’m spending quality time and I’m generally happy, I don’t think that I am a happy person in the end. Like my life is peppered with happy moments, but I don’t consider that I have a happy existence. Maybe it’s because of chemical balance in my brain or something like that. Maybe I put too much pressure on what’s happening in the world or something like that. Or do I read too much about the situation? I don’t know what’s my problem. I’ve been struggling with that for maybe most of my life.
And like JP said, once we are pacified, I don’t think that we’re gonna be in a hardcore band. I mean, hardcore is more than music. It’s a statement too. So yeah, if we were fully pacified I’ll pick up an acoustic guitar or I’ll just go do another venture and we’ll see what happens, but so far we’re still pissed off!”
The future of civilization might look bleak right now but the immediate future for Get The Shot looks like it could be one of the most exciting in their career so far. And a Get The Shot album is what we all probably need right now!
“We release the album October 7th, but we kick off of the tour with the Terror and Lionheart, so we will do some parties in November when we’re gonna be back. It’s an exclusive that I’m telling you. We’re gonna do a few shows and get back to Montreal.”
The truth is what we get with GET THE SHOT: straightforward, no sugar-coating. As brutal and cruel as reality can be, the ability to confront and overcome it depends on our ability to face it head-on.
Watch the full interview with Dany and JP below:
MERCILESS DESTRUCTION TRACK LISTING:
“Ultimate Warfare”
“Seeds of Dissension”
“Survival Denied”
“Deathbound” (Feat. Rob Watson of Lionheart)
“Bloodbather” (Feat. Matthias Tarnath of Nasty)
“Reign in Blasphemy”
“Terminal Slaughter”
“Diabolus Vobiscum”
“Divination of Doom”
“Blind to Peace”
“Season of the Damned II”
GET THE SHOT ARE:
Tom Chiasson — Guitar
David St-Pierre — Drums
Jean-Philippe Lagacé — Vocals
Dany Roberge — Bass + Vocals
Guy-Pierre Genest — Guitar
Merciless Destruction is out October 7 via New Damage Records. Pre-order it here.
