The last fifteen years have been extremely saturated with music to enjoy, to where you have to dig to find the best bands of the underground. Nostalgia acts return for their fair share of the spotlight and band members create side projects that carry on for many years that you may or may not have heard. But finding new bands is becoming easier than ever while simultaneously becoming harder than ever. But never fear, The Metal Onslaught has prepared for you the next generation of the onslaught.
Aseity
A band that takes steps to create a spin of metal, blending alternative metal, metalcore, and gothic metal, Monica Soe and Rob Volkoff have seemingly done just that with Aseity. The project began in October 2019 but debuted in January 2021 with their song “Losing Myself”. Although they do not have a lot of material released as of right now, all the songs are quality in production and are musically sound, with a progression in each new track of quality.
Monica has stated that the band’s biggest influences include Evanescence and Veil of Maya, which they incorporate very seamlessly. Phinehas, Flyleaf, and We Came As Romans are encompassed in the sound too, although to varying degrees. Although Aseity is Monica‘s first project, Rob Volkoff is no stranger to the industry in the metalcore genre, specifically, being involved in Discerner, I Prayed For An Afterlife, O, House of Jacob, and most recently his solo project, Life Renewed.
Heliocentric
One-man projects are not a rarity in the genre of metal, although, few stand toe-to-toe with Heliocentric. A metalcore project created by Jared Smith incorporates the atmosphere that most black metal bands wish they had. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but let’s go with it. Heliocentric has been active since 2016 and has hammered away ever since then, releasing two full-length albums and an EP, all of which were performed, mixed, and mastered by Jared.
Jared takes a great deal of influence from Silent Planet and Meshuggah (could you really need any more than that?) and makes that wholly apparent with his albums. The newest of which, Ishmael, was written as a product of his thesis, which covers a conversation between the three Abrahamic religions and explores it in great detail. His newest track, “One Hand Clapping“, is also available now.
Brotality
Inspired heavily by the bands of old, Brotality brings a creative blend of unique progressive metal, intense thrash metal, and dirge-filled sludge metal all in one package. Formed by brothers Bryce and Reece Maopolski in 2016, the two sent out collecting their influences and bringing them together to coalesce with their own styles of playing. Alongside former drummer Liam Fenton, the band recorded their debut album, Worldwide Desolation, and released it in 2021 through Rottweiler Records.
Brotality sports their inspirations through their music, pulling heavily from Mastodon, Extol, Pantera, and Metallica, while throwing in modern influences such as Periphery and Animals As Leaders. The most recent track, “Nosedive“, is available now!
Hope Deferred
Remember when I said that thing about nostalgia acts and side-projects? That was not meant as a slant, by any means. Because most of those bands are phenomenal. Hope Deferred is no exception to that rule. Formed by Andrew Godwin, formerly of Embodyment and The Famine, and Jon Tooley of The Famine, the project tore into the scene, bringing back old-school death metal with a modern edge. Now, with the assistance of Jason Lindquist also formerly of Embodyment and the mighty Lance Garvin of Living Sacrifice, the band is working on a new release.
Hope Deferred hails to the days of Suffocation, early Living Sacrifice, Devourment, and Morbid Angel, bringing a ferocious and uncompromising return to death metal, the genre that so desperately needed new life. The band currently has a demo out, which features two tracks, and an album on the way. They also did a crushing cover of Living Sacrifice’s “Breathing Murder”, off of Inhabit.