!! NEW ALBUM "command presence" free download !!
VULTURE LOCUST release “Command Presence” LP
Extreme metal assassins VULTURE LOCUST have completed their magnum opus of grinding death-thrash havoc. Entitled “Command Presence,” this savage blur of grindcore-based death metal mayhem blasts its way through 15 mutant tracks of vintage thrash, blackened crust, and doom-blasting sludge.
VULTURE LOCUST harnessed their grinding blackthrash malevolence while rampaging through the scummiest basement venues & dive bars of Portland Oregon. With an exquisitely harsh production, no holds-barred style and unapologetic contempt, VULTURE LOCUST continue their dystopian vision of a world gone mad – dissecting police state brutality, martial law, and every real or imagined conspiracy under the sun.
Recorded/mixed/mastered ever so brutally by Nathan Richardson (with additional mastering by Robert Nelson of Glorious Usurper Studios) this unrelenting destroyer of an LP re-records all the tracks from their earlier promo “We Need To Talk” plus fresh material.
“Command Presence” WAV zip: www.mediafire.com/download/bxekav1ea6vyocp/
“Command Presence” MP3 zip: www.mediafire.com/download/sspne8wgm6kp71p/
Full Album on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHfAZ68mo-k
BandCamp: https://vulturelocust.bandcamp.com/album/command-presence
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/ryanbartek
“This is the kind of album you’d hope Terrorizer would release, but somehow never does.” -- Masterful Magazine
"Vulture Locust play an unrepentant DIY and punky brand of grind (with slight hints of early Carcass) that viciously mauls you with track after track of buzzing, lo-fi butchery -- just fast, noisy, fuzzy grind as an act of defiance. The drums hammer through endless blasts & d-beats. The guitars serrate. The whole thing will give you whiplash from headbanging. Most interestingly, however, is the unbridled fury of the vocals here. Ryan Bartek puts forth an agonizingly torturous vocal performance here that far surpasses even the blind rage of the music." --Toilet Ov Hell Zine
"This is some great, filthy DeathGrind." --Terrorizer Magazine
“Certainly, someone out there has to like it and be able to tell all the songs apart.
I sure can’t.” --RazorCake
"This Portland band founded in 2013, offers me to download their album, and I, who am hungry for good stuffs, I jumped at the chance! Nice discovery! That's the first word that comes to my mouth, because I fall directly into the power and grind violence of Vulture locust. 15 pieces for 37 minutes! Great, I have enough to do me a good idea on this band! I find the traditional side of the grind, but with an even more heinous singer has usual, yet they are only two in the band,one on the drums and the other handles the bass, guitar and singer. The final production is raw, violent and aggressive, just as hysterical vocals screaming in our faces all he thinks of society. Vulture Locust has worked his songs, because all songs are in a very reasonable time and therefore had to provide a construction effort to make them more fleshed and composed in the traditional grind offering titles of 1 or 2 minutes. An exciting drive, grind and incisive that is listened avidly. I can say that the album is a pure success that honors the grind music! So Awesome! A note? 17/20 !! Well done guys, great grind album!! --No Noise No Good Zine [France]
"Este álbum -totalmente D.I.Y.-, está compuesto por 15 temas formados por una amalgama de sonidos que partiendo del grindcore más crudo y directo, dan coletazos de powerviolence y crust con salpicaduras punk en una locura de grabación que destila mala ostia y agresividad por los cuatro costados con esa voz gritona y desquiciada, una batería que pasa de modo ametralladora a machacona sin solución de continuidad y esa guitarra sucia y saturada que deja un sonido completamente bastardo y macarra acompañando a unas letras críticas y controvertidas en las que están presentes temas como la religión, la política, el terrorismo y hasta el auto-proclamado Estado Islámico. Como ya he citado al comienzo del post, el espíritu de la banda es totalmente D.I.Y." --RUDIO NOISE
"Vulture Locust have their own sound and don’t try to follow anyone else. Furthermore they accomplish everything you hear organically, without drum programming, as they add elements of thrash, doom and death metal. Many bands have branched out similarly, but VL keeps things fresh with the punk-like conviction of their musicianship. The material feels as if any second things are going to degenerate into complete, utter chaos but the band remain consistent throughout the album. The lyrics are arguably the most punk quality Vulture Locust have to speak for, diving deep into conspiracy theory, Islamic fundamentalism and Monsanto so convincingly you’ll be inspired to look up the subject matter on the net. The 1988 science fiction movie They Live is a personal favorite (as others by John Carpenter) and the reference in They Live We Sleep is a nice touch." - AEA Zine
"Hah, by looking at the front cover photo it makes me think of our Bersih4 [political demonstration] which was held in the heart of KL on last 29th and 30th of August recently. We were very lucky the demo was held very peacefully without any intimidation from the Police with the water canon or tear gas. We have face such police brutality in the previous Bersih1, 2 and 3 similar like what was portrayed in the [album] photo. I guess Vulture Locust might be translated all the brutality and unjust by those in power thru their music, the lyrics and of course the front cover photo -- those poor peoples like us definitely live in sufferance when the country was rules by the corrupted government. Hmm.. similar like Malaysia and its getting worst day by day. Hah, I'm fukkin sure such confrontation with the Police will be happened quite often very soon. Ok, back to the music and this American duo presenting us the Grindcore style in this debut album. However their grind sounds a bit thrashy especially the screaming vocal. Hah, its quite weird when the thrash vocal mixed with the grind/death sounds and its become the grind noise I would say hahaa.. Well, it could be something new that VL wanted to present to the fans and I think its quite good. Ok, we have quite plenty of trax in this album which is 15 trax. I guess those grind maniax should love this album and it worth your dollar hehee.. Anyway as usual it didn't last very longer times as most of Grindcore stuffs. Hah, it took about 37 plus mins to finished all the trax! - Sangwitok Zine [Malaysia]
"Right out of the gate there is a unique production quality here but I am not sure if was done on purpose. The songs sound like they are coming from inside a partially open metal structure, because there is a muted, metallic echo that holds the instrumentation together. Stylistically I would have to call this traditional Grindcore, but the vocals are done in high pitched fashion as opposed to some of the super low grunts and growls we often here in this genre. Musically what is presented is ultra-intense noise with a lot of energy and a violent aggression, like the kind that would result in all of the instruments self-destructing at the end of the album. Many of the tracks are centered on the low key of E and sprout forth some semblance of riffing and blast beat drumming from there. Sometimes there are slower passages that break up the swift grinding, but the general level of bombast is omnipresent. You would be hard pressed to be able to tell one track from the next and it begs the question of why bother even coming up with song titles in this genre? Overall there is no questioning the band’s commitment and brutality and this is a legitimate sound that many people enjoy, but I found it difficult to be able to describe much in terms of variegate." --Metal Temple
AEA Zine Interview w/ Ryan Bartek , a Mega-Rant for the Ages
http://aeafanzine.blogspot.com/2015/10/author-interview-ryan-bartek.html
+ an interview about VULTURE LOCUST
c/o ScumZine (Columbia) in both English & Spanish
http://scumzinemag.blogspot.com/2015/08/vulture-locust-interview-in-spanish-and.html
VULTURE LOCUST is a D.I.Y. band.
www.BigShinyPrison.com // www.VultureLocust.com // ryanbartek@hotmail.com
1 Resolution Of A Conflict
2 Home Invasion
3 I Remember Building 7
4 Terror Alert Level
5 HAARPstrummer
6 Monsanto Is Gojira
7 Chemtrail
8 Audacity Of Hoax
9 Sharia Law
10 Weaponized Morgellons
11 Minimum Wage
12 They Live We Sleep
13 False Flag
14 Brandishing The Scalp Of God
15 SowReaper
Press Inquires & Contact // ryanbartek@hotmail.com
Regards
Anomie PR
Extreme metal assassins VULTURE LOCUST have completed their magnum opus of grinding death-thrash havoc. Entitled “Command Presence,” this savage blur of grindcore-based death metal mayhem blasts its way through 15 mutant tracks of vintage thrash, blackened crust, and doom-blasting sludge.
VULTURE LOCUST harnessed their grinding blackthrash malevolence while rampaging through the scummiest basement venues & dive bars of Portland Oregon. With an exquisitely harsh production, no holds-barred style and unapologetic contempt, VULTURE LOCUST continue their dystopian vision of a world gone mad – dissecting police state brutality, martial law, and every real or imagined conspiracy under the sun.
Recorded/mixed/mastered ever so brutally by Nathan Richardson (with additional mastering by Robert Nelson of Glorious Usurper Studios) this unrelenting destroyer of an LP re-records all the tracks from their earlier promo “We Need To Talk” plus fresh material.
“Command Presence” WAV zip: www.mediafire.com/download/bxekav1ea6vyocp/
“Command Presence” MP3 zip: www.mediafire.com/download/sspne8wgm6kp71p/
Full Album on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHfAZ68mo-k
BandCamp: https://vulturelocust.bandcamp.com/album/command-presence
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/ryanbartek
“This is the kind of album you’d hope Terrorizer would release, but somehow never does.” -- Masterful Magazine
"Vulture Locust play an unrepentant DIY and punky brand of grind (with slight hints of early Carcass) that viciously mauls you with track after track of buzzing, lo-fi butchery -- just fast, noisy, fuzzy grind as an act of defiance. The drums hammer through endless blasts & d-beats. The guitars serrate. The whole thing will give you whiplash from headbanging. Most interestingly, however, is the unbridled fury of the vocals here. Ryan Bartek puts forth an agonizingly torturous vocal performance here that far surpasses even the blind rage of the music." --Toilet Ov Hell Zine
"This is some great, filthy DeathGrind." --Terrorizer Magazine
“Certainly, someone out there has to like it and be able to tell all the songs apart.
I sure can’t.” --RazorCake
"This Portland band founded in 2013, offers me to download their album, and I, who am hungry for good stuffs, I jumped at the chance! Nice discovery! That's the first word that comes to my mouth, because I fall directly into the power and grind violence of Vulture locust. 15 pieces for 37 minutes! Great, I have enough to do me a good idea on this band! I find the traditional side of the grind, but with an even more heinous singer has usual, yet they are only two in the band,one on the drums and the other handles the bass, guitar and singer. The final production is raw, violent and aggressive, just as hysterical vocals screaming in our faces all he thinks of society. Vulture Locust has worked his songs, because all songs are in a very reasonable time and therefore had to provide a construction effort to make them more fleshed and composed in the traditional grind offering titles of 1 or 2 minutes. An exciting drive, grind and incisive that is listened avidly. I can say that the album is a pure success that honors the grind music! So Awesome! A note? 17/20 !! Well done guys, great grind album!! --No Noise No Good Zine [France]
"Este álbum -totalmente D.I.Y.-, está compuesto por 15 temas formados por una amalgama de sonidos que partiendo del grindcore más crudo y directo, dan coletazos de powerviolence y crust con salpicaduras punk en una locura de grabación que destila mala ostia y agresividad por los cuatro costados con esa voz gritona y desquiciada, una batería que pasa de modo ametralladora a machacona sin solución de continuidad y esa guitarra sucia y saturada que deja un sonido completamente bastardo y macarra acompañando a unas letras críticas y controvertidas en las que están presentes temas como la religión, la política, el terrorismo y hasta el auto-proclamado Estado Islámico. Como ya he citado al comienzo del post, el espíritu de la banda es totalmente D.I.Y." --RUDIO NOISE
"Vulture Locust have their own sound and don’t try to follow anyone else. Furthermore they accomplish everything you hear organically, without drum programming, as they add elements of thrash, doom and death metal. Many bands have branched out similarly, but VL keeps things fresh with the punk-like conviction of their musicianship. The material feels as if any second things are going to degenerate into complete, utter chaos but the band remain consistent throughout the album. The lyrics are arguably the most punk quality Vulture Locust have to speak for, diving deep into conspiracy theory, Islamic fundamentalism and Monsanto so convincingly you’ll be inspired to look up the subject matter on the net. The 1988 science fiction movie They Live is a personal favorite (as others by John Carpenter) and the reference in They Live We Sleep is a nice touch." - AEA Zine
"Hah, by looking at the front cover photo it makes me think of our Bersih4 [political demonstration] which was held in the heart of KL on last 29th and 30th of August recently. We were very lucky the demo was held very peacefully without any intimidation from the Police with the water canon or tear gas. We have face such police brutality in the previous Bersih1, 2 and 3 similar like what was portrayed in the [album] photo. I guess Vulture Locust might be translated all the brutality and unjust by those in power thru their music, the lyrics and of course the front cover photo -- those poor peoples like us definitely live in sufferance when the country was rules by the corrupted government. Hmm.. similar like Malaysia and its getting worst day by day. Hah, I'm fukkin sure such confrontation with the Police will be happened quite often very soon. Ok, back to the music and this American duo presenting us the Grindcore style in this debut album. However their grind sounds a bit thrashy especially the screaming vocal. Hah, its quite weird when the thrash vocal mixed with the grind/death sounds and its become the grind noise I would say hahaa.. Well, it could be something new that VL wanted to present to the fans and I think its quite good. Ok, we have quite plenty of trax in this album which is 15 trax. I guess those grind maniax should love this album and it worth your dollar hehee.. Anyway as usual it didn't last very longer times as most of Grindcore stuffs. Hah, it took about 37 plus mins to finished all the trax! - Sangwitok Zine [Malaysia]
"Right out of the gate there is a unique production quality here but I am not sure if was done on purpose. The songs sound like they are coming from inside a partially open metal structure, because there is a muted, metallic echo that holds the instrumentation together. Stylistically I would have to call this traditional Grindcore, but the vocals are done in high pitched fashion as opposed to some of the super low grunts and growls we often here in this genre. Musically what is presented is ultra-intense noise with a lot of energy and a violent aggression, like the kind that would result in all of the instruments self-destructing at the end of the album. Many of the tracks are centered on the low key of E and sprout forth some semblance of riffing and blast beat drumming from there. Sometimes there are slower passages that break up the swift grinding, but the general level of bombast is omnipresent. You would be hard pressed to be able to tell one track from the next and it begs the question of why bother even coming up with song titles in this genre? Overall there is no questioning the band’s commitment and brutality and this is a legitimate sound that many people enjoy, but I found it difficult to be able to describe much in terms of variegate." --Metal Temple
AEA Zine Interview w/ Ryan Bartek , a Mega-Rant for the Ages
http://aeafanzine.blogspot.com/2015/10/author-interview-ryan-bartek.html
+ an interview about VULTURE LOCUST
c/o ScumZine (Columbia) in both English & Spanish
http://scumzinemag.blogspot.com/2015/08/vulture-locust-interview-in-spanish-and.html
VULTURE LOCUST is a D.I.Y. band.
www.BigShinyPrison.com // www.VultureLocust.com // ryanbartek@hotmail.com
1 Resolution Of A Conflict
2 Home Invasion
3 I Remember Building 7
4 Terror Alert Level
5 HAARPstrummer
6 Monsanto Is Gojira
7 Chemtrail
8 Audacity Of Hoax
9 Sharia Law
10 Weaponized Morgellons
11 Minimum Wage
12 They Live We Sleep
13 False Flag
14 Brandishing The Scalp Of God
15 SowReaper
Press Inquires & Contact // ryanbartek@hotmail.com
Regards
Anomie PR
VULTURE LOCUST INTERVIEW c/o SCUMZINE (COLUMBIA)
http://scumzinemag.blogspot.com/2015/08/vulture-locust-interview-in-spanish-and.html
How was VULTURE LOCUST formed?
