By Jai “That Aussie Metal Guy” Anderson
Hailing from Baltimore, Maryland, Night’s Edge is a dynamic three-piece pushing the boundaries of alternative metal with a sound that straddles gothic melodrama, modern heaviness, and synth-drenched theatrics. Formed in 2018, the band—comprised of Brian Haran (vocals, bass, keys, programming), Dan Hunt (guitars), and Damian Remmell (drums)—has steadily built a name for themselves with a discography that includes Shades of Dusk (2019), The Darkest Side of Dreams (2020), Night’s Edge EP (2022), and Strangers (2023).
Now, as they gear up for the release of their fourth full-length record The World That Never Was—dropping August 21, 2025—they unveil a collection of tracks that fuse headbanging weight with danceable grooves, rich atmospherics, and introspective lyricism. With influences ranging from HIM, System of a Down, Deftones, to Coheed and Cambria, Night’s Edge has carved a uniquely immersive and cinematic sound that evokes both the personal and the fantastical.
I caught up with Brian Haran, vocalist/bassist/keyboardist of the band, to dive into the stories behind the record, the journey so far, and the creative power of dancing skeletons and doom-fueled synths.
Pleased to meet you! Jai That Aussie Metal Guy here with Crannk.com. Thanks for taking some time to go through a few questions about the band and album.
First off, who are Night’s Edge and how would you describe your sound and style?
Night’s Edge is Dan Hunt, Damian Remmell, and Brian Haran (that’s me!) – three dudes from Baltimore, MD, USA who love rock, metal, and everything in between. We don’t fit very neatly into any subgenre of rock or metal, but with our music, we seek to blend the directness and urgency of American rock with the grandiosity and beauty of European metal, sort of a best-of-both-worlds approach. If we were forced to pick a sub-genre label for ourselves, we’d probably fall somewhere under the umbrella of alternative metal.
Congrats on the upcoming album The World That Never Was! Can you tell us what inspired the title and overall concept?
The title actually comes from a line in “Someone to Stay”, the first track on the album – “My purpose is a lost cause/ caught in a world that never was”. The album as a whole deals with the idea of losing one’s self identity and this particular line sets up that conversation – the album title describes the feeling that the world that one was building their life towards is no longer there, that the world changed during the time it took to prepare to live in it. Kind of like if you were to take a month-long trip to get to some specific city, and then when you get there, it ends up being a ghost town. What now?
“Smite” has a wicked energy—headbangable yet oddly danceable. What was the writing and recording process like for this one?
This one came together actually pretty quickly. Damian brought in a chugging rhythm that ended up becoming the verse to the song, and I (Brian) had been sitting on the chorus riff for a while. We stuck the two together and then filled in the fun transitions with riff variations, threw in a nasty breakdown at the end, and bam. It was ready for vocals and orchestration – ended up adding a very scooby-doo latin choir at the very end of the recording process. Maybe a little cheesy, but I think it’s fun. When in doubt, go all out.
3. You mentioned that the BPM and energy were inspired by Slipknot’s “Custer”—how do outside influences usually play into your songwriting process?
They usually do not fit in quite as directly as “Custer” did in this situation, we definitely were a little into the writing process and realized that this is both heavy and dancy, lets lean into that and hit that fun Slipknot vibe.
Our influences of course are all over our music, and I think they come into play a lot when communicating how we want a part to sound or feel, like for example maybe we want this doomy part to have a My Dying Bride vibe, or this drum beat to have a Deftones feel to it, or a harmony to be Alice In Chainsy. None of us are classically or professionally trained musicians, so we don’t communicate in theory or terminology; it’s more of a suggestive exchange, and the bands that we listen to are often the language.
4. Your music has a very theatrical, almost cinematic vibe—how important is atmosphere and storytelling to your overall sound?
Extremely. I LOVE music with atmosphere, and all of my favorite bands have some sort of atmosphere in their music. I like music that can transport me somewhere when I listen to it, and I try to capture that phenomenon in our songs. Storytelling and lyrics in general are crucial as well, and as I get older and more experienced, I find they become even more important. A song’s lyrics can be just as powerful as its music, and for a song to be truly great, both have to be on point. I strive to come up with words that can take a feeling that is familiar to the listener and present it to them in a new way that maybe makes them think about a shared experience in a new way. One of my favorite lyricists, Peter Steele of Type O Negative, was a master of this.
5. You blend genres like gothic metal, nu-metal, progressive rock, and even pop punk. Has that always been the goal, or did it evolve naturally?
I think it evolved on its own. If you listen to our early releases, it is super clear the genre jumps song to song, and it took us a few years to figure out how to put it all together. But the goal was never “hey, let’s put x, y, and z genres together,” it was more to create a sound that is anthemic, dark, and equal parts heavy and catchy. I think we chase a vibe and a motif more than any specific sub-genre.
6. For those discovering Night’s Edge through this new record, what’s the one track you’d recommend they start with—and why?
That’s a really hard question, but I think the first song, “Someone to Stay,” is a good introduction to us and the album because it has little moments of the many different sounds we bring to the album. First of all, it’s got sick guitar leads – super catchy, super 80’s, and a killer solo. Huge chorus, some wild vocals that I regret committing to the track every time we play it live, and a couple of tasty keys bits. It’s also got a pretty involved arrangement, which is a Night’s Edge signature, and it’s all tied together by really crispy, driving drumming. We actually picked it as the first song on purpose because we felt it was a good intro to the album.
