INERTIA – BUFFALO, NY TECHNICAL DEATH METAL
Photo: MP
Inertia are an incredible progressive, technical death metal band from Buffalo, NY. They have received national attention on multiple occasions and are revered as one of the most talented, technically savvy metal bands in the area. Before 2023 is out, the band promises to release the long-awaited followup to 2018's Teratoma, entitled The Human Element. There may or may not be a single dropping even sooner too! ...But for now, let's just get into the interview:
Coming off the back of 2018's Teratoma, people in Buffalo especially were wondering if the next record was ever going to come out. Talk about the road taken to reach the release of The Human Element.
Directly after the release of Teratoma, we put a big focus on playing shows outside of Buffalo and were lucky enough to go out on the road with former local band called Sleepers and a NJ based band Viridian in the fall of 2019. That whole experience really solidified for us the importance of playing for a new audience and just the overall bond you create while on the road. When we came back from that we felt inspired and ready to get the ball rolling on some fresh musical ideas. It was also right around this time that our bassist Gus Joined the band and played his first show with us about a week after we returned from tour opening for The Number 12 Looks Like You in Buffalo. Shortly after that I recorded scratch tracks for two of our more "experimental songs" on the new album and then the pandemic hit. As for everyone, Covid really set us back from getting together as a unit, so we took that time to keep writing and fleshing out ideas on our own. When it was safe to be in our practice space again, we essentially would go back and forth between rehearsing different sets and hashing out new material. In a way, the pandemic forced us not to rush anything and we all agreed that if we're going to create these new batch of songs the way we want them to sound then we might as well give them the proper time which has led us to where we are now. We also hit the road with Wasted Space and did a variety of shows after the pandemic that inevitably got in the way of our progress, so it got to a point where we thought it best to take a break from shows and dedicate all we have to The Human Element.
Walk us through the recording process, and even the writing process depending on how long you'd like to rant for.
We largely took the same process as Teratoma for the new album. I come in with fully formed songs, guitar only, and I record rough tracks of these. Everyone else in the band then comes up with their own ideas and we work on them together in person. Once everything is added to the rough recording, we'll let it settle in some more and see what vibes with us and what doesn't. It's that very molding process that helps define our music with dynamics, textures, and overall song structure. I think what makes the process leading up to recording so much fun is that once another element is added it may result in adding or switching up another person's initial musical idea.
Recording for this album, as with all our previous material, is done ourselves specifically by our drummer Doug. We/re truly lucky to have Doug, the amount of work he puts into not only his craft, but the recording process is something that words can't describe. Having Doug at the helm allows us to truly let these songs grow even further throughout the recording process in that we aren't under the pressures of allotted studio time and can give proper critique to each other for the cleanest takes possible.
The recording process begins with guitars and once this is done, we move onto bass which is followed by drums, and vocals. Once all of that is completed, we add some little "flourishes" for textural purposes with synth and/or different percussive instruments.
In what ways have you guys challenged yourselves or outdone yourselves when writing the follow-up to Teratoma?
This is a great question and one that is a challenge putting into words, however, we feel that once this is released everyone will hear our signature sound but in very new and creative ways. We wanted to compose something wholly new but build upon what makes us "us". Essentially, how can we become more refined, structured, and memorable all while making people feel. Tech-death gets quite a bit of critique for being emotionless and stale, but we are constantly challenging ourselves in hopes of changing such descriptions. I'd say overall, this entire album is much more demanding to play than Teratoma but more refined, melodic, and heavy than anything we've ever written.
Earlier in passing, you (Kahlil) mentioned that Gus has been writing his own bass parts. What's it been like not having to come up with the bass lines yourself, or program those backing tracks for the live show?
Having Gus in Inertia has been both incredible and inspiring. I was happy with the bass lines that I wrote for all of our previous material, I'm by no means a bassist but I always attempted to think from a bassist's perspective when writing those parts. However, there is absolutely no way possible I could even come remotely close to what Gus has written on bass for this new album and that's because he is a true musical genius on bass. Not only does he come up with the most tasteful/creative bass parts, but he has a sophisticated and unique musical mind in general that has added to the band in ways we never thought possible. There are several instances on the album where he would lay down a bass line or solo and Doug and I would change what we were doing entirely so we could center around him or add something better than what we were previously doing.
