Rival Cults Our Gods Need Blood

Rival Cults fuse gothic rock's dark romanticism w/ riff-driven rock & roll swagger. For fans of The Cult, The Damned and Sisters of Mercy

Santa Barbara's Rival Cults thrive at the crossroads of death, desire, and rock & roll swagger, channeling a strain of gothic rock that's as riff-driven as it is shadow-soaked. Formed in 2020 by longtime friends Adi Tejada (Uphill Battle, Sutratma), Casey Shropshire (Uphill Battle, ex-Sutratma), and vocalist Cole Barrington, the band came together quickly, sparked by an immediate creative chemistry that took hold as soon as Barrington heard the first demos and began writing lyrics. The lineup was later completed by bassist Cabe Fletcher (Embassy) and drummer Richard Rhiger, cementing a group built on deep camaraderie and decades of underground experience.

The foundation of Rival Cults' identity was shaped by Barrington's personal reckoning. After years in metal bands and a lifelong connection to dark music -- even appearing as a child in his uncle Andrew Fleming's The Craft -- Barrington confronted a breaking point with alcohol in late 2020. That struggle, and the rebirth that followed, became the emotional core of the band's early material. Their self-titled EP arrived in 2021, capturing the urgency of a band clawing its way toward transformation.

In 2023, Rival Cults released their debut full-length, Indoctrination on Dune Altar, via Dune Altar. The record traces Barrington's path out of addiction and into a sharpened sense of purpose. With baritone vocals recalling Sisters of Mercy at their most impassioned and a dual-guitar attack rooted in The Cult's towering dark-rock lineage, Rival Cults reclaim the "rock" in gothic rock -- headlong, impassioned, and unmistakably their own.