Hello Rockstars! Today’s Artist of the Week is Heavy Metal band Subsanity!
Here’s their story in their own words, enjoy!
Main photo by: Jess (@evil.dead.jess)
VMS:
“When did you start writing and performing your music.
What’s your backstory and current lineup.”
Subsanity:
“The true origin of Subsanity traces back to January 2023, when Octavius wrote the first song, “Fallout,” under the band name “Culture Shock”. The track was created as an audition piece for the 2023 Henderson Battle of the Bands. Unfortunately, the band didn’t make it into the competition— a loss that affected Octavius, but was a learning experience for him as well.
For the time being, Culture Shock was a two person project consisting of Octavius Corrales and original drummer Isaiah King. As the progression of writing original songs kept moving forward, it became evident they needed a bass player to bring this new sound to life. After scouring social media, Octavius came across Tom Beyer, a bassist who was already familiar with the local music scene and whose skills stood out. A single rehearsal was all it took to confirm Tom was the missing piece they needed. Near the end of 2023, they outgrew the old band name, leading to rebrand as Subsanity.
Still reeling from the disappointment of the 2023 Henderson Battle of the Bands, Octavius wanted his vengeance, and was determined to prove himself. Winning the next battle of the bands would be the only option… but there was one problem. The journey hit another crossroads when Isaiah had to leave the band to pursue college out of the country. In order to not lose momentum, Octavius called up high school friend and drummer Mike Petrov, who stepped in just in time for the band to prepare for their next big chance.
With just one month to prepare, they submitted an audition video of “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due” by Megadeth. This time, their efforts paid off, and were accepted into the competition. The 2024 Battle of the Bands marked Subsanity’s first live show, securing first place prize out of five bands. It was a breakthrough moment for them, solidifying their presence in the local music scene.
A couple months later, they recruited Alex Katopodis as a permanent drummer. During the rest of 2024 they reached several milestones, performing at venues such as Eagle Aerie Hall, the Copa Room, and the Windmill Library Theatre. Two singles called “Fallout” and “Waste Away” were released and are a part of an upcoming debut album, with Alex and battle of the bands drummer Mike Petrov each playing drums on various tracks.”
Photo by: Jess (@evil.dead.jess)
VMS:
“What artist or bands inspire you and your sound.”
Subsanity:
“We’re inspired by a lot of heavy bands, most notably Pantera, Megadeth, Testament, Death, System Of A Down, Metallica, Black Sabbath, and many more. We also take different kinds of inspiration from a lot of softer or bluesy music to add those extra bits of flavor to our songs.”
VMS:
“What’s your writing process and inspiration for your lyrics.”
Subsanity:
“Inspiration for writing riffs strikes only occasionally, but when it does, we fuel its fire until it burns out. Our focus is always on quality over quantity. The foundation of our first album began with the guitar parts, laying the groundwork before adding drums and bass. Lyrics are always the final piece of the song as we must analyze the atmosphere and emotion of the music itself. The upcoming album explores topics such as trench warfare, government rule, mental health, and even suicide.”
Photo by: Amelie Haynal
VMS:
“I love your songs “Waste Away….and Die!” And “Fallout”.
What is the inspiration or story behind these songs.”
Subsanity:
“”Waste Away… and Die” was written as a thank you to our substitute drummer Mike Petrov for playing with us in the early days of Subsanity. We asked him to record drum parts for a few songs in our upcoming record and singles. During that process, he came to us with the idea of the song, so we all gathered at his house and completed it in under a few hours.
Listen to “Waste Away… and Die” on Spotify:
“Fallout”: Octavius wrote “Fallout” in 2023 under the band name “Culture Shock”. The track was created as an audition piece for the 2023 Henderson Battle of the Bands. It later became one of our most popular songs. The two singles we have out so far reflect the first song that was ever written to the most recent song that was finished in our catalog.”
Listen to “Fallout” on Spotify:
VMS:
“I know you guys are working on new music, which is so exciting. What can we expect for the evolution of Subsanity.”
