Today, we bring you an absolutely sick death metal band from Fresno, California, by the name of Ensepulcher. This project features Adam Camara and Johnny Valles from the grindcore band Fiend and James Torres from Haggus and Antagonizer. I have been extremely excited about this band since Adam and Johnny first announced it. Their debut demo “No Sanctity in Death” immediately got me hooked on the filth they had to offer. Though many new bands use the HM2 pedal, Swedish death metal sound, I feel that those groups rely too much on the tone itself and haven’t really caught my attention in the way Ensepulcher has. These guys don’t just throw together a tone setup in hopes of maintaining a certain image, but instead bring a creative and crushing element to it all. These factors really make Ensepulcher such an enticing band for me. I hear the influence they get from Swedish bands such as Nirvana 2002, God Macabre and Carnage, and a total DIY punk attitude to add into the mix. I can’t wait to hear more from them and to see them live in person as much as possible. I recently asked Adam and Johnny to answer some interview questions in order to learn more about what they are doing and what they’re looking to accomplish. Given everything they have to say, I am very excited and look forward to more from them. Enjoy!
Where did the idea for Ensepulcher arise? How did you guys decide to start the band?
Adam: Well, with Fiend we were pretty much eating, sleeping and breathing it for about 5 years or so until we just really needed a change of pace and something different to play for a while. We just really wanted to play some really punk influenced death metal that was also really fun for us at the same time and it just kinda went from there.
Where does the band name come from?
Johnny: It's a nod to Entombed so to say hahaha. Since Ensepulcher means "to entomb”, it is just kind of a funny play on words/verb kinda thing for us.
How would you describe your sound and what are some influences for this project?
Adam: I'd say it's just really punk influenced death metal, to give it a blanket term. As far as death metal goes, we seem to draw the most influence from Carnage's "The Day Man Lost" demo, earlier Grave material, Interment and stuff like that. The punk side comes from all the crust and stench stuff that we enjoy.
How did James come about joining the band?
Johnny: Him and I were hanging out one night and it started out as drunk talk haha. The next morning, he brought it up and still wanted to give it a shot. I came back to Fresno, ran the idea by Adam, then a few weeks later he drove up here to jam with us. We all immediately clicked and it just worked out great from the get go. Honestly it's kind of hard to imagine the band without him at this point. It just works out super well. We're all on the same page, we've been close friends prior to being bandmates and he's just such a killer complement to the band’s sound with his bass skills.
Favorite memories from shows/tour
Johnny: The show at The Lexington (LA) back in October is something that will definitely stand out, I think. We went in not really knowing how we'd be received by everyone, but it went leaps and bounds better than we could have anticipated, which was a great feeling. Every moment of touring is always fun getting to be on the road with close friends, partying and playing music you love. Two other highlights were when Adam had to fly to Colorado to play Denver Black Sky with Acephalix (1st show with them). We were all chilling, we saw some videos online, and we went full tilt on the partying after that haha. Then we subjected our friend Juan who helped us out on the road to a bunch of old country, probably more than he had ever listened to in his life. He went home enjoying it, which was pretty awesome.
What are your plans for the future?
Adam: As of right now, we just want to get out, tour a bunch in 2018, and get our full length album out by the end of the year. The sooner the better, though!
Top 5 bands you want to share the stage with?
Adam and Johnny: Interment, Contaminated, Cianide, Regurgitated Guts, Sadistic Intent
Anyone you want to give shouts out to?
Adam & Johnny: Every single one of our friends near and far and people we may not know out there who enjoy what we do. You all are amazing and your support in what we do means more to us than we could put into words! Thank you!
Contacts: Ensepulcher bc
Contacts: Ensepulcher bc
