Interview: His Kingdom Suffers

His Kingdom Suffers is a Christian progressive deathcore project from North Carolina. We had the chance to chat with vocalist and drummer Andrew Harrison—enjoy the interview!

Hey, I hope you doing well, despite the current pandemic. Let’s get started by introducing yourself and telling us your role in the band?

Everything is well so far, God willing! I hope the same for everyone else.

My name is Andrew Harrison, and I am the creator and sole member of the band. My friend Ryan Reedy I consider part of the group, but he simply plays the guitar parts I kind of write but a whole lot better than I. He also records everything and mixes/masters for me.

What is your musical background and what inspired you to pursue music?

My musical background began when I was fourteen and begged my mom for drum set for a year after being obsessed with Rock Band at the time. After I got that, I used music as an escape because, at that time, my father was dying of ALS. Most of my time was either air drumming for hours if I couldn’t drum at that time in my life; it was my escape and still is. I have been in several bands, but the most notable is Without A Hobby and Heft.

My inspiration for pursuing music has changed here and there over the years, but one thing that has stayed the same is to spread the truth of Jesus Christ. I’m very thankful for the opportunity even to do what I do, even if I never get any sort of fame from this.

Following your band basically since it’s inception, it’s quite clear to me that you’re a devout believer, how did you come to saving faith in Jesus Christ?

I remember the day I fully and consciously gave my heart to Christ. I was walking to school and thinking about how much my life has changed, and it wasn’t getting easier. To provide a summary, before my father passed, we dealt with a lot of abuse from him. Then two years after his passing, my best friend Matt Hobby killed himself in the woods near my house. It was a year after that that I gave my life over because if I didn’t, I would be walking a dark path.

After I asked Jesus into my life and for Him to guide me and help me follow after Him, it was when my mind fully became renewed even to this day.

You used to be in a deathcore band called “Without a Hobby”, was His Kingdom Suffers meant to be a side project and how did this project come to be?

This project was always meant to be an online side project. Without A Hobby at that time was my first real band that I was the drummer for. HKS came to be when I had left WOAH. I had been practicing my vocals for some time, wrote a lot of lyrics, and felt I had a message I wanted to spread—That’s how HKS was born.

What the meaning behind the band name, “His Kingdom Suffers”?

The band’s name was inspired by a song from Sleeping Giant called Violence. In the background, the vocalist yells, “the kingdom suffers.” That’s when I came up with His Kingdom Suffers. The meaning is that God’s kingdom is not immune to suffering, in-fact Christ tells us we will all suffer.

I’ve always had bad feelings about parts of the modern Christian culture, and the biggest is that we welcome blessings but lash out at sufferings. At no point was life meant to be easy. Just because you have Christ in your heart doesn’t mean you will be safe and secure from then on. What Christ does promise is a renewed heart and mind. It is a new heart that changes how we see the world and, most importantly, how we see ourselves. We will hate the sins we used to be entrapped in and love the things of God! Through suffering, we are given a clear path. It wipes away all the fluff and gets you down to who you truly are. The kingdom suffers so that the kingdom may grow.

What’s the current lineup? And what genre would you consider yourselves? I hear some progressive elements as well as some brutal death metal(vocally).

The lineup is just me, Andrew. I wouldn’t mind turning this into a touring band, but if God wills it will happen. I would agree with and say the band is mostly progressive deathcore with some metalcore in it as well.

What’s your creative process like?

The creative process starts in my head with lyric ideas and an atmosphere I want to try and create with it. Then from there, I develop drums for it, or I’ll go in with a few samples from songs I want to use as inspiration, and Ryan and I will just go at it. The entire album of The Aether and The Veil was thought up on the spot aside from specific breakdown ideas. Suffering of the Mind however was written on drums before anything else.

Your debut album “The Aether & The Veil”(2018) delves into what some term “end-time conspiracy theories” could you expound on the overarching theme of the album?

The overarching theme of that album is about knowledge and how we worship it in this modern era. I tie it all in near the end with more biblical driven songs about who is truly worthy of our worship, Christ.

There are some end-time conspiracy theories in there like Alien Deception, which is about a fake alien invasion that unveils the antichrist and Made in his image, which is talking about trans humanism.

Is there a message in the first track written in decimal numbers; “173553719826446289”?

That number is a Fibonacci sequence. The whole opening track is set in the garden of Eden when the snake temps Eve with the apple. The lyrics, “after everything we’ve been shown, you still want this path? Fine.” Is meant to represent our rebellion against God. After everything God has shown us, told us, and allowed us to see, we still take and worship knowledge and decide for ourselves on what is good and what is evil. Mathematical equations are used in creation everywhere as well, and I added it as a sort of hidden code.

The drumming on this record is magnificent, and I know a lot of bands use drum programming on their records. Did you program them or use actual drums?

The drums on the whole album were recorded live with real drums but were sampled in some areas to make it pop more.

You recently put out a single “Suffering of the Mind”, it’s quite different musically than “The Aether & The Veil”, what led to this decision?

When I started thinking of the new album, I wanted it to be more emotionally driven. The Aether & The Veil is a chaotic album, and rightfully so, I purposely made it that way. Though Suffering of the Mind is just a taste of what the next album will be. There will be more chaos and all in this one too.

What are some of your favorite bands?

My favorite bands would have to be For Today, August Burns Red, Metallica, and Lettuce.

What’s next for His Kingdom Suffers and where can readers of this interview find your music and support you if they like it?

I would love to get a band together in the near future, but till then, expect more music!

You can buy and stream all HKS’s music on Apple, Spotify, Google Play, and Bandcamp (free download there).

Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, any final words?

I want to thank Jeffrey for interviewing me and all else for checking the band out, it means a lot! If you have any questions, feel free to ask on the bands Facebook or our Instagram.