Cattle Decapitation - Entrevista

1 – Right after the recording of the album, your drummer Michael Laughlin left the band. What happened? And how did you found the new drummer J.R. “Kid Gnarly” Daniels (Unholy Ghost)?

Mike was just getting tired of touring so much. We were pretty much thinking for a long time about getting someone else cause we could tell he was over the whole constant touring thing, playing for only metalheads so much. JR is just a fill in for this tour. These tours at this time were very important to us so we're glad he's filling in, but after this, that's it.

2 – The album was produced by Billy Anderson, well known for producing bands like Melvins, Mr. Bungle, Swans, Ratos de Porão, etc. He’s not the kind of guy a Grind / Death / extreme metal band would choose to produce their record. How did he end up working with you in this new album?

He was on a small list of people we thought we could work with. We hit him up and he replied right away. He was just extremely into doing our record. Said hed to whatever it takes to make everything work out. We mentioned that he hadn't done too many brutal bands and he just assured us hed do whatever we want. We're very happy with the recording.

3 – The new album is way more experimental than the previous one. We have the usual Grindcore and Death Metal elements but we also have some Black Metal passages and lots of ambient passages. Songs like “Alone at the landfill” or “Total gore?” are not the usual Grind / Death stuff, “Karma Bloody Karma” has a Norwegian necro Black Metal middle section and the closing title “Of human pride & flatulence” is pure ambient stuff. It just came out like this or did you really wanted to try new stuff and experience new sounds?

We wanted to branch out and experiment. Ever since Dave Astor, we've wanted to take our newfound freedom and progress and move forward. We also are very into all sorts of music. I don't know how the black metal element came about really, but I'm definitely into it and think that style has added a very strange dynamic to our music. It seems to fit perfectly for some reason.

4 – In the press-release I read something you said about the lyrics, you said that this album is the most nihilistic, pessimist and full of hate. Can you tell me something about the lyrics?

Yes, they are definitely not the most positive thing in the world. All of them basically blame humanity for the eventual downfall of planet earth. So the lyrics are an extremely pro-environment point of view, almost like that of a deranged and homicidal hippie. I like that.

5 – Do you have a tour prepared to promote the record?

We're right in the middle of a huge one right now. We'll probably be doing Europe soon as well! That's the one I can't wait for. We're also hoping to hit Japan and Australia soon as well.

6 – The album is about to be released soon but probably it is already in the internet. I remember back in the old days I used to do some tape-trading and that way I got to know lots of different bands from all over the world and this internet thing is just an upgrade of that tape-trading. What do you think about all this internet file sharing, downloading, mp3?

The thing I hate about the internet is how kids today all of a sudden can learn anything and everything about an artist and can instantly be experts when it took me fucking years to acquire the knowledge that I have now. As far as downloading, I don't see how people can have the patience for that sort of thing and at the end of the day there is no artwork, no cover, no cool gatefold or anything so fuck it anyways.

7 – You have some special guest appearances in the record, Joey Karam (The Locust) and John Wiese (Sunn O))), Bastard Noise). In which songs do they play and how did they end up cooperating with Cattle Decapitation?

Joey plays keyboards and does dome vocals in the song "Total Gore". We used some keyboard stuff for the song "Of Human Pride & Flatulence" as well. He's a good friend of the band and I had the part of that's some set aside for his vocals, which ended up sounding exactly as I had hoped. John is an old friend of mine and I knew he could belt out some good stuff real quick. We used it for certain segues and the intro.

8 – The frontcover is awesome! It maintains the Cattle Decapitation style but it doesn’t seem as controversial as the previous one. Who made this artwork? What can you say about the controversy around the previous artwork (“Humanure”)?

Same artist as Humanure and To Serve Man, Wes Benscoter. We knew the label wanted a toned down cover but really it came about as a more functional extension of the material within. It reflects the lyrics perfectly. Humanure was Wes' idea, and I definitely am open to his ideas, but it wasn't my idea and it was nice to see my ideas used again on this cover. To Serve Man was also my idea and that was a little toned down to Humanure if you ask me.

9 – By now, everybody knows you’re vegetarian (or vegan?), despite the brutal type of artworks and music. That is more common in the Punk, Hardcore and Crust scenes. What made you choose that way of life?

Everybody has their own reasons. For me its not wanting to take part in the meat industry, and its much better for you anyways.

10 – Do you want to leave a final message?

Check out the new album and we hope to see you guys too this year!!!

Entrevistador: RDS
Entrevistado: Travis Ryan – Vocals


Metal Blade Records: www.metalblade.de

Cattle Decapitation: http://www.cattledecapitation.com/