Nothing screams ‘Labor Day’ like heavy metal, right?
There have been a few rumblings in the local Rhode Island scene about a new metal band that is tearing things up. Their riffs are brutal and punishing, their live performance is top notch, and – most importantly – the band is made up of fantastic people. Introducing: Minutes Unsettled. Our New Jersey audience may be unfamiliar with them now, but trust us, they’re on the brink.
The band consists of three members: Adam Reis is on guitar and vocals, Mitch Cardone on bass guitar, and Tyler Coutu is the drummer. They just released their debut album, The Wicked and The Wretched a few weeks ago, which is a direct follow up to 2021’s In Bereft Land EP. On both, listeners up and down the East Coast can hear how they play with a lot of different metal influences to create something truly unique.
We had the chance to chat with the band about the new album, and it was incredible. This is an exciting time for not just them, but also the metal genre as a whole, so get ready for the rise of Minutes Unsettled.
First question – the debut album, The Wicked and The Wretched, is out in the world. Tell me how you’re feeling.
Adam: It’s a huge thing for us. This has been something we’ve been working on for well over a year now. We officially started and made the decision to work on The Wicked and The Wretched about last September, but a lot of these songs were dated back to April of 2023. It’s really been a project we’ve been working on steadfast for a long time. It’s also been a huge plan for us to have a 14 song album for as long as we’ve been a band – even since it was a two-piece. It’s a huge turning point and milestone for us.
Mitch: It’s been a long time coming; 14 songs was the goal and then we got there, and now we completed it. It’s only up from here, at least the way I see it!
Tyler: I’m personally really excited. I think it’s a really big statement for all of us, both in our personal careers and as a band. Having self produced this record, there was a lot of trial and experimentation on how to get it done. The way this record would have turned out at first would not be anywhere close to where we got it to without all our hours of experimenting and learning new tricks/work-arounds for super expensive equipment. We didn’t have to drop thousands for this record and from a production standpoint, and I think it’s a really awesome starting point for us.
I’m happy you mentioned the production. The metal elements within the true rock weave together seamlessly with the tech elements. Tracks like “F I E N D” and “Taste of Orange,” where you guys have these samples and clear experimentation, are still classic metal at heart. Talk to me about pulling influences while staying true to your rock selves.
Adam: We’ve always really liked the tech element within this, but that doesn’t define us as a band. At our core we’re a hard rock and heavy metal band. We don’t necessarily have anything that I guess closes us into a box. We’re not trying to go into one specific subcategory of metal either. “Let’s just make aggressive music and see how aggressive we can get it and what fun we can make of it – that makes it different.” The tech elements definitely are paying homage to the old nostalgic tech boom of the early 2000s for us. It’s like, “How jarring can we get this to sound? Let’s throw in this effect and see what it does. Man, that sounds cool! Let’s continue and see what other wacky and weird shit we can do with that.”
Mitch: It’s the elements of tech being used in a different context than what people are used to. It’s used to define a song more overall than just the expectation of it being guitar/voice/bass/drums. These other elements fill in parts that you wouldn’t expect to be filled in over the course of the album.
Tyler: All of this is relatively new for me. I’ve been in this for 365 days at this point. Adam and Mitch have really introduced me into this new level of experimentation. A lot of the tech elements and what makes this album stand out comes from each of our own inspirations and where we come from as musicians. Adam has more roots in hair metal. Mitch has EDM roots. That’s a lot of where it comes from. I never would have come up with half of the technology experimentation on my own. It was a pleasure to be able to work my drum parts around such a unique style. It took a lot of growing as a player.
Adam: Sure, we were guiding Tyler – “This is the way we like metal to sound.” We don’t like to categorize ourselves as a hardcore or deathcore band, though. We like to make music and the song comes first. The song writes itself. [Tyler] also helped us step outside of our comfort zone, too! Songs like, “F I E N D” were a huge collaboration on Tyler’s part. It sounds more on the Dillinger Escape Plan side of things. That right there was Tyler. Mitch and I, had we remained as a two-piece, never would have come up with those crazy things had it not been for Tyler. We all helped each other.
