Byzantine

Emerging amid the New Wave of American Heavy Metal that took shape in the closing years of the 1990s and opening years of the 2000s, Byzantine remained one of its less celebrated outfits. Their first full-length effort, The Fundamental Component from 2004, fused neck-snapping thrash with progressive groove metal in explosive fashion. The West Virginia group kept shifting across later releases—Oblivion Beckons in 2008, To Release Is to Resolve in 2015, The Cicada Tree in 2017, and the Black Sea Codex EP in 2022—drawing from an array of heavy metal subgenres.

As the new millennium opened, listeners weary of grunge began seeking fresh outlets in aggressive music. While metallic hardcore, neo-thrash, post-metal, and revived strains of black and death metal gained traction, a handful of acts resisted easy classification. One of the most inventive hailed from Chapmanville, West Virginia (population 1,211 at the time of the band’s formation in 2000) and bore the fitting name Byzantine. The initial lineup consisted of vocalist/guitarist Chris Ojeda and bassist Chris Adams, both previously active in Morgantown thrash act New Family, alongside guitarist Tony Rohrbough. Early performances relied on a drum machine until Jeremy Freeman briefly handled percussion, soon succeeded by permanent drummer Matt Wolfe.

Between 2000 and 2002 the trio laid down several early demos and entered an arrangement with local production outfit DK Entertainment, which funded what was intended as their debut album. When the label delayed the masters indefinitely, the musicians opted to proceed independently. They issued the six-track Broadmoor EP themselves in 2003, named for the studio where it was tracked. Shortly afterward, Prosthetic Records of Los Angeles signed them, prompting a return to the studio to re-record those songs, add four more, and produce the official debut The Fundamental Component, which appeared in February 2004. Its blend of clean and harsh vocals, prog-metal precision, and hardcore intensity defied standard subgenre boundaries, allowing Byzantine to share bills with Caliban, All That Remains, and Lamb of God—the latter having helped facilitate the Prosthetic connection—and placing the band squarely within the so-called New Wave of American Heavy Metal.

Already known for addressing historical and environmental themes tied to their Appalachian roots, Byzantine turned to biblical imagery for the title of their second album, …And They Shall Take Up Serpents, drawn from a local preacher’s practices. Released in May 2005, the record was tracked as a trio during the preceding winter after bassist Adams departed. New bassist Michael Cromer joined for immediate touring that began with a headline run in the U.K., continued with U.S. dates alongside Eyehategod and Buried Inside, extended to the U.S. International Extreme Music Festival with God Dethroned, Nightrage, Epoch of Unlight, and others, and concluded with the Under the Underground package. The relentless schedule exacted a toll: Rohrbough exited, replaced by Eric Seevers for the remaining dates, an appearance at the New England Metal Fest in April 2006, and subsequent shows with Still Remains, Agnostic Front, and Kittie.

Byzantine paused at the close of 2006, yet by February 2007 Ojeda, Wolfe, Cromer, and a returning Rohrbough had entered the studio for what became their most ambitious set of recordings. Prosthetic issued the concert film Salvation in April, then began unveiling artwork and tracks from the forthcoming album. Originally slated for fall, Oblivion Beckons was pushed to early 2008. A week after its late-January release, the group announced its dissolution. They reconvened for regional performances in 2010 and delivered their self-titled fourth album in 2013. To Release Is to Resolve appeared in 2015 with a revised lineup featuring vocalist Chris Ojeda, drummer Matt Wolfe, guitarist Brian Henderson, and bassist Sean Sydnor. The band shifted to Metal Blade for their sixth full-length, The Cicada Tree, which charted on Billboard in 2017. In 2022 they returned with the Black Sea Codex EP, containing four original tracks and two covers, among them a intense take on the Fixx’s “Red Skies.”