UNWELL’s music speaks equally to the barricade and the back row, balancing crushing emotion and buoyant theatricality – all rooted in a workmanlike DIY ethos befitting of their Rust Belt hometown. On ALLEGORIA, their Pure Noise Records debut, the Detroit-formed quartet meld muscular alt-rock, pop-punk vibrancy and propulsive hardcore into a multisensory escapist experience, dramatic storytelling that never loses sight of the rawest, realest emotions at its core.

The group (vocalist Matt Copley, guitarist Chris Mandel, bassist Drew Bender and drummer Connor McLaughlin) formed in 2020 after Copley, a musical theater student, approached Bender to help record a musical for his senior year thesis. The two, alongside Mandel, a mutual friend, quickly expanded their creative efforts to begin building UNWELL – with their 2021 debut EP, New Moons, bursting them onto the scene with a more melodic take on the mid-’10s pop-punk genre’s sonic sandpaper. 2023’s Trial & Error further marked a turning point for the band, showcasing an evolution that blended their hook-laden instincts with an even heavier, more aggressive edge, as songs like “Epiphany” debuted at #3 on the iTunes Rock Charts.

“The band has grown to a point where we feel totally comfortable in our own skin,” Copley says of their growth leading up to Allegoria. “Our influences span from Broadway to hardcore, so figuring out how to bring all of these into our sound has offered us a lot of opportunity in terms of the songs we’re able to write.”