For screamo band Kid, Feral, the truth finally comes out
The song “Substance” has a lyric that captures Kid, Feral’s sound—a burning-at-both-ends sound, always changing, always shifting: "I'm trying to fill the gaps, changing shapes like they ask while I'm breaking.”
But later in the song, singer Vile Hartman screams, “This year is the same, just like the others / I'm scared I might just not grow old after all.”
I hear a story about somebody with an unstable identity struggling in a destabilized reality—and seeing only repetition.
Swedish screamo band Kid, Feral debuted with “Live and Let’s Die!” in 2018. And to hear the new album, you’d wonder if the band might not grow old after all because they still sound like mid-2010s-era screamo.
The album has that era’s fragility, and it has less guitar distortion and fewer hardcore vocals than today’s screamo bands, like Blind Girls and Portrayal of Guilt.
That’s partly because its recording started in 2019. The drums were recorded in October that year; the rest of the album, though, was rewritten, reworked, and rerecorded more than once since then. Those years were hard, personally, according to the band. But they did not let the album go.
Kid, Feral talked to me about the new album.
Damon: Hello, and congratulations on the album! I like it. The music has that cathartic quality that good screamo has. There’s a quote attributed to French poet Paul Valéry that says, in short, art is never finished, only abandoned. After almost 7 years, does it feel cathartic to release this album? Or does it feel more like you’re abandoning it? Or a mix?
Kid, Feral: Very, very cathartic. It's been super very weird to finally, FINALLY be done with the album. It took so much work. Just imagine—we've listened to these drum tracks from 25 to 32 years old.
I can say that we are all in the band 100-percent happy with the result. It definitely feels like a completion. I think all of us in the band are happy to never, ever work with these songs ever again ... ahaha!!
We're more looking forward to making new songs and not looking back so much after this debacle.
Probably releasing more often now. Seven years is not too hard to beat!
The song “Substance” has a lyric that captures Kid, Feral’s sound—a burning-at-both-ends sound, always changing, always shifting: "I'm trying to fill the gaps, changing shapes like they ask while I'm breaking.”
But later in the song, singer Vile Hartman screams, “This year is the same, just like the others / I'm scared I might just not grow old after all.”
I hear a story about somebody with an unstable identity struggling in a destabilized reality—and seeing only repetition.
Swedish screamo band Kid, Feral debuted with “Live and Let’s Die!” in 2018. And to hear the new album, you’d wonder if the band might not grow old after all because they still sound like mid-2010s-era screamo.
The album has that era’s fragility, and it has less guitar distortion and fewer hardcore vocals than today’s screamo bands, like Blind Girls and Portrayal of Guilt.
That’s partly because its recording started in 2019. The drums were recorded in October that year; the rest of the album, though, was rewritten, reworked, and rerecorded more than once since then. Those years were hard, personally, according to the band. But they did not let the album go.
Kid, Feral talked to me about the new album.
Damon: Hello, and congratulations on the album! I like it. The music has that cathartic quality that good screamo has. There’s a quote attributed to French poet Paul Valéry that says, in short, art is never finished, only abandoned. After almost 7 years, does it feel cathartic to release this album? Or does it feel more like you’re abandoning it? Or a mix?
Kid, Feral: Very, very cathartic. It's been super very weird to finally, FINALLY be done with the album. It took so much work. Just imagine—we've listened to these drum tracks from 25 to 32 years old.
I can say that we are all in the band 100-percent happy with the result. It definitely feels like a completion. I think all of us in the band are happy to never, ever work with these songs ever again ... ahaha!!
We're more looking forward to making new songs and not looking back so much after this debacle.
Probably releasing more often now. Seven years is not too hard to beat!
D: Had the album been released around 2019, what might be different? What would sound different?
KF: It would have been a very different album. Our old bassist, Ossian, was more of a punk guy, so there would have been a different bass sound for sure.
It might have sounded a bit less melodically intricate because guitars and bass were rewritten and refined a couple of times. That's probably the biggest difference.
It almost might have been less well mixed since we've gotten better at production, and our taste has evolved since then.
KF: It would have been a very different album. Our old bassist, Ossian, was more of a punk guy, so there would have been a different bass sound for sure.
It might have sounded a bit less melodically intricate because guitars and bass were rewritten and refined a couple of times. That's probably the biggest difference.
It almost might have been less well mixed since we've gotten better at production, and our taste has evolved since then.
D: Here’s the obligatory question about influences. What screamo bands were you listening to in that 2016-2019 time? And which screamo bands, if any, were you listening to when you were finishing this album? Did your tastes change in that time and, if so, what effect might that have had on the final sound of the album?
KF: Jeromes Dream, mostly. It's our favorite screamo band, definitely. We've had the pleasure to see them twice live now—once in Gotheburg and once in Canada at New Friends Fest (NFF) in '24. Since we played our show at NFF the same day as them, we went backstage and shook their hands after they played their show lmao. It sounds corny, but, to us, it was like meeting Led Zeppelin, so we just had to do it.
Also saw Raein at NFF, which is a huge inspiration. Ran up after the show and talked about mic positions on the Stratocaster. They have such a lovely guitar sound, and yeah, I was like, Damn it's just Stratocasters on the neck position. I was stoked because that's also what I love. They're also very cool dudes and very friendly to nerds bugging them after the show about gear. It was cool and inspiring.
