Album Review: For Your Loss by Heavy Is The Head
Direction is what we need right now. Sure, guidance can help. Assistance? Probably. But above all, we need a clear, collective path forward… one we can all agree on. Not endless debates about what’s possible and improbable. No, what we need is a shared recognition of fundamental truths. Should anyone lose their livelihood just to pay for a life-saving operation? Should we allow late-stage capitalism to price us out of home ownership and fair rent? Should we really vilify a powerless fraction of society who don’t fit expected norms, while letting a different fraction, a gluttonous 1%, keep us twisting in the wind? Shouldn’t real power belong to the people?
Much of this direction can be found on For Your Loss, the new record from Richmond hardcore band Heavy Is The Head. That is, after you sift through all of its rage, chaos, and indignation. Written by the band in a time of grief, it’s a lyrically stark record that doesn’t mince words or wax poetically at any vantage point. It’s clear, blunt, and direct, all at a time where we need it the most.
Containing heavy hardcore onslaughts replete with booming breakdowns and serrated riffs, it’s curious that the most striking message on this record comes on its shortest track, the thirty second eruption “STHT.” “The whole world at your fingers/ Yet you spread your hate,” it snarls, a direct call-out to those who shameless stoke the flames of incitement. It can be read as a searing indictment for both annoying trolls and professional provocateurs, but in reality, we should all heed its message. With infinite knowledge just a few keystrokes away, why do we we resort to such baseless urges as a default view in the digital space? Slamming a new movie, critiquing a new trend, or just complaining inanely about something as a way to cope with the day. In a world drowning in suffering, why do we feel compelled to add to it?
Positivity is what we need really. Not the performative kind tailor-made for virality. No, what we need is something real and tangible. Hope that rallies us for something, instead of against. Hope that shines a light on the disadvantaged and asks what we can do right now to alleviate it, not some widespread solution only foreseeable years down the line. “The whole world is listening\ The whole world can’t wait,” the track concludes… and it’s right. We don’t have the luxury to wait anymore. Change needs to happen from the ground up, and we need to become advocates and champions for causes as opposed to rebels and naysayers for the status quo.
That said, Heavy Is The Head isn’t looking to preach here. On the very next track, “Lighthouse,” the band rejects any notion of moral authority: “Don’t look to me when you need a way\ I’m no god.” In a way, it can come across as humble deflection, like the hand-wave that brushes aside excited praise. Really though, the song is hinting at something larger under its surface, a message surging beneath the waves crashing on the titular beacon. Stop looking for a savior. Leaders will only disappoint us in the end. We are all fallible with our own faults, vices, and predispositions. The time we spend searching for someone to lead us could be much better spent building something together… unrefined and imperfect, maybe, but stronger and more enduring than any solitary figure could offer.
This rational defiance carries through the album’s other tracks, like the scathing takedown of cult-like right wing ideologies on “Legal Violence” or the critical eye turned towards blind allegiance on “Sons And Daughters.” The latter feels especially pointed today, evoking imagery that subtly alludes to Gaza, a region now worse off even after all of the political posturing this past election cycle.
Despite all of this turbulent enlightenment, you can’t talk about Heavy Is The Head without addressing the loss of their former guitarist Nick Rockefeller, who passed away tragically in early 2024. His presence lingers in every bellow, thud, blast, and screech on the record, not just in the album title or devastating opener, but in the spirit of the music which seems shaped by the hopelessness of his sickness and the grief that followed his passing. Rockefeller was a key part of the band’s sound on 2022’s No More Time and High Pressure, and while his absence hasn’t been filled, it has transformed the band’s creative energy. They didn’t patch the hole or pack it haphazardly. Instead, they allowed it to mend itself naturally and alter the band’s sound and focus slightly in the process.
That grief comes to a head on both the opener as well as the closing track, “Broken Body/Beaten Man.” “I am the broken body\ Of a beaten man,” the track clamors, before ending with a breathless roar of the band’s name. It’s a personal catharsis, but also a reflection of collective exhaustion. Society itself feels broken–progress clawed back, gains reversed, hope battered. We’re all beaten down right now, even those who haven’t yet noticed the leopards stalking quietly in the background. In this climate, the weight is heavy on all our heads for we all wield power, whether directly or indirectly. So keep your guard up, but let empathy lead. Stay aware of the global scale, but invest deeply in your community. And above all, mourn the tragedies behind us. Let them change your trajectory for the better, so that in remembering, you can truly honor them. That’s the best anyone can say for your loss.
For Your Loss is out now on all streaming platforms as well as on CD via Upstate Records. Make sure to follow Heavy Is The Head on social media so you can stay up-to-date on their next shows, releases, and updates.
