Distant shows no mercy.

In 2026, Alan Grnja (vocals), Nouri Yetgin (guitar), Elmer Maurits (bass), and René Gerbrandij (drums) released their fifth album, Into Despair, with the help of Century Media.

The band kicks things off with The World, an opening track that starts off unsettling and then becomes overwhelming with its very low tuning, allowing the band to revisit their Downtempo roots while incorporating some Mathcore elements before moving on to Nothing Left To Hate, which returns to Deathcore and its jerky aggression paired with bestial roars. Nothing about this track comes as a surprise, except for the musicians’ extreme ferocity as their in-your-face style is ever-present, then the quartet really strikes with Into Despair, harkening back to their early days which were already quite aggressive after a brief lull. The mosh parts come one after another, then we move on to the groovy Spirit, where Alan shares the mic with Tyler Beam from The Last Ten Seconds Of Life to reinforce the vocal assault of his roars over an already very thick foundation, before letting “Circle of Vultures” take over with a heavy, dissonant tone. The quartet doesn’t hesitate to return to its initial violence at a brisk pace, unlike The Shallow Gaze, which makes heavy use of palm-mutes to create a slow, oppressive sound before drawing on Hardcore roots to provoke bursts of energy between the explosions with the help of Darius Tehrani (Spite). Next up is Veil of Paranoia, which once again proves to be quite heavy, blending the two facets of the band’s sound while creating a relatively unsettling atmosphere; however, Desolation grants us a moment of respite with its introductory sample, where the vocals make it clear that there will be no respite – a fact confirmed by the musicians’ riffs, which strike without mercy. There’s no reprieve either with All Will Be (N)One, which immediately takes over, letting the band make a splash before welcoming their second guest, Ricky Myers (Suffocation, Disgorge…), who delivers a Dantesque final before Rat Torture brings its own brand of violence, complete with mosh parts and breaks. Hostilities resume with Flesh and Nails, which stays true to this very heavy and aggressive style but still offers apocalyptic tones before the almost playful introduction of The Shared Grief, which will thoroughly crush us in less than two minutes, followed by Iron Knee, which closes out the album without frills, simply with thick riffs and bestial growls.

Distant’s formula hasn’t changed; with Into Despair, the band proves it still knows how to craft a heavy, thick sound. The album is already a must-have for fans, and the band will undoubtedly make it sound great live!

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Version Française ?

A few questions to Alan Grnja, vocalist for the Dutch Deathcore band Distant, about the release of the new album Into Despair, by Raven.

Hello Alan, and first of all thanks a lot for taking the time to talk with me! How do you feel?
Alan Grnja (vocals): I’m busy, busy as always, so preparing for the new album and the, and the tour that’s coming up.

Distant’s music is for sure anchored into Deathcore and Downtempo, but how could you please describe your sound without using those words or any other labels?
Alan: I would say like, what we like to use to put it simply is low and slow. But, to be more elaborate, I would say crushing, relentless, and straight to the point.
Raven: OK. To be honest, I was really surprised, while I was listening to your album because deathcore is not my thing and when I was listening, I was, “hey, that’s, that’s quite good”. In fact, I was really, really surprised.
Alan: Thank you. 

Do you remember how you came up with the name Distant, and how do you link it to the music you play together?
Alan: I wasn’t in the band when the band came up with the name, so I think from what I remember when the guys were talking about it, is that something really easy to remember and very striking. And I think, like from my point of view, since I’m the only one in the band who is not from the Netherlands, we have this running joke that we are very distant from each other.
Raven: OK. But that’s not the official meaning. I’m so disappointed. That could have been a good story.
Alan: That’s OK, just, it was an inspiration at the moment.
Raven: Got it.. I wanted to have a philosophical reason, maybe, I don’t know.
Alan:  Well, I think it’s like for everybody to kind of, you know, find the meaning themselves like what really distant means to them in general, because to me, it’s really the distance that we travel and the, and the lengths we can go to achieve whatever you want to achieve at the time.
Raven: So you leave it open to any interpretation from the public.
Alan: Yeah.

