Spesimin
Spesimin is a Philadelphia-based Metal band. Blending monstrous riffs and horrific imagery, they concoct a sprawling realm that viscerally explores moral ills and the macabre mysteries of the mind. Equally heavy and infectious, Spesimin provides the cathartic soundtrack necessary for our uncompromising modern hellscape.
Spesimin came into being in 2019, when Punk-rooted Ian (Vocals/Drums) and Jazz inflected Alejandro (Guitar) joined forces after bonding over their shared appreciation for old-school Thrash and Death Metal. Ian’s former bandmate Jeff (Bass) joined in 2020, bringing his love of Florida Death Metal and New York Hardcore to perfectly round out the band’s unique brand of melodic evil Metalpunk.
While fusing elements of Punk, Hardcore, Thrash and Death Metal, Spesimin often defers to Rock grooves and melody over blasts and brutality. The musically adventurous trio has recently refined their approach, transporting their precision riffing and primitive rhythms into slightly Doomier territory, incorporating its long-form technical elements, while continuing to explore deadly serious subjects. They are an anthemic anomaly of their own extreme genre.
In the formation of Spesimin, Ian drew from his lifelong love of gothic and psychological horror, penning lyrics for the first time since his teenage punk band. A more mature viewpoint now drives the approach, as the lens of reality opens a path to scrutinize the world in its fundamentally horrifying state. But the love of horror still brings in the right touch of fun, a flagrant indulgence never shying away from the grotesque. Horror literature fuels tracks like “Spesimin”, which epitomizes the existential dread of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. “Stubborn Beast Flesh”, which draws from H.G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau, vilifies colonialism and prescriptive social norms, reveling in a bloodthirsty vision of radical self-acceptance.
The songs are personal and political, probing subjects like addiction, war, genocide, the dehumanizing effects of capitalism, and religious mania. The result is something cerebral and classic, with gore-soaked imagery that grabs the senses, confronting the darker side of the human experience and evoking a story to be experienced by both musician and listener.
While writing and recording has always been their focus, Spesimin does not exist in a vacuum of studio time like samples in a laboratory. On stage, they embody the form of an unnerving and monstrous persona, a destructive unit harnessing punishing riffs and guttural vocals as vehicles for a deeper understanding of the many facets of the mind.
Contact
spesiminmetal[at]gmail.com
Press
“Brimming with equal parts grime and adrenaline and reeking with the heady stench of timeless death-done-right” – Decibel
“Those who like a messy serving of death growls and punky OSDM riffs for a quick snack should feast their ears.” – Sleeping Village