Video Premiere: I Am, “Paid in Sin”

To understand what Texas metal upstarts I Am sound like, one might look to the way they choose to describe themselves: “dive bomb guitar-driven metal.” New genre descriptors are few and far between these days, but if that doesn’t nail it, what does? The band fuses influence from old-school heavy hitters known for their dive bombs — Slayer, Pantera, etc. — along with newer school bruisers like The Acacia Strain. I Am’s music isn’t just one giant dive bomb-fest (although we wouldn’t complain if it were), incorporating a churning groove, a latent hardcore sensibility and the sonic texture of HM-2 / modern-day Entombedcore death metal for one all-encompassing, hard-charging, brutalizing full-on attack. In other words: it fucking slaps.

Hard 2 Kill comes out November 2nd via 1126 Records; pre-order here.