Rival State's debut album ‘Apollo Me’ reunites the band with a new sound and a new aesthetic. The first offerings released from the album (“Sleep Talker” & “Four Leaf Clover”) have climbed The Rock radio charts and cemented their place in modern day rock! “It’s been a long journey to get to this point and this album expresses our 10 years of experiences in 45min” Says Nimal Fernando

Rival State was originally formed in 2002 as a high school rock band and like all stubborn teenagers first out of home the band ended up parting ways in 2007 to experience music from a different perspective. Somehow long gruelling van tours across North America and Europe and living on the bones of their arses, led to the guys crossing paths.

In April of 2011 four out of the five members of Rival State returned home to New Zealand after a lengthy 4-year stint overseas in Canada and Europe. The guys decided to reform the original line-up with singer Luke Van Hoof who for that time period was playing in NZ band Kids of 88. “We had a legitimate discussion one night via Skype and after seconds of Hello's…how are yah's… Rival State was back in action” says Stefan Einarsson. “We decided to stop fighting the inevitable and return to what we've always loved most and write the songs that we all wanted to write; No limitations, no rules, just pure hunger to get a point across”

The band began writing for their upcoming October release ‘Apollo Me’ in 2011, working with British producer Matt Hyde who has also worked with the likes of Slipknot, Trivium, Funeral for a Friend and Ash just to name a few. “We chose to write this record in our home town of New Plymouth surrounded by our family and friends and what better place to write a record than where it all began” says Jo Einarsson.

Rival State’s debut album ‘Apollo Me’ is going to drop October 12th 2012 through Shock Records. “You can expect a very diverse record with no repeats of stale ideas, but a joint union of rock n roll, punk, and grunge. We wrote the record we had always envisioned combined with sounds, tones, and ideas we had been experimenting with over our time apart. We believe we have written a record that is new, fresh, and we are extremely proud of it and feel it is worth a listen!” says Luke Van Hoof.

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