Wasteland

WASTELAND was formed in 2004 by five friends who were inspired by contemporaries in the New England hardcore punk scene. We found a home and kindred spirits within the DIY community of Amherst, MA and developed a fast friendship with fellow local act Ampere. From there we recorded a 7" which was put out by Clean Plate records and embarked on a tour of the east coast. Recently WASTELAND recorded its first full length and played a string of east coast dates with prominent New England hardcore acts Verse and Have Heart.

WASTELAND's songs reinforce the age old fact that the personal is political. For example ; "Fading Light" is a song that vocalist Chris wrote about his personal experiences with psychiatric drugs and the nature of mental health in the modern world. "River" is a first person account of an attempt to escape the draft during the Vietnam war and is ultimately a meditation on courage and its applied meaning in war time (adapted from a story by author Tim O'Brien). "Embers" is a story of living under occupation from the point of view of a grieving mother (inspired by a story by graphic novelist Joe Sacco). Ultimately we hope to drive people to examine their own position in the world and inspire them into making a positive social change by looking inward and we hope to do this by playing agressive, earth shaking crust infused melodic hardcore.

myspace.com/thewasteland
cleanplate.com