Kansas City, Missouri-based Progressed Death Metallers Gourmand are excited to announce the November 26th release of their new EP, To Bring To Nothing. Parallel to today’s announcement of the release, the band partnered with The Circle Pit to premiere a music video for the album’s first single “Viral Poverty“.
Release Information
Although trends will always come and go, quality metal music of any stripe always has a shot at cutting through the noise and making their passion-driven intentions clear.
For Kansas City, Missouri-based progressive death metallers Gourmand, the idea of eclectic quality-driven material is already baked into their band’s name itself, which means to be a lover of food, gluttony, and or a connoisseur in an abstract sense as the band uses it. It’s an ethos tied to the passion for many different kinds of art which lies at the heart of what Gourmand is about. All of which is on display on and their new EP, To Bring To Nothing, which is a further evolution and shift for a group already adept at covering a wide range of sounds and styles. To Bring To Nothing is set for release on November 26th.
Active since 2015, Gourmand has maintained a constant presence in both live and studio settings, creating what they consider to be a mix of “traditional death metal, prog rock, symphonic cello driven ideas, and more.” Their most recent effort, 2019’s “Emanate” EP, re-worked songs from their stellar 2017 debut album, “The Inquisitionist”, although it was their second full-length from 2018, “Blossoming From The Grave” that was pushed harder promotion wise and really put the band on the map as a quality progressive death metal act.
Now at the end of 2021, Gourmand eagerly returns with “To Bring To Nothing”, a hard-hitting three-song EP of their darkest and most aggressive material yet. Aided by explosive percussive contributions from Marasmus (Transcending Obscurity Records) Unmerciful (Willowtip Records) drummer Trynt Kelly on session drums, undoubtedly one of the most exceptional death metal drummers in the scene right now. Fellow Marasmus member, bassist Ben Harvey is a also member of Gourmand.
Vocalist and Cello player Luke Adams explains and sums up the full effort:
“The opening track “The Myth of Purpose” focuses on the literal idea of nihilism and more specifically, the idea of embracing nihilism as a positive part of one’s life where meaning is created by the individual rather than inherent. This idea is borrowed from the philosophical concept that some may refer to as “sunny” or “optimistic” nihilism. In the second half of the song, we borrowed select text from lines 79-86 of the “Dialogue of Pessimism” an ancient Mesopotamian writing regarded by some as the first-ever conception of nihilism as an existential idea.
“Viral Poverty” follows this idea of annihilation in a political sense. It’s about bringing down a system that exploits the labor of the working class. In the financial stress of the pandemic we wanted to not only address what we already know about the growing wealth inequality in our country, but specifically, the way that the politics and economics of the pandemic would target those who are most vulnerable, hence, “the poor will suffer most”. We wrote these lyrics in the very early days of the pandemic and, unfortunately, with the way things have played out we believe that line held true.
The title track contains much more personal lyrics in the vein of our 2018 release, Blossoming From the Grave. The song is an account of a panic attack and personal reckoning I had a couple of years ago, but more than that it’s about growing older and letting go of the trauma that many of us carry into our adult life. Again, brought to nothing. The final movement of this song is to date the most emotional and cathartic thing we’ve ever written and I think a small glimpse into the future of our sound.
While the EP is more a collection of three narratives rather than a full-blown concept album, we think that the central lyrical theme brings it all together and the words “To Bring To Nothing” are written into each piece, which is why we chose that name for the release.”
Gourmand – To Bring To Nothing will appeal to fans of bands that inspired this material including Death, Misery Index, Fleshgod Apocalypse, and Opeth. Along with intersecting at times with material that fans of Entheos, Origin, Ulcerate, and Meshuggah will enjoy as well.
*Pre-orders will be live soon
Gourmand – To Bring To Nothing Tracklisting
1. The Myth of Purpose
2. Viral Poverty
3. To Bring To Nothing
Gourmand – To Bring To Nothing Line-Up
Danny Loomis – Guitar/Vocals
Axel Harvey – Bass/Piano (Marasmus)
Luke Adams – Vocals/Cello
Scott Prewitt – Guitar/Vocals
Trynt Kelly – Session Drums (Unmerciful, Marasmus)
Social Media Links
https://www.facebook.com/gourmandofficial/
https://gourmandofficial.bandcamp.com/