The Southern California brutal death crew that began in 2023 as the project of a seventeen year old guitarist fires off its debut album, Subjugation of Anthropoid Forms, today through New Standard Elite, twenty seven minutes timed to coincide with SoCal Brutal Death Fest in El Monte.
Virologist conceived the record over two years but wrote, recorded and mixed it in about three months this summer. "We set out not to create brutal death metal but rather to use it as a medium through which to convey all of our many other ideas and influences," the band said. The line-up is Daniel Esquivel on vocals, founder Emrys Mellinger on guitars, Ethan Shadman on drums and Sam Little, back in the band, on bass.
The band produced it themselves and mixed it with Mike Mellinger. Drums were tracked by Armand John Anthony at The Captains Quarters Studio in Ventura, Jamie King mastered it and Andy Dicochea painted the cover. Two guests appear: Ayato Yabuki of Gyakuki on "Opium-Induced Extrasensory Entrancement," the first single, and Logan Calvaresi on "Reanimation of Mechanical Flesh Through Cybernetic Enslavement." The video for "Maimed by the Therianthrope" premiered with Decibel.
Europe comes next: Nice To Eat You Deathfest in the Czech Republic, 13 to 15 May 2027, and Rock the Hell Fest in Switzerland, 21 and 22 May, with more dates promised.