Starkill is an American

melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavi ...

band from the northwest suburbs of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

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; The members met and began writing materials in 2008, eventually signing to Century Media Records on 14 December 2012 and releasing '' Fires of Life'' on 16 May 2013. The band has incorporated many different musical styles, leading critics and fans to label them as

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

, and

symphonic black metal Symphonic black metal is a subgenre of black metal that emerged in the 1990s and incorporates symphonic and orchestral elements. Notable symphonic black metal bands include Cradle Of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Emperor, and Carach Angren. History ...

History

Foundation and '' Fires of Life'' (2012-2014)

Founding members, and brothers, Parker Jameson and Spencer Weidner had been writing material since their early teens, yet had difficulty putting together a full band due to the lack of like-minded, capable musicians in their hometown. Because of this, Parker enrolled at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. * Indiana Univers ...

, hoping the school's music program would expose him to musicians with similar aspirations. Shortly after beginning his freshman year at

, Parker met guitarist Charlie Federici. The two discovered that they shared similar musical influences and goals, and with the addition of Charlie, the core of the band was formed. The three began writing and performing material under various names in the Indiana and Midwest regions, eventually attracting the attention of Century Media Records in early 2012 while subsequently and permanently settling on the name Starkill. The band began recording their debut album at Electrowerks Studios that summer, and announced their signing with Century Media months later in December. Their debut album, '' Fires of Life'', was released in May 2013 and then the band toured around North America and Europe.

'' Virus of the Mind'' (2014-2016)

On April 11, 2014, Starkill released a music video for "Sword, Spear, Blood, Fire" and announced plans to record a new album at Electrowerks Studio with producer Chuck Macak with an expected release date in the fall of 2014. On July 17, 2014, the album artwork, title and release dates were revealed for the album, entitled ''Virus of the Mind''. The scheduled release dates were October 14, 2014 in the US and Canada and October 20, 2014, in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. On August 7, 2014, the first song off the album, "Breaking the Madness", was released on the

Century Media Records Century Media Records is a heavy metal record label with offices in the United States, Germany and London. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by Robert Kampf and Oli ...

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channel, as well as the track listing and lineup of the album. A video discussing the recording of the album, dubbed "Creating The Virus - Part 1" was released on August 21, 2014, followed by a second video, "Creating The Virus - Part 2" on September 17, 2014. The first video off the album "Before Hope Fades", was released on

on October 2, 2014 and on October 13, 2014, the album was made available for streaming on nocleansinging.com. The album was released on October 14, 2014, in the US and Canada and on October 20, 2014, in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. On November 6, 2014, a lyric video of the title track "Virus of the Mind" was released.

''
Shadow Sleep ''Shadow Sleep'' is the third studio album from the American metal band Starkill Starkill is an American melodic death metal band from the northwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois; The members met and began writing materials in 2008, eventually ...
'' (2016-2019)

Starkill announced on February 2, 2016, via their

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page, that pre-orders for their third album were being accepted via an Indiegogobr>campaign
with a US$25,000 goal. Later that year, the band announced their signing to Prosthetic Records and released the title and album of their third full-length record, ''Shadow Sleep''. The album was slated released worldwide November 4, 2016, being tracked and engineered by both Starkill and Charles Macak of Electrowerks Studios, and mastered by Troy Glessner.

''
Gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the str ...
'' (2019-present)

In 2019, Starkill released their fourth studio album, entitled ''Gravity'', funded through Indiegogo. It is the band's first album with their newest band member, female vocalist Sarah Lynn Collier (who already provided guest vocals on the ''Shadow Sleep'' album), and features performances and production from members of

Epica Epica or EPICA may refer to: * Epica (band) Epica is a Dutch symphonic metal band, founded by guitarist and vocalist Mark Jansen after his departure from After Forever. Formed as a symphonic metal band with gothic tendencies, later Epica ha ...

(Coen Janssen on the piano),

Turisas Turisas is a Finnish metal band from Hämeenlinna. They were founded in 1997 by Mathias Nygård and Jussi Wickström, and named after an ancient Finnish god of war. Turisas are a folk metal band, incorporating elements of power metal and sym ...

(Olli Vänskä on the violin) and Swallow the Sun (Aleksi Munter on the keyboards).

Band members

;Current line-up * Parker Jameson –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of th ...

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the feature ...

, keyboards, programming (2012–present) * Spencer Weidner –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

(2012–present) * Tony Keathley –

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guita ...

(2013–present),

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

(2014–present) * Shaun Andruchuk –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gu ...

(2014–present) * Sarah Lynn Collier – female vocals (2017–present) ;Previous members * Charlie Federici – rhythm guitar (2012–2013) * Mike Buetsch – bass (2012-2013)

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Fires of Life'' (2013) * '' Virus of the Mind'' (2014) * ''

Shadow Sleep ''Shadow Sleep'' is the third studio album from the American metal band Starkill Starkill is an American melodic death metal band from the northwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois; The members met and began writing materials in 2008, eventually ...

'' (2016) * ''

Gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the str ...

'' (2019)

Singles & EPs

* '' All I Want for Christmas Is You'' (

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the ...

cover) (2017) * '' The Pretender'' (

Foo Fighters Foo Fighters are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana (band), Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the Foo Fighters (album), epony ...

cover) (2018) * ''Until We Fall'' (2018) * ''Evil Inside'' (2018)

Music videos

* ''Fires of Life'' * ''New Infernal Rebirth'' * ''Sword, Spear, Blood, Fire'' * ''Before Hope Fades'' * ''Breaking the Madness'' * ''Until We Fall'' * ''Evil Inside'' * ''All I Want for Christmas Is You'' * ''The Real Enemy'' * ''Detonate'' * ''Not Alone'' * ''Burn Your World'' * ''Reckless and Infinite'' * ''Shadow Sleep'' * ''The Pretender'' * ''Cloudless'' * ''Walk Through Fire''

References

{{Authority control American melodic death metal musical groups Century Media Records artists Heavy metal musical groups from Illinois