Brand Of Sacrifice Locked & Loaded For Froth & Fury

Since 2018, Toronto-based deathcore quintet BRAND OF SACRIFICE have been making an undeniably indelible mark on the heavy music scene. Dubbed ‘The Branded Ones,’ the group’s fans joined and marched with them as they tore across the globe in support of their sophomore album Lifeblood, which debuted on eight separate Billboard charts and earned them a Juno nomination for Metal Album of the Year. Other highlights included slots on highly anticipated tours with artists like SPIRITBOX, THY ART IS MURDER, WE CAME AS ROMANS & more.

BRAND OF SACRIFICE pushed the envelope even further with their next release, EP Between Death and Dreams in 2023. With production even more cinematic, exemplified by massive choral soundscapes, brutal breakdowns, and quite few surprises along the way, the EP was met with huge critical acclaim and showcased an exceptional evolution of their sound.

In December of 2023 BRAND OF SACRIFICE announced signing to world renowned label, Nuclear Blast Records. Having previously seen huge growth via their partnership with sister company, Blood Blast Distribution, signing with Nuclear Blast was the natural progression for the band. BRAND OF SACRIFICE ushered in their exciting new era with the release of single Purge, another giant leap in their continued sonic evolution. Front man Kyle Anderson talks to Hi Fi Way about returning to Australia for the second time this year which also includes Froth & Fury in Adelaide.

Are you excited to get your Australian tour underway?
Yeah, looking forward to it. We’re just happy to be back. It’s pretty rare that a band goes twice in a year.

Twice in a year is a massive score particularly with Thy Art Is Murder, Great American Ghost and Lune. Have you toured with all those guys before?
I’ve toured with Thy Art Is Murder back in 2022. They were doing a co-headline tour with After The Burial. So we have a relationship with those guys for sure.

Playing at a metal festival like Froth & Fury in Adelaide must be a nice sweetener on top?
Yeah, looking forward to that. We did Knotfest and if it’s anything like that, it’s going to be a great time.

How has the touring side of things been going for the band so far this year?
It’s been good. After that Australian run that we did earlier in the year for Knotfest, we did European festivals for a few weeks and then we just did a full, nearly full US run with Veil Of Maya, Gideon and Left To Suffer and a few other bands as well.

Is playing a festival like Knotfest like a dream come true and as far as festivals go, like the pinnacle?
Yeah, definitely. It’s something that we always had on the bucket list, so it was pretty surreal to actually get up on stage and see the big crowds every day and people giving it their all. It was a great time.

Do you alter your approach whether it is Froth & Fury or a smaller club show or do you just go hard from right from the get go?
It’s still the same approach. I personally, I love festivals and I think it’s a great time and you can get some crazy pictures and videos out of those, but I do really like the intimate shows personally where you can actually meet the fans and feel that energy because it’s a lot closer to you.

Coming back for a second time this year is there anything particular that you look forward to more this time around?
Apart from the shows themselves, we didn’t get to see any kangaroos or koalas or any of that kind of touristy stuff. We didn’t get to do that!

Are there plans for new music in 2025?
Yeah, we’re working on a whole full length album. It’s been about four years now since our last full length. We did put out an EP last year, but I think we’re overdue for a record, so we’re deep into the process of writing and recording right now. Hopefully it’ll come out sometime next year. I think there’ll be no problem doing that.

I guess with an album like Lifeblood, do you feel any weight of pressure or expectation in following up to that one?
I think you always are going to feel that, especially since we’ve been playing those songs for almost four years now and still get really good reactions. So, they’ve been well received over time, but we are just are having fun with it and I think these are some of the best songs we’ve ever written, in my opinion. Just a lot more streamlined in the sense that we’re really honing in on what we do well. I’ve really put an emphasis on annunciation, there’s lots of big hooks, big like cinematic parts, just like amplifying the tool kit times ten.

Does anything in particular influence that or has that just come through evolving as a band, experience and just getting better at what you do?
I think it’s a combination of things that we’re enjoying right now as well as growing as a band and seeing what works live, what’s received well in a festival environment, what’s received well at a club. All these different things you don’t really think about when you just write what’s coming off the dome. We’ve sort of dialled everything in a lot more.

Do any other bands influence you or does it just purely from come from within?
We have quite a lot of influences, but I think we wanted to go for a little bit more of, it’s still extremely Death Metal and Death Core, but there’s still more hardcore influence, actually a little bit more raw in some ways. It’s still going to be a big production and a big sound, there’s more open space in some songs than we’ve had because we usually have a lot going on, a lot of layers and whatnot. But some of the songs are a little more open now.

Is it easier in terms of the creative process and not having the constraints of covid to be able to get together in a room to work hard on fleshing these ideas out and jamming these new songs?
Funny enough, we still are doing everything remotely. That’s how we’ve always done it. It’s what has worked for us, so we don’t want to fix what is not broken, I guess. I just record here in my home studio, same with our producer and writer Leo, the same thing. We just go back and forth sending each other things.

Is being signed to Nuclear Blast a massive feather in the cap for the band?
Yeah, it’s been great so far, but they’re definitely waiting for us to hand in a record so they can work their magic and do their thing. But, they’ve been awesome so far.

While you’re in Australia, will you preview any new songs on this tour?
I think they’re still in the kitchen. They’re still in the kitchen a little bit. We did play one new song from this album, but I’ve completely reworked it since our last tour. We’re going to wait until everything’s all done before we start playing those live.

Interview By Rob Lyon

Catch Of Virtue at Froth & Fury Festival at Harts Mill, Port Adelaide on Saturday November 9. Tickets from MoshTix…

On tour with Thy Art Is Murder, The Great American Ghost and Lune on the following dates, tickets HERE…