Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
Pile of Priests started back in October 2009, with the original line up being Sean Bartholomew on drums, Evan Salvador on Guitar/Vocals, and myself on Bass. We knew exactly what we wanted to do as a band, and we expanded pretty quickly. Within one year of being a band, we played a festival show outside of our home state in Kansas, and we even managed to open for Immolation, Vader, and Abigail Williams.
After we released our 2011 EP “Unholy Death” Sean Bartholomew left the band, and it took us a couple of years to really get back on track. Once we finally got our good friend Evan Knight (Suns of Sorath, Amdusias, Astraeus, Sar Isatum) to get on drums, we jumped right back into the fray. We started playing shows in state and out of state again, we released our first full length album “Void to Enlightenment”; after which we went our first full length tour in support of the cd across the entire west coast of the United States.
Now after Void, we are back with our stand alone single “Redemptionem Per Cruciatu” and as of this week, our new EP “Tenebrous Labyrinth”. This of course we will be going back on the road in full support of this EP to garner more fans, and hopefully the attention of a record label.
How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?
We are at heart a death metal band, at the beginning of the band we were heavily thrash influenced. But as time went on we became more and more influenced by old school death metal bands. With Sean Bartholomew leaving the band, and Evan Knight joining the band, we delved further into the realm of death metal. We now incorporate influences from more progressive style bands in the 90’s like Coroner, Edge of Sanity, and Pestilence; while also simultaneously mixing in some of our love for black metal from bands like Dissection. This goes along with our mix of old school death metal influences like Death, and Morbid angel.
Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?
Well besides the fact that the best way to support the music of the artists, and bands that you know and love; is to buy their music. If you enjoy death metal that wants to do more besides just writing super technical riffs, fast double bass, and bass lines hidden by distortion; then you’ll enjoy us. If you enjoy a metal band that is not just anti-christian, but against all religions, you’ll enjoy Pile of Priests.
What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?
Since 2009, we have made one demo, one full length cd, one single, and now two EP’s.
With our Demo “Burn”, and our first EP “Unholy Death”, we did not know much about promotion, and marketing. So the extent as to which that music spread was minimal, and mainly just within the local Denver metal scene, but it was received very well. When our first album “Void to Enlightenment” came out, we started working with a PR group, and invested time and money into really promoting our CD and the tour that followed. This helped us immensely, not only did we receive praise, and gained new fans. But it really helped show us where we needed to grow as a band, and what we were doing well.
Now with the release of our single “Redemptionem Per Cruciatu”, and our new EP “Tenebrous Labyrinth” we have hired our band managed from Fatal Illness Management, Eric Down; and we have started working with Jon Asher from Asher Media Relations. WIth this in hand, we are more than confident that our music, and our image has not only improved immensely since our last release, but that the response will be even better than before.
Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?
We do play live shows, we have had the amazing opportunities to share the stage with many amazing bands like Artillery, Abigail Williams, Immolation, and Vader to name a few. We have also played many shows outside of Colorado spanning across the entire West Coast of the United States, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas, and Nebraska. With 2018 close in hand, we will be revisiting our previously conquered territories, and hope to expand our endeavors to new fans far, and near.
What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?
To any and all record labels, zines, promoters, booking agencies reading this. We want you to know that even though our focus has, and always will be about expressing our art in a way that suits us. We take our band very seriously, and have been working really hard to expand it beyond just what we love, but also into a business that we hope will one day be taken seriously within the music industry. We are expanding our image, heavily investing more into a sound that will captivate everyone, and spreading our business not only across the US but in time across Europe, and the rest of the world.
What plans do you have for the near future as a band?
We are filming a music video at our CD release show on friday, November 25th; which will be taking place at Lost Lake, in Denver, CO. We are already in works on our next full length cd, which we hope to have fully recorded by this time next year. We also plan on touring in 2018 sometime around late spring to anytime during the summer.
Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
You can purchase physical copies of our new EP at our bandcamp: https://pileofpriests1.bandcamp.com/
For digital purchases, and streaming you can find us on iTunes, Google music, Xbox music, Spotify, Pandora, and any other major online distributor.
November 2017