Influences:
Vulvodynia is a South African slam death metal/deathcore act. Easily their country's (if not the continent of Africa as a whole's) most famous extreme metal export, their status as one of the Trope Codifiers of the "slamming deathcore" sound and general prominence in social media and the Bandcamp/Facebook group part of the deathcore scene elevated them from just one of many bedroom projects to a fast-rising new act.- Suffocation, Dying Fetus, The Black Dahlia Murder, Devourment, Ingested, Suicide Silence, Whitechapel (Band), Thy Art Is Murder, Pathology, Oceano, Despised Icon, Waking the Cadaver, Abominable Putridity, Katalepsy, Cerebral Bore, Abnormality, Visceral Disgorge, Kraanium, Aborted, Disentomb, Aversions Crown, Acrania, Fit for an Autopsy, I Declare War, Slipknot, Animals as Leaders, Three 6 Mafia, Gravediggaz, Brotha Lynch Hung
Formed in early 2014 by Duncan Bentley (vocals) and Luke Haarhoff (guitars, bass), the band was initially a studio venture, though the two quickly recorded Lord of Plagues, their debut EP, and drafted Byron Dunwoody (guitars, bass, drum programming) as a third member after he helped them produce the EP. The three began playing shows at some point during the year, in addition to recording Cognizant Castigation, their debut full-length. The band began to play out more circa 2015, and Finis Omnium Ignorantiam, another EP, was recorded during the year, while Kris Xenopoulos was brought on board as a bassist and occasional guitarist. A deal with Lacerated Enemy Records was signed at some point around the beginning of the following year, and Psychosadistic Design, their sophomore full-length, was released in June, while Xenopoulos moved to the lead guitar slot. 2017 proved to be their biggest year yet, as they played their first shows out of South Africa and began hitting the European fest circuit. The upward trajectory continued into 2018, when they finally gained a full band after hiring Chris van der Walt and Thomas Hughes on bass and drums, in addition to several European tours and what would have been their first North American tour before it got delayed. 2019 continued in this path with more touring (including their first US run), as well as the release of Mob Justice, their third full-length and first with a full band. While their plans for 2020 have not been publicly announced, it is known that they plan to return to North America for a bigger run, as well as other touring ventures.
On May 6, 2023, Duncan Bentley was fired from the band. Guitarist Lwandile Prusent stepped up to the role of vocalist on July 12.
Discography:
- Lord of Plagues (2014) (EP)
- Cognizant Castigation (2014)
- Slashing Through the Snow (2014) (v/a Christmas song compilation)
- Finis Omnium Ignorantiam (2015)
- Psychosadistic Design (2016)
- Anthropophagus (2019) (single)
- Mob Justice (2019)
- Societal Lobotomisation (2021) (split with Acrania)
- Praenuntius Infiniti (2021)
I AM! NYAOPE! I WILL! EAT YOUR BRAIN! I AM! DEATH SENT! YOUR TROPE! I WILL DRAIN!:
- Ascended Extra: Byron Dunwoody started off as the band's producer and drum programmer before joining as a full member, while Kris Xenopoulos and Thomas Hughes started off as live fill-ins. Lwandile Prusent also started out as Luke's live fill-in before being brought on as a full member once he started writing.
- Black Comedy: Their main lyrical approach pre-Mob Justice, with lots of Gorn and
over-the-top violence and perversity. - Child Popstar: Luke Haarhoff was under the age of eighteen when the band got its start.
- Concept Album: Mob Justice focuses on the darker, seedier aspects of life in South Africa. Praenuntius Infiniti tells the story of the titular Eldritch Abomination as he embarks upon a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against the entire universe.
- Contemptible Cover: Psychosadistic Design and Mob Justice have this, the former featuring Bob the Butcher about to chop up one of his victims and the latter depicting vultures eating away at a rotting lion carcass.
- Cosmic Horror: Praenuntius Infiniti is a Concept Album built off of this.
- Darker and Edgier: Mob Justice, which abandoned a lot of the over-the-top violence and gore and generally meme-friendly elements of their lyrics and general style for an approach based around the uglier aspects of South African life.
- Darkest Africa: The core lyrical theme of Mob Justice centers around the ugly side of life in South Africa and the violence, poverty, drug addiction, economic stratification, and longstanding scars of apartheid and colonialism that such a thing entails.
- Deathcore: Along with Ingested, Signs of the Swarm, Within Destruction, and Acrania, they served as a Trope Codifier for the "slamming deathcore" style that became active in the 2010s, and particularly for the DIY/bedroom branch of it. While they have progressively moved towards a more straightforward modern slam sound, they still have very prominent deathcore elements.
- Do Not Go Gentle: Mankind launches a full-scale rebellion against Praenuntius within his belly in the events of "A Cosmic Betrayal" and "The War Within" knowing full well that they will die, choosing to go out fighting than be hunted and killed like animals by his spawn.
- Drugs Are Bad: "Nyaope" from Mob Justice gives a stark, unflinching portrait of the effects of the titular drug on the human body.
- Duel to the Death: Ereshkigal fights against her son Praenuntius in "Deicidal Finality" to end his cosmos-spanning rampage, throwing herself onto her son's blade to get the opportunity to kill him once and for all.
