20 February 2012 - 0 Comments

Rival State returns with a new sound and a new aesthetic, but with the same passion from their high school conception back in 2002. Like all stubborn teenagers first out of home the band ended up parting ways in 2007 to experience music from a different perspective. Somehow long grueling van tours across North America and Europe and living on the bones of their arses, led to the guys crossing paths.

In April of 2011 four out of the five members of Rival State returned home to New Zealand after a lengthy 5-year stint overseas in Canada and Europe. The guys decided to reform the original line-up with singer Luke Van Hoof who for that time period was playing in NZ band Kids of 88. “We had a legitimate discussion one night via Skype and after seconds of Hello's…how are yah's…Rival State was back in action” says Stefan Einarsson. “We decided to stop fighting the inevitable and return to what we've always loved most and write the songs that we all wanted to write; No Limitations, no rules, just pure hunger to get a point across”  

The first offering from the upcoming record is “Sleep Talker”, this track is loaded with killer riffs, high-powered grooves, and anthemic vocals.  It’s a three and a half minute race to the end.

The band began writing for their upcoming record mid 2011, working with British producer Matt Hyde who has also worked with the likes of Slipknot, Trivium, Funeral for a Friend and Ash just to name a few. "We chose to write this record in our home town of New Plymouth surrounded by our family and friends and what better place to write a record then where it all began" says Jo Einarsson.

Rival State’s debut album is due to drop in May 2012 through Shock Records. "You can expect a very diverse record with no repeats of stale ideas, but a joint union of rock n roll, punk, pop and grunge. We wrote the record we had always envisioned combined with sounds, tones, and ideas we had been experimenting with over our time apart. We believe we have written a record that is new, fresh, and we are extremely proud of it and feel it is worth a listen!" says Luke Van Hoof.

WATCH THE OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR “SLEEP TALKER” HERE

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