Mia Priest is a dynamic trans creative & musician from Singapore currently based in Cambodia.

The new album by her band ABSENCE OF THE SACRED titled IV: The Hand That Wounds is available NOW.

“A rallying call, a heralding of vexation. A commentary on the invisible hand not so hidden anymore, its transparency in today’s age allowing the artist to utterly eviscerate the denouement of decadence.”

- NO CLEAN SINGING

”There is no doubt that the band’s experience has led to such mature structures and compositions without falling into the trap of being clinical or losing the dark intensity.”

- AVE NOCTUM

Mia Priest has performed in 30+ cities spanning 20+ countries with her bands and recorded on 20+ releases since 2000. She currently plays in bands based in New York City, Phnom Penh and Singapore.

In Asia, Mia’s the guitarist and vocalist for her own bands ABSENCE OF THE SACRED, BLOOD DIVISION, NIGHTMARE A.D. and RADIOACTIVE DEATHMONKEY. She is also the vocalist for ABYSSAL VORTEX (featuring members of MEGADETH and RUDRA) and the former lead guitarist for IMPIETY, one of Asia’s biggest Extreme Metal bands.

In the US, Mia’s a guest guitarist in SEV LEZU, an all-trans Black Metal project featuring members of CROSSSPITTER, FIREWALKER, MANAT and SONJA, as well as the guitarist of a secretive Black Metal band.

Aside from performing/recording music, Mia promotes and organises shows under GET IN THE PENH (accredited by UNITE ASIA) and is one of the co-organisers of the annual SLAM CITY ASIA festival in Cambodia. She is the original co-founder of COQ & BALLS (award-winning gastro bar specialising in cocktails, craft beer, fusion food and single malts) and the former owner of HELL’S LABYRINTH (record store/design studio) in Singapore.

Mia does layout and product design for both bands and businesses. She has done work for bands such as ANAL VOMIT, ANTIPOPE, AOSOTH, BREATHING HELL, CULT OF FIRE, DEMILICH, DRACONIS INFERNUM, DYING EMBRACE, GOATBLOOD, IMPIETY, KRYPTOS, RUDRA, SACRILEGIOUS RITE, SHADES OF DEEP WATER, SIGH, PSEUDOGOD and more, including her own bands.

Mia is the author of Negative Cognition: Fragmented Social Idealisms and Gratified Violence out on Blurb Books, with two more books currently in the pipeline. She is an anti-war veteran of the Singapore Armed Forces, as well as a strong advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community and Human Rights.

Interviews

"Phnom Penh thrusts forward a good half dozen bands a year, but not many that last beyond a few years, especially in recent times. One band in particular has defied that trend, and done it with remarkably little turnover in membership, is metal band Nightmare A.D."

Leng Pleng
"In this interview, Mia gets real about growing up in an ever changing environment, abuse at the hands of her father, her Singaporean military service, suffering terrible losses, building successful businesses, the danger of Christian Nationalism world wide and so much more."

Fane Magazine
“We recently spoke with frontwoman Mia Priest about their upcoming album Caricatures of a Delusion, Singapore Air Force conscription, trans role models in the metal community, industrial influences, best Cambodian metal bands, etc.”

Metal Has No Borders
“Mia Priest plays in a hardcore-metal band out of Cambodia called Nightmare A.D. and on the verge of the release of their second full length entitled Phantoms of Our Ruin, she was kind enough to spend some time with a very candid interview talking about her life and transition.”

Unite Asia
“I would say that the threat [of a show getting cancelled] has definitely increased as metal and punk music gets more exposed online and through social media,” says Mia Priest.”

New Naratif
"“I think music distribution is a challenge, as most Cambodians and expats now prefer MP3s or music streaming sites rather than physical copies,” says Nightmare A.D. vocalist Mia Priest, who moved from her native Singapore to Phnom Penh in 2014."

Bandcamp
"Mia Priest is a transgender woman that sings in a thrash metal band called Nightmare A.D.. “Coming from an anarchistic standpoint, I’m really against fascism, tyranny and dictatorships,” she says."

Kerrang
"There is nothing more punk rock than when someone stands up and says fuck you to societal “norms” that are dictated to us by tired old hats who can’t move on with the times. We love you Mia."

