“There were ravines growing between me and people in my life,” Justin Osborne tells BandWagon. “And with COVID, everybody got pushed back together. Some of those changes had to be faced head on.”
Osborne is the commandant of North Carolina’s Susto and he’s just gone through some of the most intense years of his life.
“If humans are dimensional,” he says, “there’s a whole new dimension of myself that was awakened.”
Susto’s sound sits between Americana, psych-pop and the indie-rock church of rootsy folk. A mix of satire and earnestness adds a roughness; a raised eyebrow setting it apart from rural radio. Its dark, drug-influenced sentimentality and staunch idealism is, at its heart, just barefaced American songwriting.
“There were a lot of attempts at reconciliation – my own beliefs with how I was raised,” he says. “I’m trying not to disrespect,” he says, “but to participate in these big life events.”
Colorado mainstay metallers Draghoria have long been a force to be reckoned with. Their latest effort, Dangerous Species, has not only maintaineed their place on the mountain but have effectively secured their territory at the top. Draghoria is known in the Colorado community for sheer, sonic brutality, creating an amalgamation of old-school thrash and modern metal held together by forceful melodies, unmatched musicianship, and nods to a plethora of styles that scream (pun intended) pure metal.
