Beyond Extinction: “It’s That Deep, Rich, Vibrant Deathcore”

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Just before their set at The Dome supporting Humanities Last Breath, we caught up with Jude Bennett and Niall Ali of Beyond Extinction to talk about their upcoming shows, new music and so much more! Check out what we spoke about!

Hi, I’m Nick with The Rock Fix, and I’m here with Beyond Extinction. How are you guys doing today?

Jude: Really good.

Niall: Yeah, very good.

Jude: Enjoying the sunny weather.

You’re playing today at The Dome as part of a really impressive lineup. How are you feeling going into the show?

Niall: To be honest, I was a little nervous a week ago, but after practice, our confidence is up. We’re very excited—really excited.

Jude: Yeah, I think we just feel ready. We played a tour last month, and it went really well. So even though we haven’t played a show since then, I feel like we’re still working at a really high level. We’re all sound-checked and ready, so yeah, I feel like it’s going to go really well.

So you guys mentioned you were just out on tour. You do tend to stop in London quite a lot. Is London kind of like your home away from home?

Jude: It’s become our home. Our home used to be in Southend in Essex, and it’s still really special when we play there—that’s kind of like our spiritual hometown. But yeah, I think we’re more based in London these days, so we definitely have quite a connection with people here. We have a lot of people who like to come down and see us. We’re quite well known in the scene, so it’s nice to have that built up.

You’ve got your memorial show coming up for Zach. How was it putting that together and choosing the bands who are going to be playing?

Jude: I think it’s, in some ways, like a normal show, and in other ways, it’s not. The nice thing about organizing this is that we’ve had so much support. There’s been a big group of us organizing everything, and everyone’s pitched in—from putting the money up front to ordering merch and getting everything ready. It’s felt like a nice community moment, which is exactly what we wanted it to feel like.

Niall: I wanted to add really quick that it’s a very special event for us, and we’ve really felt that throughout the whole process of putting it together. It’s just been such a special thing. I believe the night is going to be amazing. As for the bands we picked, they’re all bands that we know Zach would have loved to see. We just wanted to put on the kind of show that he would have wanted to be at. I think we’ve done a good job of that!

Jude: Quite a lot of the bands, or all the bands, are our friends. We’ve either toured with them before or played shows with them before, and they’re all really excited to play the show. I think it’s going to mean a lot to a lot of people.

How was it deciding who played where on such a stacked lineup?

Niall: Yeah, well, I mean, luckily, we’ve got a bit of wiggle room in the whole booking process—like there is time allocated for delays and all that sort of stuff.

Jude: It’s difficult because a lot of the bands at the top could have easily gone in the top two or three spots. So, you know, it’s kind of hard, and they’re all friends. But I think it helps that Jasper, our vocalist, books all of our shows and tours, as well as other shows for other bands. So, we’ve kind of got his expertise leading it in terms of booking. We usually manage to book pretty smartly. So I think it’s going to be a really good day, and we just hope everything runs smoothly and people enjoy the celebration of Zach’s life.

Moving on to a more light-hearted topic—you guys recently released a new single! How was the reception to that?

Jude: I think the reception was really good. We hadn’t released music since ‘Nothing More Wretched’, and we went into the studio with the intention of just creating something really stripped-back, aggressive, in-your-face death metal. In the past, we’ve leaned in different directions, but for these two songs, we wanted to just go, Bang, here you go. This is what we can do when we really focus on the death metal side of things. Post Human had a really good reaction—people really liked the track and enjoyed it when we played it live. So yeah, it’s really good, and I’m pleased to say we’ll be following up with new music shortly.

Niall: Yeah, we’ve made great progress in the recording so far for Post Human and Reverse Life Support. We worked with Charlie at Monolith Studios, and that was a great experience. We’re currently working with Mikey from Rogue Studios based in Wembley, and again, it’s been great collaborating with all these people. It’s added so much to have people who can see our vision and what we want to achieve. It’s been a great experience.

I think it’s really important to have someone who believes in your vision and can see what you’re trying to achieve.

Niall: Luckily, we’ve got a lot of friends who’ve made recommendations.

Jude: The first person we worked with was Matt Williams at Sound Lab. We worked with him when we were just starting to properly record, so he was great in guiding us through the whole recording process. Then we tried something different with Charlie, who specializes in hardcore and that kind of stripped-down sound. We really wanted to focus on that, and I think it came out really well. Now, we’ve decided to go with Mikey, with Andy Mallaby from Messiah producing, because we really want to hone in on our sound, which is that kind of doomy deathcore, Black Tongue-inspired vibe, where it’s a little bit richer. Mikey’s been a massive help so far in the studio—he’s been suggesting things, and we’re the kind of band that always listens to recommendations. If a producer suggests playing a part differently, we’ll just go, “Okay, done. Change it.” Ultimately, we’ve listened to the songs so much at that point that we can’t really hear the songs—we just hear the sections, the parts, and the tempos.

Niall: We have some experience recording, but it’s very limited compared to Mikey and Andy. They really know what they’re talking about, and if they’ve got something to say, we listen.

Especially with deathcore at the moment, it’s obviously had a big resurgence over the past few years. A lot more eyes are on the scene. Many bands have tended to lean more toward this melodic style, perhaps due to the success of bands like Lorna Shore, Whitechapel, etc. Is that something you guys have thought about leaning into, or are you happy to stay where you are now?

Niall: I mean, we did dabble a bit before, but we found it wasn’t naturally us.

Jude: We’ve tried a whole bunch of different things. Back in the early days, we were basically a thrash band. We’ve spent a lot of time writing, exploring, and trying different things. For the album we’re planning to drop next year, I feel like we’ve finally been able to properly hone in and develop the sound we want. It’s that deep, rich, vibrant deathcore with thick bass lines, big drums, and lots of ambiance and backing. We’re taking a leaf from bands like Lorna Shore that have those backings, but we didn’t go with anything orchestral. We wanted it to sound a bit, I don’t know, not of this earth.

Niall: Ultimately, we write music that we want to listen to, and naturally, this is what we lean toward.

I’ll end with one final question—it’s more of a general one. If there was one band, past or still going, that you could tour with, who would it be?

Niall: That’s a great question. Personally, I’d say Parkway Drive, just for the vibes—they were like heroes to us. I’ve got so much love and respect for them from watching the documentaries they put together. It looks like they have a fun time on tour, and as much as we focus on the music and everything, we like to have fun behind the scenes as well. That’d be a great experience.

Jude: I’m going to say Meshuggah, just because I’m a massive fanboy. If I could say we toured with them, I could die happy.

Thank you so much for your time. Is there anything you’d like to add?

Jude: Yes, other than Zach’s show coming up, we’ve got a big tour in September. You can find the details on our socials. It’s a five-band bill every night—Messiah, Draconian Reign, Existentialist, us, and To Obey A Tyrant. We’re going to be touring around the country, all the way from Newcastle to Guildford. Tickets are selling well, so if you like heavy music, this is going to be the tour of the year.