KONTUSION

KONTUSION: Repulsion, Mammoth Grinder veterans join forces in new death metal cult; self-titled debut EP to be released in March; first single "Rotting with Sickness" now streaming; East Coast tour announced

Death metal duo Kontusion announces the March 25th release of its self-titled debut EP. Available in digital and cassette formats, the EP will be self-released by the band.

Stream the first single, "Rotting with Sickness," here:
https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2022/01/18/track-premiere-kontusion-rotting-with-sickness/

Pre-order the EP, here:

https://kontusionkontusion.bandcamp.com/

Kontusion is the alliance of underground heavyweights Mark Bronzino and Chris Moore. Over the past two decades, Bronzino and Moore have both smeared their slime all across the musical map, each lending his talents to dozens of notable bands, from grindcore legends Repulsion to trap metal superstar Ghostemane. In Kontusion, these two old friends unite to spew forth their own singular vision of death metal, inspired by, among other things, the primitivism of the genre's early greats. Kontusion's self-titled debut EP is a feast of fang-baring riffs and bone-shaking rhythms, buried under a thick blanket of graveyard mist.

Opening with peals of feedback, first single "Rotting with Sickness" serves as a perfect introduction to the band's sound. With guitars buzzing hellward and an elementary drum cadence descending into a blizzard of blasts, the duo then launches a lumbering mid-tempo thrash offensive that crushes all in sight. Bronzino's cavernous vocals wash through the mix, as if transmitting from deep within a catacomb. Two ripping guitar solos arise from within the song like a corpse's hands thrusting upward from a cemetery plot; an icy synth lead, evoking 1980s VHS glory, completes the scene.

Like vampires, Bronzino and Moore have carved out a space between the morbid and the virile. Death metal is Kontusion's medium, but the music possesses a rawness, a momentum, a fire, that points to years spent in the hardcore punk trenches. "Metal and punk are in our DNA" states Bronzino. "From Carcass, Bolt Thrower, and Terrorizer, to Discharge, Amebix, and Doom."

Kontusion's origins go back 15 years to Bronzino's and Moore's first meeting. Early versions of the songs were demoed when the New Jersey-based Bronzino came through Moore's hometown of Washington, DC, while on tour. The two each went on to play in a slew of bands in the years that followed – Bronzino, with Ghostemane, Mammoth Grinder, ANS, Testa Dura, and Noun, among others, and Moore as a member of Repulsion, Coke Bust, Aertex, and The Rememberables, to name a few. In the early days of 2020, the pair reconnected and vowed to turn the Kontusion concept into flesh. 

Kontusion's self-titled debut EP was recorded and mixed by Mark Bronzino at Volume IV Studios in New Brunswick, NJ and Damaged City Studios, Washington, DC. It was mastered by Nick Townsend at Townsend Mastering. The cover art was created by Matt Plunkett.

A wholly new and original slab of evil, reflecting the passions of its makers, the EP will nonetheless fit squarely on the shelves of death metal libraries, alongside the aforementioned "classics" as well as current standouts of the genre, like Necrot, Acephalix, and Undergang.

Tracklist:
1) Unrelenting Pain
2) Rotting with Sickness
3) Blood Church
4) Charred Remains

Lineup:
Mark Bronzino - vocals, guitar, bass
Chris Moore - drums, synth

Tour:
April 28 - Brooklyn, NY - Saint Vitus Bar
April 29 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
April 30 - Boston, MA - O’Briens
May 1 - Rochester, NY - Photo City Music Hall
May 2 - Toledo, OH - The Ottawa Tavern
May 3 - Indianapolis, IN - Black Circle Brewery
May 4 - Pittsburgh, PA - Rock Room
May 5 - Asbury Park, NJ - Bond Street Basement
May 6 - Richmond, VA - Cobra Cabana
May 7 - Washington, DC - Atlas Brew Works

Photo by Aaron Brown