Highly Suspect

Emerging from Brooklyn with a forceful, expansive style echoing Pop Evil, Queens of the Stone Age, and Royal Blood, Highly Suspect leveraged multiple independent EPs along with prolonged roadwork to earn two Grammy nominations tied to their 2015 debut album. Their sophomore effort arrived the following year and spawned the Grammy-nominated hit single "My Name Is Human," which in turn raised expectations for the hip-hop-inflected third album MCID in 2019. Genre boundaries continued to dissolve on The Midnight Demon Club two years afterward, while As Above, So Below in 2024 placed renewed emphasis on hard rock, grunge, and blues-rock textures within the group’s palette.

Cape Cod served as the 2009 birthplace for the band, built around Johnny Stevens on guitar, vocals, and synths alongside twin brothers Ryan on drums and vocals plus Rich Meyer on bass and vocals. Regional cover-band work preceded their move to Brooklyn, where original songs took shape across the EPs First Offense in 2009 and The Gang Lion in 2010. A third EP titled The Worst Humans appeared in 2012 before the trio entered the studio with producer Joel Hamilton, known for his work with Black Keys and Elvis Costello, to track their first full-length. Mister Asylum surfaced on 300 Entertainment in 2015, propelled by the intense single "Lydia," and drew critical acclaim plus the surprise Grammy nominations that fueled an extensive tour.

Early 2016 found them off the road yet already back in the studio for The Boy Who Died Wolf, issued that November. Lead single "My Name Is Human" reached the top of Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart and secured another Grammy nomination in the Best Rock Song category. Teasing for the next project began as early as November 2018, with the title later confirmed as MCID. In 2019 the occasional touring members Mark Schwartz, performing as Shadow Tricks, and former drum tech Matt Kofos joined the lineup full-time, expanding the sonic range through guitar and keyboard duties. August brought the singles "Upperdrugs" and "16," followed in November by the wide-ranging, hip-hop-tinged MCID featuring guest contributions from Young Thug, Gojira, Tee Grizzley, and Conor Mason of Nothing But Thieves. Three years on, The Midnight Demon Club arrived as an energetic, celebratory collection fusing hip-hop rhythms and cinematic textures with aggressive metal. As Above, So Below followed in 2024, spotlighting the gritty, loose singles "Summertime Voodoo" and "The Blue-Eyed Devil."