KNIGHTS OF THE ABYSS vocalist MIKE MANHEIMER gives TOM HERSEY the lowdown on the growing deathcore scene and why his band is comfortable in the genre.

Collectively, we all kind of got a little fed up with metalcore a while ago. Something that once seemed innovative and exciting is now clichéd and formulaic. Even though only a few years ago the metal community was astounded and excited by the fact solos were being replaced by breakdowns, it’s begun to feel tired. Now metalcore is undergoing an extreme (pun intended) makeover. Gone is the tired genre that we’ve all grown complacent with, because metalcore is now deathcore. 

The deathcore sound builds heavily on its predecessor. Breakdowns are still in the mix. However, they’re used amidst a maelstrom of speed and heaviness associated traditionally with death metal.

Like its predecessor, deathcore has been criticised for its commercialisation of extreme metal. As a result of this, many bands have rejected the term, claiming to be a bona fide death metal act, which Mike doesn’t understand.

“There’s been a big surge of metal bands in the last few years who don’t fit as just a hardcore band or just a death metal band and I think the label deathcore is just indicative of humanity. We need to put a label on everything. A lot of bands, when you call them a deathcore band, will try and convince you that they’re a full on death metal band. But if you’re making a product that you as a musician are enjoying and your fans are enjoying and they want to call it deathcore, what does it matter?”

One of the first bands to appear under the deathcore label was Job For A Cowboy. Five kids just barely out of high school from Glendale, Arizona, JFAC gave the world a taste of things to come, even from their classmates. Mike clarifies, “All the guys from Job For A Cowboy and us went to high school together. Our drummer Andy was actually the first drummer for Job way back when. It was a centralised group of people playing deathcore when it started and then it grew a local audience. From there things have just grown.”

Things certainly have grown, while Job For A Cowboy have rocketed to success, landing a contract on Metal Blade records and touring the world relentlessly, Knights Of The Abyss took a different approach to their music in separating themselves from their “childhood buddies”. “When we started playing the local scene, Job For A Cowboy had just released their Doom EP and everyone in the town was going crazy over it. When we came out at that time people kind of wrote us off as a copycat act. We took a different approach in getting to where we are than they did. We’ve been pretty DIY in our approach to booking tours and management. Now it’s like as we’ve matured and Job’s matured we’re definitely going our separate ways. Now it feels like we’ve found our niche and people are starting to recognise us as a metal band from Glendale, Arizona, rather than a Job For A Cowboy rip off. I think the new album will put a lot of naysayers to bed.”

KNIGHTS OF THE ABYSS’ latest album SHADES is currently available through Ferret/Stomp.

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