Raptorbaby is:
Vincent van Niekerk - Voxman
Doug Jenkinson - Stringsman
Craig Borrill - Stringsman
Sean Gaisford - Ropesman
Lolke Louis Claassen - Skinsman

Raptorbaby is a multi award winning South African based progressive metal band, made up of five beer drinking Pretoria/Johannesburg based musicians. The band started in 2011 as a new outlet to create heavy, technical and often trippy compositions. Since the bands inception, a dedication to creating etheric and blistering progressive metal has seen Raptorbaby make appearances at numerous festivals in RSA, performing alongside international acts such as Protest The Hero, 36 Crazyfists and Monuments.

The bands music can be described as a fusion of deep, chuggy metal and melodic indie, melded together by blistering guitar riffs and technical beats.

In late 2012, Raptorbaby released their first self-produced record, "The Hatchling EP", completely recorded and mixed by the band, which featured a more indie-meets-metalcore style compared to their later releases.

In 2014, after the release of "Sleepers Awake" single, the band parted ways with vocalist Nelius Nortje, with ex Mazaru voxman Vincent Van Niekerk stepping in his stead, and has since released two singles, "Atlantis" (2014) and "The Lost" (2015).

The band entered the studio in late 2015, and spent 8 months meticulously recording the album which would eventually become "Citadel" (released 5th October 2016). Inspired by the journey of discovery experienced by the last man on earth, the album explores the tales and history encountered by the man in a grand library, referred to as the "Citadel", in order to finally gain his ascension. Comprised of 12 tracks, "Citadel" is the culmination of all the bands work over the past 4 years, and saw the band further expanding thier style based on their established mix of Mathcore, Death Metal, Electronic and Progressive elements.

In 2017, Raptorbaby was nominated for four South African Metal Music Awards, including "Best Metal Album" and "Best Video", and won both "Best Single" for the Citadel track "The Group" and "Best Band" in the "Progressive Metal" category.

In 2018, the band parted ways with Vincent Van Niekerk, and after a short stint playing as an instrumental outfit, Steven Foukaridis of Rhutz fame joined the band as their new vocalist in 2019. 

2021 saw the departure of Steven and the return of Vincent to the fray once more. The band is currently working on new music for release in 2023.

Contact Raptorbaby by sending your email to 
raptorbabyband@gmail.com

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