photo by Meg Caseau
Boston, Massachusetts-based death metal/metallic hardcore quintet VAULTED has completed work on their second album, Left In Despair, now confirmed for November release. The band has issued the record’s cover art, track listing, preorders, and lead single, “Forged In Darkness.”
Born from bitter Winters, VAULTED siphons aggression and internal growth through searing and metallic, sometimes melodic, unapologetic auditory chaos, and pinpointed lyrical constructs that reflect on personal despair, social atrocity, and global vitriol. The group maintains a bludgeoning heaviness with a poetic weaponry of ferocity and internal strife.
2018 brought the release of VAULTED‘s self-released debut full-length, Distaste, a growth stage record for the group. The following year, the band self-released a new EP, Asylum Memoirs, which they recorded at The BrickHitHouse Studios (Unearth, Bury Your Dead, Malignancy) and had mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege (Obituary, Black Breath, Nails), showing growth in their songwriting and attention to production and details. These first two records caught solid attention and response from both hardcore and metal media and fans. No Echo posted, “‘Aggression from Boston’ is the three-word description VAULTED use on ‘about’ section of their Facebook page, and let me tell you, that pretty much nails it. Integrity, All Out War, and Hatebreed come to mind, but so does the sludgy side of Obituary when listening to the quintet’s material.” Decibel Magazine dubbed Asylum Memoirs, “a three-track metallic hardcore ripper that quickly made the band’s intent known.”
VAULTED now prepares to close out the tumultuous 2021 with their latest and most advanced effort to date titled, Left In Despair. Vocalist Cody Rico, guitarists Christian Henderson and Daniel Leahy, bassist Nicholas Wolf, and drummer Matthew McSweeney returned to their now trusted producer, engineer, and manager Shane Frisby of LifeBlood Inc. and owner/operator of The BrickHitHouse to capture Left In Despair‘s eleven groove-heavy tracks, the album blending influences from seminal death metal monarchs Dismember, Entombed, Grave, Obituary, and Gorefest with the modern approach of Black Breath, Nails, Trap Them, Gatecreeper, and All Pigs Must Die. The record was mastered by Alan Douches at West Westside Studios (The Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge, Cannibal Corpse), and completed with artwork by Yodth Gnosis. Following the recording of Left In Despair, McSweeney has since moved on from the band. Although Alex Fewell briefly filled in in his departure, the band is currently in between drummers.
With the opening track and lead single from Left In Despair, “Forged In Darkness,” VAULTED‘s Christian Henderson offers, “From the beginning, we’ve always tried to draw musical influences from all over and we feel that with Left In Despair that we have matured a lot more in our writing process. Our goal as a band for this record and records past and moving forward is the continuation of this process of progressing our writing styles and song writing ability by drawing a culmination of all our own musical influences. While paying homage to the ’80s, ’90s and even ’00s metal bands whom we’ve been influenced by, our aim is to create our contribution to the extreme music genres with our own interpretation. We worked alongside our manager and producer Shane Frisby at The BrickHitHouse to capture more of a big vintage sound with ’80s reverb gates and more, and we feel very confident that this album has something for everyone, and we would like to continue the same concept as a band.”
Stream VAULTED’s “Forged In Darkness” now at THIS LOCATION.
VAULTED will independently release Left In Despair digitally with a cassette version to see release through bassist Nicholas Wolf’s War Fever Recordings on November 19th. Find preorders at Bandcamp HERE and the War Fever store HERE.
Watch for additional audio premieres, official videos, and more to be issued over the coming weeks.
While VAULTED has ceased to perform live over the past year and a half, record release shows, and touring plans are to be announced over the weeks ahead as live music continues to rebound.
Left In Despair Track Listing:
1. Forged In Darkness
2. Mote It Be
3. No Place To Mourn
4. Left In Despair
5. Reincarnate Eternal
6. Horizon Of Thorns
7. Supreme Beings
8. Endless
9. Lacerated
10. Mortal Sands Of Time
11. Shallow Vacancy
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