Since 2014, Sentient Horror have been churning out high quality Death Metal so authentic to the original “Swedish sound” of the 90’s that it led Swedish mastermind Dan Swanö (ex-Edge of Sanity, ex-Bloodbath, Witherscape) to remark:
“..One of the best SweDeath bands I have come across in 20 years! The perfect blend of all the highlights from the Swedish scene from 89 to 91. Truly awesome!”
How surprising then, that Sentient Horror hail not from Scandinavia, but from northern New Jersey, USA.
The band was formed in 2014 by lead guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Matt Moliti. With the goal in mind to record death metal in the vein of the early 90s Stockholm scene, Matt self-released the three-song demo Beyond the Curse of Death under the original name, Sentience. The demo made waves in the underground and the band were quickly signed by Redefining Darkness Records (N.America) and Testimony Records (EU).
The band have stayed busy the last 10 years, releasing 3 stunningly great albums – ‘Ungodly Forms’ (2016), ‘Morbid Realms’ (2019) and ‘Rites of Gore’ (2022) – and 1 EP, ‘The Crypts Below’ (2018).
Never ones to rest on their laurels, Sentient Horror have continued to work non-stop and are now ready to release their 4th full length album, ‘In Service of the Dead’! When speaking to Matt about the direction of the new album, he shared,
“Going into the writing process for this record, I wanted to try to apply our brand of OSDM to more traditional metal song structures. I grew up with bands like Maiden, Priest, Dio, etc, and because of that, I’ve always been a fan of songs with strong, catchy choruses, guitar harmonies, and hooky, memorable riffs. So with ‘In Service of the Dead’, the result is an album of very 80s NWOBHM/Thrash inspired song forms, but made with proper death metal riffing. As for the lead work on the album, I was heavily inspired by the Megadeth record, ‘Rust in Peace’. I love Marty Friedman and Dave Mustaine’s solos on that album and tried to capture that vibe throughout ‘In Service of the Dead’.””
Matt also mentioned a slight shift in the lyrical content, explaining,
“Lyrically, while the general theme of the album is a pretty standard topic for death metal, the undead, I actually took a lot of inspiration from horror video games on this one. I’ve been a huge horror gaming fan for a very long time. I would argue many of those games impacted me just as much or more than any horror movie. So you’ve got songs like our first single, ‘Undead Mutation’, that are about the G Virus from Resident Evil 2, for example.”
Matt, typically the band’s sole songwriter, continued,
“While I did write most of the material on this record, it also features the first co-write from our drummer, Evan (Dead and Dripping), who contributed riffs to the title track, which wound up becoming one of my favorite tracks and a killer closer to the record.”
As for the artwork, Juanjo Castellano once again conjured another masterpiece and has become a part of the band’s identity, having created every cover for the band since their 2018 EP, The Crypts Below! And making a bold step, moving away from the only mastering engineer they have ever worked with, Dan Swanö, the band opted for a change and entrusted engineer, Noah Buchanan, known for his work with Midnight, Obscene, Oxygen Destroyer and more, to both mix and master the album which has resulted in the most savage and vicious the band have ever sounded on record!
To support the album, the band just wrapped up a number of dates with labelmates, Oxygen Destroyer, and they will be embarking on a 2 week tour in late October/ early November! Tour poster included below. The first single, Undead Mutation, is now streaming everywhere accompanied by a live shot video shot and edited by Nameless Cvlt Productions.
‘In Service of the Dead’ is truly Sentient Horror’s magnum opus. Everything they have worked for in the past 10 years has culminated to this moment and is reflected on this album. While it may not shock anyone in it’s overall direction, it’s a mature work from a band that knows exactly who they are, and do what they do better than anyone else!
More info: Sentient Horror; Redefining Darkness Records;