There’s this idea the world has of Orlando as some sort of pixie-dusted utopia. That is, of course, elaborate bullshit. Those of us who live here know this. And those of us in the Orlando music underground know that it can actually be a dark, hard and heavy place. Death metal, black metal, metalcore, sludge, grind, gore — we’ve got it all in spades.
But at some point, all that intensity becomes white noise and the shock becomes schlock. Contrary to what Al Jourgensen said, Halloween cannot, and should not, be every day. And for all our extreme stripes, what we’re surprisingly lean on is good, straightforward heavy rock.
One of the most notable local saviors of this concept is DeLand’s Kaupe, whose sound is like Maserati gone metal. Although their elements are culled from a decidedly progressive palette, their groove is unified and ever-forward like a perpetual motion machine. As a band that cites influences ranging from Meshuggah to Perturbator, the quartet of Brett Walker (guitar), Marc Larabel (drums), Pete Medrano (bass) and Patrick Ross (keys) cover a lot of stylisticbground.
On Destroyer of Worlds, their first new album in four years, Kaupe have taken their same signature template and tricked it out with some new, flashy components. Kaupe have always been a band predicated on dynamics, and their instru-metal locomotive steams onward here as a thundering ride of rock heft, widescreen melodies and soaring synths. This time, though, the previously all-instrumental band have added some noteworthy guest vocalists for the first time. And the payoff is immediate.
On “Next Time Wear a Black Shirt,” the raging vocals of Matt Decker (Tangent, Ginkgo Balboa) join Kaupe’s thrash charge to give the album a hard metal jolt. “RMR-1029” features Scott Angelacos (Junior Bruce, Hollow Leg, Bloodlet), one of the greatest metal voices to ever emerge from Florida, along with sample artist Viewer Discretion (formerly of ACP Pro) to respectably enter Ministry-esque industrial-metal turf.
Destroyer of Worlds is still an undeniably Kaupe album in chassis and horsepower. But the very welcome new detailing adds poignancy and fury to their messages of technological cynicism. The album now streams everywhere and the big release show this weekend features Kaupe alongside a stocked local bill of Hutch, The Dark Arctic and Bunaand (8 p.m. Saturday, Nov.1, Will’s Pub, $15).
This article appears in Oct. 29–Nov. 4, 2025.
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