After taking a long break from music projects to concentrate on my writing and also travel as a metal journalist, I decided it was time to go back to the metal trenches. It was always my plan to start a full time band on the West Coast in Portland, and I was frustrated it had been so long. I began writing the demos for Vulture Locust in Fall 2012 -- music with an old school grindcore foundation, but also taking elements from classic death metal, thrash and black metal with a little doom and crust as well. By 2013 the early line up had recorded a demo “Cold Civil War," and then a stronger demo in 2014 with more songs called “We Need To Talk.” It was all a path to record our full length studio album “Command Presence" which was released on 3/3/2015 as a free download. I never wanted to be consumed by my writing, but I was given the opportunity to write for big magazines like Metal Maniacs, PIT Magazine, many zines all over the world. And then I became known in the underground for my metal travel books “The Big Shiny Prison” and “Fortress Europe,” so all over America and Europe people would offer me adventures and places to stay. But now I am back where I belong, just another grunt of a metal soldier. It is important for me that people realize that I am a musician, not an ignorant, jaded music critic who doesn’t know what they are talking about and has no concept the struggle of doing this music. I feel that “Command Presence” proves this, and gives to the history of extreme metal another unique record that will hopefully live on long after I’m six feet underground.
Let's talk about the EP "COLD CIVIL WAR." How was the recording process and mixing?
Since every death metal or grindcore band has a raw, lo-fi demo at the start of their history, I wanted to make one just because I could. It was intentional to make something that sounded like a poorly produced and noisy monster with an early black metal sort of production. The problem was that during recording we had a ridiculous amount of technical difficulties. I was leaving to do a writing tour of Europe for 3 months and I needed something to promote as I traveled. So while “Cold Civil War” has a certain unique charm to it, I admit it was rushed and I should not have made it an official EP. Back then, I basically just hired guys to record something quick. When I returned from Europe in Fall 2013 we moved on as a three piece, myself replacing the vocalist. We recorded a far better demo/promo called “We Need To Talk” and released it in May 2014 as a free download and began to play many shows around Portland. In Fall 2014 we became a two-piece live act (myself and the drummer) and entered the studio to make our official album “Command Presence” This 15 track, 37 minute record (which I am completely happy with) was released as a free download on March 3rd 2015.
Why was the EP titled “Cold Civil War” And what is the theme of the CD?
Vulture Locust dedicates each song to a different conspiracy, whether it be martial law, aliens, secret government, police state madness, military weapons, espionage, government surveillance, politics, wars. We do not promote any political system directly, we just comment on the madness of our current world. All of our albums have imagery of riot police and protesters on the cover, suggesting the conflict of the individual vs. unjust authority. For instance, “Cold Civil War" is a photo of one man in Portland sitting Indian Style in front of a line of riot cops in full battle gear, all looking like Darth Vader. He is just sitting, calmly, saying “you don’t scare me." The “We Need to Talk" cover is a photo from Spain, where one kid looks like he’s being ripped apart by zombies but they are just riot cops all grabbing him at the same time. The ‘Command Presence" cover is of a line of riot cops all stumbling back, because there is a giant metal chain hitting them. You cannot see who is whipping the chain, but that is the point. It is like a classic metal album cover from the 1980s, like a fingerless leather glove wearing hand with spikes and studs smashing a hammer to an anvil making sparks. The message is metal striking back. This is why the album is called “Command Presence" -- because command presence is what cops are taught like actors to portray when they approach you. When they get out of their car and grab their belt and pull up their pants, when they look macho and tough and approach you with their cop attitude -- this is exhibiting command presence. They have training manuals on this -- it is the official police term. So this is our version of Command Presence against them -- inhuman blast beats and me shrieking at the top of my lungs about the madness of everything they represent. with A “Cold Civil War” is when a nation is stuck in a stalemate and no amount of pressure will make the authorities arrest the criminals or corrupt politicians. Where even if people aren’t actively fighting in a civil war, they are knowing it’s going on. Like the Soviets and Americans -- constantly staring each other down. Neither can win. I feel the USA is in a form of this. If you were to honestly hold an election asking all Americans “should we arrest as criminals all our political and military leaders? Should we put on trial all of the corporate and bank CEO’s who have robbed our country blind?” This vote would be a landslide “YES.” And people really feel this way and want the entire system to change, but they cannot accomplish anything because anytime people go to the streets to protest they are beaten by police. They are arrested or harassed. And the people who want real change cannot reach critical mass because the system we are fighting has made an entire reality of brain dead people staring hypnotically at TV screens, drinking beer and not caring about anyone but themselves. So Vulture Locust is a loud, noisy warning of freaky realities to unsettle people.
Tell us about the new album "COMMAND PRESENCE" How was the process of creating topics?
I'll just go through the song list... *Resolution Of A Conflict: The moment when “push comes to shove.” I had in mind Ukraine specifically when I wrote this. *Home Invasion: About martial law, domestic militarization, and the overbearing police state. Written with the aftermath of the Boston Bombing in mind. *I Remember Building 7: The view of a paranoid man remembering the fishy official 911 story and Building 7 in particular. *Terror Alert Level: About the color coded system Department of Homeland Security created to let us know how fearful we should be. *HAARPstrummer: About the dangerous weather modification system in Alaska that is akin to throwing a giant boulder in a lake but with the Earth’s entire weather system as a replacement. Yes it is a weapon (the Army's internal docs say this) and YES it is extremely dangerous, *Monsanto Is Gojira: A Sepultura reference, about the dangers and crimes of this cartel. *Chemtrail: I'm not sure if “Chemtrails” are real, but I like the idea of them. I did see with my own eyes an unmarked black military plane pumping chemicals like fog outside windows over all the marijuana crops of northern California, which spread across the sky in creepy formation. I'd really like to know what that was. *Audacity Of Hoax: The obligatory anti-Obama song. *Sharia Law: The world’s first metal song about ISIS. I wanted to offend everyone first. It's one of the best on the album. *Weaponized Morgellons: About weaponizing the supposedly fake disease many people are suffering from, being mummified from within by alien fibers. It's freaky. YouTube it. *Minimum Wage: The staple 30 second grinder with “Falling Down” references and being a broke ass wage slave. *They Live We Sleep: John Carpenter worship and a way to breach the subject of extraterrestrials in an off-hand, less direct way. *False Flag: About countries that attack themselves and then make it look like another country or organization did it as to justify war. *Brandishing The Scalp Of God: Christianity, the original conspiracy, and the blatant death/black track. *Sow Reaper: About the final moments of a wasted life as the void consumes. The character deserved it, like many of Ozzy's villains.
Are there any label interested in VULTURE LOCUST?
There were a few smaller labels that showed interest but I politely turned them down. Really, even if Metal Blade or Nuclear Blast came knocking I don’t think I’d do it. I like to have full control over the projects I create, and I always release them for free online even if there is a physical pressing of CD’s. All record companies are capitalist, even if their goals are legit. They are businesses, and that’s fine. But I am not running a business, I’m in a metal band and that band has a message. I also don’t want anyone breathing over my shoulder or telling me I can’t do something or say something. My big mouth needs to be free. And even if someone put out my record I’d openly be telling fans to download it. Vulture Locust is no one’s employee, nor am I Vulture Locust’s employee. If that makes sense, haha.
How is the scene OREGON?
Portland Oregon is my favorite city in the world. It is the only place I feel at home, the public transit is amazing, and we now have a social safety net that makes Oregon’s government compare to that of a European government. There are so many bands here that aren’t enough bars or venues for everyone to play. There are dozens of houses that have turned their basements into secret venues, and there are house shows all the time. I happen to live at one of the big extreme metal house venues and we hook a lot of shows up for touring grindcore, crust, death and thrash bands. Everywhere I go I see punks and metalheads on the street, you don’t have to worry about “normal people" beating you up for looking strange, the cops don’t harass or target you for having a satanic t-shirt, etc. Everyone that plays in a band here is in multiple bands, or runs a zine, or does something on the side. And Portland is filled with guys like me -- men in their 20‘s & 30‘s who all came here from all over the USA to play music and make this their new homebase. Portland isn’t the place where you “make it big” -- it’s where you set up your metal headquarters and go from there. Even for the negative things people say -- “oh the metal scene is the same few hundred die-hards going to everything, it’s not big as indie rock in Portland” -- i think this is heavy metal paradise. Every night is a Saturday night compared to the rest of the USA!! There is always a show. And if no show, I could call up one of my friends bands and watch a world class metal band practice in their rehearsal space. It’s all about perspective! I’d rather have 300 die-hards then 10,000 fakes any day! But for anyone reading this, check out these bands -- Snakes, Immoral Majority, Nescient, Roadkill Carnivore, UADA, Raptor, Weresquatch, Drouth, Crime Machine, Machetazo Profano, Dodlage, Gladius, Disenchanter, Cliteratti, Dead Nexus, Spastic Blurr... And tons of amazing punk rock bands everywhere too! Every kind of music is here, really. And people are generally friendly, even if they all do that “Seinfeld" thing where it’s the same like 4 people huddled in a corner in their own little clique. Ha! But thats everywhere you go. And it’s cool here because it is very unpopular to be racist or to be some asshole starting fights or coming to the mosh pit to throw elbows at peoples heads.
What has been the response of the EP and "COMMAND PRESENCE" by the extreme press and fans?
Overwhelmingly positive! Either they get it or they don’t, and if they don’t “get it” they seem to hate it. But they always start a review with “it should be said that I don’t like grindcore very much...” and then everything they complain about I read and think “If I wasn’t in this band I would go find them on YouTube right now!” So the bad reviews are good reviews in my opinion! And I also get great reviews with people saying “This is the kind of album you always hope Terrorizer would release, but somehow never does” from people that live, breathe & shit grindcore (that one is a real quote too). Then I get: “I don’t like this production, it’s noisy and painful -- where are all the Lamb of God styled breakdowns? Can it please just slow down? This band is just too brutal and the vocals are too insane for me to handle” kind of reviews. So really, whose opinion counts on this matter? So far I have not found anyone who is a die-hard of extreme underground metal that totally hates my album. Across the board people seem to think it’s quality for what it is. And the other folks -- well, I love being hated for the right reasons. This is a specialty album for all the real freaks out there. The production is the major thing that is make or break. It was recorded/mixed to sound like a top of the line basement recording, then it was mastered to have a nasty black metal production caked on top of it, pushing it more towards a Darkthrone sound layered over early Napalm Death / Brutal Truth sounding production. If you listen too low, there is a metallic hum. That’s the crash cymbal pushed high on the treble mix. So it’s unpleasant to listen except at really high volume, which was the point. If it’s low on your stereo, it’s messy and odd. Jacked up to full volume, it’s a punishing, clear, brutal experience. It has it’s own feel. My vocals are all high-end too, no gutturals or grunts. My style is like a mix between DropDead and early Bethlehem, but with a Carcass twist.
What is the songwriting process?
What worked best for me is playing guitar in front of a hand held MP3 recorder. I collect hours of myself playing. Using a program like Audacity or Cool Edit Pro I save any riffs I liked. Afterwards I start grouping riffs together until songs begin to form. With Vulture Locust, you hear many kinds of extreme metal. There is a grindcore basis to our music, and the grind blast appears in all our songs. But we also incorporate elements of death, thrash, doom and crust. When you hear thrash, it will sound like old school Slayer, Coroner. If it sounds crusty punk, it’s more of an Impaled Nazarene meets Wolfbrigade sound. When you hear death metal, it’s more like the band Death in the 1980s mixed with some Dying Fetus styled chugga riffs. We have some black n’roll like Darkthrone and some black metal sections, but the feeling is always heavy hitting and grinding. Unlike many brutal bands, our music has a rock n’ roll feel like Motorhead. This is why I like grindcore so much -- it has a punk rock feel to it, but is still metal as it gets.
What are your influences in music, literature and horror movies, what inspires you?
I am a junkie for ideas and I’m deeply passionate about music and art. I read often. I also drift through many subcultures, because I am very open minded. The heavy metal scene is where i am most comfortable. It is always like home base for me, much more then the punk scene or any other scene. I am a giant horror movie freak and fan of all cinema, and I want to make movies in the future.I wrote a low budget zombie/vampire apocalypse screenplay called “Crimson Atlas" and I wish to direct it myself. The influence of Vulture Locust is to artistically show “the system” as the circus freak sideshow it is. VL seeks to educate our audience, the same way Iron Maiden does where every song is a history lesson.
What you know about the Colombian scene and South America?
I know that you guys love your death metal! And I know the Slam pits are insane and people get crazy. Every time I hear something from your country it is always raw and brutal. This is the case with extreme metal all over South America. I was a huge Sepultura fan as a teenage metal head in the 90s. I know they were from Brazil, but the fact that Sepultura became so huge helped to spread extreme metal music all over South America. Maybe one of the reasons South American metal is so killer is because everyone grew up listening to albums like “Beneath The Remains” and “Arise” ha ha. And I know there are political problems, corruption problems and poverty that is everywhere. And in every country it is the same -- the more bullshit the world throws at us the stronger our metal rebellion becomes! If I am ever to do a third full length travel book as a metal journalist, I want to do it traveling through South America -- “The Big Shiny Prison Volume III.” It is possible and I may actually do this in the future, but for now I only want to play music and try to make independent movies.
Is there anything you want to add?
I recently completed a new book called “Anticlimax Leviathan” . It is the best thing I have ever done and I'm aiming for a self-published release in Fall 2015. Most in the underground know me for the road books I've done “The Big Shiny Prison” & “Fortress Europe” in which I physically traveled all fringes of subcultures (especially metal/punk) in Europe and America. In those works I interviewed musicians, artists and freaks of all varieties in person, stringing together the material with an “extreme tour diary” approach of events as they unfolded. “Anticlimax Leviathan” is different then these other books. It is a autobiography about my personal life from 2002-2011. It features many of the misfit characters of my early writings and also cameos by many celebrities, politicians, metal gods & punk legends I detail the strange odyssey I've lived as a world traveling journalist, an extreme metal musician, an activist & artist of many forms surviving through poverty under the politically hopeless era of Bush and Obama. It is the story of a strange young man reaching adulthood in a society that is far stranger yet somehow aggressively masquerading as normal. Set in Detroit, the 'character' becomes a member of the press, a taxi driver, a metal/punk promoter, film maker and general nuisance to society before hitting the road as a traveling metal journalist for some of the biggest magazines & webzines on Earth. Eventually he falls through the cracks entirely, ending up on the West Coast as a sort of drifter living off Craigslist & performing odd jobs to get by as he navigates a labyrinth of ever-collapsing living arrangements. Becoming homeless he lustfully embraces it, mentally re-creating himself as a lead character in his own imaginary novel. Along the way he meets a legion of 'Street Crazies' that have fallen through the cracks as well, and step by step they build a new world out of the ashes of their former ghost lives climaxing with the Occupy encampments of 2011. Written incrementally since 2009, this extremely personal work is akin to the output of writers like Henry Miller, Kerouac, Dostoevsky, Proust, Hemingway, Celine, etc. Like many of the Great Depression/Beat Generation writers, I use 'Anticlimax Leviathan' to shine a spotlight on unconventional lives that otherwise would be unrecorded and lost to time. It is the most important work of my career, and what will likely cause me to finally be considered a serious artist amongst uptight critics & literary academia. Any interested parties can download the first 50 pages
(and all of my music) FREE at my official site www.BigShinyPrison.com
EN ESPAÑOL:
¿Cómo se formó VULTURE LOCUST?
