The State of the Missoula Metal Scene - Walking Corpse Syndrome

When most people think about Missoula's local music scene, metal is generally not the first genre that comes to mind. But for a certain regional demographic, there is no act with more notoriety than Missoula’s own Walking Corpse Syndrome.

As one of the first deathcore bands from Montana to break onto the national scene, Walking Corpse Syndrome has been steadily working for over a decade at creating a niche sound that explores extreme metal in a truly unique way, while pushing themselves and their audiences to go bigger, heavier and faster with each new release. They broke out of the local Montana scene early on, completing multiple tours throughout the western United States as they refined their lineup and their sound. And in 2015, their efforts were recognized nationally with the release of their album Human Delusion, with the album landing on the “Best metal albums of 2015” list by MetalSucks.net, a widely popular U.S. heavy metal news magazine.

I had the pleasure of linking up with the band as their tour photographer shortly after, traveling with them throughout 2017 and 2018 to document their journey. As a first-hand witness to their trials and successes, I was inspired to begin filming a documentary about them. Their creativity, determination and grit moved me, and I believed that their story could inspire others. So, despite having zero background in film or documentaries in general, I began recording the band’s efforts to write, record and promote their next album.

Over the course of a year of filming, my mission became to understand and illustrate all that goes into a small-town band “making it” in the new digital landscape of the music industry. Eventually, I came away with a documentary that I am proud to call my first full-length film project: Getting Out. We released the documentary on YouTube in 2020, and you can watch it at the link below.

Walking Corpse Syndrome is gearing up in 2023 to release a new run of songs, videos and tour announcements. Their latest single, Threat, is scheduled to drop with a fresh music video on March 24th, and you can keep an eye on KFGM for new exclusive interviews with the band in the meantime.

As for me, I’ll be bringing more of my work with Montana’s local music scene to KFGM in 2023. Stay tuned!