By almost any metric, Lorna Shore have to be considered one of deathcore’s biggest bands. While it’s true the band has plenty of influences outside of that genre descriptor, it’s usually what they’re labeled as and those are also the kind of bands they generally tour with (albeit, with plenty of exceptions).
It is, of course, a pretty niche genre in the grand scheme of things. For the most part, you’re not going to see a band in the genre headlining, say, arenas or something like that. Deathcore isn’t a genre of music you’ll see outselling the likes of Kendrick Lamar on a weekly basis. But success for bands in the genre (and metal as a whole) can be measured by a lot more.
Based on a variety of factors (longevity, recent success, major tours, etc.), there’s a few reasons why Lorna Shore might well be considered the biggest deathcore band in the scene right now. None of these reasons are in any particular order.
Reason 1: Lorna Shore’s recent explosion of success (especially the viral kind) has certainly played a part in the band’s explosion in the last year or two, especially with “To The Hellfire” exploding on TikTok. However, the band was already gaining success with the release of their 2020 album Immortal, despite a ton of nasty and disgusting allegations against then-frontman CJ McCreery (who they promptly kicked out and replaced with A Wake In Providence’s Will Ramos – who is much more talented, to be certain). Even before that, the band’s 2017 and 2015 full-lengths Flesh Coffin and Psalms helped established the band as one to watch.
Reason 2: We chose 15 bands that most (if not all) deathcore fans would consider part of the genre. We also listed them by number of Spotify listeners, as of June 8th, 2022, and some of the numbers will surprise you. Keep in mind, not all of these bands are considered strictly deathcore by every fan, but they’ve no doubt been closely tied to the genre.
Whitechapel: 442k
Suicide Silence: 666k (fitting!)
Fit For An Autopsy: 237k
Bodysnatcher: 203k
Upon A Burning Body: 633k
Emmure: 488k
Chelsea Grin: 406k
Brand Of Sacrifice: 470k
Angelmaker: 192k
Carnifex: 207k
Shadow Of Intent: 213k
Left To Suffer: 142k
Enterprise Earth: 83k
Slaughter To Prevail: 547k:
Within Destruction: 147k
At 670k monthly Spotify listeners a month right now, Lorna Shore has managed to eclipse all of the aforementioned bands. That’s also a bigger monthly number than some popular rock and metal bands who are a lot more accessible by general standards. What’s even more impressive is that most of the band’s most popular songs on Spotify are above the 5 minute mark, with “To The Hellfire” and recent single “Sun//Eater” above the 6 minute mark.
Reason #3: You know you’re doing something right when the former vocalist of your band takes it personally that he was kicked out, and proceeds to start a band that literally references his last album from Lorna Shore in the title (Immortal Disfigurement). We’re not even going to bother linking to the song, you can hear it for yourself. On second thought, maybe you shouldn’t, it’s pretty abysmal.
Reason #4: You know your band has hit the big time when Loudwire dubs “To The Hellfire” their 2021 song of the year. Outlets like them would not have touched a band like Lorna Shore even a few years ago, though that’s more to do with demographics not crossing over more than anything else. They’re also playing Lollapalooza this year, which is pretty bonkers.
When you add all of these data points together, there’s obviously a lot of ways you could measure what deathcore band is truly the “biggest”, and that’s obviously up for debate. But most bands in the genre don’t get invited to support the likes of Parkway Drive in the EU, or even have the support of some of rock and metal’s biggest bands (especially Bring Me The Horizon). By almost any metric, there’s little doubt that Lorna Shore are one of the biggest bands in the genre right now – if not possibly the biggest.