Después de tomar un largo descanso de proyectos de música para concentrarse en mi escritura y también viajar como periodista metal, decidí que era hora de volver a las trincheras de metal. Siempre fue mi plan para formar una banda a tiempo completo en la costa oeste en Portland, y yo estaba frustrado que había pasado tanto tiempo. Empecé a escribir las demos para VULTURE LOCUST (BUITRE LOCUST) en el otoño de 2012 - música con una antigua fundación grindcore la escuela, sino también tomando elementos del death metal clásico, thrash y black metal con un poco de fatalidad y la corteza también. En 2013 la línea temprana hasta había grabado un demo " COLD CIVIL WAR ", y luego una demostración más fuerte en 2014 con más canciones llamado " WE NEED TO TALK" Fue todo un camino para grabar nuestro álbum de estudio de longitud completa " COMMAND PRESENCE " que fue lanzado el 03/03/2015 como una descarga gratuita. Nunca quise ser consumido por mi escritura, pero se me dio la oportunidad de escribir para grandes revistas como Metal Maniacs, PIT Magazine, muchas revistas de todo el mundo. Y entonces me convertí conocido en el underground de mis libros de viajes de metal " The Big Shiny Prison " y " Fortress Europe ", por lo que en todo América y Europa la gente me ofrecen aventuras y lugares para alojarse. Pero ahora estoy de vuelta a donde pertenezco, más que otro gruñido de un soldado de metal. Es importante para mí que la gente se da cuenta de que soy un músico, no un, crítico musical hastiado ignorante que no sabe lo que están hablando y no tiene ningún concepto de la lucha de hacer música. Siento que " COMMAND PRESENCE " lo prueba, y le da a la historia del metal extremo otro registro único que se espera vivir mucho tiempo después de que soy seis pies bajo tierra.
Vamos a hablar de la EP "COLD CIVIL WAR"¿Cómo fue el proceso de grabación y mezcla?
Puesto que cada death metal o banda de grindcore tiene un demo de lo-fi en bruto en el inicio de su historia, yo quería hacer uno sólo porque pude. Fue intencional de hacer algo que sonaba como un monstruo mal producido y ruidoso con uno de los primeros metales género negro de la producción. El problema fue que durante la grabación tuvimos una ridícula cantidad de dificultades técnicas. Me iba a hacer una gira por escrito de Europa durante 3 meses y necesitaba algo para promover mientras viajaba. Así, mientras " COLD CIVIL WAR " tiene un cierto encanto único a la misma, lo admito era apresurado y que no debería haber hecho un EP oficial. En aquel entonces, yo básicamente contraté chicos para grabar algo rápido. Cuando regresé de Europa en el otoño de 2013 se pasó como tres piezas, yo mismo la sustitución de la vocalista. Grabamos una mejor demo / promo llamados " WE NEED TO TALK " y lanzado en mayo de 2014, como una descarga gratuita y empezaron a jugar muchos espectáculos alrededor de Portland. En el otoño de 2014 nos convertimos en una de dos piezas acto en vivo (yo y el baterista) y entramos en el estudio para hacer nuestro álbum oficial " COMMAND PRESENCE " Este 15 de pista, ficha 37 minuto (lo cual estoy completamente satisfecho con) fue lanzado como un descarga gratuita el 3 de marzo de 2015.
¿Por qué fue el EP titulado " COLD CIVIL WAR " ¿Y cuál es el tema del CD?
VULTURE LOCUST dedica cada canción a una conspiración diferente, ya se trate de la ley marcial, extranjeros, gobierno secreto, la locura estado policial, armas de guerra, el espionaje, la vigilancia del gobierno, la política, las guerras. No promovemos cualquier sistema político directo, acabamos de comentar sobre la locura de nuestro mundo actual. Todos nuestros discos tienen las imágenes de la policía antidisturbios y los manifestantes en la cubierta, lo que sugiere el conflicto de la autoridad injusta vs. individual. Por ejemplo, " COLD CIVIL WAR " es una foto de un hombre en Portland sentada estilo indio delante de una línea de policías antidisturbios en equipo de batalla, todo el aspecto de Darth Vader. Él simplemente está sentado, con calma, diciendo que "usted don ' t me dan miedo ". El "Tenemos que hablar" portada es una foto de España, donde un niño parece que está siendo destrozado por los zombis, pero son pocos los policías antidisturbios todos le asen al mismo tiempo. La cubierta “ COMMAND PRESENCE "es de una línea de policías antidisturbios todo tropezando hacia atrás, porque hay una cadena de metal gigante golpeándolos. No se puede ver que está azotando la cadena, pero eso es el punto. Es como un clásico de la cubierta del álbum de metal de la década de 1980, como un guante de cuero sin dedos llevaba la mano con clavos y tachuelas rompiendo un martillo a una toma de chispas yunque. El mensaje es sorprendente metal posterior. Por ello, el disco se llama "Presencia de comandos" - porque la presencia de comandos es lo que los policías se les enseña como actores para retratar cuando te acercan Cuando consiguen salir de su coche y captar su cinturón y tire hacia arriba de sus pantalones, cuando miran. machista y duro y acercarse con su actitud policía - se trata de exhibir la presencia de comandos Tienen manuales de capacitación sobre esto -.. es el término oficial de la policía Así que esta es nuestra versión de la Presencia de comandos contra ellos - explosión inhumanos late y me gritando en la parte superior de mis pulmones sobre la locura de todo lo que representan. Con A " COLD CIVIL WAR " es cuando una nación se ha quedado atascado en un punto muerto y ninguna cantidad de presión hará que las autoridades arrestan a los delincuentes o políticos corruptos. Donde incluso si las personas no están luchando activamente en una guerra civil, que están sabiendo que está pasando igual que los soviéticos y los estadounidenses -... constantemente mirando el uno al otro Ninguno puede ganar siento el EE.UU. está en una forma de esta Si usted fuera a. Honestamente celebrar elecciones pidiendo a todos los estadounidenses "debemos detener a los criminales como todos nuestros líderes políticos y militares? En caso de que ponemos a prueba todos del director general corporativo y bancario que han robado nuestra ciega país? "Esta votación sería un deslizamiento de tierra" SI ". Y la gente realmente se siente de esta manera y quiere todo el sistema para cambiar, pero no puede lograr nada porque la gente en cualquier momento van a las calles a protestar son golpeados por la policía. Ellos son arrestados o acosados. Y la gente que quiere un cambio real no pueden alcanzar la masa crítica porque el sistema que estamos luchando ha hecho toda una realidad de cerebro muertos mirando hipnóticamente en las pantallas de televisión, bebiendo cerveza y no preocuparse por nadie más que a sí mismos. Así Buitre Locust es un ruidoso, ruidoso advertencia de realidades extrañas para perturbar las personas tanto como sea posible.
Cuéntanos sobre el nuevo álbum " COMMAND PRESENCE " ¿Cómo fue el proceso de creación de los temas?
Voy a pasar por la lista de canciones... * Resolución de un conflicto: El momento en que "hora de la verdad." Tenía en mente Ucrania específicamente cuando escribí esto. * Home Invasion: Acerca de la ley marcial, la militarización interna, y el estado policial autoritario. Escrito con las secuelas del bombardeo de Boston en mente. * I Remember Edificio 7: El punto de vista de un hombre paranoico recordando el pescado oficial 911 pisos y construcción de 7, en particular. * Alerta Terror Nivel: Sobre el código de colores del sistema Departamento de Seguridad Nacional creado para hacernos saber cómo miedo que debemos ser. * HAARPstrummer: Sobre el sistema de modificación del clima peligroso en Alaska que es similar a tirar una piedra gigante en un lago, pero con sistema de clima todo de la Tierra como un reemplazo. Sí, es un arma (docs internos del Ejército dicen que esto) y sí, es extremadamente peligroso, * Monsanto Es Gojira: Una referencia Sepultura, acerca de los peligros y los crímenes de este cartel. * Chemtrail: No estoy seguro de si "Chemtrails" son reales, pero me gusta la idea de ellos. Yo lo vi con mis propios ojos un sin marcar los productos químicos de bombeo plano militares negros como la niebla fuera de las ventanas sobre todos los cultivos de marihuana de California del norte, que se extendió a través del cielo en la formación espeluznante. Realmente me gustaría saber lo que era. * Audacity Of Hoax: La canción anti-Obama obligatorio. * Ley Sharia: canción de metal primero del mundo sobre ISIS. Yo quería ofender a todo el mundo por primera vez. Es uno de los mejores en el álbum. * Morgellons en armas: Acerca de la militarización de la enfermedad supuestamente falsa muchas personas están sufriendo, siendo momificado desde dentro por fibras alienígenas. Es extraño. YouTube ella. * Salario Mínimo: La grapa 30 segundos amoladora con "Falling Down" referencias y ser un esclavo asalariado culo rompió. * They Live dormimos: el culto de John Carpenter y una manera de romper el tema de los extraterrestres en un fuera de la mano, menos de manera directa. * Falso Bandera: Sobre los países que atacan a sí mismos y luego hacen que se vea como otro país u organización lo hicieron como para justificar la guerra. * Blandiendo El cuero cabelludo De Dios: Cristianismo, la conspiración original, y la muerte flagrante / pista negro. * Siembra Reaper: Sobre los últimos momentos de una vida desperdiciada como el vacío consume. El personaje se lo merecía, como muchos de los villanos de Ozzy.
¿Hay alguna disquera interesado en VULTURE LOCUST?
Había algunas etiquetas más pequeñas que mostraron interés pero cortésmente les rechazaron. En realidad, incluso si la lámina de metal o de Nuclear Blast llegó golpeando no creo que lo haría. Me gusta tener el control total sobre los proyectos que creo, y siempre en libertad de forma gratuita en línea, incluso si hay una física prensado de CD. Todas las compañías de discos son capitalistas, aun cuando sus objetivos son de fiar. Son las empresas, y eso está bien. Pero yo no estoy ejecutando una empresa, estoy en una banda de metal y que la banda tiene un mensaje. Asimismo, no quiero que nadie respirando sobre mi hombro o me dice que no puedo hacer algo o decir algo. Mi boca grande tiene que ser libre. E incluso si alguien sacó mi expediente estaría abiertamente diciendo ventiladores para descargarlo. VULTURE LOCUST no es empleado de nadie, ni soy Buitre empleado de Locust. Si eso tiene sentido, jaja.
¿Cómo es la escena OREGON?
Portland Oregon es mi ciudad favorita en el mundo. Es el único lugar donde me siento como en casa, el transporte público es increíble, y ahora tenemos una red de seguridad social que hace el gobierno de Oregon comparar a la de un gobierno europeo. Hay tantas bandas de aquí que no son suficientes bares o lugares para que todos puedan jugar. Hay docenas de casas que han convertido sus sótanos en lugares secretos, y hay casa muestra todo el tiempo. Yo vivo en uno de los grandes lugares de la casa del metal extremo y nos engancho un montón de espectáculos para grindcore gira, la corteza, de death metal y bandas de thrash. Dondequiera que voy veo punks y metaleros en la calle, usted no tiene que preocuparse por "gente normal" batiendo para arriba por mirar extraño, los policías no hostigar o atacar por tener una camiseta satánica, etc. Todo el mundo que toca en una banda aquí es en múltiples bandas, o dirige una revista, o hace algo en el lado Y Portland está lleno de tipos como yo -. Los hombres en sus años 20 y años 30 que todos vinieron aquí de todas el EE.UU. para reproducir música y hacer de este su nuevo homebase Portland no es el lugar donde "hacer algo grande." - que es donde se configura la sede de metal e ir de allí Incluso para las cosas negativas gente. - "oh la escena del metal son los mismos pocos cientos recalcitrantes que van a todo, no es grande como indie rock en Portland" -. Creo que esto es el paraíso de metales pesados Cada noche es una noche de sábado en comparación con el resto de los EE.UU.! ! Siempre hay un espectáculo. Y si no se presenta, yo podría llamar a uno de mis amigos bandas y ver una práctica de la banda de metal de clase mundial en su local de ensayo. Todo es cuestión de perspectiva! Prefiero tener 300 recalcitrantes luego 10.000 falsificaciones cualquier día! Pero para cualquiera que lea esto, echa un vistazo a estas bandas Snakes, Immoral Majority, Nescient, Roadkill Carnivore, UADA, Raptor, Weresquatch, Drouth, Crime Machine, Machetazo Profano, Dodlage, Gladius, Disenchanter, Cliteratti, Dead Nexus, Spastic Blurr...Y un montón de bandas de rock increíble de punk todas partes también! Cada tipo de música está aquí, de verdad. Y la gente es generalmente amable, incluso si todos hacen que "Seinfeld" cosa cuando se trata de los mismos al igual que 4 personas se apiñaban en un rincón en su propia pequeña camarilla. ¡Ja! Pero eso es donde quiera que vaya. Y es genial aquí porque es muy impopular de ser racista o para ser un imbécil iniciar peleas o venir al mosh pit de tirar los codos en la cabeza de la gente.
¿Cuál ha sido la respuesta de la EP y "COMMAND PRESENCE" por la prensa y los aficionados extrema?
Abrumadoramente positiva! O la consiguen o no lo hacen, y si ellos no "entienden" que parecen odiarlo. Pero siempre comienzan con una revisión "hay que decir que no me gusta grindcore muy habladores..." y entonces todo se quejan de que leo y pienso "Si no estuviera en esta banda iría encontrarlos en YouTube ahora mismo! "Así que las malas críticas son buenas críticas en mi opinión! Y también tengo muy buenas críticas con la gente diciendo "Este es el tipo de álbum que siempre espero Terrorizer liberaría, pero de alguna manera nunca lo hace" de las personas que viven, respiran y grindcore mierda (que uno es una cita real también). Entonces me sale: "No me gusta esta producción, es ruidoso y doloroso - ¿dónde están todos el Cordero de Dios de estilo averías? ¿Puede por favor, sólo reducir la velocidad? Esta banda es demasiado brutal y las voces son demasiado loco para mí para manejar "tipo de comentarios. Así que en realidad, cuya opinión cuenta sobre este asunto? Hasta ahora no he encontrado a nadie que es un acérrimo del metal underground extremo que odia totalmente mi álbum. En general la gente parece pensar que es la calidad de lo que es. Y las otras personas - bueno, me encanta ser odiado por las razones correctas. Este es un álbum especial para todos los fanáticos de reales por ahí. La producción es la cosa principal que sé hacer o deshacer. Fue grabado / mixed que sonar como una parte superior de la grabación del sótano línea, luego fue dominado tener una producción de metal negro desagradable apelmazado encima de él, empujándolo más hacia un sonido Darkthrone en capas sobre / Brutal Truth sonando producción temprana Napalm Death . Si usted escucha muy bajo, hay un zumbido metálico. Ese es el platillo crash empujado alto en la mezcla de agudos. Así que es desagradable para escuchar excepto a muy alto volumen, que era el punto. Si es bajo en su estéreo, es desordenado y extraño. Jacked a todo volumen, es una clara experiencia de castigo, brutal. Tiene su propio sentir. Mis voces son todos de gama alta también, no hay guturales o gruñidos. Mi estilo es como una mezcla entre DropDead y principios de Belén, pero con un toque de la canal.
