Reaping Asmodeia are a three piece technical death metal band from Minneapolis, MN and their third album, Darkened Infinity, is a conceptual story based on dream logic and transcendentalism – weaved together via a protagonist’s narrative journey through death and the afterlife. Darkened Infinity was released last October 15 through Prosthetic Records. We asked the band about 3 releases that have nfluenced them a lot…
Metallica – …And Justice for All
There is really no denying that just about every metal musician has been influenced by what Metallica has brought to the music industry with their career. When ‘Justice’ came out, it was a hugely intensified version of what Metallica was at the time. We have always tried to be mindful of the earlier Metallica albums during our writing process, but when we began to approach Darkened Infinity, we knew that there were a few key things we always loved about that album. First, the album begins in a brutally epic way. Also, the song writing certainly exceeded many levels of their previous albums, while expanding on their heaviness tenfold. We think these few aspects really kept us in a certain scope. Our songwriting process was more focused on building a song as a whole, while trying new elements and elevating our heaviness.
Decapitated – Organic Hallucinosis
Organic Hallucinosis is undoubtedly one of the best modern death metal albums of the last 20 years. Decapitated already had a solid footprint as an unstoppable death metal force, and this album cranked all of their dials up. The groove, brutality, and unique production set this album aside from anything else at the time, and still does today. The music is pummelling on this album, but they began to sneak in a bit more of an influence and style drawn from bands like Sepultura, Pantera, and Meshuggah. If you go to their back catalog, those influences were always there, but it was clear Vogg and Vitek wanted to expand the band’s musical offering. Decapitated has always had a strong impact on our writing and playing. On Darkened Infinity we drew a lot of energy on the idea of musical expansion and not being afraid of trying some new tricks outside of what our norm would be.
I, Valiance – The Reject of Humanity
If you are a fan of deathcore, extreme vocals, and eccentric orchestration, you need to add Australian outfit I, Valiance to your library. The three of us have always loved this EP. The Reject of Humanity’has brutality, groove, amazing vocal patterns, and even a ton of evil circus-like synth parts throughout. It is a unique approach to the deathcore genre. Having this EP in the back of our minds during the writing process certainly pushed us toward utilizing a lot more orchestration, synths, and soundscapes in the creation process. Be sure to check out this EP, you will not be disappointed.
