Misery Index

Since forming in Baltimore in 2001, Misery Index have stood out for their high-intensity combo of death metal, grindcore and cutting social commentary. Featuring current and former members of Pig Destroyer and Dying Fetus, the band have released seven studio albums, two compilations and one live album. They have performed more than 1,500 concerts and visited 46 different countries.   

Misery Index started as a studio project in 2001. Vocalist and bassist Jason Netherton (ex-Dying Fetus) joined guitarist Mike Harrison and drummer Kevin Talley (ex-Dying Fetus) to record their debut EP Overthrow. The considerable praise heaped upon this five-song death/grind attack led Misery Index to become a full-time band with the addition of guitarist Sparky Voyles (ex-Dying Fetus)  

In 2003, Misery Index released Retaliate, their debut full-length, on Nuclear Blast records. “I can’t see how anyone who likes death metal and grindcore wouldn’t like this record” Lambgoat wrote. The band followed the success of their debut with numerous tours of North America and Europe while supporting Dying Fetus, Amon Amarth, Deicide and Nile. Between 2004 and 2005, current guitarist and ex-Cast The Stone Mark Kloeppel came aboard while Pig Destroyer’s Adam Jarvis took over on drums, which solidified their lineup for years to come.    

Discordia, Misery Index’s second full-length, was released on Relapse Records in 2006. “Discordia is an enjoyable listen primarily because Misery Index have learned how to write great riffs” Last Rites wrote. A seven-week tour of Europe with Fear Factory followed, along with the band’s first appearance at Hellfest and Tuska Open Air.  

For their third full-length and second with Relapse, in 2008, Misery Index recorded with Kurt Ballou (Converge) at God City Studios. “These polarized times call for constructive discourse. But if Misery Index can destroy the opposition six ways ‘til Sunday, so be it”, Pitchfork wrote in a review of Traitors. For the next two years, the band toured extensively. They supported Cannibal Corpse and The Black Dhalia Murder and performed for the first time in Mexico, Russia and Iceland, while also making their debut at Japan’s Extreme the Dojo festival and Germany’s Summer Breeze.  

2010’s Heirs to Thievery, which was also released on Relapse, dropped like a bomb on the death metal scene, shattering expectations. “As Netherton and his band insist, now is not the time for complacency, even in the metal community”, PopMatters wrote. The album’s critical and commercial success elevated the band to headliners in the United States and Europe. Following the departure of Voyles that same year, guitarist Darin Morris joined Misery Index and solidified the 4-member lineup that still stands today. Over the next two years, they made their live debut in Colombia, Thailand, Indonesia and Malayasia and supported the US and European legs of Cannibal Corpse’s Torture tour.  

While performing in Munich in 2012, Misery Index recorded their first live album. The band released Live in Munich with Season of Mist, whom they originally signed with in 2013. They went on to release two critically-acclaimed and top-selling albums for the French label. “Impressively heavy, expansive and loud”, Metal Injection wrote about The Killing Gods (2014). Rituals of Power generated an equally reverential response. “[…] an exemplary execution of death in 2019”, New Noise wrote.  

Two European headline tours, including one with Wormrot, and support runs with Nails and The Black Dahlia Murder kept them on the road until February 2020. On the final day of their month-long Campaign for Musical Destruction European Tour with Napalm Death, Misery Index happily announced that they had signing to Century Media Records. The label released their seventh studio album in 2022 to widespread acclaim.  

“Misery Index is a band for the hellish news cycle we are all trapped in”, Invisible Oranges wrote in a review of Complete Control.      

Now, having toured their previous album extensively since 2022, Misery Index are back with Season of Mist ahead of their upcoming eighth full-length album. The band will release new music ahead of their upcoming An Epitapth for Endtimes European and United Kingdom summer tour.  

Line-up:

• Jason Netherton : Bass, Vocals
• Mark Kloeppel : Guitar, Vocals
• Darin Morris : Lead Guitar
• Adam Jarvis : Drums