Flayed Disciple is a British

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band from

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England. Formed in 2008, They have released one album and three EPs. Their debut album, ''Death Hammer'', was recorded in February 2012 at Foel Studio, Wales, with producer Chris Fielding. They are signed to Bethlam Records. In July, 2010, Flayed Disciple won Bloodstock Open Air's Metal 2 The Masses competition in

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

. That won them a place on the New Blood Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival, in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

. They were then invited back to Bloodstock Open Air to play on the bigger

Sophie Lancaster Sophie is a version of the female given name Sophia, meaning "wise". People with the name Born in the Middle Ages * Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson * Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess o ...

stage in 2012. The band first met in 2008, and recorded the ''Drawn Viscera'' EP in the summer of that year. The 2010 ''Ejaculate While Killing'' EP was recorded in Bristol with producer Chuck Creese, from the band Burning Skies. Flayed Disciple had a presence in music magazines such as ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

'', '' Terrorizer'' and '' Zero Tolerance''. Many live reviews can be found on the internet. Their album ''Death Hammer'' was released on 28 May 2012 by the Irish record label, Grindscene Records. There are many reviews online and in print. A 12" vinyl was recorded in March 2014, and released independently on Flayed Disciple's own label - Bethlam Records. Flayed Disciple are still active as of 2022.

Musical style and reception

The music of Flayed Disciple is composed by every band member; the lyrics on ''Death Hammer'' were written by Tolfree and Whyte. Their lyrical content has come up against some controversy in recent times, as the themes of serial killers,

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

, paedophilia and

atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

feature in most songs. The musical style is heavily influenced by the early 1980s

scene from the Bay Area of California. Bands such as

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

and

Slayer Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...

are the reason they started writing music. Recently, heavier bands such as

Cannibal Corpse Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York in 1988, now based out of Tampa, Florida. The band has released fifteen studio albums, two box sets, four video albums, and two live albums. The band has had little radi ...

Demolition Hammer Demolition Hammer is an American thrash metal band from the Bronx, New York, active from 1986 to 1995 and again since 2016. To date, the band has released three full-length studio albums: ''Tortured Existence'' (1991), ''Epidemic of Violence'' ...

Napalm Death Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in 1981 in Meriden, West Midlands. None of the band's original members has been in the group since 1986. But since ''Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch ...

and

Deicide Deicide is the killing (or the killer) of a god. The concept may be used for any act of killing a god, including a life-death-rebirth deity who is killed and then resurrected. Etymology The term deicide was coined in the 17th century from m ...

have also influenced their musical style. Flayed Disciple did not have a bass player for three years after former bassist (and original member) Nathan Bartley left the band in 2009, to become a full-time

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

. The bass parts on the ''Ejaculate While Killing'' EP were recorded by lead guitarist Thurston Howe. They recruited Welsh bass player Paul Williams at the end of 2011, completing the line up ready to record their first album. The touring for ''Death Hammer'' took the band as far as India, playing at an open-air festival alongside French band

Gojira Gojira (ゴジラ) is the original Japanese name for Godzilla, a giant monster at the center of a media franchise. It may also refer to: Films * ''Godzilla'' franchise, known as ''ゴジラ'' (''Gojira'') in Japan ** ''Godzilla'' (1954 film), rele ...

. They also toured across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

with Vader in January 2013.

Band members

;Current *Thurston Howe - guitar (2008-) *Jon Whitfield - guitar (2008-) *Phil Tolfree - drums (2008-) *Paul Williams - bass (2011-) *Merv Hembrough - Vocals (2021-) ;Past members *Nath Stevens - bass (2008-2009) *Rich Lewis - drums (2013-2014) *Tim Whyte - vocals (2008-2019)

Discography

;Albums * ''Death Hammer'' (2012) ;EPs * A Hell In Living Flesh (2022) * ''Flayed Disciple Vinyl'' (2014) * ''Self Titled'' (2010) * ''Drawn Viscera'' (2008)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flayed Disciple Musical quartets English death metal musical groups English thrash metal musical groups Musical groups established in 2008