A couple of years ago, two members of the discordant and math-damaged hardcore titans Vein, singer Anthony DiDio and drummer Matt Wood, got together to start a different band with a very different sound. On their 2020 demo, the Vein side project Fleshwater embraced the sounds of heavy, emotive ’90s bands like Deftones and Hum, and they turned out to be extremely good at that kind of stormy post-hardcore. That demo became an object of culty fascination, and people have been waiting for new music from Fleshwater ever since. Today, we’re getting it.

Fleshwater’s debut LP We’re Not Here To Be Loved is coming next month. The band tracked the instruments with Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou at his God City Studios, while singers Anthony DiDio and Marisa Shirar recorded their vocals at home. Converge are a huge, obvious influence on Vein, and Ballou, who also mixed the album, knows how to make heavy music sound huge without compromising its intensity. Today, Fleshwater have shared the first single “Kiss The Ladder,” and it sounds awesome.

“Kiss The Ladder” is an extremely short song, just 77 seconds. It’s got some of Vein’s ferocity, but it conjures a whole different feeling. Marisa Shirar sings lead, and she brings a towering sense of melody that complements the thick, turbulent music. I can’t wait to hear more of this. Below, check out the “Kiss The Ladder” video and the We’re Not Here To Be Loved tracklist.

TRACKLIST:

01 “Baldpate Driver”
02 “Closet”
03 “The Razor’s Apple”
04 “Whoohoo”
05 “Linda Claire”
06 “Kiss The Ladder”
07 “Enjoy”
08 “Backstairs Breathing”
09 “Foreign”

We’re Not Here To Be Loved is out 11/4 on Closed Casket Activities.