THE
RED DEATH
Paul Hamblin – Vokills
Joshua Williammee – Guitar
Aaron Conti – Guitar
Dominic Mastronunzio – Bass
Graham Mitchell - Drums
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.”
Look
for The Red Death in your local record stores and
to be playing in your local venues for a long time
to come.
