Creeper

Creeper took shape in Southampton, England, during 2014 as a flexible English goth-punk ensemble whose influences reach across post-punk, emo, and glam rock. The group delivered its first full-length album, Eternity, in Your Arms, in 2017. Its sonic identity shifted again with the 2020 release Sex, Death & the Infinite Void, an album that merged the Misfits’ pulpy horror-punk with Meat Loaf’s theatrical rock & roll spectacle—an approach the band refined on the 2023 vampire-themed concept record Sanguivore.

Vocalist Will Gould, guitarists Ian Miles and Oliver Burdett, bassist Sean Scott, drummer Dan Bratton, and keyboardist Hannah Greenwood launched the project that year. Their self-titled debut EP appeared soon afterward. In 2015 the band signed with Roadrunner Records and issued the follow-up EP The Callous Heart, then joined the Misfits on tour and performed at that year’s U.K. Warped Tour. The Stranger, their third EP, surfaced in 2016, and Eternity, in Your Arms arrived the next year to strong reviews. After appearing to declare a split in 2018, the members unexpectedly resurfaced in 2019.

Sex, Death & the Infinite Void returned in 2020, highlighted by the anthemic singles “Born Cold” and “Annabelle.” Several months later the group parted ways with drummer Dan Bratton; Jake Fogarty assumed the drum chair in 2021. With live activity suspended by the COVID-19 pandemic, Creeper recorded the EP American Noir, released in mid-2021. At that point guitarist Oliver Burdett exited, and Lawrie Pattison of Miss Vincent filled in for concerts. The band then signed with Spinefarm Records ahead of its third album. Sanguivore, issued in 2023, traces the story of vampires Spook and Mercy alongside the gang known as the Ghost Brigade. The record extends the ornate, pop-tinged goth-rock of its predecessor while incorporating punk and metal elements, notably on the singles “Cry To Heaven” and “Teenage Sacrifice.”