{"product_id":"initiate-with-love-with-rage-ep","title":"Initiate - With Love \/\/ With Rage EP","description":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eA thin line separates our most extreme feelings. Across this line, we express grief and joy, confusion and confidence, and hate and love with the same amount of passion and vigor. Initiate sonically channel opposite ends of a vast emotional continuum. Anger and wrath overflow from serrated riffs, pit-splitting breakdowns, and cathartic screams, whereas affirmations of comfort, assurances of friendship, and promises of forever are beamed through otherworldly chord progressions, swaths of keys, and ethereal vocal transmissions. Elements of hardcore, alternative, metal, and indie coalesce like colors in a kaleidoscope, fissuring, fragmenting, and fusing back into focus. Following widespread acclaim, packed shows, and millions of streams, the quartet—Crystal Pak [vocals], Michael Morales [bass], Draven Carter [guitar], Manning Gray [guitar] and John Hodge [drums]—strike an uncanny balance between sounds and emotions on their 2026 \u003ci\u003eWith Love \/\/ With Rage\u003c\/i\u003e EP [Blue Grape Music].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e“When I looked back at the lyrics, everything read as a letter, either to another person in my life, my friends, or myself,” reveals Crystal. “However, a letter to a friend would be signed off \u003ci\u003e‘With Love’\u003c\/i\u003e not \u003ci\u003e‘With Rage’\u003c\/i\u003e. I intentionally wrote these songs, so they spoke to these two opposing feelings: love and rage. You can tell which tracks spill to which side.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e2025’s “Too Much” saw the group expand their sonic palette, layer shimmering sonics over fuzzed-out riffing and seething vocal paroxysms and illuminating the expanse of Initiate’s rapidly evolving vision.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eKicking off another chapter, they attracted Blue Grape to their corner and hit the studio with longtime collaborator and producer Zach Tuch [Silverstein, Knocked Loose] in order to record \u003ci\u003eWith Love\/\/With Rage\u003c\/i\u003e. Widening their collective palette, the musicians nodded to inspirations as diverse as Hum, Deftones, Jane’s Addiction, Rage Against The Machine, and Failure as well as longtime favorites Paramore.\u003ci\u003e “We all wondered, ‘What would it sound like if Clairo wrote a Quicksand record?’\u003c\/i\u003e,” the vocalist laughs. For the first time, Crystal contributed guitar and bass, adding another dimension altogether.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eThe single “Numb The Pain” illuminates these dynamics. Echoes of clean guitar give way to an uneasy detuned crunch. Breezy strumming anesthetizes the blunt force trauma of screeched confessions a la \u003ci\u003e“Tried to erase myself in my head…like I never…like I never happened\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003ci\u003e”\u003c\/i\u003e Her divine harmonies careen over a delicate bridge, melting into a final explosion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e“There are countless songs about brotherhood,” observes Crystal. “I’m saying, \u003ci\u003e‘Here’s a love song for my friends’\u003c\/i\u003e. During this time in my life, I really leaned on my friendships to get me through everything. I could never adequately express the amount of gratitude I felt for these people, so I decided to write a hardcore song about loving them. The screaming and the singing are dancing around the middle of the song, which is my favorite part.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eJohn recalls. “After Mike played the riff, the drums came easily. To me, it’s the perfect rock song.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eSetting the tone, a galloping punk beat tramples swells of feedback on the opener “Burn After Reading.” You can practically hear Crystal grit her teeth as her acidic delivery burns right through a whole layer of distortion, going on to lament, \u003ci\u003e“Can’t recognize the person I became\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003ci\u003e”\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e“\u003ci\u003e‘Burn After Reading’ \u003c\/i\u003erepresents both \u003ci\u003eLove\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eRage\u003c\/i\u003e,” she goes on. “It’s a breakup song, and it’s super personal to me.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e“I was on the hunt for pretty chords, so it would sound a little different,” Mike reveals. “It has some aggression, but it’s beautiful in places.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eUneasy cymbals skitter, and a frantic chug nearly sputters out of control on the venomous “Delusions.” Crystal notes, \u003ci\u003e“It’s my anger at the system, but I’m also making sure this anger doesn’t blind me from the joys in the world\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003ci\u003e”\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eThen, there’s “Shadowboxing.” The rhythm slows, guitar trudges ahead, and Crystal admits, \u003ci\u003e“I don’t want to die. I just want to disappear\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003ci\u003e”\u003c\/i\u003e She elaborates, “This is like written documentation of the way my brain works and how dark it can get when you’re in a dark place. You’re basically boxing with yourself.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e“Future Saving Grace” clearly elucidates Initiate’s evolution. A loose bassline gives the track a distinct bounce. From there, it crescendos towards a call-and-response between melodic instrumentation and guttural vocals punctuated by distant piano and hypnotic humming. “It’s definitely anthemic,” Mike says. “Our non-hardcore influences came along for the ride on this one. We definitely went into new territory, and it sounds so big.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e“The piano was the perfect ending,” Crystal continues. “In terms of meaning, it addresses self-love.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eUltimately, Initiate embody another kind of heaviness all their own on \u003ci\u003eWith Love\/\/With Rage\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e“Hardcore doesn’t have to solely express anger,” Crystal leaves off. “There are so many complex emotions you can have beyond \u003ci\u003e‘Fuck my ex’\u003c\/i\u003e or \u003ci\u003e‘Fuck the world’\u003c\/i\u003e. The human spectrum of coexisting feelings is massive, and that’s a beautiful thing.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e“It’s possible to convey vulnerability with heavy and in-your-face music,” concludes John. “The EP proves that.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTrack List: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\"\u003eBurn After Reading\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDelusions\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShadowboxing\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNumb The Pain\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFuture Saving Grace\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRelease Date: \u003c\/strong\u003eAugust 7, 2026\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePlease Note, this item is for PRE-ORDER! All items are expected to ship by OCTOBER, 2026. *Any orders containing a \"Pre-Order\" item will ship together when the pre-order ships. Please make a separate order if you wish to receive non pre-order items before the pre-order ship date.* Please allow 2-3 weeks for delivery.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Initiate","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52205653197101,"sku":"820233893466","price":19.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0667\/9753\/5533\/files\/INITIATE-LP.png?v=1783456596","url":"https:\/\/store.bluegrapemusic.com\/products\/initiate-with-love-with-rage-ep","provider":"Blue Grape Music","version":"1.0","type":"link"}