News

NYC “gothametal’” band NEFARIANT, have released their new song “Beg” as well as the music video for the song, the first single from their forthcoming EP Noct – scheduled for release on February 9, 2024. NEFARIANT has turned to unexpected instrumentation by adopting a no guitar, piano-led sound that is blatantly heavy. The quartet is Jason Lekberg, vocalist; Paul Cibrano, pianist; Daniel Martinez, bassist; Andrew Maciejewski, drummer. The band creates what they term “brutal elegance”, a new expression of metal music that works without a guitar. The band’s defining feature is an elemental accord between word and music that showcases their embrace of contradiction in sound, lyrics, and visual presence. It also points to the complexity of each composition – not always technically – but structurally: clean vocals and growls in antiphonal dialogue; piano and/or bass figures where the common expectation would be guitar licks. “Beg” is available for streaming/downloading here: https://lnk.to/Nefariant and the music video is now live on Metal Injection and can be seen here: https://youtu.be/FJRydUdJJ-E.

The band again worked with producer Ulrich Wild (Deftones, Pantera, Static-X) and mastering engineer Paul Logus (Corey Taylor, Anthrax). Over a series of trips from their home in NYC to Ulrich’s LA studio ‘The Wilderness’ they painstakingly developed this new sound. They now begin a process of releasing one song per month for the coming seven months, beginning with ‘Beg’.

Noct Tracklist:

1. Beg
2. On War
3. Legend
4. Bury You
5. Gravedigger
6. Helpless
7. Kenotic

NEFARIANT is also announcing a show supporting to Somnuri (MNRK Heavy) and Loss Becomes at Union Pool in Brooklyn on August 26^th.  Tickets can be purchased at https://tix.to/Somnuri_826.

We are now a 4-piece. Piano, Bass, Drums, Vocals. After the departure of founding guitarist Dustin, we spent months searching for his replacement, played a few shows with our good friend Jon Perkins and ultimately decided not replace him at all. Clever engineering from Drew and Dan and a gargantuan writing effort from Dan has resulted in a new approach to heavy music. 


Last February, we returned to Ulrich Wild’s studio in LA, removed the existing guitars and bass on our forthcoming EP and re-tracked them using this new method. That EP and a new music video are nearly ready to be released. In the meantime, we invite you to see the first public performance of this new configuration on June 17th - at the location we debuted in 2020, The Kingsland.

Photos by the iconic Dave Jackson taken at Sleepwalk.

Singer Jason Lekberg Revealed as the model for Pantera’s Vulgar Display of Power Anniversary Graphic Novel and Record Re-issue as Painted by the World Famous Paul Booth

Complete Recording Follow Up EP ‘Noct’ with Ulrich Wild (Pantera, Deftones, White Zombie)

NYC metal band NEFARIANT have released the music video for their second single ‘Tonight’ off their debut EP Fowl. The video release celebrates the NEFARIANT debut to a sold-out headline show in Brooklyn on February 28th 2020, two weeks before the world went into lockdown. “This video is a celebration of the city we call home. With its resilience, attitude and striking skyline, it only felt right to create a video as powerful and moving as the song it was for” said Nefariant pianist Paul Cibrano. ‘Tonight’ was directed by Matthew Brewster and Christoph Manuel of ENGN RM. Watch the video here and stream the EP Fowl here.

Vocalist Jason Lekberg has also been revealed as the model for the deluxe cover of Pantera’s Vulgar Display of Power graphic novel created by Z2 Comics which includes a Vinyl Re-issue of that album. World famous tattoo artist Paul Booth painted the image and asked Jason to sit as the model for his interpretation of the moment after the iconic punch featured on the original album cover. Jason Lekberg says of the experience “As if being friends and working with the legendary Paul Booth wasn't enough, I am honored to have been used as the subject for his interpretation of one of the most important albums in my life. The Pantera camp surprised us by making it the cover of the Deluxe vinyl reissue of the album as well as their new Graphic Novel and 14-year-old me is losing his mind." Pre-order the graphic novel and album here.

Nefariant have also recently returned from The Wilderness in Los Angeles where they have just finished recording their follow up to Fowl, titled Noct, with producer Ulrich Wild (Pantera, Deftones, White Zombie). A release date for this EP will be announce in the near future.

NYC Metal Band NEFARIANT Release Debut EP ‘FOWL’ - Stream It Here.

Premiere Music Video for Debut Single ‘Life on Fire’ with Metal Injection.  Watch It Here.

Announce June 12th Outdoor Headline Show and August 21st Support Show with Byzantine in Brooklyn

NYC metal band NEFARIANT, have released their debut EP Fowl as well as the music video for Life on Fire, the first single from Fowl, now live on Metal Injection (insert link). The band is also announcing its first in a series of shows, the first as a headline show on June 12th and the second as direct support for Byzantine on August 21st, both shows at Arrogant Swine in Brooklyn. Both shows will follow all current Covid guidelines for safety and curfew.

"NEFARIANT blends the elegance and brutality of metal in a way I haven't experienced since TYPE O NEGATIVE. There's an unmatched passion and sophistication to their art and I'm excited to see what they continue to create", said visionary Life on Fire music video director Frankie Nasso (Mudvayne, Nothing More) about the band.

NEFARIANT debuted to a sold out headline show in Brooklyn on February 28th 2020, two weeks before the world went into lockdown. Singer Jason Lekberg recalls, “The unfortunate timing of our initial launch became the rare opportunity to slow down and marinate. Though there are few things I like less than re-doing work, I'm excited to have had this past year to grow as a band and gain even more clarity in our vision.”

After spending the quarantine re-mixing the EP with Ulrich Wild (Pantera, Deftones) and re-mastering with Paul Logus (Corey Taylor, Anthrax), NEFARIANT finally felt like they had found their voice that drives the ‘elegant and brutal’ mindset of the project. “We felt like Ulrich really understood where we were coming from and what we were trying to create. It’s challenging to find a balance between heavy riffs and heavily melodic piano parts where both segments find synergy to complement one another instead of drown each one out. Ulrich helped us find that voice”, said NEFARIANT pianist Paul Cibrano.

NEFARIANT is (left to right) bassist Dan Martinez (Alekhine’s Gun), pianist Paul Cibrano, vocalist Jason Lekberg (ex-IKILLYA), guitarist Dustin Tooker (ex-Grade 8), and drummer Drew Maciejewski (ex- IKILLYA).