But to answer your question, I think our "schtick" is to try to not emulate anyone and have a unique sound, for better or worse. It's a lot of just plucking things out of the ether during song-writing time and going for it because we literally can't do anything else. Like, we really, really wanted our band to sound like very hard-ass normal screamo, but obviously we just can't do it!!! hahaha
KF: Jeromes Dream, mostly. It's our favorite screamo band, definitely. We've had the pleasure to see them twice live now—once in Gotheburg and once in Canada at New Friends Fest (NFF) in '24. Since we played our show at NFF the same day as them, we went backstage and shook their hands after they played their show lmao. It sounds corny, but, to us, it was like meeting Led Zeppelin, so we just had to do it.
Also saw Raein at NFF, which is a huge inspiration. Ran up after the show and talked about mic positions on the Stratocaster. They have such a lovely guitar sound, and yeah, I was like, Damn it's just Stratocasters on the neck position. I was stoked because that's also what I love. They're also very cool dudes and very friendly to nerds bugging them after the show about gear. It was cool and inspiring.
But to answer your question, I think our "schtick" is to try to not emulate anyone and have a unique sound, for better or worse. It's a lot of just plucking things out of the ether during song-writing time and going for it because we literally can't do anything else. Like, we really, really wanted our band to sound like very hard-ass normal screamo, but obviously we just can't do it!!! hahaha
D: Please talk about the lyrics to “Puddle Jumper.” In particular, I’m interested in this part: “And I’m accepting the fact that you’re never coming back / I’ve come out stronger.” And this: “Then it hits me that you want me to do better.” These lyrics are nuts.
KF: So, I had a best friend in University that got brain cancer and died unfortunately! It's what the Firedragon3651 song from the first album is about. This song is kinda like the final addendum to that whole experience. The dude's gone now for a while but he's still flowing through my fingers, helping me remember. And you gotta stay positive and move forward—that's the human spirit. 😊
Thank you to Kid, Feral, for taking the time.
I enjoy the album, starting with “Funeral in a Grocery Store,” which offers a furious start, a cathartic onslaught of noise and emotion. The bass guitar hits like a ram. The song includes backing harmonies and a few screams bordering on terror. I like the vocal at 53 seconds—“I don't want to die in a grave I dug with my own hands.” Oh, that deeply felt sense of alienation: "And sometimes I look out the window and everything's normal / It confuses me greatly / When will it all connect?"
“Medieval Poetry,” my favorite song, mellows at 29 seconds as the bass drum pulses under looping chords. The vocal strain against the earworm melody works because it contrasts with the rougher parts. This is the album’s most rhythmically consistent song.
On “2019,” Kid, Feral plays like it has a total lifespan under 15 minutes. The album’s long-ass song is “I Want to Be Your Canopy.” It’s almost two and half minutes!
My second-favorite song, “Puddle Jumper,” starts with guitar notes chiming out a sun shower of well-played pull-offs and hammer-ons. Naked self-deception and truth battle in the lyrics, “And I'm accepting the fact that you're never coming back / I've come out stronger / Love! It's stupidly strong / Tears! When they come / I'll try / Pain and loss can be so scary / I'll try / How can I even start to describe something as awful as you leaving." Then this baffling ending: "Then it hits me that you want me to do better / LOVE! / I want to live, so let's acknowledge these changes."
What choice does one have but to spin awful heartache into motivation?
KF: So, I had a best friend in University that got brain cancer and died unfortunately! It's what the Firedragon3651 song from the first album is about. This song is kinda like the final addendum to that whole experience. The dude's gone now for a while but he's still flowing through my fingers, helping me remember. And you gotta stay positive and move forward—that's the human spirit. 😊
Thank you to Kid, Feral, for taking the time.
I enjoy the album, starting with “Funeral in a Grocery Store,” which offers a furious start, a cathartic onslaught of noise and emotion. The bass guitar hits like a ram. The song includes backing harmonies and a few screams bordering on terror. I like the vocal at 53 seconds—“I don't want to die in a grave I dug with my own hands.” Oh, that deeply felt sense of alienation: "And sometimes I look out the window and everything's normal / It confuses me greatly / When will it all connect?"
“Medieval Poetry,” my favorite song, mellows at 29 seconds as the bass drum pulses under looping chords. The vocal strain against the earworm melody works because it contrasts with the rougher parts. This is the album’s most rhythmically consistent song.
On “2019,” Kid, Feral plays like it has a total lifespan under 15 minutes. The album’s long-ass song is “I Want to Be Your Canopy.” It’s almost two and half minutes!
My second-favorite song, “Puddle Jumper,” starts with guitar notes chiming out a sun shower of well-played pull-offs and hammer-ons. Naked self-deception and truth battle in the lyrics, “And I'm accepting the fact that you're never coming back / I've come out stronger / Love! It's stupidly strong / Tears! When they come / I'll try / Pain and loss can be so scary / I'll try / How can I even start to describe something as awful as you leaving." Then this baffling ending: "Then it hits me that you want me to do better / LOVE! / I want to live, so let's acknowledge these changes."
What choice does one have but to spin awful heartache into motivation?
Kid Feral released “2019” on May 29th, 2026, through the Oslo-based label Backpack Records. The album was self-recorded in the band’s rehearsal space and self-mixed and mastered.
Interview date: Aug 21, 2026
