Converge frontman Jacob Bannon also leads Umbra Vitae, a heavy-music supergroup that includes Hatebreed/Twitching Tongues guitar hero Sean Martin, as well as current and former members of bands like the Red Chord and Job For A Cowboy. Next month, Umbra Vitae will release their sophomore album Light Of Death, and we’ve posted the singles “Belief Is Obsolete” and “Velvet Black,” and now they’ve dropped another one on us.

Umbra Vitae’s new song “Anti-Spirit Machine” is a heavy, nasty bastard of a track. The band plays fast, but it’s not the same kind of fast as Converge. Instead, they launch into a stanky-ass metal groove, leaving room for some serious guitar shredding, and Jacob Bannon roars over it like some ancient dinosaur. Have you have been like, “Converge fucking rules, but what if they sounded a little more like White Zombie?” I can’t say the thought ever occurred to me, but now that it exists, I’m pretty stoked about it. Here’s what Bannon says about it:

This started as another incredible Sean Martin demo. Aside from a few tweaks by the band, the song is near identical to the original version. It is a traditional thrash ripper that has us going through a gauntlet of infectious riffs. It also has some of my favorite solos by Mike and Sean on the record. Lyrically, it reads as an open letter. The phrase “Anti-Spirit Machine” refers to social processes that devalue and derail the independent spirit in all of us.

Umbra Vitae have a few shows coming up in June. Check out “Anti-Spirit Machine” and those dates below.

TOUR DATES:
6/07 – Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East
6/08 – Brooklyn, NY @ The Meadows
6/09 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church

Light Of Death is out 6/7 on Deathwish, Inc.