BIOGRAPHY
Archaic Decapitator is a 3-piece melodic death metal band from Suffield Connecticut, that fuses the aggressive melody of Scandinavian metal bands like Hypocrisy and Insomnium with elements of black metal and thrash. These influences work symbiotically in order to create powerful and emotional sound that simultaneously holds its own message.
Formed in 2007 by two members of Engraved, Yegor Savonin (lead guitar) and Kyle Quintin (drums/vocals). In 2009 Craig Breitsprecher joined the band as their bassist abd they recorded their first demo “The Archaic Ways of Decapitation”however shortly after, Yegor ended up having to leave for San Francisco late 2009, forcing the band to take a semi hiatus and only reform once a year to play one show. During this time they managed to record a full-length record, “Impalement Ceremonies”, in 2011. Throughout the years the band has cycled through multiple rhythm guitar players, however upon Yegors return to Connecticut in June of 2014, the band recruited Anthony Douaihy (Katahdin) as their new drummer, leaving Kyle as a full time vocalist and recruited Nikita Khrenov as their new rhythm guitarist, forming the current incarnation of Archaic Decapitator.
In 2015, the band released “The Catherine Wheel” EP, marking a brand new chapter in the bands career. Recorded at Studio Wormwood by longtime friend Dave Kaminsky (Autolatry), its title refers to an ancient method of torture that used a massive device use to crush the bones of its victims, a perfect description of the sound this band strives to achieve. This EP exhibits a different musical direction for the band, with a focus on emotion and song flow compared to heaviness and technicality. Aggressive and memorable riffs, pounding drums, complex yet groovy basslines, and demonic vocals are a common denominator in each song and yet each track possesses its own identity. Lead guitarist and songwriter Yegor comments “it's getting harder to avoid technicality in metal nowadays and a lot of the times it becomes this competition, which is something that we're avoiding and instead going into a direction of progressive melody and flow along with brutality rather than a shredfest for the sake of shredding”.
In December of 2014 two singles from The Catherine Wheel were released, the first was “Sublevels” released by the band on YouTube which caught the attention of NoCleanSinging writer Austin Weber, who premiered the second single, “Ethereal Aspects”. He described the song as “a reminder that one can be sonically bludgeoned to death, yet be quite pleased about the life-ending effect at the same time. A fearsome ode to joyous sonic terror indeed.” and describes the EP as “must-listen material”.
Archaic Decapitator are streaming their new EP Light Of A Different Sun in full that it was released on June 7th, 2016. CD and digital pre-orders of the effort are up on Bandcamp.
As good as The Catherine Wheel was, the band have somehow found a way to take things to an even higher level throughout the five new songs streaming early below. All the while, the band underwent a somewhat big line-up shift after The Catherine Wheel, dropping from a five piece band to a trio, rounded out by session drums from death metal drum god Kevin Talley on the new release!
With change comes new possibilities, and Light of a Different Sun at times feels like quite a different Archaic Decapitator than the band has sounded in the past. Part of that is the excellent songwriting throughout these five songs, and the other part definitely has to do with the band delivering a more proggy, complex, and epic experience this time around. Light of a Different Sun is multi-faceted melodic death metal that definitely stands out from the more genre-by-numbers melodic death that's dime-a-dozen and bland. In choosing to go with a five song EP format this time just like last year, Archaic Decapitator have found a winning formula for delivering quality death metal that never dips in quality.
Their main composer Yegor Savonin further explains, “It’s getting harder to avoid technicality in metal nowadays and a lot of the times it becomes this competition, which is something that we’re avoiding and instead going into a direction of progressive melody and flow along with brutality rather than a shredfest for the sake of shredding.” With three releases in three years, Archaic Decapitator are maturing as songwriters, and such growth is present on Light of a Different Sun.
With the permanent return of Yegor and a new lineup bringing life to the band, there are no boundaries keeping Archaic Decapitator from unleashing their full musical potential unto the world.
Status: Active
Years Active: 2007-Present
LINE UP
Kyle Quintin - Vocals
Craig Breitsprecher - Bass, Backing Vocals
Yegor Savonin - Lead/Rhythm guitar
Country of Origin: United States
Location: Suffield, Connecticut
Genre: Death Metal (early), Melodic Death Metal (later)
Current Label: Unsigned/Independent
Booking/Press Contact: archaicdecapitator@gmail.com
Bandcamp: https://archaicdecapitator.bandcamp.com
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-279554093
Instagram: https://instagram.com/archaicdecapitator
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArchDecapitator
Reverbnation: http://www.reverbnation.com/archaicdecapitator
Light of a Different Sun (EP - 2016)
Released June 7, 2016
The line-up featured on “Light of a Different Sun” is as follows:
Kyle Quintin: Vocals
Craig Breitsprecher: (Formless) Bass, Backing Vocals
Yegor Savonin: Lead/Rhythm guitar
Kevin Talley: Session drums (Feared/Suffocation/ex-Dying Fetus/countless others)
