Out of all the bands I have heard of with an astounding outcome after releasing their first album, it must be Panchiko. Panchiko is a British indie band formed in England between 1997-98. The first album ever released by this band was their demo “D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L.”

After the demo did not receive the attention that Panchiko had originally hoped for, they disbanded in 2001. This is where the internet comes in. Originally, Panchiko made 30 copies of their first demo EP in 2000, some sent to family and friends, others sent to reviewers of music labels. In 2016, the album was seen in a small charity shop. Someone had bought the demo CD and put it onto the website “4chan.” Unfortunately, the CD they had bought had been rotted, so the songs were extremely distorted. It took about four years and in 2020, someone had found the lead singer on Facebook and contacted him about the band.

Their album has more of what would be described as “airy” and “light” sounding music. People liked their demo “D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L” as it was the exact opposite of what death metal normally sounds like. Personally, I enjoy their demo album. It has great musicality and the songs blend into the theme of not being the dark and brutal death metal that is normally associated with what death metal is.

The album’s songs include “D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L,” “Stabilisers for Big Boys,” “Laputa,” and “The Eyes of Ibad.” It was originally formed as a CD but is now on Spotify and other digital platforms. My personal favorite from this album is “D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L,” the lyrics of the song are just astounding.

The song, along with the rest of the album, was remastered back in 2020 to be better distributed across the internet and social media platforms. When I found Panchiko’s music, I was just absolutely blown away. When I saw that their first album was made in the year 2000, I first thought it was a typo until I started doing more research on the band. Their story is definitely one of the more interesting ones I have heard out of the stories you hear about bands forming. 

Since their shot to fame in 2020, Panchiko has over 900K monthly listeners on Spotify and have also gone on tour multiple times. Their top song is “D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L” thanks to 4chan and other social media platforms, such as TikTok, where their songs have been used constantly. The song has more than 20.3 million listens.

They have released more albums since 2020 such as “Ferric Oxide,” an album where they released their music demos from 1997-2001, which is their second most popular album. They have also released “R>E>M>I>X>E>D,” a remixed version of their original “D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L” album. Their most recent album is called “Failed at Math(s),”which is another phenomenal album from them. 

Luckily, for me and all their fans, they are going on tour again starting in April 2024. They will be here in St. Louis on May 8, 2024, at Delmar Hall. So, if you enjoy listening to something new, go give them a listen!