Among the 23 bands playing the Templars of Doom festival at the Melody Inn, You Will Die boasts a name as menacing as any.

But the Indianapolis trio isn’t looking to intimidate.

Guitarist Errol Katz says the name simply refers to a universal experience.

“It happens to all of us,” he says.

Katz, bass player Jason Cavan and drummer Scott “Scoth” Dodson showed a sense of humor regarding the name when they ordered a batch of promotional fortune cookies and every message read “You Will Die.”

But there’s no need to hunt for messages heavy or light in the lyrics, because You Will Die is an instrumental act (aside from one new song that features a guest vocalist).

Singers auditioned to be part of the band when it formed nine years ago, but none proved to be a keeper.

The absence of lyrics allows You Will Die to craft songs outside the standard structure of verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-verse-chorus, Katz says.

“We really stopped caring about how many times we did a certain part or if a vocal would fit in there,” he says. “It freed up a lot of creativity.”

“It’s accidental metal,” Dodson adds. “It creates itself.”

Dodson’s time in bands such as Ice Nine and Blatherskite solidify his metal credentials, while Katz’s resume highlights punk rock in a group known as Dehydrated Vomit. Cavan is a member of indie-rock mainstay Marmoset.

This is the third edition of Templars of Doom, organized by Jason McCash, who plays bass in the Gates of Slumber. But it’s You Will Die’s first appearance.

Katz cites Dodson as the catalyst for the band’s propulsive sound.

“I feed off of what the drums are doing,” Katz says. “That’s another freedom of being in a band that has no rules. If we go off in a weird space for a minute in a song, that’s great.”

Templars of Doom
When: May 7-9.
Where: Melody Inn, 3826 N. Illinois St.
Tickets: $8 to $15. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/templarsofdoom