Nails (stylized in

all caps In typography, text or font in all caps (short for "all capitals") contains capital letters without any lowercase letters. For example: All-caps text can be seen in legal documents, advertisements, newspaper headlines, and the titles on book co ...

as NAILS) is an American

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

band from

Oxnard, California Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County in the U.S. state of California, United States. On California's Central Coast (California), Central Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the List of largest California cities by populati ...

. The group was formed in 2009 by frontman Todd Jones, formerly the guitarist of Terror and Carry On, along with bassist John Gianelli and later joined by drummer Taylor Young of Disgrace,

Twitching Tongues Twitching Tongues is an American heavy metal band from California, founded in 2009. The band has released four albums: ''Sleep Therapy'' in 2012, ''In Love There Is No Law'' in 2013, ''Disharmony'' in 2015, and ''Gaining Purpose Through Passion ...

, etc. They released their debut EP '' Obscene Humanity'' in 2009, followed by the studio albums '' Unsilent Death'' (2010), '' Abandon All Life'' (2013), ''

You Will Never Be One of Us ''You Will Never Be One of Us'' is the third studio album by American hardcore punk band Nails, released on June 17, 2016. It is the band's first album issued through Nuclear Blast Records. It is their longest release to date at 21 minutes, and ...

'' (2016), a split EP with Full of Hell, ''I Don't Want to Know You'' (2019), an EP featuring

Max Cavalera Massimiliano Antonio "Max" Cavalera (; born 4 August 1969) is a Brazilian musician. He co-founded the Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Sepultura in 1984 with his brother Igor Cavalera, and was the band's lead singer and rhythm guitarist unti ...

Soulfly Soulfly is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Phoenix, Arizona in 1997. Soulfly is led by former Sepultura frontman Max Cavalera, who formed the band after he left the Brazilian group in 1996. To date the band has release ...

Cavalera Conspiracy Cavalera Conspiracy is a Brazilian-American heavy metal supergroup from Phoenix, Arizona, founded by Brazilian brothers Max (vocals, rhythm guitar) and Igor Cavalera (drums, percussion), who are widely known as former members of Sepultura, an ...

, and ''

Every Bridge Burning ''Every Bridge Burning'' is the fourth studio album by American hardcore punk band Nails. It was released on August 30, 2024 through Nuclear Blast. It was released 8 years after their last album ''You Will Never Be One of Us'', making it the lon ...

'' (2024).

History

The band formed in 2009. They have since released four full-length albums, and three EPs. As of June 2014, the band is signed to

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast Records is a German record label with subsidiary, subsidiaries located in Germany, the United States and Brazil. It was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Donzdorf. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on ...

. They released their fourth album, ''

'', on August 30th, 2024. On July 25, 2016, the band abruptly canceled a European tour, with promoters claiming the band were on a hiatus and "had no plans to play live or record again." This also led to canceling their appearance at Ozzfest Meets Knotfest. Todd Jones later stated that the band had never taken a hiatus. In December 2016, the band returned by playing at The Power of the Riff festival and releasing a split 7-inch with Full of Hell. On November 30, 2020, following the announcement of the 10th anniversary reissue of ''Unsilent Death'', Young announced that he quit the band in early Spring. The day after, John Gianelli also confirmed his departure from the band. From this point, Todd Jones is the only member of the band. After close to 3 years of silence from Jones, the band's Instagram posted a picture of Jones and

Kurt Ballou Kurt Ballou (born February 1, 1974) is an American musician and record producer based in Massachusetts, best known as the guitarist for metalcore band Converge and for his recording and production work at his own GodCity Studio. Early and pe ...

in God City Studios. The photo was captioned, "New NAILS LP coming Summer 2024 via @nuclearblastrecords engineered by Kurt Ballou. Thanks for sticking with us. Info forthcoming. Love you all.". On June 10, 2024, the band released the single "Imposing Will". This coincided with the announcement that their fourth studio album would be titled ''Every Bridge Burning'', and that their lineup now included guitarist Shelby Lermo of Ulthar, drummer Carlos Cruz of

Warbringer Warbringer is an American thrash metal band formed in 2004. Century Media Records signed Warbringer after seeing them at a local show in LA. Originally, a Century Media rep was at the show to see another LA thrash metal band but decided to sign W ...

and bassist Andrew Solis of Despise You and Apparition.