7. Lyrically, your music explores themes of isolation, dissociation, and the romantic. Can you talk about how you approach lyrics—are they personal or fictionalized?
They’re not quite autobiographical, but they’re not fiction either. They’re more of an exaggeration of a feeling. I like to describe it as a “yes, and?” approach to developing lyrics. They also usually just free flow, sometimes I will be doing something like driving, cleaning, whatever and just get hit with a lyric and a vocal melody but usually we will have the music for a song demoed and I will set up my mic and headphones, get some pen and paper, and just back and forth between ad-libbing to the track and writing things down until some sentences and rhymes form. Edit them a bit and then bam.
8. You’ve had a few lineup and sonic shifts since your 2018 debut. What’s changed the most for Night’s Edge since then?
I think the 2 biggest shifts were first when we stopped using a live keyboardist and began programming them and playing with a click live. That allowed us to use very elaborate orchestrations and also add transitions and interludes between songs in our set. The second biggest shift was when Damian joined and I moved to bass and vocals only. Aside from that, our whole approach changed. We take the band more seriously now than we did back then and I think we’re also more open to learning and adapting. We do more shows, we practice more, and we hustle more.
9. In what ways is The World That Never Was an evolution or a departure from your previous work?
I think this is our most complete and cohesive record to date. I’m very proud of the work we did on this one and I think it has the strongest songwriting and the most complete vision of anything we’ve released. We put a lot of effort into the lyrics, the arrangements, the production, and the promo. I mixed this one myself so if it sounds like garbage it’s 100% my fault.
10. The lyric video for “Smite” is brilliantly chaotic. How did the concept of the dancing skeletons come together?
That was kind of a joke at first. The song is so heavy and dark and existential so we thought what would be the silliest possible visual? Let’s do a bunch of dancing skeletons in a haunted ballroom. I reached out to my friend Nick Bonsanto, who did the video for us, and he made it happen. It’s actually so funny to me that we decided to make that the first video from the album. I guess it was our first single because it was the first song we finished but also I think it’s one of the strongest on the album and has a really unique vibe. And those dancing skeletons are so ridiculous and absurd that it fits my sense of humor perfectly.
11. The synth and orchestral elements add a lot of depth. Who’s responsible for that side of the production?
That’s all me (Brian). I program and perform all the keys. Every song gets a different approach depending on what it needs. Ataecina needs a piano and strings to carry the weight of the song, and “Soaring” is kind of synthwave. I like to layer as much as possible to make the sound feel big and dense, especially since we’re only a three-piece. It also allows us to throw curveballs at the listener that make the songs a little less predictable.
12. What is the scene like in your hometown of Baltimore? How has it influenced you as a band?
Baltimore is our home. Some of our best shows have been in this city, and some of our best shows have been out of state and attended entirely by people from Baltimore. That tells you everything you need to know. We love the scene and we all met through going to shows in Baltimore before we were in a band together.
13. What can fans expect from a Night’s Edge live show?
Catharsis. That might mean moshing, it might mean crying, it might mean a conga line. We’ve seen it all. There’s no pretension in our set, no mystique, just raw emotion. We play hard and with a lot of passion and energy and we try to make it easy for the crowd to meet us at that level. We don’t care how you engage with our music as long as you feel something real.
14. As an independent band, how important is creative control when producing your music and visuals?
It’s the best part of being independent. We’ve never been told what we could or couldn’t do, and that’s very important to us. We’re open to input and we love collaborating with other artists, but the music always informs the visual, not the other way around. I would never do something because it would get more clicks. I would do something because it’s exciting and fun and makes me want to do it more.
15. After the album release this August, what’s next for Night’s Edge?
More shows, more videos, and maybe a synthwave remix of “Love Fiction”. We’re looking to fill up the calendar this fall with weekend warrior shows all over the Mid-Atlantic US (Maryland, NY, NJ, VA, etc). We’ve also been cooking up a lot of short-form content ideas and even considering launching a video podcast.
🔥 QUICKFIRE ROUND 🔥
🎶 What was the first album you ever bought?
City of Evil by Avenged Sevenfold. Though the first CD I ever owned was Black Sabbath’s Paranoid which was a Christmas gift from my mom when I was 7.
🤘 If you could tour with any band in the world—who would it be?
Coheed and Cambria
🤯 What’s one genre you’d NEVER expect to play… but secretly want to?
Whatever genre Jar of Flies by Alice In Chains is.
🎃 Favorite horror movie of all time?
Let the Right One In
16. Finally, any shoutouts or last words you’d like to leave with fans and readers?
Thank YOU for the thoughtful interview questions. It’s always a pleasure to talk about our music and having great questions makes it even better! Huge thanks to our fans, friends, and family in the Baltimore scene and beyond. Anyone who’s ever booked us, shared our music, or screamed at us from the crowd – we love you.
🎧 The World That Never Was drops August 2025
Album pre-order (out Aug 21st) – https://nightsedge.bandcamp.com
Don’t miss it — and be sure to catch Night’s Edge on the road and online. Stay tuned to Crannk.com for more exclusive interviews and underground metal coverage.
