Groove. Ambience. Total chaos. These are the descriptions that come to mind when first hearing Death Eater, a five piece djenty, deathcore band that hails from Roseburg, Oregon. The members of Death Eater grew up together and have maintained lasting friendships for years.

Formed in January of 2017, they soon put out their first single titled ‘The End’. No doubt a crushing song, perfect to enjoy with your morning cup of coffee and start your day off brutal and right.

Originally the band was comprised of Chris Maze, who is on the singles ‘Heart Locket’ and ‘The End’. Nathan Gifford on guitar, Ryan Christian also on guitar, Nicholas Grant on bass, and Colton Dishner on drums.

Chris Maze decided to postpone his pursuit of music which opened up the door for vocalist Jake Krumbein who took the reigns as vocalist in 2018.

In November of 2019 Death Eater released their freshman debut album titled ‘The Game of Life; the Gift of Death’. The title alone is very ominous and thought provoking. The album starts off with a vocal clip. “How very much I love you. How very much I’ve tried.” Not what you’d expect to hear from most deathcore bands. I’m sure we can all relate to that first line. Does it bring a certain person to mind?

The bass sets in as it prepares to kick in with a heavy djenty riff to start off the album. Very good choice. The nine string guitars make for a well tuned start. ‘Crown Blossom’ only running for a short one minute and twenty seven seconds before ‘Someone Else’s Skin’ comes pouring out of the speakers.

Here you really get a taste of Jake’s vocal abilities. Chuggish vocals on top of the dual nine string guitars and a smooth bassline along with mid-paced drumming make for a great opening song. (Excluding the intro track ‘Crown Blossom’) ‘Someone Else’s Skin is four minutes and thirty five seconds of brutally beautiful instrumentals mixed with the perfect amount of rage/hurt fueled raw and emotional vocals.

The Game of Life; the Gift of Death features several incredible breakdowns and greatly placed callouts. Just had your heart broken? Put this on and scream along, or play along for you readers that play instruments. Catchy gutturals and fast tempos will have you headbanging the entire album.

The band maintains a rhythm and melody that is aesthetically pleasing to the ears of all lovers of metal. The atmosphere provided is filled with a dark ambience as well as thought provoking and tidy composure. Touching on subjects from lost love to phobias this album has it all.

Straight from Nathan Gifford, he told me that it was great working with Christian Svedin who mixed and mastered this incredible record. He is also known for mixing Vildhjarta’s ‘Thousands of Evils’. If you haven’t listened to this, do check them out as well. But, back to focusing on Death Eater, listening closely you can hear some influence from John Travis from Emmure/Glass Cloud. Nathan also said that the band draws influence from Vildhjarta as well.

Epic breakdowns, djent riffs, chaotic gutturals, and bass that rattled my windows. Death Eater are brand new and have already brought this kind of heat to the metal community. Give them a few years and they’ll be one of the biggest deathcore bands in the industry.

In my opinion it will be extremely hard to top this record but I am excited to see what Death Eater has in store for the future!

https://www.facebook.com/DeathEaterBand/
-Here is the band’s Facebook page. Be sure to give them a like or follow if you like what they’re doing.

The Legends.

-Link to the Album stream on YouTube.

Special thanks to Nathan Gifford for answering my questions and being a genuinely nice guy. Wish you guys the best of luck.