Issues

A versatile American nu-metalcore outfit hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, Issues surfaced in 2012 with an eclectic approach shaped by the sounds of Korn, Stevie Wonder, Fatboy Slim, and Katy Perry as well as the realms of heavy metal, electronic pop, post-hardcore, and R&B. After their self-titled 2014 debut album climbed to a Top 10 placement on the Billboard 200, the group leaned further into pop and R&B nuances on the follow-up releases Headspace and Beautiful Oblivion.

The project was started by former Woe, Is Me frontman Tyler Carter alongside Michael Bohn, Cory Ferris, and Ben Ferris, though several personnel shifts occurred before the band entered the studio for its first EP. That effort, Black Diamonds, arrived on Rise Records on November 13, 2012, showcasing Carter on clean vocals, Bohn on unclean vocals, AJ Rebollo on guitar, Josh Manuel on drums, Skyler Acord on bass, and session player Tyler Acord handling keyboards, turntables, and synths. Mid-2013 found Issues tracking its self-titled full-length, issued in February 2014; the album fused metalcore, R&B-tinged pop, and Linkin Park-esque nu-metal DJ breaks and landed inside the Top Ten of the Billboard 100. An acoustic EP titled Diamond Dreams followed later in the year and spotlighted the stand-alone 2013 single “Hooligans.” The band resumed studio work in 2015 for its second album, Headspace, which surfaced in May 2016, peaked at number twenty, and marked the final Issues release to include Bohn, who departed in 2018. Early 2019 brought Carter’s debut solo album Moonshine, while October of that year saw the band deliver its third LP, Beautiful Oblivion, recorded by the lineup of Carter, Rebollo, Acord, and Manuel.