By Dig Dirkler

Indianapolis deathcore band Mauled has been building serious momentum. What started as a garage project quickly turned into a hometown force, selling out two local shows and building a reputation for unhinged live performances.

With their upcoming EP When Your Eyes Are Shut dropping March 13, we spoke with vocalist Abe Kirkpatrick about channeling emotion into brutality, the challenge of pushing deathcore forward, and the one mosh pit rule he refuses to break.

You said Mauled wants to reroute deathcore back to its early days while blending in modern influence. As a vocalist, what does that mean for your approach to writing and delivering vocals on When Your Eyes Are Shut?

Honestly, I’d say the lyrics are the place where inspiration doesn’t really come from an old-school sense. It’s more just me writing stuff down and expressing myself the best way possible. Just getting all that negative emotion out.

Mauled’s rise in Indianapolis happened fast—going from a garage project to two sold-out hometown shows. How did that early chaos and energy shape you personally as a frontman?

Nothing we’ve accomplished has really changed me in any way. I just keep doing me. I go up there doing crazy stuff and making crazy noises.

You’ve been open about channeling loss, heartbreak, and toxic relationships into lyrics that are outwardly violent. How do you balance shock value with genuine emotional vulnerability?

I really go for shock value, honestly. I’m just putting it all out there. I don’t really care. I just want people to be able to relate and enjoy the music at the same time.

Sometimes I take inspiration from my bandmates too. They’ll tell me stuff that’s happened to them and I can write a song based on that experience.

On Drop Dead Gorgeous, featuring JP Kane, the lyrics feel deeply confrontational and personal. Was writing that track cathartic or painful?

It wasn’t painful. It was actually relieving to get those emotions out in music form.

That’s really what all of this is—channeling negative emotion so it translates into music and on stage so we can put on the best show possible.

Bands like Whitechapel and Suicide Silence helped define early deathcore intensity. As someone stepping into that lineage, what responsibility do you feel to push the genre forward rather than just recreate it?

That’s difficult because we’re in a genre based off an older one. But if you just keep doing your own thing and don’t focus on writing something that fits a narrative or a certain sound, it’ll evolve naturally.

It’s very hard to be original these days, but if you stay true to what you’re doing and don’t pull too much from your inspirations, you can eventually create something original.

Who really created deathcore—Despised Icon, Suicide Silence, or someone else?

That’s always a big argument. Who made it what it is today? Suicide Silence. Who invented it? That’s harder to say. Despised Icon was very early in the history of deathcore. But honestly, any death metal band with breakdowns back in the day could’ve been considered deathcore.

Your screams are described as agonizing and razor-wire sharp. What’s your live vocal setup, and how do you protect your voice?

I do a little warm-up right before getting on stage. Room-temperature water is really important. Cold water feels good and cools you off, but it actually freezes up your vocal cords and makes the muscles in your throat tense up. That makes it harder to make the noises you want. So I stick with room-temperature water and do simple warmups—jaw exercises, throat warmups, stuff like that. Nothing crazy, just enough to get everything ready.

Have you had issues like locked jaw or vocal pain that pushed you toward those exercises?

Not really. It’s more about preventing it. I haven’t experienced pain doing extreme vocals, but the warmups are there to make sure it stays that way.

Before we wrap up, anything you’d like to share with fans?

We’re touring with Whitechapel in May—on the 11th, 13th, and 14th. Then from March 26 through April 11, we’re touring with Surfaced and Thus Spoke. We’re hitting the East Coast, going down to South Florida, up through Georgia, and then back into Indiana. That’s all I got.

With When Your Eyes Are Shut set for release in March, Mauled has no plans to slow down. The band will hit the road shortly after the EP drops, touring from March 26 through April 11 alongside Surfaced and Thus Spoke. The run will take them down the East Coast, through South Florida, and back toward Indiana.

Later in the spring, Mauled will also join Whitechapel for a series of shows in May. For Kirkpatrick, touring remains the ultimate payoff—the place where everything the band pours into their music finally comes alive. And if Mauled’s growing reputation is any indication, the chaos is only just beginning.

When Your Eyes Are Shut will be released on vinyl via Silverback Gorilla Records HERE and digitally via the MAULED Bandcamp page HERE. A CD edition will be available via DS//FP Records in the coming weeks.

Categories: Interviews, Mauled