Recently, I had the privilege of sitting down with Josh from Entice, a heavy hitting metalcore band hailing from Fresno, CA. Their new release, entitled Death Entices Me Often, has been making waves in the Hardcore/Metalcore scene and was the perfect backdrop for our conversation.

I asked Josh 10 questions about the band, their music, and their journey so far. Here’s a glimpse into our conversation:

1. Can you tell us about how the band was formed and how you all met each other?

⁃ I wrote this music back in 2020 as I was locked away at home due to the pandemic and went to record parts of it in 2021. I asked Buddy and Omar to join shortly after the initial recordings. I met Jonah through Buddy and after hearing his drumming on another project, I knew he’d be a good fit for this band. Christian was the missing piece though because he had been wanting to be a part of a band again for a long time due to his last band being inactive. He’s a close friend of mine and I’d been wanting to play music with him for a long time so I sent him the music and he almost instantly let me know he was down after hearing it. And then, Entice was complete.

2. What sets your music apart from other bands in the hardcore scene?

⁃ I think what makes us different is that we’re playing a style of music that isn’t really being done in our local hardcore scene. I’ve loved metalcore ever since I was a kid and I’ve always wanted to play that style of music since you don’t really hear it around here too often. At least not the eras of metalcore that I grew up listening to.

3. What inspired the name of your band?

⁃ When I wrote this demo, I knew that I wanted to title it ‘Death Entices Me Often’ but I couldn’t figure out what band name I wanted for it. I was talking to buddy one day explaining all of this to them and they said to me “Why don’t we just call the band Entice?” It was a perfect name and from that moment on, it stuck.

4. How has the local hardcore scene influenced your music and style?

⁃ Seeing kids go off at shows to all of these bands makes me stoked and it makes me wanna continue releasing more music for them to go off to.

5. What are your goals for the band in terms of growth and success?

⁃ My main goal with this, or any band honestly, is always first and foremost to have fun playing shows with my homies. No point in playing shows if you’re just looking for some credit or validation in my opinion. If we get to do some cool shit with this band then that would be awesome, but as long as we’re having a blast there’s not really much else I could ask for honestly.

6. Can you share any upcoming shows or tours you have planned?

⁃ We just recently released the demo so there’s not too much in the works as of right now. We’re hopefully gonna be playing our first show sometime soon though so keep an eye out for that show announcement!

7. How do you engage with your fans and build a strong community around your music?

⁃ I think an important part of building community is just going to shows and meeting people and talking to them and actively trying to better your scene. These kids come to shows to watch your band play and if they didn’t, we’d be playing to nobody so it’s important to engage with them as well.

8. What have been some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced as a band so far?

⁃ Forming the band has honestly been the biggest challenge faced so far! Like I said earlier, this music was all written in 2020 and wasn’t actually released until 2024 because I didn’t want to release anything until I felt the timing was right and the band was right. 4 years of sitting on music was definitely challenging.

9. Are there any particular bands or artists that have influenced your music and sound?

⁃ My favorite metalcore band of all time is Bleeding Through so I would say that’s one band that has influenced the sound of Entice. Also other bands like Walls of Jericho, Zao, Prayer for Cleansing, etc.

10. How do you hope to contribute to the growth and development of the local hardcore scene in the future?

⁃ My hope is that hearing our band and all of these new bands popping up in our local scene will inspire kids to start up some of their own bands or even inspire them to pick up an instrument. The Lower Central Valley could always use way more drummers!

Entice’s talent and dedication to their craft is evident in every aspect of their music, from the intense instrumentals to the raw emotion in the vocals. I encourage you to give them a listen and follow them on social media to stay updated on their latest releases and shows. You won’t be disappointed.

Thank you, Josh, for taking the time to chat with me and for sharing your insights into the world of hardcore/metalcore!

Josh

Buddy

Omar

Christain

Jonah

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New Band Spotlight: Entice