NEPA Scene Staff

Young Lancaster metal band Nail Bite evokes ‘Nostalgia’ with modern mix of sounds

Young Lancaster metal band Nail Bite evokes ‘Nostalgia’ with modern mix of sounds
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From a press release:

Today, Lancaster heavy metal band Nail Bite is taking listeners on “a journey back to a time that never existed” with the release of their fourth album, “Nostalgia,” on all major streaming platforms.

Featuring the most wide range of influences and the best production quality of any Nail Bite release to date, “Nostalgia” shows off the young group’s addictively catchy vocal melodies on its title track, “The Heart,” “It’s Fine,” and “Shimmer,” while songs like “You Know Who You Are,” “Silly,” and “Rock Bottom” showcase the unrelentingly extreme metal influences they’ve become known for. Across 13 tracks, they blend world music, synthwave, grunge, pop, country, dubstep, weirdcore, phonk, EDM, and more with an intense modern metal sound.

Autographed CDs, along with other merchandise, are available now on their website.

Often described as “avant-garde metal” and even affectionately “Amish metal,” Nail Bite was formed in 2020 in an unlikely place – Ephrata, a borough in Lancaster County – by Johnnie Bitting (guitar/vocals), joined by Lonna Nelson (vocals), Caiden Nelson (keyboard), and John Bitting (bass) in the original lineup.

Made up of two families – John and Johnnie (father/son) and Lonna and Caiden (sister/brother) – they originally met at the Bitting family’s mixed martial arts studio at the time, Dragon MMA Academy, which was a nationally winning competitive studio where Johnnie won 21 international and 38 national championships.

As the COVID-19 pandemic went into full effect, martial arts competitions came to a halt and Johnnie decided to turn his attention to music, so Nail Bite was created. After writing the first two singles, “Anxious” and “Free Your Mind,” Lonna, Caiden, and John were introduced into the band.

In January of 2021, Nail Bite released their debut album, “Mammoth of the Great Sea,” which introduced a raw, self-produced sound that drew parallels to black metal and death metal. By September, they made their way to Virginia’s Blue Ridge Rock Festival, which over 160,000 people attended that year. This marked the band’s first music festival and their third show ever, introducing the South Central Pennsylvania act to a wide audience that helped jumpstart their early career.

By December, Nail Bite unleashed their second album, “Lost Travelers,” which features one of their breakthrough songs, “Disengage.” With 2022 came more incredible opportunities as the group appeared on Danny Wimmer Presents’ “Space Zebra” charts for 36 weeks, maintaining the No. 1 spot for 19 weeks. In lieu of their success on that show, Nail Bite was added to that year’s Louder Than Life and Inkcarceration festivals, which have a combined attendance of over 250,000. They also played as direct support for Bad Omens at the one-year anniversary show of the DWP Twitch show.

Following their festival performances that year, Nail Bite was named “Chart Kings,” “Live Band of the Year,” and “Top Unsigned Band” by DWP, starting their ascent as one of the fastest growing unsigned metal bands for mixing singing, screaming, and death metal growling vocals with an array of sounds that switch between brutally heaviness and memorable melodic hooks.

Following “Lost Travelers,” they released six singles leading up to their third album, “Welcome to Partyland,” in February of 2023, with swing metal track “Little Friend of Mine” gathering significant attention. In 2023, they played Louder Than Life once again – alongside acts like Foo Fighters, Slipknot, Pantera, and more – as they continued to bring their unique sound to the main stages.

With 2024 came huge performances like Michigan Metal Fest that went completely viral, gaining millions of views and drawing in tens of thousands of new followers. That year, they also expanded their following in Northeastern Pennsylvania with appearances at the inaugural Scranton EclipseFest and Mosh for Tots, both hosted by Scranton natives Traverse the Abyss at the Moon Tavern in Dickson City, and released seven more singles going into “Nostalgia,” which debuted on their Bandcamp on Dec. 30, 2024.

Now streaming everywhere, the new songs open the most innovative chapter of the band’s discography to date. “Shimmer,” “Nostalgia,” and “Endless” further explore a softer sound that slowly builds into harsh breakdowns, while “Rock Bottom,” “You Know Who You Are,” and “Silly” are crushingly heavy from the very first moment. “You’ll Never Know” is even set to be featured in an upcoming video game.

While only in their early 20s, Nail Bite continues to amass a growing fan base on social media and solidify their place as one of the biggest up-and-coming independent metal acts in the country.

Watch Nail Bite’s full co-headlining set at Mosh for Tots below:

Photo by LillyBitt Photography