HERUVIM are a Death Metal act from Odessa, Ukraine, that launched in 2019. The band released a demo digitally through Bandcamp in 2021 entitled The Riddle of Steel and began playing live and working on their follow up. I came to discover the band around the time Russia invaded Ukraine in February; at the time the band began streaming the first song off of their upcoming EP Shadowheart. After contacting the band in order to hear the rest of the EP before it was released, I was blown away with what I heard. HERUVIM’s approach to death metal is completely refreshing and unique. They borrow heavily from the 90’s Death Metal scene, but not the typical bands one would expect. The biggest influences heard in the majority of this EP come from early Pestilence, Morgoth, and even Atheist at times. The vocals provided by Nefarious are extremely intense and powerful; they really stand out amongst Death Metal vocalists of the day. Of course, the band have much more important things to deal with as their country has been invaded by their powerful neighbor to the East. The band are doing everything they can to support their county’s defense, including donating all digital profits to the Ukrainian Army. In addition, vocalist Nefarious works with a team of journalists who call themselves Fryed Pin Family. They have been creating a series of mini-documentaroes in collaboration with the UMBS (Ukraine Must be Safe) Volunteer Organization. We will provide a link to one of the mini-docs below. Recently reviewing the EP, NO CLEAN SINGING had to say: “Delivered with a clear yet powerful production, the songs combine harrowing, spine-tingling roars and ruinous howls, bone-jolting grooves, kaleidoscopic guitar work that introduces moods of dread, despair, and grief, as well as freakishness, frenzy, and ferocity, and constant tempo shifts whose changes are executed with technical precision. The music is heavy as hell and often mauling, but also frequently intricate and mesmerizing. Some riffs drag and become oppressive, but the fretwork is just as capable of becoming fleet, fiery, and inventively adventurous, and the soloing is eye-popping. And thus it will likely appeal to fans of technical death metal as well as lovers of unchained aggression, and the evocative melodies create an enticing intersection with melodic death metal as well.”