I want to ask about some of the chug riff elements of the record; the metal that is so thrash-y. I look at tracks like “Gravity” or “Venison” that are going to be vital for the band going forward. What is it like getting into that sound and that headspace?
Adam: “Venison” is a fun one to play live, that’s for sure. It’s also one of our fan’s favorites to play. A lot of that definitely comes from Mitch. Most of what you hear on this record was ‘foundationalized’ from Mitch. The way we have our process with writing songs is really cool: Mitch lays down the foundation of the house as he’ll send us what his vision is. (It’s always stuff we’ve never heard before. I don’t know where it comes from with him. It always leaves our jaws on the floor.) From there, that’s where I end up jumping in as the main producer. I structure it together, build the frame, all of that. Tyler comes in and places the roof and paints the house. He adds those perfect finishing touches that piece everything together. For songs like “Venison” and “Gravity,” as chuggy and heavy as they are, a lot of that comes from the depths of Mitch’s brain. Whenever I listen to Mitch’s demos, my first instinct is, “What is this making me feel?” From there immediately start getting to work writing lyrics over it. It takes a village – a three person village.
That’s incredible! Mitch, we’re talking about songwriting and the demos you send. I do want to give extra credit to the bass on “Contortion.’ On that track, I could hear your influence so much.
Mitch: “Contortion” – that was all of us sitting in a room grinding it out. Bringing my influences of the grit, the guts, and the weight that goes behind metal. To put into that a bit more experimental song in comparison to the rest of the record, for me, is an easy thing to do! In the end, having that heaviness overall is just going to be referenced throughout the album. Adam came up with the intro riff and then Tyler on his drum set went for more of a jazz-y feel for the verses on the song.
Adam: “Contortion” was the first song we all collectively wrote together as a band. It came out of thin air. It was just me on the couch and I was strumming the opening chords on it. We all looked at each other like, “Oh, that’s cool! Let’s do something with it!”
Tyler: “Contortion” was so much fun! That was one of the earlier songs we came up with. I remember beginning to demo it out and that was one of the moments where my creativity rushed the most throughout the album, especially since that was the first song we wrote all together. It was not a pre-demo track. It was less manipulation [of demos] and more actual writing. I remember being so excited because I had so many things I wanted to try. It was like Disney World for me!
Another question I wanted to ask was about the cold aesthetic of this record. Adam and I have talked about how we see the world visually being filmmakers. Tell me more about as a visual artist putting that into the music and how it correlates.
Adam: Seeing the world visually as a filmmaker is a really good way of putting it. The way that it felt for me, both creatively and personally, was as a chapter of my life and finally dropping the act that I was ok. Truth be told, I was in a pretty dark and tumultuous spot in my life. More specifically, in Summer 2023, I had been burned just a few times too many. The way conceptually I envisioned it was this: “What do you do when you get burned? You get cold. You put something cold on to alleviate the burn.” To me this was more of a remedy for myself. “Everyone’s hurting/burning me! This is what I have to do. This is my reflex here.” A lot of things started coming out of that, especially going into the colder months following that where we’re all bundling up. That’s where the idea came to me as I started wearing a long, big, heavy coat. I started seeing it as, “I’m just too cold here I need to find warmth. That’s only going to be found within. That’s only going to be preserved within.” This album is a reflection of that, which is why we went with the cool teal colors on this. Even some of the things I say throughout the album are reflective of that. It was very freeing, as well, especially when I wrote “Bitter Man” – that was by far one of the most cathartic songs I’ve written to date in my career as a musician. It set me free spiritually and as a creative. I unlocked something within myself. “I’m writing this from the heart. I don’t care what it sounds like, this is what it is.” Mitch and Tyler really liked the song, too, and supported me throughout my vision with this. We were all there for each other. We were all going through shit in our personal lives. We all had each other to lean on during that time too. This album isn’t just reflective of my own personal journey. It’s reflective of us as a collective band.
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