Worm Shepherd is an American

deathcore Deathcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and metalcore Breakdown (music)#Heavy metal and punk rock, breakdowns. While there are some precursors ...

band from Brockton, Massachusetts, formed in 2020. The band has released three studio albums and an EP.

History

The band released their debut album '' In The Wake Ov Sòl'' independently on December 25, 2020, before getting signed to Unique Leader Records and re-releasing the album via the label on June 4, 2021, receiving positive feedback. Vocalist Devin Duarte stated that he wrote the album when he was "at my emotional lowest and brought me back to the darkest places in my life. I wanted to encapsulate the hopelessness people feel with these words, so that it can have a uniting effect. I wrote all the lyrics at the location where I made an attempt on my life, and I feel that it brought me even closer to the message." Worm Shepherd and Recoil in Horror guest appeared in the song "This is Helloween" by Nitheful. The band released their second album ''

Ritual Hymns ''Ritual Hymns'' is the second album by American blackened deathcore band Worm Shepherd, released on January 14, 2022. It is the band's first album to initially be released through Unique Leader Records. The album features guest appearances by L ...

'' on January 14, 2022. Singles and music videos were released for the songs "Ov Sword and Nail", "Chalice Ov Rebirth", "The River Ov Knives", and "A Bird in the Dusk". Worm Shepherd embarked on a North American tour with The Breathing Process and Alukah in January 2022. In July and August, they supported The Last Ten Seconds of Life in that band's North American tour, alongside Entheos. In October, Worm Shepherd supported

Sanguisugabogg Sanguisugabogg is an American death metal band formed in Columbus, Ohio, in 2019 by guitarist Cameron Boggs. To date, they have released one Demo (music), demo, one live album and two studio albums. Current members include drummer-percussionist ...

in that band's North American tour, alongside VCTMS and Scumfuck. Devin Duarte has guest appeared in the song "Reaper of Dreams" by Oracle Spectre. On July 26, 2023, Worm Shepherd announced a new EP, '' The Sleeping Sun'', released on August 18, 2023, receiving positive feedback. Devin Duarte has guest appeared in the songs "Somber" by Old Wharf and "The Order of the Gash" by Alastor's Gash.

Musical style

Worm Shepherd and its material have been described as

blackened deathcore Deathcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and metalcore breakdowns. While there are some precursors to the concept of death metal fused with met ...

, symphonic deathcore,

blackened death metal Blackened death metal (also known as black death metal) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal that fuses elements of black metal and death metal. The genre emerged in early 1990s when black metal bands began incorporating elements of death me ...

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...

symphonic black metal Symphonic black metal is a subgenre of black metal that emerged in the 1990s and incorporates symphonic and orchestral elements. History One of the earliest forerunners in what would come to be the sound of symphonic metal was Celtic Frost ...

technical death metal Technical death metal (also known as tech death) is a musical subgenre of death metal with particular focus on instrumental skill and complex songwriting. Technical and progressive experimentation in death metal began in the late 1980s and early ...

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

, and

atmospheric black metal Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw (lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an emphas ...

Members

Current * Leo McClain – drums (2020–2022, 2023, 2025–present) * Tre Purdue – guitars (2020–present) * Thomas O'Malley – bass (2024–present) * Harry Tadayon – guitars (2024–present) Former * Ryan Ibarra – bass, guitars (2020–2022) * Brandon Cooper – guitars (2020–2023) * Devin Duarte – vocals (2020–2024) * The Orc King – vocals (2024) Live * Damon Vojtkofsky – drums (2022–2023) * Hunter Spader – bass (2022)

Discography

* '' In The Wake Ov Sòl'' (2020) * ''

'' (2022) * '' The Sleeping Sun'' (EP) (2023) * ''Hunger'' (2024)

References

{{Authority control American deathcore musical groups 2020 establishments in Massachusetts Musical groups established in 2020 American black metal musical groups American symphonic black metal musical groups American blackened death metal musical groups