Cleric was officially born in 2007 as a fuzz laden three piece by John Schiller (bass), Zach Jobin (drums), and Chris Richardson (guitar/vocals). The band began to shift gears sometime in 2008 with the addition of Andrew Hawkins (Baring Teeth). What once started as an innocent Doom project in 2007 quickly transformed into a fire-breathing HM-2 death metal juggernaut a year later. Heavily influenced by Death Metal legends, Asphyx and Bolt Thrower, the band recorded a demo and soon after recruited Zac Christian (vocals). In 2013, the band released their debut full length, Gratum Inferno, on Tofu Carnage Records to critical acclaim. A year later, Andrew Hawkins exited the band and was replaced by Cody Tatum. With the addition of Cody, the band began work on their second full length album, Serpent Psalms. Serpent Psalms is as expansive as it is chaotic, an amalgam of sheer brutality and dark melodies that set a landscape of terror and despair. With the completion of Serpent Psalms, Cody Tatum and John Schiller had left the band and Ben Cooper (guitar) and Todd Thompson (bass) were enlisted to solidify the current line up as it stands today. "If you like your death metal to sound old-school like Asphyx, Bolt Thrower, Dismember or Bloodbath, check this shit out" - Metal Injection metalinjection.net/av/new-music/cleric-maw-of-absolution-stream "The band’s sound is nothing short of Scandinavian-bred fury cultivated through un-repenting, Americanized death metal. The album’s nine tracks are pure carnage, and no one is left in their wake. (Side note: check out the killer cover art by Jason Barnett [Petrification, Power Trip])" - New Noise Magazine newnoisemagazine.com/premiere-cleric-all-death-unseeing/ "Texas based Cleric bring even more filthiness with their second full length of classic sounding Swe/Fin/Dutch inspired death metal" - Nine Circles ninecircles.co/2019/10/21/initial-descent-october-20-26-2019/ "...this is a filthy, dirty disc full of delicious, honest, old school scrap metal death metal. Recommended!" - Lords of Metal arrowlordsofmetal.nl/cleric-serpent-psalms/ "Serpent Psalms is as expansive as it is chaotic, an amalgam of sheer brutality and dark melodies that set a landscape of despair and anxiety." - Permafrost Today permafrost.today/2019/10/07/cleric-fire-breathing-hm-2-death-metal-juggernaut/
