{"id":682428,"date":"2026-05-20T06:34:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T06:34:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/682428\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T06:34:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T06:34:21","slug":"empire-signs-headwreck-enters-nu-metal-genre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/682428\/","title":{"rendered":"EMPIRE Signs Headwreck, Enters Nu-Metal Genre"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tBRISBANE, Australia \u2014 Some bands drop new music to celebrate a label deal. Headweck<\/a> does that and more, by embarking on a pan-European tour, their first after signing with EMPIRE.<\/p>\n

\n\tBased in Brisbane, the nu-metal exponents are the first in their genre to join EMPIRE roster, the Bay Area independent label that launched the careers of Kendrick Lamar, Anderson .Paak, Shaboozey, and others.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Sung<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFrom the first chat, it was clear they get our vision and who we are,\u201d frontman Connor Hickman exclusively tells Billboard while on the road in Europe. \u201cThey empower artists to stay authentic and stay true to their genuine selves, and that\u2019s exactly the energy we want behind us. Can\u2019t wait for what\u2019s next.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWith the new deal, the release of \u201cRaindrops,\u201d the followup to their Attitude Adjustment collection which dropped in October last year.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAs we always want our songs to be,\u201d says Hickman of the new single, \u201cit\u2019s fun, catchy, groovy and hard hitting. The song started off with a Jamo riff, that was a meant to be a bit of a joke, with ridiculous guitar scratches and squealies, but the groove and vibe captured everyone in the room when we all sat down to listen to it, and we just couldn\u2019t resist but to turn it into a full song.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHeadweck last week kicked off a tour off the U.K. and Europe in support of Paledusk, a run that includes headline shows leading into their appearance at Download Festival 2026. The tour, their first of the region, is the realization of a lifelong dream for the band, comprised of Hickman (vocals), Jamo Benadie (guitar), Dayne Paix (bass), and Colby Horton (drums).<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis tour is truly a dream come true. And we\u2019re so lucky to be on a big tour bus with all the other bands as well \u2013 livin the bunk life,\u201d Hickman tells Billboard. \u201cWe\u2019ve also been blown away by the response from the crowds over here so far. It\u2019s insane to us that there are fans of ours on the other side of the world, we are so so grateful and it all feels a little surreal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe bandmates are staying mum on U.S. touring plans, offering a delicious hint that \u201cit\u2019s looking quite promising\u201d for a jaunt later this year.<\/p>\n

\n\tHeadwreck has previously supported British metalcore specialists Bury Tomorrow across Australia, and opened for the likes of Northlane, Polaris, The Amity Affliction, Thornhill\u00a0and more. Their debut headline tour of their homeland in April 2026 was a sell-out, and included five shows across the big three cities: Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Earlier this year, the rockers were anointed as triple j Unearthed Forecast Artist\u00a0and March Feature Artist.<\/p>\n

\n\tHeadwreck\u2019s signing follows the 2024 launch<\/a> of EMPIRE\u2019s Australian business, led by Cameron Walsh.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere\u2019s something undeniably compelling about Headwreck \u2013 the immediacy of their sound, the clarity of their identity, and the genuine connection they\u2019re building with fans,\u201d comments Walsh, the music company\u2019s Australian territory manager. \u201cWhat really stands out is how intentional everything is \u2013 from their fully in-house creative to the chaotic energy of their live shows and the way they channel early 2000s heaviness into something far more expansive, at the intersection of metalcore, alternative and electronic-driven sounds. For EMPIRE, it\u2019s about aligning with artists who are shaping culture in real time, and Headwreck are doing that in a way that feels both raw and authentic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAdds Peter Kim, director of A&R at EMPIRE: \u201cHeadwreck\u00a0is one of those instinctive decisions\u2014you hear it and just know. There\u2019s a rawness and intensity to what they\u2019re doing that feels both fresh and necessary right now. They\u2019ve got the songs, the identity, and the ambition to break on a global level. We\u2019re fired up to help share their vision with the world.\u201d<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BRISBANE, Australia \u2014 Some bands drop new music to celebrate a label deal. Headweck does that and more,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":682429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,71516,292923,134,136],"class_list":["post-682428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bbnews","tag-empire","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=682428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/682429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=682428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=682428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=682428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}