The Best Metal Bands in Denver

Denver is more metal than most cities, thanks to a scene filled with bands that push the limits of what the genre has traditionally been and what it could be. From the heaviest hitters that became international exports from the Mile High to the local underground dwellers sustaining the morbid music on this side of the Rockies, here are the metal bands that deserve a patch on your battle vest:
Blood Incantation
Blood Incantation is arguably the biggest band in extreme music right now. The Denver quartet of guitarist/vocalist Paul Riedl, guitarist Morris Kolontyrsky, drummer Isaac Faulk and bassist Jeff Barrett (remember those names, as they're members of other local crews on this list) released their third album, Absolute Elsewhere, on October 4 via Century Media Records. Like everything the group has put out since its first release in 2011, the new record is a massive hit with metalheads.

The extraterrestrial-obsessed crew landed the November cover of Decibel magazine, marking the second time Blood Incantation grabbed the preeminent monthly metal mag’s top feature spot — the first was in 2019, for the band's sophomore album, Hidden History of the Human Race, which was another critical success.

But Absolute Elsewhere — which is sold out on vinyl seemingly everywhere in town right now (at least when I desperately tried to find it earlier this month) — puts Blood Incantation on a different plane of auditory existence. The record comprises a pair of twenty-plus-minute tracks, each broken down into three “tablets,” similar to a sci-fi film score. In fact, the music video for “The Stargate” is a cinematic short directed by award-winning cinematographer Michael Ragen, who is known for Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities: The Viewing.

But that’s how Blood Incantation constructs its universe — the old-school death-metal core is supplemented by a penchant for prog rock. It’s Morbid Angel meets King Crimson. (Fun fact: The title Absolute Elsewhere references Crimson drummer Bill Bruford’s obscure 1970 side project.) There are too many wormholes to properly explore in this space, but the gravitational force of Blood Incantation’s output is inevitable.
Clusterfux
The Mile High metal scene has been around a lot longer than you might realize. One group that deserves more credit for building it is local DIY crossover go-getter Clusterfux. Established in 1995, the five-piece took a brief break before re-forming in 2017 with its current lineup of vocalist Josh Lent, his brother Justin Lent and Joe Piker on guitars, drummer Joe McCumbee and bassist Van Fischer. A 2022 EP, Blood, followed. Now the latest record, Defy, released October 11 via Milwaukee independent label Beer City Records, feels like a more proper Clusterfux comeback.

Brandishing the classic crossover-thrash formula, the group is dialed in on Defy’s fourteen songs, which total nearly 31 minutes. That averages out to just over two minutes per song for you metal math nerds, and that’s exactly what crossover should be — fast as fuck. “Letters” wins the race at exactly a minute in length. But Defy is more than just pure speed: Lent also spews political vitriol, another crossover trademark. It’s all about being in your face, and Clusterfux deserves more respect and attention.
Death Possession
Death Possession is by far the most obscure group on this list, but that’s what makes it exciting. In fact, there is so little known about the band since its demo, Demiurge of Foul Form, dropped earlier this year, that we’re not even sure who is responsible for dispelling this dungeon-crawling death metal. The four members only go by their first names — drummer Judd, bassist Wyatt, guitarist Cole, and guitarist and vocalist Kyle G — at least from what can be dug up about Death Possession and its four-song demo, which is being treated as a debut.

It's like finding an unknown 1990s death-metal tape covered in an unreadable black-and-white logo at the bottom of a bin that’s been stashed out of sight somewhere in the corner of your local record store. But that’s usually a (good) sign that the music is going to cave in your eardrums. And yes, Demiurge of Foul Form delivers.

