Texas is a big state with a lot of people and a lot of bands. This is personally our second post featuring a Texas band this week, and the two couldn’t be more different. Haserot are Houston based and they are ’90s death metal devotees who aren’t shy about adding some well-placed melody in their wicked exhortations. Do they have a Texas or, more specifically, a Houston “sound.” Not really, but there’s definitely a bit of groove, and a little Texas swing, to some of the five tracks on their debut EP which may or may not be locale-related. Mostly they just rip it up like not much happened in the death metal world in the last couple of decades. Nothing wrong with that.
Throne of Malice is actually the perfect intro to a new band—Justin McKittrick (vocals), Maurice Eggenschwiler ( lead guitar), Brandon Johnson (rhythm guitar), Benjamin Yaker (bass), Cryptos Grimm (drums)—that was formed in 2019 and honed during the pandemic. It’s succinct, well-written and -recorded and the material offered up begs for repeated listenings. Makes you want more, basically. It was recorded at Lucky Run Studio with Ricardo Contreras in Houston and mixed and mastered by Dan Swanö at Unisound AB. The EP is set for release on May 27 via Redefining Darkness Records on CD and digitally. It’s available for preorder here.
“The material that ultimately would make up the Throne of Malice EP started as early as September of 2019. I had so much downtime over the pandemic, I couldn’t help but start songwriting. Musically, this record is rooted in the way we interpret the groove, brutality and melody that are all featured in some of our favorite death metal bands like Morbid Angel, Entombed, Dismember, Death, Vader, Carcass, Bloodbath, Entrails, Pestilence, Grave, Unleashed and so on. Lyrically, the themes we deal with hover around notions of blasphemy, arcana, depravity and violence.We view these themes as a means of highlighting personal independence and pure expression in the face of a growing chorus of people who aim to blot out passion and snuff individuality. It’s no accident we chose ‘The Angel of Death Victorious’ to serve as the band’s namesake.”