Tuscaloosa, AL · metal · hardcore · nu-metalcore · metalcore

Gideon

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Alabama metalcore turned mean — melodic roots swapped for something nu-metal-adjacent, and the heaviness pays for the trade.

Gideon formed in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 2008 and put out an independent self-titled EP in 2010. The band signed with Strike First, a smaller Facedown Records imprint, and released its debut album, Costs, in 2011. Facedown then signed the group outright ahead of 2012's Milestone, which reached the Christian Albums and Heatseekers Albums charts, part of an early run rooted in the Christian hardcore scene.

In 2016 Gideon left Facedown for Equal Vision Records and released Cold the following year, its best-charting album to date, landing on the Top Hard Music, Top Rock and Independent Record Label charts. The record marked a turn toward a heavier, groove-driven sound pulling from nu-metal and hardcore, with fewer clean vocals and more weight put on breakdowns, a change that split some of the earlier audience while widening the band's reach.

By 2019 Gideon had stopped identifying as a Christian band, a change guitarist and vocalist Tyler Riley traced to years of befriending people who held different beliefs and coming to see faith differently. The band said the shift had been building since as early as 2016. That year also brought the heavier EP No Love/No One and the album Out of Control.

The current lineup is vocalist Daniel McWhorter, guitarist Tyler Riley, bassist Caleb DeRusha and drummer Jake Smelley, the band's only original member. Gideon has released six studio albums and two EPs in total, most recently the EP 4x4, and is now signed to Sumerian Records after stints with Facedown, Equal Vision and Strike First. The current live show leans on the newer material.

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metalhardcorenu-metalcoremetalcore