Memoriam

Memoriam operates as a death/grind unit from Birmingham, England, whose ranks draw on former participants from multiple death metal outfits such as Bolt Thrower, Cerebral Fix, and Benediction. The group assembled at the outset of 2016 around Karl Willets on vocals, Scott Fairfax on guitar, Frank Healy on bass guitar, and Andy Whale on drums. These longtime fixtures in the death scene initially convened simply to rehearse numbers that had shaped their individual paths over the years. Their joint examination of those influences soon sparked a renewed urge to generate fresh compositions, which led directly to the formation of Memoriam. The first material surfaced as two distinct installments called The Hellfire Demos, one in summer 2016 and the second in early 2017. Live appearances across Europe, including slots at the U.K.'s Bloodstock Open Air Festival and the Czech Republic's Obscene Extreme Festival in 2016, helped the quartet build a steadily widening audience. A contract with Nuclear Blast Records followed, and the band issued its debut full-length album, For the Fallen, in March 2017. The single "Reduced to Zero" led the record, delivering a ferocious, pummeling piece that reflected the fear, paranoia, and social fractures emerging in mid- to late 2016 amid contentious political developments on both sides of the Atlantic. Memoriam maintained momentum with the release of the uncompromising The Silent Vigil in 2018, then returned in June 2019 with their third studio album, Requiem for Mankind, again on Nuclear Blast.