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| w/Travis Ryan |
| Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: How has the sound evolved over the last ten years? Karma. Bloody. Karma seems to be a different entity from your prior releases.
Travis Ryan: Well, in the beginning, we were trying to get to the point where we were a real death metal band. It took a while, we seemed to have to get the short, grindy stuff out of our system first. To Serve Man and Humanure were pretty similar, but I have to say that K.B.K has the distinct flavor we’ve been shooting for for a while now. It’s really all over the place musically, whereas Humanure and To Serve Man were more standard. K.B.K is much fresher and much less boring than previous recordings. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: What are some of the factors that come into play when writing music? Travis Ryan: We don’t want to do the same old thing. I don’t think we stick to any certain formula anymore, other than they write the music, make a recording of it and then I write the lyrics to a shitty 4 track tape of it. We don’t really stay in the same box, but rather we stand in that box and work around the outside while still staying rooted, in this case, with brutality and extremity. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Which songs off the album do you feel embody Cattle Decapitation most? Travis Ryan: Probably Alone At The Landfill and Karma.Bloody.Karma. Those two pretty much speak for what we’re doing now. Alone is pretty depressing and Karma is pretty brutal. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: How did the artwork come about because it seems somewhat toned down from prior covers? Travis Ryan: Well, it is pretty toned down. There’s not a whole lot of gore on the record. I think it’s a much more threatening album in terms of lyrics though, definitely. But, there’s really not a lot of gore. To have an album cover that is gory for the sake of being gory really isn’t our style. We have a much more functional approach to our record covers. The reason its such a question now is because we’ve had so many problems in the past. I don’t feel we’ve compromised anything. I got about five songs into the record and I realized there wasn’t much gore in these lyrics. We’ve always been a gore band. It’s not that we’re past it, I’ve just got too many other things to talk about right now. It just so happens it is the most depressing and destructive outlook one could ever have, but doesn’t translate into a gory album cover. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: After listening to Karma. Bloody. Karma and comparing it to previous albums, what do you feel separates this album from the rest? Travis Ryan: The Production for one thing. This is the best production we’ve had on a record yet. Billy Anderson really has a knack for bringing out the band’s sound. The feeling on this record is pretty intense. It’s very fresh and does not get boring. I’ve heard more than a few times when the person is done listening to it, they want to listen to it again. Maybe because it’s so short. (Laughs) Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Will the band film a video for any of the songs off the album? Travis Ryan: We’re figuring that out soon. We’ve talked about it, but the lyrics are so fucked up on this record I’m not sure what we’d even be able to use. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: As far as classifications go, Cattle Decapitation is forever being labeled either a "metalcore" or "grindcore" band in the press. Though I've always felt that the band is so much more than either one thing, as you can clearly hear so many different influences within the music. Kind of like a big pot of soup with a whole bunch of ingredients instead of just one or two. (Laughs) Would you agree? Travis Ryan: I’ve never heard of us being referred to as a “metalcore” band. I think people know better than that. If there is any “core” to us, it’s from “grindcore” not “hardcore” like all metalcore bands are. I would resent that comment entirely actually. That music is a stagnant pain in the ass. I pretty much hate it. So, with that out of the way, I’d say we have more in common with grindcore and death metal than anything. K.B.K has a lot of black elements to it, which is kind of weird, but it happened. So, It’s safe to say we’re a big pot of soup with all sorts of ingredients, but it’s really good soup. Made with herbs and spices straight from mother’s garden. We start with the finest vegetables. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: The band has gone through some line-up changes with the recent addition of drummer, J.R. Daniels. When asked in a recent interview about the status of the line-up now with J.R, you were quoted as saying, "we sent that kid home. Never want to see him again. Forget that fucker. We're going to hold out for this dude we've been watching for a while now. He should be starting in October." What were the circumstances surrounding J.R's departure and who is this "new" replacement going to be? Travis Ryan: Oops. Did I say that? (Laughs) Well, it’s true. Did I really call him a fucker? Man I must have been really pissed! But, yeah, we can’t stand the kid. I really can’t go into it without seriously bashing him and his character which I guess would be extremely unfair, so out of fairness, I’m going to let this one go. We have stories after stories after stories about him so hit us up sometime on tour or something. As far as the new replacement, I’ve learned to not count your chickens before they hatch. Like with J.R, he kept crying, bugging the hell out of us to say publicly that he was a permanent replacement, which he would have been had he been somewhat of a regular human being, so we finally did to shut him up. He was never a permanent member. He was a temporary fill in at best. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Not too long ago, the band was involved with the Steers and Beers tour with Misery Index and label mates Animosity and Job For A Cowboy. Can you tell us a little about how the tour went and include any tour stories you'd care to share with your fans? Travis Ryan: Man, it was so fun. A great tour for us to be on. It’s hard to say our true feelings about it, because it would have been the best tour ever had we not had that kid playing drums. That clouded it big time. So, yeah, it would have been way more amazing than it could have been had we had someone we didn’t have to labor over so much there pretending to be a part of our band. There are a million stories about the drummer so the most memorable ones would have to be something about him. Watching him slip and fall out of the van was pretty amazing, though he thought it was funny too, which took away from it’s impact a little. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Travis thanks for the interview. With that said, do you have any final words for The Metal Web!? Travis Ryan: Life sucks and stay gore! OFFICIAL SITE "CATTLE DECAPITATION": http://www.cattledecapitation.com HOME |