If you have the urge to feel crushed by a filthy, violent yet strangely beautiful world, then the deathcore sound of French/Swiss band Sielkanker will be just the place for you. So join us on a descent into the fire and rot with a band that describes their music as “violent, diseased and relentless.”
Sielkanker initially started out as a studio project between guitarist Alban and Ludo, who handles drums, composition, mastering and mixing along with a bit of guitar, before onboarding South Africa-based vocalist Eugene.
As Ludo tells us: “The project began with a shared obsession for the whole deathcore spectrum, from slam parts to blackened chaos, but we quickly evolved to the new wave of symphonic/melodic deathcore.
“We dive into the full spectrum of deathcore, with a focus on orchestral and blackened elements. One song might be full-on melodic and epic, the next could be pure filth. But what ties it all together is a dark, suffocating atmosphere. Something emotionally heavy, not just sonically brutal.”
To give us a taste for this, the band sent us The Consumed King, which was released at the end of last month. It opens up with light instrumentals that build gradually before exploding into a vicious scream and intense drums supporting a laid-back lick. The vocals intensify with fast-paced guttural with intriguingly mellow guitars and piano instrumental support. A darker, faster riff comes in over intense blastbeat drums and guttural vocals, which flow into wild vocals over unrelenting drums.
It soon gives way to a blistering guitar solo, which drops into chunky guitars and vicious guttural vocals. Huge low-tuned guitars join in as the track sinks to new levels of depravity, before dropping into light instrumentals. It gradually builds towards a dramatic conclusion, led by powerful screams and intense rolling drums.
On the track, Ludo told us: “We’ve only received positive feedback so far, like being compared to Lorna Shore for example, from both fans and curators. The Consumed King is blackened and orchestral, with a thick layer of filth and a massive breakdown. It captures a lot of what Sielkanker stands for: intensity, atmosphere, and a sense of decay. Expect something heavy, with raging blast beats, and deeply emotional at the same time.”
The Consumed King follows on from two singles last year, including the exceedingly dark A Thousand Years of Savagery, and their first two singles in 2023, including their wild debut single Borne Ov A Star. And they’re about to release their debut album on 13 June, on which Ludo said: “It’s more ambitious and diverse than anything we’ve done so far.”
The Sielkanker sound is inspired by new wave bands like Infant Annihilator, Lorna Shore and Immortal Disfigurement, the likes of Within Destruction and Signs of the Swarm and more black metal and cinematic artists.
And on what inspires them to write music, Ludo explains: “Our writing is deeply influenced by despair, existential horror, and that overwhelming feeling of decay, both internal and societal. We also pull from games and fiction, especially the dark fantasy of Elden Ring, and Dark Souls. Lyrically, we mix real pain with grotesque imagery, always trying to express a beautiful agony, if I can say so.”
Sielkanker will release their debut album next month (on 13 June) and is available to pre-order here. The band is currently working on putting together a live lineup to bring the project to the stage.
And Ludo added: “It’s a long road, but Sielkanker will become a real, tangible force. If you want clean vocals and catchy choruses you’re in the wrong place. Sielkanker is for the ones who want to feel crushed, dragged into a filth and violent world… and strangely beautiful.”
You can follow Sielkanker on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
Listen to Sielkanker and more new music on our Spotify playlists GigRadar Core and GigRadar Metal
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