Florida’s Dark Sermon have, unfortunately announced their break-up as of today. The deathcore-turned-death metal act had been seen on tour with the likes of Thy Art is Murder and Exalt, but the band’s vocalist, Johnny Crowder, has released a statement in regards to the band.
It reads:
Hey all, J here. My eyes are flooding as I type this, but you deserve to hear it.
Dark Sermon has been my life’s work for nearly a decade – an unforgettable whirlwind of sweat, flat tires, and insane tours. In my head, DS would live on forever, but life rarely follows the imaginary paths we paint for it.
At this point, we have fulfilled our contracts with eOne and Nuclear Blast. This, coupled with a rather unforgiving season of rotten luck, led several members to retire from touring altogether. While I was stubbornly determined to press on, the remaining members decided that now would be a good time to let DS rest.
Initially, I couldn’t accept it, but now I understand. Since high school, we’ve barely had a moment to tend to anything outside of the band. Looking back, I see how undying dedication to one solitary thing can lead to imbalance.
Is Dark Sermon done? Unfortunately, that is not up to me. However, I can’t just stop writing music and sharing it with the world. This is why I created my new band, Prison. You can watch our new music video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRd5npZccM8) or preorder our new record (https://prisonfl.bandcamp.com/) if you’d like to support us.
Although I am still trying to make peace with this situation, Dark Sermon brought immeasurable healing to me and countless others. And for that, I will never, ever forget it – or you.
To everyone who has followed my personal journey with mental illness, faith, and sobriety, thank you. Whether you decide to accompany me in this new chapter or not, you’ve already given me more than I could ask for. You saved my life.
I love each and every one of you. Deeply.
Goodbye for now.
Yours forever,
J [Johnny Crowder]
Dark Sermon released In Tongues in 2013, which was a highly aggressive deathcore release that leaned more into the death metal influences overall. It was with 2015’s The Oracle that the band plunged into the abyss and crafted a dark and menacing death metal album, of which they received praise for by many critics.
