Starkweather is an American

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

band from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, formed in 1989. They have a complex

experimental metal Avant-garde metal (also known as avant-metal, experimental metal, and experimental) is a subgenre of heavy metal music loosely defined by use of experimentation and innovative, avant-garde elements, including non-standard and unconventional soun ...

sound often including use of dissonance, intricate

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

changes and

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

sensibilities. Starkweather helped pioneer the

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

/ heavy metal crossover sound that would later be known as "metalcore", as well as being a major influence on the

mathcore Mathcore is a subgenre of hardcore punk and metalcore influenced by post-hardcore, extreme metal and math rock that developed during the 1990s. Bands in the genre emphasize complex and fluctuant rhythms through the use of irregular time signatur ...

subgenre. They have influenced many of today's top selling hardcore/metal bands such as

Converge Converge may refer to: * Converge (band), American hardcore punk band * Converge (Baptist denomination), American national evangelical Baptist body * Limit (mathematics) * Converge ICT, internet service provider in the Philippines *CONVERGE CFD s ...

The Dillinger Escape Plan The Dillinger Escape Plan was an American metalcore band. The band was formed in 1997 in Morris Plains, New Jersey by guitarist Ben Weinman, bassist Adam Doll, vocalist Dimitri Minakakis, and drummer Chris Pennie. The band's use of odd time sign ...

Mastodon A mastodon ( 'breast' + 'tooth') is any proboscidean belonging to the extinct genus ''Mammut'' (family Mammutidae). Mastodons inhabited North and Central America during the late Miocene or late Pliocene up to their extinction at the end of th ...

and

Coalesce Coalesce may refer to: *Coalesce (band), a metalcore band from Kansas City, Missouri, active from 1994 to 1999, 2005– **Coalesce discography, a list of Coalesce's albums and songs * COALESCE, an SQL function *Null coalescing operator, a binary o ...

among many others. Croatan review @ Allmusic"

The Red Chord The Red Chord is an American metal band from Revere, Massachusetts, formed in 1999. The group comprises vocalist Guy Kozowyk, guitarist/vocalist Mike "Gunface" McKenzie, bassist Greg Weeks and drummer Jon Rice. The band gained a fanbase with its ...

Killswitch Engage Killswitch Engage is an American metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1999 after the disbanding of Overcast (band), Overcast and Aftershock. Killswitch Engage's current lineup consists of vocalist Jesse Leach, guitarists Joe ...

, Losa, The Black Dahlia Murder,

Strapping Young Lad Strapping Young Lad was a Canadian extreme metal band formed by Devin Townsend in Vancouver in 1994. The band started as a one-man studio project; Townsend played most of the instruments on the 1995 debut album, ''Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing' ...

... but it is important to know that Starkweather have been around longer than any of the abovementioned bands and have influenced some of them (either directly or indirectly)"Biography @ The Gauntlet
"they have been cited as influence to many of today's top selling metal/hardcore bands" The name Starkweather is taken from

Charles Starkweather Charles Raymond Starkweather (November 24, 1938 – June 25, 1959) was an American spree killer who murdered eleven people in Nebraska and Wyoming between December 1957 and January 1958, when he was nineteen years old. He killed ten of his victi ...

, a late-1950s spree killer.

Biography

After recording a demo at Why Me? Recording (Turning Point, Edgewise, Brody), the band was quickly signed to Harvcore Records and released the Crossbearer LP in 1992. Starkweather made an impression with a succession of 7" single releases. These were followed by their first EP, ''Starkweather'', for Inner Rage Records (1993); ''the Crossbearer re-issue'', for Too Damn Hype (1994); their second full-length effort, ''Into the Wire'', on Edison Recordings (1995); and the 1996 ''Bitter Frost / Bee Stings and Posion Eggs'' split with

Season to Risk Season to Risk are an American noise rock/alternative rock band hailing from Kansas City, Missouri, United States. History Season to Risk formed in late 1989 from the ashes of the Kansas City punk bands Nine Lives and Curious George. Although Se ...

through Supermodel Records. Starkweather released their third album, ''Croatoan'', in late 2005. It was produced by Pierre Remillard (mainly known for producing Canadian

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 ...

bands

Cryptopsy Cryptopsy is a Canadian technical death metal band from Montreal, formed in 1988. History Necrosis (1988–1992) Necrosis was formed in April 1988 by drummer Mike Atkin, guitarist Steve Thibault and vocalist Dan "Lord Worm" Greening, initially ...

and

Gorguts Gorguts is a Canadian death metal band from Sherbrooke, Quebec, formed in 1989. The band has been through many personnel changes since its inception; its only constant member has been guitarist and vocalist Luc Lemay, who remains the primary cr ...

), and was released only on vinyl through Hypertension Records. In that year, the band went on their first international European tour, visiting

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. 2006 saw the CD release of ''Croatoan'' on

Candlelight Records Candlelight Records is a British record label based in England and founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bassist Lee Barrett, though it has had a division in the United States since January 2001. Candlelight Records specialises in black metal ...

