Last Gasp – “October 13th”

Last Gasp — not to be confused with Final Gasp — are a hardcore band hailing from Cleveland, Ohio. In 2021, they shared The Storied Weight Of It All, and now they’re getting ready for the release of their sophomore album Who Wants To Die Tonight?. The fiery single “October 13th” is out today.

Following the release of the track “Seizure The Day,” “October 13th” is a noisy, relentless ripper with heavy subject matter. Here’s what vocalist Ryan Hardwick told Brooklyn Vegan about the track:

“October 13th is a song about my father. He passed away from a sudden heart attack 23 years ago on this date. Oddly enough it was Friday the 13th, 2000. My father was a complicated man but he was a good Dad. A year or two ago it came to light through 23andMe that he had a secret daughter, which meant that my sisters and I had a secret half sibling. Talk about a wave of emotions. My parents were together since they were teenagers and I just couldn’t process how or when this could’ve happened. After speaking with my ‘new’ sister we found out it had to be around the time that my parents first got together which softened the news but it still just didn’t sit right with me. My mom swears that he knew about this little girl. They come from a tiny little town and people talk, ya know?

So the song is about my father keeping such a wild secret all that time. He really wasn’t the type of guy to just bail on a kid but it was a different time and he was young. I try to put myself in those shoes but it still doesn’t feel right. He’s been gone for twenty three years so I guess we’ll never really know. I feel for this lady finding out that the man that she thought was her father all this time, really wasn’t. I mean imagine that… how do you approach your mother? I really don’t like to get too personal with my lyrics but it was heavy for my family and pretty current when we were writing the record. Probably some of the realest lyrics I’ve ever written.”

Listen to “October 13th” below.

Who Wants To Die Tonight? is out 10/31 on WAR Records.