Dublin groove metal four-piece Charnel Crown have racked up press and radio play across continents before playing a single show. We caught up with them about the riffs, the graft and, yes, the ducks.
Who are you and where are you from?
We’re Charnel Crown, a groove metal band from Dublin, Ireland. The band consists of Dean Donnelly on vocals, Stephen “Stitch” Egan on guitar, Adam Sculthorpe on drums, and Spencer O’Brien on bass. Growing up in Ireland definitely shaped our sound and mentality as a band. The Irish metal scene has always had a raw, hardworking energy to it. Bands really have to earn their place and put everything into what they do. We grew up around local gigs, underground shows, and people who genuinely care about heavy music, and that mindset naturally became part of who we are. At the end of the day, we’re not trying to completely change metal or pretend we’ve discovered something nobody has heard before. We just write and play heavy music that we genuinely love. Groove, aggression, atmosphere, and honest songwriting are the things that matter most to us, and we try to put that into every song we release.
How did Charnel Crown form, and how did you find each other in the Dublin scene?
Charnel Crown came together pretty naturally over time. Adam and Stephen have been best friends since they were kids, so they already had years of jamming and writing music together behind them. They’d been involved in a few bands over the years, but nothing really stuck long term. Eventually they met Spencer through an Irish metal “find a musician” page online and decided to have a jam together. Spencer had previously played in Unmaker and Saint Slaughter, but at the time he was coming out of a small hiatus himself and looking to get back into music seriously again. Dean and Spencer briefly knew each other through mutual friends, and one night Dean messaged Spencer after seeing he was looking for a band. The lads invited Dean down to jam with them in Unit 1 Richmond Studios on Donore Avenue in Dublin, and from that first session there was a chemistry there that just felt natural. Before Charnel Crown, Dean had been involved in bands called Call To Arms and Antidotes but had stepped away from music for about seven years because life simply got in the way for a while. In a lot of ways, this band became the right group of people finding each other at the right time, and once we started playing together properly, things moved forward very quickly.
How would you describe your sound to someone who’s never heard you?
We’d describe our sound as groove metal at its core, but with influences pulled from a lot of different corners of heavy music. There’s a strong focus on riffs, groove, aggression, and atmosphere, while still making sure the songs are memorable and have their own identity. Our influences range from bands like Black Sabbath, Pantera, Gojira, Tool, and Korn, so there’s a mix of old-school heaviness, groove-driven riffs, darker atmosphere, and modern energy in what we do. We’re fans of music that feels powerful and has personality to it, and that naturally comes through in our writing. At the end of the day, we just write the kind of heavy music that we’d personally want to hear, something that hits hard live, has strong grooves, and leaves an impression on people after they’ve heard it.
Who are the bands or records that shaped the Charnel Crown sound?
All four of us come from slightly different musical backgrounds, so there’s a massive mix of influences behind Charnel Crown, but if we had to point to the core DNA of the band, Pantera and Lamb of God are definitely huge parts of it. That combination of groove, aggression, energy, and filthy riffs has always connected with all of us. At the same time, each member brings something different into the mix. For Dean, hearing Magma by Gojira completely changed the way he thought about songwriting and atmosphere in heavy music. Spencer takes a lot of influence from bass players like Rex Brown and Justin Chancellor from Tool, especially in terms of groove and creating parts that stand out rather than just sitting underneath the guitars. Adam has always been heavily influenced by drummers like Chris Adler and David Silveria from Korn, particularly when it comes to power, rhythm, and feel. A lot of what gives Charnel Crown its own personality also comes from everyday life and the environment around us. Living in Ireland right now, you can’t really avoid seeing the frustration people are carrying, the rising pressure, uncertainty, people feeling ignored or let down. We’re not trying to preach about it, but those emotions naturally find their way into the music because they’re part of the world we live in every day.
‘People Like You’ is your debut single, out alongside a video. What’s the story behind getting it over the line?
