Lorna Shore

A punishing deathcore unit based out of Warren County, New Jersey, Lorna Shore blends elements of tech, blackened thrash, and metalcore into a breakdown-laden aural assault. Evoking the hard-hitting sonic attack of contemporaries like Cattle Decapitation, Thy Art Is Murder, and Rings of Saturn, the band issued its debut album, Psalms, in 2015. Frequent personnel changes have done little to temper the group’s output, with subsequent efforts like Flesh Coffin (2017), Immortal (2020), Pain Remains (2022) continuing to tighten and refine their uncompromising sound.
Comprised initially of vocalist Tom Barber, guitarists Adam De Micco and Connor Deffley, bassist Gary Herrera, and drummer Austin Archey, the band issued their debut EP, the metalcore-heavy Triumph, in 2010, followed in 2012 by the more progressive deathcore-oriented EP Bone Kingdom. A third EP, Maleficium, dropped in 2013, followed by the group’s debut studio long-player, Psalms, in 2015, the latter of which was produced by Fit for an Autopsy’s Will Putney. The following year saw the band sign with Outerloop Records and begin work on their sophomore full-length. The resulting Flesh Coffin was released in February 2017. Vocalist and founding member Tom Barber left the fold in early 2018 — bassist and co-founder Gary Herrera departed in early 2017 — which made Flesh Coffin the last Lorna Shore release to feature any original members. In 2018 the band inked a deal with Century Media, and CJ McCreery (Signs of the Swarm) signed on as the new lead singer and appeared on a pair of singles (“This Is Hell” and “Darkest Spawn”) but was fired in 2019 after sexual abuse allegations were raised. Vocalist Will Ramos (Monument of a Memory) provided the group with a temporary solution, but as of 2020, the band was still searching for a full-time replacement. 2020 also saw the release of the group’s third long-player, Immortal, which was recorded while McCreery was still serving as frontman. Ramos joined the group in an official capacity in 2021 and made his studio debut on the EP, ...And I Return to Nothingness, which housed the streaming hit “To the Hellfire.” Pain Remains, the group’s fourth long-player and first outing for bassist Michael Yager, appeared the following year. ~ James Christopher Monger