Death is something everyone understands intellectually, but confronting its permanence is an entirely different experience. It’s an uncomfortable reality that can inspire fear, reflection, anger, and sometimes a completely different appreciation for being alive. For Hempire, these ideas become the foundation of Sealed By The Sea, an intense new EP that explores mortality, historical tragedy, human suffering, and the consequences of decisions made by those in positions of power.
Described as a continuation of the themes introduced on the band’s previous release, The Weight, the EP takes a darker and more specific approach to examining life and death. While its predecessor was largely written from the band’s own perspectives, Sealed By The Sea turns its attention toward a historical tragedy and the devastating circumstances surrounding a group of men who found themselves facing death in the ocean.
We caught up with Jon of Hempire to discuss the inspiration behind the EP, the historical events that shaped its narrative, and how the band approaches blending progressive stoner rock with elements of hardcore, thrash, and death metal. Throughout our conversation, Jon offers insight into the uncomfortable realities behind the record while also revealing the creative instincts and collective chemistry that continue to shape Hempire’s sound.
For the band, the transition from The Weight to Sealed By The Sea wasn’t necessarily about discovering something entirely new about mortality. Instead, it came down to a shift in perspective. Jon explains that the new EP focuses more specifically on death and the suffering that accompanies life, whereas the previous record was primarily rooted in the band’s individual experiences. The world around them also played a role in shaping that change. Hempire had been in a different emotional place when writing The Weight, before the pandemic and the increasingly difficult circumstances that followed. The band had also experienced the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which influenced the general atmosphere surrounding the writing process, although they intentionally avoided making the storm a literal subject of the EP.
That distinction is important. Rather than creating another record centered on their immediate circumstances, Hempire wanted to explore something that allowed them to look beyond their own experiences while still confronting the darker realities of existence. The title Sealed By The Sea carries a particularly haunting meaning. Although its imagery might suggest something symbolic being hidden beneath the surface, Jon explains that the title is actually quite literal. The EP tells the story of a group of men dying in the ocean, making the permanence of death and the uncertainty surrounding survival central to its identity.
As Jon describes it, there is a point in certain life-threatening situations where willpower and luck become intertwined. Survival can depend on circumstances completely outside someone’s control, while death can arrive suddenly or through a prolonged process. Regardless of how it happens, the finality remains the same. It’s an unsettling foundation for a record, but one that allows the band to explore mortality without romanticizing it. Death isn’t presented as some distant possibility. It’s an inevitable part of existence, and the EP examines what happens when people are forced to confront that reality.
One of the most compelling aspects of Sealed By The Sea is its connection to historical tragedy. Hempire didn’t want to take significant creative liberties with the events behind the story. Instead, the band became interested in an incident that deserved greater attention and asked a simple question: why don’t more people know about this?
Jon explains that the ship had just delivered a nuclear bomb, a weapon capable of causing an unprecedented loss of life. Following the ship’s sinking, the men were left stranded in the water for an extended period because of a logistical oversight that meant nobody was looking for them. The captain was eventually rescued, but the government attempted to hold him accountable for what happened. Overwhelmed by guilt, he ultimately died by suicide.
For Jon, the story extends beyond the tragedy itself. It also raises questions about government accountability, powerful individuals, and the human cost of war. Rather than treating the historical inspiration as simply a dark backdrop for heavy music, Hempire sees keeping the story alive as a way of honoring the people involved. Understanding what happened and why it happened becomes part of remembering those who suffered.
That perspective also connects to the EP’s larger examination of mortality. Jon reflects on how making music has influenced his own relationship with death, explaining that the band’s music feels like an extension of who they are. While everyone eventually reaches the same ending, he believes accepting that reality is part of understanding the meaning of life. There’s something particularly powerful about his thoughts on creating art in the face of mortality. Music allows people to leave something behind, something that can continue existing even after its creators are gone.
“Making art and music and knowing that it can outlive you but still be a part of you is a satisfying part of that process for me,” he shares.
It’s a perspective that gives Sealed By The Sea another layer of meaning. The EP may explore the finality of death, but the act of creating something lasting represents its own form of permanence. Hempire brings together a diverse collection of influences, describing its sound as a progressive take on stoner rock with elements of hardcore, thrash, and death metal. With so many aggressive styles contributing to the band’s identity, there is plenty of room for unpredictable transitions, crushing riffs, and extended instrumental passages.