Distant is about to release its fifth album, named Into Despair. How do you feel about it? How would you sum Into Despair’s identity up in only three words?
Alan: I am excited as I always am with the new album, but by the time it releases, for us, it’s already very old music. So, I can’t wait for people to finally hear it. And I’m really curious because we still maintained that distant sound. But we for this album, we changed the approach and it’s more life-oriented album than the previous ones, and it’s the first album that is directly referencing to like personal life, and it’s very personal to everybody rather than the previous albums that that were mostly fiction or very fantasy-themed, which we even had written three books about. So, this is definitely something new for us as well. I’m really curious on how the fans will connect with this album and also for the new people that come with it.
Raven: It seems you feel really curious about the album. That’s interesting. I don’t have this kind of answer every time. To be honest, it’s really strange for me. Because I liked your album. Usually I don’t like this genre, so at least you have succeeded with me.

How would you sum Into Despair’s density up in only three words?
Alan: Heavy, but in all senses, not just musically heavy, but also like the heavy topics and lyrics in general, like, you are physically and mentally very heavy, cathartic and depressing. For me, it’s like this fight between the two, like it’s also very redeeming. But at the same time, it’s very depressing. Because even to this day, some of the songs really felt good to get them out and to, and to talk about that. But at the same time, it’s hard to talk about every time it comes back. So it’s, it’s this constant struggle between the two, it’s definitely, definitely heavy.

It only took two years for Into Despair to come to life, are there any changes you noticed in the composition process? Do you think it becomes easier with time?
Alan: It’s definitely not a yes or no answer, but with how we work and we constantly write new music, some of these we already had in store by the time the previous album was released. So we’re not trying to slow down when there is no tour, we are working on something all the time. So that kind of comes in naturally. But for me with the lyrics, it definitely was the hardest to write. It was a very drastic change to talk about the personal stuff so directly, rather than having it shrouded in this veil of fantasy and obscure themes and obscure lyrics. So, that was definitely a change but in general, I do feel the change from one album to another. This is a very raw album compared to the previous ones, because it was so emotionally driven rather than making a musical masterpiece.
Raven: Because it’s more personal this time.
Alan: Yeah, absolutely. So we wanted to capture that feeling and the emotion as best as we could.
Raven: My second question was, do you think it becomes easier with time? Maybe not this time.
Alan: At least for me, definitely not. Like, I really had a rough time at the beginning, like slowly towards finishing the album, it was definitely easier and it probably should become easier to talk about it. But, like the first couple of months when I was going through the songs, I even told the guys, like, “guys, I really have a hard time doing something so straightforward”. Because I, in general, am a tough nut to crack when it comes to opening up.
Raven: You have emotions too, you can.
Alan: But I think I’m past that and it’ll definitely be easier in the future if we continue to venture down this road. 

I noticed Distant has a very straightforward sound, do you think you could quote some influences in music?
Alan: I would say, especially for this album, it was in the songwriting, definitely like Korn and Hardcore music in general, like something more accessible and more in our roots as a people, that the stuff that we grew up on, the shows we went to and stuff like that. And as I said earlier, it’s a life-oriented album, so the songs were mainly written for us to have fun on stage and for people to enjoy them accordingly. Because we are not that type of a band who people go to see and look at how somebody shreds a 20-minute solo. We want that energy on stage and we want it off stage as well, and that should work in symbiosis.

The latest albums were influenced by the Tyrannotophia myth, which later became a book you wrote with bass player Elmer Maurits. Is this new one following the story too?
Alan: This is strictly personal, strictly real life because we don’t have that much time on our hands with constant touring, it also became harder to write the book on the side, and it would just not feel right to have a follow-up if we wanted to stay true to that personal stuff, to again, put it behind something that people can’t relate on a personal level. So with this, we wanted to show ourselves and have people to connect with us rather than something fictional because some people don’t know or don’t go that deep, that we have these books or we have that lore behind it. To a first-time listener, all the stuff in the previous albums that is referencing something in the book, which is basically all three albums prior to this, it’s alien to them, they don’t know what is going on and they might never find out. So we wanted for people to find themselves in these albums and definitely make it easier for a listener to relate to that.
Raven: Maybe in the future, you will create another album still linked to this? It will be interesting to see the changes. To be honest, I think I will listen to your albums too because I’m really, really curious about it.
Alan: I think you will notice a fair change in previous work and this one. 

Do you have a personal favorite song on Into Despair? Whether it is about the music itself or the lyrics.
Alan: That will be Nothing Left to Hate.
Raven: Oh. Why?
Alan: It’s a fun song to play. For one, it was a very hard song to write, but at the same time I like to come back and look back at what the song is about. And I just enjoy the song, probably the most out of the album, also like playing it and anything about it. It’s just that it grew on me very quickly.

