Dark Sermon

Dark Sermon is an American-based death metal band from Tampa, Florida currently signed to eOne Music in North America and Nuclear Blast Records in Europe. The band was formed in 2009 under the name In Reference to a Sinking Ship and later changed their name to Dark Sermon in 2012. The band's most recent effort,The Oracle, was released on August 21, 2015 worldwide through eOne Music and Nuclear Blast Records. Dark Sermon has shared the stage with some of the biggest names in heavy metal including Aborted, Chimaira, Sepultura, Behemoth and Cattle Decapitation. They are said to use elements of melodic death metal, black metal, post-metal and deathcore in their music making them a versatile metal band that appeals to all areas of extreme music.

History

In Reference To A Sinking Ship (2009-2012)

Dark Sermon was formed in early 2009 in Tampa, Florida as In Reference To A Sinking Ship (IRTASS) by Austin Good, Bryson St. Angelo, Evan Miller, Austin Chandler and Johnny Crowder who all shared an interest for writing heavy music. As teenagers, the band released their first EP Aimless in 2010 that was received well by many underground blogs and publications such as Duckcore, Total Deathcore, Chugcore and thelastdisaster. As an unsigned band they became a really buzzworthy act from the Tampa area and opened for bands such as Obscura,^[1] Evergreen Terrace, Stick To Your Guns, Norma Jean, Shai Hulud,^[2] as well as playing the 2010 editions of the Summer Slaughter Tour and Vans Warped Tour.^[3] This immediate success in the Tampa metal scene led them to their first couple tours in early 2012 with King Conquer, Forty Winters and Abiotic.^[4] The band had a unique blend to their sound being the only extreme metal act in a scene that was over saturated with melodic hardcore and metalcore bands. Although they were a favorite in their hometown, the name IRTASS was heavily criticized for being too long and complicated.

Name change, Signing to eOne Music/Nuclear Blast, In Tongues (2012-2013)

Due to overbearing complications the band decided to put In Reference to a Sinking Ship to rest and they began anew under the name Dark Sermon. In an online interview, vocalist Johnny Crowder discussed the band's reasoning for a name change, "There are a lot of reasons why we changed our name. Six words are way too many for a band name, it’s hard to remember, and I feel people weren’t taking us as seriously as they should. Like our music and our name didn’t match. People would see our name and scoff, but then we’ll play and then they’ll be like, oh why is that band called that? I feel like our new name represents our sound much better."^[5]

Following their name change the band hit the road for the first time as Dark Sermon, which featured a couple of runs with King Conquer, The World We Knew, Sirens and Sailors and Abiotic. A couple of music videos were shot for two upcoming singles "In Tongues"^[6] and "Hounds"^[7] that would eventually make its way to the album. On November 12, 2012, Dark Sermon announced that they signed a worldwide deal with eOne Music and would release their new album the following year; this was the band's official statement on joining eOne, "We are very proud to announce that we have recently signed with eOne Music & Good Fight Entertainment! We are currently in the studio recording a brand new full length record, which is due to be out in March 2013 via eOne Music! We are extremely humbled to be label mates with bands such as Chimaira, Hatebreed, Black Label Society, Impending Doom, and most recently, our new friends in Within the Ruins!"^[8] The band ended their year in the best way possible with a new name, label support, and a last-minute slot to play Barge to Hell, an extreme metal boat cruise, from December 3–7, 2012 playing with veteran bands such as At The Gates, Exodus, Sepultura, Vital Remains, Soilwork and more.^[9]

The new year would go on to be their biggest yet when the band announced that their debut album In Tongues would be released on March 26, 2013 through eOne Music in North America.^[10] The band was also able to sign a deal with Nuclear Blast Records to release their record through Europe on April 12, 2013.^[11] The band released the first new single off of their upcoming album, "Imperfect Contrition" on March 5, 2013.^[12] With a new album on the way and a couple of big labels behind them the band would begin to tour relentlessly in 2013 playing shows in cities for the first time as well as their first trek into Canada in March 2013^[13]

The Oracle (2014- present)

In 2014 the band announced a U.S headliner tour as well as news about a brand new single. They released "Starve" the first single from their to be released sophomore album on June 18, 2014. Following their headliner the band took some time off to work on the new album . This was followed with a fall tour with Suffokate, Reformers, Blood of the Martyrs and Colossus. The band continued to complete their new album for the next few months and were slated for a 2015 release. The band was announced as a last minute addition to 70000 Tons of Metal from January 22–26, 2015; a four-day cruise with over 60 bands which featured legendary acts such as Cannibal Corpse, Napalm Death, Venom, Behemoth, Arch Enemy and more.^[14] On March 2, 2015 the band announced that the new album was completed and would be out later that year. This was followed with a couple of tour announcements where they hit the road with Sworn Enemy and Wretched and did a run with Aborted, Fit For An Autopsy, and Archspire. On May 28 the band announce their new album, The Oracle, would be released on August 21, 2015 through eOne Music.^[15]

The band continued to tour in support of the new album as well as having released a number of singles up until the release of the album. The first music video off The Oracle was filmed for the single "Rat King" and was released on September 8, 2015.^[16] Dark Sermon spent the fall on tour supporting Cattle Decapitation throughout North America and released a second music video for the song "The Eyeless Needle". This is what the band had to say about their new ghastly video, "We opened with this track on the Cattle Decapitation tour, in large part because of how it feels. It showcases some of the different styles we’ve incorporated on the new record, including the slow and heavy slams as well as a healthy dose of that old school thrash we all grew up on.".^[17]

Tours

2012

• East Coast tour from February 1 to February 19 with Forty Winters and A Fight For Life.^[18] (as IRTASS)
• Shredded to Pieces tour from April 15 to April 22 with King Conquer, Abiotic and Forty Winters.^[19] (as IRTASS)
• Brief run from August 5 to August 11 with The World We Knew and Sirens and Sailors^[20]

2013

• The World We Knew farewell tour from February 9 to March 3 with Aegaeon^[21]
• Metalfest Invasion Tour from April 12 to April 27 with Abiotic^[22]
• Crown of Phantoms North American tour from July 26 to August 25 with Chimaira, The Browning and Threat Signal.^[23]

2014

• Headlining tour from June 1 to June 25 with Kingmaker, Villans (Yuth Forever), and Widow (Darke Complex).^[24]
• The Thrill of the Kill tour from September 6 to September 19 with Suffokate, Colossus and Reformers.^[25]

2015

• No Mercy No Surrender tour from April 7 to May 1 with Sworn Enemy, Wretched and Hammerfight.^[26]
• Spring tour from May 8 to June 7 with Aborted, Fit For An Autopsy, and Archspire.^[27]
• The North American Extinction tour from September 15 to October 7 with Cattle Decapitation, King Parrot, and Black Crown Initiate.^[28]

2016

• Winter tour from February 17 to March 6 with Rivers of Nihil and Black Fast^[29]
• The Coffin Dragger tour from April 6 to May 20 with Thy Art is Murder, Fit For An Autopsy and Rings of Saturn.^[30]

Members

Discography

• Aimless EP as IRTASS (Self released 2010)
• In Tongues (eOne Music 2013)
• The Oracle (eOne Music 2015)

Videography

References