Photo by Jessy Holtfreter
Decibel Magazine is currently streaming I Watched You Burn, the new full-length from Australia’s NICOLAS CAGE FIGHTER, in its ravenous entirety. The premiere comes in advance of the record’s official release this Friday, September 12th through Bleeding Art Collective and Blood Blast Distribution (Nuclear Blast Records/Believe).
Offers drummer Matt Davenport, “I Watched You Burn is the band taking its all-out assault to a new level, a confirmation of the sound and standing we have carved out over the years, and the demonstration of the new volatility that has been added to our sound through the influence of death and black metal. Still hardcore at its foundation, but through these influences, now broader in its brutality and far more incendiary. Like the central figure in the concept behind the album, it is unhinged and violent. Huge thanks to the team behind the album, and to everyone that has preordered or pre-saved the album and merch, thank you! See you on the road!”
Adds Decibel, “They bulldoze through ten ferocious tracks, balancing their death metal, hardcore and black metal influences adeptly. We’re trying our best to avoid any trite MMA references here, but I Watched You Burn will definitely (aurally) bruise and batter you.”
Stream NICOLAS CAGE FIGHTER’s I Watched You Burn HERE.
Watch NICOLAS CAGE FIGHTER’s previously released video for “I Watched You Burn” HERE and “The Executioner” HERE.
I Watched You Burn was mixed and mastered by Christian Donaldson (Suffocation, Cryptopsy, The Agonist, Get The Shot) and will be released on CD, LP, and digital formats.
Find preorders in the US HERE, in Australia/New Zealand/Asia HERE, and Europe/UK HERE.
NICOLAS CAGE FIGHTER is a four-piece metal-driven hardcore act from Ballarat, Victoria. The band’s critically acclaimed 2022-released debut full-length, The Bones That Grew From Pain, led to features in key music media outlets including Decibel Magazine and a front-page feature in HEAVY Mag while also featuring on a number of renowned Spotify Playlists.
This year’s follow-up, I Watched You Burn, continues the trajectory. “If this album was a Nic Cage film, it would be Mandy,” vocalist and lyricist Nick Moriarty notes. “It’s dark, savage, and has a righteous thirst for bloody vengeance; we are pushing our sound to new extremes.
“I Watched You Burn as a whole is a bit of a concept album lyrically,” he further elaborates, “one that continues exploring the themes which were covered in our earlier releases but builds on these concepts in more of a narrative and fantastical story-driven manner. Where [2021’s] Cast You Out EP was an introspective exploration of the self-struggling to overcome adversity in an unforgiving world, The Bones That Grew From Pain was a reflection of how the people around us handle the same burdens and project our misery outwards. I Watched You Burn is the culmination of a world which has unraveled and imploded under the weight of its occupants’ ignorance and malicious past, and a first person perspective into the extermination of all life on Earth. This is the tale of an immortal serial killer on a dying planet, coming to terms with life, death, and what it truly means to be human.”
In early 2025, it was revealed in The Guardian that the actor Nicolas Cage himself is a fan of the band, not only commenting that he thinks the band is terrific but also quoting some of the band’s lyrics in an interview. With vicious go-for-the-throat sound and an incendiary live performance, NICOLAS CAGE FIGHTER have truly earned the reputation of their namesake.
” A fight song if there ever was one.” – Metal Injection on “Garden Of The Grieving Mother”
“It’s dense and unfriendly… I Watched You Burn is on the right trajectory pushing past the raw brutality of their debut and showcasing an ability to control their songwriting to cause the utmost destruction.” – Wall Of Sound
“Some songs hit like a brick wall. Others hit like the brick wall’s angry cousin who’s just found out humanity’s on fire – and he’s holding the match. That’s what I Watched You Burn sounds like…” – Crannk
“…engaging and dynamic…I Watched You Burn leaves little doubt that these guys are the next big thing in Australian deathcore, if not on the global stage.” – Heavy Blog Is Heavy
“With no stone left unturned, not one note missed, the overabundance of talent in this band shows no signs of slowing down. If the man himself, Nic Cage, endorses this band, then it can’t be a wrong move in diving deep into this album and their entire back catalogue… You cannot sleep on this album or this band, for that matter. NICOLAS CAGE FIGHTER came to set the world ablaze, and this album will be the soundtrack to the pyrotechnic demise they intend to bestow upon us.” – Heavy Mag
NICOLAS CAGE FIGHTER:
Nick Moriarty – vocals
Justin Ellis – guitars
Matt Davenport – drums
Connor McMillan – bass
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