When Matt Engel was in third grade, there were three things he wanted to be when he grew up.
鈥淎 stuntman, a mortician or a rock star,鈥� he said.
Unlike most of us, he has made two of those three childhood ambitions a reality.
Every Thursday, Matt Engel, along with his brother, teenage nephew and his friend head to a literal castle in Lemay that features turrets, a gate and monster statues in every corner to make music inspired by monsters and death.
This is Torchlight Parade, a St. Louis metal band that comes back from the dead at night. Matt Engel and his brother, Doug Engel, started the band in 2017 and are uniquely qualified to write and perform songs about horror. That鈥檚 because Doug Engel is a hearse driver and Matt Engel is an embalmer.
Matt Engel came up with the band鈥檚 name after reading the phrase in mortuary college.
鈥淚 came across a torchlight parade being a funeral procession at night,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat name, it just jumped out of the book, it always stuck with me.鈥�
The band has had a busy year. In April, the group signed a deal with record label Pavement Entertainment and released its third album 鈥淐hildren of the Night,鈥� last Halloween. The album is an ode to classic monster and horror films with songs like 鈥淗addonfield鈥檚 Revenge,鈥� 鈥淗owl鈥檔 Wolf鈥� and 鈥淔rankenstein of Death鈥� inspired by Michael Myers, the Wolfman and Frankenstein, respectively.
The songs are supposed to be fun, lighthearted records that take inspiration from the brothers鈥� day jobs but are also an escape from the grief that comes with them.
鈥淵ou've got to kind of disconnect from all that and leave it there,鈥� Matt Engel said.
While Matt Engel was in school, he would return to the St. Louis area to catch his brother and his other band鈥檚 performances. Eventually, the two formed Torchlight.
鈥淣othing was going on for a while, but as life gets busy, [the band] was always in the back of our heads,鈥� Doug Engel said.
Around 2017, the band started getting gigs opening for metal acts like Stryper and Quiet Riot.
鈥淲hen you're up here on the stage, and look over and you see your brother, you鈥檙e like, 鈥楧ude, we're doing this,鈥欌�� Doug Engel said. 鈥淎nd we're not just playing at some bar where people come in and there just so happens to be a band.鈥�
The band continues to be a family affair with Doug Engel鈥檚 16-year-old son, Sam Engel, on bass and his friend Gavin Martin on drums. The two joined in 2023 and also play in Aragon, their own cover band.
Performing with Torchlight has let them arrange and perform their own songs, Martin said.
鈥淵ou're playing your actual music,鈥� Martin said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something you can be proud of.鈥�
Sam Engel said he felt a sense of accomplishment after arranging the music for 鈥淢orticians Never Cry,鈥� a song off 鈥淐hildren of the Night.鈥� The experience helped him understand how to write heavy metal music instead of the grunge inspired records he and Martin perform with Aragon.
鈥淵ou get the guitar, but then when the drums come in, it's like, OK, now I see what's happening,鈥� Sam Engel said. 鈥淚t's not heavy metal without drums, right?鈥�
Keyboardist and vocalist Teddy "ZigZag" Andreadis can also be heard through Torchlight Parade鈥檚 music. Over a long career, he鈥檚 performed with Guns N' Roses, Alice Cooper, Chuck Berry and Carole King.
Andreadis was captivated by the band鈥檚 aesthetic, theatrical stage presence, flair and funeral home origins, Doug Engel said. When performing, the band wears gothic costumes and are joined by monsters like Frankenstein and Michael Myers while elaborate props, including coffins, and a large LED screen stand behind them.
Although that camp is deliberate, the band hopes the music goes beyond its stage presence. The group鈥檚 second album, 鈥淣ever Laugh when a Hearse Rolls By,鈥� is a concept album about a funeral and includes the ballad 鈥淪he鈥檚 Gone.鈥� Doug Engel heard from someone who had listened to the song after his wife died. 鈥淗e was in tears when he heard it,鈥� Doug said. 鈥淚t meant something to him.鈥�
Songs on the group鈥檚 latest album touch on the seriousness of death. 鈥淚鈥檓 Not Dead Yet,鈥� while triumphant, is a song Matt Engel wrote about blues guitarist and friend Walter Trout, who almost died of liver failure.
鈥淚 was imagining him laying on his deathbed and struggling,鈥� Matt Engel said. 鈥淭elling you the story is one thing, but when you're hearing it from [Trout] and there's tears in his eyes 鈥� it left an impression on me.鈥�
The records are reminders that because of the brothers鈥� professional lives, they have a special perspective on death. And while everyone else might be scared of dying, Matt Engel and the band aren鈥檛.
Because for them, life and death imitates art.
鈥淓verybody's running from it, and we're walking toward it,鈥� he said.
