Ever Heard of Heavy Metal Techno? Mark Wise Unites Two Genres on “The Fire Within”

New Jersey’s Mark Wise channels an original and essential brand of ‘Heavy Metal Techno’ that connects his youth to his current evolution on his explosive new release “The Fire Within”. Everyone loves when musicians give it up to their inspirations, but few are this devoted. Marks’ hybrid sound is instantly recognized as being expressed from someone who lived in it. He shares a dedicated passion for both genres, while mixing them together with care. With metal and electronica being recognized as underground and at times left-field genres, they share a harmonic space where much musical mischief can ensue.

“I grew up listening to grunge, classic rock, and various shades of metal, and this release is the culmination of my entire musical journey from getting into grunge as a little kid in the mid 90s, to taking up percussion in 5th grade, playing in a band with friends in high school, starting to DJ in college, finishing my first ever electronic production in 2011, picking up guitar in my mid 20s, and taking on the Mark Wise name in 2017 and making techno my sole focus. All of it has led to this, and the day this was released on Beatport was one of the proudest days of my life.
One strange thing, though, about what led to this is that the most immediate and direct influences for my heavy metal techno style were neither metal nor techno!! In the early months of COVID lockdown, I went through a malaise where I had no motivation to produce anything and wasn’t listening to any techno. I was watching a lot of a YouTuber named Rick Beato who teaches music theory and production by breaking down rock and pop music and explaining what’s happening. His content drastically improved my songwriting and production ability, and along with a reaction channel I was also watching exposed me to new musical influences I don’t think I ever would have discovered otherwise. Some of these artists were Harry Styles, Snarky Puppy, and Royal Blood, and strangely enough, those three artists most directly led to my first heavy metal techno. Royal Blood was most significant in that regard. I would listen to their song “Typhoons” and find myself shuffle dancing during the chorus the exact same way I would dance to house or techno. That really put the idea in my head that I could put heavy guitar riffs over techno beats and led to my first heavy metal techno productions using a synthesized guitar sound. It was only once I started writing that the music I grew up on started to come through.”

With tracks that have been supported by names like Carl Cox, Nakadia, Fjaak, Juliet Fox, Brennen Grey, Cristian Varela, Spartaque, Ilario Alicante, T78, Vikthor, Anna Reusch, Mosher, Sebastian Mora, and Horatio, Mark Wise has forged a unique techno sound that will make him a force for years to come. 

Stream “The Fire Within” on Spotify.