Watchlist Wednesday: Departed
The darkest NJ beatdown group is back with a new album
One of the most terrifying bands from New Jersey, Departed have dropped a new album called Darkness Reigns and be sure to heed the title, this bands music dwells deep within the abyss and they expel that with ease. For the uninitiated, Departed play a style of metallic/beatdown hardcore that mixes in the dreadful and nihilistic aesthetic of black metal, would we call it blackened beatdown? I’m not sure.
What I can be certain of is that this band always intrigued me as they seemed like they had been around since even the early 2000s in both sound and presence, I suppose this is owed to vocalist Joe Stanley’s former stint in hardcore legends Clubber Lang back in the late 90s. They felt wiser but came with a style that laid waste to a lot of the new jack bands combining the death metal and hardcore templates made famous by All Out Wat and 100 Demons. They’ve definitely made a name for themselves in the years they’ve been active appearing multiple times at This Is Hardcore and consistently playing shows.
I first came across them seeing Burden open for The Acacia Strain at the Worcester Palladium, my friend and vocalist at the time Cameron (now the vocalist of Eternal Reach) wore a shirt of theirs and recommended them to me. I certainly didn’t regret it.
