The smell of cordite and crushed bones practically seeps through the speakers. Montreal deathcore crew Deadwood have dropped “Tales of Massacre,” the second single from their upcoming EP Rituals of a Dying Light, due January 6, 2026 via Innerstrength Records. The track arrives with a music video that’s as unrelenting as the band’s “Make Deathcore Angry Again” ethos suggests, now streaming across all major platforms.
Formed in 2020 as the pandemic shuttered venues across the city, Deadwood have spent the past five years sharpening their blade. The lineup reads like a who’s who of Montreal’s underground: guitarist Fred Element (ex-The Plasmarifle, ex-Ion Dissonance), guitarist Stéphane Filion (ex-Nova Spei), drummer Charles Etienne Lafrance (ex-Dismayd), and vocalist Derek Heynekemp, reuniting with Element after a decade apart in Malaga. Their sound pulls from the djent-heavy churn of Meshuggah, the gut-punch brutality of Whitechapel, and the groove-laden fury of Pantera, all filtered through lyrical obsessions with Salem witch trials and Victorian-era serial killers.
Rituals of a Dying Light was tracked at EMNT studio this past January with Element handling production and mixing duties. The five-track EP also features “Heretic,” released in April, alongside three unreleased cuts: “Thirst for Blood,” “Whispers of Death,” and “Echoes of the Fallen.” Vocals on the record come courtesy of Martin Demontigny, though Heynekemp now handles the mic live.
Deadwood aren’t just studio warriors. They’ve toured Japan with Humanity’s Last Breath, opened twice for Born of Osiris at home, and tore through Inkcarceration Festival 2025 in Ohio. Currently grinding through Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick, the band has their sights set on Europe in 2026. For a city that’s birthed everyone from Cryptopsy to Despised Icon, Deadwood are proving Montreal’s deathcore lineage remains very much alive—and very, very angry.
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