Beastwars have kickstarted a new chapter in their musical journey – having just released their new album IV and track, ‘Raise The Sword’.
Beastwars’ latest music was inspired by vocalist Matt Hyde’s battle with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in 2016. Now in remission, Hyde is excited to tour Australia and New Zealand, considering the band haven’t toured in a while and are keen to showcase their new music.
“It’s exciting, we’re going to be playing at The Espy Hotel and we’re looking forward to that,” Hyde says. “We sold out this show, so we’ve got a second show announced now, which is great.”
It’s amazing to reflect over the band’s musical progress, considering the health issues that Hyde has struggled with over the years.
“I suppose when you’ve been diagnosed with a chronic illness, you’ve got fucking plenty of time to think and your mind will go crazy,” Hyde explains. “It’s just mental, as a species we overthink everything. I lived by myself and I did the treatment; people could only visit me on weekends because of work.
“It was a very strange time, the days were so slow, there was so much time to think of regrets. For me, the worst time was when you get the diagnosis and then have to wait for the treatment plan. In those three weeks, your mind goes crazy and of course you think of the worst.”
Hyde discusses how he hadn’t mentally prepared himself for the journey, but he knew he had to find a way to keep going.
“I was sick and exhausted – it’s really easy to fall down that negative hole, but you have to fight it, you’ve got no choice,” he says. “My daughter was only ten [during that stage] so that upset me. I couldn’t go because that’d upset her, so I needed to live much longer.
“I was very lucky I was only 46 years old, I got diagnosed and had treatment. There’s been breakthroughs in medicine and treatments; anti-nausea drugs mean that you can do more chemotherapy than before. It took [the nausea] all away but you just have to ride that fucking wild horse.”
Along with fighting for his daughter, Hyde also focused on creating the IV album as therapy to help him push through the dark times.
“The thing is, you don’t get to the fourth album that often; we’ve been lucky we’ve managed to put one out every three years. It’s exciting and we appreciate it,” Hyde says. “The album is full of loneliness and illness, but it’s also about fighting back – I suppose you should appreciate your time, how little it may be or how long you’ve got. Both are the elements of the song [‘Raise the Sword’].”
Hyde also shares his love for nature, which is another source of inspiration for his music. “The majority of the video is shot in Melbourne, it’s our live show at The Evelyn Hotel last November, and the other footage is all from New Zealand.
“My house was surrounded by bush, and this bird used to visit me outside my window – weird things like that would happen,” he says. “Also sunsets, sunrises, when the storm would come through, the rain – all those are great things to me.
“You just grab onto anything you can. I suppose it’s like being a lifeguard – you’ll get to the shore eventually, but at the moment you’re stuck in the sea. There’s no secret to it, apart from you just have to keep going. I should just be thankful, I had a lot going for me and now we get this piece of art to people and life continues.”
Beastwars come to The Espy on Friday July 12. Grab your tickets via the venue website. Their new album IV is out Friday June 28 via Destroy Records.
