“I feel like there will always be quite a bit of gatekeeping when it comes to black metal due to the culture of it all” – interview with Chase Wilson of Ov Sulfur

The blackened deathcore quintet Ov Sulfur will release their second studio album, titled “Endless“, through Century Media Records on January 16th, 2026. An interview was conducted by us with guitarist Chase Wilson, focusing on the new album, as well as topics related to personal life and the realities of touring.

Hello Chase, how are you doing?

Chase Wilson: I’m doing great, how are you?

Great, thank you! The concept of “Endless” explores eternal life as a curse rather than a blessing. If you were actually offered immortality right now, knowing what you’ve explored writing this album, would any part of you be tempted? Or has the thought experiment fully convinced you it would be hell?

Chase Wilson: The thought of eternal life is always tempting because there is so much to see in the future and learn. However with that being said seeing the ones you love die, the world go into turmoil, etc. would eventually take its toll and drive a person insane so ultimately it would be hell.

Religion promises eternal life as salvation; you present it as damnation. Do you think the human psyche is fundamentally incapable of processing infinity, or is it the conditions of eternal life that make it unbearable?

Chase Wilson: A bit of both to be honest. The human psyche is a very fragile thing and given enough stress through trauma it can snap at any point. As I stated above the conditions of eternal life are a huge burden to consider and I feel it would definitely drive someone mad given the stress of it all

You’re described as “blackened deathcore” embracing black metal while exploring melody. Those are genres often defined by their purism and gatekeeping. Do you feel pressure to stay in a lane, or has the extreme metal community become more accepting of boundary-pushing?

Chase Wilson: I feel like there will always be quite a bit of gatekeeping when it comes to black metal due to the culture of it all. That being said I feel like the extreme metal community as a whole has become very accepting of bands spreading their wings and experimenting with their music. You have bands constantly pushing boundaries and trying to do things that others have never explored and I think that’s such a beautiful thing that fans these days are giving bands a little grace to do so.

The addition of ballads like ‘Endless//Loveless‘ is an unusual but I think fantastic move for a deathcore band. Were you nervous about fan reception, or did the emotional authenticity of the material override those concerns?

Chase Wilson: There are always concerns when doing something outside of the formula you’re used to, but at the end of the day we were very stoked with how the song turned out and it was cathartic for Ricky and I to lay our emotions out for the world to see. 

The vocal dynamics between Ricky and Chase seem central to Ov Sulfur’s identity now. How do you navigate ego and space with both vocalists? Is there ever tension about who takes which parts, or is it naturally collaborative?

Chase Wilson: Honestly there’s not a whole lot of ego when it comes to the writing process and we try to make things very collaborative when working together. It’s all just very dependent on the vibe of the song and where it takes us. Endless//Loveless is a prime example of a song that Ricky and I worked on together but I only have one part in the song because it’s what made sense.

You’ve had impressive guest vocalists—Howard Jones, Alex Terrible, and now Johnny Ciardullo, Josh Davies, and Alan Grnja. When you’re writing, do you compose with specific voices in mind, or do the features happen more organically?

Chase Wilson: Honestly we don’t have anyone in mind when writing these parts. Normally we write our songs out as if Ricky is going to perform the whole album without guests and then if we hear something or have an idea of a vocalist that would fit the part we ask if they’d be willing to add their style to our song.

‘Wither’ is about both of you losing grandparents and is “split down the middle” vocally. When you’re processing shared grief through music, does it feel like healing, or does it risk reopening wounds every time you perform it?

Chase Wilson: To be honest it does both simultaneously. Writing this song was something that Ricky and I wanted to do to honor our families and it was very healing to get it all out and tracked but performing the song or even hearing it brings up a lot of memories and feelings that are just hard to ignore.

Las Vegas isn’t typically associated with the extreme metal scene in the way that, say, the Pacific Northwest or certain parts of Europe are. Does coming from Vegas shape your identity as a band, or is geography irrelevant in the digital age?

Chase Wilson: So with these days geography doesn’t really matter for bands other than hometown pride. That being said Ov Sulfur is from all over these days. Chase and Josh’s identity are very much so Vegas born and proud of it, Ricky is originally from California but now lives in Vegas, Levi lives in Pittsburgh, and Christian lives in Columbus. 

You’ve toured with Lorna Shore, Signs of the Swarm, Nekrogoblikon—bands with very different approaches to extreme music. What have you absorbed from watching those different performance styles, and what have you deliberately rejected?

Chase Wilson: Honestly we’ve kind of always done our own thing as far as performance style goes but we’re always trying to one up our stage show and learn new things from our peers. The main thing that is always evolving is the equipment we’re using and how we’re running our show. These days how you program a show dictates how much freedom you have on stage so that’s always our number one priority 

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview! Is there anything else you’d like to add to our readers?

Chase Wilson: Thank you so much for supporting us and listening to the singles! We hope you enjoy Endless and cannot wait to see you all when we perform it in the coming year! Cheers!