Biography

Formed in 2008, Washington, D.C.’s horror-obsessed, underground sextet ILSA has wasted no time in spreading its unique brand of cloying, compelling death/doom throughout the underground and beyond. Ever since the release of their debut full-length The Maggots Are Hungry (Odium Generis Humani), ILSA has lived and breathed a raw musical lifestyle, producing nearly one effort every year, including three additional full-length LPs and three splits with like-minded extreme metal comrades Coffins, Seven Sisters of Sleep and Hooded Menace. Each release features the detailed black & white artwork of drummer Joshy Brettell, former drummer of legendary hardcore act Integrity. The band has shown just as much ambition on the live circuit as well, performing at numerous festivals including Maryland Deathfest and various shows with Windhand, Noothgrush, Full of Hell, Magrudergrind, and many others. After the May 2015 release of the band’s fourth album, The Felon’s Claw (A389 Recordings), ILSA signed to Relapse Records for their impending fifth album. Now in 2018, ILSA weave together tales of depravity and devil worship on their Relapse debut Corpse Fortress. Recorded by Kevin Bernsten (Full of Hell, Code Orange, Magrudergrind, Integrity) in Baltimore, MD at Developing Nations, Corpse Fortress is nine tracks forged in filth with dense layers of emotionally draining sludge, murky, primordial doom and feedback-laden, crusty death metal.