Over the better part of the year, you may have come across a handful of posts featuring Holy Wars, the recording project fronted by the Connecticut-born, Los Angeles, CA-based singer/songwriter Kat Leon. And a s you may recall, Leon initially developed a reputation for writing material that focused on her obsessions with death and the occult as one-half of the Los Angeles-based indie electro pop act Sad Robot, with Long Beach, CA-born, Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist Nick Perez.
With both of her parents suddenly dying within months of one another. Leon plunged into a period of profound grief, and after taking time to grieve, Leon started Holy Wars, largely influenced by what may arguably be some of the darkest days of her life; in fact, Holy Wars in many ways was a way for Leon to extrapolate the tumultuous feeling and thoughts she had during that period and express them creatively — with the release being the critically applauded debut EP Mother earlier this year.
Building upon the buzz of the Mother EP, Leon will be releasing her debut effort Mother Father on November 3, 2017. Naturally, the album is dedicated to both of Leon’s parents — and while the material may be at points dark, moody and heavy, it’s not mean tot be to overly depressing or nihilistic either. And while Mother Father‘s first single “Back to Life” may be among the heaviest singles Leon and company have released to date, as it manages to nod at Tool, A Perfect Circle, Paramore, and others, thanks to enormous power chords paired with propulsive, downtuned bass and stormy drumming; however, much like the preceding singles Holy Wars has released, the slow-burning dirge manages to possess the sort of cathartic, arena friendly hook that you could envision kids lustily shouting along to. But underneath the rousing hooks and catharsis is an adult angst, full of the bitter recognition that death is an inconsolable and permanent parting, of which you have to figure out a way to move forward without your loved ones.