“Reeking Under” and “Visions Invade” are lo-fi bangers reminiscent of the subgenre’s early days, when death metal began to bubble up from the underground shrouded in mystery. When a new band introduces itself under such an aura, that holds a certain status with the metal masses. So now you can be the first of your headbanging friends to know about Death Possession. You’re welcome.
Glacial Tomb
Glacial Tomb may best be known as the frostbitten side project of Khemmis, sharing members Ben Hutcherson (guitars and vocals) and David Small (bass). But the Denver trio, which also features drummer Michael Salazar (you may know him from post-metal group Cult of the Lost Cause), stands on its own metal merits.

After officially forming in 2016 and formally introducing itself with a 2018 self-titled debut, Glacial Tomb finally followed up with the full-length Lightless Expanse, released this September via Prosthetic Records. It is blackened death-metal glory, so if you were expecting something similar to the catchy doom metal of Khemmis, then you’re going to be surprised.

Glacial Tomb, as you can hear on Lightless Expanse, is melodic in its own right, but way heavier, as Hutcherson showcases his frantic fret skills and vocal range with brutal growls. Though there are some sludgy moments throughout the nine tracks, “Stygian Abattoir” and “Abyssal Host” hit the hardest, with breakneck speed and enough riffs to make you cross-eyed. But in a weird way, the music is also fun and upbeat, just like Dethklok makes listening to death metal an amusing experience. Maybe only diehard heshers will get that. Just throw on some Glacial Tomb and see for yourself.
Spectral Voice
Okay, now we’re digging a little deeper into the city's metal underground. Spectral Voice might include some familiar faces — Blood Incantation bassist Barrett as well as guitarists Reidl and Kolontyrsky and drummer and vocalist Eli Wendler make up the quartet — but the local death-doom purveyors are still on the come-up compared to other projects they play in. The band’s 2017 debut, Eroded Corridors of Unbeing, did make waves in the metal press at the time, though.

But Spectral Voice, which has been around since 2012, is reaching more ears now, after releasing its sophomore offering, Sparagmos, at the beginning of this year via Colorado Springs label Dark Descent Records. Clocking in at just over 45 minutes across four songs, the album — which is named after a ritual act of dismemberment — is a perfect example of peak death doom, with its longer compositions full of harsh death metal and sinister interludes.

Opening track “Be Cadaver” sets the unsettling tone (in the best way possible). Then “Red Feasts Condensed Into One,” the longest track at thirteen minutes, kicks in — and there’s no turning back. The second half of Sparagmos, “Sinew Censer” and “Death’s Knell Rings in Eternity,” further bludgeons thru-listeners into submission. If you’re looking for something different and a bit challenging, put Spectral Voice at the top of your list immediately.

Wayfarer
While Blood Incantation is the hottest act in the metalsphere at the moment, Wayfarer is proudly waving the flag as the predominant local metal band. There’s some crossover between the groups, too, as Faulk is also behind the kit for Wayfarer, alongside vocalist and guitarist Shane McCarthy, guitarist Joe Strong-Truscelli and bassist Jamie Hansen.

Wayfarer, which formed in 2011, takes the well-known Denver sound and alt-Americana popularized by Slim Cessna’s Auto Club and 16 Horsepower and morphs it into scathing black metal, which is why the band describes its music as Black Metal of the American West (gotta love new and unique subgenre tags).

The four-piece’s latest record, American Gothic, which was released last October via Profound Lore, is a look back at Western life during the devastating Great Depression and Dust Bowl era — a period when the economic crash paralleled a downfall in traditional farming in the newly oil-rich country due to a bizarro natural disaster — through a modern-metal lens.

Like all of Wayfarer’s releases, American Gothic tells a story filled with strife and struggle. “The Thousand Tombs of Western Promise” and “To Enter My House Justified” speak to the lawlessness and death prevalent during that time, while “Reaper on the Oilfields” and “Black Plumes Over God’s Country” focus on the subsequent oil boom. Plus, Munly, of Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, and Slim’s son, George Cessna, appear as guest vocalists on the album.

The whole production sounds heady, if not a little nerdy, but Wayfarer absolutely crushes it, conceptually and musically, in a way that no other metal band around does.