Hailing from California's robust landscape of heavy music, West Coast crossover blue chips Dead Heat are putting on for Oxnard with the announcement of their Metal Blade Records' full length debut.
Following the acclaim of the band's 2023 EP, Endless Torment, the breakneck speed and hardcore DNA of Dead Heat will coalesce stronger than ever on the band's October 10th release, Process of Elimination. The album was produced by Dead Heat along with Paul Fig (Deftones, Trivium, Jerry Cantrell) - better refining the band's potent mesh of metal intensity and hardcore resolve.
Dead Heat guitarist Justin Ton explained how they wear their influences on their sleeve and how the live element of the band ultimately played an important role in shaping the album's end result. "I feel like unconsciously the music has become more complex with the songwriting and how we play live as well. We all naturally wanted to become better musicians and it shows in our music and live presence. Our music is a metal/hardcore twist, but I'd say we intentionally leaned more and more metal in our sound."
The meld of metal and hardcore remains integral to Dead Heat. Ton, along with lead guitarist Ricky Garcia find a powerful cross section of influences that are part of the fabric of the record. While Garcia cites the likes of Kreator, Megadeth, and Pantera as his fuel, paying homage to the greats like Marty Friedman and Chris Broderick for his solo direction, Ton also brings his own spice to the mix... "I drew a lot from Dark Angel and Demolition Hammer while also sticking to my hardcore tendencies with Leeway and Cro-Mags influences."
That potent combination is evident with the band's first single from the album, "Perpetual Punishment". A classic showing of crossover executed with California swag, the track wields a heavy stick and strikes with devastating results.
"We chose this song to start Process… because when it hits, it's hard, and has a great flow," explained vocalist Chris Ramos. "The song is about not wasting your time in life because tomorrow simply isn't promised. If there's something you want to do with your life, do it now, don't waste your existence thinking about all the things you could have done. It's a key theme I always try to portray in lyrical form, or even in random stage banter. I feel like it's what keeps me going every day."
Process of Elimination, the Metal Blade Records debut from Dead Heat arrives October 10th. Order the album - HERE
