CATTLE DECAPITATION interview by Damjan
With their new album,
“Karma.Bloody.Karma”, brutal vegetarians Cattle Decapitation seriously imposed
themselves as one of the strongest death metal bands in States. However, in
their spare time they mostly take care of abandoned animals, exchange mail with
vegetarian girls and - beware - go wild if you call them false. Let’s hear
Travis (vocals) giving some (non)sense to all of that...
You appeared on the TV show "Fox Rox" playing some
of the new songs and doing an interview conducted by Troy Johnson. I guess it
was kinda different from your usual routine, so, any impressions to share with
our readers?
It’s this pretty cool local show on a major station that covers mainly
independent music, indie rock, shit like that. They've never really had any
metal bands on there. It was incredibly awkward. There were we, playing in this
corner of a major news station facing the newscaster area I grew up staring at
when my dad made me turn the channel so he could watch the news. It was kind of
surreal, and yes, definitely not something we're used to.
The Fox Rox show was also a sort of goodbye gig for drummer Michael Laughlin
who's parting ways with Cattle Decapitation. What made him leave? Is JR Daniels
definitely confirmed as a full time replacement for Laughlin?
It was a coincidence that it was our last show with him. It wasn't a show
though, which made it even weirder. No, JR is definitely not working out and we
will have a replacement shortly after we get back, as soon as humanly possible!
How would you compare "Karma.Bloody.Karma" to your previous albums? Personally,
I find it very tight and well-balanced, but also much more focused than, say,
"Humanure". Would you agree?
I just think it’s a much better record. A lot more going on, its fresh
and we didn't compromise our style for the sake of gaining fans in this
contaminated scene. I know we are just as easy to blame, but we've been into
metal since we were little kids, and we're all much older now so I don't want to
hear any motherfucker calling us false or some bogus shit. It’s death metal. Not
many other DM bands are doing anything worth while right now.
The album was produced by Billy Anderson, who worked with groundbreaking bands
such as Mr. Bungle or Melvins. At first, it might seem like an odd choice,
especially given that on "Humanure" you worked with a very different type of
producer, Bill Metoyer of Slayer, WASP and Six Feet Under fame. So, how come you
chose Anderson for "Karma.Bloody.Karma"?
Well, we're really odd people. He was very into doing the album, super
enthusiastic, so we knew we couldn't go wrong. It worked out great and we were
also huge fans of tons of the records he's done. Some of them are my fucking
favorite of all time. You can't go wrong with that.
You said "Karma.Bloody.Karma" will be your "most nihilistic, pessimistic and
hateful record" lyric-wise. Would you go as far as saying that the world itself
has become more nihilistic, pessimistic and hateful place than it ever was?
No, that's simply human nature. As long as humans walk the earth there
will be war, death, murder, hate... This record is about the extinction of the
human race be it self imposed or enacted by mother earth herself. Either way
it’s going to happen. Karma.
Will there be any European dates as part of "Karma.Bloody.Karma" tour?
We are currently trying to figure that out but, YES! We'll do whatever we
can to get there on this record. We simply have to.
Recently you did a split album with NY band Caninus. Given that split albums
aren't what you usually do, how come you did this one?
For a couple reasons. We've passed on doing splits a bunch of times. We
thought it’d be funny if we ended up doing it with a band that is fronted by
animals, and plus I was already a fan! So we couldn't say no.
Even if your bandname might suggest the opposite, especially to someone not
familiar with your work, you are quite well known for your charity work
regarding the abandoned animals and the unnecessary violence that they often
suffer. What's your message on that matter to all of those ready to listen?
We rarely pass on anything that has to do with benefiting animals.
Sometimes we just can't due to schedule conflicts. I'd like us to do anything we
can to help, be it helping organizations that find homes for animals or the
promotion of awareness of cruelty towards animals. I know that it is instilled
in our evolution to hunt, kill and survive, but the dawn of man also didn't have
gigantic huge skyscrapers, miles of concrete, smog and other urban
monstrosities. It's up to us to take care of the environment in all day to day
activities and this includes how we treat animals, especially.
Two of your band members have been nominated for PETA's sexiest vegetarians. So,
any fan mail from vegetarian-girls lately? ;o)
We all were! Haha... And yes, I did get some emails from ladies saying
they voted! Very nice.
And to end with, your message to all the cattle waiting for decapitation in
Croatian fields? ;o)
Hopefully we'll be there soon!!!! Stay gore!!!