Taking on our Headline Act feature, Hands of Attrition are a band we chatted to (informally) at Bloodstock 2025. They’ve taken the feature to heart and given us a great article, and lots of in-depth information about the band. Read on…!
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
All the band members were born and bred in Birmingham however, we are now scattered between the West and East Midlands. We will always refer to ourselves as a Birmingham based band as our home is Birmingham and so is our studio.
How did you meet?
Dale and Anthony (drums and lead guitar) both met on a website called “joinmyband” we both immediately knew from each other’s profile that this was going to be the start of something big! From the demos posted and the preferences for writing groove inspired metal, we knew it was going to work and started to meet up with a few honourable mentions of old band mates along the way also being in the fray back then. This was back in 2017. However Jay B (bass) was in a previous band with Ant so he was thrown into the mix in 2019 without any hesitation, we knew he was the bassist for us. His unique style of playing bass without a pick added the low rumble we needed to make us sound bigger and added even more groove to our style! Jay (vocals and rhythm guitar) was also recruited from Joinmyband… We should probably reach out and tell them what a wonderful website and facility they have to find band mates. By the end of his first rehearsal with us he not only smashed half our debut album in just a few run throughs but was 100% a brother that we could not only rely on musically but he brought a new energy to us! All in all, a rocky start as far as finding our feet but stronger than ever in where we stand today.
How long have you been playing as a band?
The band as a whole has been going for 7 years as the first few months in 2017 were just about finding out if we could jam together. So officially 2018 we always say is our birth year haha.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
As ever when trying to find a name we just kept throwing ideas on the table, a chat group was created and names flew in on a daily basis if not hourly sometimes… A few names we tried stuck but we always kept thinking there was something better we could use. So after what seemed like almost a year of names, one day “Hand of Attrition” was mentioned… It resonated with us more than anything else had done, and between us only one thing was missing… an S hahaha. So Hands of Attrition was born! Fitting for us as for the first year it was a relentless onslaught of names, trial and errors, the meaning of attrition is “The act of weakening or exhausting by constant attack” definitely one for us due to the constant barrage of names hitting our phones! Another way to look at it is a shield’s attrition rate is how much pressure it can withstand before it breaks, something we feel our music also gives us when creating it!
What are your influences?
Our influences are quite broad and as ever the most important names in metal pop up from Black Sabbath (RIP Ozzy!!) Lamb of God, Machine Head and Pantera, we always knew that Groove Metal was our calling and as such the bands that influence us the most come from that direction. All of us share similar bands we carry influence from but a few other mentions are Chimera, Rammstein, Mastodon & Threat Signal.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Being unique is such a hard one to answer as the world has more music than ever now and everyday thousands of pieces of music get released… We feel that our style and sound can only ever be described as “GrooveCore” a term we hope we can start to spread around, we feel that what we do best is bring heaps of groove and melody to our choruses and verse but also ensure that the song has a hook that grab your attention and keeps you wanting more. What makes us unique is how we do this as we are 100% a self recorded band with aid from Justin Hill (Sikth) to add his mix/mastering skills on top for the final embellishment. Yeah, there are bands that self record and release but to constantly be given feedback about how powerful we sound and how clear our music is, is all down to our efforts, research and preference to self record from day one. That process is something we will continue to do. In a world where amp sims, programs drums and presets can make bands sound the same as each other, we still do it the good old fashion way with our own sounds dialed in for what we like, real drums, and vocals recorded in our own studio, we have the ability to ensure the track is as good as we can get it before we even consider mixing/mastering, and even then the relationship we have with Justin is he knows what we want and time and again he nails it! What makes us unique is our process, dedication to only delivering the best we can and finally adding our own flare and playing styles to each and every song! We are not happy until we enjoy our own music, never releasing anything we feel is not good enough or “just an album filler” every song is scrutinised and refined every step of the way!
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
A huge lyrical theme for us is mental health! We ourselves have not only battled with our demons but come through the other side… Our lyrics are sprawled with lived experiences, real life events yet tangled and entwined enough that anyone can understand, relate to, or even turn to when times in life are hard on you. We hope that our lyrics can give anyone a break from reality and get lost in what we all love, Heavy Metal! The metal community is strong, unique and full of the kindest people, sometimes we need a way to centre ourselves and remember that it is ok to have demons, it is ok to have our own issues and we hope that our lyrics can bring some solace in the fact that you are not alone!