‘People Like You’ was actually the first song that Spencer, Adam, and Stephen ever jammed together, so in a lot of ways it became the foundation for the band before the full lineup had even come together. Once Dean joined and we started developing it properly, the song naturally became the obvious choice for our debut single. A massive part of getting it over the line was working with Josh Robinson from JSR Audio in Belfast. Josh mixed, mastered, and produced the track, but honestly, he became like a fifth member of the band throughout the process. He really pushed us to get the best out of the song and helped take it from something that existed in a rehearsal room into a fully realised release. His standards for recording heavy music are incredibly high, and that definitely elevated the final result. For the music video, which was shot by NVRMNT in Pirate Studios in Dublin, we wanted to keep things simple and authentic to who we are as a band. We had no interest in creating some massive storyline or cinematic concept, we just wanted to capture four lads completely losing their minds while performing the song. That raw energy was the most important thing to us. Since releasing it, the response has honestly blown us away. We’ve had press coverage and radio play stretching from Ireland to Brazil, Chile, Scotland, Wales, Greece, England, and America, which is pretty surreal when you consider this is only our debut single.
Tell us the story behind the track.
The story behind ‘People Like You’ goes all the way back to before the four of us had even properly jammed together as a full band. Spencer had sent Dean an early instrumental demo that had been recorded on a Tascam so he could start writing ideas ahead of the first rehearsal. What nobody else knew at the time was that Dean was actually in hospital when he wrote the lyrics for the song. A lot of the themes came from pressure, frustration, and the reality of trying to keep your head above water while still carrying responsibilities in everyday life. The song is really about working people, the pressure that ordinary men and women are under right now and the importance of not allowing yourself to become a victim of your circumstances. We all work full-time jobs outside of the band, we all have families, responsibilities, and people we care about, so the themes in the song are very real to us. In many ways, Charnel Crown became an outlet for all of that because before this band existed, we didn’t really have a creative release like this anymore. The title ‘People Like You’ comes directly from that mindset. We’re not trying to present ourselves as larger than life or pretend we’re something we’re not. Outside of the band, we’re workers, friends, husbands, brothers, and sons, the same as everyone else. We deal with the same pressures and struggles that most people are feeling right now, and that’s where the title really comes from. We are people like you. There was also a really special moment while recording the track with Josh Robinson at JSR Audio. After the second chorus, Dean asked Josh for a sort of radio presenter-style vocal effect, and honestly none of us fully knew what he was about to do because it wasn’t something we had properly explored in rehearsals. Then he delivered the spoken section that appears in the song, and the atmosphere in the studio completely changed. It instantly elevated the track and hit home for all of us because everything being said there reflected feelings we’ve all experienced ourselves.
For someone discovering you through this piece, which song should they hit play on first?
Honestly, we’d probably say start from the beginning and listen to everything. We know music consumption is very single-driven these days, but we still come from that mindset of putting on an album or EP and experiencing it from start to finish. That’s how you usually discover the songs that really stay with you personally. At the same time, each track on the EP brings out slightly different influences and flavours within the band while still sounding like Charnel Crown. ‘People Like You’ has that groove metal punch to it, whereas our second single ‘In For A Penny’ leans into a more nu metal-inspired direction while still keeping the groove and heaviness intact. Then there’s a track called ‘Everglade’, which is probably one of the most personal songs Dean has ever written lyrically. It’s not a ballad by any means, but it has more of a slower southern atmosphere to it compared to the other tracks, and honestly we were all incredibly happy with how it turned out. So if someone discovers us through this piece, we’d say don’t just stop at one song, dive into the whole thing because each track shows a different side of the band.
What’s the metal scene like in Dublin right now? Plenty going on, or are you carving your own corner of it?
The Dublin and Irish metal scene in general is in a really strong place right now. There are loads of bands across the country all doing their own thing and pushing heavy music forward in their own way. Bands like Dead Label, Boyracer, Ritual Effect, New Enemy, Pain In Vain, Tide 7, Following The Signs, Incessant, and Unmaker are all helping represent the scene and showing just how varied Irish heavy music actually is at the moment. One of the best things about the scene right now is that there’s room for different sounds and different approaches. You’ve got groove metal, hardcore, alternative metal, metalcore, thrash, it all exists side by side and the crowds are really supportive of emerging bands who are willing to put the work in. A huge amount of credit also has to go to the people organising and promoting shows because without them the scene simply wouldn’t survive. Companies like Our Divide Promotions and Who Art Thou have become a massive part of keeping local shows alive in Dublin, while outside the city you’ve got promoters like Bad Reputation, Dead Cult, and Drag Wounds consistently putting on incredible gigs and giving newer Irish bands real opportunities to grow. At the end of the day, the Irish metal scene has always had a very hardworking mentality. Nobody is sitting around waiting for things to happen, bands, promoters, photographers, videographers, everyone is out there building it together.
