Writing Magazine 2025

THE HALO EFFECT may have begun as five old friends just making music for fun, but they’re now one of the most beloved new bands in heavy metal. Before the Swedish quintet even formed, their members were heroes of heaviness, key in establishing melodic death metal’s much-imitated ‘Gothenburg sound’ during the ’90s. Then, when the longtime scenemates finally united and released debut single 'Shadowminds' in 2021, they quickly racked up millions of streams. Their subsequent debut album, Days of the Lost, was nominated for a Swedish Grammy and promoted on tours with Machine Head, Amon Amarth and Meshuggah. It then won the Rising Star trophy at the 2024 Metal Hammer Awards. This collective’s ascent has been as rapid as it has been well-deserved.

William Fitzsimmons has made his living writing a specific brand of honest and inward-looking folk songs that fearlessly and candidly examine the evolving self while dexterously communicating his talent for robust melodies and catchy instrumentation. Beginning with his debut album, Until When We Are Ghosts, he generated hundreds of millions of streams across fan-favorite albums such as Gold In The Shadow [2011], Lions [2014], and Pittsburgh [2015]. He landed significant syncs on ABC, NBC, MTV, Lifetime, and The CW. Notably, NPR once dubbed him "A Songwriter With Vision," and he incited the applause of American Songwriter, Billboard, NYLON, Pop Matters, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine, Uncut, and more. Now, William returns with quite possibly the most ambitious release of his career. The Illinois-based singer-songwriter and producer focuses on the wonder, humanity, and beauty of our interactions with one another and explores this phenomenon's effect on his own life via his eighth full-length Incidental Contact. Fitzsimmons pays homage to his late stepmother, who passed away in November 2022 with this album. She entered William's life 25 years earlier upon marrying his father. In the wake of this loss, William chose to memorialize her and celebrate her memory in the best way he could-by writing and recording what would become Incidental Contact.