With unflinching tenacity, the impenetrable heavy metal hardcore factory that is HATEBREED has brought forth yet another iron cast, sonic weapon with Weight Of The False Self. It comes as no surprise that their eighth, full length album is the result of the usual sweat and blood that have cemented HATEBREED’s unique niche in the world of music for over two decades. Renowned for their ability to provide an intense and cathartic release for their fans, HATEBREED challenged their writing style through this album cycle in order to produce material that is exceptionally relatable in a contemporary world flooded with overstimulation, emotional dampening, and lack of social patience. “Weight Of The False Self’ is a perfect representation of HATEBREED in 2020, a fresh onslaught of soon to be classics with all the elements that led you here since day one,” explains guitarist Frank Novinec.
A metaphorical weight is carried by almost every individual in regards to their emotional construct. Our experiences shape who we become and over time, gradually produce a heavy burden that we continue to lug along. For many of us, the weight becomes so much that we struggle to get out from underneath, let alone move. It is these struggles that are translated throughout Weight Of The False Self.
“Seen or unseen, everyone is carrying a burden. The music we love helps us bear the weight” proclaims vocalist Jamey Jasta. Tracks like “Cling To Life” supply a play on words that usually mean to desperately cling to those last breaths, but here, these words display that in the wake of true loss and mourning, to cling to the idea of happiness and future can bring sincere relief. On the other end of the philosophical spectrum, the first single “Instinctive (Slaughterlust)” not only presents a fresh vocabulary word, but screams about the power that comes from our defense mechanisms when backed into a corner. When someone is being pursued by their past, another person, or just defending their own territory, it’s only a matter of time and distance before they can explode into a savage, primal beast.
The song “Wings Of The Vulture” is a metaphor for all the negative forces of nature, fate, and humanity that hope to prey upon us during some of our weakest moments; waiting for the death of something meaningful. “A Stroke Of Red,” contrary to what it may seem at first, touches on the concept of having the choice to harm yourself or others. “It’s an eye for an eye, but that leaves everyone blind. Once you go down that dark, violent path, there is no turning back. This song is a dark canvas; leaving my body to exact terrible things on a different plane, and coming back to myself in order to learn from it so that you don’t ever give in to that dark, carnal desire,” explains Jasta.
Album artwork by renowned heavy metal artist Eliran Kantor depicts a man chiseling away at the massive sculpture of a stone bust. In Kantor’s classic painting style, cracking through the clay of turmoil and sadness, a light is beginning to shine through the rock as the sculptor turns his face from the blinding beams of healing. The image visually combines the album’s themes of emotional struggle and managing to overcome pain after layers of depression, anxiety, betrayal, and heartbreak have hardened atop a person’s soul.
Over the course of over 20 years and 8 albums, the writing process for a band like HATEBREED has stayed safe in its roots, but still reached out and grabbed for crisp and compelling pieces of progressive sound to add to the mix. There are waves of fresh sounds while the massive foundation that houses HATEBREED remains strongly held in place. “On this album I really pushed myself; made myself rewrite things until they were better, until it clicked. I pulled myself out of that comfort zone. In the age of legacy bands having to play so many hits from their catalogue at shows, we love to hear fans request new songs when we’re playing live,” explains Jasta, “we’ve really played into our strengths with this one.”
“There’s no shortage of beefy-riffs and adrenaline-fueled-drums on this record. I’m proud to say that we will consistently provide a soundtrack to which you can mosh in your living room and destroy your apartment,” details drummer Matt Byrne.
Recording the album once more with the help of ZEUSS, the band experienced a sense of challenge and breakthrough that enabled them to obtain a new level of sound. After working with the band for several years, and while normally spending his time with bands that have a fairly different sound, Zeuss is able to test HATEBREED and expand their already infamous vibration. “It was really great working with Zeuss again on this one. Love the way the guitars sound,” comments guitarist Wayne Lozinak. As time goes on, the quality of production technology only seems to get better and better, creating a safe and productive nest in which albums can evolve and end up with a much cleaner sound; Weight Of The False Self brings early 2000’s era HATEBREED into the new decade.
Released on November 27th, 2020 via Nuclear Blast Records, Weight Of The False Self is noted as one of HATEBREED’s strongest, and most memorable albums.
Terror
Terror is Scott Vogel – vocals, Martin Stewart – guitar, Jordan Posner – guitar, Nicholas Jett – drums, and Christopher Linkovich – bass.
