Stranger Things actor Jamie Campbell Bower has returned to his post-hardcore roots, having just officially unveiled a new project called BloodMagic via debut single "Death / Rebirth."
The duo comprises vocalist-guitarist Bower — most famous for portraying the villainous Vecna on the popular sci-fi/horror Netflix series — and drummer Kyle Adams. Teased earlier in the week, "Death / Rebirth" casts a dark, distortion-plumed shadow, with Bower veering from goth-rock intoning to harrowing howls above a stream of gloom-glommed guitar chords.
Bower's naturally not in his full Vecna makeup in the accompanying music video, but he does don a leather gag mask at one point, and gets submerged in an absolutely ink-stained pool of water. The ruler of the Upside Down then goes full sub after getting out of a bathtub.
Between the song and the video, "Death / Rebirth" is probably a little too arty to be something mega-Metallica fan Eddie Munson would've blasted on the regular on his Walkman, but fans of more experimental heavy music should pay attention.
It's unclear what the plans are for BloodMagic outside of this single, but Bower explained of the band in a statement: "Blood runs through all of us, a little magic, too. Welcome to BloodMagic."
Prior to his star-making turn on Stranger Things, the U.K. actor was screaming and playing guitar in post-hardcore outfit Counterfeit from 2015 to 2020. And while he was on set for Stranger Things, he kept things heavy by listening to Sunn 0))), Carpathian Forest, Darkthrone and Mayhem just to get himself in the mood to play big bad Vecna.
Look for him to reprise the role when Stranger Things finally returns for season five.
