Release Date April 26th, 2026
Format Digital/CD
Genre Doom/Sludge/Death Metal
Origin USA
Stalemate Of Wills was born in 2023 when Derek Kovacs started grinding out riffs as a solo studio project. After dropping the singles "Corrode" and "Subside", it was obvious this noise needed more bodies in the room to actually function. Scene veterans Jake Morris and Bob McSherry stepped in to handle the low end and the skins, turning the project into a proper three-piece power trip. Working under a DIY ethos, they tracked their debut themselves to keep the sound filtered through their own grimey lens, eventually signing with FFTC Records to get the wreckage out to the masses.
Pittsburgh is a graveyard of rusted steel and broken dreams, and "Existence Denied" sounds like the soundtrack to that decay. Stalemate Of Wills isn't here to play nice or show off how fast they can shred; they just want to drag you into the dirt. This album is a heavy-handed mix of NOLA sludge and that classic 90s death metal stench that reeks of old rehearsal spaces and beer-soaked carpets. It’s thick, it’s angry, and it moves with the deliberate pace of a bulldozer leveling a condemned row house.
The riffs on tracks like "Two Worlds" and "Visibility" are pure meat and potatoes, tuned so low they rattle your teeth loose. Derek Kovacs has a vocal delivery that sounds like he’s been shouting over a jackhammer for a decade, perfectly matching the hopelessness bleeding through the lyrics. It’s all about the frustration of being stuck in a cycle you can’t break, and the music backs that up by staying locked into these heavy, nodding grooves that refuse to let up.
Jake Morris and Bob McSherry provide a rhythmic floor that is loud and heavy. The drumming is stripped back to the essentials, hitting the kit like it owes them money, while the bass fills every hole in the sound with a distorted hum. When the band decides to pivot into those creepier, slower moments, the atmosphere gets thick enough to choke on. They aren't doing anything fancy, just focusing on the raw power of a well-placed chord and a steady, pounding beat.
By the time "Light The Way" closes things out, you’ve been thoroughly dragged through the Pennsylvania mud. It’s a strong debut that shows these guys have the chops to hold their own in the underground scene without needing any studio magic to mask the dirt. If you want something that captures the misery of the rust belt and spits it back in your face, this is the one. It’s a loud, pissed-off introduction to a band that clearly has no interest in being polite.
Score: 7.0
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