Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
Centuries of Decay is a 4 piece progressive death metal band based out of Toronto, Ontario. The band was formed in 2013 by guitarist/vocalist Devin Doucette, drummer Derrick Doucette and lead guitar/backing vocalist Rob McAllister. The band solidified its lineup in 2014 with the addition of Bassist Anthony Zhura. The band began playing the Toronto live scene shortly afterwards, began work on their debut album, Centuries of Decay. After the completion of the album, Anthony left the band and was replaced by bassist Matt Hems (former bassist of Fragile Existence).
How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?
I guess I would describe our sound as early 2000’s black/death with some pretty big progressive additions with some more modern rhythms and sounds thrown in. We cover everything from long proggy epics to heavy blasting waves of destruction and everything in between.
Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?
We took our music in a direction that not a lot of other bands seem to go. Each member has a very different musical taste and it give our music a very diverse and expansive sound. We have lots of one-off parts and fine details that we painstakingly wrote to keep the music interesting, not just for the listener, but for us. The album also has a unified, underlying story, which is something that I don’t see many other newer bands attempt as of late. We're not looking to write a super catchy hook or jump on to the latest trend in metal, we want to find that unexplored hole in the ground that everyone forgot about and see how far down it goes.
What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?
We premiered our first song, ‘Rise’ from our album Centuries of Decay, and the reviews were very positive. Our best review was “Time to f****** Rise!” Ha ha!
Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?
We do play live. Over the last year and a half, we kind of took a bit of a break to record and mix our album. We started our live show back up in April and have played a few shows since then. We are doing a special album release show on August 4th at the Coalition in Toronto, Ontario. We have a couple of surprises in store during our performance.
What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?
We are a band that doesn't follow the current trends in an oversaturated market. We have a unique sound and strive to play the tightest show we can. We're dedicated musicians who want to create diverse, expansive and devastating music.
What plans do you have for the near future as a band?
I think our immediate plans would be to expand our live show reach. After our album is released on August 4th, we are hopefully going to be able to tour and bring our music to even more fans.
Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
You can check out 'Rise' at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtJceWYg4Uk
Our album, Centuries of Decay will be released on all streaming platforms (itunes, spotify etc.) on August 4th.
Fans can also pre-order a digital copy with free artwork downloads from our bandcamp store: https://centuriesofdecay.bandcamp.com/releases
July 2017