Altarheart will release Prone to Wander Sept. 25 through Rottweiler Records. The progressive metalcore album confronts church hurt, doubt and the reasons people walk away from faith without treating those people as enemies.
The Charleston, West Virginia, duo consists of brothers Anthony and Alex Conn. Together, they describe Altarheart’s work as “heavy music for heavy hearts.”
‘Prone to Wander’ Makes Room for Difficult Questions
The album takes its title from the hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” Anthony Conn chose the phrase after watching people he knew leave the faith.
“There are very real reasons why people feel hurt by the church,” Conn said in an interview with Eternal Flames.
Instead of approaching those experiences from what Conn called a “spiritual high horse,” Prone to Wander enters the confusion. Its songs address infertility, homelessness, industrial decline, repentance and the struggle to keep believing when life becomes painful.
“Low Souls” grew from the difficult experience Conn and his wife faced while trying to conceive. The song does not clean up the anger and questions that surfaced during that season. However, it refuses to let suffering have the final word.
That tension runs throughout the album. Altarheart allows doubt to speak while continuing to point toward Christ and the hope that people remain loved by God.
Altarheart Grows From a Solo Project Into a Band
Conn started Altarheart as a solo project in early 2023. He released several singles and the full-length album Deny Thyself before his brother joined the group on drums.
The expanded Altarheart released the Creatures Here Below EP in October 2024. Alex also contributed lyrics and musical ideas to Prone to Wander, making the new album the brothers’ first full-length project together.
Musically, the record moves between aggressive vocals, melodic refrains, electronics, heavy riffs and atmospheric passages. “Consider the Lilies” places melancholy and beauty beside muscular metalcore, while “Rustbelt” shifts between quiet reflection and abrasive weight.
Scapegoat contributes vocals to “Mortal Man.” Michael Grice of The Light Superior appears on “Weaken My Flesh,” which arrived as the album’s latest preview.
Anthony Conn mixed and mastered the album himself. He also performs guitar, bass and vocals, while Alex handles drums.
Prone to Wander Track List
- “Wayward”
- “Mortal Man” featuring Scapegoat
- “Not Well”
- “Rustbelt”
- “Consider the Lilies”
- “Low Souls”
- “Brother, Sister”
- “Weaken My Flesh” featuring Michael Grice
- “Streets of Mold”
- “Island of One”
- “Reconcile”
- “For Those Who Have Wandered Away”