Photo: Scott Kinkade
Longtime Decibel readers probably remember Philly dormant grind freaks Die Choking for their high-speed, technical musicianship and solid songwriting. Though it’s been a few years since we’ve heard from the trio, core members Paul Herzog and Jeffrey V. Daniels have been hard at work alongside guitarist Jason Herrmann—who played with Daniels in Burden—and veteran fusion drummer Josh Orlando. Dubbing themselves Vile Form, the new band are ready to make their mark with first EP Unending, which you can listen to below.
With a sound rooted in death metal with a healthy dose of fusion, Vile Form expertly dance between upbeat grooves, bursts of speed and even a few instances where the quartet flirt with slower speeds, like last song “The Encampment is Gone.” Unending is a four-song EP, with third track “Earth’s Dementia” serving as an interlude of sorts. Opener “Silo” comes out of the gate swinging, Vile Form making it clear that they won’t be constrained to typical death metal and grindcore tropes.
Second track “The Curse of Death Unending” shows Vile Form’s fusion influences even more clearly, putting the rhythm section high in the mix and finding a heavy groove. You’ll want the breather track before “The Encampment is Gone,” which might be the most frantic song of the four. ending on a ripping solo that bleeds into the aforementioned slower part.
“As a band, we really wanted Vile Form’s music to culminate into the soundtrack of a heart-pounding, slasher, chase-scene,” Herzog tells Decibel. “We all love classic death metal and weird music overall and attempting to fuse that into one slimy, vicious package was a satisfying challenge. The Philadelphia groundwork of Die Choking and Burden (among others) helped to congeal things… Writing and performing this shit just feels right.”
In addition to the EP, you can also watch the new music video for “Silo,” which Herzog explains as well:
“The horror short for the song ‘Silo’ is about that retching sensation that we all know. We’re all infected… digging after our own bodies while trying to claw through flesh and bone. This video (and all of our art/design) was conceived, directed, and edited by our own Jeffrey Daniels.”
You can listen to the EP and watch the music video below. Vile Form will announce live dates in the near future.
