If mathcore, hardcore, powerviolence, or screamo is a thing held in high regard, Detach The Islands will not be a new entity. However, for those who are just finding out, get ready for an auditory treat. The band’s newest EP, Concrete Jungle, drops tomorrow and is a sort of cleansing from the old and blazing a trail into the new with a couple of remixes, a couple of covers, and a couple of new songs. The tracks here are mind-boggling, spell inducing, and just plain fun for those who wish to push their boundaries from the stale norms we all live under. It’s extreme and extremely discordant yet emotively immersive. With their past and future on bright display here, there’s absolutely no limits on what this band can accomplish moving forward. Founding member and drummer Emmett Ceglia was kind enough to give us some thoughtful Profile answers so head directly below and enjoy the history lesson. And, be sure to hit those links to support them while you’re here…

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? 

Metal was in my periphery early on, but my exposure to Tool and Meshuggah at around 12 years old wasn’t ready to take hold. I needed Primus, Slipknot, and Avenged Sevenfold to prime the ground for heaviness and discordance to take root in me. The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Ire Works and Strapping Young Lad’s Alien were the tipping point though – from then on I would be permanently dislodged onto a path of seeking more guitars that resembled machines, vocals that wanted to rip themselves apart, drums that pushed the mind and body alike. 

Most importantly though, I needed the cathartic rush of pain, rejection, disillusionment, sadness, and emptiness to continue to escalate ever higher. This is where Post-Hardcore and Screamo came for me in its ability to push the emotional and technical envelope. All these (and eventually coming around to Meshuggah) culminate in the conception of Detach the Islands. My band Autocatalytica was ending, and I wanted to try my hand at crafting something heavy in my own image to bring together everything I’d known so far and go beyond it. Haven’t stopped since.

Pushback only required(s) exposure and openness to dispel the mystery and fear of the unknown. However, if your openness is not reciprocated, you may be on your way.

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

This band is a rollercoaster. It is intense, loud, uncompromising. Its sound can be alien at first listen but will teach you to hear its language as you listen. When we play people either gravitate to us or stand there bewildered.

Is there one (or more) thing about your latest / upcoming album or about your band that no one will find in any interview or review that you care to divulge? 

The album cover for Concrete Jungle is a real image, not a composite of the Statue of Liberty with her torch swapped for a cross. I saw the statue called Statue of Liberation Through Christ  in Memphis, TN while on tour with World Peace in 2024 filling in on drums. As a New Yorker, to see Lady Liberty like that seemed ridiculous, gross, an overreach of evangelical ego, and a mockery of what She stands for. Having it upside down just further emphasizes our country’s deeply misguided state and path. Even though Concrete Jungle is a compilation, I felt this perversion of America’s ideals is fitting for our time and the music’s howling anger and frustration at that inversion of our symbol of acceptance to the world. 

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

As a follow up to the last question: On that same tour with World Peace, literally the same day I took the picture that would become the album art, Memphis gave me another gift – pink eye. I don’t know how or by what means but there I was, pink eye on tour, not a week in. The stuff of contagion nightmares for the Crohns ridden compromised immune system. Flabbergasted.

By the grace of God I managed to keep it away from the other guys, but I had to find my way to an urgent care as early as humanly possible then get the necessary medication to fight this plague before we had to hit the road in the morning. Memphis somehow provided this and by 11am I was disinfecting every square inch of our van and had doctor’s orders to wear sunglasses to put a barrier between me and everyone else for the next five days, day and night except to sleep. I felt like a maniac and must’ve seemed like I was trying to have the biggest, dumbest prima donna attitude to everyone I met. 

The World Peace guys embraced it and loved it to our constant laughter and my complete relief. We joined The Body in Nashville later that day to start the next twelve shows in a row together. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to meet someone for the first time who would, under no circumstances, take their sunglasses off for the most ridiculous disease’s reason you’ve heard in your adult life. But like the champions they are, Chip and Lee accepted me, and after five days, the big reveal of my plague free peepers was greeted with great reverie and Guayaki Yerba Mates were had by all.

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?

Metal and punk’s greatest strength is its ability to unite the outcast, the misunderstood, the one who feels they have no one like them, to take the burning rage of life and transform it into a positive force. Its greatest weakness is its habitually ridiculous desire to contradict that strength.

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 have Crohn’s Disease and have had it for most of my life now. DTI gives me a place to express and raise to the forefront what living with it is like. It is in part due to other musicians with Crohns like Darryl from Glassjaw that I was able to see that a life in music is possible in spite of Crohn’s and all of its uncertainty and potent ability to debilitate me. I want to give a life lived in defiance of illness a place to be heard and to be known. I want anyone who suffers to know there are others out there who have still made life and their dreams possible. 

Crohn’s Disease must be given its full respect in my life, but I will not allow it to rule me. DTI makes that voice audible and its words tangible. If you or anyone you know suffers from Crohn’s or other gastrointestinal diseases, the Crohn’s Colitis Foundation is an amazing place to start and get resources.

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

I have turned Jay back into a massive Magic The Gathering fan and player, and we’re slowly chipping away at Siddhu next.

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?

I value music journalism and criticism. I feel like it is a gateway that serves the important function of turning the unknowing ear into the devoted fan. It has introduced me to countless artists and records that I am a lifelong fan of (a huge thank you to Sputnik Music in particular!), and I would want to know I was reading the writer’s genuine opinion and analysis because that is what I’m coming to them for. 

I want to see the press release used as a jumping off point for writing about a band rather than material to be copied and pasted and used as the entire article. I want to read the journalists’ honest opinions and insights. Whether they’re positive or negative, I want their own unique thoughts and words, not just what I wrote about my band to be regurgitated back to the readers. 

Any specific long term goal(s) in mind?

DTI goes on tour across the US, to Europe, to Asia. DTI gets to have its music pressed to vinyl. DTI plays festivals: Roadburn, Arctangent, New Friends Fest, ZBR Fest. United Nations gets back together, goes on tour, and takes us with them.

When you’re not obsessing over your own material, what are some of your favorite albums to listen to currently? (Feel free to include non-metal)

Listening to the United Nations discography as I write this! Been loving the new Saosin; always glad to hear one my favorite drummers (Alex Rodriguez) tearing it up. Dissimulation by .gif from god – absolute insanity. Glassjaw’s two 2011 EPs. Geogaddi by Boards of Canada in anticipation of their new album. An Exercise in Self Expression by Unfulfilled – some of the filthiest fun riffage I’ve heard in a while. Specifically the song “Song of Solomon” by Animals as Leaders.

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

Concrete Jungle is out May 1st! Go get yourself a tape from Tomb Tree and stream it everywhere. We are playing Doom Fest in Madison, NJ on May 23rd. Come early and get yourself a sick new shirt. After that we will begin putting the finishing touches on a new album!

Summarize your band in one word. (Disclosure: If you use more than one word, we’ll probably just pick our favorite.)

Catharsis.

Many thanks to Emmett and Detach The Islands for their time!

---

Concrete Jungle will be available May 1 on Tomb Tree Tapes. For more information in Detach The Islands, visit their Instagram page.

*Band image courtesy of Tom Shani*