And at the end of the first full week of March we have the first 2025 release out of Neurot Recordings. Sludge/post-metal quartet Guiltless, a project formed by members of A Storm Of Light, Intronaut, Generation Of Vipers, Battle Of Mice, and more, are releasing Teeth To Sky this coming Friday (tomorrow, March 7th). I’ve gone through this thing a few times in putting this Profile together and let me tell ya… it’s intense. It has a heavy industrial quality to it which absolutely sucks the light out of, um, pretty much everything? So needless to say I’m very much into it. All the ways in which it is jarring and introspective – sign me the fuck up. Josh Graham (guitars/vocals) took some time to respond to our questions and introduce this project and album a little further. Give it a read below. It’s a good time, especially the tour stories. Catch ya on the other side!

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How and when did you first get into playing music, or metal more specifically, and how did your band get its start? Any pushback from family/those close to you?

I started playing music around 14. Dan and I started playing together at 15 and had a pretty successful Phoenix band until about 21 – then played together on and off before starting Guiltless at our ripe old ages.

My dad liked a lot of my music, including A Storm of Light, my mom is born-again so she’ll peripherally check stuff out but 100% ignores the lyrical content, which is probably good for having any kind of civil relationship. She liked Red Sparowes – pretty sure the Guiltless cover art has steered her clear of ever listening to that, hopefully anyway. Hahaha.

How would you describe your band and what you play to someone who is completely in the dark?

Hmmm. If I am describing it to someone in the metal world I would say Godflesh and Kiss It Goodbye with some Jesus Lizard rhythm section thrown in there. If I am describing it to someone that listens to say, country radio, I would say it’s very heavy, very dark and you probably won’t like it.

Is there anything about your upcoming album or about your band that no one will find in any interview or review that you care to divulge? 

Coil is a big influence on this record strangely enough – at least in the songs I brought into the mix. Their use of atmosphere and sickening half-step chord progressions might be some of the most non-metal darkness out there. Check out “Are You Shivering?”

Any funny stories from playing shows / tours / festivals, etc?

Oh man there’s almost an endless supply… We stayed at a house in St. Louis where gang members had assassinated 2 other gang members in these guys’ front yard 2 nights before, but when we asked about the safety of our van and gear they said “it’s all good since you aren’t dealing meth on their turf, they don’t care about your van.”

One tour everyone got the stomach flu and I was hanging my head out of the van throwing up into 120 degree Texas air – about an hour before load in. 

Outside of Plymouth UK, our driver who had no sense of direction and was completely utterly lost – he woke us up when he backed our van into a 1000 year old stone church in a village of like 10 houses in the countryside at 2am – the locals were not happy. 

In Geneva we got 10 people (egged on by and including the promoter) into a 4 person elevator, which then broke and sunk down 2 flights and ended up in the middle of two floors for about 20 minutes – fortunately my face was right at the door opening so I had a steady stream of air – it was getting dicey in the back. 

Somewhere else in the UK, Storm and Sleep were on tour and we rigged up the wheel chair lift, which ran from the venue’s basement to the 2nd floor, which was above the main floor, directly over the crowd stage right. So out of nowhere, Matt started playing Dopesmoker completely unseen — slowly rising out of the basement on the lift, that was some epic shit.

What do you see as some of the great things happening in and around the metal scene (yours or just in general) and what are some of the worst things happening right now?

There are so many great new bands with a wide variety of influences, really creating NEW music and expanding the horizons of metal fans as well. I think it’s a great time for cross pollination in metal. As far as the worst – any kind of misogyny, fascism, racism and or ego – fuck all of that shit.

Most folks have passions for a cause or causes that are close to them. What, if any, are some of the most important issues (social/political/humorous/etc.) for you / your band and how do you insert those issues into your music? 

I write a lot about climate change and the part humans are playing in our own slow demise. I have historically written about a lot of political and social issues, influenced by Discharge, Fugazi, etc. With Guiltless I am trying to steer clear of too much contemporary reference, and be a bit more introspective.

Do you have day jobs or hobbies you want to share? 

I work in print design and work on record covers for small bands and big bands. I also work in motion design, on projects for Paramount, Nasa, IBM, etc. Sacha runs Dunable Guitars which is kicking some serious ass. Billy’s hobby is DRUMS DRUMS DRUMS, aside from that he is a US Mailman! Dan does building maintenance for work, hobbies include vintage Suzuki 4×4 restoration, philosophy, physics and pulp crime.

What advice do you have for music critics and outlets out there? How can we all better serve the genre in the eyes of a hard-working musician?

In general the large majority of critics are awesome these days. My only thought would be that before a record is completely trashed or dismissed, consider that it most likely took several people at least a year of more to make that music – and someone somewhere may love that band.

Any specific long term goal(s) in mind?

We’ll see where the music takes us. Hopefully we will be able to play live regularly, play festivals, write new music etc.

When you’re not obsessing over your own material, what are some of your favorite albums to listen to currently?

A quick running collective list from everyone:

The Body – “Orchards of a Funeral Heaven”
Generation of Vipers – “Guilt Shrine”
Big Brave – “A Chaos of Flowers”
Great Falls – “Objects Without Pain”
Necrot – “Lifeless Birth”
Insect Ark – “Raw Blood Singing”
Coilguns – “Odd Love”
Blood Incantation – “Absolute Elsewhere”
Wretched Blessing – “S/T”
Yautja – “The Lurch”

What is the near future outlook for you or your band? Any specific events on the horizon that the masses should be aware of?

We’re just getting started so it’s kind of all unfolding now. We’ll be playing Prepare the Ground in Toronto May 31, East Coast US shows with Generation of Vipers around PTG, California with Coalesce and Kowloon Walled City in March, and some EU shows / festivals in October, TBA.

Summarize your band in one word.

Nuclear-Semiotics

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Many thanks to Josh and Guiltless for the time!

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Teeth To Sky is out on March 7th through Neurot Recordings. For more information on Guiltless, head over to their website.