Back in April a close friend of mine sent me a link to stream an album that had just been released. As the notification flashed up on my screen, my happiness and interest at receiving a message from my friend quickly turned to shock and worry as the message preview simply read ‘I KNOW HOW YOU WILL DIE’.
That was my first introduction to Snooze. Really quite fitting when I think back on it, as my first listen to the band’s sophomore album, I KNOW HOW YOU WILL DIE, was a similar emotional rollercoaster. That feeling of intrigue as the choir and horns open up “I Existed”, surprise during the A cappella piece that fits so wonderfully into “Expectation”, and the absolute shock at the deft turn the album takes into violent djent-y, progressive metal during “Harked”….and that’s just the first three songs on the album. This album is a ride, one that will have you dancing one moment and wanting to check in on your friends the next minute.
Unsurprisingly, Snooze has already been featured a couple of times on EIN as there are quite a few math rock nerds on the team. In fact, both their EP, Still, and first album, Familiaris, were positively reviewed. However, on those albums Snooze still seemed to be finding their sound. In fact, an EIN editor summed them up quite well during THE NOISE OF APRIL 2025 article, which featured IKHYWD, saying ‘Snooze started as one of those math rock bands – a little bit twinkly, a bit emo and a lot of noodling.’.
While this description still fits part of Snooze’s musical DNA, there is a lot more going on with I KNOW HOW YOU WILL DIE. Before the album had even finished I felt like reaching out to guitarist and vocalist, Logan Voss, to understand what went into the making of their new album, where the sudden sonic growth spurt came from, and discussing the tumultuous couple of years the band has experienced. Logan was quick to respond and more than happy to give a breakdown of the group as it is now, saying:
‘We’ve got Alex Kennedy on drums, Mike Stover on guitar, and Demetri Wolfe on Bass! We all sing (besides Alex) in the live set. We had a completely different lineup pre-2020. With this lineup we’ve been together since about 2021, with Demetri coming aboard in like 2023 I think? We had a different bass player when we first started playing [shows] again in 2021, but this has been the lineup since!’
IKHYWD stands as the first album that includes recordings of all current members, with the primary song writing and concept being handled by Logan, which isn’t much of a deviation from the creation process for Still.
In contrast, the first Snooze album, Familiaris, was primarily written by Logan, Cameron Grom (vocals/bass), and drummer Ben West. A conceptual album that takes us through life from the perspective of a dog, Familiaris is a rewarding listen; one that, despite the strange nature of the subject matter, is impressively crafted and lays the foundations for IKHYWD.
However, post-Familiaris is where the band experienced tragedy, which Logan expanded on:
‘Our bassist Cameron Grom passed away in 2020, and our guitar player and drummer had moved across the country before that point. So it was at a sort of hiatus period before we recorded our EP, Still. Yeah it’s been a wild ride since then. Lots of life and loss has happened since then, and I think we’ve definitely leaned more into the melancholy in the last couple releases.’
Dealing with the loss of a bandmate and close friend is a devastating experience, and it’s no wonder that those concepts have leached into the music and lyrics. Beyond the heavy riffs, the themes and mood of I KNOW HOW YOU WILL DIE explore raw and uncomfortable emotions and dealing with grief, sometimes through a sardonic lens. Lines like ‘Deciding soon / on finishes / Six by two by two / Cardboard means we are coming off as cheap! / My vote is still for the mahogany’ from “Overheard from the Void” cut deeply and add a weight that grows heavier with each listen.
There’s something fitting in a band that describes themselves as making happy heavy math rock having a tendency towards writing cutting, emotional music. Having said that, Logan insisting that the tag is really just a way of trying to describe the music, saying:
‘Honestly we just haven’t come up with a better, succinct description of how we sound to people. I guess in a way it brings a little bit of context of where we came from, cause I mean we could say something like Major Metalcore or something like that, but that sort of glosses over that the riffs are kind of both informed by math rock fundamentals and by more proggy metal-y sounds, rather than just like a metal band playing in major, if that makes sense?’
It certainly does. Snooze has so much on offer that it’s a bit overwhelming to start describing them. We have the obvious math rock influences in the guitar’s noodle-y notes and bubbling bass lines, which sit nicely alongside the overtly progressive metal riffs that have made a few people I’ve shared the record with want to start dancing. Of course, what probably stands out more than anything else on this new record is the band’s ability to flip the switch and, well, open up the fuckin’ pit, which is precisely what Logan seems to have had in mind, stating, ‘I feel like we definitely wanted to explore the heavier side of the spectrum with this release, a concept we had only ever flirted with on previous releases – I’ve always wanted this band to just be a fuck ton of breakdowns so I feel like we finally got there.’
The flirting in question was on the previously mentioned EP, Still, which had djent-ing drum machine Anup Sastry behind the kit, as well as on mixing and mastering duties. Logan discussed how he got Anup involved, saying:
‘I originally reached out to Anup to possibly just record drums and mix the record, and I was going to fly out and play drums at his house for the record. I’m so glad I didn’t because I kind of hadn’t played drums in years at that point. Anup offered to drum and mix the record and I was so down. He really unlocked a side of the band that I had always wanted but couldn’t. So that’s definitely influenced the bar of what we feel like we can accomplish [especially] with Alex joining. I feel like we can pretty much do whatever we want at this point which is awesome.’
Of course, the phrase ‘whatever we want’ seems to be key here. Snooze, while boasting incredible talent, aren’t ones to over do the technical wankery. Despite the music being wholly entrenched in the ethos of math rock and djent, two genres that aren’t really known for being particularly understated, they expertly weave intricate lines into undeniably enjoyable tracks that, for the most part, seamlessly meld into one cohesive album. Logan talked a bit more about what the musical philosophy of Snooze is, saying, ‘I mean I’m not a big shredder, and I think we tend to lean towards the whole ‘less is more’ philosophy, which is crazy to say considering the maximal-ness of this record. But when it comes to things like little metric modulations or leads or anything complicated, we try to use a steady hand and not overdo it.’
Snooze has garnered quite a bit of interest in this new album since its release and rightfully so. There’s a lot of heart and passion poured into this album that turns what could have been another sterile, yet technically sound album, into something visceral. We don’t always need more twinkly guitars or mind boggling time signatures, sure they’re nice every now and again, but they are also a dime a dozen. By trying not to force progressiveness, Snooze have given themselves the space to develop a sound that is leaps ahead of where they were on their last outing.
Logan, at least, seems happy enough with the outcome for now, saying, ‘I think for me the stuff I write is just the stuff I wish I could hear out in the world, or like I’ll take concepts that I really like from heavier bands and sort of try to squeeze it into my style. Musically it just has to groove, and feel nice. If it starts to feel masturbatory or self serving I tend to get the ick.’
Well, groove it most certainly does. If you enjoyed I KNOW HOW YOU WILL DIE as much as I did, you can pick it up from Snooze’s Bandcamp. Check them out at this year’s edition of ArcTanGent Festival (which we just published a feature on) if you happen to be going or check them out on Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date on any news or upcoming tours.
