Memoriam

Memoriam are a death/grind outfit based in Birmingham, England, featuring former members of various death metal ensembles, including Bolt Thrower, Cerebral Fix, and Benediction. Formed in early 2016, the band is composed of Karl Willets (vocals), Scott Fairfax (guitar), Frank Healy (bass guitar), and Andy Whale (drums). Long-established veterans of the death scene for many years, the quartet initially came together to jam on songs that had inspired them throughout their careers. It quickly became apparent that through exploring their influences together, they had developed a fresh hunger for writing new material, and Memoriam was born. The group put out their first releases as two separate volumes titled The Hellfire Demos, in the summer of 2016 and early 2017. Memoriam began to establish an ever-expanding fan base through touring and performing at venues around Europe and esteemed metal festivals such as the U.K.'s Bloodstock Open Air Festival and the Czech Republic's Obscene Extreme Festival, both in 2016. The band went on to sign with Nuclear Blast Records, and they put out their first full-length effort, For the Fallen, in March 2017. The album was led by the single "Reduced to Zero," a ferocious, pummeling track that encapsulated the fear, paranoia, and social division that materialized in mid- to late 2016 as a result of the controversial political situations on both sides of the Atlantic. Wasting little time, Memoriam issued the uncompromising The Silent Vigil in 2018, and in June 2019 they released their third studio effort, the hard-hitting Requiem for Mankind, again via Nuclear Blast. ~ Rob Wacey