. ''Croatoan'' features session work from bass player

Liam Wilson Liam Wilson (born December 22, 1979) is an American musician. He has been the bass player for The Dillinger Escape Plan since 2000 and is a former bass player of Starkweather. Currently, he is a part of Azusa, a project formed with members of Ex ...

(

and Burnside) and guitarist

Jim Winters Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James (given name), James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy (given name), Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * Jim (comics), ...

( Believer,

Earth Crisis Earth Crisis is an American hardcore punk band from Syracuse, New York, active from 1989 until 2001, reuniting in 2007. Since 1993 the band's longest serving members are vocalist Karl Buechner, lead guitarist Scott Crouse, bassist Ian Edwards ...

, Turmoil, and The Promise) and the cover art was done by artist

Paul Romano Paul Romano (born 6 October 1891, date of death unknown) was a French footballer. He played in three matches for the France national football team from 1911 to 1912. He was also named in France's squad for the football tournament at the 1912 Su ...

, who also worked with

Trivium The trivium is the lower division of the seven liberal arts and comprises grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The trivium is implicit in ''De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii'' ("On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury") by Martianus Capella, but the ...

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

, and

Godflesh Godflesh are an English industrial metal band from Birmingham. The group formed in 1982 under the title Fall of Because but did not release any complete music until 1988 when Justin Broadrick (guitar, vocals and programming) and G. C. Gree ...

. After a period of inactivity, Starkweather's fourth LP ''This Sheltering Night'' was released in 2010, followed by a split LP with French band Overmars in 2011. Both recordings were produced by

Alap Momin Alap Aman Momin (born 25 June 1974), professionally known as Alap Momin and Oktopus is an American musician, composer and producer. He is a former member of Dälek and MRC Riddims. Career Alap Aman Momin was born to Indian parents and grew up in ...

(

Dälek Dälek () (stylized in all lowercase) is an American experimental hip hop group formed in Newark, New Jersey in 1998. The group's current lineup consists of MC dälek (vocals and producer) and Mike Manteca (aka Mike Mare) (electronics and prod ...

). Following those releases the band had some line-up changes, with founding guitarist Todd Forkin and longtime drummer Harry Rosa leaving the band. The last recordings with Forkin and Rosa were released in 2018 as a split LP with Portuguese band Concealment.

Style and influences

Starkweather songs do not follow traditional verse-chorus-verse structure. Songs tend to have "narrative or cinematic flow", the compositions tend to emphasize an ongoing development of themes and motifs. Alex Henderson of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

has described their music as "dissonant, jagged, angular, and discordant as well as abrasive, noisy, violent, claustrophobic, and dense" and an "extreme sensory assault". The band has an unusual and eclectic panel of influences; tapping into the more experimental, angular sides of

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

and

spheres as well as other genres. Singer Rennie Resmini's main vocal influences are

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor on 8 December 1966; ) is an Irish singer-songwriter. Her debut album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and charted internationally. Her second album, ''I Do Not Want What ...

, Diamanda Galas,

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

Michael Gira Michael Rolfe Gira (; born February 19, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, author and artist. He is the main force behind the New York City musical group Swans and fronted Angels of Light. He is also the founder of ...

(

Swans Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometim ...

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian singer, songwriter, poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional actor. Known for his baritone voice and for fronting the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Ca ...

( The Birthday Party), Rob 'The Baron' Miller (

Amebix Amebix were an English crust punk band. Formed as the Band with No Name, the band's original run was from 1978 to 1987, during which time they released two EPs and three albums. The group reunited in 2008, released another full-length album ...

), and

Jaz Coleman Jeremy "Jaz" Coleman (born 26 February 1960) is an English singer and musician. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as the lead vocalist and keyboardist of post-punk group Killing Joke. Coleman is known for his unique raspy baritone voic ...

(

Killing Joke Killing Joke are an English rock music, rock band from Notting Hill, London, England, formed in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''Ki ...

) among others. The band have acknowledged that some of their primary musical influences include Voivod,

Celtic Frost Celtic Frost () was a Swiss extreme metal band from Zürich. They are known for their strong influence on the development of extreme metalBukszpan, Daniel. ''The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal''. Barnes & Noble Publishing, 2003. p.43 and avant-ga ...

Articles of Faith A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The ea ...

Watchtower A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to ...

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 ...

Atheist 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 ...

Minor Threat Minor Threat was an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1980 in Washington, D.C. by vocalist Ian MacKaye and drummer Jeff Nelson. MacKaye and Nelson had played in several other bands together, and recruited bassist Brian Baker and guitaris ...

Confessor Confessor is a title used within Christianity in several ways. Confessor of the Faith Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith but not to the point of death.Morbid Angel Morbid Angel is an American 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 ...

