Allegaeon (pronounced: uh-lee-juhn) was formed in 2008 by guitar player Ryan Glisan. Soon thereafter joined the classically trained guitarist Greg Burgess, vocalist Ezra Haynes and bassist Corey Archuleta to round out and form what people have come to know now as the Colorado Kings of Melodic Metal. In 2008, Allegaeon released their 4 song, self-titled EP and quickly gained attention from the local, national and international metal fans as well as Metal Blade records. In 2009, barely a year after releasing their first EP to the world, Allegaeon agreed to a deal with Metal Blade Records and thus began their relationship and Allegaeon’s entry into the ever expanding metal community.

2010 brought Allegaeon’s debut album Fragments of Form and Function (FOFAF). FOFAF was recorded in Denver at Flatline Audio with Dave Otero (Cephalic Carnage, Cattle Decapitation, Vale of Pnath) and was released on July 20th, 2010. Between 2010-2011, Allegaeon had a slew of singles that played in such heavy rotation on the Sirius Liquid Metal Station that they cracked the stations top 20 most played bands list. Metalstorm.net lists Allegaeon’s debut album, FOFAF, as the #4 rated death metal album of all time (by the websites rating standards). FOFAF was critically acclaimed by many and catapulted the band out of obscurity and into the ranks of metals elite new bands.

In January 2012, the band traveled to Southern California and entered Lambesis Studios with Daniel Castleman (As I Lay Dying, Impending Doom, Carnifex, Winds of Plague) to begin work on their follow up record titled Formshifter. The latest album brings forward a sound that both plays off the band’s previous releases mixed in with some new flavors that will be sure to enthrall old and new fans alike. Guitarist Greg Burgess had this to say about the new album, “With Formshifter, I think we kept the sound a lot of our fans love about us, but achieved them through certain compositional challenges. Be it style, or genre mixing, I believe that we seamlessly applied certain elements we didn’t have on Fragments, and it added a color and dimension we didn’t have before”. Guitarist Ryan Glisan adds, “This album to me indicates the future of the band but nods to our past as well. It, to me, is more of where I have envisioned our band being since I started the band a couple years back, it relies on similar songwriting structures and musicality but adds more groove and memorable riffing than our previous efforts.”

Lyrics, an oft over-looked facet of death metal is one the more interesting aspects of Allegaeon. The band crafts their prose with a bit of a different mindset – often touching on space, civilization and philosophy. Vocalist Ezra Haynes elaborates: “Lyrically speaking, this record carries more depth to me than the last. The song Twelve is actually a concept I’ve had in mind for roughly five years. It’s about a pairing of serial killers, but instead of going about it in a more typical death metal setting, such as glorifying it; I chose to point out the stupidity and unfairness of the judicial system. I’ve always wanted to write an anthem-esque type song; something that involves the listeners with present day topics. With “controlled media” as the target I feel A Path Disclosed is a perfect example of that. Tartessos: The Hidden Xenocryst is definitely one that sticks out to me. I was raised on Edgar Cayce readings and tales of Atlantis. When Greg [Burgess] and I knew we wanted to touch base on an ancient civilization, Atlantis was the logical choice. Hopefully the meaning in the songs will be “found”, if you will.”

“The new face of ruthless modern death metal.” Metal Hammer Magazine

Los Angeles-based neo-classical extreme metal mavens Exmortus return on new album, “Necrophony.” Four years in the making, the group’s sixth album offers nothing but savage rebirth and fierce renewal. “Necrophony” marks a significant turning point—one foretold by the Legions of the “Undead” EP in 2019—for the Angelenos. Not only have they emerged from the throes of the pandemic stronger, faster and crazier, they’ve signed on to global metal powerhouse Nuclear Blast. The passion and fury of lead-off single “Oathbreaker” is merely the tip of Exmortus’ darkest tower. Follow-on singles like the powerful “Mind of Metal” and “Storm of Strings,” a whistle-stop, no-joke cover of Greek-American composer Yanni interpreting Vivaldi’s “The Storm,” add greatly to Exmortus’ masterly oeuvre.

Exmortus was founded in 2002. The group issued a bevy of well-received demos and EPs that culminated in debut In Hatred’s Flame in 2008. Since then, Gonzalez—now flanked by specialists Phillip Nuñez (bass), Chase Becker (guitars), and Adrian Aguilar (drums)—has gone on to release four more fan-favorite full-lengths. Exmortus have toured with Amon Amarth, Obituary, Death Angel, and more, playing gigs in North America and Europe. The group’s highlights have also included a stint with thrash legends Exodus at industry lighthouse event NAMM and a coveted spot on the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise. Necrophony, a portmanteau of “necro” and “phony” (or “dead sounds”), is Exmortus bigger, badder and wickedly restless.

Written from a fresh slate, Necrophony’s origins can be traced to preludes “Masquerade,” “Overture,” and the intro to “Children of the Night.” Once Exmortus had the feel down, they settled on expanding on the motifs by forging Viennese sophistication with metal might. Careful observers will hear Exmortus’ clever use of the album’s musical theme throughout its 12-song range. That includes “Darkest of Knights” and the aforementioned “Children of the Night,” as well as Necrophony’s shorter bursts of bravado in “Oathbreaker” and “Beyond the Grave.” The most important attributes were, however, vibe and Exmortus’ careful crafting of their next-gen sonic fingerprint.

Whereas previous albums up through 2018’s “The Sound of Steel” have been predicated on heroic fantasy/sword & sorcery, Necrophony turns a decidedly darker page. Exmortus have gone from a “Conan the Barbarian” and “Gladiator” aesthetic to something blacker, more nefarious as illustrated by the eeriest and evilest Lovecraftian and Tolkien-esque tales. There’s even a classic horror thing happening. This is, of course, a reflection of our immediate world, and the darkness that’s engulfing everything in it.

Exmortus invited Renaissance man Zack Ohren (Fallujah, Immolation) to return as engineer, producer, mixer and mastering ace on Necrophony. Certainly, the team that had cemented the group’s three previous albums into the annals of metaldom was going to work yet again. With Ohren at the helm, Exmortus holed up in Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, CA. Necrophony was fast-tracked in just under two weeks. The result is a clap of virtuosic metal sure to leave fans battered, bloodied, and hungry for more violent opulence.

With “Oathbreaker,” “Mind of Metal” and “Storm of Strings” ringing darkened ears Exmortus’ paroxysmal ascent to extreme metal’s upper echelons is guaranteed with Necrophony. Bow in reverence to the high-flying, six-stringed dynasts now.

PROSTHETIC RECORDS has signed Minneapolis based tech-death metallers, REAPING ASMODEIA. Formed by former members of With Dead Hands Rising, REAPING ASMODEIA self-released their debut album, “Poison of the Earth,” a year later. The album was mixed and mastered by Zack Ohren (All Shall Perish, Suffocation) and received high press in the death metal community. The band spent most of that year touring in support of the album, playing shows all across America with the likes of Abiotic, Beyond Creation, Boris The Blade and many more. They also appeared at the Texas independence Fest, Orange County Death Fest and Austin’s Hoodang Festival. Their intense live show and unrelenting work ethic, made them the go-to regional metal band in the Minneapolis area, having been chosen to support artists like Veil of Maya, The Faceless, The Contortionist as well as last year’s Summer Slaughter. With the signing to PROSTHETIC and a new album planned for Summer 2016, expect REAPING ASMODEIA’s reach to expand worldwide.

Chicago’s Death Metal Purveyors