Heavy Floridian quartet Bodysnatcher have today released their new track "Murder8", featuring the inimitable Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed. Through the haunting, visceral storytelling in the accompanying official music video, "Murder8" serves as an urgent and poignant reminder of the devastating impact of drug overdose. Speaking on the inspiration behind today's release, Bodysnatcher drummer Chris Whited commented:
"'Murder8' is a street name for Fentanyl. I lost my older brother in 2022 to fentanyl and then I lost my younger sister just one year later in 2023 to fentanyl as well. Opioids have been prescribed at alarming rates since the early 2000’s and have affected millions of families across the world, especially the United States. If you have lost someone due to overdose this song goes out to you."
The band will also be releasing an early vinyl-only release of their upcoming EP 'Vile Conduct' on Record Store Day in participating locations (more info here). Stream "Murder8" here and watch the official music video below.
The band are gearing up to embark on the Dedication To Flesh co-headlining run with SPITE (and special guests Boundariesand Mouth For War) beginning next week. North American fans will then have their chance to see the band on The Common Enemies co-headlining tour also alongside SPITE, with Thrown, Knosis, PSYCHO-FRAME, and CELL as support, beginning May 9. For ticket information please click here, and be sure to stay tuned for more Bodysnatcher news coming soon.
The Common Enemies Tour 2024 North American Dates:
May 09 – Daytona Beach, FL @ Welcome to Rockville
May 10 – Destin, FL @ Club LA
May 11 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
May 12 – Nashville, TN @ Eastside Bowl
May 14 – Charleston, SC @ Music Farm
May 15 – Charlotte, NC @ The Underground
May 16 – Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage
May 17 – New Kensington, PA @ Preserving Hardcore
May 18 – Columbus, OH @ Sonic Temple Festival
May 19 – Harrisburg, PA @ Midtown Arts Center
May 20 – New York City, NY @ Irving Plaza
May 21 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
May 22 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
May 24 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Elevation
May 25 – Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
May 26 – Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater
May 28 – Des Moines, IA @ Wooly’s
May 29 – St Louis, MO @ Red Flag
May 30 – Lawrence, KS @ The Granada
May 31 – Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall
Jun 01 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex
Jun 03 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
Jun 04 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
Jun 06 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
Jun 07 – Pomona, CA @ The Glasshouse
Jun 08 – San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
Jun 09 – Mesa, AZ @ The Nile Theater
Jun 11 – Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
Jun 12 – San Antonio, TX @ Vibes Event Center
Jun 13 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
Jun 14 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Beer City Music Hall
Jun 15 – Little Rock, AR @ The Hall
Jun 16 – New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
Drawing their name from the infamous Plainfield Ghoul, Ed Gein, Bodysnatcher know a thing or two about darkness, brutality and aggression. Since their 2014 inception in Melbourne, Florida, Bodysnatcher have been bringing nothing but the finest in furious, extreme music. Combining crushing breakdowns with eerie ambience, scathing riffs and grisly grooves, the band have become synonymous with “heavy,” invoking violence in every city they happen to visit, spawning mosh pits that leave nothing but craters in their wake.
With each release, Bodysnatcher have added depth to their dynamic, proving they are an ever-growing and changing act with the singular purpose of absolutely obliterating the listener. In 2015, mere months after their formation, the act exploded into the worldwide underground with the release of their debut EP, Abandonment. Considered one of the “Rushmore” releases of the American Downtempo wave, Abandonment took Bodysnatcher around the country, delivering breakdowns and broken bones to venues from Southern Florida to California. The band’s debut full length that followed, Death of Me (Stay Sick Records), saw the band mature from their modest downtempo roots into something more diverse and devastating, incorporating a blend of contemporary metal and hardcore elements to create something that saw Bodysnatcher start to blur conventional genre lines. Death of Me would skyrocket the band’s notoriety even higher, including a headlining west coast tour with Extortionist (Unique Leader Records) in support. Almost immediately after the release of Death of Me, Bodysnatcher underwent a significant lineup change, bringing aboard Chris Whited (King Conquer, 1776 Recordings) as percussionist and producer alongside Kyle Carter(Beacons) and Kyle Shope (Float Face Down) on guitar and bass respectively. With all three of them working alongside the titanic range and unmistakable vitriol of frontman Kyle Medina as songwriters, a deluxe re-release of their debut LP featuring five all-new songs followed not long after the line-up was cemented. Those songs segued Bodysnatcher into a new sound and style that would not full materialize until their two follow up releases, This Heavy Void (2020) and Bleed-Abide (2022). These records together would not only see the band signing with premier heavy music label MNRK Heavy, but would also highlight the band’s unique ability to blend harrowingly personal tales of love and loss with blistering aggression. Between This Heavy Void’s “Twelve/Seventeen” and Bleed-Abide’s “Smashed Perception,” the band seemed to encompass the alpha and omega of all things eviscerating—emotionally or, well, literally.
Since Bleed-Abide, Bodysnatcher have continued their tireless grind, touring across the country with the likes of AngelMaker, Hatebreed, Dying Fetus, Emmure, We Came as Romans and more—and spending plenty of time inoculating overseas lands with their unique concoction of crushing brutality as well. 2024 witnesses the band depart for not one, but two colossal ventures with former label mates SPITE—across both Europe and the continental United States.
From their earnest beginnings as one of the United States’ premiere exporters of bludgeoning, beefy breakdowns to now one of the country’s most renowned heavy music exports, Bodysnatcher are a peerless example of hard work, dedication and—of course—devastating heaviness. - Connor Welsh