Some records feel like a debut in name only.
By the time you get to the end of Scream into the Void, it does not sound like the work of someone dipping a toe into a side lane just to see what happens. It sounds like a songwriter with a clear vision, a love of heavy music in all its moving parts, and the confidence to let a stacked cast of collaborators help bring that vision to life. That is exactly what Shea Keating has done with The Keating Contingency, a Chicago based solo studio project that steps out from beside his role in Blunt Force Karma and into something more expansive, more layered, and in many ways more personal. The debut EP arrives on May 8, 2026, with Shea at the centre of it on guitar and bass, backed by a guest cast that includes Sean Z., Mark Hunter, Ari Mihalopoulos, Travis Neal, Hayley Cramer, Austin D’Amond, Kevin Talley, Brian Viglione, and violinist Nick Montopoli. It is mixed by Pete Grossman at Bricktop Recording and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audioseige.
What makes the whole thing hit even harder is that it did not come from nowhere.
Speaking with Crannk, Shea traced his earliest connection to music back to the Beach Boys, drawn in by layered harmonies and great songwriting before that path moved through classic rock and into heavier territory. Later came the pull of riffs through Godsmack IV, then the energy of seeing bands live and realising he wanted in on that feeling for himself. By the time artists like Machine Head, Trivium, Lamb of God, and Fear Factory entered the picture, the foundations were there: groove, melody, weight, and a love for songs that could hit hard while still reaching for something bigger.
That mix of instinct and ambition also says a lot about why this project feels the way it does.
A lot of people will already know Shea as guitarist for Blunt Force Karma, the active Chicago melodic death metal outfit he described as an evolution of the chemistry built in Jury of Fears. In the interview, he spoke about how that band environment brings its own energy, with live shows, shared chemistry, and bandmates putting their own spin on the material in ways that can push songs far beyond where the demos began. Publicly, Blunt Force Karma is listed as a Chicago melodic death metal band, and that context matters, because Scream into the Void is not trying to replace that world. It exists beside it.
That is where The Keating Contingency really comes into focus.
Shea described himself as someone constantly churning out demos, more than a band setting can always absorb in real time. Rather than letting those ideas sit on a hard drive, he started thinking about what might happen if he built a separate outlet around them and invited other musicians to interpret the songs on their own terms. He credited that shift in thinking partly to Blunt Force Karma’s own experience bringing Austin D’Amond in on an earlier single, a move that showed him just how much was possible once you stopped thinking in terms of who had to be in the same room. From there, the idea expanded into a studio project built on flexibility, collaboration, and curiosity. It was not about forcing a second band into existence. It was about giving certain songs the home they needed.
That openness is a huge part of what makes the EP work.
Shea spoke about being intentional with some matchups while leaving room for surprise with others, but one thing he did not want to do was over direct the people he brought in. Instead of handing singers and drummers a rigid blueprint, he wanted to hear what they thought the songs were asking for. That approach could easily have turned into a scattered collection of one off performances in the wrong hands. Instead, it seems to have done the opposite. Scream into the Void still carries Shea’s fingerprint throughout, but it also feels alive because each collaborator is given enough room to leave a mark. The result is a release that moves with a strong internal thread while still letting each track stand on its own.
That thread is obvious right from “Maze of Echoes.”
The opening track has an introspective, haunted quality, and Shea revealed that it actually began life in the closing stretch of Jury of Fears before finding its way here. Rather than letting that song disappear, he reworked it into something that feels more fully realised, building around a strong melodic core and a neoclassical edge. Sean Z. brings both power and hook to the track, while Hayley Cramer gives it force without flattening the atmosphere. The addition of violin from Nick Montopoli, alongside piano and extra synth textures that Shea mentioned in the interview, lifts the song into something more cinematic without losing its bite.
From there, “Before a Purge” hits with pure aggression.
This was, according to Shea, the last song written for the EP, but it feels anything but tacked on. He already knew Austin D’Amond was the right drummer for it, and the final version gains even more weight with Mark Hunter stepping in on vocals. One of the coolest details from the interview was hearing Shea explain that when Mark was given a choice of tracks, he specifically wanted the one Austin had played on. That mutual respect comes through in the finished result. Shea also noted that the song naturally flows out of the opener while standing firmly on its own, and that blend of continuity and impact is part of what keeps the EP moving so well. Shea handled piano programming on this track alongside guitars and bass.
If there is one song that feels like the project proving itself in real time, though, it is “A Darker Side of View.”
Shea described that track as the one that truly tested the waters and showed him that this whole approach could work. Kevin Talley came in early and brought groove and conviction, while Ari Mihalopoulos immediately understood the flow of the song and stacked harmonies across it in a way that opened the whole thing up. There is also a strong through line here with Nick Montopoli’s violin, which Shea said became the obvious answer once he looked at what the chorus really needed. It is the kind of decision that says a lot about this record as a whole. These are not songs satisfied with simply being heavy. They want shape, tension, release, and atmosphere too.
Then comes “Doomsday,” and with it one of the EP’s most interesting left turns.
Shea said this was the track that surprised him most once it came back finished, especially with Brian Viglione behind the kit. On paper, that pairing might be the one that catches people off guard the fastest, but it is exactly that slight unpredictability that seems to have given the song its dynamic range. Add Travis Neal on vocals, and the closer takes on a real sense of narrative and lift. Shea even spoke about getting chills from the ending once it all came together, and that feels telling. This was not just a matter of bringing in names for the sake of it. It was about finding the right chemistry, even when the choice looked a little left of centre at first glance.
By the end of the conversation, one of the strongest takeaways was not just that Shea had completed a killer debut EP, but that he had come away from it with a sharper understanding of his own musical voice and vision.
He talked about Scream into the Void showing him the kind of music he wants to make for himself, describing these as some of the most ambitious songs he has wanted to do. Even with all the guest input, or maybe because of it, the record seems to have given him confidence in what his own writing can become when pushed further. He also made it clear that this likely is not the end of The Keating Contingency either, with more songs already in the pipeline and the possibility of revisiting the format in a slightly different way down the track.
That is what makes Scream into the Void more than just a stacked guest project.
Yes, the names jump out. Yes, the collaborators bring serious weight. But what lingers most is the sense that this is a songwriter using every available tool to make the songs hit as hard, as wide, and as honestly as possible. For fans of melodic death metal that is unafraid of groove, melody, atmosphere, and ambition all at once, The Keating Contingency does not just make a strong first impression here. It arrives sounding like it already knows exactly what it wants to be.
LINKS:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sheaguitar/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1EKMz9tjNS/?mibextid=wwXIfr
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@sheakeating
