Shadow of Intent is an American

deathcore Deathcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and metalcore breakdowns. While there are some precursors to the concept of death metal fused with met ...

band from Connecticut. They formed in 2013 as a ''

Halo Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to: * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Video games * ''Halo'' (franch ...

''-themed studio project by Ben Duerr and Chris Wiseman. The band's name is a reference to a

Covenant Covenant may refer to: Religion * Covenant (religion), a formal alliance or agreement made by God with a religious community or with humanity in general ** Covenant (biblical), in the Hebrew Bible ** Covenant in Mormonism, a sacred agreement b ...

ship in the ''Halo'' series. They are not signed to a label and have released their albums independently. They have released four studio albums to date, along with two

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

versions of previous releases, and a deluxe album. Their fourth studio album entitled ''Elegy'' was released independently on January 14, 2022.

History

Formation (2013)

Shadow of Intent was formed in 2013 in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

by vocalist Ben Duerr and guitarist Chris Wiseman. They met playing in separate bands at a local concert. The group was initially formed as a studio project. They were inspired by ''

'' and the name "Shadow of Intent" came from a ship in the game series bearing the same name. Duerr describes himself as a ''Halo'' nerd and stated that their music follows the storyline of the ''Halo'' novels.

''Inferi Sententia'' and ''Primordial'' (2014–2016)

The group released their EP ''Inferi Sententia'' on July 18, 2014, and debut album ''Primordial'' on January 10, 2016. The tracks on both albums were produced via homemade recordings. All of the tracks on ''Inferi Sententia'' were re-recorded and featured on ''Primordial''. The drum tracks are programmed on both releases. Keyboard and orchestral samples are also present on these releases. Duerr was responsible solely for writing and performing the lead vocals during the production process while Wiseman was responsible for all of the remaining songwriting.

New Members, ''Reclaimer'', and ''The Instrumentals'' (2016–2017)

On September 19, 2016, they announced the addition of Matt Kohanowski on drums, marking the end of the group's time as a two-man project. On March 31, 2017, they announced the addition of new members Federico Zuccarelli on guitar and Keith Kohlhepp on bass. This brought the total members of the group to five. On April 28, 2017, Shadow of Intent released ''Reclaimer'', their first album without programmed drum tracks and the first album to feature a unique player on each instrument. It reached #4 on the iTunes metal chart at debut. It was described by ''MetalSucks'' as "nothing short of a triumph of symphonic deathcore". The band released ''The Instrumentals'' on October 20, 2017. The album contained instrumental versions of all of the songs from both of the preceding albums.

''Melancholy'' and ''Elegy'' (2018–present)

In December 2017, Shadow of Intent began touring with their now four-man lineup. They played their first live shows at the Webster Theater in Hartford CT and at the Gramercy Theater in New York City. On March 30, 2018, they released their first single 'Underneath a Sullen Moon'. This was the first track which was not ''Halo''-themed and their second released track which did not begin with the word 'The.' The band went on their first major tour in the Spring of 2018 supporting Carnifex on their Chaos & Carnage tour headliner. Oceano, Winds of Plague, Archspire, Spite, Widowmaker and Buried Above Ground accompanied Shadow of Intent on this tour. In the Summer of 2018, the band toured alongside Whitechapel, The Black Dahlia Murder, Fleshgod Apocalypse, and Aversions Crown. On December 14, 2018, the group announced that Anthony Barone would be joining the group as their drummer. On August 16, 2019, Shadow of Intent released ''Melancholy'' which included a remastered version of the aforementioned single as one of the tracks on the album. Francesco Ferrini of Fleshgod Apocalypse contributed to the orchestral work on this album. ''Melancholy'' has been described as a concept album depicting mass suicides orchestrated by a demonic goddess. This album marked a departure from writing strictly ''Halo''-themed music. An instrumental version of ''Melancholy'' was also released on November 22, 2019. In the Winter of 2020, the band performed on their first major headlining tour throughout the United States accompanied by Inferi, Signs of the Swarm, and Brand of Sacrifice. On November 8, 2020, the group announced they were parting ways with Anthony Barone and that Bryce Butler (

Contrarian A contrarian is a person who holds a contrary position, especially a position against the majority. Investing A contrarian investing style is based on identifying, and speculating against, movements in stock prices that reflect changes in th ...

) would be replacing him. In October 2021, The band announced their fourth studio album, ''Elegy'', for a January 2022 release, which was ultimately met with great critical acclaim. A deluxe edition of the album was released digitally on September 9, 2022, featuring a B-side track titled 'Frozen Tomb' and a cover of Lamb of God's 'Laid to Rest'. In the Winter of 2022, the band toured the United States alongside

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 ...

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...

, and

Revocation Revocation is the act of recall or annulment. It is the cancelling of an act, the recalling of a grant or privilege, or the making void of some deed previously existing. A temporary revocation of a grant or privilege is called a suspension. Cont ...

Musical style and influences

Shadow of Intent's symphonic style has been compared to

Fleshgod Apocalypse Fleshgod Apocalypse is an Italian symphonic death metal band. Formed in 2007, the group resides in Perugia and are currently signed to Nuclear Blast. They have released five full-length albums. History Formation and ''Oracles'' (2007–2009) Fl ...

, Ovid's Withering, and

Dimmu Borgir Dimmu Borgir () is a Norwegian symphonic black metal band from Jessheim, formed in 1993. The name is derived from Dimmuborgir, a volcanic formation in Iceland, the name of which means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic, ...

. Their stylistic development has been described as incorporating

blackened death metal Blackened death metal (also known as black death metal) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal that fuses elements of black metal and death metal. The genre emerged in early 1990s when black metal bands began incorporating elements of death me ...

and

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad :Fusion music genres, fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven s ...

elements in their ''Melancholy'' release. The group has demonstrated a penchant for instrumentals, not only releasing instrumental versions of all of their albums, but also including at least one instrumental track on nearly every album release (The Aftermath in Jat-Krula track from Primordial features a minor vocal part despite being mostly instrumental).

Members

Current * Ben Duerr – lead vocals (2013–present) * Chris Wiseman – guitars, backing vocals, programming, clean vocals (2013–present) * Andrew Monias – bass, backing vocals (2018–present) * Bryce Butler – drums (2020–present) Former * Matt Kohanowski – drums (2016–2018) * Keith Kohlhepp – bass (2017–2018) * Federico Zuccarelli – guitars (2017) * Anthony Barone – drums (2018–2020)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums Instrumental album versions *''The Instrumentals'' (2017) *''Melancholy nstrumentals' (2019) EPs *''Inferi Sententia'' (July 18, 2014) Singles *"Underneath a Sullen Moon" (March 30, 2018) *"Intensified Genocide" (July 30, 2021)

References

{{cite web , last1=Duerr , first1=Ben , title=Q&A , url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBCzqSNlEIo , website=YouTube , accessdate=November 9, 2020 American deathcore musical groups Musical groups established in 2013 2013 establishments in Connecticut