(written by Islander)
Today we welcome to our site Elevate the Virus, a deathcore band from Saint John, New Brunswick, a place latitudinally close to our site’s Seattle-area HQ but roughly 3400 miles (5500 km) to the east of us. They formed up in 2012, and began making a name for themselves in the Maritime Provinces and elsewhere in Canada through their live performances, and eventually through a continuing sequence of releases starting in 2014.
The band’s latest release is a five-track EP named The Growth of Decay, which was discharged on November 13th. To help spread the word about it, what we bring you today is an official video for the EP’s title song.
Prepared for an obviously crazed man to murderously howl and rabidly scream in your face. Draping himself in chains, he also vents raw roars that go on and on, and utters a few grimly spoken words.
While he’s in the throes of losing his mind, other performers serially inflict brutal beatings, launch into head-spinning bursts of their own madness, and put a deep chill on listeners’ skins, and thus the song is not just a heavy-grooved punisher but a viscerally frightening experience as well.
In part, the riffing generates an eviscerating and increasingly unhinged churn backed by skull-cracking beats, but the band also start brutally slugging and causing the music to dismally groan and crawl. They also bring in fleet-fingered fretwork seizures, flows of eerie melody, and thuggish stomps.
After a skittering little guitar bridge, the song also locks into a groove that’s part jackhammer and part machine-gun, a groove that not only propels the song to its end but also becomes the backdrop to an exotically swirling and wailing guitar melody that really does prove to be chilling (and miserable) as well as unearthly.
To quote the band: ‘THE GROWTH OF DECAY,’ is a look into the spiraling madness of a mind gone awry – Tight, fast paced riffs and abrasive vocals rip sanity away while a brutal rhythm section forces the inevitable doom upon an already fragile existence.”
The well-made video adds to the song’s fear factor but also provides a good look of the band throwing themselves into the performance, and a vivid taste of what these dudes are like on stage.
ELEVATE THE VIRUS:
Vocals: Noah Arseneault
Lead Guitar: Jacob Finck
Rhythm Guitar: Justin Goguen
Bass: Matt Regan
Drums: Nick Thorbahn
VIDEO CREDITS:
Music Video by Fernhill Films
Filmed at Fluid Audio Group – Saint John, NB
Production & Editing: Tony Tompkins
Camera: Tony Tompkins
Camera: Peter Doyle
Actor: Shane White
The Growth of Decay was produced and recorded by the band, and professionally mixed by Kyle Prusky at Apex Audio in Alberta, Canada. As noted earlier, the EP encompasses five tracks, including a cover of “Laid To Rest” by Lamb of God. It comes recommended for fans of Lamb of God, Between the Buried and Me, and Fit For An Autopsy.
For more info, and to stream, and acquired the music, check the links below:
BAND LINKS:
Bandcamp
Spotify
Instagram
YouTube
Facebook
Apple