photo by Giancarlo Bruno
“…groove-laden, slam-drenched death designed to leave nothing standing.” – Metal Injection
Metal Injection is hosting the lyric video premiere of “Shank,” the merciless new single from Eastern Pennsylvania-based brutal death metal faction PILE OF KNIVES. The track marks the second single from the band’s impending second EP, Driven By The Blade, nearing release on Halloween.
Based in the Pocono Mountains, PILE OF KNIVES may be a new name to many, but the band’s origins stretch back more than a decade to when guitarist Chett Kolakoski, Lee Messerschmidt, and drummer Dylan “Pickle” Jaludi played together in their prior band, Existence. Following nearly a decade-long hiatus, the band began jamming together again in late 2022. It didn’t take long for them to realize they wanted to take it a step further and get a new band going. Within a few months, Messerschmidt’s friend Jay Stromeyer was recruited to play bass. Shortly thereafter, Bryan Martinez, formerly of Grimus, was enlisted as the band’s vocalist, and PILE OF KNIVES was born.
Infusing influences from their favorite bands from across the spectrum of death metal, slam, beatdown hardcore, and deathcore, PILE OF KNIVES found their footing and began laying down new demos, and recorded their debut EP, No Light, which was released in the Summer of 2024. Their relentless groove-laden attack reflects the works of brutal death metal acts Skinless, Dying Fetus, Internal Bleeding, Origin, and Through The Eyes Of The Dead, with the more metallic hardcore-adjacent death/beatdown acts like Crawlspace, Final Resting Place, Shattered Realm, and No Zodiac. Lyrically, Martinez infuses his love of horror films and real-life experiences, reflecting themes centered around regret, self-loathing, and grappling with one’s own flaws.
Upon the release of No Light, PILE OF KNIVES was already cultivating new material, some of which now arrives on the band’s second EP, Driven By The Blade. The EP takes the band’s calculated yet unhinged viciousness to further levels of intensity, delivering four new tracks of simply merciless, slamming death. Driven By The Blade was recorded, mixed, mastered, and produced by Shaun Werle – with the drums recorded at Soundmine Recording Studio –with cover art and photography by Giancarlo Bruno and lyric videos by Jon Lievano of Malevolent Media Videos. Additionally, the song “Kukri” features guests Anthony Bacola on acoustic guitar and Ben Karas on violin.
With the release of “Shank,” guitarist Chett Kolakoski states, “‘Shank’ is a fast, riff driven song that hits as hard on the first blast beat as the last. We wanted to write a song focused more on death metal elements, both musically and lyrically.”
Metal Injection writes, “Eastern Pennsylvania’s newest brutal death metal wrecking crew Pile of Knives are about to unleash their second EP, Driven By The Blade — four tracks of groove-laden, slam-drenched death designed to leave nothing standing. We’re thrilled to stream their new single ‘Shank,’ which as you might’ve guessed by the title is going to stab you right in the guts. Repeatedly, and until motion is longer a possibility.”
PILE OF KNIVES’ “Shank” lyric video is now playing at Metal Injection RIGHT HERE.
Driven By The Blade will be released on October 31st; Digital preorders are live HERE, and the “Stabbed” lyric video is playing HERE. A CD version will be available for preorder shortly through Been There Scene That Records.
An official video from the EP will be issued in the days ahead.
PILE OF KNIVES plays shows throughout the East Coast scene and continues to write music, with their next release already under construction.
PILE OF KNIVES Live:
10/26/2025 The Sherman Theater – Stroudsburg, PA
11/08/2025 The Meatlocker – Montclair, NJ
11/14/2025 The Seven Crest – Teaneck, NJ
12/06/2025 Backroom Studios – Rockaway, NJ
1/24/2026 The Alternative Gallery – Allentown, PA
photos by Tia X Slaughter
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