Location: New Jersey
Country; USA
Genre: Death metal, deathcore
Full length: Sins Burn Black
Format: Digital
Label: Ragebreed/Earache
Release date: October 31, 2026
Demon Christ’s self-titled debut was a raw, bludgeoning blend of stripped-down slam death metal and blackened deathcore. Dense and punishing, it distilled both genres to their core appeal, favoring malice over marketability.
The brute force of their debut carries into sophomore effort “Sins Burn Black.” Demon Christ pick up the ball and push further into that territory, but they’re no one-note symphony Their reinforced heaviness is tempered by technical structures, calculated riffing, nimble embellishments, vacillating percussion, and sweeping, theatrical keyboards.
The result shifts between tight claustrophobia and grand, horror-film orchestration. The keyboards emerge moments into the opening title track, adding spine-chilling shades of early-’90s black and gothic metal to its crushing heaviness, reminiscent of Samael and Moonspell. The riffs aren’t necessarily heavier than on the previous album, but they’re meant to progress with greater steadiness and persistence.
With minimal appearances of tension and dread, the band’s claustrophobic sound takes shape in a stark, macabre landscape, returning in the atmospheric guitars that open “Buried in Decay.” The downtuned guitars and higher-register keys give the music clarity without muddying its weight. This textural contrast balances the organic and mechanical, simultaneously evoking slaughterhouses and ancient cathedrals. Subtle guitar effects broaden the sound, making it just a little more expansive.
This tonal symmetry runs through “Curse You All,” “Bloodlit Penance,” “Scream For God,” and “Impaled at the Altar.” The guitars provide a cold, dense, robotic foundation for keyboard-led atmospheres that shift between dreadful, melodic, symphonic, isolated, theatrical, and churchlike.
These contrasting elements need a binding force to keep them from drifting apart, and the vocals and rhythm section provide more than one. The bass fills the gap between the low guitars and high keyboards, keeping the arrangement from sounding two-dimensional. Distortion helps it bridge the two, merging them into a massive wall of sound rather than leaving them to merely complement each other.
The kick drums, double kick drums, grooves, high tension snare and cymbals all work with the bass to add impact and drive, at times toning down to give the bass time to breathe. The vocals both ground the riffs and elevate the atmosphere, adding to the wall of sound while helping bind the low and high frequencies at the forefront.
More than a sum of its parts, “Sins Burn Black” takes the idea of controlled aggression further. By an involved process of writing and arranging, the band created a cohesive monument to extreme music, its macabre shadows establishing Demon Christ as a dominant force in metal. –Dave Wolff
Lineup:
Dave "The Demon Christ" Incognito: Lead vocals
Jay Prussack: Guitars
Mike LePond: Bass
Shannon Red: Keyboards, backing vocals, piano (sessions) and bass tracks (session)
Joe D'Aqui: Drums
Track list:
1. Sins Burn Black
2. Curse You All
3. Buried In Decay
4. Bloodlit Penance
5. Scream For God
6. Amerikill The Brutal
7. Impaled At The Altar
8. Crowned And Conquered
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