A Place to Bury Strangers

A Place to Bury Strangers formed in Brooklyn, New York in 2003, earning a reputation as one of the loudest bands in the city through performances characterized by extreme volume, strobe lights, and smoke machines. Guitarist Oliver Ackermann, who also runs the effects pedal company Death By Audio, builds custom distortion and noise units that contribute to the band's overwhelming sonic assault. Their self-titled 2007 debut drew immediate comparisons to the Jesus and Mary Chain, though the band's sound incorporates post-punk's rhythmic urgency and industrial music's mechanical aggression. Albums like Exploding Head and Worship refined a formula that prioritizes physical impact alongside songcraft. Ackermann's dual role as musician and pedal builder gives the band an unusually direct relationship with their tools, each record serving partly as a demonstration of new circuit designs. The band has cycled through rhythm sections while maintaining a consistent aesthetic of controlled destruction.