Like Moths To Flames

“When it breaks, what piece am I left with?” ponders frontman Chris Roetter over the rousing, palms-to-the-sky outro of “Kintsugi,” an emotional thunderclap of a song that forms a centerpiece of Like Moths To Flames’ career-defining sixth album, The Cycles Of Trying To Cope.

While the anthemic track’s title pays homage to the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold, for Roetter and his bandmates—guitarists Zach Pishney and Cody Cavanaugh, and drummer Roman Garcia—the notion of “kintsugi” carries a deeper meaning: the human experience of finding light in the dark and creating good from pain. In many ways, it reflects the album’s core theme: the cycles of trying to cope.

“The record encapsulates the varying emotions we go through when trying to grow through life,” says Roetter. “Over the last few years, I’ve really tried to harness my emotions as a catalyst to get through whatever I was facing at the time. I think we all have our own unique ways to cope—these are mine. Just being able to write about this stuff and put it out into the world makes it feel like I’m not so alone.”

Segmented into four chapters—LIMBO, FRACTURE, DISSOCIATE, and MELANCHOLIA—The Cycles Of Trying To Cope plays as an intense exploration of the band’s musical arsenal. It straddles the ugly and the beautiful in equal measure, while Roetter’s raw introspection pierces every vicious breakdown and soaring chorus with cathartic force.

Though not originally conceived as a concept album, Roetter’s reflections on the record’s diverse and contrasting elements revealed underlying connections. These threads led him deeper into his internal landscape, drawing comparisons to the terraces of Dante’s Purgatory and ultimately giving shape to the album’s “cycles.”

“A big focal point for Moths has always been writing about things I’m actively going through,” Roetter explains. “But when I realized that each song on the new album covers a unique approach I’ve had to a specific emotion, it felt like we needed something to guide listeners through the record. It helps everything feel cohesive and complete. Sometimes an album can feel like just a collection of songs, but this is more of an experience for the band. I hope people can find some solace in knowing someone else out there is dealing with these things too.”

KINGDOM OF GIANTS is poised to soar beyond “best kept secret” status and into the modern metal and post-hardcore stratosphere, with a continuously evolving sound that pushes both the band and their audience forward. While firmly rooted in classic metalcore elements familiar to fans of Killswitch Engage and As I Lay Dying, or international counterparts like Architects UK and Northlane, the six-piece California band bravely color outside the lines of the safe and predictable.

The only “constant” in the KINGDOM OF GIANTS discography is constant motion, as the group works tirelessly to ensure each album takes listeners on a rich, rewarding, and diverse journey.

“Passenger,” the band’s fourth full-length and first in partnership with SharpTone Records, arrives like a bolt of lightning, heralding a torrential downpour across a desert of cookie-cutter clutter.

The band’s ability to recreate the depth and power of their recorded compositions onstage has been demonstrated across North America and Europe, as KINGDOM OF GIANTS built a reputation as road dogs on tours with Fit For A King, As I Lay Dying, Born Of Osiris, and Phinehas.

Dana Willax and bassist Jonny Reeves share vocal duties, blending a mixture of scream-and-sing storytelling drawn from their life experiences and emotional obstacles. It’s less of a traditional metalcore screamer/clean vocalist pairing and more akin to the tradeoff in bands like blink-182, in spirit and structure if not in sound. The triple-guitar attack of Max Bremer, Red Martin, and Julian Perez saves the terrifyingly aggressive technical prowess flourishes for maximum impact, focusing instead on steady, catchy foundations that give the songs both weight and staying power.