The calendar hasn’t turned on 2023 yet, but 2024 has one of its first musical casualties as Issues have announced their intent to split early next year.
After nearly four years of silence, the group has issued a statement confirming that they will indeed be splitting up, but not before playing some final performances for fans with a trio of farewell shows booked for January 2024.
In announcing their split, the band issued a statement in which they reveal that the pandemic of 2020 hit them hard, and that life has changed in many ways since that time, leading them to the decision to call it a career. The band also split with singer Tyler Carter that same year over sexual misconduct allegations. Their full statement can be read below.
Issues has been a central figure in our lives since 2012. We’ve played countless shows, toured almost every continent, met thousands of people, and made so many friends in our peers and travel companions. The importance of this band to our lives cannot be overstated. So many of you were right there with us.
2020 hit us as hard as it could possibly hit a band. Tours canceled after we paid the deposits, new album cycle cut short, and the last any of you guys heard from us was when we fired our singer. All of these were incredibly traumatic experiences, not only for us, but also the fans to whom our music means the most. Life changed for the three of us after 2020 in significant ways that made making Issues our full time job impossible, but it doesn’t feel right to end our story in tragedy. We feel very strongly that the legacy we want to leave be a positive one.
These shows are the final chapter in a long history of pushing the limits of composition, musicianship, and culture in every way we could. We want them to contextualize our body of work over the controversy and member changes and gossip and bullshit and to stand as a monument to the 3 real muffuckas still standing, the music we’re so proud of, and the fans still with us. If this band has ever meant anything to you we want you to be proud of being a part of this too. Proud of the gigs you’ve seen, the tattoos you got, the friends you made. So we’re putting this shit to bed in true Issues fashion. Very, very loudly.
As for their farewell performances, you can catch Issues playing Anaheim’s House of Blues on Jan. 19, Chicago’s House of Blues on Jan. 20 and Atlanta’s The Masquerade on Jan. 27. Tickets are currently on sale and may be purchased here.
READ MORE: 25 Best Metalcore Albums of All-Time
The metalcore-meets-R&B outfit released three full-length albums – 2014’s self-titled debut, 2016’s Headspace and 2019’s Beautiful Oblivion, while yielding such notable songs as “Never Lose Your Flames” and “Tapping Out.” Revisit some of their work below the farewell show dates.
Issues, “Never Lose Your Flames”
Issues, “Tapping Out”
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Gallery Credit: Philip Trapp