What the American hard rock and metal scene needs right now is an infusion of youth and some new blood coursing through its veins. Enter ANTI-MORTEM and their upcoming debut album, New Southern. An Oklahoma quintet whose combined average age is just 21-years-old, ANTI-MORTEM were raised on southern rock & heavy metal and driven by a hunger to make an impact. The band dole out bottom-heavy and groove-laden heavy rock anthems, and as with all the metal greats they've learned from, a modern sense of melody infuses every track. Also present and accounted for is southern swagger, courtesy of the band's roots and upbringing.

Singer Larado Romo, whose vim & vitriol is that of a younger, more virile version of Megadeth's Dave Mustaine, and the range of Disturbed's David Draiman, reveals the simplicity of the band's goal: to drag rock 'n' roll back to the forefront. "Hard rock is stagnating," he acknowledges. "We want people to think, 'Rock has balls again.'"

That's quite a bold statement, but ANTI-MORTEM have the musical cajones, the chops, and the songs to back such a claim up. It's not just lip service or bravado. It's their M.O. and what drives them.

ANTI-MORTEM - whose name is derived from the Latin "Antemortem," which means "before death" - can trace their humble beginnings back to 2008. Larado was a middle-schooler and the rest of his now-bandmates were in high school. He was drafted into the mix by his older brother, guitarist Nevada. Despite the difference in age, the members meshed because underneath it all, they were merely music fanatics who loved playing their instruments and enjoyed listening to classic rock. They were fully immersed in the rock of the '70s, '80s, and '90s. Then they discovered metal and the rest is ANTI-MORTEM history.

The band spent formative nights and weekends woodshedding their sound on the concert stage they built themselves in the Smith family barn (originally intended to store .......
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