Prong Prong or Prongs may refer to: * Prong, synonym of tine (structural), a branch or spike of various tools and natural objects * Prong (band), an American metal band * Prong (company), an iPhone accessories company in New York City * Prongs, British ...

Fates Warning Fates Warning is an American progressive metal band, formed in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1982 by vocalist John Arch, guitarists Jim Matheos and Victor Arduini, bassist Joe DiBiase, and drummer Steve Zimmerman. There have been numerous lineup ...

and

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

; and have also shown appreciation for

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

s such as Xenakis and

Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best known works include ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', ''Polish Requiem'', ''A ...

. Along with bands like

Rorschach Rorschach may refer to: * Hermann Rorschach, a Swiss psychiatrist ** Rorschach test, his psychological evaluation method involving inkblots * Rorschach (character), a character from the comics ''Watchmen'' * Rorschach (comic book), a 2020 comic * ...

Merauder Merauder is an American metalcore band from New York City, formed in 1990. History The group formed in 1990, establishing itself on the New York hardcore and metal scene through frequent touring and a few demo releases. In 1995, the band r ...

and

Integrity Integrity is the practice of being honest and showing a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions. Inte ...

, Starkweather is often credited as an early pioneer of the

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

genre; although the band members do not consider themselves a metalcore band and have showed discontentment with the term. In an interview with

Noisecreep Noisecreep is a hard rock and heavy metal music news and media website based in the United States. The site was created by AOL AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an Ameri ...

, guitarist Todd Forkin commented negatively on the genre, stating, "I've heard the tag on a number of occasions that we, along with a handful of other bands, are responsible for metalcore, but to me that's like being told you're responsible for spreading cancer. You just pray that it's not true." Forkin continued in the interview that he does not hear "a direct take on what we've done" in modern metalcore bands. In a review for Starkweather's '' This Sheltering Night'', Cosmo Lee of ''

Decibel The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whose levels differ by one decibel have a po ...

'' wrote, "If one had to assign a context for Starkweather, it would be the late '80s/early '90s, where bands like

Only Living Witness Only Living Witness was an American metal band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1989 by members of dissolved thrash metal band Formicide. Across two studio albums, they developed a groove-oriented hardcore punk-influenced heavy metal sound ...

and

were smashing together metal and hardcore—but not quite making 'metalcore.' 'Metalcore' now implies the worst of both worlds. We're talking about the best of both worlds." Starkweather's musical contemporaries include a handful of 1990s hardcore groups that fused dissonant and melodic elements in an unorthodox, complex manner (

Stigmata Stigmata ( grc, στίγματα, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Roman Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ: the hands, wrists, and feet. Stigm ...

and Sam Black Church); as well as bands like

Deadguy Deadguy is an American metalcore band from New Brunswick, New Jersey. The band formed in 1994 and disbanded in 1997. Deadguy is considered to have played an important role in the development of the mathcore genre, their sole studio album ''Fixatio ...

Bloodlet Bloodlet are an American metalcore band from Orlando, Florida that formed in 1992. Their style of music (which has sometimes been dubbed as "evilcore" by critics) features elements of metalcore and sludge metal, which has been noted for influenci ...

and

, who played a similarly angular and unusual style of

metallic hardcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use o ...

Members

Current members * Rennie Resmini – vocals (1989–present) * Vincent Rosa – bass guitar (2005–present) * Jim Winters – guitar (2002-2005, 2014–present) * Drew Juergens-Soto – drums (2016–present) * Sean Jacobs – bass guitar (2014–present) * Bill Molchanow – guitar (2016–present) Former members * Todd Forkin – guitar (1989-2014) * Harry Rosa – drums (1990-2014) * Michelle Eddison – bass guitar (1990–1999) * Sean Roberts – guitar (?) * Dan McGinnis – guitar (1990) *

– bass guitar (2002-2005) * Leonard Emerick – drums (1989-1990)

Discography

* ''Crossbearer'' (LP) (1992) Harvcore Records * ''Starkweather'' (7" EP) (1993) Inner Rage Records, France * ''Philly Dust Krew'' compilation cd (1993) Too Damn Hype Records * ''Crossbearer'' (studio album, 1994) re-issue of vinyl with bonus tracks on Too Damn Hype Records * ''A Food Not Bombs Benefit'' compilation LP (1994) Inchworm Records * ''Into The Wire'' (studio album, 1995) Edison Records * ''Bitter Frost/Bee Stings and Posion Eggs'' (split with

, 1996) * ''Definitely Not the Majors'' compilation CD (1997) Bush League * ''Croatoan'' (studio, 2005) vinyl by Hypertension CD released by Candlelight Records in 2006 * '' This Sheltering Night'' (studio, 2010) CD LP released by Deathwish Inc. * "Split" Starkweather & Overmars LP released by Deathwish Inc. * Starkweather / Concealment split (2018,

Translation Loss Records Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

)

References

External links

MySpace page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Starkweather Hardcore punk groups from Pennsylvania Deathwish Inc. artists Metalcore musical groups from Pennsylvania