As its name implies, Cattle Decapitation is a heavy band.
The San Diego death-metal quartet doesn’t make music for the faint of heart, the weak of stomach or the easily offended. Calling themselves “Humans for human annihilation,” the band writes macabre grindcore songs that spew hate and venom toward the human race in protest of the mistreatment of animals.
These vegetarians are surely the hardest band ever to be interviewed by PETA, and with album titles such as “Humanure,” “Human Jerky” and “Karma.Bloody.Karma” — their latest, featuring a levitating, six-armed, knife-wielding cow crouching in the lotus position — the band has drawn its fair share of controversy.
The Denver Post caught up with singer Travis Ryan to talk about the juxtaposition of his band’s obsession with gory images and their own vegetarianism — not to mention their “healthy” hatred of humanity.
Q:I’d just read that your record “Humanure” has been banned in certain places in the U.S. and overseas.
A:From what I’ve noticed from other bands like Carcass, Impaled and Cannibal Corpse, the term “banned” is used rather loosely. Basically, the only bands to ever have really been “banned” was Cannibal Corpse in Germany and Carcass in the UK. In our case, it was simply the German distributor that covers the European markets said “(expletive) that” when they saw our covers, knowing perfectly well from experience not to (expletive) around with a cover such as “To Serve Man” and “Humanure.” I understand their viewpoint. I guess it’s just that much harder for gory bands to function on this level that we’re dealing with. Our lyrics are 100,000 times more disturbing than any stupid album cover we could come up with. It affected sales of “Humanure,” because Best Buys and other large chains wouldn’t touch it.
Q:I’ve heard Cattle Decapitation referred to as anti-human. Can you talk about that?
A:Aren’t we all, when it comes down to it? Just kidding. Nobody bashes humanity as a whole. People like to talk about war and death, but nobody really speaks up for nature and the environment. Nuclear Assault did it back in the day. I was never into the whole hardcore scene mainly because I didn’t like the blatancy of the lyrics and the lack of artistic vision. The end result of our love of nature is the downfall of humanity. Especially since we’re doing it to ourselves. Anyway, people should be aware. Especially the average metalhead.
Q:Along those lines, has the Iraq war given you even more material?
A:No, not at all. That’s just a current event. War is part of human nature, has always been and always will. We attack the cause, not the symptoms.
Q:Calling music pro-vegetarian is bizarre, but your records are often labeled as such.
A:At first it was all for fun and continuing the themes that Carcass started. There’s really only so far you can go with the topic and have a band that actually can stand the test of time thematically and lyrically. I moved to a more anti-human approach as there’s a lot more avenues to explore. We kind of nailed the pro-veg message on our first three to four releases and have since started to investigate humanity and its destruction of nature.
Q:You’ve called “Karma.Bloody.Karma” your band’s most hateful outing. How did it become that?
A:We’d already nailed the veg message and just wanted to branch out, I guess. We endorse a more “healthy” hatred of humanity — a humbling hatred. It makes you a better person. More aware. Less ignorant. I’d use the term “human racist” if I could trust the general public to understand we’re not saying we hate any one given race. That’s just irresponsible and ignorant.
Q:And given that hate is such a real part of your music, how do you put yourself in the right mind-frame to play a show? Meditation? Whiskey?
A:I don’t do anything. I’m super high-strung. I’m not sure that I even know myself fully. I’m probably not the dude to be looking to for answers. Ha ha ha. I just like honesty. I pretty much look at everyone out there like, “If I only had a hand grenade, (expletive) ” Even some of our fans we just think are complete weirdos. Not all, but some.
Q:You guys tour a lot, and because your music is so intense, is it mentally taxing for you to perform so often? Or is it cathartic?
A:I turn 33 next month. Not sure how much longer I can hold out. It’s extremely taxing. That’s why these old death-metal bands are soooooooo incredibly boring live. They’re in the catharsis. I do however think my voice would go out before my body gives in. (But) it’s definitely not going to be heart disease or colon cancer as I don’t eat meat. Wink wink.
Cattle Decapitation
Grindcore. 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Marquis Theatre with Vader, Malevolent Creation, Abigail Williams, Light This City and Veil of Maya. $15-$17. .
Ricardo Baca: 303-954-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com
