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The second stage of grief, in the traditional model, is anger. For Brooklyn post-hardcore band dweller., this anger takes many forms. On their 2023 debut All the Things We Carry, that anger simmered under the surface, mostly drowned out in the haze of loss, only ever really spilling over on closer “In Passing,” the band’s heaviest song to date. On dweller.’s new single “Make Home,” that anger presents itself differently. The band builds the song up with metallic riffs, asking, “how can I make home / when all you make is war?” “Make Home” picks up right where “In Passing” left off, a perfect introduction to the new era of dweller.

That new era was solidified with the addition of bassist Christian Cabatu, who joined the band after the release of All the Things We Carry, rounding out the quartet of vocalist/guitarist Juan Aguilar, guitarist Kevin Ultsh, and drummer/vocalist Greg Rocco. Once Cabatu entered the fray, he “finished the puzzle,” notes Ultsh, and his contributions helped dweller. lock into a harsher, spacier sound. The band recorded “Make Home” with Adam Cichocki (Soul Blind, ASkySoBlack, Gatherers), who pushed them to step outside their comfort zone, adding a rich depth to their sound and helping them expand ever outward. As dweller. began to write more collaboratively, their sound moved away from the moody post-hardcore of their first EP and into murkier, bleaker territory, a change mirrored in the increase in screamed vocals and the inclusion of heavier instrumentation, Cichocki’s guidance and the addition of Cabatu only helped further this progression.

“Make Home” matches its musical intensity with a singular lyrical focus. The band’s new material leans into broader social themes, with that song expressing anger at the ongoing genocide in Gaza and other tracks tackling gun violence. But for as dark and as angry as “Make Home” sounds–and it is dark and angry–dweller. never succumbs to hopelessness. There’s “more power in being gentle” than aggressive sometimes, Aguilar says, and the band is careful not to forget that. Even as harsh as dweller. can sound, at their heart these songs come from a place of love. “Have we forgotten our neighbor / is every single human being?” he asks in “Make Home,” a plea across borders to recognize our shared struggle, our shared humanity. To hear it from dweller., it’s impossible to forget.