Umbra Vitae is the name of a new death metal-leaning outfit that unites current and former members of Converge, The Red Chord, Hatebreed, Job For A Cowboy and more. The band’s impressive roster runs as follows:
Vocals: Jacob Bannon (Converge, Wear Your Wounds, Blood From The Soul)
Guitars/vocals: Mike “Gunface” McKenzie (The Red Chord, Wear Your Wounds, Stomach Earth)
Guitars/vocals: Sean Martin (Twitching Tongues, Wear Your Wounds, ex-Hatebreed)
Bass: Greg Weeks (The Red Chord, Labor Hex, etc.)
Drums: Jon Rice (Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats, ex-Job For A Cowboy, etc.)
The group were born out of Wear Your Wounds rehearsals and an urge to perform something more aggressive. Inspiration for the band’s name came from Georg Heym‘s 1913 poem of the same name, Bannon commented:
“After reading the piece from Heym, I immediately felt connected to it. Later, while working on the previous Wear Your Wounds album, my love for Death Metal was rekindled. This was likely a reaction to working on non-aggressive music for such a concentrated period. As these songs started to form, the ominous nature of that original poem came to mind.
In many ways it embodied the character of what we were all creating together. For me, Umbra Vitae is darkly confrontational and my own internal struggles are nested within each song. At this point in my life it is of the utmost importance to use this art and music as the vehicle for a healthy purge of emotion. By design, even in something this intense, there is righteous intent to be a better human through the process of creating it.”
The outfit recruited Bannon‘s Converge bandmate Kurt Ballou to oversee the production and mixing duties for the bulk of the sessions of their debut album, “Shadow Of Life“. That effort is due out on May 01st via Deathwish Inc., pre-order it here. Ahead of that, you can hear their first single, “Return To Zero“, below. Bannon had the following to say of the song itself:
“‘Return To Zero‘ is about removing resistance in one’s life in order to be best version of ‘you’ that one can be. I feel that this is a relatable topic for many. What resistance is and how it manifests is unique to every single one of us. For me, this is a constant process and essential to being a better husband, father, friend, artist and human. Below you’ll find a section of the lyrics that state this better than I can in paragraph form. Thank you to everyone who continues to listen.”
“Bite down on the chain
Bow down to no one
Destroy the ego
Radiate love
Carve out a purpose
Where there was none
Compassionately
Wipe up the blood
Remove resistance
And exit the cage
Climb to your feet
Accept your rage
It’s time to reclaim
What’s rightfully yours
Bite down on the chain
And bow down to no one”
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