You Can't HANDLE the Wrath!
by Rinaldo Dorman



Below San Diego's brittle pop punk and indie rock exoskeleton, a shadow scene exists, scarier than Dick Cheney and all the evils of Enron at his command. Serving as the movement's head cretins are the four lads of Cattle Decapitation -- brutal death/grind metallers with lyrics that are gory with a capital O. Melodramatic, you scoff. Musical D&D for pale, skinny teens with acne and no ass? The lyrics of songs like "Cannibalism for Extreme Vegetarianism" should paint such pretty pictures. The song is typical -- a blood-drenched statement of Cattle Decapitation's personal politics. The dark, ironic humor is obviously meant to gross you out ? but in the name of Militant Vegetarianism? Decapitation's vocalist, Travis Ryan, agrees the tactics are shocking and extreme, but he stops short of calling vegetarianism an agenda. "Yeah, we're all vegetarians, but we're not gonna enforce it," Ryan says. "Carcass did that -- they threw in those ideas, things [that would make] you sick. With us, lyrics [focus on] everyday occurrences, shit that you don't think about that's really disgusting. "One of them is eating meat." Carcass ? the first of death/grind metal's merry movement of musical gore ? may be one of Decapitation's obvious influences, but "we're not going to be called Carcass clones," says Ryan. Of course, in a micro-genre where fans are truly fanatics, such grumblings can be about as tactful as a pack of pro wrestling fans full of cheap beer and great crank. But guitarist Josh Elmore stands firm. "I don't think it's accurate at all," he says. "[Those people] just aren't listening," adds Ryan. "You write the gory lyrics, put a little bit of textbook terminology in there and dual vocals, and all of a sudden you're a Carcass clone. People don't pay attention to the music, they just [listen to] the aesthetics." Clones or not, these bovine-loving boys have bigger tofu to fry. Namely, a record deal marianating with the genre's premiere label, Metal Blade. Then they're flying to Florida to record their next album. And judging by the light-hearted joke in the working title for their debut album, maybe the Dark Lords of Vegetable Matters see a little sunshine on their horizon: It's a not so thinly veiled reference to "The Twilight Zone" episode, entitled To Serve Man. "With this kind of label, we have access to a broader spectrum, I guess," Ryan says. "So we decided we wanted Erik Rutan, who [produced] Morbid Angle." "[Rutan's] was just kind of a name we threw out there as an ideal," adds Elmore. "And to see one's actual ideal… that's really cool." Metal Blade, in an encouraging move considering Decap's still unofficial status with the company, added the band's lo-fi track, "Regurgitation of Corpses," to the label's annual compilation. "The fact that [Metal Blade president] Mike Faley came down [from Simi Valley] to our practice space in San Diego… is very supportive. That's a long way to go just to check out a prospect." See Cattle Decapitation with Phobia, Fetus Eaters, and Gutrot on March 30 at the Che Cafe. Call 858-534-2311.