¿Cuál es el proceso de composición?
Lo que funcionó mejor para mí es tocar la guitarra delante de una mano celebró grabador de MP3. Colecciono horas de mí mismo jugando. El uso de un programa como Audacity o Cool Edit Pro guardo ningún riffs que me gustaban. Luego empiezo agrupación riffs juntos hasta canciones comienzan a formarse. Con VULTURE LOCUST, se oye muchos tipos de metal extremo. Hay una base grindcore a nuestra música, y la explosión rutina aparece en todas nuestras canciones. Pero también incorporamos elementos DE DETAH METAL, THRASH, DOOM Y CRUST. Al oír movimiento de piernas, va a sonar como el viejo escuela Slayer, Coroner. Si suena el punk crujiente, es más de un Impaled Nazareno cumple sonido Wolfbrigade. Cuando escuche el death metal, que es más como la Muerte banda en la década de 1980 mezclados con algunos Dying Fetus riffs chugga estilo. Tenemos algunas n'roll negro como Darkthrone y algunas secciones de BLACK METAL, pero la sensación es siempre golpear pesado y molienda. A diferencia de muchas bandas brutales, nuestra música tiene un rock n 'roll sentirse como Motorhead. Por eso me gustaría grindcore tanto - que tiene una punk rock sienten a la misma, pero sigue siendo de metal como se pone.
¿Cuáles son sus influencias en la música, la literatura y las películas de terror, lo que te inspira?
Soy un adicto a las ideas y estoy profundamente apasionado de la música y el arte. Suelo leer. También voy a la deriva a través de muchas subculturas, porque soy muy de mente abierta. La escena heavy metal es donde me siento más cómodo. Es siempre como base de operaciones para mí, mucho más que la escena punk o cualquier otra escena. Yo soy un loco película de terror gigante y fan de todo el cine, y quiero hacer películas en las future.i escribieron un guión apocalipsis zombie bajo presupuesto / vampiro llamado "Crimson Atlas" y deseo de dirigir yo mismo. La influencia del VULTURE LOCUST es mostrar artísticamente “the system”, como el espectáculo fenómeno de circo que es. VL busca educar a nuestra audiencia, de la misma manera Iron Maiden hace donde cada canción es una lección de historia.
¿Qué sabe usted de la escena colombiana y América del Sur?
Yo sé que ustedes AMA su death metal! Y sé boxes Slams son una locura y la gente sale loco. Cada vez que escucho algo de su país siempre es cruda y brutal. Este es el caso de metal extremo en toda América del Sur. Yo era un gran fan de Sepultura como una cabeza de metal adolescente en los años 90. Yo sé que eran de Brasil, pero el hecho de que Sepultura se hizo tan enorme ayudó a difundir la música metal extremo en toda América del Sur. Tal vez una de las razones del metal sudamericano es tan asesino es porque todo el mundo creció escuchando discos como "Beneath The Remains" y “Arise”, ja, ja. Y sé que hay problemas políticos, problemas de corrupción y pobreza que está en todas partes. Y en todos los países es el mismo - el más mierda del mundo nos lanza más fuerte nuestra rebelión metal se vuelve! Si vuelvo a hacer un tercer libro de viajes de larga duración como periodista de metal, lo que quiero hacer es viajar a través de América del Sur - ". “THE BIG SHINY PRISON VOLUME III.”Es posible y que en realidad puede hacer esto en el futuro, pero por ahora sólo quiero tocar música y tratar de hacer películas independientes.
¿Hay algo que quieras agregar?
Recientemente completé un nuevo libro llamado “Anticlimax Leviathan” Es lo mejor que he hecho y estoy apuntando a un comunicado de auto-publicado en el otoño de 2015. La mayoría en el metro me conocen por los libros de ruta que he hecho “The Big Shiny Prison” & “Fortress Europe” en el que viajé físicamente todas las franjas de las subculturas (especialmente de metal / punk) en Europa y América. En esas obras entrevisté a músicos, artistas y fanáticos de todas las variedades en persona, encadenar el material con un enfoque "tour extrema diario" de eventos a medida que se desarrollaban. “Anticlimax Leviathan” es diferente a estos otros libros. Se trata de una autobiografía sobre mi vida personal 2.002 hasta 2011. Cuenta con muchos de los personajes inadaptados de mis primeros escritos, así como cameos de muchos famosos, políticos, dioses de metal y leyendas del punk que detalle la extraña odisea que he vivido como periodista mundo viaja, un músico de metal extremo, activista y artista de muchas formas que sobreviven a través de la pobreza bajo la era políticamente sin esperanza de Bush y Obama. Es la historia de un hombre extraño joven que alcanza la edad adulta en una sociedad que es mucho más extraño pero de alguna manera agresiva haciéndose pasar por normal. Situado en Detroit, el "carácter" se convierte en un miembro de la prensa, un taxista, un promotor de metal / punk, cineasta y molestias en general a la sociedad antes de golpear el camino como periodista de metal que viaje por algunas de las mayores revistas y webzines en Tierra. Finalmente se cae a través de las grietas en su totalidad, para terminar en la costa oeste como una especie de vagabundo que vive de Craigslist y la realización de trabajos para sobrevivir mientras se navega un laberinto de siempre colapso arreglos de vivienda. Quedarse sin hogar que deseándola, lo abraza, recreando mentalmente a sí mismo como un personaje principal en su propia novela imaginaria. En el camino se encuentra con una legión de 'Street Crazies' que han caído en el olvido, así, y poco a poco construyen un mundo nuevo de las cenizas de su antiguo fantasma vive culminando con los de Occupy campamentos de 2011. Escrito de forma incremental desde 2009, esta obra muy personal es similar a la salida de escritores como Henry Miller, Kerouac, Dostoievski, Proust, Hemingway, Celine, etc. Al igual que muchos de los / beat escritores Generación Gran Depresión, yo uso "Anticlimax Leviatán 'sacar a la luz en la vida no convencionales que de otro modo sería sin grabar y perdido en el tiempo. Es la obra más importante de mi carrera, y lo que es probable que causarme para finalmente ser considerado como un artista serio entre los críticos tensos y la academia literaria. Los interesados pueden descargar las primeras 50 páginas (y toda mi música) gratis en mi sitio oficial www.BigShinyPrison.com
How was VULTURE LOCUST formed?
After taking a long break from music projects to concentrate on my writing and also travel as a metal journalist, I decided it was time to go back to the metal trenches. It was always my plan to start a full time band on the West Coast in Portland, and I was frustrated it had been so long. I began writing the demos for Vulture Locust in Fall 2012 -- music with an old school grindcore foundation, but also taking elements from classic death metal, thrash and black metal with a little doom and crust as well. By 2013 the early line up had recorded a demo “Cold Civil War," and then a stronger demo in 2014 with more songs called “We Need To Talk.” It was all a path to record our full length studio album “Command Presence" which was released on 3/3/2015 as a free download. I never wanted to be consumed by my writing, but I was given the opportunity to write for big magazines like Metal Maniacs, PIT Magazine, many zines all over the world. And then I became known in the underground for my metal travel books “The Big Shiny Prison” and “Fortress Europe,” so all over America and Europe people would offer me adventures and places to stay. But now I am back where I belong, just another grunt of a metal soldier. It is important for me that people realize that I am a musician, not an ignorant, jaded music critic who doesn’t know what they are talking about and has no concept the struggle of doing this music. I feel that “Command Presence” proves this, and gives to the history of extreme metal another unique record that will hopefully live on long after I’m six feet underground.
Let's talk about the EP "COLD CIVIL WAR." How was the recording process and mixing?
Since every death metal or grindcore band has a raw, lo-fi demo at the start of their history, I wanted to make one just because I could. It was intentional to make something that sounded like a poorly produced and noisy monster with an early black metal sort of production. The problem was that during recording we had a ridiculous amount of technical difficulties. I was leaving to do a writing tour of Europe for 3 months and I needed something to promote as I traveled. So while “Cold Civil War” has a certain unique charm to it, I admit it was rushed and I should not have made it an official EP. Back then, I basically just hired guys to record something quick. When I returned from Europe in Fall 2013 we moved on as a three piece, myself replacing the vocalist. We recorded a far better demo/promo called “We Need To Talk” and released it in May 2014 as a free download and began to play many shows around Portland. In Fall 2014 we became a two-piece live act (myself and the drummer) and entered the studio to make our official album “Command Presence” This 15 track, 37 minute record (which I am completely happy with) was released as a free download on March 3rd 2015.
Why was the EP titled “Cold Civil War” And what is the theme of the CD?
Vulture Locust dedicates each song to a different conspiracy, whether it be martial law, aliens, secret government, police state madness, military weapons, espionage, government surveillance, politics, wars. We do not promote any political system directly, we just comment on the madness of our current world. All of our albums have imagery of riot police and protesters on the cover, suggesting the conflict of the individual vs. unjust authority. For instance, “Cold Civil War" is a photo of one man in Portland sitting Indian Style in front of a line of riot cops in full battle gear, all looking like Darth Vader. He is just sitting, calmly, saying “you don’t scare me." The “We Need to Talk" cover is a photo from Spain, where one kid looks like he’s being ripped apart by zombies but they are just riot cops all grabbing him at the same time. The ‘Command Presence" cover is of a line of riot cops all stumbling back, because there is a giant metal chain hitting them. You cannot see who is whipping the chain, but that is the point. It is like a classic metal album cover from the 1980s, like a fingerless leather glove wearing hand with spikes and studs smashing a hammer to an anvil making sparks. The message is metal striking back. This is why the album is called “Command Presence" -- because command presence is what cops are taught like actors to portray when they approach you. When they get out of their car and grab their belt and pull up their pants, when they look macho and tough and approach you with their cop attitude -- this is exhibiting command presence. They have training manuals on this -- it is the official police term. So this is our version of Command Presence against them -- inhuman blast beats and me shrieking at the top of my lungs about the madness of everything they represent. with A “Cold Civil War” is when a nation is stuck in a stalemate and no amount of pressure will make the authorities arrest the criminals or corrupt politicians. Where even if people aren’t actively fighting in a civil war, they are knowing it’s going on. Like the Soviets and Americans -- constantly staring each other down. Neither can win. I feel the USA is in a form of this. If you were to honestly hold an election asking all Americans “should we arrest as criminals all our political and military leaders? Should we put on trial all of the corporate and bank CEO’s who have robbed our country blind?” This vote would be a landslide “YES.” And people really feel this way and want the entire system to change, but they cannot accomplish anything because anytime people go to the streets to protest they are beaten by police. They are arrested or harassed. And the people who want real change cannot reach critical mass because the system we are fighting has made an entire reality of brain dead people staring hypnotically at TV screens, drinking beer and not caring about anyone but themselves. So Vulture Locust is a loud, noisy warning of freaky realities to unsettle people.
Tell us about the new album "COMMAND PRESENCE" How was the process of creating topics?
I'll just go through the song list... *Resolution Of A Conflict: The moment when “push comes to shove.” I had in mind Ukraine specifically when I wrote this. *Home Invasion: About martial law, domestic militarization, and the overbearing police state. Written with the aftermath of the Boston Bombing in mind. *I Remember Building 7: The view of a paranoid man remembering the fishy official 911 story and Building 7 in particular. *Terror Alert Level: About the color coded system Department of Homeland Security created to let us know how fearful we should be. *HAARPstrummer: About the dangerous weather modification system in Alaska that is akin to throwing a giant boulder in a lake but with the Earth’s entire weather system as a replacement. Yes it is a weapon (the Army's internal docs say this) and YES it is extremely dangerous, *Monsanto Is Gojira: A Sepultura reference, about the dangers and crimes of this cartel. *Chemtrail: I'm not sure if “Chemtrails” are real, but I like the idea of them. I did see with my own eyes an unmarked black military plane pumping chemicals like fog outside windows over all the marijuana crops of northern California, which spread across the sky in creepy formation. I'd really like to know what that was. *Audacity Of Hoax: The obligatory anti-Obama song. *Sharia Law: The world’s first metal song about ISIS. I wanted to offend everyone first. It's one of the best on the album. *Weaponized Morgellons: About weaponizing the supposedly fake disease many people are suffering from, being mummified from within by alien fibers. It's freaky. YouTube it. *Minimum Wage: The staple 30 second grinder with “Falling Down” references and being a broke ass wage slave. *They Live We Sleep: John Carpenter worship and a way to breach the subject of extraterrestrials in an off-hand, less direct way. *False Flag: About countries that attack themselves and then make it look like another country or organization did it as to justify war. *Brandishing The Scalp Of God: Christianity, the original conspiracy, and the blatant death/black track. *Sow Reaper: About the final moments of a wasted life as the void consumes. The character deserved it, like many of Ozzy's villains.
Are there any label interested in VULTURE LOCUST?
There were a few smaller labels that showed interest but I politely turned them down. Really, even if Metal Blade or Nuclear Blast came knocking I don’t think I’d do it. I like to have full control over the projects I create, and I always release them for free online even if there is a physical pressing of CD’s. All record companies are capitalist, even if their goals are legit. They are businesses, and that’s fine. But I am not running a business, I’m in a metal band and that band has a message. I also don’t want anyone breathing over my shoulder or telling me I can’t do something or say something. My big mouth needs to be free. And even if someone put out my record I’d openly be telling fans to download it. Vulture Locust is no one’s employee, nor am I Vulture Locust’s employee. If that makes sense, haha.
How is the scene OREGON?
Portland Oregon is my favorite city in the world. It is the only place I feel at home, the public transit is amazing, and we now have a social safety net that makes Oregon’s government compare to that of a European government. There are so many bands here that aren’t enough bars or venues for everyone to play. There are dozens of houses that have turned their basements into secret venues, and there are house shows all the time. I happen to live at one of the big extreme metal house venues and we hook a lot of shows up for touring grindcore, crust, death and thrash bands. Everywhere I go I see punks and metalheads on the street, you don’t have to worry about “normal people" beating you up for looking strange, the cops don’t harass or target you for having a satanic t-shirt, etc. Everyone that plays in a band here is in multiple bands, or runs a zine, or does something on the side. And Portland is filled with guys like me -- men in their 20‘s & 30‘s who all came here from all over the USA to play music and make this their new homebase. Portland isn’t the place where you “make it big” -- it’s where you set up your metal headquarters and go from there. Even for the negative things people say -- “oh the metal scene is the same few hundred die-hards going to everything, it’s not big as indie rock in Portland” -- i think this is heavy metal paradise. Every night is a Saturday night compared to the rest of the USA!! There is always a show. And if no show, I could call up one of my friends bands and watch a world class metal band practice in their rehearsal space. It’s all about perspective! I’d rather have 300 die-hards then 10,000 fakes any day! But for anyone reading this, check out these bands -- Snakes, Immoral Majority, Nescient, Roadkill Carnivore, UADA, Raptor, Weresquatch, Drouth, Crime Machine, Machetazo Profano, Dodlage, Gladius, Disenchanter, Cliteratti, Dead Nexus, Spastic Blurr... And tons of amazing punk rock bands everywhere too! Every kind of music is here, really. And people are generally friendly, even if they all do that “Seinfeld" thing where it’s the same like 4 people huddled in a corner in their own little clique. Ha! But thats everywhere you go. And it’s cool here because it is very unpopular to be racist or to be some asshole starting fights or coming to the mosh pit to throw elbows at peoples heads.
