"Myself and River (guitar) have had this project in the works for years, but we could never lock in a solid lineup of people," Vocalist Jacob is telling me the story behind the formation of Warmachine, a Denver-based band I think many No Echo readers will dig.
The frontman continues: "We just always had the idea in mind to start a crossover band given that we were both massive Suicidal Tendencies and Slayer fans growing up and wanted to find like-minded people for this project. We talked with Alex (guitar) about replacements and put our heads together to find Connor (drums), who I also grew up with in Northern Colorado, and Jack (bass) who I have recently become friends with through the scene."
Warmachine landed on my radar via their self-titled debut EP which appeared on streaming outlets earlier this summer. "If I had to describe our style, it would be metallic hardcore with a lot of influences of older thrash/death metal. If I had to choose one word, I would say it's 'crossover.' My personal influences for this band are the bands listed before, as well as Power Trip, Liar's Tongue, Primal Rite, and Forced Order."
"Lyrically, my influences come from a lot of dark fantasy fiction / video games," laughs Jacob. "There are a lot of nods to Berserk, World of Warcraft, Elden Ring, as well as Dark Souls.
The EP was recorded, mixed, and mastered by another childhood friend of mine and River's, Alex Carrillo. It has everything we are looking for in hardcore, consisting of heavy and fast guitar riffs, heavy mosh parts, as well as memorable sing-along parts in each track."
From the sound of it, Jacob and company have other musical commitments to take into consideration, but they're ready to make it work. "Two of our members are currently touring Europe with their other bands (Mindz Eye and Moral Law), but as soon as they are back we are going to lock in and play pretty frequently.
"We have already discussed starting to write our next EP and hopefully releasing that before the end of the year now that we finally have a full lineup of great musicians. If all goes well, we are looking to do a little run in the southwest with some friends in the fall as well, so be on the lookout for that if you live in the area."
In the last few years, I've been covering a steady flow of bands from Colorado, and Jacob reminds me why:
"Denver and Colorado Springs are a hotspot for awesome hardcore/metalcore/punk bands. Shoutout to Mouth For War, Mindz Eye, Moral Law, Writheinfear, Backlip, Destiny Bond, Playn for Keeps, Wide Man, Eyes of Salt, Spear of Cassius, 10 To The Chest, Direct Threat, Time X Heist, Raw Breed, Candy Apple, Wolfblitzer, Sewerslide and anyone else I may be forgetting."
The vocalist shows some extra-love to close out our chat: "Also, I want to give a huge shoutout to D3 Arts, the best DIY venue in the world."
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Warmachine on social media: Instagram
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