Nobody could have ever guessed the trajectory that hardcore would have taken back when this movement was first formed. And in the early 2000s, nobody would have guessed that a band like TERROR would still be one of the most influential bands in the subgenre, 24 years after their start. Their aggression, coupled with a love and appreciation for the scene that so many have come and gone from, or even forgotten altogether, has let them thrive- now unveiling their tenth full length record, STILL SUFFER, releasing April 24th on Flatspot Records.
Originating from Los Angeles, California, during a time when hardcord needed a band to smash things back to center as the genre found itself falling off track, TERROR rushed in, immediately made their mark and never let go.
Working with producer (and former guitarist) Todd Jones, the band created ten fast, aggressive, in-your-face tracks that embrace the themes that made TERROR so influential in the first place. Songs about self empowerment, survival and an unrelenting will to face challenges head on with the values and support found within these walls.
STILL SUFFER was rounded out with engineering and some additional production by Taylor Young at The Pit Recording Studio, mixing by Jon Markson, and mastering by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege, with additional vocal engineering by Jay Zubricky at GCR Audio, and drum engineering at Studio 606 by Taylor Young and Oliver Roman. Guest vocals on the album come from Jay Peta of Mindforce on “Beauty in the Losses,” Brody King of God’s Hate and Dan Seely of King Nine on “Deconstruct It,” along with Hot Water Music’s Chuck Ragan providing an assertive delivery on “Fear The Panic,” a song which was also co-produced by New Found Glory’s Chad Gilbert.
From the start, TERROR has never turned their back on the things that made this band so vital since its inception. With the release of STILL SUFFER, it’s clear that the band has no sign of letting up, continuing to succeed on their mission to deliver hardcore authentic to themselves and to show the world that this is much more than just music. This community and movement that nobody can truly put into words, is the exact place the energy comes from that fuels TERROR to continue to build and grow with STILL SUFFER.
“Forever doesn’t change, you’re damaged just like me.”
Incantation
Incantation are a veritable institution on the American death metal scene. Since issuing their 1992 debut long-player Onward to Golgotha on Relapse, their musical signature is unrelenting brutality that mixes punishing riffs with widely varying tempos. Though based in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, their longstanding base of operations is New York City, where they remain at the forefront of its death metal scene. Though their brand of extreme satanic metal has kept them out of the mainstream for decades, later albums like 2014’s Dirges of Elysium, 2017’s Profane Nexus, and 2020’s Sect of Vile Divinities appeared on multiple music industry and streaming charts. Incantation continued to defy expectations in 2023, celebrating over 30 years as a band with their unrepentant 12th studio album, Unholy Deification.
The band was founded in New Jersey by guitarist John McEntee and drummer/vocalist Paul Ledney in 1989. Ledney left after the release of Reh.1.3.90, the band’s first demo, because he wanted to play black metal rather than death metal. The band’s first lead vocalist was Will Rahmer (founder of ). Rahmer appeared on Incantation’s debut EP, Entrapment of Evil, which was released on the tiny Seraphic Decay label. It wasn’t long before Rahmer was replaced by Craig Pillard, who stayed with the band for several years. After signing with Relapse in 1991, Incantation recorded their second EP, Deliverance of Horrific Prophecies, before providing their first full-length album, Onward to Golgotha (which employed Pillard on vocals and Jim “Eno” Roe on drums) in 1992. Incantation’s subsequent Relapse albums included Mortal Throne of Nazarene in 1994, Upon the Throne of Apocalypse in 1996, Forsaken Mourning of Angelic Anguish in 1997, and Diabolical Conquest in 1998. After 2000’s Infernal Storm, Incantation left Relapse and signed with for 2002’s Blasphemy.
McEntee (the only remaining member of the original lineup) began his tenure as the band’s guitarist and lyricist, but after signing the band to in late 2003, he took over as lead vocalist. His debut was 2004’s Decimate Christendom wherein Incantation was slimmed down to a trio; they remained in that configuration for 2006’s Primordial Domination. After supporting the album by touring for two-and-a-half years, McEntee put the group on temporary hiatus.
They returned in November of 2012 with Vanquish in Vengeance as a quartet with McEntee, drummer Kyle Severn, lead guitarist Alex Bouks, and bassist Chuck Sherwood (the latter replaced Joe Lombard, who died by suicide in January). Given the album’s laudatory critical reception, Incantation hit the road for more than a year, touring primarily in Europe. Upon return, they entered the studio and delivered Dirges of Elysium, their final date for . It arrived in 2014 with their first music video for single “Impalement of Divinity.” The album defied the band’s expectations and reached the middle rungs of the Heatseekers chart. Incantation undertook another years-long touring jaunt. While they were on the road working, New Jersey’s issued the two-disc Unholy Massacre, a compilation of early sides, and the live Rotting Spiritual Embodiment, also comprised of ’90s material.
