A Rage-Fueled Scream: Exclusive Interview With Capsize
By Staff | January 6, 2026
Capsize’s 2026 return isn't just a comeback; it's a sharpening of their sonic blade. Their upcoming EP serves as a high-contrast exploration of internal clarity amidst external chaos, blending waves of nostalgia with flashes of aggressive hope. Musically, the band is leaning further into their extremes, bridging the gap between infectious melodic hooks and crushing breakdowns specifically engineered for the catharsis of a live crowd. By enlisting producer Cody Stewart, they’ve managed to overlay a modern, polished sheen onto their signature raw emotion, proving that a sophisticated mix doesn't have to sacrifice human grit. Ultimately, this new chapter isn't a departure from their roots—it’s an expansion. The core identity of Capsize remains intact because it’s baked into their DNA; they’re simply opening a wider window into the same emotional intensity they’ve always championed.
It’s been ten years since A Reintroduction. How has the band’s philosophy on The Essence of All That Surrounds Me changed as you’ve moved into this new era?
Honestly, almost not at all. We’re still our own blend of everything that brought us here in the first place, the original influences that got us into music, the things that pulled us toward hardcore, and the nostalgia that keeps us revisiting that Myspace-era post-hardcore energy.
What has evolved is the world around us. The internet has completely reshaped the soundscape of heavy music. People are constantly discovering new references, new textures, and new ways to combine sounds that probably weren’t meant to coexist on paper and somehow making them feel natural. We’ve just taken all of that and kept it under our own umbrella, making sure it still feels like Capsize, just in its next form.
What was it about Roux & Ruin Records that made them the right home for this specific chapter of the band’s history?
Adrianne is almost like the big sister I didn’t know I had. We’re basically the same age, we came up on the same bands in the same eras, and we’ve always shared a similar vision for what we want the next wave of the scene to look like. She’s just as much a fan as she is a friend, and that combination is rare.
What really made Roux & Ruin the right home is her passion. It’s motivating to work with someone who’s genuinely excited about growing her operation and pushing the culture forward. We feel incredibly lucky that she chose to invest in what has been a slow-paced (until now) revival of the band. It feels like the perfect partnership at the perfect time.
These two singles feel like distinct pieces of a puzzle. How do they represent the sonic spectrum of the upcoming 2026 release?
You’re really just hearing the starting point of the EP with what both songs bring to the table. There are waves of energy, a heavy sense of nostalgia, flashes of hope inside hopeless moments, rage, and that “light at the end of the tunnel” feeling we’ve always gravitated toward. A lot of this record is about trying to find clarity internally while you’re weathering a storm externally, and each single taps into a different side of that.
Musically, Capsize has always lived in that space between catchy, drawn-out melodic sections and explosive breakdowns and this release pushes both ends of that spectrum even further. These songs are written to hit hard on record, but also to translate naturally into a live setting. The new album leans into everything that makes a crowd react: big choruses, atmosphere, tension, release, and the kind of dynamics that make seeing a band live feel cathartic.
Cody Stewart has a very modern, polished production thumbprint. How did his work on “Under a Hollow Sky” push the band out of its established comfort zone?
He absolutely nailed it. We trusted his production to keep up with what Matt Good brought to the table in the past, and he definitely delivered. Working with Cody Stewart pushed us to refine everything — performances, dynamics, atmosphere without losing the raw emotion the band has always been rooted in. And even though we worked with Cody remotely, he still understood the vision completely.
I’ve actually wanted to work with him ever since I heard his mix on nothing, nowhere's collaboration with Underoath, and that record proved he could bridge heaviness and modern sheen in a way that still feels human.
Daniel mentioned opening another window ... without revealing the full picture. How much of the old Capsize sound are you intentionally preserving versus leaving behind?
There’s nothing being intentionally abandoned. No matter what new sounds inspire me or how far I push my own boundaries, I can’t really escape the way my brain naturally puts together a Capsize song. There’s a specific energy I chase for this band that I don’t chase when I’m writing for anyone else — even if the vibe is similar on the surface.
For me, the sound has always been a direct reflection of emotions I’ve only ever processed through this band. Certain tempos, chord choices, and textures say more about my headspace and vision than even the lyrics sometimes. So the “old” sound isn’t something I’m trying to hold onto or move away from — it’s just baked into who I am and why this project exists. The new window we’re opening is really just a fuller picture of the same emotional core.
After years of sporadic singles, what was the catalyst that finally turned these ideas into a cohesive physical album for 2026?
Honestly, all the credit goes to Roux & Ruin Records. The moment they offered to fund the project, we jumped into action. What kept us in “singles mode” for so long was simply that the band was operating out of pocket, everything we released came from whatever we could scrape together from merch drops or what we personally set aside.
