Band: Palace of Mourning
From: San Diego, California
Their formation story:
(Nick, vocals): "The lore of this band runs deep—about 15 years deep—so bear with me.
"When four of our five members (Mike, Jose, myself, and Freddie) were 16 and 17 years old, we were all in our first band together called A Truth Betrayed. It lasted for a few years and was our first experience working as a unit in this type of setting. During that time, we often played shows with As They Burn Alive and Forever Ends Now, featuring Carlos and Luis, who are also now members of Palace of Mourning.
"Eventually, A Truth Betrayed broke up, with Freddie and me going on to start Peace In Terror and Jose and Mike joining a band called Abused. After all of those bands broke up, the first version of Palace of Mourning was born.
"In the beginning, it was just Mike and Jose writing songs together, and they recruited Luis and Carlos to play live shows. They went on to release three EPs over three years, from 2017 to 2020, until there was a substantial lineup change around 2021, when I was brought into the band during a slow period with my other project, No Zodiac, to play bass and do backup vocals.
"About a year later, Luis stepped away, and Freddie was brought into the mix on lead guitar. By 2023, we were tracking our newest self-titled EP, and the lineup then consisted of Mike, Jose, Carlos, me, and Freddie.
"As of May 2025, Mike has stepped away, I've been moved to main vocals, and Luis jumped back in to play bass and backup vocals. It was an almost seamless transition, considering no outsiders had to be brought in."
Their sound in their own words
(Jose, drums): "Palace's sound is heavy, negative, and sinister. FFO: Norma Jean, Disembodied, Martyr A.D., Nails, and Vein."
Latest release info:
(Jose): "When we were putting together the newest release, our self-titled EP, Mike would pre-record different riffs with scratch drums he tapped out in GarageBand and then send them to me for input. I would then tweak the drums to make them sound a bit more fitting to the music. When it came time to record, we would both be making shit up in the studio, which made the recording process a bit longer and more stressful because we were paying by the hour."
(Nick): "Luckily, Mike had hired one of the best engineers in the game, Erol 'Rollie' Ulug, who had tracked every previous Palace of Mourning release and knew how to get the best out of us. We were then fortunate enough to have the EP mixed by Will Putney, a true dream come true for us as fans of many of his engineered releases.
"The hardest part, which took over a year, was finding the perfect album art. I think I went through and paid for three different pieces by three different artists before we found Triple Dog Studios, who absolutely crushed the vision.
"Roman Felix and Trey Meyers also came in hot with the two band logos that we alternate between.
"To promote the album, we released a few music videos via Knotfest and Slam Worldwide that were directed by Errick Easterday, who is undeniably a genius in his own right, and Yeshua 'Yoshi' Flores, whose artistic prowess is only shadowed by his relentless drive and insane work ethic.
"The homie Ringo from Mugshot designed most of our merch spread for the album cycle, along with Deathcrow Archive and Mikey Deadview."
Future plans:
"For now, we are trying to play as many shows as we can that make sense for us. We've essentially been playing a show in a different city every weekend for the last three months within a six-hour driving radius, but we are really hoping to lock in another tour before the end of the year.
"Our last tour was such a fun experience. Shout out Cell, shout out Forthright. We'd just hate to see this album, which is the culmination of years of dedication and hard work, fall upon deaf ears. At the very least, we're hoping to play Vegas and Bakersfield again in the near future, and we have an undisclosed San Diego show coming up in the next few months, so keep an eye out for that."
What other bands from their region should we check out?
"These are the local San Diego bands that we ride for: Scheme, Cadavered, Remain In Vain, Dispersed, Hyper Vigilant, Far Below, Lust, Condemned to Suffer, Gnawing, Get Pieced, Madrugado, Step To You, Rod of Correction, Abstain, Across Life, PSO, Big Attitude, Plague of Suffering, and Ugly.
"And if you're trying to book a show in San Diego, hit up Vigilant, Torn Apart, Dredd, Pikos Y Lágrimas, and Bleed For the Scene.
"Slow Death forever, baby."
Palace of Mourning on social media: Instagram
Tagged: palace of mourning