Subsanity:
“All the music for our debut album is complete, and we’re currently finishing the recording and mixing process in preparation for its release. Even though the first album hasn’t dropped yet, we’re already working on material for the second. With this next project, we want it to be deeper and more personal drawing from our experiences and the moments that have shaped us. Expect a double single in the beginning of April*, “Hallucinations” and “Born on the Battlefield” which we believe to be some of our best work.”
*These questions were answered in March of 2025, So check out their new songs on Spotify:
VMS:
“Which local artist would you like to work with and why.”
Subsanity:
“Local artist we would like to work with is Tyrantula because after seeing them live we realized how elite these musicians are. We feel they have similar styles to us and we would love to do more shows with them in the future.”
VMS:
“What’s your overall theme or message of your music.”
Subsanity:
“We tend to write about darker topics such as war, violence, inner struggle, and a lot of other action based things that help our songs tell a story.”
Photo by: Amelie Haynal
VMS:
“Do you have a favorite song that you like to perform.”
Subsanity:
Tom: “Personally, “Two Face” is my favorite song to play because of the unique galloping rhythm the song has in its main riffs and it’s a great mixture of both hard and easy parts that keeps it dynamically interesting.”
Alex: “All the songs are very fun and interesting to play live but “Fallout” is probably my favorite. The song has a lot of energy and fast fills throughout the song that I love to play and mess around with as well as some slower, simpler, groovy beats that are just as fun.”
Octavius: “Our title track “Subsanity” is my favorite song to play live because it was the last song made on the album, really portraying our skill up to date. All 3 solos on that song are my personal favorite on the album. The composition of that song is genius.”
Photo by: Amelie Haynal
VMS:
“Do you have any crazy or interesting stories from working in the music scene.”
Subsanity:
“Our first show at Henderson’s annual Battle Of The Bands last year was a crazy show to get through. All of us were determined to win. Tom’s wireless pack wasn’t working 5 minutes before the show, which has to be substituted with an short cable, Mike’s drumstick broke halfway into the first song and played the rest of the show with it, and recently during our Rangels boxing show, Octavius played half a show without a functional guitar strap.”
VMS:
“What does the future hold for Subsanity.”
Subsanity:
“We are definitely planning out to build our empire and expand on our social media with various single releases, leading to the self titled album “SUBSANITY’ to drop. Once this album is released we will immediately be working on the next one. Hopefully by this summer we can have our first tour in California*, and expand our territory to a new audience. We would like our music to reach the mass of people and eventually reach a broader perspective.”
*These questions were asked in March, and Subsanity does have a concert on July 9th at the World Famous Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood, California! For More information check out their site!
VMS:
“What do you want your audience to feel and experience at one of your live shows.”
Subsanity:
“We want to give the audience an entertaining but also eye opening experience where our music can really speak to them. We wish for people to be inspired by our music.”
Photo by: Jess (@evil.dead.jess)
VMS Thoughts:
What I love about Subsanity is that they always push themselves to become stronger every song I hear.
I am genuinely impressed how far they have come as musicians, with their pulsating drums, shredding guitars and that vocal growl, words truly do not do them justice on how intense they are, and you can tell their chemistry is off the charts and definitely shows in their amazing songs that send you on an intense heavy metal musical journey that you just need to listen to, to understand their full musical complexity.
Even though I thought they were strong out the gate with their first song they ever did, but with each new release they keep surprising me with how incredibly strong they all are at their craft. They are also not afraid to talk about topics that would be consider too taboo, but I feel are incredibly important such as War and Self-Reflection, and anything else that is an incredibly important to them. I love that they make you think about the world around us, all while still rocking your fucking face off. I feel that is what music should be about, having fun, but also talking about important social and political issues that help the listener think outside the box.
I strongly encourage you to go see these gentlemen in person to get the full experience of their skills. They put on one hell of a show, and I know their July 9th show at Whisky A Go Go is definitely gonna be one for the books, I suggest you get your tickets now to see these incredible musicians in action.
I’m so excited to see the evolution of Subsanity, I just know that if they keep pushing the boundaries of their music and musicianship that they are definitely going to go far, and I personally can’t wait for that amazing ride, it’s gonna be fucking sick. 🙂
—–VMS