Features

Zealot: Houston Trio Serves Up Crusty D-beat and Death Metal on New Release

Photo: Max Braverman

"I would describe us as punks playing metal or a death metal band leaning towards crust and d-beat." Meet Zealot, a new band based out of Houston, Texas walking a line between crusty d-beat and death metal.

"We loved the sound of Nuclear Death Terror covering Celtic Frost and made a band sounding something like that," drummer CJ tells No Echo. "We all have pretty broad influences and when it comes to writing we don’t really stick to one style, which leads to our songs sounding different from each other. That being said, there are some outstanding shared influences like Hellshock, Stormcrow, Poison Idea, Disrupt, and Bolt Thrower probably being the most discernible."

CJ and guitarist Max were both transplants to the Houston area, and started jamming together during the COVID lockdowns. Zealot was solidified with the addition of bassist Kirk who eventually also took on the vocals slot after their original singer didn't work out.

Zealot recently released a 2-tracker on streaming outlets to showcase their sound:

"This new release is a two song demo to show what we sound like with Kirk on vocals and how we’ve progressed in the past year or so," CJ explains. "These two songs show our ability to play 'different' styles. It’s just a digital release for now but there will be a tape release coming in the next couple months. We went and recorded all of our finished material in a hectic few days.

"The plan is to release a split with our friends Desadaptado Social who are also from Houston. After the split is done, the plan is to try and do some touring behind the split with Desadaptado because there’s nothing like 10 sweaty dudes riding playing shows and crushing beers (laughs). We also have a few extra songs that are either going to be an EP or another split, that's kind of up in the air for now."

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Zealot on social media: Instagram
 

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