Not having to work on bass myself allowed me more time to work on my own craft and cutting out bass backing tracks entirely from our live set has helped shape our sound into something more organic and natural. We'll forever be grateful that Gus joined our band and even more so has become the truest of homies.
You (Kahlil) also mentioned that Gus created the artwork for The Human Element. Tell us about the thought process that went into it and what the meaning is.
Gus is a creative machine, same with Steve, our vocalist. They both dabble in the visual arts quite a bit. Gus made some sculptures; I think with the intention of using them for Inertia in some way. Steve saw one of the images he created, and it sparked something in his brain. That's the thing about him, once he's inspired, he can weave a whole web around that idea, always with a purpose that fits well with the vibe we try to create. Steve is responsible for pretty much all of Inertia's visual presentation and style and I know he's thrilled to have Gus involved specifically because he's also so visually oriented; the two of them can make some crazy cool shit when they combine forces. The artwork for The Human Element was all Gus in execution. As far as the meaning, you'll have to ask Steve. He generally likes ideas with more than one meaning or interpretation; esoteric stuff like that. I do know he had a few ideas for the album title and Gus's art solidified that one specific idea.
Tell us about the first single, keeping in mind that it will probably be live by the time this interview is released.
The first single is "Pink Mist". We feel it pretty well encompasses our sound into a bitesize tune. It also has a central "riff" which is not something much of our tunes have, so that also lends itself to being a single. The song name was the working title that stuck, and I know the title comes from when someone is shot in the head, pink mist is a way to describe the blood spray when that happens. As far as the lyrical content and meaning, you'll have to ask Steve. Whenever we play it live, he says it's about "dating in your 30's." That's really as deep as I can get about it on my own. We are definitely stoked to share it with the world.
I remember a lot of progressive "breakdowns" in your music in years past, reminiscent of Into the Moat for example. Do you feel like your subtle core elements still shine through on this new album, or have you guys been going in an even more technical direction and phasing that stuff out?
The subtle core elements still shine through very much on this album but at the same time, we have gone in a more technical direction. We don't ever go into the writing process thinking we must have a breakdown here and there but if it fits, we're always going to do it. If breakdowns are done in a tasteful way, we never see anything wrong with them and they work for what we want to do. Bands that we adore like Into the Moat and Beneath the Massacre are shining examples of how to properly structure progressive breakdowns. If I'm being honest, playing a sophisticated breakdown can at times be much harder than a blast beat sweeping/tapping part, especially rhythmically.
Talk about some newer (within the past decade) death metal or technical death metal bands you guys spend a lot of time listening to or at least have in common.
The new Zenith Passage album "Datalysium" album is top tier, we listen to that on the regular. Also high on our list is the new Wormhole album "Almost Human" which is probably the most unique take on slam that's ever been done. Some other stuff that we've all been listening to across genres is the new Wasted Space, Explosions in the Sky, Night Verses, Slowdive, and Thundercat.
This probably goes without saying but we're still all obsessed with the newest Beneath the Massacre album "Fearmonger".
Have your new songs influenced changes in your live show in any way?
Well because of Gus and the way we wrote this new batch of songs there will be hardly any backing tracks whatsoever other than possibly one or two very small parts where the sound will suffice from having a textural layer to it that we may not be able to add ourselves. The new songs have made us all better at our craft, so I think when we hit the stage next you'll hear a tighter improved sound by each of us.
Do you have any plans for music videos or other content related to the new record on the way?
There's always ideas brewing. Time, finances, life, etc all determine whether they'll see the light of day. Steve and Gus have a billion ideas on the burner, I'm sure. There will definitely be another music video or two. At the time of writing this, we're all just hyper fixated on getting the record wrapped up and preparing for its release. It's tough to say what'll happen beyond that but rest assured, there will be more to come.
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