Many fans of all forms of heavy music got on board with the Texas Death Metal maniacs known as I Am. Whether they discovered them on their newest album, Hard 2 Kill, or catching them on their tours with many reputable acts such as Unearth, Fit for an Autopsy, Ingested, The Acacia Strain and more.

I Am is a band that combines everything brutal when it comes to hardcore, death metal, dethcore, and every other form of extreme music out there intense riffing, near-gutteral death metal growls, insane blast beats and their extreme use of breakdowns. I Am can appeal to fans of Cannibal Corpse, Whitechapel, Code Orange, and even Earth Crisis with their intense sound, brutal pits and stage presence like no other. I Am is another band that proves that you don’t mess with Texas.

On June 12^th at St Vitus, I Am brought their savage brutality once again on their headlining tour with Orthodox, Boundaries and Refuge, and even a quick surprise performance from Left Behind. I Am played a quick set but still made every millisecond count. The second they took the stage, even when the intro riffs were kicking in, the audience did not hesitate to begin the moshing and crowdkilling. There was none of just standing and watching the show or live streaming the damn thing with your phone. If you were off guard, it was off with your head. Once vocalist Andrew Hileman opened that mouth of his on the mic and let out that signature guttural death metal growl of his, all hell broke loose. With Tom and Chris’s intense riffing to back it up and Ian Scott delivering uncompromising rhythm on the drums, the band participated well with each other on stage and participated well with the audience off it. While the instrumental section of the band were focused on their instruments, executing the material note for note, Andrew was interacting with the crowd and getting the audience to be able to sing word for word in the lyrics, when they were not throwing elbows and knees in the pit. With those red lights shining over these 5 Texas Death Masters, they proved that they were out for blood and they will not hold anything back. Even people standing in the back were just as involved as Andrew’s stage presence and movement is engaging to watch in how his movement goes along with the music. Even the most static of people at that show ere moved one way or another.

I Am is another example of a band that is a completely different experience when it comes to seeing them live vs listening to them on the album. Their newest album Hard 2 Kill is an exquisite sound of brutal heavy metal, and it serves as the perfect live bait to lure a listener in, but these 5 Texas Death Metalers will than pull you out of the water and then into the pit.

From listening to their album, to their ways of executing it live, to the crowd participation aspect, when you leave an I Am concert, whether you were at the front of the stage, the center of the pit, or watching from the bar you know you went for it.

Hard 2 Kill is out now via 1126 Records

Catch them on West Coast dates with Despised Icon