KVRMA’s New Single “CONSUMED” Dives Into A Dark, Invasive Headspace

Sep 22

6 min read

Written by: Annie Schlottman

Photo credits: Zak Yachera/@captainninj; Madison Malik/Disoriented Elements; Jason Sweigart/SweigartPhoto; Jarod Missimer

I’ve been following Pennsylvania modern metal band KVRMA since the early days of the project, and it’s been a pleasure watching this band develop and grow. It makes me so happy seeing them getting out and performing at various shows and festivals and witnessing them gaining new fans in different areas. This is definitely a band to watch.

Recently, KVRMA released a new single called “CONSUMED” August 28th. It’s the first song that includes their newest member, vocalist Nolan Mateer, and it is the beginning of a fresh new direction for the band.

KVRMA includes: Jackson Gurecki (vocals); Nolan Mateer (vocals); A.J. Lopez (guitar); Tyler Travis (bass); and Dane Lowell (drums). The band members are from various parts of Pennsylvana, but their loudest presence is in the Central part of the state.

The very first KVRMA song, “Silence”, was released in April 2024. The band’s five-song “=” EP came out in January 2025. There were two singles released later in 2025, “FILTH” in August and “Drown Inside A Lullaby” in November. The most recent song, “CONSUMED”, dropped August 28th and is the first release of 2026 for KVRMA.

KVRMA is a beautiful combination of very talented, experienced, respected musicians in the Central Pennsylvania music scene. A.J., Tyler, and Dane have been playing music together since their teenage years, and all played on different occasions with Jackson’s previous band, Ignite The Fire, and Nolan’s other band, The Art Of Deception.

Jackson Gurecki (vocals); A.J. Lopez (guitar); Tyler Travis (bass)

Jackson and A.J. both expressed an interest in making music together when they were done with their previous projects. Tyler recalled that at their first rehearsal, “We all just had a similar question in our heads, that being, ‘Is it really this easy?’ That's how we knew this new project was going to be a beast right from the beginning.”

Dane Lowell (drums); Nolan Mateer (vocals)

KVRMA officially announced their newest member, Nolan, in January of this year. He’s been a perfect fit! He is well-known in the scene from being a member of multiple bands as well as performing over the past twenty years. His other current band, The Art Of Deception, has been around for over ten years.

The band had an open spot to fill following the departure of guitarist and vocalist Mike Nelson last year. Nolan was following the band on socials and reacting to posts, and it was noticed.

Nolan said, “A.J. noticed I was liking all the posts and asked me if I had any interest in joining. I knew of the members of KVRMA from previous projects they were a part of but this is the first time I have had a chance to meet and work with everyone in this lineup! I’m extremely excited for the opportunity to be here!”

Nolan literally jumped right into the lineup full steam ahead.

“We had one rehearsal and a couple shows already lined up that they didn’t want to drop and we just went ahead and performed. At two of the shows I actually performed with an iPhone with lyrics on the side to make sure I was good to go. Since the initial tryout phases I feel I’ve grown with the group.”

It definitely seems to have worked out really well for all involved. I finally had a chance to see a KVRMA show with Nolan back in August, and you can feel the chemistry on stage between him and Jackson and the other band members. The crowd feeds off that energy.

I’m always interested in the story behind a band’s name. Regarding KVRMA, it wasn’t just about the name, but about the letter “V”. Jackson shared some insight on the meaning behind it all.

When the band got started, they knew that the genre would be a modern take on Nu-Metal, which is metal that incorporates musical elements found in hip hop and rap.

The one thing all the band members shared was a mutual feeling of being burned in some way, shape, or form during their musical careers. They saw this new project as an opportunity for redemption, and they wanted a name that reflected that.

In this day and age, almost every straightforward name you could think of for a band has been taken. So you have to be clever to think of something that will stand out.

Like turning a letter upside down.

