Red Death, The Bio

The Red Death, named after Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Masque of The Red Death", formed in late fall/early winter of 2002 in Bath, NY (80 miles south of Rochester, NY) with the intent of writing thrash metal influenced songs with a heavier American hardcore vibe to them.

Good friends and former band mates Joshua Williammee, Graham Mitchell, and Paul Hamblin got together with two other musicians from the area to write and record a three-song demo CD, which was released in early 2003. It was well received locally but the band wanted to push their talents further and tour. In order to do that Bryan Van Gelder (original guitarist) left the band as he wished to pursue an education and Nate Golia, friend of the band, came in to pinch hit and pick up where Bryan left off.

The band recorded another four-song demo CD, embarked on a few short tours, and played a number of shows in the Upstate New York region, thus building a small fan base and gaining a foothold as a relevant act in local metal/hardcore communities.

The Red Death continued growing with maturity to their songwriting and recorded a six-song Cdep entitled "Aftertaste of the Emaciated" which was released in July of 2004 on a small independent label. Around this time the band went through several temporary bass players before long time chum, Dominic Mastronunzio (ex-Shadows and the Silence), offered to move back to NY and play bass for them. The Red Death, in support of the then-new EP, gained more support locally and set off on two separate three-week tours (one with NJ based With Resistance, the other with NC metalcore outfit Bloodjinn) and was lucky enough to catch the attention of Metal Blade Records.

With a long term recording contract and extensive touring on the horizon, Nate felt that he wanted to pursue other things in life and left the band. After a short search by the band Aaron Conti, formerly of brother band If Hope Dies, was then added to the roster to bring The Red Death to their current lineup consisting of Paul Hamblin, Josh Williammee, Graham Mitchell, Dominic Mastronunzio, and Aaron Conti.

The newly solidified band then headed into the studio with Jason "Jocko" Randall (who had recorded and produced the previous EP "Aftertaste of the Emaciated") to record their debut Metal Blade full-length entitled "External Frames of Reference".

If you were to ask "What's next in store for The Red Death?" the answer would be, "Tour non-stop, continue writing thrash influenced metalcore, make friends, have fun and engage in tom-foolery, and most importantly STAY GRIM."