From the Missouri Department of Conservation website: “Hellgrammites are the aquatic larval stage of dobsonflies. The head is equipped with a pair of sharp pincers that can deliver a painful (but harmless) bite.” From some comic book website: “Hellgrammite (Roderik Rose) is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an enemy of Superman, Batman, the Creeper, Green Arrow and Black Canary. Rose is an entomologist who subjects himself to a mutagenic process that transforms him into a grasshopper-like insectoid. He has superhuman physical abilities and can crawl on walls and generate durable cocoons. A number of his schemes revolve around transforming others into weaker, subordinate versions of himself, leading to clashes with Batman and the Creeper in The Brave and the Bold #80, and with Green Arrow and the Black Canary in World’s Finest Comics #248-249.” From this very website a mere two months ago: “[lead single ‘Bayonet’] is a lurching, swirling, stuttering crusher filled with noisy, atonal guitars, larynx-shredding vocals and precise, dense rhythm section.”
In addition to all of the above, Denver’s Hellgrammites are an emerging force on the scene which combines metal, punk, hardcore, crossover and rock without a care in the world outside of “does it rock and do the lyrics say something?” Driven by “political division, systemic oppression, and the battle for self-accountability” as they are music hailing from Minneapolis, the Pacific Northwest, the SF Bay Area and scads of midwest basements, the band are on the cusp of issuing their sixth recording, an EP entitled Ethos, which we are airing a stream of here today. Partially recorded at the world famous Blasting Room in Fort Collins, CO, Ethos puts on display both the raw and polished elements of Hellgrammites’ sound and tips its hat to Refused via a cover of their “Rather Be Dead,” a sentiment many are feeling at the moment. Ethos is officially released tomorrow on Lost Future Records with the band scheduled to play in the Denver area in support of the EP before nudging further afield and hitting the road regionally to wherever demand takes them.
HELLGRAMMITES LIVE 2025:
05/16 Denver, CO – The Oriental Theater
05/24 Denver, CO – Hi-Dive
Links:
www.instagram.com/hellgrammitesmusic/
open.spotify.com/artist/2bJgjTMKKvG84HQWUBaMOJ
The post Full EP Stream: Hellgrammites’ <em>Ethos</em> appeared first on Decibel Magazine.