If you're a deathcore fan and Brand of Sacrifice aren't on your radar, they should be. Our readers voted the Toronto crushers one of the best deathcore bands of all time earlier this year, and their 2021 sophomore album, Lifeblood, is an essential release for new and old fans of the genre alike.
Today (August 5th), they've given us another cause for applause by unveiling a new one-off single called "Enemy" that features a substantial guest appearance from Underoath vocalist Spencer Chamberlain. But that's not all! Brand of Sacrifice also made an incredibly professional-looking music video for the track, which we're proud to be premiereing above.
As a song, "Enemy" is a total slapper that adds a hefty dose of melody to Brand of Sacrifice's symphonic, technical and brutal take on deathcore. Switching between cutting screams and robust, catchy yells, Chamberlain's vocals fit perfectly alongside frontman Kyle Anderson's beastly growls. Underoath have been on a heavy kick, but it's been a long time since Chamberlain appeared on a song this crushing.
However, just as impressive is the extremely well-shot music video that functions more like a legitimate short film than anything else. As Anderson elaborates in our conversation after the jump, the visual is a prequel to the video for the song "Animal" that dropped earlier this year.
Following a group of ninjas who are hungry for vengeance after a kidnapping, the story is an epic, mini action flick that was entirely created and scored by the band. Watch the whole thing above via YouTube.
We also spoke Anderson about working with Chamberlain, their love for Underoath, the story behind the video and the limited-edition Manga comic that Brand of Sacrifice made to complement the vinyl version of "Enemy."
Revolver had an exclusive variant in our shop that already sold out, but you can pre-order a couple other additional versions from the band's official store.
WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO GET SPENCER CHAMBERLAIN OF UNDEROATH ON THIS SONG?
KYLE ANDERSON Spencer was awesome to work with and absolutely slayed the part with ease. His way of easily seguing from [talking] to a fry scream is legendary, and it somehow sounds heavier than just a straight scream. It just has this unhinged quality, which is at odds with his personality: very friendly, laid back, and easy to work with.
WERE YOU GUYS BIG UNDEROATH FANS GROWING UP? DOES THEIR MUSIC HAVE ANY INFLUENCE ON BRAND OF SACRIFICE?
ANDERSON Most of us have been listening to Spencer's work in Underoath since we were in elementary and high school. I still remember sitting in the cafeteria and listening to "In Regards to Myself" from Define the Great Line for the first time and being absolutely hooked and blown away. The fact that the album went to number two on the Billboard 200, bested only by Nelly Furtado, is a landmark moment for the metalcore scene. Anyway, after that, I dove deeper into the discography and had They're Only Chasing Safety on repeat for weeks. I wouldn't say Underoath really has a direct musical influence on Brand of Sacrifice, but I wanted to be playing big fests and large tours; their larger-than-life stage presence certainly inspires that.
THIS VIDEO IS A PREQUEL TO THE "ANIMAL" VIDEO YOU GUYS RELEASED EARLIER THIS YEAR. TELL US ABOUT THE STORYLINE WITHIN THESE VIDEOS.
ANDERSON The "Animal" epic needed to be tied up. There were a lot of questions unanswered in that video, in which a warrior seeks revenge against an enemy. Right when he's about to lose the battle and his life, a former ally strikes down the villain.In this video, a prequel, it's revealed that that villain was once the leader of a band of mercenaries comprising all the other characters from "Animal."
Before those events, they were united in a war on the betrayer's former master. That titular enemy kidnapped one of the protagonists, who then go to rescue her. Unfortunately, in doing so, their leader is reunited with his former master, resulting in the abandonment of both his troupe and beliefs to rejoin the 'distant part' of him—now as omnipresent as ever.
THE UPCOMING VINYL VERSION OF "ENEMY" COMES WITH AN ACCOMPANYING COMIC BOOK. HOW DOES THE COMIC TIE INTO THE SONG?
ANDERSON The comic ties in more thematically with the song and overall album Lifeblood, rather than directly following occurrences or plotlines from "Enemy." It's about overcoming and moving past without giving in to your darkest impulses that could consume you, all with the knowledge that you'll never get rid of that "Animal" inside. One could take the demon and angel as real entities or they could be metaphorical. We've only begun to scratch the surface of this story here, which we tease via the dialogue: "This is only the beginning." It very well could be considered Issue #0, as comics are sometimes numbered.
DO YOU HAVE ANY FUNNY OR INTERESTING STORIES ABOUT THE MAKING OF "ENEMY" AND/OR ITS ACCOMPANYING COMIC?
ANDERSON As far as writing "Enemy," there's a part in the song that was inspired by the Nineties Spider-Man cartoon when the church bells are ringing, allowing Peter Parker to separate from the Venom symbiote, whose weakness is noise. This leads to Eddie Brock's partnership with the symbiote and things were never the same. We incorporated those loud chiming sounds into the build-up, which gives the song a super dark sound, almost gothic—but like the time period/aesthetic, not the music genre. And when the bell rings right before the breakdown hits? Come on! Our marketing manager Bradley Zorgdrager is also obsessed with Carnage (and by proxy, Spider-Man, and Venom), and I remember excitedly voice-noting our group chats to tell him the origin of the part.
