Tallah | |
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![]() Tallah in 2022, left to right: Max Portnoy, former member Alizé "Mewzen" Rodriguez, Justin Bonitz, Derrick Schneider, and Alex Snowden. | |
Background information | |
Origin | Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Genres | |
Years active | 2017–present |
Labels | Earache |
Members |
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Past members |
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Tallah is an American heavy metal band from Pennsylvania. They are currently signed to Earache Records. The band consists of vocalist Justin Bonitz, lead guitarist Derrick Schneider, rhythm guitarist Alex Snowden, bassist Max Portnoy, drummer Joel McDonald and turntablist Ivan Little.
The band was formed in 2017 by drummer Max Portnoy (son of Mike Portnoy), lead guitarist Derrick Schneider, and bassist Andrew Cooper. The band has released three studio albums, Matriphagy (2020), The Generation of Danger (2022), and Primeval: Obsession // Detachment (2025). Often described as a "nu-core" band, Tallah mixes nu metal, metalcore, alternative metal, and rap metal, with elements of hardcore, industrial, deathcore, and electronic music.
Tallah was formed in Pennsylvania in 2017 by drummer Max Portnoy (son of Dream Theater's drummer Mike Portnoy), Next to None lead guitarist Derrick Schneider, rhythm guitarist Nick Malfara, [1] and bassist Andrew Cooper. [2] They also added second rhythm guitarist AJ Wisniewski in late 2017, while looking for a vocalist to front the band. Portnoy knew of future singer Justin Bonitz through Bonitz's YouTube channels, Hungry Lights, [3] [4] and through Bonitz winning a competition created by Jared Dines. [2] Bonitz joined the band on January 1, 2018. [2] At the end of 2017, the band had already recorded instrumental demos for their EP No One Should Read This and within six days Bonitz had written lyrics and self-recorded vocals for each track. [2] Their first live performance was on January 7, 2018. [5]
After playing their first few shows as a six-piece, Malfara left Tallah in March 2018. One month later, the band announced their first tour, titled "The Ontology Tour", to begin in May. [6] While on tour, the band released a music video for their first single, "Placenta." [7] [8] In June 2018, Wisniewski left the band, and they picked up Eric Novroski as their new rhythm guitarist. In August 2018, Tallah released a music video for their song "Cottonmouth". [9] [10] The band then held the supporting slot for A Killer's Confession on tour, [11] after which they announced Novroski as their new permanent guitarist.
On April 25, 2019, the band announced that they had signed to Earache Records. [12] [13] On July 16, the music video for "We, the Sad" was released. [14] Two days later, the band played a show at The Lizard Lounge in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, during which Bonitz climbed onto the ceiling of the venue. [15] [16] A security guard told him to get down, leading to Bonitz punching and kicking the guard. [15] [16] Bonitz claims he did not know the person was a security guard and that they violently grabbed him first while he was still hanging from an I-beam. [15] [16] He was subsequently arrested before being released on bail. [15] [16]
After releasing a music video for the song "Red Light" on January 21, 2020, Tallah announced that they were entering the studio with Josh Schroeder to produce their debut album Matriphagy . [17] The album's first single, titled "The Silo", was released on June 5, [4] [18] followed by "We, the Sad" on July 2, [19] and "Red Light" on July 23, 2020. [20] On August 6, 2020, "Placenta" was released as the fourth single. [21] [22] On August 20, 2020, "Overconfidence" was released as the fifth single. [23] [24] On September 11, 2020, "L.E.D." was released as the sixth single. [25] Matriphagy was released on October 2, 2020. [26] On October 15, 2020, the band released a music video for the seventh single, "No One Should Read This". [27] [28] On February 18, 2021, the band released a music video for the eighth and final single, "Cottonmouth". [29] The music videos of all EP songs were also re-released with remixed audio. [30]
Tallah released a live shot concert on October 1, 2020, in which they played their debut album Matriphagy from front to back. [31] In 2020, Alizé "Mewzen" Rodriguez joined as the band's DJ, [32] and they also debuted their new rhythm guitarist, Alex Snowden from Doll Skin. [33] On April 1, 2021, Tallah announced the Talladdin EP alongside the first single "Friend Like Me". [34] [35] This EP consists of five covers from the Aladdin soundtrack exclusive to their Patreon page. [34] On August 17, 2021, they released the single and music video "Vanilla Paste", featuring guest vocals from Grant Hood of Guerilla Warfare, AJ Channer of Fire From the Gods, and Tom Barber of Chelsea Grin. [33] [36] [37]
On March 9, 2022, they released the single and music video "Telescope", and announced their upcoming album entitled The Generation of Danger, along with a temporary release date of September 9, 2022. [38] [39] The band supported All That Remains on their spring 2022 US tour that began on March 12, 2022, in Worcester, Massachusetts. [38] On April 19, 2022, they released the second single off the album, "The Impressionist" with a music video. [40] [41] In August 2022, they announced that the album's release would be pushed back to November 18. [42] On September 1, 2022, they released "Shaken (Not Stirred)" as a single with a music video. [42] [43] On October 13, 2022, they released the single "For the Recognition" with a music video. [44] [45] [46] On November 10, 2022, they released the fifth and final single "Dicker's Done". [47] The Generation of Danger was released on November 18, 2022. [42] [47] [44]