What has been the response of the EP and "COMMAND PRESENCE" by the extreme press and fans?
Overwhelmingly positive! Either they get it or they don’t, and if they don’t “get it” they seem to hate it. But they always start a review with “it should be said that I don’t like grindcore very much...” and then everything they complain about I read and think “If I wasn’t in this band I would go find them on YouTube right now!” So the bad reviews are good reviews in my opinion! And I also get great reviews with people saying “This is the kind of album you always hope Terrorizer would release, but somehow never does” from people that live, breathe & shit grindcore (that one is a real quote too). Then I get: “I don’t like this production, it’s noisy and painful -- where are all the Lamb of God styled breakdowns? Can it please just slow down? This band is just too brutal and the vocals are too insane for me to handle” kind of reviews. So really, whose opinion counts on this matter? So far I have not found anyone who is a die-hard of extreme underground metal that totally hates my album. Across the board people seem to think it’s quality for what it is. And the other folks -- well, I love being hated for the right reasons. This is a specialty album for all the real freaks out there. The production is the major thing that is make or break. It was recorded/mixed to sound like a top of the line basement recording, then it was mastered to have a nasty black metal production caked on top of it, pushing it more towards a Darkthrone sound layered over early Napalm Death / Brutal Truth sounding production. If you listen too low, there is a metallic hum. That’s the crash cymbal pushed high on the treble mix. So it’s unpleasant to listen except at really high volume, which was the point. If it’s low on your stereo, it’s messy and odd. Jacked up to full volume, it’s a punishing, clear, brutal experience. It has it’s own feel. My vocals are all high-end too, no gutturals or grunts. My style is like a mix between DropDead and early Bethlehem, but with a Carcass twist.
What is the songwriting process?
What worked best for me is playing guitar in front of a hand held MP3 recorder. I collect hours of myself playing. Using a program like Audacity or Cool Edit Pro I save any riffs I liked. Afterwards I start grouping riffs together until songs begin to form. With Vulture Locust, you hear many kinds of extreme metal. There is a grindcore basis to our music, and the grind blast appears in all our songs. But we also incorporate elements of death, thrash, doom and crust. When you hear thrash, it will sound like old school Slayer, Coroner. If it sounds crusty punk, it’s more of an Impaled Nazarene meets Wolfbrigade sound. When you hear death metal, it’s more like the band Death in the 1980s mixed with some Dying Fetus styled chugga riffs. We have some black n’roll like Darkthrone and some black metal sections, but the feeling is always heavy hitting and grinding. Unlike many brutal bands, our music has a rock n’ roll feel like Motorhead. This is why I like grindcore so much -- it has a punk rock feel to it, but is still metal as it gets.
What are your influences in music, literature and horror movies, what inspires you?
I am a junkie for ideas and I’m deeply passionate about music and art. I read often. I also drift through many subcultures, because I am very open minded. The heavy metal scene is where i am most comfortable. It is always like home base for me, much more then the punk scene or any other scene. I am a giant horror movie freak and fan of all cinema, and I want to make movies in the future.I wrote a low budget zombie/vampire apocalypse screenplay called “Crimson Atlas" and I wish to direct it myself. The influence of Vulture Locust is to artistically show “the system” as the circus freak sideshow it is. VL seeks to educate our audience, the same way Iron Maiden does where every song is a history lesson.
What you know about the Colombian scene and South America?
I know that you guys love your death metal! And I know the Slam pits are insane and people get crazy. Every time I hear something from your country it is always raw and brutal. This is the case with extreme metal all over South America. I was a huge Sepultura fan as a teenage metal head in the 90s. I know they were from Brazil, but the fact that Sepultura became so huge helped to spread extreme metal music all over South America. Maybe one of the reasons South American metal is so killer is because everyone grew up listening to albums like “Beneath The Remains” and “Arise” ha ha. And I know there are political problems, corruption problems and poverty that is everywhere. And in every country it is the same -- the more bullshit the world throws at us the stronger our metal rebellion becomes! If I am ever to do a third full length travel book as a metal journalist, I want to do it traveling through South America -- “The Big Shiny Prison Volume III.” It is possible and I may actually do this in the future, but for now I only want to play music and try to make independent movies.
Is there anything you want to add?
I recently completed a new book called “Anticlimax Leviathan” . It is the best thing I have ever done and I'm aiming for a self-published release in Fall 2015. Most in the underground know me for the road books I've done “The Big Shiny Prison” & “Fortress Europe” in which I physically traveled all fringes of subcultures (especially metal/punk) in Europe and America. In those works I interviewed musicians, artists and freaks of all varieties in person, stringing together the material with an “extreme tour diary” approach of events as they unfolded. “Anticlimax Leviathan” is different then these other books. It is a autobiography about my personal life from 2002-2011. It features many of the misfit characters of my early writings and also cameos by many celebrities, politicians, metal gods & punk legends I detail the strange odyssey I've lived as a world traveling journalist, an extreme metal musician, an activist & artist of many forms surviving through poverty under the politically hopeless era of Bush and Obama. It is the story of a strange young man reaching adulthood in a society that is far stranger yet somehow aggressively masquerading as normal. Set in Detroit, the 'character' becomes a member of the press, a taxi driver, a metal/punk promoter, film maker and general nuisance to society before hitting the road as a traveling metal journalist for some of the biggest magazines & webzines on Earth. Eventually he falls through the cracks entirely, ending up on the West Coast as a sort of drifter living off Craigslist & performing odd jobs to get by as he navigates a labyrinth of ever-collapsing living arrangements. Becoming homeless he lustfully embraces it, mentally re-creating himself as a lead character in his own imaginary novel. Along the way he meets a legion of 'Street Crazies' that have fallen through the cracks as well, and step by step they build a new world out of the ashes of their former ghost lives climaxing with the Occupy encampments of 2011. Written incrementally since 2009, this extremely personal work is akin to the output of writers like Henry Miller, Kerouac, Dostoevsky, Proust, Hemingway, Celine, etc. Like many of the Great Depression/Beat Generation writers, I use 'Anticlimax Leviathan' to shine a spotlight on unconventional lives that otherwise would be unrecorded and lost to time. It is the most important work of my career, and what will likely cause me to finally be considered a serious artist amongst uptight critics & literary academia. Any interested parties can download the first 50 pages
(and all of my music) FREE at my official site www.BigShinyPrison.com
EN ESPAÑOL:
¿Cómo se formó VULTURE LOCUST?
Después de tomar un largo descanso de proyectos de música para concentrarse en mi escritura y también viajar como periodista metal, decidí que era hora de volver a las trincheras de metal. Siempre fue mi plan para formar una banda a tiempo completo en la costa oeste en Portland, y yo estaba frustrado que había pasado tanto tiempo. Empecé a escribir las demos para VULTURE LOCUST (BUITRE LOCUST) en el otoño de 2012 - música con una antigua fundación grindcore la escuela, sino también tomando elementos del death metal clásico, thrash y black metal con un poco de fatalidad y la corteza también. En 2013 la línea temprana hasta había grabado un demo " COLD CIVIL WAR ", y luego una demostración más fuerte en 2014 con más canciones llamado " WE NEED TO TALK" Fue todo un camino para grabar nuestro álbum de estudio de longitud completa " COMMAND PRESENCE " que fue lanzado el 03/03/2015 como una descarga gratuita. Nunca quise ser consumido por mi escritura, pero se me dio la oportunidad de escribir para grandes revistas como Metal Maniacs, PIT Magazine, muchas revistas de todo el mundo. Y entonces me convertí conocido en el underground de mis libros de viajes de metal " The Big Shiny Prison " y " Fortress Europe ", por lo que en todo América y Europa la gente me ofrecen aventuras y lugares para alojarse. Pero ahora estoy de vuelta a donde pertenezco, más que otro gruñido de un soldado de metal. Es importante para mí que la gente se da cuenta de que soy un músico, no un, crítico musical hastiado ignorante que no sabe lo que están hablando y no tiene ningún concepto de la lucha de hacer música. Siento que " COMMAND PRESENCE " lo prueba, y le da a la historia del metal extremo otro registro único que se espera vivir mucho tiempo después de que soy seis pies bajo tierra.
Vamos a hablar de la EP "COLD CIVIL WAR"¿Cómo fue el proceso de grabación y mezcla?
Puesto que cada death metal o banda de grindcore tiene un demo de lo-fi en bruto en el inicio de su historia, yo quería hacer uno sólo porque pude. Fue intencional de hacer algo que sonaba como un monstruo mal producido y ruidoso con uno de los primeros metales género negro de la producción. El problema fue que durante la grabación tuvimos una ridícula cantidad de dificultades técnicas. Me iba a hacer una gira por escrito de Europa durante 3 meses y necesitaba algo para promover mientras viajaba. Así, mientras " COLD CIVIL WAR " tiene un cierto encanto único a la misma, lo admito era apresurado y que no debería haber hecho un EP oficial. En aquel entonces, yo básicamente contraté chicos para grabar algo rápido. Cuando regresé de Europa en el otoño de 2013 se pasó como tres piezas, yo mismo la sustitución de la vocalista. Grabamos una mejor demo / promo llamados " WE NEED TO TALK " y lanzado en mayo de 2014, como una descarga gratuita y empezaron a jugar muchos espectáculos alrededor de Portland. En el otoño de 2014 nos convertimos en una de dos piezas acto en vivo (yo y el baterista) y entramos en el estudio para hacer nuestro álbum oficial " COMMAND PRESENCE " Este 15 de pista, ficha 37 minuto (lo cual estoy completamente satisfecho con) fue lanzado como un descarga gratuita el 3 de marzo de 2015.
¿Por qué fue el EP titulado " COLD CIVIL WAR " ¿Y cuál es el tema del CD?
VULTURE LOCUST dedica cada canción a una conspiración diferente, ya se trate de la ley marcial, extranjeros, gobierno secreto, la locura estado policial, armas de guerra, el espionaje, la vigilancia del gobierno, la política, las guerras. No promovemos cualquier sistema político directo, acabamos de comentar sobre la locura de nuestro mundo actual. Todos nuestros discos tienen las imágenes de la policía antidisturbios y los manifestantes en la cubierta, lo que sugiere el conflicto de la autoridad injusta vs. individual. Por ejemplo, " COLD CIVIL WAR " es una foto de un hombre en Portland sentada estilo indio delante de una línea de policías antidisturbios en equipo de batalla, todo el aspecto de Darth Vader. Él simplemente está sentado, con calma, diciendo que "usted don ' t me dan miedo ". El "Tenemos que hablar" portada es una foto de España, donde un niño parece que está siendo destrozado por los zombis, pero son pocos los policías antidisturbios todos le asen al mismo tiempo. La cubierta “ COMMAND PRESENCE "es de una línea de policías antidisturbios todo tropezando hacia atrás, porque hay una cadena de metal gigante golpeándolos. No se puede ver que está azotando la cadena, pero eso es el punto. Es como un clásico de la cubierta del álbum de metal de la década de 1980, como un guante de cuero sin dedos llevaba la mano con clavos y tachuelas rompiendo un martillo a una toma de chispas yunque. El mensaje es sorprendente metal posterior. Por ello, el disco se llama "Presencia de comandos" - porque la presencia de comandos es lo que los policías se les enseña como actores para retratar cuando te acercan Cuando consiguen salir de su coche y captar su cinturón y tire hacia arriba de sus pantalones, cuando miran. machista y duro y acercarse con su actitud policía - se trata de exhibir la presencia de comandos Tienen manuales de capacitación sobre esto -.. es el término oficial de la policía Así que esta es nuestra versión de la Presencia de comandos contra ellos - explosión inhumanos late y me gritando en la parte superior de mis pulmones sobre la locura de todo lo que representan. Con A " COLD CIVIL WAR " es cuando una nación se ha quedado atascado en un punto muerto y ninguna cantidad de presión hará que las autoridades arrestan a los delincuentes o políticos corruptos. Donde incluso si las personas no están luchando activamente en una guerra civil, que están sabiendo que está pasando igual que los soviéticos y los estadounidenses -... constantemente mirando el uno al otro Ninguno puede ganar siento el EE.UU. está en una forma de esta Si usted fuera a. Honestamente celebrar elecciones pidiendo a todos los estadounidenses "debemos detener a los criminales como todos nuestros líderes políticos y militares? En caso de que ponemos a prueba todos del director general corporativo y bancario que han robado nuestra ciega país? "Esta votación sería un deslizamiento de tierra" SI ". Y la gente realmente se siente de esta manera y quiere todo el sistema para cambiar, pero no puede lograr nada porque la gente en cualquier momento van a las calles a protestar son golpeados por la policía. Ellos son arrestados o acosados. Y la gente que quiere un cambio real no pueden alcanzar la masa crítica porque el sistema que estamos luchando ha hecho toda una realidad de cerebro muertos mirando hipnóticamente en las pantallas de televisión, bebiendo cerveza y no preocuparse por nadie más que a sí mismos. Así Buitre Locust es un ruidoso, ruidoso advertencia de realidades extrañas para perturbar las personas tanto como sea posible.
Cuéntanos sobre el nuevo álbum " COMMAND PRESENCE " ¿Cómo fue el proceso de creación de los temas?
Voy a pasar por la lista de canciones... * Resolución de un conflicto: El momento en que "hora de la verdad." Tenía en mente Ucrania específicamente cuando escribí esto. * Home Invasion: Acerca de la ley marcial, la militarización interna, y el estado policial autoritario. Escrito con las secuelas del bombardeo de Boston en mente. * I Remember Edificio 7: El punto de vista de un hombre paranoico recordando el pescado oficial 911 pisos y construcción de 7, en particular. * Alerta Terror Nivel: Sobre el código de colores del sistema Departamento de Seguridad Nacional creado para hacernos saber cómo miedo que debemos ser. * HAARPstrummer: Sobre el sistema de modificación del clima peligroso en Alaska que es similar a tirar una piedra gigante en un lago, pero con sistema de clima todo de la Tierra como un reemplazo. Sí, es un arma (docs internos del Ejército dicen que esto) y sí, es extremadamente peligroso, * Monsanto Es Gojira: Una referencia Sepultura, acerca de los peligros y los crímenes de este cartel. * Chemtrail: No estoy seguro de si "Chemtrails" son reales, pero me gusta la idea de ellos. Yo lo vi con mis propios ojos un sin marcar los productos químicos de bombeo plano militares negros como la niebla fuera de las ventanas sobre todos los cultivos de marihuana de California del norte, que se extendió a través del cielo en la formación espeluznante. Realmente me gustaría saber lo que era. * Audacity Of Hoax: La canción anti-Obama obligatorio. * Ley Sharia: canción de metal primero del mundo sobre ISIS. Yo quería ofender a todo el mundo por primera vez. Es uno de los mejores en el álbum. * Morgellons en armas: Acerca de la militarización de la enfermedad supuestamente falsa muchas personas están sufriendo, siendo momificado desde dentro por fibras alienígenas. Es extraño. YouTube ella. * Salario Mínimo: La grapa 30 segundos amoladora con "Falling Down" referencias y ser un esclavo asalariado culo rompió. * They Live dormimos: el culto de John Carpenter y una manera de romper el tema de los extraterrestres en un fuera de la mano, menos de manera directa. * Falso Bandera: Sobre los países que atacan a sí mismos y luego hacen que se vea como otro país u organización lo hicieron como para justificar la guerra. * Blandiendo El cuero cabelludo De Dios: Cristianismo, la conspiración original, y la muerte flagrante / pista negro. * Siembra Reaper: Sobre los últimos momentos de una vida desperdiciada como el vacío consume. El personaje se lo merecía, como muchos de los villanos de Ozzy.