Thus, the band decided to turn the first “A” in KARMA upside down, and it became “KVRMA”. It was like a lightbulb kind of moment for them. They were all excited about it and voted unanimously on the name.

Jackson expanded on the concept of using the letter “V”.

“We justify the letter ‘V’ in our band name because in ancient Greek, a language that interests me, ‘v’ was lowercase for the letter ‘N’, which back then was pronounced ‘Nu’. Ergo, Nu-Metal. The name itself feels like the stars are aligned for this band, and a redeeming future lies on the horizon.”

All of the KVRMA band members have a voice and a say in the music they create. It’s a collaborative effort all around. That being said, the main writers of the music have been A.J. and Jackson. And now, with Nolan in the band, he’s been making efforts to write and contribute to new music, as he also writes for his other band, The Art Of Deception.

Dane shared, “A.J. will usually have a draft done up for us and then we all come together and contribute our parts whether that would be in the studio, or for example I can make my drum changes at home on my computer.”

A.J. added, “I feel like I present a lot of the instrumental ideas first. A few times Jackson has presented instrumental ideas. The next step would be collaborating with everyone and tweaking instruments and then Jackson and Nolan develop lyrics and flow.”

KVRMA’s latest single, “CONSUMED”, was produced by Hayden Calhoun of Darkside Audio. The band said he was fantastic to work with, and that he definitely helped to fine-tune some instrumentals and melodies.

Inspiration for KVRMA’s songs can come at any moment and any time from various places. The band joked with me that for Dane, it’s when he’s just thinking of new drum parts or ideas that are hard to explain, because, as he says, "I can’t play guitar.”

Anything A.J. listens to might inspire a new riff or instrumental melody, and then is reworked with the KVRMA flair.

Most of the topics Jack chooses to write about are recovering from traumatic experiences in his own life, or deep-rooted fears he has had. He said he writes them down right away to get them out of his head, because otherwise he gets no sleep at night.

Nolan usually writes based on how he’s feeling in the moment, or if there was an event that has happened, he tries to convey that in a way that is related to the topic.

Something that has struck me about KVRMA’s music since they first started out is the variety in each song. They are at times ethereal and melodic, at other times powerful and heavy. The magnificent clean vocals combine with the emphatic hard vocals to deliver the message in each song. This band is so in tune with each other, and it translates to their electric stage performance. I’ve had the honor of seeing them live, and it’s a mesmerizing experience that leaves their fans wanting more.

Like many of KVRMA’s songs, there’s a dark, pensive quality to “CONSUMED”. The band shared with me that, inspired by the parasitic nature of cordyceps, the song explores the loss of free will as an invasive force overtakes its host, hollowing out identity until only an empty vessel remains.

Jackson broke it dowdeven further for me.

“ ‘CONSUMED’ was initially written from this dark desire in my head that I kept slipping back into -- a simultaneous need to give up entirely or to exact revenge on people I've trusted that burned me.”

He admitted, “Neither of these headspaces are healthy, nor should they be acted upon, but they were persistent nonetheless. So much so that it felt like I was losing myself, literally.”

Jackson continued, “It was as if my ‘self’ was being taken over by a parasite. And I found a metaphoric comparison for this feeling in nature in the form of the cordyceps fungus. I won't spoil what it does, but I will say there's a reason why it's featured as our single art for the song.”

The artwork for the song was actually created by Jackson himself.

Regarding what’s coming up for KVRMA, these guys are always cooking! There will be a free show in Gettysburg in November, and a show in December that may feature some familiar faces.

There will also definitely be new music coming at some point, possibly in 2026. The best thing to do is follow KVRMA on their socials to keep up with everything they’re doing, because you never know what’s coming!

You can find KVRMA on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, the band's website, and the band's YouTube channel.

The band feels like they are definitely at their best and functioning at peak power with their current lineup, and they’re excited to see what the future holds.

They closed out our interview with this statement: “We are heavy with a purpose. We. Are. KVRMA.”