Tallah spent the first half of 2023 touring in support of their sophomore album. In August 2023, grooming allegations were brought up against the band's DJ Alizé "Mewzen" Rodriguez, which resulted in his immediate removal from the band. [32] [48] [49] A tour by Left to Suffer was announced in October 2023, with Tallah as one of the supporting acts. [50] [51] Thomas Cucé, who had previously played with Max Portnoy and Derrick Schneider in Next To None, became a touring replacement for Mewzen. On October 11, 2023, the band released the song, "Hard Knock". [52] [53] In January 2024, it was announced that the band would be supporting Kim Dracula on a March 2024 tour. [54] They spent the year touring in support of The Generation of Danger, playing select shows in Europe and the UK and participating in the Summer Slaughter Tour in July and August. [55]
On April 2, 2025, the band released the song, "What We Know" as the lead single from their third studio album, Primeval: Obsession // Detachment , along with a release date of September 5, 2025. [56] [57] The album will be their first with Max Portnoy moving away from drums to bass guitar, with Joel McDonald taking over on drums. [57] It will also be their first album with DJ Ivan Little. [58] On May 7, 2025, the second single, "A Primeval Detachment" was released. [59] On June 11, 2025, the third single, "Augmented" was released. [60] On July 15, 2025, the fourth single, "As Fate Undoes" was released. [61] The fifth single, "Undone By Fate", was released on August 22, 2025. [62] On the same day, it was announced that the band will support King 810 on their U.S. fall tour. [62] The tour starts on November 3 and ends on November 25. [62] On the same day as the release of their third album, a music video for the song "Depleted" was released. [63] On September 12, 2025, the band was featured on the Audiotree Live studio performance release uploaded to YouTube. The performance was recorded on April 4. [64]
Tallah's has been referred to as a nu metalcore or "nu-core" band and more specifically as nu metal, metalcore, alternative metal, and rap metal. The band's music also contains elements of deathcore, death metal, hardcore, extreme metal, mathcore, electronic, and industrial. [note 1] John D. Buchanan of AllMusic described Tallah as a "nu-core" quartet...[that brings] back the spirit of early-2000s nu-metal with gnarly riffs, whipcrack drums, electronic textures, and tortured vocals." [2] AllMusic also noted influences from "contemporary hardcore". [2] According to Next Mosh, "[Tallah's music includes]...screaming vocals [mixed] with melodic choruses and driving bass guitar with deep and dirty tones, syncing up effortlessly with the thunderous bellow of drums and the screeching ping of the snare." [76] Phillip Trapp of Revolver described their second album, The Generation of Danger, as "a ferocious fusion of early Slipknot intensity — spitfire vocals and grooves that dig deep...and modern hardcore savagery à la Vein.fm and Knocked Loose." [67]
Vocalist Justin Bonitz cites Slipknot, Linkin Park, Korn, System of a Down, Code Orange, Fire from the Gods, and Knocked Loose as his influences. [65] Drummer Max Portnoy cites Joey Jordison and Chris Adler as his influences. [77]
The band's vocalist, Justin Bonitz, writes the lyrics and tends to focus on themes and writing concept albums. [5] The band's debut album, Matriphagy , is about a "man who is trapped in a house, under the thumb of his mother, and begins to lose his mind and touch insanity as he scrambles to escape. The album touches on oppression, society’s social engineering, nature vs. nurture, metaphysics, and all kinds of psychological themes." [5] Their second album, The Generation of Danger , follows a mad scientist who works on behalf of a large corporation. He becomes increasingly frustrated due to his inventions being credited to the company rather than himself, eventually leading him to force the company to take part in "the greatest experiment the world of science has ever seen". [78] The story of their third album, Primeval: Obsession // Detachment, takes place on an alien planet and centers on a nurse "Ana" and an assassin "Sheelah"—a group of beings tasks Ana and Sheelah with performing tasks meant to test their morals and values. The themes include morality, personal beliefs, and determining how to fit within a society. [56]
Current members
| Former members
Former touring musicians
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Timeline
Title | Album details |
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Matriphagy |
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The Generation of Danger |
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Primeval: Obsession // Detachment |
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Title | EP details |
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No One Should Read This |
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Talladdin |
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Year | Title | Director | Album | Ref. |
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2018 | "Placenta" | Rob Dyke | No One Should Read This | [7] |
"Cottonmouth" | Max Portnoy | [9] | ||
2019 | "We, the Sad" | Paul Stamper | [14] | |
2020 | "Red Light" | Errick Easterday | [17] | |
"Gooba" | — | Non-album single | [79] | |
"The Silo" | Max Portnoy | Matriphagy | [4] | |
"We, the Sad" | Paul Stamper | [19] | ||
"Red Light" | Errick Easterday | [20] | ||
"Placenta" | Rob Dyke | [21] | ||
"Overconfidence" | Anthony Altamura | [23] | ||
"L.E.D." | [25] | |||
"No One Should Read This" | Max Portnoy | [27] | ||
2021 | "Cottonmouth" | [29] | ||
"Vanilla Paste" | Anthony Altamura | Non-album single | [33] | |
2022 | "Telescope" | The Generation of Danger | [38] | |
"The Impressionist" | [40] | |||
"Shaken (Not Stirred)" | Max Portnoy | [42] | ||
"For the Recognition" | [44] | |||
2023 | "Hard Knock" (visualizer) | Jon Fonseca | Non-album single | [52] |
2025 | "What We Know" | Max Portnoy | Primeval: Obsession // Detachment | [56] |
"A Primeval Detachment" | [59] | |||
"Augmented" | — | [60] | ||
"As Fate Undoes" | Max Portnoy | [61] | ||
"Depleted" | DerekFilms | [63] |