¿Hay alguna disquera interesado en VULTURE LOCUST?
Había algunas etiquetas más pequeñas que mostraron interés pero cortésmente les rechazaron. En realidad, incluso si la lámina de metal o de Nuclear Blast llegó golpeando no creo que lo haría. Me gusta tener el control total sobre los proyectos que creo, y siempre en libertad de forma gratuita en línea, incluso si hay una física prensado de CD. Todas las compañías de discos son capitalistas, aun cuando sus objetivos son de fiar. Son las empresas, y eso está bien. Pero yo no estoy ejecutando una empresa, estoy en una banda de metal y que la banda tiene un mensaje. Asimismo, no quiero que nadie respirando sobre mi hombro o me dice que no puedo hacer algo o decir algo. Mi boca grande tiene que ser libre. E incluso si alguien sacó mi expediente estaría abiertamente diciendo ventiladores para descargarlo. VULTURE LOCUST no es empleado de nadie, ni soy Buitre empleado de Locust. Si eso tiene sentido, jaja.
¿Cómo es la escena OREGON?
Portland Oregon es mi ciudad favorita en el mundo. Es el único lugar donde me siento como en casa, el transporte público es increíble, y ahora tenemos una red de seguridad social que hace el gobierno de Oregon comparar a la de un gobierno europeo. Hay tantas bandas de aquí que no son suficientes bares o lugares para que todos puedan jugar. Hay docenas de casas que han convertido sus sótanos en lugares secretos, y hay casa muestra todo el tiempo. Yo vivo en uno de los grandes lugares de la casa del metal extremo y nos engancho un montón de espectáculos para grindcore gira, la corteza, de death metal y bandas de thrash. Dondequiera que voy veo punks y metaleros en la calle, usted no tiene que preocuparse por "gente normal" batiendo para arriba por mirar extraño, los policías no hostigar o atacar por tener una camiseta satánica, etc. Todo el mundo que toca en una banda aquí es en múltiples bandas, o dirige una revista, o hace algo en el lado Y Portland está lleno de tipos como yo -. Los hombres en sus años 20 y años 30 que todos vinieron aquí de todas el EE.UU. para reproducir música y hacer de este su nuevo homebase Portland no es el lugar donde "hacer algo grande." - que es donde se configura la sede de metal e ir de allí Incluso para las cosas negativas gente. - "oh la escena del metal son los mismos pocos cientos recalcitrantes que van a todo, no es grande como indie rock en Portland" -. Creo que esto es el paraíso de metales pesados Cada noche es una noche de sábado en comparación con el resto de los EE.UU.! ! Siempre hay un espectáculo. Y si no se presenta, yo podría llamar a uno de mis amigos bandas y ver una práctica de la banda de metal de clase mundial en su local de ensayo. Todo es cuestión de perspectiva! Prefiero tener 300 recalcitrantes luego 10.000 falsificaciones cualquier día! Pero para cualquiera que lea esto, echa un vistazo a estas bandas Snakes, Immoral Majority, Nescient, Roadkill Carnivore, UADA, Raptor, Weresquatch, Drouth, Crime Machine, Machetazo Profano, Dodlage, Gladius, Disenchanter, Cliteratti, Dead Nexus, Spastic Blurr...Y un montón de bandas de rock increíble de punk todas partes también! Cada tipo de música está aquí, de verdad. Y la gente es generalmente amable, incluso si todos hacen que "Seinfeld" cosa cuando se trata de los mismos al igual que 4 personas se apiñaban en un rincón en su propia pequeña camarilla. ¡Ja! Pero eso es donde quiera que vaya. Y es genial aquí porque es muy impopular de ser racista o para ser un imbécil iniciar peleas o venir al mosh pit de tirar los codos en la cabeza de la gente.
¿Cuál ha sido la respuesta de la EP y "COMMAND PRESENCE" por la prensa y los aficionados extrema?
Abrumadoramente positiva! O la consiguen o no lo hacen, y si ellos no "entienden" que parecen odiarlo. Pero siempre comienzan con una revisión "hay que decir que no me gusta grindcore muy habladores..." y entonces todo se quejan de que leo y pienso "Si no estuviera en esta banda iría encontrarlos en YouTube ahora mismo! "Así que las malas críticas son buenas críticas en mi opinión! Y también tengo muy buenas críticas con la gente diciendo "Este es el tipo de álbum que siempre espero Terrorizer liberaría, pero de alguna manera nunca lo hace" de las personas que viven, respiran y grindcore mierda (que uno es una cita real también). Entonces me sale: "No me gusta esta producción, es ruidoso y doloroso - ¿dónde están todos el Cordero de Dios de estilo averías? ¿Puede por favor, sólo reducir la velocidad? Esta banda es demasiado brutal y las voces son demasiado loco para mí para manejar "tipo de comentarios. Así que en realidad, cuya opinión cuenta sobre este asunto? Hasta ahora no he encontrado a nadie que es un acérrimo del metal underground extremo que odia totalmente mi álbum. En general la gente parece pensar que es la calidad de lo que es. Y las otras personas - bueno, me encanta ser odiado por las razones correctas. Este es un álbum especial para todos los fanáticos de reales por ahí. La producción es la cosa principal que sé hacer o deshacer. Fue grabado / mixed que sonar como una parte superior de la grabación del sótano línea, luego fue dominado tener una producción de metal negro desagradable apelmazado encima de él, empujándolo más hacia un sonido Darkthrone en capas sobre / Brutal Truth sonando producción temprana Napalm Death . Si usted escucha muy bajo, hay un zumbido metálico. Ese es el platillo crash empujado alto en la mezcla de agudos. Así que es desagradable para escuchar excepto a muy alto volumen, que era el punto. Si es bajo en su estéreo, es desordenado y extraño. Jacked a todo volumen, es una clara experiencia de castigo, brutal. Tiene su propio sentir. Mis voces son todos de gama alta también, no hay guturales o gruñidos. Mi estilo es como una mezcla entre DropDead y principios de Belén, pero con un toque de la canal.
¿Cuál es el proceso de composición?
Lo que funcionó mejor para mí es tocar la guitarra delante de una mano celebró grabador de MP3. Colecciono horas de mí mismo jugando. El uso de un programa como Audacity o Cool Edit Pro guardo ningún riffs que me gustaban. Luego empiezo agrupación riffs juntos hasta canciones comienzan a formarse. Con VULTURE LOCUST, se oye muchos tipos de metal extremo. Hay una base grindcore a nuestra música, y la explosión rutina aparece en todas nuestras canciones. Pero también incorporamos elementos DE DETAH METAL, THRASH, DOOM Y CRUST. Al oír movimiento de piernas, va a sonar como el viejo escuela Slayer, Coroner. Si suena el punk crujiente, es más de un Impaled Nazareno cumple sonido Wolfbrigade. Cuando escuche el death metal, que es más como la Muerte banda en la década de 1980 mezclados con algunos Dying Fetus riffs chugga estilo. Tenemos algunas n'roll negro como Darkthrone y algunas secciones de BLACK METAL, pero la sensación es siempre golpear pesado y molienda. A diferencia de muchas bandas brutales, nuestra música tiene un rock n 'roll sentirse como Motorhead. Por eso me gustaría grindcore tanto - que tiene una punk rock sienten a la misma, pero sigue siendo de metal como se pone.
¿Cuáles son sus influencias en la música, la literatura y las películas de terror, lo que te inspira?
Soy un adicto a las ideas y estoy profundamente apasionado de la música y el arte. Suelo leer. También voy a la deriva a través de muchas subculturas, porque soy muy de mente abierta. La escena heavy metal es donde me siento más cómodo. Es siempre como base de operaciones para mí, mucho más que la escena punk o cualquier otra escena. Yo soy un loco película de terror gigante y fan de todo el cine, y quiero hacer películas en las future.i escribieron un guión apocalipsis zombie bajo presupuesto / vampiro llamado "Crimson Atlas" y deseo de dirigir yo mismo. La influencia del VULTURE LOCUST es mostrar artísticamente “the system”, como el espectáculo fenómeno de circo que es. VL busca educar a nuestra audiencia, de la misma manera Iron Maiden hace donde cada canción es una lección de historia.
¿Qué sabe usted de la escena colombiana y América del Sur?
Yo sé que ustedes AMA su death metal! Y sé boxes Slams son una locura y la gente sale loco. Cada vez que escucho algo de su país siempre es cruda y brutal. Este es el caso de metal extremo en toda América del Sur. Yo era un gran fan de Sepultura como una cabeza de metal adolescente en los años 90. Yo sé que eran de Brasil, pero el hecho de que Sepultura se hizo tan enorme ayudó a difundir la música metal extremo en toda América del Sur. Tal vez una de las razones del metal sudamericano es tan asesino es porque todo el mundo creció escuchando discos como "Beneath The Remains" y “Arise”, ja, ja. Y sé que hay problemas políticos, problemas de corrupción y pobreza que está en todas partes. Y en todos los países es el mismo - el más mierda del mundo nos lanza más fuerte nuestra rebelión metal se vuelve! Si vuelvo a hacer un tercer libro de viajes de larga duración como periodista de metal, lo que quiero hacer es viajar a través de América del Sur - ". “THE BIG SHINY PRISON VOLUME III.”Es posible y que en realidad puede hacer esto en el futuro, pero por ahora sólo quiero tocar música y tratar de hacer películas independientes.
¿Hay algo que quieras agregar?
Recientemente completé un nuevo libro llamado “Anticlimax Leviathan” Es lo mejor que he hecho y estoy apuntando a un comunicado de auto-publicado en el otoño de 2015. La mayoría en el metro me conocen por los libros de ruta que he hecho “The Big Shiny Prison” & “Fortress Europe” en el que viajé físicamente todas las franjas de las subculturas (especialmente de metal / punk) en Europa y América. En esas obras entrevisté a músicos, artistas y fanáticos de todas las variedades en persona, encadenar el material con un enfoque "tour extrema diario" de eventos a medida que se desarrollaban. “Anticlimax Leviathan” es diferente a estos otros libros. Se trata de una autobiografía sobre mi vida personal 2.002 hasta 2011. Cuenta con muchos de los personajes inadaptados de mis primeros escritos, así como cameos de muchos famosos, políticos, dioses de metal y leyendas del punk que detalle la extraña odisea que he vivido como periodista mundo viaja, un músico de metal extremo, activista y artista de muchas formas que sobreviven a través de la pobreza bajo la era políticamente sin esperanza de Bush y Obama. Es la historia de un hombre extraño joven que alcanza la edad adulta en una sociedad que es mucho más extraño pero de alguna manera agresiva haciéndose pasar por normal. Situado en Detroit, el "carácter" se convierte en un miembro de la prensa, un taxista, un promotor de metal / punk, cineasta y molestias en general a la sociedad antes de golpear el camino como periodista de metal que viaje por algunas de las mayores revistas y webzines en Tierra. Finalmente se cae a través de las grietas en su totalidad, para terminar en la costa oeste como una especie de vagabundo que vive de Craigslist y la realización de trabajos para sobrevivir mientras se navega un laberinto de siempre colapso arreglos de vivienda. Quedarse sin hogar que deseándola, lo abraza, recreando mentalmente a sí mismo como un personaje principal en su propia novela imaginaria. En el camino se encuentra con una legión de 'Street Crazies' que han caído en el olvido, así, y poco a poco construyen un mundo nuevo de las cenizas de su antiguo fantasma vive culminando con los de Occupy campamentos de 2011. Escrito de forma incremental desde 2009, esta obra muy personal es similar a la salida de escritores como Henry Miller, Kerouac, Dostoievski, Proust, Hemingway, Celine, etc. Al igual que muchos de los / beat escritores Generación Gran Depresión, yo uso "Anticlimax Leviatán 'sacar a la luz en la vida no convencionales que de otro modo sería sin grabar y perdido en el tiempo. Es la obra más importante de mi carrera, y lo que es probable que causarme para finalmente ser considerado como un artista serio entre los críticos tensos y la academia literaria. Los interesados pueden descargar las primeras 50 páginas (y toda mi música) gratis en mi sitio oficial www.BigShinyPrison.com
vulture locust interview c/o scenes from the underground
Vulture Locust Guitarist/Vocalist Ryan Bartek interviewed by Mickey Sixx Robinson c/o Scenes From The Underground Zine
We recently caught up with author and musician, Ryan Bartek. He is the founding member of the Portland based grindcore band, Vulture Locust, as well as a published writer touching on subjects dealing with underground music. To Say Mr. Bartek fits right into our pages of SFTU would be putting it lightly. But this isn't the first time he's been a part of our webzine! A few issues ago, we reviewed Vulture Locust's second release, entitled "We Need To Talk", and it was a power house of an album. You can read our full review of "We Need To Talk" and stream it entirely here. Have fun!
He also recently made his entire collected works of both writing and music, free to download. A noble gesture to say the least, and a great way to market. With so much going on, we wanted to ask Ryan a few things and get to know the person behind the band and the books.
Scenes from the Underground: For starters, what is your background?
Ryan Bartek: Most in the underground know me for my road books on America and Europe (“The Big Shiny Prison” & “Fortress Europe”) in which I physically travel all fringes of subcultures (especially metal/punk) and interview people face to face. Currently I live in Portland Oregon where I am guitarist/vocalist of the grind-based extreme metal band VULTURE LOCUST. As for my background I lived in Detroit until age 25; I’d been in bands, worked on hundreds of shows, wrote for a host of webzines and print magazines. I put out a book in 2005 called “THE SILENT BURNING” that gained some notoriety – it got me press in Metal Maniacs magazine which was huge, and then soon after an offer to write for them! So I became a road journalist for Metal Maniacs, one of the most important metal magazines in the world! Anyway, by December 2006 I was desperately unhappy with my situation in Detroit so I quit my metal/grind/punk band A.K.A. MABUS & hit the road as a traveling journalist, simultaneously writing/living the “Prison” book. Throughout 2007, I was all over the USA. I completed the final draft in June 2008 and moved to the Northwest by February, 2009. I was ready to tour as a freelance journalist again but the Wall Street Crash completely destroyed the market & Metal Maniacs went down with plenty of others . So I did two 6 and a 1⁄2 week national USA tours with punk/funk/weirdo band Downtown Brown as a documentary filmmaker/acoustic opener. In September, 2009 I began writing a purely autobiographical book called “Anticlimax Leviathan” (which I am close to completion now). In November, I decided to release “The Big Shiny Prison” as a FREE PDF Download. On July 4th, 2010, I released- for free, my back catalog (A.K.A. MABUS, SASQUATCH AGNOSTIC & JACK CASSADY). In September 2010 I re-released “The Silent Burning” as a free PDF. In April, 2011, I put out my second outlaw country/acoustic record as Jack Cassady and then went to Europe to do the book sequel of “Prison” called “Fortress Europe.” When I returned to the USA, I was dragged into the Occupy protests, released “Fortress Europe” for free download in February, 2012 and then that summer did a 3 month book tour of Europe. I came back and began working on Vulture Locust. We made a lo-fi demo and I again traveled Europe, backpacking for 3 months. I came back fall 2013 to Portland and ever since I have been working on music. We just finished the new Vulture Locust album, “Command Presence” and I released two movie screenplays as well which are seeking development. So now its 2015 and I'm going full-tilt recording and performing. I have one more Vulture Locust album up my sleeve, a new Sasquatch Agnostic, a doom album, and a punk record I'm doing. Not bad for a 33 year old kitchen cook with no label or publisher?
