Track By Tracks: SIDEWINDER - MARCH OF THE ETERNAL HERETIC (2025)

Note – The First Three Tracks (Two Zero One, March Of The Eternal Heretic & From Beneath They Shall Rise were written by vocalist Damo and his explanations are below, The Fourth Track Ashes Of Reality was written by guitarist Jonesy who explains the theme behind the track, and it was re-recorded for this EP with Damo taking over vocal duties

Lyric content description: 

It’s hard to do a track-by-track without first explaining why I write what I write. I’ve grown up around hardcore kids and hardcore bands. This tends to lean towards more real-life problems than anything, but at this current point in time, I don’t have any problems. So rather than force myself to write about something I don’t believe in, I wrote about things I enjoy. Hence the topics you’re about to read.

1. Two Zero One:

The name Two Zero One comes from the movie Starship Troopers, it’s the call sign for Johnny Rico of Ricos roughnecks. Before I even had the demos for the song I knew I wanted to do something regarding this film. It’s held a special place in my heart since a young age and to pay a little homage was something I really wanted to do. With the lyrics, I leaned more into the fear of one of the soldiers landing on a new planet faced with an insane amount of hostile aliens charging at them. Seeing friends ripped apart while also dealing some damage themselves.

2. March of the Eternal Heretic:

So the lyrics to this actually started on a different unrecorded song and was meant to detail two sides of a story. I took a lot of inspiration for this from the Chaos Space Marine codex as the song is based on Warhammer 40k because why not! It was originally meant to branch off and go on about the ultramarines but I scrapped that idea and decided I’ll use that as a base for a future follow-on. We’re all fans of Warhammer, some more than others, and the insane amount of lore behind it led to a lot of ideas. When it came to the guest feature, it was by luck that Chris agreed. I have been a fan of his vocals since the early 2010s with Hang the Bastard being one of my favorite bands. So when I went to catch Inhuman Nature on the Crowbar tour I asked just on the off chance and he was up for it, to which I had a fan-boy moment. This was part of the reason why I moved the lyrics from the other track to this as the section he’s on, fit so well. The trade-off actually came as a recommendation from Ryan from Cryptc Shift/Slimelord and credit where it’s due, it paid off.

3. From Beneath They Shall Rise:

I don’t know what to say about the lyrics of this track other than, I knew I needed to do a track about Gears of War. There was never any question, the whole series is hard as hell and I knew if I pulled it off, we could do it justice. With that in mind, I wrote the track from the perspective of the antagonist, as I thought it would add that little bit of an edge. In my opinion, the backing vocals from Finch definitely gave me the General RAAM vibe I was looking for and I think it’s got one of the heavier sections we’ve written in it which I’m looking forward to people hearing.

4. Ashes of Reality:

Ashes of Reality was the first demo I wrote after my last band folded, 12-13 years ago. It was a showcase of what I was calling Blackened Crossover, a combination of Death Metal trem picks and blast beats blended with that almighty Eb chug every crossover head loses their minds to. If it wasn't for this song, I don't think Sidewinder would even be a thing. As a guitarist, Ashes had all the elements I was after, I managed to find that blend without it being such a diverse switch in styles that it felt forced. And I used it to shop and build the team needed to get this project off the ground.

Lyrically, the title came from the analogy that mental health issues start as a tiny little flame in the back of your mind. And like all other fires, left unchecked and not extinguished, the fire grows, til all there is left are the Ashes. Seeing it happen to loved ones and watching it take hold, scorching away who they once were, was something I had to draw attention to.

The line "Trapped in your burning sanctuary" hits home.

But like all art, it can quite easily be interpreted to be a song about some distant war-torn planet set in a sci-fi horror movie as I'm also a glorified geek. I'm just glad Damos singing on this now and not me, my Yorkshire accent is far too strong for Hardcore.