CATTLE DECAPITATION Frontman: There's Not A Whole Lot Of Gore On The New Record

TheMetalWeb.com recently conducted an interview with CATTLE DECAPITATION vocalist Travis Ryan. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

TheMetalWeb.com: How has the sound evolved over the last ten years? "Karma. Bloody. Karma" seems to be a different entity from your prior releases.

Travis Ryan: Well, in the beginning, we were trying to get to the point where we were a real death metal band. It took a while, we seemed to have to get the short, grindy stuff out of our system first. "To Serve Man" and "Humanure" were pretty similar, but I have to say that "K.B.K." has the distinct flavor we've been shooting for for a while now. It's really all over the place musically, whereas "Humanure" and "To Serve Man" were more standard. "K.B.K." is much fresher and much less boring than previous recordings.

TheMetalWeb.com: How did the artwork come about because it seems somewhat toned down from prior covers?

Travis Ryan: Well, it is pretty toned down. There's not a whole lot of gore on the record. I think it's a much more threatening album in terms of lyrics though, definitely. But, there's really not a lot of gore. To have an album cover that is gory for the sake of being gory really isn't our style. We have a much more functional approach to our record covers. The reason it's such a question now is because we've had so many problems in the past. I don't feel we've compromised anything. I got about five songs into the record and I realized there wasn't much gore in these lyrics. We've always been a gore band. It's not that we're past it, I've just got too many other things to talk about right now. It just so happens it is the most depressing and destructive outlook one could ever have, but doesn't translate into a gory album cover.

TheMetalWeb.com: As far as classifications go, CATTLE DECAPITATION is forever being labeled either a "metalcore" or "grindcore" band in the press. Though I've always felt that the band is so much more than either one thing, as you can clearly hear so many different influences within the music. Kind of like a big pot of soup with a whole bunch of ingredients instead of just one or two. (Laughs) Would you agree?

Travis Ryan: I've never heard of us being referred to as a "metalcore" band. I think people know better than that. If there is any "core" to us, it's from "grindcore" not "hardcore" like all metalcore bands are. I would resent that comment entirely actually. That music is a stagnant pain in the ass. I pretty much hate it. So, with that out of the way, I'd say we have more in common with grindcore and death metal than anything. "K.B.K." has a lot of black elements to it, which is kind of weird, but it happened. So, it's safe to say we're a big pot of soup with all sorts of ingredients, but it's really good soup. Made with herbs and spices straight from mother's garden. We start with the finest vegetables.

Read the entire interview at TheMetalWeb.com.