SFTU: Vulture Locust is a very brutal band, what are some of your influences?
Ryan: In all my music endeavors, I always set out to rub people the wrong way. This time, I'm going straight extreme metal and giving people what they want to hear. It was attending Obscene Extreme 2011 that woke me up. I was pretty adamant on sticking to the realm of grind-core. We blend many styles, but we have a grind/death basis with a heavy emphasis on thrash. Some may say we are way more death metal then grind, which is true only because we should have took the time to learn more then two 30 second songs (haha). At turns we drift into punishing doom or black metal elements. There is a huge Brutal Truth influence going on (“Extreme Conditions” era) and you will catch influences of Carcass, Death, A.K.A. MABUS, Dying Fetus, Soilent Green, Nasum, Pig Destroyer. When I say black metal it's more along the lines of Impaled Nazarene or Darkthrone. We are a two piece after all. .
SFTU: You mentioned that your the main force behind the band, that it's basically you and a drummer as the main members, but you hire guys out for gigs and what not. Would that be a negative or a positive for the bands long term goals?
Ryan: Vulture Locust (like all my projects) is myself and any drummer who can both deliver the goods and put up with me on a personal level (and vice versa, haha). It makes it easy to tour if that's the focus by keeping it a duo. I am increasingly hungry to go on the road with a live band. Really, all I want to do is play music now. Current Vulture Locust drummer, Nathan Pogue, is a total hard-hitting maniac. I write the music and direct him a little bit, but he knows where I'm going with it and always puts his maniacal spin on his drum tracks. Other people form bands to try and tour everywhere. For many years I toured as a writer and just did music as studio projects. I am now entering the next phase of my artistic intentions and I will be pushing the new Vulture Locust album hard. It's the best sounding, most technical, and the most relentlessly brutal album I've ever done. The big regret I always had was not just doing a straight up metal record that gave people what they wanted to hear. So now I fix it. I've come full circle and I am here on this planet to thrash, grind & destroy.
SFTU: Vulture Locust has a very political agenda, as do you in your posts on FB and some of your stories and books. Would you consider yourself an activist? If so, what are some of the big political issues that you personally challenge?
Ryan: Portland is know for it's activist world, and yes I am a part of that world – but I am also a black sheep of it. I have my own ideas and my own agenda, and the tactics depend on the situation and the intention. I won't just work with anyone, and many of my positions are not popular. Some of them may seem contradictory if taken outside the larger context of what I stand for. I am also upfront that what is right for me is not right for all of humanity – let alone the PDX activist community – not that I feel the need to apologize, defend or explain my positions. That much said, Vulture Locust was created following the end of Occupy Portland and Vulture Locust was my personal extension of it. I wanted to bring those ideas to the metal audience in a context they could understand and to put my own spin on it. We have a very satirical Dead Kennedy's sort of attitude that's masked by the savageness of our sound. Every song is about some kind of conspiracy or has to do with the police state, the military industrial complex, etc. But it's done tactfully and not in a preachy punk way. Originally I envisioned getting arrested a bunch of times playing in public. Showing up at a protest on a flat bed truck with generators. Making our concerts like an overly-aggressive info shops of propaganda. I wanted to make the sort of band I actually wanted to see live and the kind of music I could listen to on repeat. In this I've been successful, but on the other side, “the agenda side” – I know metalheads are not activists. The activist types don't really get this extreme metal stuff in the way that we get it. And even if the activist types do like metal they still often think it's more important to spend the night giving blankets to homeless people who are freezing to death on the street. I don't believe in heavy metal as a social force to change the world, but I believe in the dissemination of ideas. I believe in the unity and communication the underground solidifies. I think we are our own loosely knit tribal civilization. What both holds us together and drives us apart, is the inherent cynicism of our underground. I think we need to keep communicating. We need to keep growing and keep finding a better way. Old ideas die when the stronger ones germinate. So let's just keep evolving.
SFTU: What is your stance on the recent and multiple police killings of unarmed (allegedly) people? Do you think its a racial issue or an issue of rich/poor?
Ryan: Well we can start with Ferguson. Before recent events, the same police force, the same prosecuting attorney, charged a black Ferguson cop with excessive force and put him in prison for a felony because he whapped some white civilians hand with his baton. Wilson executed a fleeing unarmed suspect and walked from a rigged, cherry-picked, highly illegal trial. The prosecuting attorney and defense attorney intentionally threw the case by directly lying to the jury giving them print outs of outdated laws. The Supreme Court decision on Tennessee vs. Garner is known through all law enforcement. The prosecuting attorney – who like Wilson (and Wilson's wife) are KKK affiliated – himself broke the law by raising 200,000 in defense money through a proxy corporation. The supposed victim of the strong arm robbery (the Korean store owner) is suing the police because he says the kid never was in his store. The altercation was not in response to Wilson answering a robbery call – it was isolated. Even if the kid ,still supposedly, attacked him the fact is, it is against the law to gun down a fleeing suspect and more importantly; to execute one with their hands up while surrendering to you. The militarized response to the justified protests and the sheer ugliness of every aspect of this case and its implications is like an instruction manual explaining just how far they can take this shit. So yeah, there is a real problem here and it is systematic in making this as ugly as they could they somehow accomplished the unseen feat of waking the sleeping giant of Occupy and aligning them with every person of color in the country as well as every victim of police violence. Smooth move assholes. People go out and show their grievance, the police hit back hard with tear gas, rubber bullets, informants, snitches, provocateurs and such. In Ferguson we even have the SWAT Team on camera running around setting cars and businesses on fire to justify their heavy response. The problem runs deeper then just the inherent violence of policing and the prison system – it also very much implicated the fact we have scores of Iraq/Afghanistan vets being dumped onto the streets with a badge and oodles of Post-Traumatic stress, war toys and tanks. Until Darren Wilson goes to prison for breaking the law, no one is going home. And every time another person is inevitably gunned down by the cops, it only adds fuel to the fire. Can't wait to see what this is looking like next summer.
SFTU: You are also an author. Recently you put your entire catalog for free on your website. What was the reasoning behind that? And as far as you writing is concerned, the concept behind one of your books is Traveling and meeting with various people, bands, etc. Was that idea when you started your travels, or did you get the idea for the book afterwards?
Ryan: I'm in this for the message, and the most significant way I can spread that message is in making it free to all. Most in the underground know me for my road books in which I physically travel all fringes of subcultures (especially metal/punk) and interview people face to face. There is a serious Expat/Beat Generation influence, so my work is more in the spectrum of classic literature as opposed to a 300 page magazine or a “Lord of Chaos” type of format. Instead I use “interviews” as if dialogue between two characters in a fictional novel. I don't put any band photos in my books. Most the time we aren't even talking about music. I'm basically showing what American life was for the outcast in the context of our Neo-Great Depression with hard reality, in a as-it-happens writing process that works like an extreme tour diary. The first book was in America 2007; the second Europe in 2011. I concentrated extensively on Europe the next three years traveling and promoting my works while doing some journalism for MetalRules.com as well. Also available for free download is my first anthology “The Silent Burning,” two film screenplays I'm seeking development on (a horror/action film and also a comedy/action movie), as well as material from my upcoming new book “Anticlimax Leviathan” as well as chapters from my new series “Return To Fortress Europe” – kind of an appendix to the Europe book. When I finally print it, I will include these four bonus chapters. Last year I put out road stories on Romania and Portugal. This year I will be releasing two more – Greece and Italy.
SFTU: How well is Vulture Locust received in your scene?
Ryan: The bands and audiences in Portland we've played for generally seem to think we're quality and have been quite supportive. Guys that just stand there cross-armed, bored and way too metal to smile for most concerts are generally the ones who get the most animated. And even if Vulture Locust isn't “their thing”, they think it's tight for what it is. You can't please all of the people all the time and you shouldn't aim to. But you know what? All those angry punk rock grindcore kids with all the dental-flossed patches who hate everything and only listen to the most obscure this or that – for the most part they think we're cool. And getting the thumbs up from those folks is more important to me then any kind of material “success.” I'm 33 and the punk kids still talk to me like I'm a teenager riding a skateboard around with them. Little things like that make it worthwhile.
SFTU: As far as the actual Vulture Locust releases, those are also free for download at the bands website. Again, whats your reasoning for putting all your work out for free (which I personally think is very cool and noble of you to do!)?
Ryan: It's the most reasonable way for people to access my stuff, and I see social media for the amazing invention it is. Also I hate wasting time and I'd rather just do something and put it out instantly. Furthermore I have no wish to be a businessman. And even if I had it where you had to buy my albums or purchase my books, I could push it like that forever and only distribute a minor fraction of what I have. I probably would have sold 500 copies of “Prison” at best over 5 years. Instead I've got 10,000+ copies floating out there, same with “Fortress Europe.” Even in the PDF's it asks anyone who liked it to repay me by attaching it to an email and forwarding it to all their friends asking them to do the same like a giant chain letter. This approach really worked. To be honest, I don't even know the extent of what I've done. I can only follow download counts and reply to random messages I get from readers I've slowly picked up around the world. Every other week it's someone writing from Uruguay, or Denmark, Serbia, or Egypt saying that they devoured my books. I can't really track it, but it's been working incrementally. And most importantly I have final cut over every aspect of everything I do. Can't beat that.
SFTU: Will you ever charge for your music or books?
Ryan: If I do physical copies money would be to cover the cost of printing/shipping with little to no profit for me. And even when printed the downloads will still be online. If they want it in their hands, they can get it. This is a step for 2015.
SFTU: You also had another band called AKA MABUS, that was equally as hard and fast as Vulture Locust. What happened with that band and can we hope to see more from AKA MABUS?
Ryan: By the end, we couldn't agree on a direction and I was burned out by my life situation. I was sick of Detroit. I'd been there for 25 years. I had the gig for Metal Maniacs and wanted to go live that dream. With the band, there was a lot of in-fighting and I kept saying “I don't have to do this, I can just leave and tour for years.” And they laughed at me and tried to call a bluff. So I quit and went on tour for a year straight. I left them as gracefully as I could and gave them a huge chunk of change to put out the record, set them up guitarist auditions, tried to set it up so we would be on good terms for something in the future maybe. But it fall apart when I left. It was also “my band” – I wrote all the stuff and half the lyrics. So they didn't really have anyone to fill that void. I wanted them to carry it on, but it collapsed. The drummer never forgave me for it. The singer and I have some unresolved issues. There's a big part of me that wants to resurrect this band. The album has gained notoriety in the underground over the years. There are people who really, really love that record – and so do I. But I feel to be the real thing I would need either the singer or drummer to do it with me. The vocalist basically “blessed” me to do so through the grape vine., or so I hear. I feel like I need the green light from the drummer. He was as much that band as I was.
SFTU: You were featured in some other periodicals from around the world? What were some of those interviews like and how many have you participated in?
Ryan: I've been in an awful lot of random zines, webzines and larger magazines all over the place for many different projects, but mostly because of the books. Some of my “greatest hits” were being featured in Metal Maniacs, Fangoria, Rue Morgue, Blabbermouth, Vice Magazine, Hails & Horns, PIT Magazine, Metal Underground and AOL's Noisecreep. Last year I even did a radio interview on the BBC in England!
SFTU: Where can readers find the Vulture Locust and AKA MABUS releases?
Ryan: Everything is readily available @ www.BigShinyPrison.com
SFTU: Does either band have merchandise such as patches, buttons, shirts, etc?
Ryan: Working on it!
SFTU: Are you currently working on any other projects right now that you can tell us about?
Ryan: A new acoustic/antifolk/outlaw country album as Jack Cassady (aka The Real Man In Black), an untitled doom project, a punk record, a Sasquatch Agnostic EP and yet another Vulture Locust album. Then it's time to start putting my stuff in physical print.
SFTU: What does the future hold for you as a the person, Ryan Bartek, not including your music or writing projects?
Ryan: I am very much preparing for my “end game.” I foresee a final run of Portland, a last epic travel of Europe, and then inevitably ending up in LA to try and make low budget horror and action movies.
SFTU: Who or what are some of your writing influences?
Ryan: Fernando Pessoa, Lautreamont, Henry Miller, Bukowski, Dostoevsky, Allen Ginsberg, historical biographies and world changing events.
SFTU: Do you have a favorite subject to write about (musically or in your books)?
Ryan: Scumbags getting what they deserve (as poignantly and ironically as possible).
SFTU: What is your favorite book/author of all time?
Ryan: Henry Miller and the interconnected canon of his works involving Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, The Colossus of Maroussi, Black Spring, The Air Conditioned Nightmare, and The Rosy Crucifixion. They are all inherently one really huge book and no man has ever had a more profound or positive influence on me.
SFTU: What is you favorite record/musician band of all time?
Ryan: It sounds like a cop out, but Black Sabbath. All the way up until Technical Ecstasy & Never Say Die which aren't quite that bad, but it's still weird hearing an REO Speedwagon version of Sabbath. And yeah, I'm in the 13 fan club. I know that new album is generic at times, but what's the worst someone can really say? That it sounds like Black Sabbath?? Sticks and stones don't matter when everyone on earth ripped you off.
We recently caught up with author and musician, Ryan Bartek. He is the founding member of the Portland based grindcore band, Vulture Locust, as well as a published writer touching on subjects dealing with underground music. To Say Mr. Bartek fits right into our pages of SFTU would be putting it lightly. But this isn't the first time he's been a part of our webzine! A few issues ago, we reviewed Vulture Locust's second release, entitled "We Need To Talk", and it was a power house of an album. You can read our full review of "We Need To Talk" and stream it entirely here. Have fun!
He also recently made his entire collected works of both writing and music, free to download. A noble gesture to say the least, and a great way to market. With so much going on, we wanted to ask Ryan a few things and get to know the person behind the band and the books.
Scenes from the Underground: For starters, what is your background?
