By Emily Bontatibus
About three years ago, Edward Hamaty and Kyle Tobias, two guitarists, formed Death’s Hand, a Northern Maine deathcore project. Unfortunately, the band separated, leaving Hamaty and Tobias to search for more members.
A local band called Waking Life used to house Tobias and Hamaty plus their vocalist, Ryan Hill. So, the pair decided to call in Hill to perform vocals for Death’s Hand. But, the group was still missing a drummer.
“I was going through Walmart and I see Kelly Banks, then I got in the car and I was like, wait a minute, Kelly drums,” stated Hill. “So I messaged him and we all got together and we’ve been in the band ever since.”
All of the bandmates are originally from Maine. However, Banks is formerly from Georgia– but has been in Maine so long, he considers it home. Especially with the help of the scene.
According to Hill, the scene was on the downward pre-covid. But as people had more free time everybody got together and started jamming, which led to the creation of several local bands. There is currently an abundance of shows to participate in and watch in Northern Maine.
The scene in Maine is illuminated with several different genres and subgenres of rock.
“Up here and down in Portland there are so many good bands,” Hamaty said. “Like DIY, hardcore, deathcore, metalcore, everything.”
Bands such as Suicide Silence, Judas Priest, The Doors and Iron Maiden have influenced the members greatly.
However, the growth of each individual musician is always unique.
“I started out listening to Motown music with my mom, then slowly someone introduced me to punk, and then I slowly started listening to harder and harder bands, and that’s just how it progressed,” stated Hamaty.
The process of creating the music for Death’s Hand is powerful.
“I have Bipolar II and it’s not fun, but having music, in general, to like yell and just let it out is great… It’s an outlet,” said Hill.
Similarly, Banks and Hamaty added that writing this type of music is a great way to “release energy.”
With new bands popping up around Maine to contribute to the scene, it can be intimidating to get involved.
According to the band, there will always be those hardcore kids who show up to concerts to create chaos in the pit. But, outside of the pit those kids are passionate and kind. It’s all an illusion when it comes to the actual performance.
“If you want to be a part of the scene, right now is the time to go to shows,” stated Hamaty. “The vibe between all the bands is really good right now and everyone is just really supporting each other.”
Death’s Hand has only toured in Maine and hopes to find time to travel to the rest of New England to share their art.
Though, Banks already has their schedule planned out.
“We all just want to have fun, write the music we enjoy, and that’s what we are going to do.”
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