French band Warside offer up blinding riffs, breakneck rhythms and vicious vocals in a death metal sound that they describe as “sincere, wild and direct.”
The Lyon band’s roots began with guitarist Vincent Morelle and bassist Jérôme Camus starting a band called Whisper-X back in 2003. They played shows in France and recorded an album called Warside but, when the project ended in 2009, they vowed not to stop there. After exploring various projects separately, Jérôme sent Vincent some demos, and they got the show back on the road as Warside in around 2018. A debut EP, The Enemy Inside, followed in 2020, along with tours between 2023 and 2025, before finalising the lineup with vocalist Mathieu Jarret and drummer Thomas Jarret.
On the sound they’ve crafted over the years, Jérôme said: “Death metal that combines many influences, from rock ‘n’ roll to grind, punk, and thrash… always with the idea of a raw and wild sound that matches the energy we want to bring across on stage.”
Our first taste of this is Synthetic Abyss, which was released at the end of last month. It opens up with ominous sounds that give way to a blistering mass of intense guitars and pounding drums under Mathieu’s gruff vocals. The drums kick into overdrive in a breakneck section of powerful vocals and guitars, which give way to delicious chugging guitars that continue under intense vocals. The atmosphere eases slightly with drawn-out guitars under big vocals that end with terrifying growls. That ushers in heavier guitars and brutally heavy drums, bringing the track to a wild conclusion.
On the track, Jérôme told us: “This first track has been extremely well received, more than we could have imagined. For those who haven’t listened to it yet, they can expect a track that is 100% in line with the band’s DNA: wild and brutal!”
That’s our first taste of the band’s debut album Cognitive Extinction, which will be released in April. “We are very excited to release this album,” Jérôme said. We worked hard on it in 2025, and it is the first recording with Thomas and Mathieu. They brought a lot of creativity and ideas that have helped us figure out how our songs should sound. It is an album that is in line with our values and desires, without compromise.”
The Warside sound draws on a wide range of influences, from extreme metal bands and beyond. For Jérôme, he names the likes of Misery Index, Dying Fetus, Vader, Vomitory, and Suffocation as key influences, with specific mentions for Erik Rutan (Cannibal Corpse, Hate Eternal) and Dimebag Darell (Pantera, Damageplan).
And on what inspires them to write music, Jérôme explained: “What’s interesting is that we don’t necessarily have the same references, so this mix allows us to achieve a powerful and wild result that suits all the members of the band. As for the subjects we address, we draw on our personal experiences or current events that interest us, depending on the moment, and there is a lot of material to draw from. We never talk about politics or religion. We don’t convey any particular message, we just describe our vision of certain things through stories.”
Warside will release their debut album Cognitive Extinction on 17 April via Portuguese independent label Gruesome Records. And they’ll celebrate the album release by touring and travelling as much as possible.
And Jérôme added: “For us, Warside is above all a human adventure between four guys who share the same values and have a single goal: to have fun on stage and discover as many countries as possible!”
You can follow Warside on Facebook and Instagram, and check out their music on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music, Soundcloud and YouTube.
Listen to Warside and more new metal on our Spotify playlists GigRadar Core and GigRadar Metal
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