Jacob Bannon: Vocals, Lyrics (Converge, Wear Your Wounds, Blood From the Soul)
Mike McKenzie: Guitars, Vocals (The Red Chord, Wear Your Wounds, Stomach Earth)
Sean Martin: Guitars, Vocals (ex-Hatebreed, Wear Your Wounds, Twitching Tongues)
Greg Weeks: Bass (The Red Chord, Labor Hex, etc)
Jon Rice: Drums (ex-Job for a Cowboy, Uncle Acid, etc)

Umbra Vitae was conceived during Wear Your Wounds rehearsals. With all members having roots in heavy music, the band would often warm up playing aggressive riffs. Jacob Bannon (Converge, WYW, Blood From the Soul), Mike Mckenzie (The Red Chord, WYW, Stomach Earth), and Sean Martin (WYW, Twitching Tongues, ex-Hatebreed) soon recruited Greg Weeks (The Red Chord, Labor Hex, etc), and Jon Rice (Uncle Acid, Job For a Cowboy, etc) for the rhythm section and a new band was born. 

The name Umbra Vitae (pronounced uhm'-bruh vee'-tie) is an homage to Georg Heym's poem of the same name, originally published in 1912. 

“After reading the piece from Heym, I immediately felt connected to it. Later while working on the previous Wear Your Wounds album, my love for Death Metal was rekindled. This was likely a reaction to working on non-aggressive music for such a concentrated period. As these songs started to form, the ominous nature of that original poem came to mind. In many ways it embodied the character of what we were all creating together. For me, Umbra Vitae is darkly confrontational and my own internal struggles are nested within each song. At this point in my life it is of the utmost importance to use this art and music as the vehicle for a healthy purge of emotion. By design, even in something this intense, there is righteous intent to be a better human through the process of creating it.” 

- Jacob Bannon

“For me, Umbra Vitae is an unrestrained musical effort. In my contributions to the album, I’ve tried to keep my arrangements and ideas as unclouded as possible. It’s easy to get stuck in what you think a song is supposed to sound like, rather than let it happen naturally. These songs came together organically and have their own character, all while retaining a dark death metal spirit.” 

- Mike McKenzie

“During rehearsals for the Wear Your Wounds album “Rust on the Gates of Heaven” we talked about the possibility of doing a death metal band. Seeing as we’ve been known to express ourselves via the more extreme side of the musical coin it made sense to collaborate together within the realms of something brutal; A 180 degree turn from what we do in WYW if you will. Soon after the ROTGOH sessions Jacob revealed his vision of the band to me whilst enjoying a meal together at the legendary Kowloon restaurant. I was on board and soon started submitting demos as did Mike and Greg to get the process started. Soon afterwards, Jon rounded out the lineup and “Shadow of Life” is the end result. It’s exciting and inspiring to be involved with this band.” 

- Sean Martin

“When I first heard of the idea of the band I was playing bass for Mike’s project Stomach Earth. We were opening for Wear Your Wounds  and they were discussing the idea of a death metal band; a kind of juxtaposition of WYW. When we got home from that tour I was asked if I wanted to be a part of the band. I was very excited to be able to work with Jacob and Sean (having never played with them before) and continue playing with Mike and Jon. I’ve never worked on a record like this. The writing, recording, and collaboration aspects were unique and inspiring. 

- Greg Weeks

'When I was approached by Mike to see if I was interested in playing death metal again, it was very hard to say no. Then I got the demos, found out who was involved and the premise of the band, it was a no-brainer, it had to be done! It was an absolute pleasure recording with Kurt Ballou at God City for the first time as well, both because of how informative the session was and also because of the creative ideas presented to all of us, which definitely helped to enhance the record. I can't wait for everyone to hear the record!”

- Jon Rice

"Shadow of Life" is the ten song debut album from Umbra Vitae, recorded and mixed by Kurt Ballou at God City Studios. Guitars and bass were recorded by Mike McKenzie at The Black Coast. The album was mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege. 

Intro “Decadence Dissolves” is a Schuldiner-esque calm before the storm. “Ethereal Emptiness” and “Atheist Aesthetic” soon rip everything apart, methodically downshifting from blackened to brutal in seconds. “Mantra of Madness” then emerges as a monster of a song, driven by inhuman drumming and traditional death metal riffing. This pattern of intensity continues in “Fear is a Fossil”, “Polluted Paradise”, and “Intimate Inferno”. All are motion sickness inducing numbers that violently lurch in aural agony. It’s here one realizes that this album never lets up. “Return to Zero” takes it to another level, viciously grinding as the lines “Return to zero, bite down on the chain, bow down to no one” repeat as mantra. This leads to “Blood Blossom” an amalgamation of metal ferocity and hardcore spirit that could very well be the heaviest track of them all. Infectious closer “Shadow of Life” then screams in terror as it tells the tale of the internal battle of the dark and light within us all.  

Credits
All songs written by Umbra Vitae

Recorded and mixed by Kurt Ballou at God City Studios
Guitars and bass recorded by Mike McKenzie at The Black Coast 
Mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege
Artwork by Janusz Jurek
Logo by Nick Steinhardt
Additional art and design by Jacob Bannon