PILE OF KNIVES: Pennsylvania Death Metal Quintet To Deliver Second EP, Driven By The Blade, October 31st; “Stabbed” Lyric Video And Preorders Posted

photo by Tia X Slaughter

Eastern Pennsylvania-based brutal death metal faction PILE OF KNIVES presents their second EP, Driven By The Blade, confirming the record for release on Halloween and dropping the first single, “Stabbed.”

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 lead single from the EP, “Stabbed,” Martinez writes, “It’s tough sometimes having to deal with vulnerability, and that’s mostly where I had gained influence from when writing this song. I had to look at myself and accept that I have flaws like the rest of us, and that’s okay. This, mixed with my love for brutal horror films, inspired the single and the remaining songs on the EP.”

Watch PILE OF KNIVES’ “Stabbed” lyric video on YouTube HERE and stream the track on Bandcamp HERE and other digital services HERE.

Driven By The Blade will be released on October 31st; Digital preorders are live HERE. A CD version will be available for preorder shortly through Been There Scene That Records.