Vulvodynia

South Africa’s Vulvodynia operates as a slam outfit grounded in the ferocity of technical death metal and the weight of deathcore. The group surfaced in 2014, first building a following at home before turning attention outward. Their 2019 album Mob Justice examined tensions inside their own country, drawing widespread notice that led to a partnership with Unique Leader. That exposure pushed the band deeper into the extreme-metal landscape through the later releases Praenuntius Infiniti in 2021 and Entabeni in 2024, the latter shaped by African folklore.

Duncan Bentley on vocals and Luke Haarhoff on guitar established the project in 2014. Before issuing their first album, Cognizant Castigation, the band signed with Australia’s Vicious Instinct Records; the record included contributions from Acrania’s Luke Griffin, Ingested’s Jason Evans, and several others. The following year they enlarged the lineup by bringing in bassist Kris Xenopoulos, guitarist Matt Mader, and producer and multi-instrumentalist Byron Dunwoody. Once their commitment to Vicious Instinct ended with the EP Finis Omnium Ignoratium, they moved to Czech label Lacerated Enemy for the second full-length, Psychosadistic Design.

Festival dates and shared bills with Despised Icon, Malevolence, and Archspire, along with the arrival of guitarist Chris Van Der Walt, preceded the 2019 arrival of Mob Justice, a focused and intense collection centered on South African social and political strains. The album also marked the first appearance of drummer Thomas Hughes. Widely regarded as the band’s strongest statement to that point, it broadened their audience until the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted their progress. Undeterred, they added guitarist Lwandile Prusent and joined forces with Acrania for the 2021 EP Societal Lobotomization, which attracted the interest of Unique Leader Records. Further growth appeared on the sci-fi concept album Praenuntius Infiniti and on Entabeni, where Lwandile Prusent took over vocal duties after Duncan Bentley’s departure the year before.