ZEROKING

The bane of West Virginia, ZEROKING, has pumped out the first single from upcoming album, Love, Hate & Other Drugs, in the form of a collaboration with Byzantine frontman, Chris “OJ” Ojeda as they tackle the Faith No More classic, “Falling to Pieces.”

ZEROKING singer, Andy Haught explains why they did their own take on the song with OJ in tow, “We have a history of recording covers both for fun and hopefully to put a little bit of our own spin on them. While I was doing some vocals in a studio here in Charleston, Byzantine were about to enter the same studio to begin recording their latest album ‘Harbingers’ for Metal Blade. One day OJ dropped by and I played him the covers we were working on. He seemed to really dig our version of “Falling to Pieces” and we discussed the idea. We really think he knocked it out of the park and it set a high bar for the rest of the song to match up to. To collaborate with a fellow WV artist who represents our state and scene globally and that we have a long history with and respect for, I think that’s something pretty special.”

Staying true to the original version of the song for the most part, Haught goes on to explain “ Obviously when FNM came out with “The Real Thing” back in ’89 , it was a gamechanger and we wanted to stay pretty true to the original vibe , however we did experiment it a bit to make it a little more “us”. For example we had several attempts at getting the keyboard line that is signature to the intro building into the verses, until our guitarist Shane Day discovered a way to play it on guitar that sounded right and felt like a fresh take. I think we struck a good balance in making it sound like a Zeroking song while maintaining reverence for the classic tune that it is.”

“Falling to Pieces” has been serviced to radio and came out of the box swinging, landing at #4 on both the NACC Top Heavy Adds and on the Metal Contraband Top Metal Adds Chart, sitting alongside luminaries such as Judas Priest.

“That was a really a surprise and we are so thankful to the DJ’s that connected with the track so early,” remarks Haught. “We’re excited for everyone to hear our collab cover and to be releasing new music again. I can’t wait to unleash Love, Hate and Other Drugs as it contains nine brand new and – we think – some of the best songs we’ve ever written.”

Love, Hate & Other Drugs will be released during the fourth quarter of 2026 through via Weapon Records.

Falling to Pieces can be streamed and purchased at this location