In the space of just two years, Half Me – Christopher Zühlke (vocals), Christopher Hesse (guitar), Julius Jansen (guitar), Tobias Max Sajons (bass) and Maximilian Eisersdorff (drums) – have exploded onto the music scene by self-producing their music and videos, with an intensive and energetic trademark. Debuting with four singles initially, it was Exitwound (featuring Jack Bergin of Void of Vision) that helped create the breakthrough and landed the band in the spotlight of Knotfest’s Countdown to Oblivion.

Musically, Hamburg’s Half Me blend a modern rendition of metal and hardcore with highlights of 90s nu-metal. Pounding riffs and brutal, sometimes elegant, vocals all balance together in the band’s own distinctive sound. Riding the high of their recent successes, Half Me recently released their debut album, SOMA, via Arising Empire.

Here’s why all of Half Me love American Metalcore band, Sworn In.

When we were talking about potential bands that have all had an impact on us we quickly came up with Sworn In. Even though the band is relatively unknown compared to other influence-giving bands, we feel that they have made a significant impact on the scene.

They have a unique, unforgiving and pretty intense sound. They have taken elements from different heavy music genres, such as metalcore, deathcore, and hardcore, and blended them together to create a sound that is uniquely their own. For us, they have redefined the boundaries of metal and core music.

Another reason to love Sworn In is their live performances. We all remember the first live videos of US concerts in their younger years, with their branded windbreakers and the intense performance of singer Tyler Dennen, who was really the very personification of mental decay on stage.

They also don’t get the credit they deserve for their extremely visceral lyrics that really illustrate the depths of the human psyche and reality. Some of their texts can hit pretty hard and make you feel so excitingly unpleasant. It has a haunting quality that evokes a sense of fear and intrigue, like a musical horror movie, that surely has inspired a lot of bands out there to follow their aesthetic and sound.

Our thanks to the guys for introducing one of their inspirations.

Here’s I Am But A Guest In Exile from the Half Me debut album, SOMA:

Half Me online: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

You can read more from our extensive archive of Why I Love pieces from a wide array of artists on an even wider array of subjects, here.

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