He Who Binds Himself is a death metal band from Arizona, and they are of interest to me and might be of interest to you as they feature members of Vehemence, the US death metal band who released the fantastic God Was Created back in 2002, a classic album from the 00s.

When Vehemence went on hiatus (before coming back in 2015 with Forward Without Motion and then finally calling it quits), a few of the members  (vocalist Nathan Gearhart, who started this project back in 2004/2005, drummer Andy Schroeder and bassist Mark Kozuback) kept busy in He Who Binds Himself along with guitarists Steven Jasinski and Gabe Oso, who serve a few local Arizona acts.

However, those expecting Vehemence or God Was Created part 2 will be a little disappointed, (even though I’m sure the band actually wants to distance themselves a bit) especially early on,  as He Who Binds Himself is a little more straight forward US death metal act. While certainly solid and Gearhart’s superb vocals and lyrics (“This Time She Found Us”, “I Am The Dead God”, “Why I Ate Them”) are as strong as ever, it’s not quite as dynamic or melodically brutal. The material is more direct, blasting Cannibal Corpse-y US death metal, done quite well, but hardly as game changing as Vehemence.

Still, there are certainly some moments here or there that do imbue Vehemence such as the songs titles or a riff (“The Worthless Altar”) or melodic lead here or there (i.e. “Alone and Suffering”), and a lot of the late album material is pretty strong such as “March of the Bastards”, “These Eyes See Everything” and closer “Why I Ate Them”.

The production is strong a modern and there is some creative bass work here and there, and while not an immediately awesome listen, a few listens actually reveal a really solid US death metal album from some very cool dudes.

[Visit the band's website]

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