Prog metal legends After the Burial overcame the tragic loss of founding member Justin Lowe to enjoy success with what poignantly became their most successful album to date, 2016’s Dig Deep. The group have survived numerous line-up changes over the years and are heralded as major contributors to the metalcore and djent genres. Their biggest hit so far is the brilliant and brutal ‘Lost in the Static’, which has been streamed over 40 million times. Their other major tracks include ‘Behold the Crown’, ‘Collapse’, and ‘A Wolf Amongst Ravens’. Their most recent album, 2019’s Evergreen, entered the American and Australian charts.
After the Burial was formed by a group of ex-high school friends in Minnesota and centred around the playing and production talents of Trent Hafdahl and Justin Lowe. After the enthusiastic reception to their first album, 2006’s Forging a Future Self, they signed to the almost-iconic Sumerian Records, who released their second album, 2008’s Waveform. Their breakthrough album, however, was 2010’s In Dreams, which hit number three in the US Heatseekers charts and 12 in the Hard Rock charts. They consolidated this success with 2013’s Wolves Within, but tragedy struck in 2015 when Lowe left the band in June 2015 and was found dead shortly afterwards.
Hafdahl and the other members decided to continue, and 2016’s Dig Deep was their biggest album to date, winning praise from fans and critics and becoming their first album to reach the Billboard Charts. Although Hafdahl is now the sole remaining original member of the band, they continue to record and tour to a dedicated fanbase.