International Spotlight: GRAVEBORN Confront Collapse and Continuity on Monumental New Album Metempsychosis
- Scott Roos
- 6 hours ago
- 6 min read
by Scott Roos
band photo by Totem Coast Photography
Progressive death metal has never been short on ambition, but Boston’s GRAVEBORN have made evolution itself their defining mission. Since forming in 2013, the band have steadily expanded their sound across four increasingly sophisticated releases: Samsara, Seeds of Life, The Athenaeum, and 2021’s Transmigrator. Now, after more than five years of painstaking work, the group return with what may be their most conceptually and musically focused statement yet: the sprawling new full-length Metempsychosis, arriving April 3, 2026.
Speaking with NSMZ, guitarist Chris Ramusiewicz comes across less like a stereotypical death metal bruiser and more like a thoughtful architect carefully mapping a long game. That contrast, between ferocity and reflection, runs straight through GRAVEBORN’s identity.
“I mean, yeah, unfortunately,” Ramusiewicz laughs when the subject of regional stereotypes comes up. “Despite being born and raised over here, I really don’t have [a Boston accent].” The moment is lighthearted, but it opens the door to a broader conversation about the band’s unlikely home base. Boston has produced its share of heavy acts, but it isn’t typically the first city associated with forward-thinking death metal.
“Not unfair,” he admits when that observation is raised. “I think especially lately… you don’t see quite as much of the mainstream straight ahead death metal kind of thing out of here as much.”
Still, GRAVEBORN have quietly built momentum within the Northeast underground, sharing stages with bands like Fallujah, Rivers of Nihil, Cognitive, Ghost Bath, and Ov Sulfur while refining a sound that blends dissonant aggression with sweeping atmosphere. Their latest work pushes that synthesis further than ever.
Origins in Obsession
Like many musicians in the progressive metal sphere, Ramusiewicz’s path began with a moment of sonic shock. His gateway into extreme music arrived in an unexpected place: a video game soundtrack.
“I remember the first metal song I heard with harsh vocals was actually… on the Final Fantasy X soundtrack,” he recalls. “I was in like seventh or eighth grade at the time and I was like, ‘What is that? What??? You can do that?’”
That curiosity quickly spiraled into full immersion. After probing early internet forums for recommendations, he made a formative trip to a New England retail staple.
“I walked into Newbury Comics and I got None So Vile by Cryptopsy, Blackwater Park by Opeth and Colony by In Flames,” he says. “And I think those three albums just forever put me on a certain trajectory.”
The DNA of those records still pulses through GRAVEBORN’s music today: the brutality of Cryptopsy, the melodic sweep of In Flames, and the progressive depth of Opeth. But the band’s sound has continued to mutate, absorbing influences from across the technical metal spectrum.
The Sound of Metempsychosis
On the surface, Metempsychosis delivers everything fans have come to expect. There's odd-time rhythmic violence, dissonant riff architecture, and moments of eerie melodic lift. But repeated listens reveal subtler layers woven into the chaos.
Ramusiewicz confirms that some of the album’s atmospheric depth comes from his own electronic leanings. “So I’m a synth guy myself,” he explains. “I do like electronic music as like a side project… just to offset the aggression.”
Those elements remain carefully controlled rather than dominant. “Live… those elements specifically are just getting pumped into the PA,” he says, emphasizing that they function primarily as texture: “only ever like a synth texture behind the guitars or like maybe a little piano part.”
The result is a record that feels vast without losing its teeth. It's an important balance for a band operating in progressive death metal’s crowded modern landscape.
Concept Without Comfort
If GRAVEBORN’s musical palette has grown more expansive, their thematic focus has become more exacting. Metempsychosis continues the band’s long-running fascination with transformation, but this time the lens is noticeably colder.
According to Ramusiewicz, earlier GRAVEBORN material often framed change as inherently positive. “Previously… we were always talking about this sort of metaphysical change… as striving for the better always,” he explains.
Vocalist John LeBlanc, however, approached the new album from a different angle - one rooted in his scientific background.
“Johnny came at this from an interesting perspective,” Ramusiewicz says. “He’s a biochem guy… and he came at this album from the perspective of not quite romanticizing change or rebirth or evolution as something that’s always striving for the better.”
Instead, Metempsychosis treats transformation as a neutral biological process. It's inevitable, impersonal, and sometimes unsettling.
“Just as like a natural necessary process that happens,” Ramusiewicz continues. “Without putting that value judgment of you got stronger after it… it’s just a thing that happens.”
It’s a subtle but significant philosophical pivot, and one that gives the record its distinctive emotional tone. Rather than offering triumph or tragedy, GRAVEBORN present evolution as something closer to cosmic indifference.
Built Slowly, Built Together
Part of what makes Metempsychosis feel so fully realized is the sheer amount of time the band invested in its creation. Unlike groups that operate on rapid release cycles, GRAVEBORN deliberately slowed their process to allow every element to breathe.
“We took our sweet time with it,” Ramusiewicz says plainly. “This was a five year long process since our last album.”
The band’s workflow remains flexible but collaborative. Typically, he or fellow guitarist Jesse Blanchette will bring in foundational riffs before the group collectively reshapes them.
“The bare bones of it generally are that me or the other guitar player Jesse come up with like a base layer riff or two,” he explains. From there, the material is stress-tested in the rehearsal room until it feels right.
Very little is rushed. “Very rarely… do we have a song anymore that doesn’t take like a couple of months at least to really nail down,” Ramusiewicz notes.
Vocals, in particular, underwent intense scrutiny this time around. Instrumentals were largely completed well before LeBlanc finalized his parts.
“The instruments were recorded for a full year,” Ramusiewicz says. “And the vocals took like a full year just to really finalize and get down because Johnny had stuff but he was just pouring over it.”
The guitarist himself often acts as the band’s organizational hub. “I tend to be the guy that everyone’s sending the material to,” he explains. “I arrange it… creating the project files and things like that.”
That meticulous approach has paid off in a record that feels tightly unified despite its complexity.
Proud Metal Nerds
For all the intensity of their music, GRAVEBORN maintain a refreshingly self-aware view of their own personalities. When asked whether the band might qualify as nerds, Ramusiewicz doesn’t hesitate.
“Oh, in like all facets of nerdery, I think so,” he laughs.
The lineup’s interests range widely - biochemistry, vinyl collecting, fantasy novels, anime, video games - but Ramusiewicz sees that obsessive curiosity as part of what draws people to technical metal in the first place.
“I think it’s more accurate to say it attracts a type of person that has a certain kind of drive or determination to throw themselves against a wall a whole lot and try to improve their knowledge or their ability,” he says.
That mindset extends beyond music. “The same type of people that are into the progressive or the technical stuff very often have some kind of hobby… that they also throw themselves into and try to develop their skills.”
Looking Forward
With Metempsychosis, GRAVEBORN appear to have reached a new level of internal cohesion. The album captures a band fully comfortable with complexity while still pushing themselves into unfamiliar terrain.
For Ramusiewicz, the goal has always been long-term growth rather than quick wins.
“It really exemplifies what I hoped Graveborn would be eventually,” he says, describing a unit that “just keeps refining and evolving over time… a group that comes together and make sure that everyone is having a little bit of input into the process.”
That philosophy mirrors the album’s own thematic core: change is inevitable, but what matters is how you channel it.
After more than a decade of steady mutation, GRAVEBORN aren’t simply returning with Metempsychosis. They’re demonstrating what happens when a band fully commits to the long, difficult process of evolution—no shortcuts, no easy narratives, and absolutely no softening of the answer.
The abyss, it seems, is still staring back.