San Francisco deathgrind unit Cartilage celebrates a decade of gory extremity with their latest EP, Tales From The Entrails: A Necrology. We caught up with drummer Adam Houmam to discuss the band's evolution, creative process, and future plans.
1. Cartilage
has been delivering gory deathgrind for a decade now. Looking back, how has the
band evolved since its 'malformation' in 2014?
Adam
Houmam: Since our formation in 2014, we try to maintain that deathgrind sound
throughout all these years. With each release, we’ve been progressively going
towards faster/technical songs but still maintaining our gory vibe that we have
had since the early days.
2. Your
latest EP, Tales From The Entrails: A
Necrology, is said to be your most diverse and cinematic release yet. Can
you tell us more about the creative process behind this record?
Adam: The
writing for this EP remained similar to our previous releases, although this EP
has a lot more mid paced tempo songs than what we usually write. This allowed
for more room for the vocals and strings to breathe more.
3. Scott
Evans handled recording and mixing, while Leon del Muerte took care of
mastering. What impact did these collaborations have on the overall sound of
the EP?
Adam:
Having Scott Evans record and mix this EP helped give a natural yet punchy
punk/metal vibe that translates to this release. With Leon del Muerte as the
mastering engineer, he helped give it that nice grind touch that he is
experienced with. We couldn’t be happier with the result from these two.
4. The
band has shared stages with extreme metal icons like Exhumed and Gruesome. What
have been some of your most memorable live experiences so far?
Adam: The
shows we have shared with our buddies in Exhumed and Gruesome were always so
memorable, especially since our close grind uncle Matt Harvey is involved in
both of those bands. Another memorable live experience that we still talk about
is our 2019 Obscene Extreme Festival appearance in Czech Republic, truly the
grind capital of the world.
5. Your
lyrics and imagery lean heavily into the grotesque. Where do you draw
inspiration for your themes—horror films, medical textbooks, or something else
entirely?
Adam: The
gore imagery that we strive for comes from influence from our favorite bands
such as Exhumed, Carcass, Impetigo, etc. The art direction for this EP came
from tribute to classic horror films such as Tales from the Crypt, and in our case each song represents a
different haunting tale. For lyrical content, we based a couple songs off real
life experiences. One of them, “Frothed Vomit Slosh”, a song that’s about two
of the band members getting acid reflux at the same time!
6. What
was it like recording this EP at home base instead of a traditional studio
setting? Did that change the dynamic or workflow for the band?
Adam: The
drums for this recording were actually tracked at Scott Evans’ Sharkbite
Studios. This helped get the best sounding natural drum production we could
achieve with his well treated room and mics. The rest of the EP was recorded in
our homes, and then sent back to Scott for mixing.
7. Deathgrind
is known for its intensity, but Tales
From The Entrails seems to incorporate more nuanced elements like harmonies and set-piece
moments. What drove you to expand your sonic palette?
Adam: We
naturally steered towards more of a mid paced writing style for this EP, where
as in the past we have shown more of our faster writing styles. The last two
releases were pretty fast and in your face style writing, so we wanted to try
something different without changing our formula.
8. You’ve
worked with Creator-Destructor Records and now Everlasting Spew. How has your
relationship with labels shaped the band's journey?
Adam:
Creator-Destuctor helped us out a lot in gaining more exposure for our second
full length album The Deader the Better.
We decided to go with Everlasting Spew for this release, especially noticing
their vast catalog with grindcore and death metal in their roster.
9. With
the new EP dropping in March and a vinyl release coming later, what else can
fans expect from Cartilage in 2024? Any tour plans in the works?
Adam: Fans
can expect shows and tours to be announced very soon for March and April!
Looking to fill out this year with more.
10. If
you had to describe Tales From The
Entrails: A Necrology in three words to someone unfamiliar with Cartilage,
what would they be?
Adam: GROSS
HONEST GRIND!
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