However, the creative process isn’t necessarily built around following a rigid formula. Jon explains that the band approaches songwriting by throwing ideas around and seeing what works. They continue developing a section until it stops making sense or they no longer enjoy where it’s going. Their approach has also evolved over time. What once involved simply jamming together until something memorable emerged has become a more organized process involving recorded practices, charts, and clicks. Despite the additional structure, the band’s underlying philosophy remains rooted in having fun and creating something that listeners can physically connect with.
That balance between experimentation and instinct is particularly evident in the EP’s track arrangement. Opening with “Indianapolis,” the band establishes an immediate sense of atmosphere through an extended introductory section that felt like the natural starting point for the record. There was some discussion about arranging the songs chronologically, but the opening ultimately came down to the strength of the track itself. Jon points to its powerful bridge and guest verse as additional elements that made it feel like the right introduction.
Interestingly, he doesn’t necessarily view the EP as a straightforward beginning-to-end narrative. Instead, he describes its arrangement as feeling more symmetrical than linear, with each song serving its own purpose within the larger collection.
On “Price To Pay,” Hempire explores the relationship between consequence, suffering, and existence itself. The title raises questions about whether the hardships people experience are imposed upon them by circumstances or whether suffering is simply an unavoidable part of being alive. Jon considers the idea through the philosophical perspective that existence itself involves suffering. In that sense, the price isn’t necessarily something someone chooses to pay. It’s simply part of being born into the world. The band’s approach to “Blue Water, White Death” introduces another interesting perspective, particularly through its examination of sharks and the way humans perceive creatures they don’t fully understand.
Jon explains that great white sharks were historically nicknamed “white death,” with their reputation becoming even more frightening following the release of Jaws. He recalls watching an older documentary about sharks that showed fishermen shooting and killing them without justification. His frustration comes from the way humans can demonize animals for behaving according to their natural instincts. Sharks aren’t inherently malicious creatures; they’re simply surviving within the environments they evolved to inhabit.
“You can’t really fault them for doing what they evolved to do. Humans are entitled creatures,” he says.
It’s a fascinating angle that challenges the relationship between fear and perception. Sometimes, the things we label as dangerous are simply things we don’t understand, while the destructive consequences of human behavior receive far less scrutiny. The darker themes continue with “Death By Secrecy,” a track that examines the destructive consequences of concealment, both personally and historically. Jon acknowledges that keeping secrets can become mentally exhausting, but the song’s subject extends into the ways information can be controlled, dismissed, or deliberately hidden by people with influence.
He reflects on how important historical events and uncomfortable truths can be dismissed as conspiracy or lunacy by those who benefit from controlling the narrative. The idea becomes particularly unsettling when considered alongside the familiar warning that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. For Jon, history isn’t simply something to study and leave behind. It’s something that continues to influence the present, especially when people aren’t given the opportunity to understand the perspectives and experiences of others.
He also touches on the privilege of being able to disconnect from what’s happening in the world, noting that ignoring difficult realities is becoming increasingly difficult for many people. His comments offer an interesting connection to the EP’s historical foundation. While Sealed By The Sea tells a specific story about tragedy and human suffering, its themes also encourage listeners to question what they know, consider whose perspectives are being heard, and recognize how easily important events can disappear from public consciousness.
Despite the weight of these subjects, Jon is quick to acknowledge that Hempire ultimately approaches music through a shared love of creating riffs, experimenting with ideas, and writing about things that interest them. That combination of serious subject matter and an instinctive, sometimes unconventional creative process is part of what makes the band interesting. Hempire isn’t attempting to provide definitive answers about mortality, humanity, or the world around us. Instead, the band takes complicated subjects and turns them into something listeners can experience through heavy, progressive instrumentation and thought-provoking storytelling.
What stands out most about our conversation is how Sealed By The Sea manages to connect the permanence of death with the importance of remembering the lives and events that came before us. Its inspiration may come from a historical tragedy, but the questions it raises extend far beyond that single incident. How much of our fate is determined by circumstances outside our control? What happens when powerful people fail to take responsibility? How do we preserve the stories that history might otherwise leave behind? And perhaps most importantly, what do we leave behind when our own time eventually comes?
For Hempire, music provides one answer. Through Sealed By The Sea, the band transforms an overlooked tragedy and its complicated themes into a heavy, immersive body of work that refuses to shy away from life’s darker realities. Sometimes, the most powerful records aren’t the ones that offer comfort or easy answers. They’re the ones that make us stop, question what we know, and think about the things we’d rather not confront. Sealed By The Sea appears ready to do exactly that.
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