Currents never compromise neither creatively, nor philosophically.
As if controlling chaos by hand, the Connecticut quintet—Brian Wille [vocals], Chris Wiseman [guitar], Ryan Castaldi [guitar], Matt Young [drums], and Christian Pulgarin [bass]—balance an inclination for invention with innate intensity, defying expectations and expanding the scope of heavy music in the process. By following an internal creative compass, the group have continued to tread a singular path without comparison. Teetering on an axis of extreme heaviness and transfixing melody, this path reaches another peak on their 2025 EP, All That Follows [SHARPTONE].
Breaking free from expectations and rules, it represents both a signature body of work and a natural step through new territory.
“Over the years, we didn’t listen to anyone else, we made the choices we wanted to make, and we believed in the people who stood behind us,” Brian reflects. “Each day, it’s always just been one foot in front of the other. Since nobody ever thought this would be a viable career option, it’s so meaningful that people want music from us.”
Long before tallying hundreds of millions of streams and playing to sold-out crowds, the spark behind Currents began to flicker as early as 2011. Brian had joined the fold during 2015, and the band pushed forward with a series of critically acclaimed fan favorite releases such as The Place I Feel Safest [2017], I Let The Devil In EP [2018], The Way It Ends [2020], and The Death We Seek [2023]. Following the latter’s release, Everything Is Noise raved, “Currents are one of the few that are capable of crafting a modern metalcore sound that is unrelenting in every which way whilst still being incredibly accessible.” Beyond praise courtesy of MetalSucks and more, Distorted Sound rated it “9-out-of-10,” proceeding to profess, “It makes the future of this brilliant set of musicians one of the most exciting prospects in music to this day.” Along the way, they shared stages with everyone from Parkway Drive and Beartooth to Ice Nine Kills, We Came As Romans, and Miss May I.
In between non-stop touring, All That Follows came together. Once again, they worked with producer Ryan Leitru [We Came As Romans, Wolves At The Gate] on a handful of tracks, while Brian and Chris co-produced the rest of the material.
“For the EP, we really compiled some of our strongest songs that made sense together,” he goes on.
Currents teased this era with “It Only Gets Darker,” which instantly reeled in over 1.9 million Spotify streams. Among various highlights, “My Severance” evinces the band’s penchant for dynamics. Icy beeps pulsate across a violent chugging groove punctured by an ethereal arpeggio and glimmering harmonics. It climaxes on a cathartic clean chorus, “Locked in isolation, thrown away. This is my severance.”
“It discusses how we’re taken advantage of by people who think they know better because they have more money than God and make whatever decisions they want,” he reveals. “They gain control of the government by lobbying. We have no way of combatting it unless we’re all together. So, you renounce your faith in the institution and stand up to it.”
“Making Circles” slips from a wave of guttural distortion into the undertow of fragile verses. The tension moves cyclically in a celestial rhythm as Brian sets the scene, “Making circles in the dark to find we’re clouded; we’re lost. No use counting on the stars to guide us over it, this constant motion.”
On the other end of the spectrum, “Can’t Turn Back” finds Currents in a crushing pocket. Guttural growls grate up against screeching guitar and a rumbling groove. Vitriol practically seeps through Brian’s words on his screams, “Hit the floor. What the fuck do you take me for?” All hell breaks loose, summoning a proclamation right from the gut, “Bow your head to this kingdom.”
“It’s a betrayal song,” he sighs. “It’s directed at a person who believes he’s on top of the world, but he doesn’t realize he’s sowing his own fate.”
The finale “Rise & Fall” revolves around a riff call-and-response, losing ground in a torrent of propulsive drums. The hook holds onto the vestiges of a crumbling institution codified in the refrain, “I can’t find what’s left for me besides another rise and fall. It took all that’s left of me and doubt is still in the way.” Emotion seethes on the bridge until a final bludgeoning breakdown.
“It ends with a bunch of questions,” he states. “Is this going to happen to us? What becomes of this? We’ve renounced our faith, but how does it end? Is there a second coming, the apocalypse, the singularity, or the afterlife? You don’t know how it’s going to shake out. There is only the rise and fall.”
However, Currents are still in the midst of their own quiet rise, and it’s not stopping.
“For the most part, I take the worst things I can think of and put them in the music,” he concludes. “I pour a lot of hatred, sadness, frustration, confusion, and betrayal into Currents. What comes out is the opposite of what goes in though. When we play a show, people lose their minds, and they’re smiling. We’re trying to provide a healthy outlet.”
