The Zenith Passage is an American technical death metal band from Los Angeles, California founded in 2012. They are currently signed to Unique Leader Records. To date they have released one EP, Cosmic Dissonance, and one LP, Solipsist. They are closely linked with fellow Los Angeles technical death metal bandThe Faceless. The Zenith Passage's Justin McKinney would join The Faceless to play guitar in 2015, replacing Wes Hauch, who contributed his own guitar work and composition to the song "Hypnogogia" on the band's debut album "Solipsist" was produced in part by The Faceless' Michael Keene. The band went on tour as part of Metal Sucks Devastation of the Nation tour, supporting Cryptopsy and Decrepit Birth.
History
The Zenith Passage started in 2012 as collaboration between friends Justin McKinney and Greg Hampton. After releasing a one track demo in February 2012, the band would release their debut EP Cosmic Dissonance less than a year later, on January 29, 2013. It featured album artwork by famous death metal artwork creator Ken Sarafin. A lyric video for the title trackCosmic Dissonance was published to the band's YouTube channel on January 29, 2013. It featured reworked footage from Ed Wood's 1959 science fiction filmPlan 9 from Outer Space. The band signed a multi-album deal with Unique Leader Records on June 24, 2013. On April 15, 2016 the band released their debut LP Solipsist, which featured guest vocals from Fallujah’s Alex Hofmann, and a guitar solo by Wes Hauch who also co-wrote a portion of the track Hypnagogia, and cover art by Ken Sarafin, who had previously contributed artwork to bands Skinless, The Kennedy Veil, Oceano and Archspire. This would be the band's first effort with ex-Fallujah and All Shall Perish guitarist Rob Maramonte, who joined the band in 2013. The album sold 1850 units in its first week. The band’s debut LP, “Solipsist” released April 16, 2016 on Unique Leader Records and was well received amongst the metal community. Solipsist was highly acclaimed and considered to be “Planetary Duality 2” This effort would also produce the band's first music video, for the song Deus Deceptor. Drummer Matthew Paulazzo would depart the band in 2018 to enter film school. In a 2018 interview with the Casting Metal Podcast, Justin McKinney hinted at a new album, and a new EP, arriving in either late 2018 or early 2019. He described the album's sound as "mechanical","robotic" and "groove-oriented", comparing the sound to that of Meshuggah. The EP he described as something that would sound "totally different".
