Jade Davis | October 8th, 2022
Tarot cards, broody tunes and a whole lotta fire. What more could you ask for?
Midwest band Abaddonia is igniting spooky season this year with their unique and wicked brand of deathcore. With a new vocalist, a new single on the way, which goes live October 14th, and some sweet merch coming from seemingly the pits of Hell themselves, Abaddonia is poised to make an even heavier and lasting splash in the scene than their first debut. Drawing influences from the powerhouses Lorna Shore and Shadow of Intent, the band has been hard at work hammering out an EP by working with none other than Chris Wiseman himself.
Artwork the band's single 'Holy Water'.
According to veteran memeber Brendan Luetkenhaus, the project first started as a small project between he and Zach Neisius, originally going by the name "Sons of Leviathan", and changing the name later on. The band's popularity snowballed when they released 2018's 'Backbiter', and after the addition of the newer band members, things began to fall into place.
Pictured: Brendan Luetkenhaus
One of the first things you notice about this band is their attention to detail and intricate lore, which is pieced together from mythology, bands deeply regarded as their heroes, and personal endeavors. Even the name of the band is laced with an almost other worldly origin. Guitarist Brendan Luetkenhaus says:
"With us being a heavy band, I got super into lore from all over the world. One of my personal favorites to read on is Abaddon, the overseer of the abyss." The feminine ending, further states Luetkenhaus, is used to signify the beautiful pieces of melodic songwriting that will be mixed with the darker parts of their riff-work.
The band consists of Brendan Luetkenhaus, Zach Neisius, Isaak Clarkson, Kai, and Branden O’Neill. But don't get too attached, the members have personas to represent their personalities and attachments to lore and ideology deeply rooted in traditional Tarot. Zach is known as The Plague, Brendan as The Reaper, Issak as The Cultist, Kai as The Last King, and Branden as The Possessed.
As with hundreds of other bands across the country and beyond, the Covid 19 pandemic crushed the band's momentum, ruining promises of tours and shows. But the boys didn't let that stop them. They've since revamped, rebranded and have made significant progress, and guitarist Brendan Luetkenhaus says this is a "fresh start" for the band. And speaking of fresh starts, the band's newly initiated frontman Branden O'Neil is noted to be "extremely excited" about his new place in the group.
"Everyone welcomed me in and got me up to speed with the plans and it's been fun really adapting to a newer style for my sound. I'm really excited to see what our dedicated fans' reception of me is."
O'Neil spoke further about his differing vocal style from that of the past vocalist, and names Colin Jeffs of Aversions Crown and Travis Werner of Visceral Disgorge as a couple of the biggest impacts on his vocal methodology.
Pictured: Isaak Clarkson.
Branden isn't the only newer member of the band; Isaak Clarkson recently joined the project in addition to playing guitar in Vile Revelation. Clarkson eludes that writing for two different bands can be difficult but "Writing in Abaddonia is a much more collaborative effort from all the members," and he believes that that crucial fact makes their sound as a band more refined and representative of the entire band.
As for the upcoming single 'Holy Water', the band is ecstatic about releasing something with more speed and precision than past work. And don't worry, these boys aren't going anywhere any time soon; Kai says: "To take another extended hiatus for us right now would be our ultimate downfall, and we wanna give our fans a reason to believe that we are back in full."
Pictured: band member Kai.
Be sure to stream Abaddonia's single, 'Holy Water' when it comes out October 14th, and keep an eye out for what other wicked things they have coming our way.
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