Fleshgate, the brutal-sounding, four-piece death metal band that originates from Columbia, South Carolina, unveiled their new EP Violent Nature on April 16, 2024. The songs in the EP go as follows:
Fentanyl
New World Order
Shanked ft Sanguisugabogg, Devin Swank
Violent Nature
Swamp Stomp
I had the pleasure and honor of being the first to hear this EP before it got released publically. Finally, hearing this EP across streaming platforms gave me an excitement I can't describe. From what I've heard and experienced personally with the long wait of this EP, it was written at least 3 times in different styles until they found one that worked. From noon on April 14 all the way to 9 a.m. on April 15, the band was putting the finishing touches on the EP. If that doesn't say how dedicated these individuals were to making this EP and perfecting it, I'm not sure what does.
It was 10 a.m. April 15 when I first heard this EP after I had just gotten my coffee. When I heard how different this was from their last EP, I absolutely was freaking out. The sound these guys give makes me want to dropkick a small child into the pit and two-step away. The mixing and mastering absolutely give it a definite Body Box and Sanguisugabogg vibe that is utterly perfect for these guys.
The first song I listened to from this killer EP was a no-brainer and obvious choice; "Shanked ft Sanguisugabogg, Devin Swank." I spat out my coffee. It's just that good. Ever since I found out months ago that they got the one and only Devin Swank from Sanguisugabogg on their EP, I have been stoked not only for this song specifically but also for the fact that this band managed to snag one of the best death metal bands in the scene right now to feature on their EP.
The next song I listened to was, of course, "Swamp Stomp" featuring the one and only weed-smoking death metal band, Bonginator. On my three-hour commute, I played this song about 50 different times. My exact words when I heard this song were "Oh my god. what the absolute hell? This is crazy." When the vocalist from Bonginator came on with their part, their vocals actually reminded me of an alligator. The song itself is about fighting alligators so I thought it fit perfectly.
When I listened to "Fentanyl," "Violent Nature," and "New World Order," I of course could not contain myself. I started crowd-killing in my car and made sure to throw it down. These songs are too brutal and too good to not get violent and swing to.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Fleshgate.
Members are as followed.
Tristan Tucker (Vocals)
Edward Elkins (Bass)
Sam Baker (Guitar)
Thomas Stiles (Drums)
What's the backstory on Fleshgate?
"The Guitarist, Sam Baker, and I (Tristan Tucker, Vocalist) met at The New Brookland Tavern here in Columbia while attending a show for the band, Filth and we started talking about our favorite bands and I got in the topic about how I was wanting to start a Brutal Death band. Sam however was more of a hardcore guy so we had to find what worked for us first. Thomas Stiles, our drummer, was high school friends with our guitarist and was already pretty talented at drums so it was a no brainer for him to join and in September our Bassist, Ed Elkins, Joined after we had to replace our old bassist and with Ed having had years of experience and being in Severed by Dawn that was also a no brainer. We went through a ton of trial and error at first. In the beginning we were a very mortician influenced band but later progressed to a very hardcore influenced band with our last EP. It wasn't until a few months ago we played our old music but we gradually added the more intensity found in brutal death and we all agreed it was better. So with that in mind we found a nice blend of our own sound and mixed it into Brutal Death."
What are some goals as a band for the year and the next upcoming years?
"Our goal is to not stop at just releasing but learning to further promote ourselves in hopes to gain attraction for us to be able to play more out of state shows and hopefully festivals. We just want to make something that's so intense you feel it in your chest."
What has been the most challenging thing with writing this ep?
"What could I not say lol. We all have strong ambitions towards this that make us our own worst critic. We scrapped many versions of these songs on the EP with different Tones, Riffs, and overall style in all hopes to be able to say we have found our own sound and I feel like we can say that we have."
What was the process like writing it?
"Well, Lyrics are written entirely separate from everything else as I write them on my own. In all honesty I have very odd dreams so a good few of my stories come from me waking up and realizing it could be a good brutal death song and saving that for later to write on. Sam will either build a basic drum track to start with and build riffs off that while alone or when together we just spit ball ideas."
How does it feel having someone as big as Sanguisugabogg on this ep? What was that process like?
"Great, The Band loves Sanguisugabogg and around last year at a New Brookland Tavern show I spoke to Devin Swank, The vocalist, and he seemed like a cool guy so months later when thinking about features we thought it would be a long shot but I messaged him and he said he would be down which we are happy he was because I believe his part came out great."
Which one is each band members favorite song from this EP?
"Sam and Thomas's Favorite is Violent Nature without a doubt while Ed's is Swamp Stomp and mine being a big toss-up between Violent Nature or Fentanyl but I'd probably go with Violent Nature because of its topic. I wrote personally about abuse and having to deal with it. I wanted one very serious song where jokes aside with the topics we might write as comically graphic as they can be, dealing with abuse is horrible and no person should have to ever go through it."
If you could choose anyone to put on your next album or ep, who would it be?
"That's hard because there are so many great bands. Corpse Pile, Putrid Stu, Bodybox are some great options and top contenders, but I'd have to honestly say Cryptopsy. Absolutely amazing band and not a single song I would skip."
Do you have any tips for any bands just starting out or wanting to get started?
"Be your bands number one fan, promoter and critic. What I mean is one of the most important things is to love making and playing music like we do but also you have to promote and share that excitement. If you're excited tell others why. Lastly, be your bands number one critic and that is have fun but when it comes to furthering your bands future you will have to criticize your own band to some degree in order to further improve. For example, people liked our last EP and we could have stayed with that style, but we criticized our last music and asked ourselves "how can we do better?" And that's all there is to it."
If there's one thing a Fleshgate pit has, it's chaos. That was brought upon at a show at the infamous Commie House right before their EP release on March 30. They played a song from the then-unreleased EP to give a teaser to the crowd. The song in question was "Swamp Stomp." Everyone in that living room started swinging, diving onto others, and just started disrespecting their surroundings. At one point I threw a trash can into the pit just to cause even more mayhem than there already was. Seeing how everyone in the crowd was so excited when Tristan said that Bonginator had a feature on the song, I knew for a fact that this EP was going to be a hit.
Following the release of their EP, they have gained thousands of monthly listeners on Spotify and the number continues to rise. they are currently at 6,200 monthly listeners. Compared to where they were before this release, at 450 monthly, I'd say this EP release has been a massive success for them. My predictions are as follows for this band. They're going to get signed to a label as well as start touring relatively soon with headlines to come in the next 3-5 years if not sooner. I believe this band can become one of the best in the death metal scene. They're already putting out bigger band material and showing those qualities while only being two EPs in. If you're a fan of bands like Sanguisugabogg, Body Box, Mortician, and 10 to the Chest, you'll love Fleshgate. Give them a listen, and a follow, as well as order some merch on Brutal Minds. Support your upcoming bands.
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