- Eternal Recurrence: Ereshkigal reveals to her son Praenuntius in her dying moments that the struggle between mother and son will continuously occur as part of a universal cycle of death and rebirth in "Deicidal Finality"
- Grief Song: "Eulogy of Ashes" is a tribute to Trevor Strnad, the former frontman of The Black Dahlia Murder.
- Indecipherable Lyrics: Downplayed; while there may be points where it's difficult to understand what Duncan is singing about thanks to his use of pig squeals/gurgles, the lyrics aren't that hard to make out for the most part. That said, chances are that at least one of their many special guests will have moments in which it's utterly impossible to make out what they are saying, with Matti Way, Martin Matousek, and Johnathan Huber among the worst offenders.
- Lack of Empathy: The elder gods in Praenuntius Infiniti, who are described as "drenched in sin" in the lyrics, cast the titular character into the abyss because of this scaring the absolute hell out of them. Obviously, this kickstarts his Horror Hunger and his ensuing Roaring Rampage of Revenge
- Lead Bassist: Chris van der Walt is types A and C, as he is known for his technical ability (with the band having cited him as a major factor in their decision to become a more serious band) and for his recording studio.
- Metal Band Mascot: Bob the Butcher, who first appeared on the cover of Psychosadistic Design and later became a central feature of Duncan's memeposting on the band's social media accounts.
- Metal Scream: Duncan utilizes a throaty Type 2 bellow combined with occasional pig squeals and slam gurgles for vocals along with some Type 3s every now and then
- Misogyny Song: A major part of their lyrics pre-Mob Justice. Duncan has since come to regret it, and the one song on Mob Justice that fits this mold ("Cultural Misogyny") deliberately depicts it as something horrible and disgusting.
- New Sound Album: Several:
- Psychosadistic Design was more technical and less deathcore-leaning.
- Mob Justice further decreased the deathcore elements and introduced prominent Technical Death Metal elements and guitar solos, of which Praenuntius Infiniti would further expand upon.
- Older Than They Look: Luke Haarhoff is 26, but between his slight stature and overall very youthful-looking appearance, could easily pass for his early teens.
- Omnicidal Maniac: Praenuntius Infiniti, combined with Villainous Glutton due to his Horror Hunger.
- Persona Non Grata: As per Duncan, they have a lifetime ban from a certain venue in Slovakia due to his own personal Alcohol-Induced Idiocy after he drank way too much absinthe for his own good (according to Duncan, it was the real deal and not a knockoff, and he was not prepared for how strong it was, and this was also after he had already been relentlessly slamming shots of borovicka), blacked out, got cut off, and kept trying to run behind the bar and was so belligerent that he got punched square in the face by a venue staffer and was knocked out cold before being dumped into a room and locked inside. He then wouldn't stop trying to break down the door, eventually got put in a hold by the vocalist of Blade of Horus until he passed out again, and then came to during loadout early in the morning (still blackout drunk) and didn't become lucid again until five in the afternoon and got a "what the hell is wrong with you" talk from most of the tour package, and permanently swore off absinthe and didn't drink for the rest of the tour as a whole.
- The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: Both parts of "Reclaim the Crown" have this as their motif
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Praenuntius Infiniti is an entire album with this as its central story
- The Sixth Ranger: Lwandile Prusent. While he didn't become a full member until late 2020, he had been Luke's on-call fill-in for a while and had played in various other bands with Duncan and Kris for some time before that, in addition to being a well-known figure in the South African metal scene and a very good friend of the band.
- Slam Death Metal: Even at their most deathcore-leaning, they still have prominent slam elements, and they have moved more and more towards a modern slam sound with each release.
- Special Guest: They are notorious for their gigantic cast of vocal guests on album. An exhaustive listnote
- Start My Own: They have many side projects between them, with XavlegbmaofffassssitimiwoamndutroabcwapwaeiippohfffX (Duncan, Byron, Lwandile, and Kris' "meme grind" project, typically abbreviated as "Xavleg"), Technopath (Kris, Lwandile, and Tom's instrumental prog/djent project), Corps Fleur (Luke's post-black metal/blackgaze project), Sinners (Duncan and Chris' horrorcore project with Duncan's fiancee), and Cryoplegia (Lwandile's one-man slamming deathcore project) being among the most notable. Wormhole also started out as one of these between Duncan and Sanjay Kumar back when Perihelion was still Sanjay's main band, but they gradually grew into their own entity as Perihelion was enfolded into them, and no longer have any real association with Vulvodynia (though Duncan and Sanjay are still very good friends).
- Technical Death Metal: They began to include elements of this on Mob Justice and made it a major part of their sound on Praenuntius Infiniti.
- True Companions: With Cognitive (as Rob Wharton is their manager) and Wormhole (Duncan was an early member back during their bedroom project days, and has continued to be very good friends with the band and particularly Sanjay Kumar).
- The Unintelligible: Martin Matousek's guest spot on "Nyaope" is literally nothing but incomprehensible croaking
- Wolverine Publicity: Duncan Bentley, thanks to his numerous other projects, prolific guest appearances, and the screen printing shop Crowdkill Apparel, which he runs. To put it simply, Duncan has his hands in so many things that it is honestly difficult to name a part of the South African metal scene that isn't connected to him in some way.
- Zombie Apocalypse: The music videos for both parts of "Banquet of Enigmatic Horrors" depicts one occuring
