CEBU CITY, PHILIPPINES — After two years of hard work, Cebu hardcore band Turnpike has finally unleashed their new album Straight to the Domes of Your Heads, a collection of nine tracks of raw and unrelenting power. The album is now available for streaming on all music platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and more and can also be purchased digitally through the Melt Records Bandcamp.
Straight to the Domes of Your Heads is the band’s second album release following their debut EP You Vs. Everyone You Love. The new release is their first full-length effort and includes the previously released singles “Angels Weep”, “Fatal Cleansing”, “Breaking Your Peace”, “Blood4Blood”, and “Peeling My Scars”.
We wanted to move on and do the kind of music we really wanted to do, straight up hardcore punk.
Bryle Tomilap, on Turnpike’s shift to a heavier sound
This latest effort underscores Turnpike’s departure from their intimate and melodic foregoing in You vs. Everyone You Love to more objective and socially-relevant grounds.
“You Vs. Everyone You Love served the purpose of quenching our thirst to write a melodic hardcore release,” reveals Bryle Tomilap, vocalist and primary lyricist of Turnpike. Essentially, the debut EP was partly a legacy from Tomilap’s prior band, Home At Last. “After that EP was released, we wanted to move on and do the kind of music we really wanted to do, straight up hardcore punk.”
The shift to grittier songwriting likewise came with a change of approach by guitarist Sean Villareal, who was the primary engineer for the album. “We made an intentional shift from the crystal clear, clarity-leaning mixing to a more raw, gritty, almost dirty, sharp, and raspy sound,” Tomilap shares. The H8000 bands from the late 90s and early 00s served as a strong inspiration for how they approached this record.
The closing track, “Banished from Paradise”, serves as the carrier single for the release. “The song pushes further the niche we started of ramblings in biblical format,” explains Tomilap. “I wanted to compare Eden or the biblical paradise to present day Earth where capitalists and authoritarians destroy the world on the pretext of innovation and convenience, ironically giving birth to opposite outcomes for the more vulnerable population.”
The release of Straight to the Domes of Your Heads culminates a long process for the band but they are hardly stopping there. To supplement the digital release, the band is working on at least two music videos in addition to a physical CD release. An album tour is also being planned as a number of productions around the Philippines have already reached out in support.
It’s too early, however, to reveal much detail on these efforts and fans of Turnpike will need to stay posted for more information. Thankfully, in the meantime, Straight to the Domes of Your Heads is ready and available online for everyone to enjoy its unadulterated energy and powerful messaging.
Stream “Straight to the Domes of Your Heads” on your favorite streaming platforms or download the album on the Melt Records Bandcamp.