Merging brutal physical power with an unerringly precise attack, Decrepit Birth are a technical death metal band from Santa Cruz, California. The band’s story begins in the mid-’90s, when vocalist Bill Robinson met guitarist Matt Sotelo, and the two discovered they shared an ambition to create truly uncompromising music. In 2001, things got serious when Robinson and Sotelo teamed up with bassist Derek Boyer and began assembling material. By 2003, the band had developed a reputation for their striking live shows, and they released their debut album, … And Time Begins, with the three musicians joined by drummer Tim Yeung. Yeung didn’t last long with the group, and in 2004 K.C. Howard became their new drummer. After extensive touring, Sotelo began writing material that gave Decrepit Birth a more melodic sound without cutting back on their ferocity. The result was their second full-length album, 2008’s Diminishing Between Worlds. While Joel Horner was playing bass with the band by this time, he didn’t appear on the album, with Sotelo playing bass and keyboards as well as guitar. By Decrepit Birth’s standards, their next album was completed quickly, with Polarity released in 2010 by respected metal label Nuclear Blast; the Robinson/Sotelo/Horner/Howard lineup was supplemented in the studio by guitarists Dan Eggers and Ty Oliver and drummer Lee Smith. By the end of 2010, Sam Paulicelli became the group’s new drummer, replacing KC Howard, and Sean Martinez took over from Horner on bass in 2013. While Decrepit Birth toured hard in support of Polarity, the group took a break after Sotelo became a father for the first time and wanted to stay home with his young son. However, he didn’t stop writing new songs while on paternity leave, and with Sotelo and Martinez recording in their respective home studios and Paulicelli cutting drum tracks at a studio in Canada, Decrepit Birth returned in 2017 with the album Axis Mundi. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

It was in early 2012 that a small recording collaboration between two friends (Justin McKinney and Greg Hampton) began to coalesce into something that would prove to be well more than the sum of its parts. The Zenith Passage may have come about from humble beginnings in a stuffy Los Angeles apartment, but the produce thereof is anything BUT humble. Even the earliest demo tracks delivered a relentless torrent of technical guitar work accompanied by a distinctly frenetic and brutal vocal delivery that has since become an unmistakable hallmark in a scene that is all too often the victim of stagnation. Far from being strictly a shredfest, TZP also incorporates a thematic backbone that draws inspiration from the chaotic and awesome destructive powers of our universe. Progressive interludes invoke a palpable sense of abstract dread and reverence for things beyond mortal comprehension. The atmosphere created clearly nods to inspiration drawn from legendary acts such as Deeds of Flesh, Soreption, Fallujah, Severed Savior, and Aeon.
The project’s initial offerings generated enough buzz in social media circles alone to convince the duo to redouble their efforts in earnest, and to begin seeking out members to complete their lineup. This proved no small task in a saturated market, but persistent scouting over to following months precipitated the addition of friend and drummer Josh Slater (Aethere) into the mix. The subsequent release of a proper EP in January 2013 (entitled “Cosmic Dissonance”) catapulted TZP’s recognition to previously unprecedented heights, greatly broadening their fanbase, and catching the attention and admiration of some of California’s foremost metal musicians. Not long thereafter, it was announced that Rob Maramonte (ex-Fallujah) would also be stepping in to lend his talents and fill the role of second guitarist.
With the onset of all these new developments, and the lineup nearing completion, it seemed only natural to take the next step and join the ranks of those by whom they had been so heavily influenced. Thus, in the summer of 2013, TZP had the honor of signing on with Unique Leader Records for a multi-album deal. The stage is currently set for TZP to secure their foothold in topmost reaches of the metal pantheon, and they are hard at work churning out new content for their debut full-length. Rest assured, this marks only the beginning. The world has only just set foot onto the passage towards the pinnacle, the apex, the Xenith. BLEGH.

In 2009 the world bore witness to a whole new brutality, sure to brace the metal scene for years to come. Ascending from the depths of the Northern California Valley, The Kennedy Veil unleashed upon the scene their own fanatical perspective of American Death Metal.

The Kennedy Veil started as a quartet composed of Casey Childers (ex-Forktung), Gabe Seeber (Alterbeast, Decrepit Birth, ex-Wretched Dawn), Cody Walker(ex-Skribble) and Shawn Peterson. The ensemble recorded their first album “The Sentence of Their Conqueror” with engineer Josh Williams at Metal Works studios and released a compilation of 8 visceral tracks which quickly grabbed the attention of the west coast. With the release of this album, The Kennedy Veil played shows relentlessly with legendary acts such as Cephalic Carnage, Exhumed, Cattle Decapitation, Macabre, Decrepit Birth, Origin, Divine Heresy and Abysmal Dawn.

In 2011, The Kennedy Veil came in contact with Unique Leader Records and was added to their devastating roster of modern death metal acts for a multi-album deal. With the departure of their vocalist Cody Walker, The Kennedy Veil auditioned dozens of vocalists and stumbled across local front man Taylor Wientjes. With his diverse vocal range and will to decimate the masses, the covenant was sealed.

In 2012, the band went to work on writing the follow up to “The Sentence of Their Conqueror” and prepared 11 dynamic and hostile tracks which would come together to form as the “Trinity of Falsehood” – a doctrine that will enslave the ears of the lawless and govern the damned into a frenzy of panic. “Trinity of Falsehood” is set to be released worldwide on January 21st 2014.

Death/Thrash Metal with Black and Melodic Metal traits. Raw, fast and steadily evolving

We, Warforged, are a Chicago death metal act, focused on refining our own take on death metal. We are playing exactly what we want to be playing, and what we feel that we can offer to the vast world of metal. Not only are we musicians, we are also huge fans of the genre as well, bringing our knowledge together to create some of the music that not only we enjoy, but that we know fellow fans of metal will enjoy.