Unite Asia
"To be honest, the future doesn’t look too bright for Metal in Cambodia, but that’s what we are trying to do with Slam City Asia, shine a light and create awareness that Metal is still alive here in the Kingdom of Wonder, and that we will always be here while other trends come and go."

Leng Pleng

ABSENCE OF THE SACRED IV: The Hand That Wounds (2024)

ABSENCE OF THE SACRED (Singapore) have been playing Death Metal since 2005, with current and past members from IMPIETY, WORMROT, DRACONIS INFERNUM and DYING FETUS having been in their ranks. Recently reactivated from a long hiatus, their fourth full-length album “IV: The Hand That Wounds'' has been completed, mixed and mastered in Grottemann Studio (Norway) in August 2024.

Comprising 8 songs (including an intro and outro by the mech gore maestro MICROCHIP TERROR), ABSENCE OF THE SACRED’s new album IV: The Hand That Wounds speaks of a world that is turbulent and uncertain; a world wrecked with natural disasters from climate change and the man-made horrors beyond anyone’s comprehension.

From the radioactive disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to genocidal “first world” governments to the morbid isolation and effects of being stuck in one’s own online echo chamber, this fourth album by ABSENCE OF THE SACRED paints a grim view of a collapsing Capitalist system, pulling everyone entangled within it into a doom unimaginable within the next few decades.

The upcoming album also features the immense talents of Kevin Paradis (BENIGHTED, NE OBLIVISCARIS) on drums and Emanuel Salgado (ISKALD, NIGHTEVIL) on bass, with concept-based artwork painted by artist Isa Pilapil.

Stream/Purchase

Music Videos

ABSENCE OF THE SACRED

Dawn of a Dead Aeon

Produced, edited and shot in 2007-2009 by Abigail Amalton and Rahul Joshi. Music by Mia Priest and ABSENCE OF THE SACRED. Lyrics by Mia Priest.

ABYSSAL VORTEX

Ravenous Sepulchres

Produced by Devan and Arvind, shot by Arvind and Hannah Verbeuren, edited by Arvind in 2014-2015. Music by Devan Andoor, Mia Priest and ABYSSAL VORTEX. Lyrics by Mia Priest.

Mia Priest is a dynamic trans creative & musician from Singapore currently based in Cambodia.

Mia Priest has performed in 30+ cities spanning 20+ countries with her bands and recorded on 20+ releases since 2000. She currently plays in bands based in New York City, Phnom Penh and Singapore.

"Phnom Penh thrusts forward a good half dozen bands a year, but not many that last beyond a few years, especially in recent times. One band in particular has defied that trend, and done it with remarkably little turnover in membership, is metal band Nightmare A.D."

"In this interview, Mia gets real about growing up in an ever changing environment, abuse at the hands of her father, her Singaporean military service, suffering terrible losses, building successful businesses, the danger of Christian Nationalism world wide and so much more."

“We recently spoke with frontwoman Mia Priest about their upcoming album Caricatures of a Delusion, Singapore Air Force conscription, trans role models in the metal community, industrial influences, best Cambodian metal bands, etc.”

“Mia Priest plays in a hardcore-metal band out of Cambodia called Nightmare A.D. and on the verge of the release of their second full length entitled Phantoms of Our Ruin, she was kind enough to spend some time with a very candid interview talking about her life and transition.”

“I would say that the threat [of a show getting cancelled] has definitely increased as metal and punk music gets more exposed online and through social media,” says Mia Priest.”

"“I think music distribution is a challenge, as most Cambodians and expats now prefer MP3s or music streaming sites rather than physical copies,” says Nightmare A.D. vocalist Mia Priest, who moved from her native Singapore to Phnom Penh in 2014."

"Mia Priest is a transgender woman that sings in a thrash metal band called Nightmare A.D.. “Coming from an anarchistic standpoint, I’m really against fascism, tyranny and dictatorships,” she says."

"There is nothing more punk rock than when someone stands up and says fuck you to societal “norms” that are dictated to us by tired old hats who can’t move on with the times. We love you Mia."

"To be honest, the future doesn’t look too bright for Metal in Cambodia, but that’s what we are trying to do with Slam City Asia, shine a light and create awareness that Metal is still alive here in the Kingdom of Wonder, and that we will always be here while other trends come and go."