Sematary
Sematary | |
|---|---|
.jpg?lang=en) Steckler performing in 2024 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Zane Steckler December 22, 2000 California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 2019–present |
| Labels | Haunted Mound |
| Member of | Haunted Mound |
Zane Steckler (born December 22, 2000), known professionally as Sematary, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He began releasing music and founded the Haunted Mound rap collective in 2019. Sematary has released eight mixtapes and three EPs.[1] His distorted and overblown production style, which is influenced by witch house and black metal, and his deep-fried aesthetic have garnered him a cult following online.[2]
Early life
[edit]Zane Steckler was born in Northern California on December 22, 2000.[3] He has described his hometown as "redneck-y". His mother is a painter and his father is a record producer who worked on various film scores, including writing a song for the soundtrack to the 1999 film Pokémon: The First Movie while working as a jingle writer. He has one younger brother. Steckler's upbringing, according to him, was "normal", and he has expressed that he hated school.[4] He first began experimenting with music at the age of 11 through the use of GarageBand and Logic Pro.[5]
Career
[edit]Steckler began releasing music as Sematary in 2019 after he graduated from high school, releasing his collaborative debut mixtape in August, Grave House, with fellow rapper and childhood friend Ghost Mountain that year.[6] Sematary then released his solo debut mixtape, Rainbow Bridge, in November 2019.[non-primary source needed] Also in 2019, Sematary formed the underground hip hop collective and record label Haunted Mound, later adding more members like Hackle, Oscar18, Buckshot, and Anvil, having met them through Instagram, and became its frontman.[7] In 2020, he released the mixtape Rainbow Bridge 2, in continuation of his previous album. He also released a follow-up mixtape to Grave House with Ghost Mountain, Hundred Acre Wrist, in 2020.[6] His mixtape Rainbow Bridge 3 was released in April 2021, ending the now Rainbow Bridge trilogy. It was listed as one of the best hip hop albums of that year by SLUG. In October of the same year, he released the mixtape Screaming Forest.
Sematary released the mixtape Butcher House in January 2023, with a tour of the same name taking place following its release. Paste praised Butcher House as "easily the hardest-hitting rap record of the year right now", while Revolver's Eli Enis called it "beautifully belligerent".[8][9] In September, Sematary released the EP King of the Graveyard.[10] He also appeared as a guest on Suicideboys' Grey Day Tour in the fall of 2023.[11]
His collaborative single "Fuck the World" with Chief Keef and fellow Haunted Mound member Hackle was released in January 2024.[12] Later that month, Sematary released "Wendigo", a post-punk song, as a single for his album Bloody Angel, which was released in March 2024. His second headlining tour began one month later.[13] In January 2025, Sematary released the single "Still Da Same" in collaboration with the rapper Xaviersobased.[14] His single "Heart So Pure" was released the following month with the B-side "Oxycodone".[1] Sematary executive produced Ghost Mountain's debut 2025 mixtape October Country, which was released in March 2025 and featured Sematary on the tracks "Highway Hex" and "Damien".[15] His album Hauntaholixxx Mixtape is expected to drop on Halloween, October 31st.[16]
This is his main discography, yet he has released more music, like EPs Warboy and The Wagoner (this one along with Ghost Mountain), collabs with other artists and singles.
Artistry
[edit]
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Sematary was inspired by witch house band Salem and rappers Chief Keef, Black Kray, and Yung Lean to start rapping, with Yung Lean motivating him to pursue a career in music after he saw him perform at the Warlord American tour.[4][5] Sematary's music is horrorcore largely influenced by witch house[17][6] and black metal[18][7] and also containing elements of cloud rap,[19] trap, and drill music.[8] His vocals are typically layered and distorted with Auto-Tune and his instrumentals are often lo-fi.[19][1] For Stereogum, John Norris called Sematary's vocals "snarling" and "slurry" and described his lyrics as nihilistic.[13] Stereogum's Tom Breihan described his "sing-chant[ing]" as "baritone evilness" altered by "all kinds of disorienting digital-distortion techniques".[1] Paste wrote that his music was "loud" and "abrasive" with "a ton of distortion" and lyrics that "vary from creepy to ridiculous".[8] Paper's Ivan Guzman called his and Haunted Mound's lyrics "slasher film-esque" and their production style "blaring" and "blown-out".[4] His sound was called "distinctly post-internet" and a "[fusion] of psychedelic SoundCloud-era rap à la Bladee and Yung Lean with menacing horrorcore drums and spooky witch house synths" by Eli Enis of Revolver.[11]
As of 2024[update], Sematary had recorded a majority of his music in the "Butcher House", an abandoned slaughterhouse built in 1905. Günseli Yalcinkaya of Dazed compared his music videos to B horror movies. His online aesthetic has been described as deep-fried and defined by its horror influences, including his often holding a chainsaw; he has compared it to that of Chief Keef.[4] Sematary helps design Haunted Mound's merchandise—which, as of 2024[update], make up most of the collective's revenue—and its mascot, a screaming tree named Harold.[13] He has stated that his marketing of the group is inspired by that of other underground hip hop groups, such as Sad Boys and Goth Money.[20] He has been vocal against the presence of the alt-right in underground hip hop.[4][21]
Discography
[edit]Mixtapes
[edit]| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Grave House (with Ghost Mountain) |
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| Rainbow Bridge |
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| Rainbow Bridge 2 |
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| Hundred Acre Wrist Hosted by DJ Sorrow (with Ghost Mountain) |
|
| Rainbow Bridge 3 |
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| Screaming Forest |
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| Butcher House |
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| Bloody Angel |
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| HAUNT-O-HOLIXXX |
|
Extended plays
[edit]| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Warboy |
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| King of the Graveyard |
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| The Wagoner EP (with Ghost Mountain) |
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References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Breihan, Tom (February 14, 2025). "Sematary Shares New Songs 'Heart So Pure' & 'Oxycodone': Listen". Stereogum. Archived from the original on February 15, 2025. Retrieved March 8, 2025.
