WATERLOO, IA – Anything goes in the late-night mosh pits of Spicoli’s Reverb in Waterloo, Iowa, and that includes the Hawaiian shirts of Waterloo’s death metal outfit Guilty of Treason. Known for their party-hard stage presence, Guilty of Treason is one of the most visually unique bands in the scene.
“We’re a bunch of dudes who work day jobs and then do this at night,” said Quinn Salow, the vocalist for Guilty of Treason.
“When we’re playing shows, we’re there to party because that’s what we want the audience to do,” said Alex Larsen, a guitarist for Guilty of Treason. “The music is dark and heavy as shit, but our personality is there to have fun. Heavy songs and Jager bombs!”
In May of 2015, the band was formed as a death metal/metalcore act. Under their original lineup, they released an EP, “The Guilty,” in 2016. After some lineup changes, the band released their first studio full-length, “Beg for Your Life,” in 2018. The latest lineup features guitarists Alex Larsen and Bryan Hauser, vocalist Quinn Salow, bassist Hunter Heiselman and drummer Andrew McCracken. They are known as “The Guilty Boys.”
The project seeks to unleash a new full-length in the next year, but in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, nothing is certain.
“It’s a lot darker than ‘Beg for Your Life’ was,” said Larsen about the band’s new material. “I mean, ‘Beg for Your Life’ was made up of songs we had written five to two years ago now, so there’s been a lot of growth and member changes since the time that was written.”
According to the band, the new material is inspired heavily by The Black Dahlia Murder and Revocation, as well as classics like Testament, Metallica, Pantera and Iron Maiden. They describe the sound of their new music as melodic, thrashy death metal. According to Larsen, the band has already played about half of the new album live. The rest of the record will be kept private until its release.
While the band puts a lot of time into songwriting, originality is not their concern. Instead, the band members are more dedicated to having a good time.
“I don’t know how possible a new sound is anymore,” said Larsen. “What I hope we’re doing with Guilty is bringing back the mentality of old school metal. We play six-string guitars, no backing tracks, no click tracks; it’s just the five guys up there playing our instruments.”
Guilty of Treason’s new logo was announced in February of 2020 and is supposed to fit the direction of the band’s new material.
“Well, when we opened for The Black Dahlia Murder,… some of us had Hawaiian shirts on, one of us had khaki shorts,” said Larsen. “We had the one guy in the Aborted shirt and the other guy in the Hawaiian shirt, you know, the image doesn’t have to be there; we’re just dudes.”
Guilty of Treason lives by their slogan “Heavy songs and Jager bombs” when they perform, and they act like their own, loud menagerie. Their Hawaiian shirts only emphasize their tumultuous riffs, and they understand the importance behind relaxing and just having fun.
After being in the local music scene for almost five years, the band has learned important lessons regarding music scene etiquette. The band emphasizes treating other artists with respect, and they believe that the best way to progress in a scene is to go with the flow and not try to get ahead.
“You’re going to do best by making friends and not having the mentality that you’re trying to be better than any other band,” said Larsen.
Guilty of Treason is not currently scheduled for a live show in the near future, but their material can be streamed on Spotify and Bandcamp.