After I covered Torn in Half a year ago, I anxiously awaited the day I’d be bringing their devastating take on death metal to you readers. Since I first wrote about the Boston-based band, they've gone through a few personnel changes, but those adjustments have noticeably made them surprisingly more active and ambitious than ever before.
Whereas I would generally see them booking a show once a month, Torn in Half recently began playing multiple shows a week and every announcement since then has been huge. We’ve all grown tired of hearing the local band say, “Big things are coming soon,” but the good thing about Torn in Half is the big things are actually happening now.
From the original lineup only vocalist Nick Burke and guitarist Andy Grayson remain, but by January they gathered Nik McIntosh, drummer for local rippers Ritual Blade, and Rob Sauer of Morgued and Inhalement on bass. While they may have rehauled the lineup, it seems that it only added fuel to the fire that was burning before.
“Nik and Rob were pretty receptive to the fact that I’m kind of a pushy dickhead and that I had a bunch of shit written. They all thought it was rad and helped continue in the writing process to finish the EP without any hesitation.” Explained Andy on the cohesiveness of all the members, new and old.
2022 was a huge year for Torn in Half as they were hopping on major shows all around Boston including opening for Ringworm and All Out War in August, opening for Italian death metal heavyweights Fulci the week after, and then Mortician in December. They also were able to take their sound on the road with a performance at Into the Darkness Festival in Ohio over the summer. The band played alongside crushing death metal acts from across the country such as Maul, Sentient Horror, Tombstoner and Mutilatred.
Throughout September, Torn in Half once again hopped on the road, playing shows all along the East Coast. This tour led to the band ending up in Daytona Beach for Nightshift Merch’s Party Weekend which featured them alongside Three Knee Deep, Stabbed, Weeping, and hardcore legends Integrity and Bloodlet.
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During this time, Torn in Half also dropped the single “Sickening Panic,” the first single recorded with the new lineup for their forthcoming EP, Crawling From the Abyss. Another unhealthy dose of the band's “dread filled death” as they’ve proudly claimed since their inception.
Today, No Echo is bringing you the premiere of "Comfort of a Coffin," another track from the EP. “The song is about making your way from the bottom of the barrel to the top of the food chain with nothing but pure hatred as your driving force," Nick says. Despite sounding more triumphant than his typical writings, he assures that such a climb is still layered with the foulest sights humankind can conjure.
“Comfort of a Coffin” features guest vocals from Pat McDonagh of Ohio’s Mutilatred and continues to display Torn In Half’s relentless decimation of the classic death metal sound:
Speaking on the single as well as the influence for the entire EP, Andy states:
“The last couple of months, I've had these bands and records on repeat: Vomit Forth, 100 Demons, The Black Dahlia Murder (Unhallowed), Laid 2 Rest, Slayer (God Hates Us All), Hammer Bros, Gatecreeper.”
He continues, “I'm trying to project more of my anger, traumatic experiences, and past addiction into my music. Dialing misdirected emotions into something productive and positive rather than toxic and catastrophic.” Andy’s never shied away from his past troubles with drugs and alcohol and the atmosphere of the music displays those feelings yet forms them into an outlet of positivity.
Torn in Half released the aforementioned "Sickening Panic" single exclusively on Bandcamp and donated all proceeds from the purchase of the song to Boston's Rosie’s Place. They offer a safe haven for LGBTQIA+ women and overnight shelter and other services to those in need who self-identify as female.
Comprised of 5 tracks of sheer brutality, Crawling From the Abyss will be released on streaming platforms on February 17th and Torn in Half have inked a deal with Terminus Hate City and Nighshift Merch to bring both a 12-inch vinyl release and a tape/shirt package respectively. Pre-orders went live for both on January 20th. The vinyl will feature both the new EP as well as the band's 2020 demo, Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth, and single “Incineration of Existence” on the B-side.
Torn In Half would like to thank: Karim at Night Shift, Jay at Terminus Hate City Records, Ryan Bram of Homewrecker Studios, Brad Boatright at Audiosiege, Kane from Vomit Forth, Peter from Final Gasp, Aaron at Heavy Talent and Grayskull Booking, Xavier at SOS Booking, Weeping, Blood Tithe, Greenwitch and Thomas at Redefining Darkness Records.
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