Vials of Wrath are an American
Christian metal
Christian metal, also known as white metal, Jesus metal or heavenly metal, is heavy metal music distinguished by its Christian themed song lyrics and the dedication of the band members to Christianity. Christian metal is typically performed by ...
band, who play a mixture of
unblack metal
Unblack metal (also known as Christian black metal) is a religious philosophy and subgenre within black metal, inheriting several characteristics of it, such as the melody, the lyrics and the aesthetics ( corpse paint), whose artists either dir ...
and
death metal music, with one member Dempsey "DC" Woodrow Mills Jr. He is from
Princeton
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...
,
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...
, however the band was formed in 2011 in Charlotte, NC. The band has released three
studio albums, ''Seeking Refuge'' in 2013, ''Days Without Names'' in 2015, and ''Dark Winter Memories'' in 2019. The project have released four
extended play
An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record. s, ''Vials of Wrath'', in 2011, ''Let There Be Light'', in 2013, ''Ataraxia'' and ''The Ways of Old'' in 2018.
Background
Vials of Wrath is a one-piece
Christian metal
Christian metal, also known as white metal, Jesus metal or heavenly metal, is heavy metal music distinguished by its Christian themed song lyrics and the dedication of the band members to Christianity. Christian metal is typically performed by ...
band,
playing
unblack metal
Unblack metal (also known as Christian black metal) is a religious philosophy and subgenre within black metal, inheriting several characteristics of it, such as the melody, the lyrics and the aesthetics ( corpse paint), whose artists either dir ...
and
death metal music,
featuring Dempsey "DC" Mills, originally from
Princeton
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...
,
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...
. Vials of Wrath was formed in 2011 when Mills was not performing with North Carolina's
Christian deathcore band
Bloodline Severed, but wanted to write and record in the vein of his pre-Christian musical influences.
Mills started Vials of Wrath after leaving Bloodline Severed to focus on his job full-time. Mills has been a Christian since 1998. He is a former rhythm/lead guitarist and background vocalist for Bloodline Severed. The band name Vials of Wrath comes from Revelation 16, where it states, "'Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.'"
Music history
Started as a band/project in 2011, with his first
extended play
An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record. , ''Vials of Wrath'', releasing that year. The first
studio album, ''Seeking Refuge'', was released on April 30, 2013, and was recorded in Mills' own Wildwood Studios in Maryville, Tennessee.
Its second extended play, ''Let There Be Light'', was released the same year, in 2013, featuring remixed versions of the songs from the 2011 EP along with two additional tracks.
The band's second studio album, ''Days Without Names'', was released on September 1, 2015, and was again recorded in Mills' home recording studio, however its name was changed to Fallen Oak Recording.
An EP, ''Ataraxia'', was released in the summer of 2018 with a limited edition CD pressing via Mills' own Fallen Oak Recordings label. In November 2018, the band announced their signing to
Avantgarde Music
Avantgarde Music is an Italian record label, formed as a continuation of Obscure Plasma Records, focusing on black and doom metal artists. The label had a sub-label called Wounded Love Records, which has released albums by Dolorian and Taake. ...
sub-label Flowing Downward, and released its third full-length, ''Dark Winter Memories,'' in 2019.
Members
;Current members
[
* Dempsey W. Mills Jr. (a.k.a. "DC" Mills) – Lead Vocals, all instruments (ex-Bloodline Severed, ex-Endless Descent, Pallidus)
;Session members
* Derek Corzine (ex- Bloodline Severed) – Guitars (2015)
* R. Michael Cook ( A Hill to Die Upon) – Drums (2015)
* Aaron Macemore (Bloodline Severed) – Guitars, vocals (2015)
* Josh Thieler (Slaves B.C., Twilight Fauna) – Drums (2019)
]
Discography
;Studio albums
* ''Seeking Refuge'' (April 30, 2013)
* ''Days Without Names'' (September 1, 2015); featured guest musicians R. Michael Cook from A Hill to Die Upon, Derek Corzine from Whisper From Heaven and Blood Thirsty, and Aaron Macemore from Bloodline Severed.
* ''Dark Winter Memories'' (December 8, 2019); featured guest musician Josh Thieler of Slaves B.C.
;EPs[
* ''Vials of Wrath'' (2011)
* ''Let There Be Light'' (July 23, 2013)
* ''Ataraxia'' (August 21, 2018)
* ''The Ways of Old'' (August 29, 2018)
;Split EPs][
* ''Vials of Wrath/Warfrozen'' (2011; Split w/Warfrozen)
* ''Consuming Fire/Vials of Wrath'' (2017; Split w/ Consuming Fire)
;Demos][
* ''Empty Words'' (2013)
* ''Vengeance Is Mine'' (2013)
;Compilation appearances
* ''Metal From The Dragon (Vol. 1)'' (2017; The Bearded Dragon Productions)
* ''Hymns of the Blackest Light Volumes 1'' (2017; Fallen Oak Recording)
* ''Hymns of the Blackest Light Volume 2'' (2018; Fallen Oak Recording)
;Documentary appearances
* ''Metal Missionaries: The Documentary'' (2017)
* ''True American Black Metal'' (2020)
]
References
External links
Facebook page
Entry on Metal Archives
{{Authority control
American Christian metal musical groups
American death metal musical groups
Unblack metal musical groups
Musical groups established in 2011
Musical groups from West Virginia
2011 establishments in West Virginia
People from Princeton, West Virginia