Artist Interview: Divine Right
Posted: by The Alt Editing Staff
Charlotte, North Carolina’s Divine Right only put out their debut EP, the ferocious Salvation Ends, in February, but they’ve already shared the stage with groups like Magnitude, Balmora, and Contention. Listening to Salvation Ends, though, it’s clear why: they’re the real deal. Breakdowns, trem riffs, mosh parts–everything you could want in a metalcore band Divine Right brings in spades. They’re primed to have the sort of year Balmora just had, with any luck, and we caught up with vocalist Josh Allen to speak about about the band.
Could you talk a bit about how Divine Right began?
The idea for what would eventually become Divine Right began in early Summer 2022. I (Josh, vocals) made a tweet about wanting to start a straight edge band and Kayla (bass) and Carson (drums) replied to it expressing interest. We did a few practices with a friend of ours for a different project but that eventually fizzled out. Although, Kayla, Carson, and I continued to hang out and form the friendship we have today. It wasn’t until Spring 2023 that we expressed interest to Mikey (guitar) about trying to start a new band. He introduced us to his brother Zach (guitar) at a show, we rented a storage unit, worked on all the songs that became our EP, and that brings us to where we are now.
There are a lot of bands cropping up across the country—hell, globally really—tapping into a similar strain of metalcore as Divine Right. What do you think explains that?
That’s a tough one, actually. I’ll keep it short and say that this genre never went away and never will. We weren’t the first to do it and we won’t be the last, and I can’t wait to see what bands get formed in the coming years.
What does straight edge mean to Divine Right?
Straight edge to us is all about personal control and not abusing the things we don’t need to be happy. It’s about fighting for what you believe in and not being taken advantage of by industries and individuals that cease to use you for their own personal gain. Corporations want to keep us blind to reality by keeping our minds numb with substances and propaganda. This our way to boycott a system that wants to keep us docile.
Aside from straight edge messaging, and by extension staying true to oneself, what do you want listeners to take away from Salvation Ends?
I’d like for people to listen to it and resonate with the music we made as a whole. We want people to know that they’re not alone in their struggles and for them to know the world isn’t against them. I think we just want people to listen to the EP and know that we gave it our all as a team of best friends just wanting to make music that’s meaningful to us and hope it can leave an impact on the person listening to it.
Who are some up-and-coming bands that fans of Divine Right need to be paying attention to?
I’ll add some up-and-coming bands alongside some friends I think deserve shoutouts: Miracle, Resentment, No Cure, Your Spirit Dies, Bleak, Fading Signal, A Knife in the Dark, Anklebiter, Firestarter, If It Rains, Sign Language, Broken Vow, Sinister Feeling, Eyez Wide Shut. A few of our members are in another band called Shrine as well!
What else does the band have planned for the rest of 2024?
We got some shows coming up that are announced and some that will be announced soon. We’re going on a 4 day run in August that hasn’t been announced yet. Physical media from some labels we’re working with will be announced soon as well!
Salvation Ends is out now.
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Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
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