- ^ Morrison, Donald (May 22, 2024). "Notes From The Underground: An Interview With Sematary". Passion of the Weiss. Archived from the original on September 18, 2024. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
Sematary's aesthetic has earned the Haunted Mound crew a cult-like status.
- ^ Steckler, Zane. "Just Turned 20 Today Wtf". Sematary. Retrieved 5 July 2025 – via X.
- ^ a b c d e Guzman, Ivan (April 30, 2024). "Don't Be Scared of Sematary". Paper. Archived from the original on September 18, 2024. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
- ^ a b Gengo, Roger (February 10, 2022). "Sematary & Hackle Interview". Masked Gorilla (Podcast). Archived from the original on September 24, 2024. Retrieved September 23, 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ a b c Enis, Eli (March 20, 2025). "Ghost Mountain: October Country". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on August 15, 2025. Retrieved August 9, 2025.
- ^ a b Wickes, Jade; Lai, Tiffany; Reed, Davy (September 17, 2024). "8 names to keep an eye on right now". The Face. Archived from the original on September 17, 2024. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
- ^ a b c "Enter the horrifying world of Sematary's Butcher House". Paste. February 13, 2023. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
- ^ Enis, Eli (January 19, 2024). "6 best new right songs now: 1/19/24". Revolver. Archived from the original on June 28, 2024. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
- ^ Yalcinkaya, Günseli (September 29, 2023). "5 albums to stream this week". Dazed. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
- ^ a b Enis, Eli (January 19, 2024). "Sematary: Hear $uicideboy$ tourmate go goth-punk on new song "Wendigo"". Revolver. Archived from the original on July 18, 2024. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
- ^ Nevares, Gabriel Bras (January 1, 2024). "FTP Records, Sematary, Hackle & Chief Keef Drop New Banger 'F**k The World': Stream". HotNewHipHop. Archived from the original on September 18, 2024. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
- ^ a b c Norris, John (April 3, 2024). "'I Was Blindsided': Sematary On Haunted Mound's Upheaval, New Mixtape 'Bloody Angel,' & More". Stereogum. Archived from the original on August 17, 2024. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
- ^ Andrews, Elias (2025-01-18). "Sematary And Xaviersobased Prove They're "Still Da Same" On New Single". HotNewHipHop. Archived from the original on 2025-01-30. Retrieved 2025-01-25.
- ^ Chelosky, Danielle (March 7, 2025). "Ghost Mountain Reunites With Sematary On New 'October Country' Mixtape". Stereogum. Archived from the original on March 11, 2025. Retrieved March 8, 2025.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2025-09-19. Retrieved 2025-10-19.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Lesuer, Mike (January 30, 2024). "15 Songs That Created Sematary". Flood. Archived from the original on March 29, 2025. Retrieved August 9, 2025.
- ^ Matulaityte, Giedre (June 8, 2021). "11 artists who are redefining everything we know about the trap metal genre". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on December 8, 2024. Retrieved August 9, 2025.
- ^ a b Hartman, Taylor (December 1, 2021). "Top 5 Hip-Hop Albums of 2021: Semetary – Rainbow Bridge 3". SLUG. Archived from the original on September 17, 2024. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
- ^ Yalcinkaya, Günseli (April 23, 2024). "Inside Sematary's chainsaw-wielding, horrorcore universe". Dazed. Archived from the original on December 10, 2024. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
- ^ ""Fuck a Day Job": Sematary Takes the Proust Questionnaire". Interview. 18 April 2024. Archived from the original on 30 September 2024. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
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