Philly metalcore outfit Varials to play hometown headliner ahead of ‘Scars for You to Remember’ album launch

Nearly a decade into their career, metalcore band Varials is still using the same practice space they started in — the basement of guitarist James Hohenwarter’s childhood home in North Wales.

The humble backdrop belies what they’ve accomplished.

As Varials prepares to release their third studio album, Scars for You to Remember, through Fearless Records on Oct. 14, they’ve garnered nearly 300,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

That’s a big number for a band whose hallmark is primal, growled vocals barked over down-tuned, nu metal-influenced fight riffs — and it’s one that’s nearly tripled since they released their last album, In Darkness, in 2019, lead vocalist Mitchell Rogers said.

“They’re one of the bigger bands to come out of this city,” said Dan White, the guitarist of Philly’s 10 Sluggz, the hardcore band opening for Varials at their first-ever hometown headlining show at First Unitarian Church Oct. 8. “The grind that they’ve had is really impressive.”

White, who’s known members of Varials for more than a decade, said he’s enjoyed seeing them go from playing basement shows to doing nationwide tours and sets at huge festivals. The band owes a lot to the Philly DIY community they came up in.

“We got very lucky being involved in that scene at that time,” bassist Mike Foley said.

Varials started in 2013, shortly after founding members Hohenwarter and Foley graduated from North Penn High School in Lansdale. They played their first show at a DIY event at American Legion Post 308 in Willow Grove.

This is where the band got their big break after another show in 2015, when they filmed themusic video for their song “Savage.”

Before the show, a friend of the band told Foley he planned to get completely nude in the pit for the sake of the video.

“We totally thought he was kidding,” Foley said.

But he wasn’t. The band censored the mosher’s genitals with a picture of a rubber duck (which makes sense since his nickname is “Ducky.”)

The footage, which has since garnered more than 300,000 views on YouTube, made it onto MTV’s Ridiculousness. It also caught the attention of Fearless Records, one of the biggest labels in the punk scene, which signed the band shortly thereafter.

After the band spent the better part of a decade touring relentlessly, the pandemic brought the music industry to a screeching halt in 2020.

That’s when Varials spent a month holed up in a rented house in the Poconos writing their new record. Rogers and Foley are proud of the upcoming release.

They recorded the songs in Lancaster with producers Jeff McKinnon and Evan Seeberger, who Rogers works with part-time when he’s not touring.

“I think we all agree it’s the best thing we’ve done yet,” he said.

It’s “faster and more chaotic” than the Varials’ past releases, but “more structured” when it comes to songwriting and production, said Foley.

So far, the group has released three singles from the album and two new music videos — one for the heaviest track on the album “.50″ and another for “Circles,” which is the most radio-friendly. Although the group experimented with clean vocals on “In Darkness,” they’ve never taken center stage in a mainstream radio rock manner like they do in “Circles.”

Rogers and Foley said the group was influenced by more commercial bands when crafting some of their new songs, but that Scars for You to Remember is still written for their core fans.

“I don’t think we’re ever going to be a not heavy band,” Foley said.

But, in other ways, Varials has changed a lot since the band formed in 2013. They’ve been through three different frontmen.

The original vocalist, Jared Pilieri, left in 2014, and the band distanced itself from him. Rogers, who was formerly the lead guitarist, became the front man in 2020 when Pilieri’s replacement, Travis Tabron, left the group.

For many bands, losing a lead vocalist can be a death knell. But Varials managed to power through with their DIY ethic and hard work.

“We want to push the band as far as we can,” Rogers said. “The way I like to look at it is, we get out of it what we put into it.”

Varials play 6 p.m., Oct. 8, at First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., Phila. Tickets available on Eventbrite.