Upon return to the U.S. Incantation lost Bouks to , and re-signed to Relapse. The power trio of McEntee, Severn, and Sherwood released Profane Nexus, in August of 2017, their tenth studio long-player. Mixed and mastered by , it reached the Top 40 on the Independent albums chart. A video for “Lus Sepulcri” racked up over 100,000 views — a sizable number for an indie metal band. Incantation played festivals in Europe, South America, and the United States as part of the Relapse-sponsored Contamination Tour with , , and . The label issued Contamination Tour 2018 EP, a split containing two tracks each by all four bands.
Incantation became a touring quartet again with temporary lead guitarist Sonny Lombarddozzi. They headlined American stages through most of 2019. Toward year’s end, Incantation re-entered the studio with . Lombardozzi played lead on the lion’s share of tracks, but his permanent replacement, Luke Shively, was already in the wings, and helmed the remainder.
Incantation issued a couple of well-received advance video singles — “Fury’s Manifest” in July and “Entrails of the Hag Queen” in early August — that created anticipation for the full-length release Sect of Vile Divinities issued in August. The band was prevented from touring in 2020 due to travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, the album sold more out of the box than any of its predecessors. It debuted inside the Top 50 on three music industry charts and the Top 40 on various metal streaming lists. 2023’s Lovecraftian Unholy Deification saw the band deliver a blistering ten-song set that stood at the nexus of death metal and doom. ~ Thom Jurek & Alex Henderson, Rovi
Gates To Hell
Forming in late 2019, Gates To Hell aimed to fuse the finest elements from both metal and hardcore, highlighting fast metal riffs with heavy hardcore and deathcore breakdowns written in a manner unexplored within the Kentucky music scene. The band released their first LP “Gates To Hell” in September of 2022, where they kept to their roots while developing a sound that was uniquely theirs.
The response blew all expectations out of the water, with no sign of slowing down. Gates to Hell spent most of 2023 on the road playing nearly 150 shows in 11 different countries and supported bands Dying Fetus, The Black Dahlia Murder, The Acacia Strain, Despised Icon, Sanguisugabogg, Bodysnatcher, 200 Stab Wounds, Kruelty, and Dying Wish on various tours across the US, Canada and Europe.
Continuing this momentum with no sign of slowing down, the band ushered in 2024 with a new home at Nuclear Blast Records, a pummeling new single, and heading on the road with labelmates Machine Head and Fear Factory.
Looking ahead to 2025, the Louisville natives charge onto the heavy music scene with their second full-length album, Death Comes To All, and prepare to storm the road and spread their ferocious energy to as many new audiences as possible. The band are ready to leave concertgoers in the wake of their annihilation. Death Comes to All, but Gates to Hell will make sure you feel it first.
Torture
Anti-War Full Intensity Extremities / Soul-Crushing, Mind-Melting, Technical, Avant-Garde, & Grooving Slam Death Metal
Creeping Death
CREEPING DEATH is on a quick and furious ascent from the underground. The Texas death metal crew repeatedly delivers a relentless bludgeoning summoned from the furthest reaches of the genre’s past, present, and future. A triumphant celebration of the style itself, the Lone Star State fivesome whips up gruesome riffage and Southern grooves with an improbable cathartic glee.
As Revolver Magazine observed, CREEPING DEATH “assemble hulking riffs, screaming guitar solos, and ghastly vocal lows, and play them with the urgent momentum of a sterling hardcore band.”
The band’s formula hits perfection with the brilliant Boundless Domain, a sophomore slab of spectacular weight, dimension, and might. Produced by Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz (As I Lay Dying, The Acacia Strain, Underoath), Boundless Domain is a certified ripper, top to bottom.
Boundless Domain boasts future death metal classics like the super heavy, fast, and groovy “Intestinal Wrap” (which features George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher of Cannibal Corpse). “Vitrified Earth” showcases Creeping Death’s increasing skills at songcraft, most evident with the cadence and phrasing of Alavi’s vocals while never neglecting the sick riffs. Toward the album’s end, there’s even a bit of a spaced-out atmosphere, with guitar effects, harmonies, and heady time signatures.
