Lorna Shore’s Adam De Micco dishes on the state of metal ahead of Midland gig

Lorna Shore. // photo credit Chance Visuals

Lorna Shore plays the Midland on Monday, May 4, with Paleface Swiss and Signs of The Swarm. Details on that show here.

On Monday, May 4, metal rockers Lorna Shore will be back in Kansas City at The Midland with material from their September 2025 album, I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me (named one of the best releases of last year by Kerrang, Metal Hammer, and Loudwire). Vocalist Will Ramos, lead guitarist Adam De Micco, drummer Austin Archey, rhythm guitarist Andrew O’Connor, and bassist Michail Yager continue to impress current fans and attract new ones as they power their way into the mainstream of music.

While preparing to go out on a second leg of dates across North America, lead guitarist Adam De Micco took some time out of his busy tour prep schedule to talk with me about the band, the new album, the current state of metal music, as well as his short-lived downtime between their tour schedule.

The Pitch: Since the band’s formation in 2010, the lineup has undergone some changes. Considering your tenure as the longest-serving member, what do you believe the current members of the group have contributed to the band’s remarkable success and dominance in the metal scene?

Adam De Micco: I mean, I think the moment I try thinking about that, it takes all the joy out of it, you know? There’s no, like, magic formula. I just think what helps is that everyone who’s in the band wants to be in the band and wants to make this, like, commitment to being in it, you know, a full-time thing. I think with other members that we’ve had in the past, I would say other people wanted to do other things, and just were kind of, like, one foot in, one foot out.

I’d say we share a similar end goal in our art, I would say. Not like an end goal as far as, like, when’s this thing gonna be over, but for what we want from our art and our product and stuff like that. I feel like everyone’s kind of on the same page, like a search for life.

In the past, it felt like other people wanted to do other things, which is not necessarily right or wrong; it’s just a matter of trying to go in multiple different directions at once, which just doesn’t get you to go further as a band.

Right now, bands like yours and other metal bands appear to be a significant driving force behind streaming platforms, concert ticket sales, and even breaking into the music charts. What are your thoughts on the current state of the metal industry?

I think it’s awesome; I think it’s really great that we, as a genre, not just we as the band, are flourishing. When I was first in this band, metal itself was more taboo. It was more like a niche. I think what’s changed is that more people are more open to it, as opposed to the bands having gotten better. I think the bands have always been great. I just think it’s now that I feel like the rest of the world is finally catching on to all these great bands that I think they’ve been missing out on.

Do you think streaming is allowing more people to discover metal music, helping move that needle, and contributing to the popularity of the metal scene?

When we first started as a band, streaming wasn’t really common. It was more where people were buying CDs, and some people were buying records, or, you know, mostly people were just downloading things. I’d say streaming just seems to be the new form of consumption, so I think that helps. It makes it more streamlined, so you don’t have to make your way through all these different mediums. It just makes it easier, I would say. It’s easier for me, that’s how I feel. That’s how I like to listen to music. It’s just a lot more convenient.

How do you feel about AI in music? What could that mean for music in the future?

Oh, it’s such a taboo thing, it’s such a hot-topic word, and it’s something that a lot of people don’t want to talk about, but I get why people don’t want to talk about it. The way I feel about music as an art, I’ve always felt this way, even before AI. What makes art special is the person who’s creating it, you know what I’m saying? That’s what makes our band different from other bands: the individuals in the band are what make it unique. No one else has gone through my story, no one else has gone through other band members’ stories, and how those experiences shape our decisions, what our interests are, and what makes our music.

Without that, you’re kind of missing that element. Even in the same way that two different bands are different, it’s because of the members involved. I’ve always felt that way, even before this topic of conversation with AI. Am I worried or threatened by it? No, I still think music is an art, an expression, and I choose to see the music we write as a way to tell my story. Music is both a place and a platform for me to tell my story, and I don’t think anyone else can tell it. Sometimes it’s even hard for me to tell my story. So that’s kind of where I stand on it. I still see art as a form of self-expression. So I think that’s kind of why I don’t really feel worried about it.

The new album is the second full-length LP the current line-up has worked on. How did you guys go about the writing process? Was there anything different you did now that you have had the opportunity to connect with one another more?

I kind of look at the last record and ask, “What did we do that I enjoy from this last record? What did we do that I didn’t enjoy, and what didn’t we do that I want to add to it? Where can we make improvements? What do we feel like we didn’t say?”

I feel like that’s always a starting point for how I look at a record. I think this time around, I think I was really trying to approach the songwriting process as a way for each song to clearly communicate its theme. I think in the past, we were always dipping our toes into different waters for every song. It was trying to have songs do different things. Kind of like I was saying before, it’s kind of hard to have everyone on the same page when each wants to do different things. It’s hard to have a song do different things that feel counteractive to one another. I think this time around, I was way more committed to: if there’s a theme for a song, let’s adhere to it and stick to it the whole way through.

Where do you find guitar inspiration? What kind of other guitar stuff do you like to play that is not metal-driven? Is there a style that would be surprising to somebody reading this, a genre that’s very different than metal?

In between tours, I always use that time to work on my craft. On tour, it’s a good place to kind of go, okay, I see this weakness that I really want to work on, so then after tour, in between tours, I’d be like, I’m gonna focus on this. This time around, I just really wanted to get better at improv and, like, just playing over backing tracks. I see a lot of great guitar players that I like. A lot of jazz fusion players will just be playing over a backing track, and I’m like, that’s insane that you could just come up with this on the spot. It’s crazy, it just sounds so awesome, and like, I couldn’t even do this if I sat down for hours and figured this out. So, I’ve always loved that and wanted to get better at it. I think that’s kind of what I’ve been doing more recently, trying to get better at playing over backing tracks and improvising and doing stuff like that.

Last time the band was in Kansas City was in 2024, promoting the Pain Remains the Same album. Obviously, this tour you have new material for the fans, but what else can they expect to be different about this show vs. past shows?

I mean, I’d say production value’s gone up, there’s a lot more production stuff. There are a lot more new songs, adding stuff from the new record. A lot of times during another album cycle, it’s usually just focusing on the current material, as opposed to, like, living in the past. I think that’s something that I want to do. I’d rather stand on your own two feet based on your current material. I think it’s important to do. If you’re putting out this record and you’re not playing most of the songs off that record, what does that tell the listener? That you don’t believe in this record?

Lorna Shore plays the Midland on Monday, May 4, with Paleface Swiss and Signs of The Swarm. Details on that show here.