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
As a band we have probably not played enough, we have travelled throughout the West Midlands and are happy with what we have done so far however we are looking for more opportunities to spread our wings. We would love to tour, join other bands and share the stage with anyone and everyone in the metal community! We are humble and love to play shows for anyone and everyone. Let us know if we should play a city/town and we will do what we can to make it happen.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
There was a show that I don’t think any of us will forget! We even caught it on video. Our bass player Jay B unfortunately was enjoying himself too much on stage and decided he wanted to join the crowd. Having a wireless system meant he was free to join the mosh pits, however, his legs had a very different idea. Not only did he leap off a circa 6 foot high stage, he also managed to land with his legs directly above him, and genuinely did not miss a note! Never have we ever wanted to laugh so much while playing but the fact we got it on video meant we could enjoy it time and time again. All we saw was a flashing white light from his wireless system on stage and we knew we had a man down! He got up, still joined the pit and still managed to stay in time, and play everything in the right order and join us back on stage again for the chorus to kick back in. We can honestly say that gig will forever be etched in our memories.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
We have a full rack system we use while playing live which consists of:
- Behringer XAIR system
- Behringer UMC interface
- Helix Floor and Stomp XL guitar pedals
- Shure PSM 200 IEM systems
This is what we run through when we play live.
Member and Instruments:
Jay:
- Vocals: Shure SM7b to record and Shure SM58 Live
- Guitars: ESP Viper 400 Baritone + Fender Telecaster
- Pedals: Helix Floor
Ant:
- Guitar: Ibanez RGIT20FE
- Pedals: Helix Floor
Jay B:
- Bass: Ibanez RGB305 5 String + Cort 5 String Bass
- Pedals: Helix Stomp XL
Dale (Drums – get ready for this list, you’ll be able to tell who answered this question!):
Tama Hyperdrive Drum Kit
Toms:
- 10” x 6.5” Rack Tom
- 12” x 7” Rack Tom
- 14” x 12” Floor Tom
- 16” x 14” Floor Tom
- Evans EC2 Batter + G1 Reso Heads
Other drums, etc:
- Kick: 22” x 20”
- EMAD Heavyweight Batter + Evans Double pedal EQ Patch + Tama Reso
- Snare: Tama Metalworks 13” x 7”
- EC Reserve Dot Batter + Hazy 300 Snareside Reso + Puresound Custom Series 24 Strand Snare Wires
Cymbals:
- Meinl Mb10 Soundwave 14” Hi-Hats
- Meinl Soundcaster Custom 10” Splash
- Meinl Classics Custom Dual 16” Crash
- Meinl Classics Extreme Metal 16” China
- Meinl Classics Dark 18” Crash
- Meinl Mb10 17” Medium Crash
- Meinl Classics Extreme Metal 14” Hi-Hats
- Meinl HCS 10” Splash
- Meinl Mb10 20” Bell Blast Ride
- Thomann 18” China (Similar to a Wuhan China)
All held together with a Dixon drum rack
Other:
- Pedals Tama Speed Cobra 910 Double Pedal + ACD Unlimited upgraded drive shaft
- Drumsticks: Pro-Mark Shira Kashi Oak 5B wood tip
- Live Backing Vocals: Shure WH20 Headset Mic
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
Our latest single “For You” was released back in February 2025 under Resonance Logistics record label. For us this was a huge step in our musical career, a full music video is available shot by the incredibly talented Ironside Studios in the same room Black Sabbath had one of their final photoshoots in Birmingham, and where Judas Priest filmed their video for the song “Invincible Shield” over at Robannas Studio.
What are your plans for the next 6 months or so?
We are working on album number 2, whilst also planning as many shows as we can for 2026, is it time for us to venture further a field and bring even more music to the metal scene with a brand new album complete with a few interesting embellishments we think a few of you metal heads might enjoy!
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
Lamb of God has to be up there for us in regards to playing with one of our all time influences! The chance to play with those guys would be incredible for us personally and musically, we know their fans would appreciate our music too. In regards to plugging another band, there are loads we could mention as we have gigged with a fair few locally and around the Midlands but if you ever want to check out some good friends of ours who we have gigged with plenty of times, it would be Chaplain from Coventry. Those guys love what they do, have a pure heart and deserve all the love they can get as they give it to us tenfold!
Header image by Martin Power
If you want to check out more new music, then fire up our Headline Act playlists on Spotify and YouTube!
Hands of Attrition: facebook | instagram | spotify | bandcamp | youtube
