RAPTVRE

Raptvre biography
Founded in 2018, Raptvre are a German blackened death metal band based in Cologne, formed by guitarist/vocalist Kirill Gromada (of Ayahuasca and Pripjat) and vocalist/bassist Stefan Braunschmidt (of Hvrt and Nvrvd). Taking their name from both the Morbid Angel song and the underwater city from the Bioshock video game, Raptvre sit squarely in the dissonant extreme metal continuum forged by Gorguts, Deathspell Omega and Ulcerate, adding a post-hardcore/deathcore twist to their sound which aligns them more with the likes of Ulsect, Départe and Nightmarer.

Signed to Crawling Chaos, Raptvre made their 2019 debut with the three-song Feast Upon Their Flesh demo, in which Gromada and Braunschmidt handled vocals, guitars, bass and drum programming. The project subsequently expanded to a quartet with the addition of Necrotic Woods vocalist Christoph Piesk (aka Thorn) and Gromada's fellow Ayahuasca/Pripjat bandmate Yannik Bremerich on drums, resulting in Raptvre's first full-length, Monuments of Bitterness, released seven months after their demo. Cornelius Althammer (of In Mourning and Ahab, among others) replaced Bremerich in 2020.