Chicago's Repentance released their debut album, God For A Day, on September 25 via Art Is War Records / Intercept Music. BraveWords scribe Carl Begai recently spoke with vocalist Robby J. Fonts, better known for fronting Stuck Mojo.

On the status of Stuck Mojo, who have been dormant since the release of Here Come The Infidels - Robby's debut with the band - in 2016

Robby: "I don't know, but Rich (Ward / guitars) needs to go with what's best for him. The last Fozzy record (Judas, released in 2017) was phenomenally successful so they're working on another one."

On the response to God For A Day

Robby: "The response has been pretty good. Surprisingly good, actually. I joined Repentance in 2018, which was a newly formed project by Shaun Glass (guitars) at that time after Dirge Within's brief reunion. God For A Day was supposed to be a Dirge Within album, but Shaun started working with me and the decision was made to take things in this heavy direction. I didn't want to have any clean vocals for this project; I wanted to keep it along the lines of something like Unearth or Lamb Of God, or As I Lay Dying without the clean vocals."

On going from rap-rock in Stuck Mojo to full-on death metal with Repentance

Robby: "I really enjoyed it. I was looking forward to writing lyrics for an album entirely on my own. Lyric writing has always come naturally to me. I'll hear the music and ideas come to me. I like to describe it as the music speaks to me. I take each song for what it is. God For A Day is a very personal record for me, and it was a lot of fun to do. Going into music, I never intended to.... I'm known as the Stuck Mojo rap-rock guy but I never intended to mix rapping with heavy music. It just fell in to place when I joined (pre-Stuck Mojo band) Hasta La Muerte. I wanted to do rap music, but I also wanted to do metal music and keep it metal. It was cool to finally be able to do a straight up metal record. I think it surprised a lot of people. People who know Shaun from Soil and know me from Stuck Mojo, they hear Repentance and go 'What the hell is this..?' (laugs). Musically, Shaun and Markus (Johansson / guitars) were going for a thrashy, melodic European-style metal sound, and I tried to throw in some modern metal screaming."

On whether he prefers one vocal style over the other

Robby: "I don't have a preferred style but I think I'm better at rapping. I get to showcase that a bit more with another project that I have. I think it's easier to do than screaming, but I love the screaming vocals just as much. It just takes a lot more out of you (laughs)."

Repentance came together in 2018 when Shaun Glass, a veteran guitarist of Broken Hope and Dirge Within, recruited Mike Sylvester on bass and began songwriting with lead guitarist Markus Johansson of the group Them. Robb Rivera of Nonpoint introduced Stuck Mojo frontman Robby J. Fonts and from there... Repentance was born.

“It came together very naturally, which was a very cleansing experience,” states Glass. “At this point in my life, I was hoping to start working and creating new music with an almost entirely new group of people and this crew organically locked into place.”

“It’s crazy how things happen,” comments Fonts. “I was looking to start a new band since Rich (Ward) and Frank (Fontsere) are currently busy outside of Stuck Mojo (with Fozzy), so the timing for Repentance came perfectly. One phone call later, we were stoked to get this show on the road. Shaun sent me demos, I wrote lyrics and vocals and our songs started coming together quickly.”

The band made their live stage debut by opening up for Trivium. Within their short time together the band would go on to share the stage with Devildriver, Jinjer, Skull Fist, Toxic Holocaust and Sacred Reich. In October 2018 the band released their debut single, “Enter The Gallows" and by the end of the year, Kanky Lora, of Soulfly and Straight Line Stitch fame, would join the band on drums, thus solidifying this powerhouse lineup.

“The band’s sound is definitely very aggressive, pummeling metal and we can’t wait to share some music with everyone soon,” adds Glass. “Everyone is bringing their own style to the table and the uniqueness of each is helping to shape our sound. We’re creating a style that we enjoy ourselves first and foremost.”

In 2019, the band signed with Art Is War Records and released the single, “Only The Damned Die Young” which was recorded at Electroworks Recording with Chuck Macack (Born Of Osiris / Oceano) as well as mixed and mastered by engineer Chris Collier (Prong / Whitesnake).

“You know you’re onto something special when everyone connects instantly and the creativity keeps on flowing,” says Fonts. “I think fans of our previous work will be in for a pleasant surprise.”

Bringing the best of classic American thrash with elements of European-styled melodic death metal and a tinge of modern hardcore. This eclectic group of seasoned musicians is providing a straight punch to the face for your metal fix with their unrelenting brutality of Midwestern American metal.

Leaving no room for nonsense, the band brings forth their exhilarating brand of heaviness led by visceral guitar riffs and hard-hitting attitude, which is sure to obliterate fans of extreme music everywhere.

When talking about the band's debut album they said, "We think we really captured true ENERGY!! The songs fly by but are so aggressive and energetic that we hope it makes the listener crave repeat playbacks."

God For A Day tracklisting:

"Repentance" (Intro)
"Only The Damned Die Young"
"Clarity"
"God For A Day"
"Snake-Oil Humanitarian"
"Enter The Gallows"
"Where Vultures Gather"
"Born To Choose"
"Deliverance"

"God For A Day":

(Photo - Armin Lang)