Ov Sulfur

About Ov Sulfur

Ov Sulfur formed in 2021 when Ricky Hoover decided his time in deathcore wasn't cutting it anymore. The guitarist had spent years in Suffokate and a few other heavy projects, but something about the paint-by-numbers breakdowns wasn't landing. He wanted something that felt more corroded, more genuinely uncomfortable. So he pulled together some session musicians and started writing what would become their debut.

The band's first real statement was "Oblivion," a single that dropped in early 2022. It had the expected heaviness but filtered through this industrial grinding that felt less like a genre exercise and more like actual machinery breaking down. People noticed. The deathcore crowd showed up but so did listeners from the noise and industrial scenes, which probably said something about where Hoover's head was at.

Their debut album, The Burden Ov Faith, came out in 2022 through Century Media. Tracks like "Earthen" and "Soul Burn" made it clear they weren't interested in just being another heavy band with downtuned guitars. The production was deliberately caustic, vocals ping-ponged between gutturals and this tortured clean singing that never felt melodic in any conventional sense. "Stained In Rot" became a setlist staple, mostly because it captures their whole approach in four minutes—start heavy, get heavier, then strip it down to something almost uncomfortably bare.

Hoover has been pretty open about the project being a response to personal stuff, religion and belief systems mainly, though he's smart enough not to spell everything out. The lyrics read like someone working through something rather than someone who's figured it out. That ambiguity probably helps. Nobody wants a lecture from their noise rock.

They've been touring steadily, playing festivals that book both extreme metal and industrial acts, which is basically their natural habitat. The live show is apparently pretty intense, lots of strobing lights and low visibility, the kind of thing that works better in a basement than an amphitheater. They seem fine with that.

The band has been working on follow-up material, though details are sparse. Hoover mentioned in an interview that the next stuff is leaning even harder into the industrial elements, less interested in riffs for their own sake and more focused on texture. Whether that means they're losing the metal kids or doubling down on what makes them interesting is unclear.

Right now they exist in that space where people who know them really know them, and everyone else hasn't caught up yet. They're not trying to break through to radio or anything sensible like that. They're just making the kind of unpleasant, challenging music that a certain type of listener needs. That seems to be enough.

Shows are sparse and hard to find. When they happen, the crowd tends small and dedicated, mostly people who actively sought this out rather than wandered in. Sets prioritize atmosphere over momentum. People stand still and listen intently.

Known for Sulfuric Haze, Oxidation State, Burnt Offering, Corrosive, Ash Protocol

See Ov Sulfur Live