Ghost Iris

Denmark's Ghost Iris deliver technically advanced, progressive, melodically rich death metal packed with hooky choruses and driven by hard-grooving drums. Their vocals alternate between strident clean singing and sinister growling while maintaining an almost seamless equilibrium between djent and metalcore. Following three singles issued throughout 2014, the quartet's debut full-length Anecdotes of Science & Soul appeared in 2015 and registered as the most streamed album in Denmark that year. The 2016 release Blind World attracted such strong attention that the group earned prominent slots on European and U.S. festival bills. Apple of Discord arrived in 2019, drawing uniformly favorable notices and allowing the band to headline festival stages for the first time. Emerging from a year of COVID-19 quarantine, they returned in May 2021 with Comatose.

Ghost Iris formed as a Danish progressive deathcore quartet in summer 2012 after vocalist Jesper Vicencio Gün and bassist Nicklas Thomsen exited Shaped Like Swans over creative differences. They enlisted guitarist Daniel Leszkowicz and drummer Sebastian Linnet from separate projects, initially operating under the name the Monolith. After a year of rehearsal and live work, the musicians adopted the Ghost Iris moniker and issued their debut single “Dreamless State” in July 2014, followed by “Phalanx” in September and “Everlasting Bliss” in November. In January they tracked Anecdotes of Science & Soul at Copenhagen's Rhythmic Music Conservatory alongside producer Jeppe Andersen of Volbeat; the album surfaced on Japan's Go with Me label, where straight-ahead djent met melodic death metal. While touring, the record accumulated nearly two million streams and ranked as the most played Danish release of 2016, its reception further boosted by the band's dynamic blending of metal subgenres and high-caliber musicianship and songwriting. In 2016 Ghost Iris signed with SPV's Long Branch Records imprint, which released the digital single “Vista.” Thomsen and manager Mirza Radonjica co-produced Blind World, issued in February 2017 to widespread acclaim across Europe and Asia. That response, paired with the debut's commercial reach, secured prime festival placements throughout summer and fall plus numerous headlining dates in large clubs and small theaters.

The band returned to the studio at the close of 2018, resulting in Apple of Discord. Released the following February, the album featured guest vocals from Chad Ruhlig of For the Fallen Dreams and Tyler Shelton of Traitors, climbed the Danish charts, and coincided with extensive touring across both sides of the Atlantic plus dates in South America and Asia. Its mature style fused melodic, technically proficient progressive death metal with hard grooves and hooks that some reviewers described as “approached pop.” Although the pandemic halted most live activity, Ghost Iris still released the single “Made to Rust” in April 2020. They completed the next album under social-distancing protocols and finalized mixing once Denmark lifted quarantine restrictions late that year. January 2021 brought the single “Paper Tiger,” followed by the full-length Comatose in May; its second track “Desert Dread” includes a guest duet from Chimaira's Mark Hunter alongside Gün.