Attest - Digging in Their Heels for What They Believe in

(This article was originally published in the October 2024 issue of Record Plug magazine)

Attest is the rebooted musical project created by guitarist and songwriter Daniel Jordan. Around 2008 or 2009 Jordan parted ways with his original band Paradise Boulevard. Then, he began collaborating with Robert Saye, and other musicians. This was the first iteration of Attest. After kicking around a few songs for about a year and a half, but never getting started, the group parted way. Jordan took a hiatus from music and went to college. “About 2017...I was finishing up my master's degree and I started writing some songs. As soon as I got done with my graduate degree, my then wife and I moved to St. Petersburg, Florida. A bunch of stuff just got in the way of making something actually happen.” He goes on. “So, the pandemic hits. We end up moving back to Georgia and that's when we kind of

started taking it seriously. Let's start rehearsing more. Let's start writing some more. Let's finally get a bass player, let's finally start looking for some shows, and let's get these songs recorded. It took us a hell of a long time, from 2017 to basically [20]23, before we actually got to the point where we could play a show. This Band has been a labor of love.” In his second go-round, Jordan enlisted Ryan Saye on vocals (brother of original vocalist Robert Saye), bassist Reed Davis, and drummer Klay Whitehead. 

Armed with new band members and new songs, Attest is off to a good start. Combining elements of metal, hardcore punk, and sludge metal. Jordan describes the music simply as “loud and aggressive” and “with drive and energy.” The band’s collective influences are:  punk rock groups like the Ramones and NOFX, hardcore bands like Coalesce and Converge, and more mainstream metal bands like Sepultura, Slayer, and early Deftones, creating an accessible and brutally heavy EP titled Depths. 

Sonically, Depths has quite a lot of...well...depth. Every instrument is given adequate space on the recording. The guitars are rich. The vocals are front and center. Even through his screams, you can hear every word from Ryan. The drums are bright. You can even hear the bass. If anyone remembers there was a time when most independent hardcore albums sounded like they were recorded on a 4-track cassette recorder with everyone playing around one microphone in someone’s basement. The Depths EP sounds like straight hardcore, with melodic choruses that are reminiscent of early…Mastodon? Yet, it works. In contrast to the harsh melodies, singer Ryan has crafted lyrics of hope and positivity particularly with songs like Hope is Eternal and Sea Digger. “A lot of the lyrics currently are trying to find hope...in how dark this world is, you know, make it through and... help make life tolerable.” Says Ryan. Jordan says the music comes from whatever “emotion is kind of building for me at the time.” 

Early on, Daniel Jordan and Ryan Saye were the primary songwriters. Jordan composing the music and Ryan writing the lyrics. Since adding a full line up that style has been shifting. Instead, the band is leaning toward a collaborative writing process. It’s a process Jordan is less accustom to, but would like to continue moving forward. "Theft of Fire is my favorite song on the album.” Jordan says. “It’s probably the first I’ve ever written a song with someone.” The song was a collaboration between Jordan and Attest’s original drummer Wade Jones. “I realized what I was taking away from Wade, not really getting him involved in the writing process. “I'm really interested to see where the writing process goes.” 

“That's my favorite style,” adds bassist Reed Davis. “Somebody comes in and goes, here's this core idea I have, but it's just an idea. And everybody sits down and they take that core and then they mold [it] into what the band makes it. I have this part. It’s just an opening. Let's grow off of this.” Currently, the band is also playing shows in the Atlanta and Athens areas as they grow their fan base. “It seems like every show that we play...there's more and more people showing up,” says Jordan. “It is nice...when you finish the show and you are kind of standing at the merch booth, people come up, buy a shirt [and say] ‘dude that was awesome. Really love your music.’ We're reaching some people.” “We had a couple of people who came to our very first show who came up and were excited and told me that they had come just to see us.” Adds Davis. They are about to re-release their ep Depths fully remixed and remastered on October 4th on Bandcamp, then October 18th everywhere else where you can stream music. They plan to release a music video for the song Absent of Delusion in support of the re-release on October 18th as well. 

Despite having a history in the hardcore scene, one should look at Attest as a brand-new band with a full and complex sound. The guys in Attest care very deeply about getting their music and their message getting in front of their fans. They aren’t interested in tourists or hardcore gentrifiers. They want to make sure they earn every fan, that every move is intentional. “If you feel like your trajectory needs to happen faster, then there are avenues that you can take to advance your career faster. And, there are avenues that take a little bit longer to accomplish. That's, that's our hope, you know, that's what everybody wants. You know, people hear your stuff. People like your stuff. Play some shows. But I feel, in the end, it makes it more worth it...for you when you've had to work a little harder to get to it. That's what I would like to see for us in the next two years, three years, four years, five years, just a band that's gone out and has earned a reputation and done on their own merit.” 

Make sure to catch Attest live wherever you can and follow them online:  

https://attestgahx.com/ 

FB: ATTESTGAHX 

IG: @attestgahx 

BC: Attest

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