Metal Family Tree

This is a project aimed at making it easy to see who inspired the bands you love or even hate. For this I try not to use any influences that the band don’t claim themselves. There will be a focus on predecessors but successors will be added as they site the band. These trees become more and more interactive as new bands are added, allowing you to click any band that has a tree and jump to it.

We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.

Incantation, although not actually from New York, are considered an important band of the New York death metal scene. At the heart of the band has always been guitarist John McEntee who has also taken over vocals in recent years. The first two albums featured guitarist/vocalist Craig Pillard and drummer Jim Roe. The first two albums were written by the entire band. Bass players were very inconsistent except in more recent years. The first album had Ronnie Deo and the second, Dan Kamp. The third album brought in Daniel Corchado on bass and vocals. It also brought in long time drummer Kyle Severn who would appear on every album since with the exception of Infernal Storm. The fourth and fifth album brought in Mike Saez on vocals and he also played guitar on the forth one. Rob Yench would play bass on the forth album and the next three would have Joe Lombard on bass. Starting with the album Decimate Christendom John took over guitars and vocals although he would eventually bring in other guitar players again. Alex Bouks played guitar on two albums and Sonny Lombardozzi would play on the most recent two both would also contribute to writing. Chuck Sherwood would come in on bass and be the main lyricist at the same time Alex did. The middle albums are mostly written by John and Kyle.

Few people have inspired as many guitar players as Jimi Hendrix. John named him as an influence.

Some of the earliest progressive rockers, Pink Floyd. John named them as an influence. Craig also names them as an early influence.

Deep Purple has been a very important and influential band. John named Ritchie as an influence.

Black Sabbath are the fathers of metal. John named them as his favorite and most inspiring band. Daniel also named them as one of his biggest influences. Tony was also a big influence on Alex.

UFO has had a big influence on metal with Michael Schenker on guitar. John named UFO and Schenker as an influence.

Kiss are a huge American hard rock band, although you probably know that. John says he was first interested in music by being drawn to Kiss a the the ripe old age of 6 or 7 years old.

Rainbow had the magical combination of Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio. John named Ritchie as an influence for both Deep Purple and Rainbow.

Judas Priest are the metal gods who really defined metal. John and Daniel names them as an influence as well as Alex who named them as one of the most important bands to him.

AC/DC are the quintessential hard rock band. John and Craig named them as an early influence.

Motorhead are a very important band especially for influencing the generation that would create thrash. John named them as an influence. Alex also named them as an influence and said Eddie is one of his all time favorite guitar players.

Yngwie Malmsteen took classical influenced metal to a new level. John is a big fan of almost all of his stuff.

Iron Maiden are easily one of the most influential metal bands. John, Alex and Daniel named them as an influence.

Accept bring heavy metal from Germany and have been an important band. John and Daniel names them as an influence.

After his time being part of the invention of metal with Black Sabbath, Ozzy went on to start his own band with some very influential guitar players. John named Ozzy as an influence.

Venom are hugely important and can bee seen as the precursor to both death and black metal. John and Craig named them as an influence.

Grim Reaper are a NWOBHM band mostly known for being cheesy but also everyone secretly loves them. John said they were one of his favorite bands as a teenager.

Mercyful Fate have been an influential band to many. John and Alex named them as an influence.

Exciter represent the heavy metal / speed metal movement out of Canada. John named them an influence.

Sodom are one of the most important of the German Thrash bands. John named them as an influence.

Dark Angel are a relatively underground thrash band maybe best known as the Band Gene Hoglan got his start in before playing with every other band in the world. John named them as an influence.

Slayer were one of the most aggressive thrash bands early on. John said he was influenced by early Slayer. Craig also named them as an influence. Daniel named them as one of his biggest influences.

The band that preceded Celtic Frost, Hellhammer had a huge impact on death and black metal. John and Alex named them as an influence.

Celtic Frost has been a big influence on both death and black metal bands. John, Craig, Alex and Daniel named them as an influence.

Sacrifice were a Canadian thrash band. John named them as an influence.

Destruction are one of the important thrash bands to come out of Germany. John and Daniel named them as an influence.

Carnivore, which featured Peter Steel on vocals, could be considered a blackened band similar to Venom. Craig named them as an influence.

Voivod are Canadian thrashers / prog band. John and Alex named them as an influence.

Possessed are pioneers, turning thrash into a more death metal sound. John and Craig named them as an influence.

Death are often considered the fathers of death metal by many. John, Craig, and Alex named them as an influence.

Necrophagia were one of the earliest death metal bands and are known for their horror themes. John named them as an influence.

Bathory are the band that brought black metal to it’s modernly recognized sound. John, Craig, Alex and Daniel named them as an influence.

Trouble were one of the early bands to resurrect the doom metal sound of Sabbath. John named them as an influence.

Candlemass took doom and gave it a new “Epic” sound. John and Daniel named them as an influence.

Aggression are a Canadian thrash band. John said they were one of his favorite thrash bands.

Kreator are another hugely important thrash band to come out of Germany. John and Daniel named them as an influence.

Sepultura are mostly known for their death/thrash and groove metal stuff but their first split was strait up death metal. John named their early stuff as an influence. Daniel also named them as an influence.

Death Strike were a death metal band that had one demo and later one album in 1991. John named them as an influence.

