Following the sad demise of the highly underrated Meliah Rage, guitarist/songwriter Anthony Nichols and The Bags vocalist/bassist Jon Hardy teamed up with drummer Steve Fry and lead guitarist Dan Dykes to form Mexican Ape-Lord, who just released their third full-length album, Blunt Instrument, available via Unable Music Group’s new label imprint, 10-31 Records here.

Friends since high school, Nichols and Hardy found success in different branches of the Boston rock scene in the late eighties. After signing to Epic Records in 1988, Meliah Rage went on to release nine albums and built a loyal following over the course of numerous international tours. The Bags won the Boston Rock ’n’ Roll Rumble in 1989, released six albums, and had their song “Cavemen Rejoice” featured on the PlayStation 2 game Guitar Hero.

Just days after completing work on their debut, The Late Heavy Bombardment (2014), Nichols suffered a brutal wrist injury and was told he would never play guitar again. After multiple surgeries and years of rehab he returned to writing music and gradually worked his way back into top form. That material became the basis for Mexican Ape-Lord’s second album, Survival Cannibalism (2020).

In 2022 the band released Burn Pit, a four song EP exploring some classic Mexican Ape-Lord themes: inner demons, dangerous work, ritualistic bloodshed, and apex predators. “We weren’t about to stop making music just because the world was coming to an end,” says Nichols.

And here we stand, staring at a “Blunt Instrument”, and album that sees two worlds collide, Nichols thrashy roots and Hardy’s hardcore punkiness. So how does it work? How do you work with such a masterful guitarist that can tackle any riff, creating a moody mosaic of heaviness. 

“With each record he’s trying to put forward a mix of moods, tempos,” Hardy tells BraveWords on Streaming For Vengeance. “There are some major chords on this record, which is a little bit unusual for the style of music. It always blows me away when I get new stuff from Tony. A lot of it would just stand up as instrumental tracks. Not to mention the fact that our lead guitar player (Dan Dykes) and drummer (Steve Fry) are just amazing musicians as well. Often times I feel like - and it’s not like I lack confidence as a songwriter - but I thought if I was given the option to just get out of the way, I probably would. Let’s just let it be an instrumental. This is so great. I want to hear every detail of the drums. I don’t wanna sing over that. But that’s my job, so I’ll just suck it up.”

BraveWords: I don’t think I’ve ever actually heard it explained like that. ‘Why ruin a song with my voice’?

Hardy: “Yeah, exactly. You get tired of hearing your own voice. Everyone hates the sound of their voice.” 

BraveWords: Rob Halford for example is pretty vocal about that when you read his books. 

Hardy: “I think it’s almost universal. They say that the way you hear your voice is different. So everyone feels that they have this deep, booming voice. But when you hear a recording of your voice it’s like whoa! That’s not me.”

BraveWords: With you coming from a punk and hardcore background, how did you approach the singing style when Tony presented all these more heavy metal ideas.

Hardy: “I actually asked Tony for some advice about that, and that was part of my hesitation of joining the band. I know how to be in a punk band, but I’ve never been a singer in a metal band before. You know, that’s a bit tough. And Tony said, 'Dude you’re an outsider, just embrace it. Just be an outsider.' There’s nothing more rock than that. No matter how big you become in this world, if you like this type of music brother you are a bit of an outsider. I've always had this experience of growing up and kind of being an outsider. Not quite dead centre or mainstream with our musical tastes. 'Yeah I can play the role of an outsider.'”

Mexican Ape-Lord singer bassist Jon Hardy’s chat with BraveWords’ Streaming For Vengeance air tomorrow (Saturday, June 6th) at 3:33 PM EST. 

"Worm Moon":

"Kentucky Meat Shower":

"Blunt Instrument":