On this album, you welcome two guests, Tyler Beam of The Last Ten Seconds Of Life and Ricky Myers of Suffocation. How did you decide to collaborate with them for this one, and how did this happen?
Alan: And we have three others as well. We got Darius Tehrani from Spite, Kyle Medina from Bodysnatcher, and Skyler Conder from Varials. First off, they’re all friends of ours and we worked together. So that’s how we, in general with every guest on any Distant song, connect on a personal level. And it just felt right to have these people on the album, because they fit the songs we chose them for. We treat the guests as a part of a community project, let’s say that. We’re not in a race, but we are all in this together. We just enjoy collaborating with people we like, with artists we like, so why keep it all to yourself when you can do something interesting together?

Do you think you improved yourself as a vocalist and lyricist, with this new record?
Alan: Definitely as a lyricist, definitely because I learned how to write some simple stuff and not super obscure Death Metal lyrics. And also on a personal level that I was able to overcome my fear of opening up. And vocally as well, I didn’t go super technical. And the vocals were mainly driven emotionally, and to do that, it also took some time and some thought behind it to deliver that emotion as intended, so definitely on that level as well.
Raven: You said something about your fear of opening up, but why?
Alan: I’m just very insecure.
Raven: You don’t really like an insecure guy, to be honest.
Alan: I try.
Raven: You succeed, don’t worry. 

Let’s talk about live shows now, how do you live a Distant show? How could you describe your energy to someone who never saw you yet?
Alan: Very angry on stage. Very angry but also very happy. It’s a hard thing to describe because that is literally something you have to see. Because even when I watch some of our live videos and stuff, you can see the points where I’m staring you down and I’m angry and accompanied with the music, with the heavy music, but then throughout half of the set, I’m smiling, laughing, and making fun. I would say it’s very, very natural and human. We don’t do any, we don’t do any candles, we don’t do any soup, we’re just us on stage. I think that describes it perfectly.

Distant has of course a lot of shows scheduled in the US for November/December, then a European tour in February/March, how do you guys get ready for those ones? What will come next for the band?
Alan: Oh, there’s a lot of, a lot of things to do in advance, and since we are self-managed, it’s more than that.I’m currently advancing the whole US tour because I’ll be managing that tour and I’m already stressed. We just take a lot of time and preparations in advance for us to be ready and have everything sorted before the tour, so the actual tour itself is smooth sailing.
Raven: I can understand it’s really stressful. I’m kind of a control freak myself. But what will come next for the band?
Alan: Well, definitely these two tours and then the rest is a mystery for the moment but we’re always planning something. We’re always doing something, so with us, you always have to have your eyes on us. Well, we will be back in Europe after the first tour, that’s for sure.

You already had a few shows in France, have you ever heard of the French Metal scene? Are there any bands you know and like?
Alan: Well, I definitely heard of French bands, but not the scene in particular. One of my favorite bands is Rise of the NorthStar so I heard about that. And there’s a handful of Deathcore bands from France as well that we either play with or know like Hurakan or Kanine. But as for the scene itself, I don’t know much.
Raven: But wait, you said your favorite band is a French one (laughs)!

Are there any bands you would love to play with? I let you create your dream poster with Distant headlining and three other bands, even unrealistic answers are accepted.
Alan: Well, it feels weird if we are headlining, but I definitely want to tour with Trivium. Rise of the North Star would be up there. Bodysnatcher, Suffocation, we already toured with them, but we like to tour with those bands, so definitely that.
Raven: Stick with three others only! I know it’s difficult.
Alan: The last one… We got Trivium, Rise of the NorthStar, and Peeling Flesh.
Raven: Oh. Why?
Alan: It’s the first thing that came into my mind (laughs) and it’s always fun with those guys and we played like two or three shows together, saw each other multiple times, but we never toured together.

Last and funny question: which dish would you compare Distant’s music with?
Alan: Chili con carne. And a very saucy, very cheesy beef burrito. Two Mexican ones, so yeah. It’s our go-to food on tour, so I think that’s why.

That was the last question for me, so thank you very much for your time and your music, last words are yours!
Alan: Thank you so much and thank you for having me. Don’t be afraid to open up and listen to the new album when it drops. Come see us when you have a chance, and take care.