Hatred were a New Jersey death metal band who released demos from 85-87. John named them as an influence.

Sarcófago were an extreme metal band from Brazil. John and Daniel named them as an influence.

Morbid Angel are one of the most influential old school death metal bands. John was really into their early demos.

Soothsayer are Canadian Thrashers. John named them as an influence.

Necrovore were an underground death metal band that released two demos in the late 80’s. John and Daniel said they were an influence.

Incubus were a Florida Death/Thrash band. John said he was listening to their early demos.

Nihilist might not be a band you recognize, but you will probably know the band they changed their name to, Entombed. John was really into their early demos

Immolation are a classic New York death metal band. John said he listened to a lot of their early demos as well as demos from Rigor Mortis which they were previously knowns as.

John said he followed his own music progress and wanted to continue to play heavier not necessarily faster. He criticizes bands that sound to tight and likens it to pop music.

John in a reddit Q&A was asked about best 80’s albums this is the list he gave “yngwie j. malmsteen - rising force Metallica - ride the lightning Exciter - heavy metal maniac Slayer - hell awaits Merciful fate - Melissa Judas priest - defenders of the faith Iron Madian - killers Necrophagia - seasons of the dead Steeler - steeler terrorizer - world downfall Carcass - reek of putrefaction. Morbid angel - abomination or desolation. Celtic frost - to mega therion Voivod - Rrröööaaarrr”. He also said Manowar rules. When asked about black metal he said he was a fan of Dark Throne and Immortal. When asked about favorite non metal bands he names Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, ZZ Top, and Cream. He also mentions listening to Paradise Lost's first album Lost Paradise, Entombed's Left Hand Path, Asphyx, and Immolation.

Craig Pillard did vocals and guitar on the first two albums and co wrote with John

Daniel Corchado was bassist and vocalist on their third album. He has one co-writing credit. He named his biggest influences as Black Sabbath and Slayer. He also names Judas Priest, Saxon, Manowar, Accept, Bathory, Destruction, Celtic Frost, Sepultura, Sarcophago, Mutilator and Panic, Entombed and Dismember. In an interview discussing his time in Cenotaph he talks about the band being influenced by Incubus, old Sepultura, Immolation, old Napalm Death, Messiah, Grave and Carcass. In another interview he names as favorites : “CANDLEMASS, SLAYER, SABBATH, ARROW, MAGMA, HAPPY FAMILY, ESPERANTO, NIFELHEIM, MAIDEN, ACCEPT, SAXON, CELTIC FROST, AUTOPSY, CARNAGE, POKOLGEP, TANK, VANGELIS, KREATOR, SARCOFAGO, ILL BALLETO DI BRONZO, BLASPHEMY, DEAD CONSPIRACY, NECROVORE, ABSU, MERCILESS, MUTILATOR, PENTAGRAM (CHI), MESSIAH, DEFENDER, STORMWITCH, DEMON EYES, CITRON, OSTROGOTH, BLACK SHEPERD, PRIEST, DIO, BLOOD FEAST, and a lot, lot more”

Kyle Severn has been the long time drummer playing on nearly all but the first two albums and has writing credits as well. I have been unable to find specific influences other than him saying heavy thrash bands from the late 80’s.

I’m not sure what the writing credits are for The Infernal Storm.

Bassist Joe Lombard and vocalist Mike Saez have contributed to lyrics. I’m unsure if they contributed to music. I don’t think they did, but I will need to revisit them if they have.

From 2012 onward writing writing has been collaborative.

Chuck is currently the main lyricist of the band but I’m unsure how much he contributes to writing music. I haven’t been able to find his influences.

Sonny said after seeing the movie “Crossroads” with Steve Via, “I started doing private lessons for about five years, doing all different styles, jazz, blues, rock. I went to school for classical guitar, and jazz guitar, and got my masters in that, so I’m pretty well-rounded for a death metal guitar player.” His influences come more from the virtuoso type players like “Racer X, Tony MacAlpine, Greg Howe, of course the Cacophony stuff ya know, then I really started rocking when I saw the Freight Train video from Nitro with Michael Angelo Batio”

More Family Trees

Source:

https://www.invisibleoranges.com/interview-incantations-john-mcentee/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Metal/comments/6txoux/hi_im_john_mcentee_from_incantation_ask_me/
http://ydbcn.blogspot.com/2014/05/incantations-john-mcentee-interviewed.html
https://www.revolvermag.com/artist-interview/incantation-humble-beginnings-and-nazi-sympathizing-allegations/23571
http://www.chroniclesofchaos.com/articles.aspx?id=1-751
http://www.chroniclesofchaos.com/articles.aspx?id=1-427
https://wormgearzine.com/2009/01/04/the-chasm-interview/
https://www.metalcrypt.com/pages/interviews.php?intid=50
https://www.thrashermagazine.com/articles/music-interviews/incantation-interview/
https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2012/11/28/inside-the-shredder-s-studio-4-alex-bouks-of-incantation/
https://www.nocleansinging.com/2020/10/14/an-ncs-interview-incantation/#more-188307
http://www.midnightmassmusic.com/arise-from-worms-sonny-lombardozzi-forges-ahead/
https://www.haloguitars.com/store/sonny-lombardozzi-exclusive-halo-guitars-interview-incantation