What’s been your best gig so far?
Technically, we haven’t played our first official show yet, so we can’t pretend there’s some legendary gig story already behind us. But honestly, that almost makes everything feel more exciting right now because it still feels like the beginning of something. A lot of the momentum for Charnel Crown has actually come before we’ve even stepped on stage, through the music releases, the response online, radio play, and the support we’ve received from people both in Ireland and internationally. That’s given us a huge push going into these first shows. Ask us this question again after 10 July in Fibber Magees though, because there’s a very good chance that’ll become the answer.
Tell us a funny, deep, emotional or tragic story about the band.
One of the funniest ongoing things in the band has somehow become… ducks. Honestly, none of us even fully remember how it started properly. There was some drunken conversation where one of us was trying to use ducks as an example while talking complete nonsense, and somehow it spiralled from there. For months after that, ducks just started appearing everywhere. We’d randomly send each other photos anytime we spotted duck-related stuff out in the world, and it slowly became this running joke within the band. Coincidentally, it genuinely felt like ducks were following us around in everyday life as well. Dean was moving house at one point and for some reason his mother handed him a random duck for the bath, then another time we were walking from rehearsal to a pub and a van with a giant duck on the side drove past us. At that stage we were convinced they were everywhere. Then one rehearsal took it to another level. Stephen was completely locked into playing and didn’t notice that Dean had secretly brought an entire bag of miniature toy ducks into the studio. While Stephen was headbanging away, Dean started placing tiny ducks all over his gear one by one. First there were a few sitting on the pedalboard. Then after another song there were ducks beside the beers. Then more started appearing on the amp. Eventually Stephen finally noticed and genuinely thought he was losing his mind for a minute because these tiny ducks just kept multiplying around the room. By the end of rehearsal the place looked completely ridiculous, and somehow the ducks have now basically become part of Charnel Crown lore. Stephen still has the bag of them as well, which probably says a lot about this band.
What’s next for you? More gigs, more recording, plans for an EP or album?
We’ve got a lot happening over the next few months. Our second single, ‘In For A Penny’, releases on 1 June alongside an official lyric video created by Very Metal Art UK, and we’re really excited for people to hear the next step in the band’s sound. On 10 July, we’ll also be shooting a live music video for the title track of our debut EP, ‘Such Is Life’, during our show in Fibber Magees in Dublin where we’ll be playing alongside Boyracer and supporting Ritual Effect. We wanted to do something that captures the real atmosphere and energy of a live show, so having people there to be part of it is going to make that really special for us. Our debut EP Such Is Life is set for release later this summer as well, with production officially wrapping up on 31 May. The entire process has been a massive learning experience for us, and we’re proud of how the material has come together. Beyond that, we do have more shows lined up and a few exciting things in the works, but we’re still waiting on confirmations and final details before we can properly announce them. Right now, the focus is just on keeping momentum going, getting the music out there, and playing as many shows as possible.
Where can people find you?
You can find Charnel Crown across all major social platforms and streaming services. Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Spotify, and all official links: linktr.ee/charnelcrownmetal. You can stream our debut single ‘People Like You’ now and keep up to date with upcoming releases, shows, and announcements through our socials.
Anything else you want people to know?
More than anything, we just want to thank everyone who has supported the band so far. Considering Charnel Crown is still in its early days, the response to the music has honestly exceeded anything we expected. Seeing people connect with the songs, share the music, and support what we’re building means a lot to us. We’re still only getting started and there’s a lot more to come over the next few months with new music, more live shows, and the release of our debut EP Such Is Life. If you’ve discovered us recently, we hope people stick with us for the journey because we’re putting everything we have into this band.
