Doomed Confessionary: Julian Cardazone (Cowardice)
Cowardice is a sludge/doom metal band based out of Summit, New Jersey. Featuring members of Null & Void, Woodland Tomb, Lunar Blood, Vasoconstriction and Inertia.
Since their inception, Cowardice have always leaned into teasing their individual boundary of metal. Slow and dirging, yet righteous and vigilant in its delivery. With every release, the evolution of Cowardice has never understated its ability to grow and branch into sensibilities that do not conform to the stalwart pillars of doom metal.
The band’s second full-length album »Atavist« was just released on June 7th, 2024 via Burning World Records and Riff Merchant Records.
Cowardice are Julian Cardazone (guitar), Nick Zwiren (guitar), Lea Jaffe (bass), Mark Guiliano (vocals) and Chris Ward (drums).
Can you say a few words about your band?
Cowardice is a doom metal band based in the northeast of the US. Our music revolves around low-tuning experimentation, long format songwriting, and tons of guitar counterpoint.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
Distance, for sure. One of our members is located in Boston, MA, another in Brooklyn, NY, and the other three across northern NJ. It can be hard for us to find consistent time to get together and write and rehearse and make all of our schedules work. We often get together on extended weekends and knock out marathon rehearsals for hours at a time to make up for lost time. It’s a tough obstacle, but we make it work.
What can you be most proud of so far?
I think the obvious answer would be our new album, and as we are incredibly proud of it, but I think that we are more proud of the fact that we went straight back to the drawing board after finishing this album, and are writing songs that we think build on the basis of the songs on »Atavist« but surpass them, expand on their ideas, and push our limits as a band further.
What was your biggest regret?
I’m not sure there’s a definitive regret I can point to in the last year of the band or so. This year has been very positive for us and the trajectory is promising and hopeful. But we are always striving for more; so maybe that regret is that we can’t get together more and write and work on new material, most obviously because of distance, work, and time constraints. But, we are working past these things as we head into the future.
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
I think one that sticks out was playing a matinee show with Thou and Vile Creature in Brooklyn, back in maybe 2017? It was at a spot called Silent Barn (RIP), and despite the show happening in the afternoon during a severe snowstorm, the entire venue was packed and sold out. This was very shortly after we formed and just put out our first record. At the time, this was a big show for us and a lot of people were really excited about us after our set. It felt like a meaningful stepping stone when the band began.
Funny aside, right around this time, we used to close our set with a ton of feedback and then end by looping “the riff” (iykyk) from »A Clarion Call« by Asunder for a minute or so. I don’t think anyone knew the reference except one guy who went nuts in the crowd when we started playing that part. He came to the merch table after and geeked out about Asunder with me for a while. Shoutout to that guy.
Photo by Ben Stas
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
I think that our positive reception as a band in our immediate local scene was a surprise. There are not many “slow” bands in our area; ones that tap into the typical tropes of doom or sludge metal. There’s a lot of hardcore, punk, grindcore, death metal-adjacent stuff around us. I could probably count all the sludge/doom bands in our area on one hand. We didn’t really think people were going to care that we even existed. But despite us being in the minority of heavy bands in our scene, we have always been shown a lot of love and support from our local scene, which has been reassuring and really helpful in our longevity as a band.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Portishead – »Dummy«
Smiths – »Rank (Live)«
Obskuritatem – »Hronika iz mraka«
Destruction Unit – »Deep Trip«
Haraam – »New Golden Window«
Vashti Bunyan – »Just Another Diamond Day«
Asylum Party – »Borderline«
Gillian Welch – »The Harrow & The Harvest«
Lycus – »Tempest«
Fugazi – »In On the Kill Taker«
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
Challenge yourself. Challenge others.
My musical upbringing was incredibly regimented and focused. My guitar teacher constantly challenged me to push my own boundaries in skill and songwriting. It’s largely what has molded me into the musician that I am. If you aren’t constantly challenging your perception of your own musical project and output, you are doomed to fall into a cycle of complacency. Challenge what others think about your music by creating something so uniquely “yours” that there isn’t anything to challenge or compare it to. There is no need to compare yourself to others who occupy the same scene as you; compare your current self only to your past self and ask “what have I done to grow?” and “what am I doing to challenge myself.” You are your own catalyst for success.
What are your guilty pleasures?
90 Day Fiance is fucking hilarious.
Can you say something more about the music scene in Summit / New Jersey?
I’ve already touched on the fact that we are a bit of a black sheep in our scene, musically – and that sets us apart in positive and negative ways. Outside of that, to expand on this question, maybe it’s important to note that due to our geographical distances as a band, we have always felt like we morph between local scenes. We played our first show ever in Boston, MA, despite most of our members all being from NJ and NYC, so there’s a connection there. We have deep roots in NJ, and we’ve seen that in plenty of shows we’ve played there. We also tend to play NYC a lot of the time, so we feel an inclusion in that scene too. Having our hand in so many different facets of localized music allows us to build friendships with peers who’s bands we think are great. Some of those who we hold in high regard are Oldest Sea, The Infinity Ring, Cementation Anxiety, Final Gasp, and Lunar Blood. All of which are incredibly talented musicians, and really wonderful people.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
We leave for a short tour of west coast dates this week in these places:
June 22 at Cascadian Midsummer Festival in Pe Ell, WA
June 23 at High Water Mark in Portland, OR
June 24 at John Henry’s in Eugene, OR
June 25 at Cafe Colonial in Sacramento, CA
You will likely find us playing shows dotted across the tri-state and northeast US late summer and into the Fall.
What are your plans for the future as a band?
For the first time in a long time, it feels like we have finally closed the revolving door that is the Cowardice lineup. There is only one original member from the inception of the band still in the band, but the members we have accumulated along the way are paramount to the current sound of the band. Being that we have a solidified lineup now, our plans are to write and record much more consistently. Writing is well underway into the next 2-3 releases and has no signs of slowing down. We will take our time to craft a unique and final product though, and ensure these releases bloom into the public sphere in a meaningful way.
How can people best support your band?
I think it’s very obvious to say “spend your money” on us. Whatever it be; merchandise, digital downloads, vinyl. We create those physical products carefully to make sure they are unique and something that someone is excited to buy and wear or listen to. But, what helps the most is engaging with our band through your peers. It’s as simple as showing your friends our music, or dragging your buddy out to one of our shows to see what we’re about. Tangible, non-technological exchange of music is a great thing – and something that I grew up on. I look back fondly on spending time with my friends in my teen years just sitting in my bedroom, showing a friend this great new band that I found, and vice versa. Just sit, be together, listen, and chat about it. Don’t just text them a link to a YouTube video of a rip of one of our songs. Get together, maybe go for a drive, and put on that new album you just found out about.
Do you have any message for your listeners?
We’ve experienced an overwhelmingly positive response to our newest record, »Atavist«, since it came out a few weeks ago. We want to express a deep gratitude to those who are taking the time to listen to it, those who have been coming to our shows, chatting with us, and those purchasing our merchandise. You all have shared some really encouraging words with us, and we’re really thankful for that. Thank you all for your support – we’re looking to bring you more as we head into the latter half of the year and into next. We see and appreciate all of you.
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well