by Eduardo Rivadavia
 
Technical death metal band Beneath the Massacre hails from Montreal, Canada, where it was formed in 2004 by vocalist Elliot Desgagnés, guitarists Christopher Bradley and Jonathan Dubeau, bassist Dennis Bradley, drummer Justin Rousselle, and, for a brief spell, keyboard player Christian Pépin. Inspired by the ultra-brutal and hyper-complex death metal aesthetic pioneered by Canadian clinicians such as Cryptopsy and Neuraxis, Beneath the Massacre followed their debut 2005 EP Evidence of Inequity, with two highly regarded (but difficult to digest) full-lengths released through Prosthetic Records: 2007's Mechanics of Dysfunction, and 2008's Dystopia. Both albums were cut by the paired down lineup of Desgagnés, the Bradley siblings, and Rousselle, who later embarked on their first headline tour of the U.S. in 2008, supported by Arsis and Ion Dissonance, before joining the Summer Slaughter trek, also featuring Necrophagist, Cephalic Carnage, and Cattle Decapitation, among others.