It’s been a long road of hundreds of demos from every subgenre imaginable, and a few of their own creation. But here we are: the end of the road and the winners of the Disc Makers Indie Musician’s Bundle. Last week we announced the semifinalists, and now after some serious deliberation, we are happy to announce our winners: Nightfear from Pennsylvania! Congrats, guys! You win Disc Makers’ Indie Musician’s Bundle — a $2,400 package aimed to help give a band the boost it needs. The Indie Musician’s Bundle contains:
- Full-album Mastering (up to 12 tracks)
- 300 CDs in Full-color Jackets
- 100 Vinyl Records in Full-color Jackets
- Global Music Distribution (iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, CD Baby & More)
- $50 Off Custom Band Merch from Merchly
Learn more about Disc Makers products and services.
Hailing from the surprisingly creatively fertile lands of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania — which has given us bands including Cold World, Title Fight, War Hungry — Nightfear takes some of that hardcore fury and adds in black metal and thrash for an unrelenting death-metal approach on their 2017 demo, Cryptasm, recorded by the venerable Arthur Rizk. Clocking in at fifteen minutes, the six-song EP is a truly original and furious breath of fresh air.
So who is this mystery band from the middle of PA? What are their goals and what makes them tick? Revolver sat down with Nightfear to discuss their come-up, goals, recording with Rizk and what lies next. Their answers, and a taste of their incendiary tunes, are below.
HOW DID NIGHTFEAR FORM AND WHEN? WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND IN OTHER BANDS?
BRANDON O’DROBINAK After some attempts at starting bands like Crucifixion Hammer and Discriminatrix, at the end of 2015, forces were joined and from the abyss rose Nightfear. The members of the band shared a background in all aspects of heavy music, so this pact came very naturally and the seeds have been sown for a couple of years now.
WHEN YOU WERE FORMING, WHAT WAS THE COMMON THEME THAT YOU WANTED TO CONVEY WITH NIGHTFEAR?
O’DROBINAK The main goal of this band was and always will be to write music that inspires us, music that we would all want to listen to. Nightfear has no political agenda, no allegiance to any code — our mission is to spread the Nightfear sound, plain and simple. We’re heavily influenced by the bands who paved the way for extreme metal, bands like Celtic Frost, Cannibal Corpse, Sepultura, Autopsy and Entombed immediately come to mind. There are also subtle influences of crust and punk from bands such as Amebix, Discharge and Hell Bastard.
Horror movies have a huge influence on us as well. To take those films that we grew up with, such as Return of the Living Dead and The Exorcist, and put them into sonic form. We proudly wear those influences on our sleeve, but at the same time aim to create something that is new and refreshing. While we are indebted to those who came before us, we are not content to ride on those bands’ laurels as we move forward and forge our own identity.
COMING TOGETHER IN THE FERTILE WILKES-BARRE HARDCORE SCENE, YOU PLAYED QUITE A FEW HARDCORE SHOWS COMING UP. HOW DO YOU THINK THAT A MOSTLY HARDCORE SCENE HAS HELPED YOU AS A METAL BAND?
O’DROBINAK The hardcore-punk scene is something that is ingrained in every member of this band. It’s influence is undeniable, and these days, the lines between genres are not as black and white as they perhaps once were. There are certain bands that thrive in both the punk and metal world, such as Midnight and Devil Master, and bands like Eternal Champion that have roots in the hardcore scene, but are without a doubt metal in substance. We feel that our music appeals to fans of both hardcore punk and metal, so we don’t want to limit ourselves. If you asked five different people to name a band that Nightfear reminds them of, chances are you will get five different answers. We like it that way. It’s also helped us meet other artists that we might not have met otherwise, such as Shane Moran, who created our logo and artwork for the Cryptasm EP, and Martin Lambert, who took all of our band promo pictures.
ARTHUR RIZK RECORDED YOUR LATEST DEMO, HOW DID YOU COME IN CONTACT WITH HIM AND WHY DID YOU CHOOSE HIM TO RECORD IT?
URIAH THOMAS Arthur is a longtime friend of a few members of Nightfear. When we approached him about working with us on our EP Cryptasm, he was excited. He knew exactly what we wanted to accomplish and how we wanted it to sound, his brain is just totally on a level where he just gets it. He’s a total professional in every sense and when it came down to it, he was the obvious choice to help make Cryptasm a reality. Knowing his work with bands like Pissgrave, Crypt Sermon and Power Trip, we were very comfortable that he would not only get the job done, but surpass our wildest expectations. Endless thanks to him.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE BAND?
O’DROBINAK We are always moving forward, never content to rest on past accomplishments or endeavors. We just did a week long Northeastern tour with our good friends in Noisem and Blame God, and it was very successful. We’re eager to get back on the road and play more shows. Nightfear is definitely a live band, we pride ourselves on delivering what we have put on record and then some. New material is currently in the works, albeit in its infant stages. With no plans for the immediate future outside a couple local shows, our main focus right now is aimed on churning out new songs and playing as many new places as we possibly can. Nightfear never rests, and we’re coming for you next!
Revolver and Disc Makers would like to congratulate Nightfear on winning the Indie Musican’s Bundle! Stay tuned to Revolver for more updates on the band!