Having real label backing is the only reason these songs are actually making it to wax. Beyond the financial side, the band had basically shifted into hobby territory for a while. Life happened, priorities shifted, and we weren’t in a place to take on a full record the way it deserved.
Now we’re fully stepping back into treating this band as a central, focused pursuit again. Getting back on stage is a huge goal for this year, and this new partnership has us more charged up than we’ve been in a long time. It feels like the start of something bigger than anything we’ve done before.
Can you elaborate on the lyrical inspiration behind "Under a Hollow Sky?" Does it reflect a personal period of stagnation or a commentary on the current state of the scene?
Lyrically, it’s really for people who feel stuck in the trenches of their own mind. Life can get bleak and hopeless, and even the most religious or grounded people have moments where they look up at the sky and feel absolutely no connection to anything higher or meaningful. Just existing can be painful. A lot of these lyrics came from those darker moments where I was basically asking myself, “What the actual f** am I even doing on this earth?”*
It doesn’t matter how good your job is or how happy the people under your roof are ... that unexplainable desperation for something bigger, something you can’t even fully picture, has been both my biggest downfall and my biggest motivator. This EP is me trying to make sense of all of that. It’s the emotional residue of every moment where I was desperate to understand myself, my purpose, and why I felt disconnected from everything around me.
So it’s not really a commentary on the scene. It’s way more personal. Under a Hollow Sky is just an honest reflection of what I’ve gone through, and I think a lot of fans of Capsize have lived in that same headspace too. And that’s what makes it relatable. It’s not about me specifically, or one isolated story. It’s about a feeling — one that people have sat with long enough to recognize in themselves. When someone hears these songs, I don’t want them thinking about my situation; I want them to feel understood in theirs. That shared heaviness, that searching, that quiet desperation … that’s the part we all have in common, and that’s what the lyrics are meant to tap into.
Your vocal style has always been emotionally raw. How have you adapted your delivery to match the more intricate production on these new tracks?
The vocal choices aren’t really a reaction to the production style — it’s more that, in every section of every song, I’m lending my voice to whatever I want that moment to feel like. So when a song hits an explosive breakdown, you’re going to get that desperate, rage-fueled scream that matches the energy. And when a part is meant to feel more melodic or ambient and euphoric, that’s where I lean into singing, stacking harmonies, and building that emotional lift.
No matter how intricate or polished the production gets, the goal stays the same: whatever vocal I’m doing in whatever section should heighten the original intended mood. That’s always been the core of Capsize, and these new tracks just gave me more spaces to push or add to those contrasts even further.
You’ve moved from the 2016 industry landscape to the 2026 single-heavy era. Why was it important for the band to still commit to a full physical release this year?
Simply put, I feel like our fans deserve it. People have been unbelievably patient in their support of our climb through the scene, and the best way we can give back is by finally giving more. A physical release is something they can actually hold like a token of the band’s perseverance and the fans’ patience.
In a time where everything is disposable and single-driven, putting out a full physical record feels like honoring the relationship we’ve built with the people who have stuck with Capsize through every slow chapter and every quiet stretch. This release is as much theirs as it is ours.
Capsize has always been known for high-energy, intimate shows. How are you re-imagining the live production to incorporate the newer, more "built" sound of the recent singles?
When we eventually get back on stage, we’re absolutely going to nod to every era of the band. People will get to hear the songs they’ve loved from us for over a decade just as much as the newest material. No matter how much the production has evolved or how “built” the new songs feel, every chapter of Capsize is going to be honored in the performance.
The idea isn’t to reinvent the live show into something unrecognizable — it’s to let each era breathe in its own way. The intensity, the intimacy, the connection in the room… that’s always been the foundation. The newer textures and layers just give us more ways to elevate that energy without losing what made our shows special in the first place.
Having been away from the album cycle for so long, what has been the most surprising reaction from the long-term fanbase since dropping "The Fracture?"
Like I’ve said before, our fans are almost too patient. Every time we release something, we’re reminded just how long it’s been and how much people have been quietly waiting for us to come back in a real way. The most surprising part is honestly just the warmth & seeing people still excited, still connected, still rooting for us after all this time.
It feels good not to carry that feeling of “we’re shorting our supporters” anymore. Giving them a full EP to sit with and enjoy finally feels like we’re honoring the relationship we’ve had with fans of Capsize since the beginning.
If you had to describe the full picture of the 2026 release in just three words, what would they be?
Hollow. Heavy. Healing
Links
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/capsizeband
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/capsizeband
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3Nt2h0gWNi9cxuLeNjOsET
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/capsize/178118428
Bandcamp: https://capsize.bandcamp.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CapsizeBand