Doomed Confessionary: Marcus, Chris, Josh & Alex (Reptilian Arms)
Reptilian Arms is a four-piece doom/sludge/death metal band from San Jose, California.
Founded in 2022, Reptilian Arms features current and former members of Drown The Rat, Sagaba, Condemned To Live, Vietus Mortuus, Sin Luto, Maelstrom and Santaga.
The band released their debut EP »Extensa Fabula« on March 14th, 2025. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Ryan Perras at District Recordings.
Reptilian Arms are Alex Santana (vocals), Marcus Przyborowski (guitar), Chris Cassisi (bass), Josh Joesten (drums).
Can you please say a few words about your band?
Reptilian Arms is a death sludge band from San Jose, CA. Formed in late 2022, featuring Marcus Przyborowski on guitar, Chris Cassisi on bass, Josh Joesten on drums, and vocals by Alex Santana. We offer an array of heavy and extreme music stylings – all of it gritty, thunderous, and pissed off!
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
Finding other sludge/doom bands from San Jose to play with. The San Jose scene is dominated by punk and hardcore. Which is awesome to see, as we are fans of a lot of punk and hardcore ourselves. There are some great death metal bands from San Jose that we like to play with, but we generally have to go to Santa Cruz or the North/East Bay to play with any stoner/sludge/doom bands.
Along the same lines, there aren’t many venues in San Jose that cater to extreme music. Most of the downtown nightlife is dominated by the club scene. We love to play often at The Caravan Lounge and High Voltage Punk Shop, though. Shout out to those two spots for keeping the scene alive in San Jose.
This hasn’t slowed us down any. We are able to fit in a lot of bills due to the variety of our tunes. We love to play with the punk, thrash, and post-metal bands!
What can you be most proud of so far?
We are very proud of our young, but eclectic catalogue. We have two official releases out, with plans on new music in the very near future.
»The Set Demo« November 2023. A straight shot recording of the setlist that we played for our first string of shows. All recording was done in our practice spot by our good friend, Tom Berkin. Mixing and mastering was done by the band. We wanted this one to be as true to a demo as we could get.
»Extensa Fabula« March 2025. Our first studio release. All recording, mixing, and mastering was performed by District Recordings in San Jose, and they did an amazing job nailing our sound. It’s a great sampling of the sonic dynamics we have to offer. We are very pleased with how this one turned out.
We are also very proud with the amount of shows we have played during the short time we have been a band, 27 shows since our first in March 2023.
What was your biggest regret?
No regrets!
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
Our show at High Voltage Punk Shop on July 5th, 2025. We played on their second annual Metal Massacre mini fest. The lineup was absolutely stacked, consisting of heavy acts from across the Bay Area. We played second to last, and San Jose underground death metal legends Aseptic headlined. The place was packed to the brim with mosh-thirsty maniacs. It was a night of headbanging carnage, and a summer time BBQ in the parking lot!
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
We did not expect to be popular amongst the younger crowd. We always seem to get an extra-large response at all ages shows. It’s heartwarming to see high schoolers in Electric Wizard and Slayer shirts moshing to your shit.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Marcus: Black Sabbath, Petbrick, NYOS, Death Whore, Adrift.
Chris: Slabdragger, Sugar Horse, Swamp Coffin, Isis, Chat Pile
Josh: Manilla Road, Eternal Champion, Angel Witch, Boy Harsher, UFO.
Alex: Exodus (Rob Dukes and newer stuff), Napalm Death, Entombed AD, Celtic Frost, Pungent Stench.
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
Always have a backup plan, never stop mid-song, play what you want to play, and fucking practice!
What are your guilty pleasures?
None of us have any guilt, but these come close:
Marcus – Birding and Britney Spears
Chris – Magic the Gathering and Flip Flops
Josh – Disneyland and Synthpop
Alex – Wrestling and Star Trek
Don’t forget the beer and weed!
Can you say something more about the current music scene in San Jose / Northern California?
The Bay Area and Northern CA heavy music scene is bustling with great bands these days. Oakland and Sacramento harbor a lot of great doom and sludge bands, where San Francisco thrash is still very much alive and kicking. San Jose has the hardcore scene covered, and there is a great punk scene spanning from Santa Cruz to Berkeley.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
We have a few more shows happening before the end of the year. Here’s what we currently have booked, with more to come:
8/22 – Blue Lagoon, Santa Cruz w/ Wounded Men On Trees + Eldrith
8/30 – Caravan Lounge, San Jose w/ Warcorpse + Apraxia
9/26 – The Jury Room, Santa Cruz w/ Aseptic + Wounded Men On Trees
What are your plans for the future as a band?
Our goals are to re-record »The Set Demo« as an EP, as well as a couple new songs we’ve been working on for a split. After that, our primary focus is writing our first full-length album. There’s been some initial conversations of a California/West Coast tour, maybe once the album is out…
How can people best support your band?
If you’re local to the bay, come see us at a show! We have merch available, and our music is streaming on all major platforms. Give us a follow on the socials, message us and say hello!
Do you have any message for your listeners?
Thanks for being freaks!
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well