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Rocky Votolato recently revealed his new band, Suzzallo, and the group announced their debut full-length, The Quiet Year, due out May 2nd. Today they're back with another new single, "The Destroyer."

After the devastating loss of his child in a tragic car accident, Votolato formed Suzzallo as a means of transmuting extreme grief into something healing. Votolato's solo career has primarily been defined by intimate, acoustic-based music, but Suzzallo swings hard in the other direction. The Quiet Year is an explosive eulogy of fuzzed-out alternative rock that's as stirring and anthemic as it is intense and cathartic.

Votolato discussed the new song, saying:

"This song ended up being my favorite on the album because I feel like it most accurately captures and communicates what I was going through when making this record. When you lose a child your identity is completely shattered - I was filled with the most intense anger I’ve ever experienced and a deep primal rage. I knew if I didn’t express it in some way it would kill me. I was searching for a kind of sonic destruction and blanket of distortion, and when Goodmanson and I tracked these guitars I knew we had finally found it.  I feel like they really accurately communicate how I was feeling and really helped to define the sound of the band.

For anyone who’s been through deep grief, trauma and loss - I want to let them know that art can help. I’m so grateful for the way creating this music has helped me process my grief and heal, and I hope these songs can bring some catharsis and comfort to others now as well. I feel like releasing this song now is timely as well as the United States has ceded its democracy and is now processing the shock of living under a fascist dictatorship. There’s a deep grief and pain that comes with that realization. I hope songs like this can help us process some of that pain as we use our anger to fuel the resistance and revolution."

Suzzallo is a fresh start for Votolato but the band's origins go back much further. “I guess it all started to take shape in the summer of 2022, about six months after Kienan [they/them] passed,” he explains. “I knew I needed a louder, bigger, more explosive sound to say what I needed to with this project. This kind of personal tragedy rearranges everything about you as a human and artist. I needed a new channel to express what I was going through and the only thing that made any sense to me were the most distorted guitar sounds I could find.” To create Suzzallo, Votoato teamed with a cast of friends and collaborators. The band's lineup was rounded out by bassist Steve Bonnell (Schoolyard Heroes) and drummer Rudy Gajadhar (Waxwing), and the trio recruited legendary producer John Goodmanson (Unwound, The Blood Brothers, Sleater-Kinney) to record The Quiet Year. Votolato’s friend longtime friend Gibbard performed on several songs, lending his signature vocals to beautifully placed harmonies, along with providing electric guitar, bass 6, and piano.

The Quiet Year confronts the shattering weight of grief head on, while also revealing an uplifting strength and determination to carry on beneath it. “I was completely shattered and knocked down by this loss, but I feel like Suzzallo is a big part of getting back on my feet and finding a reason to keep going,” says Votolato. “I’m so grateful for the way creating art has helped me process my grief and heal, and I hope these songs can bring some catharsis and comfort to others now as well.”