Richard HolmesSong
By My Will
Artist
Dead Heat
Dead Heat backstory
Blazing out of California in 2016, Dead Heat joined the likes of Mindforce and Drain in schooling a new generation in the joys of crossover.
The Oxnard crew picked up the pace with 2021’s World At War and 2023’s Endless Tormet EP, records that brought international attention – and clearly turned heads at Metal Blade, who signed them ahead of this year’s opus, Process Of Elimination.
“I feel like unconsciously the music has become more complex with the songwriting and how we play live as well,” says guitarist Justin Ton of the new album, due this autumn. “We all naturally wanted to become better musicians and it shows in our music and live presence. Our music has a metal/hardcore twist, but I’d say we intentionally leaned more and more metal in our sound.”
In vocalist Chris Ramos’s own words
“Lyrically, I wanted to touch on a bit of everything, with every song about a different topic.
“I feel like I was able to articulate a better understanding of what I was trying to express previously.
“By My Will is more or less about the idea of getting revenge on the ones who’ve hurt you and left you for dead.
“The message sent is basically that I now have the upper hand and ‘by my will’ I will come out as the one on top in the end and make sure you know it.”
The verdict on By My Will
Like previous single Perpetual Punishment, this marks a step up for Dead Heat. The urgent, almost frantic, delivery of their earlier work remains. However, there’s a hardened muscularity to By My Will which makes the band hit even harder. Producer Paul Fig – who’s worked with the likes of Trivium and Deftones – may have had something to do with that, but the sextet have collectively upped their game.
The Slayerised riffing stings, Ramos spews fury, and the tempo shifts snap necks as Dead Heat get deadly serious.
This is crossover, ’25 style.
What’s next for Dead Heat?
Process Of Elimination will drop on October 10