Ryan Bartek: Most in the underground know me for my road books on America and Europe (“The Big Shiny Prison” & “Fortress Europe”) in which I physically travel all fringes of subcultures (especially metal/punk) and interview people face to face. Currently I live in Portland Oregon where I am guitarist/vocalist of the grind-based extreme metal band VULTURE LOCUST. As for my background I lived in Detroit until age 25; I’d been in bands, worked on hundreds of shows, wrote for a host of webzines and print magazines. I put out a book in 2005 called “THE SILENT BURNING” that gained some notoriety – it got me press in Metal Maniacs magazine which was huge, and then soon after an offer to write for them! So I became a road journalist for Metal Maniacs, one of the most important metal magazines in the world! Anyway, by December 2006 I was desperately unhappy with my situation in Detroit so I quit my metal/grind/punk band A.K.A. MABUS & hit the road as a traveling journalist, simultaneously writing/living the “Prison” book. Throughout 2007, I was all over the USA. I completed the final draft in June 2008 and moved to the Northwest by February, 2009. I was ready to tour as a freelance journalist again but the Wall Street Crash completely destroyed the market & Metal Maniacs went down with plenty of others . So I did two 6 and a 1⁄2 week national USA tours with punk/funk/weirdo band Downtown Brown as a documentary filmmaker/acoustic opener. In September, 2009 I began writing a purely autobiographical book called “Anticlimax Leviathan” (which I am close to completion now). In November, I decided to release “The Big Shiny Prison” as a FREE PDF Download. On July 4th, 2010, I released- for free, my back catalog (A.K.A. MABUS, SASQUATCH AGNOSTIC & JACK CASSADY). In September 2010 I re-released “The Silent Burning” as a free PDF. In April, 2011, I put out my second outlaw country/acoustic record as Jack Cassady and then went to Europe to do the book sequel of “Prison” called “Fortress Europe.” When I returned to the USA, I was dragged into the Occupy protests, released “Fortress Europe” for free download in February, 2012 and then that summer did a 3 month book tour of Europe. I came back and began working on Vulture Locust. We made a lo-fi demo and I again traveled Europe, backpacking for 3 months. I came back fall 2013 to Portland and ever since I have been working on music. We just finished the new Vulture Locust album, “Command Presence” and I released two movie screenplays as well which are seeking development. So now its 2015 and I'm going full-tilt recording and performing. I have one more Vulture Locust album up my sleeve, a new Sasquatch Agnostic, a doom album, and a punk record I'm doing. Not bad for a 33 year old kitchen cook with no label or publisher?
SFTU: Vulture Locust is a very brutal band, what are some of your influences?
Ryan: In all my music endeavors, I always set out to rub people the wrong way. This time, I'm going straight extreme metal and giving people what they want to hear. It was attending Obscene Extreme 2011 that woke me up. I was pretty adamant on sticking to the realm of grind-core. We blend many styles, but we have a grind/death basis with a heavy emphasis on thrash. Some may say we are way more death metal then grind, which is true only because we should have took the time to learn more then two 30 second songs (haha). At turns we drift into punishing doom or black metal elements. There is a huge Brutal Truth influence going on (“Extreme Conditions” era) and you will catch influences of Carcass, Death, A.K.A. MABUS, Dying Fetus, Soilent Green, Nasum, Pig Destroyer. When I say black metal it's more along the lines of Impaled Nazarene or Darkthrone. We are a two piece after all. .
SFTU: You mentioned that your the main force behind the band, that it's basically you and a drummer as the main members, but you hire guys out for gigs and what not. Would that be a negative or a positive for the bands long term goals?
Ryan: Vulture Locust (like all my projects) is myself and any drummer who can both deliver the goods and put up with me on a personal level (and vice versa, haha). It makes it easy to tour if that's the focus by keeping it a duo. I am increasingly hungry to go on the road with a live band. Really, all I want to do is play music now. Current Vulture Locust drummer, Nathan Pogue, is a total hard-hitting maniac. I write the music and direct him a little bit, but he knows where I'm going with it and always puts his maniacal spin on his drum tracks. Other people form bands to try and tour everywhere. For many years I toured as a writer and just did music as studio projects. I am now entering the next phase of my artistic intentions and I will be pushing the new Vulture Locust album hard. It's the best sounding, most technical, and the most relentlessly brutal album I've ever done. The big regret I always had was not just doing a straight up metal record that gave people what they wanted to hear. So now I fix it. I've come full circle and I am here on this planet to thrash, grind & destroy.
SFTU: Vulture Locust has a very political agenda, as do you in your posts on FB and some of your stories and books. Would you consider yourself an activist? If so, what are some of the big political issues that you personally challenge?
Ryan: Portland is know for it's activist world, and yes I am a part of that world – but I am also a black sheep of it. I have my own ideas and my own agenda, and the tactics depend on the situation and the intention. I won't just work with anyone, and many of my positions are not popular. Some of them may seem contradictory if taken outside the larger context of what I stand for. I am also upfront that what is right for me is not right for all of humanity – let alone the PDX activist community – not that I feel the need to apologize, defend or explain my positions. That much said, Vulture Locust was created following the end of Occupy Portland and Vulture Locust was my personal extension of it. I wanted to bring those ideas to the metal audience in a context they could understand and to put my own spin on it. We have a very satirical Dead Kennedy's sort of attitude that's masked by the savageness of our sound. Every song is about some kind of conspiracy or has to do with the police state, the military industrial complex, etc. But it's done tactfully and not in a preachy punk way. Originally I envisioned getting arrested a bunch of times playing in public. Showing up at a protest on a flat bed truck with generators. Making our concerts like an overly-aggressive info shops of propaganda. I wanted to make the sort of band I actually wanted to see live and the kind of music I could listen to on repeat. In this I've been successful, but on the other side, “the agenda side” – I know metalheads are not activists. The activist types don't really get this extreme metal stuff in the way that we get it. And even if the activist types do like metal they still often think it's more important to spend the night giving blankets to homeless people who are freezing to death on the street. I don't believe in heavy metal as a social force to change the world, but I believe in the dissemination of ideas. I believe in the unity and communication the underground solidifies. I think we are our own loosely knit tribal civilization. What both holds us together and drives us apart, is the inherent cynicism of our underground. I think we need to keep communicating. We need to keep growing and keep finding a better way. Old ideas die when the stronger ones germinate. So let's just keep evolving.
SFTU: What is your stance on the recent and multiple police killings of unarmed (allegedly) people? Do you think its a racial issue or an issue of rich/poor?
Ryan: Well we can start with Ferguson. Before recent events, the same police force, the same prosecuting attorney, charged a black Ferguson cop with excessive force and put him in prison for a felony because he whapped some white civilians hand with his baton. Wilson executed a fleeing unarmed suspect and walked from a rigged, cherry-picked, highly illegal trial. The prosecuting attorney and defense attorney intentionally threw the case by directly lying to the jury giving them print outs of outdated laws. The Supreme Court decision on Tennessee vs. Garner is known through all law enforcement. The prosecuting attorney – who like Wilson (and Wilson's wife) are KKK affiliated – himself broke the law by raising 200,000 in defense money through a proxy corporation. The supposed victim of the strong arm robbery (the Korean store owner) is suing the police because he says the kid never was in his store. The altercation was not in response to Wilson answering a robbery call – it was isolated. Even if the kid ,still supposedly, attacked him the fact is, it is against the law to gun down a fleeing suspect and more importantly; to execute one with their hands up while surrendering to you. The militarized response to the justified protests and the sheer ugliness of every aspect of this case and its implications is like an instruction manual explaining just how far they can take this shit. So yeah, there is a real problem here and it is systematic in making this as ugly as they could they somehow accomplished the unseen feat of waking the sleeping giant of Occupy and aligning them with every person of color in the country as well as every victim of police violence. Smooth move assholes. People go out and show their grievance, the police hit back hard with tear gas, rubber bullets, informants, snitches, provocateurs and such. In Ferguson we even have the SWAT Team on camera running around setting cars and businesses on fire to justify their heavy response. The problem runs deeper then just the inherent violence of policing and the prison system – it also very much implicated the fact we have scores of Iraq/Afghanistan vets being dumped onto the streets with a badge and oodles of Post-Traumatic stress, war toys and tanks. Until Darren Wilson goes to prison for breaking the law, no one is going home. And every time another person is inevitably gunned down by the cops, it only adds fuel to the fire. Can't wait to see what this is looking like next summer.
SFTU: You are also an author. Recently you put your entire catalog for free on your website. What was the reasoning behind that? And as far as you writing is concerned, the concept behind one of your books is Traveling and meeting with various people, bands, etc. Was that idea when you started your travels, or did you get the idea for the book afterwards?
Ryan: I'm in this for the message, and the most significant way I can spread that message is in making it free to all. Most in the underground know me for my road books in which I physically travel all fringes of subcultures (especially metal/punk) and interview people face to face. There is a serious Expat/Beat Generation influence, so my work is more in the spectrum of classic literature as opposed to a 300 page magazine or a “Lord of Chaos” type of format. Instead I use “interviews” as if dialogue between two characters in a fictional novel. I don't put any band photos in my books. Most the time we aren't even talking about music. I'm basically showing what American life was for the outcast in the context of our Neo-Great Depression with hard reality, in a as-it-happens writing process that works like an extreme tour diary. The first book was in America 2007; the second Europe in 2011. I concentrated extensively on Europe the next three years traveling and promoting my works while doing some journalism for MetalRules.com as well. Also available for free download is my first anthology “The Silent Burning,” two film screenplays I'm seeking development on (a horror/action film and also a comedy/action movie), as well as material from my upcoming new book “Anticlimax Leviathan” as well as chapters from my new series “Return To Fortress Europe” – kind of an appendix to the Europe book. When I finally print it, I will include these four bonus chapters. Last year I put out road stories on Romania and Portugal. This year I will be releasing two more – Greece and Italy.
SFTU: How well is Vulture Locust received in your scene?
Ryan: The bands and audiences in Portland we've played for generally seem to think we're quality and have been quite supportive. Guys that just stand there cross-armed, bored and way too metal to smile for most concerts are generally the ones who get the most animated. And even if Vulture Locust isn't “their thing”, they think it's tight for what it is. You can't please all of the people all the time and you shouldn't aim to. But you know what? All those angry punk rock grindcore kids with all the dental-flossed patches who hate everything and only listen to the most obscure this or that – for the most part they think we're cool. And getting the thumbs up from those folks is more important to me then any kind of material “success.” I'm 33 and the punk kids still talk to me like I'm a teenager riding a skateboard around with them. Little things like that make it worthwhile.
SFTU: As far as the actual Vulture Locust releases, those are also free for download at the bands website. Again, whats your reasoning for putting all your work out for free (which I personally think is very cool and noble of you to do!)?
Ryan: It's the most reasonable way for people to access my stuff, and I see social media for the amazing invention it is. Also I hate wasting time and I'd rather just do something and put it out instantly. Furthermore I have no wish to be a businessman. And even if I had it where you had to buy my albums or purchase my books, I could push it like that forever and only distribute a minor fraction of what I have. I probably would have sold 500 copies of “Prison” at best over 5 years. Instead I've got 10,000+ copies floating out there, same with “Fortress Europe.” Even in the PDF's it asks anyone who liked it to repay me by attaching it to an email and forwarding it to all their friends asking them to do the same like a giant chain letter. This approach really worked. To be honest, I don't even know the extent of what I've done. I can only follow download counts and reply to random messages I get from readers I've slowly picked up around the world. Every other week it's someone writing from Uruguay, or Denmark, Serbia, or Egypt saying that they devoured my books. I can't really track it, but it's been working incrementally. And most importantly I have final cut over every aspect of everything I do. Can't beat that.
SFTU: Will you ever charge for your music or books?
Ryan: If I do physical copies money would be to cover the cost of printing/shipping with little to no profit for me. And even when printed the downloads will still be online. If they want it in their hands, they can get it. This is a step for 2015.
SFTU: You also had another band called AKA MABUS, that was equally as hard and fast as Vulture Locust. What happened with that band and can we hope to see more from AKA MABUS?
Ryan: By the end, we couldn't agree on a direction and I was burned out by my life situation. I was sick of Detroit. I'd been there for 25 years. I had the gig for Metal Maniacs and wanted to go live that dream. With the band, there was a lot of in-fighting and I kept saying “I don't have to do this, I can just leave and tour for years.” And they laughed at me and tried to call a bluff. So I quit and went on tour for a year straight. I left them as gracefully as I could and gave them a huge chunk of change to put out the record, set them up guitarist auditions, tried to set it up so we would be on good terms for something in the future maybe. But it fall apart when I left. It was also “my band” – I wrote all the stuff and half the lyrics. So they didn't really have anyone to fill that void. I wanted them to carry it on, but it collapsed. The drummer never forgave me for it. The singer and I have some unresolved issues. There's a big part of me that wants to resurrect this band. The album has gained notoriety in the underground over the years. There are people who really, really love that record – and so do I. But I feel to be the real thing I would need either the singer or drummer to do it with me. The vocalist basically “blessed” me to do so through the grape vine., or so I hear. I feel like I need the green light from the drummer. He was as much that band as I was.
SFTU: You were featured in some other periodicals from around the world? What were some of those interviews like and how many have you participated in?
Ryan: I've been in an awful lot of random zines, webzines and larger magazines all over the place for many different projects, but mostly because of the books. Some of my “greatest hits” were being featured in Metal Maniacs, Fangoria, Rue Morgue, Blabbermouth, Vice Magazine, Hails & Horns, PIT Magazine, Metal Underground and AOL's Noisecreep. Last year I even did a radio interview on the BBC in England!
SFTU: Where can readers find the Vulture Locust and AKA MABUS releases?
Ryan: Everything is readily available @ www.BigShinyPrison.com
SFTU: Does either band have merchandise such as patches, buttons, shirts, etc?
Ryan: Working on it!
SFTU: Are you currently working on any other projects right now that you can tell us about?
Ryan: A new acoustic/antifolk/outlaw country album as Jack Cassady (aka The Real Man In Black), an untitled doom project, a punk record, a Sasquatch Agnostic EP and yet another Vulture Locust album. Then it's time to start putting my stuff in physical print.
SFTU: What does the future hold for you as a the person, Ryan Bartek, not including your music or writing projects?
Ryan: I am very much preparing for my “end game.” I foresee a final run of Portland, a last epic travel of Europe, and then inevitably ending up in LA to try and make low budget horror and action movies.
SFTU: Who or what are some of your writing influences?
Ryan: Fernando Pessoa, Lautreamont, Henry Miller, Bukowski, Dostoevsky, Allen Ginsberg, historical biographies and world changing events.
SFTU: Do you have a favorite subject to write about (musically or in your books)?
Ryan: Scumbags getting what they deserve (as poignantly and ironically as possible).
SFTU: What is your favorite book/author of all time?
Ryan: Henry Miller and the interconnected canon of his works involving Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, The Colossus of Maroussi, Black Spring, The Air Conditioned Nightmare, and The Rosy Crucifixion. They are all inherently one really huge book and no man has ever had a more profound or positive influence on me.
SFTU: What is you favorite record/musician band of all time?
Ryan: It sounds like a cop out, but Black Sabbath. All the way up until Technical Ecstasy & Never Say Die which aren't quite that bad, but it's still weird hearing an REO Speedwagon version of Sabbath. And yeah, I'm in the 13 fan club. I know that new album is generic at times, but what's the worst someone can really say? That it sounds like Black Sabbath?? Sticks and stones don't matter when everyone on earth ripped you off.
