Shadow of Intent

Hailing from New England, Shadow of Intent fuses a punishing melodic deathcore approach with depressive symphonic death metal, channeling its lyrics through the elaborate mythologies of the Halo military science fiction video game franchise. The band’s name derives from an assault ship featured in the series, and the project first took shape as a purely online collaboration between vocalist Ben Duerr and multi-instrumentalist Chris Wiseman. That partnership yielded the EP Inferi Sententia in 2014, followed by the full-length Primordial two years afterward. The lineup grew to four members in 2016, enabling the group to begin playing live; this roster—Duerr, Wiseman, drummer Matt Kohanowski, and bass player Keith Kohlhepp—made its recorded debut with the punishing 2017 album Reclaimer. Shadow of Intent’s third full-length effort, Melancholy, appeared in 2019.