Band: Root of Evil
From: Wilmington, North Carolina
Their formation story:
(Zachary Liller, vocals): "In the summer of 2025, Zach West (guitar) and Austin Price (drums) started working together at a garage in Wilmington, North Carolina, and quickly discovered a shared love for hardcore. What started as the two of them jamming together grew into the monster it is now.
"Zach West and I grew up together in Fayetteville and had worked on multiple projects together over the years, so he handpicked me to handle vocals. Eventually, the band needed a new practice space, and Logan Matthews offered up his spot. Before long, he was jamming with us and became our bassist. Dave Weatherby was the final addition. He was already one of the homies, and joining the band happened naturally. Thus, Root of Evil was born."
How would you describe your sound?
"I'd say we're more on the heavy hardcore side. Zach West comes from previous Fayetteville deathcore bands like Mess In The Morgue and All The Kings Men, while Austin grew up attending metalcore and hardcore shows in Tennessee. You can hear all of those influences in our music."
Latest release info:
"We tracked our release, Demonstration 26, with Jacob Adams at Blue Karma Studios. The studio is right in the middle of downtown Wilmington, so it was special to record our first release in our hometown. Our experience with Jacob was top tier, and we'll be recording our upcoming EP with him in the coming months.
"The homie DJ mixed and mastered the two songs and made us sound insane. We can't thank both of them enough for working with us."
Future plans:
"We have shows every month through the end of the year. We were recently asked to be part of a particularly big North Carolina show in September, and I'm excited to announce that one soon.
"We also recently connected with Fragile Life Records out of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and we'll be releasing physical media through them in the coming months. Beyond that, we're focused on recording our EP and playing as many shows as possible."
What other bands from their region should we check out?
"Selfish Means, Kill Card, Death Dealer, Dangerous Game, 80 Bagg, Eyez Wide Shut, Waste of Space, Marked For Death, Fliora, A Man In Chaos, Invoke, Chained, God Glitch, War of Attrition, Hymns of Blasphemy, Reviler, Three Eights (3/8), Respair, and Society Sucker (RIP)."
Root of Evil on social media: Instagram
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