Musical style

Critics have categorized Nails' music as

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme metal, extreme fusion genre of heavy metal music, heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, e ...

powerviolence Powerviolence (sometimes written as power violence) is a chaotic and fast subgenre of hardcore punk which is closely related to thrashcore and grindcore. In contrast with grindcore, which is a "crossover" idiom containing musical aspects of hea ...

crust punk Crust punk (also known as stenchcore or simply crust) is a fusion genre of anarcho-punk and extreme metal that originated in the early to mid-1980s in England. Originally, the genre was primarily mid-tempo, making use of metal riffs in a stri ...

, and

. In a review of '' Abandon All Life'', ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' wrote that "Nails cram their brief but constantly shifting tracks with a chaotic, complex blend of hardcore punk,

D-beat D-beat (also known as Discore, kängpunk, Discrust, and crust-beat) is a style of hardcore punk, developed in the early 1980s by imitators of Discharge, after whom the genre is named, as well as a drum beat characteristic of this subgenre. D- ...

, grindcore, powerviolence, and

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

." The band have cited influences including

Agnostic Front Agnostic Front is an American hardcore punk band from New York City. Founded in 1980, the band is considered an important influence on the New York hardcore scene, as well as a pioneer of the crossover thrash genre. History First era (1980– ...

, Discharge,

Slayer Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them ...

Crossed Out Crossed Out was a powerviolence band from Encinitas, California. The band was active from early 1990 until late 1993. The group is considered to be a very important band that helped define powerviolence with a style that incorporated political ly ...

and

Sheer Terror Sheer Terror are an American hardcore punk band from New York City. The band was one of the first to combine elements of heavy metal with a hardcore punk base, pioneering a heavier style of hardcore that would create many bands in the followi ...

. In a 2013 interview for ''

Invisible Oranges ''Invisible Oranges'' is an American online music magazine dedicated to heavy metal news, band interviews and album reviews. It was founded by Cosmo Lee in September 2006 shortly after emigrating from San Francisco, California, United States t ...

'', Todd Jones named crust punk, death metal, and

Japanese hardcore Japanese hardcore is the hardcore punk scene in Japan, which originated to protest the social and economic changes sweeping the country in the 1980s. The band SS is regarded as the first, forming in 1977. Bands such as The Stalin and GISM soon ...

as the band's foremost musical influences.

Members

;Current *Todd Jones – lead vocals, guitar (2009–present) *Shelby Lermo – guitar (2024–present) *Andrew Solis – bass (2024–present) *Carlos Cruz – drums (2024–present) ;Former *John Gianelli – bass, backing vocals (2009–2020) *Taylor Young – drums (2009–2020) *Tom Hogan – drums (2009) *Andrew Saba – guitar (2012–2015) *

Leon del Muerte Leon del Muerte (born 1977) is a musician living in Portland, Oregon, USA. He is a guitarist, a vocalist, and also a founding member of the band Murder Construct. He is a guitarist in Terrorizer LA, and Lightbreaker vocalist in Impaled (band), Impa ...

– guitar, backing vocals (2017–2019) ;Touring musicians *Jon Westbrook – bass (2009) *

Phil Sgrosso Philip Joseph Sgrosso (born September 16, 1985) is an American musician, best known as former guitarist of the metalcore band As I Lay Dying (band), As I Lay Dying, the rhythm guitarist of the band Wovenwar, former touring guitarist for Nails (b ...

– guitar (2016)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Unsilent Death'' (2010) *'' Abandon All Life'' (2013) *''

'' (2016) *''

'' (2024)

EPs

*'' Obscene Humanity'' 12-inch (2009) *'' Obscene Humanity'' 7-inch (2012) *''Nails/Skin Like Iron'' Split 7-inch (2012) *'' Nails / Full of Hell'' Split 7-inch (2016) *''I Don't Want to Know You'' 7-inch (2019)

References

External links

Official website
* {{Authority control American grindcore musical groups Powerviolence groups Death metal musical groups from California American crust and d-beat groups Hardcore punk groups from California Musicians from Oxnard, California Musical groups established in 2009 2009 establishments in California Southern Lord Records artists Musical groups from Ventura County, California