Heriot (band)

Heriot were originally formed in late 2014 by drummer Julian Gage, bassist and vocalist Jake Packer and guitarist Erhan Alman. All three members met at the same school in Swindon, and discussed forming the band whilst attending the 2000trees festival.^[1][2] Their name, coined by Packer, refers to the Anglo-Saxon-era death duty tax.^[3][4] The band self-released their debut EP, Violence, in January 2015.^[1][5] Heriot gained some notability with their second EP World Collapse, released on 28 October 2016, and from their performance on the New Blood stage at the 2016 Bloodstock Festival.^[6][7] Heriot would go on an indefinite hiatus later that year when Packer moved to Bristol and the band "lost momentum", according to Gage.^[7] The band still continued to play shows through 2017 and 2018.^[8][9][10] Heriot later disowned their output from this period, and removed it from streaming services.^[1][7]

In 2019, Heriot added vocalist and guitarist Debbie Gough (of the Birmingham-based Dead Hands) to their line-up.^[1][7] With Gough's introduction, the band's music would move away from the sludge-doom sound of their earlier releases towards a more discordant and experimental one, influenced by bands such as The Chariot.^[7][11] Heriot's debut single with Gough, "Cleansed Existence", was released on 26 November 2020.^[12] In February 2021, Heriot were contacted by Church Road Records, with the band announcing their signing to the label in April of that year.^[13][14]

On 29 April 2022 the band released their third EP, Profound Morality.^[13] The band decided against releasing a proper album at the time as they still wanted the freedom to experiment with their sound.^[13] In January 2023, the band were featured on NME's "NME 100" list for "essential emerging artists".^[15] On 14 February 2023, at the tail end of a supporting tour with Rolo Tomassi,^[16] Heriot released a new single, "Demure".^[17][18] The band began writing material for their debut album in March, though work was put on hold to allow the band to tour across Europe during the summer.^[19][20] During that time, they performed at the 2023 editions of the 2000trees, Slam Dunk and Standon Calling festivals.^{[21][22][23][24][2]}

On 15 November 2023, Heriot released "Soul Chasm", their first single since signing with Century Media Records.^[19][25] On 2 May 2024, they released another single, "Siege Lord".^[26][27] On 5 June 2024, the band announced that they would be releasing their debut album, Devoured by the Mouth of Hell, on 27 September 2024 and released "Foul Void" as its second single.^[28] The band recorded the album with Sylosis frontman and ex-Architects guitarist Josh Middelton and Will Putney.^[29] Throughout June 2024, Heriot will perform at the Rock im Park and Rock Am Ring, Download, Resurrection, Jera on Air and Hellfest festivals.^[30] In November and December 2024 they will support Sylosis and Fit for an Autopsy on their co-headlining tour of Europe.^[31][32]

Heriot are often described as a metalcore band.^{[33][34][35][36][37]} Guitar.com described the band as "genre-agnostic",^[17] whilst Blabbermouth.net described their Profound Morality EP as "post-everything".^[38] The band's sound has been described as featuring and combining elements from a wide variety of metal subgenres, including blackened metal, death metal, gothic metal, doom metal, industrial metal, sludge metal and post-metal, as well as those from non-metal genres including post-rock, hardcore, industrial, noise and ambient music.^[a] Metal Hammer described the band's early sound as sludge metal,^[7] hardcore,^[6] and "doomcore".^[43]

The band's musical influences include Banks,^[44] Billie Eillish,^[19][44] Black Sabbath,^[3] Brutus,^[45] The Chariot,^[45] Code Orange,^[45][46][47] Converge,^[45] Deftones,^[46][48] The Dillinger Escape Plan,^[45] Godflesh,^[19] Health,^[19] Knocked Loose,^[48] Korn,^[46] Lamb of God,^[45] Nails,^[44] Oathbreaker,^[44][45] Power Trip,^[48] Primitive Man,^[47] Vein.fm,^[47] and Wand.^[19][45]

Gough has said that Heriot is "a very visual band and we work very hard to cement our music as an immersive experience."^[49] The band incorporates medieval undertones into their artwork and videos; the cover of Profound Morality features a chainmail cap, and the music videos for its singles also feature medieval elements.^[4] Heriot has frequently collaborated with Harry Steel on their videos and artwork;^[4][49][50] they have called him the band's "unofficial 5th member".^[51]

• 
  Erhan Alman
• 
  Debbie Gough
• 
  Jake Packer
• 
  Julian Gage

• Erhan Alman – guitars (2014–present)
• Debbie Gough – guitars, vocals (2019–present)
• Jake Packer – bass, vocals (2014–present)
• Julian Gage – drums (2014–present)

Studio albums

EPs

Singles