In the name of Rites, the Graciousless, the Merciless. Master of the Day of Judgement …Guide us in the Left Path!

The gospel of modern black metal has fallen upon deaf ears in the Middle West. The constant barrage of sonic masturbation has been disregarded as pedantic puppetry. A Hill to Die Upon has refused the banner of the hypocritical avant-garde in order to sow a new standard. Drawing on the philosophical treatises of ancient Greece, lyricist and drummer R. Michael Cook and his brother Adam have fashioned a new philosophy for their art. Carrying little for creating something new or unique, the brothers instead focus their energies on creating art that is honest and well honed, using art itself as the defining theme of lyrics and inspiration for the music. After three albums, A Hill to Die Upon is simply making art about art. The brothers are delving deep into a meta-artistic milieu which will be the furnace for the forging of their fourth work.

“All of these ignoble qualities in literature arise from one cause— from the passion for novel ideas which is the dominant craze among the writers of today…” – Longinus, On the Sublime

Along with releasing 3 full length albums, A Hill to Die Upon has toured all throughout the United States as well as played several shows and festivals in Mexico, England, Norway, Denmark, and Switzerland. AHTDU has shared the stage with such bands as Exhumed, Abigail Williams, Goatwhore, The Black Dahlia Murder, Abysmal Dawn, Ringworm, Black Anvil, Living Sacrifice and many more.

Fusing many styles of metal, ranging from black, death and doom metal they seek to both challenge and absorb their listeners through layers of unique riffs and melodies.

In a time when the death metal genre has longed for acts that provide true innovation while maintaining the passion of the style’s forefathers, Wisconsin’s Ara has created a sound over the course of two releases that gives the genre the shot of artistic savagery it needs. Rather than littering their compositions with flurries of notes that champion an alienating complexity over songwriting craft and still not falling victim to the tongue in cheek homage riffing that makes up the old school revival, Ara delivers compositions that bear no compromise to the current sounds that pass for extreme and instead carves an identity for itself where few debut releases dare to tread.