Chad Bowar: How has your sound progressed from Crucifire to Into Abaddon?
Scott Batiste:We've become better players and songwriters. The new songs are more developed, but still raw and heavy like before
You have a new label in Kemado. How did you decide on them?
They just seemed the right fit. They understand what we're doing and what we want to do.
What's the significance of the title Into Abaddon?
It's a narrative of our collective minds descent into the abyss.
What are your expectations for the album?
Hopefully people will dig it, listen to it very loud and come see us play some time
How did you decide on Joe Barresi to produce?
The Kemado people knew him and suggested we check him out. We started talking on the phone and I realized he would be perfect. He didn't want to have the responsibility of fixing our songs. He wanted to take our already arranged and already good songs and make them sound insane!
How was he to work with?
Awesome. He blew our minds every day.
Did the instability and chaos in the band members lives help or hinder the songwriting on the album?
It definitely helped some of us. I kind of thrive on those conditions.
Is it true that all songs are first written on bass? If so, why?
Yes it’s true. I write the initial riffs with heavily distorted bass. I figure that, for us at least, if sounds good like that, it will sound good when we all play the riff together. Then we build from there and everyone adds their own thing,
Are the versions of “Cavern Of Mind” and “Raging Embers” the same as on the EP?
The EP versions are demos, not recorded with Barresi, but they are arranged about the same. There's a few changes.
You're hitting the road with High On Fire and A Life Once Lost in January. What are your tour plans after that?
Three days after HOF ends we do dates with Fu Manchu, go to South By Southwest, go to the UK with The Sword, then Europe with Black Cobra. Pretty much nonstop til summer at this point.
What's the strangest item in your tour rider?
Nothing too weird: whiskey, tequila, beer.
What are the largest and smallest crowds you've played in front of?
Biggest was with Mastodon at the London Forum, smallest some bar somewhere playing to the bartender.
Any tour horror stories?
We have blown the power at a lot of smaller clubs. Our first tour we blew the power at approximately 25% of the dates. Also, icy highways are a bummer. and people getting hit by cars.
What bands did you have the best time touring with?
Mastodon, The Sword, Witchcraft, Earthless, Doomriders and lots of other bros have been awesome to tour with. We generally have a killer time on tour.
What's your single all-time favorite metal album?
That's a rough one. Speaking for myself I'll say Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath or Metallica = Master Of Puppets.
What's the metal scene like in the Bay Area these days?
It’s cool. There's a bunch of killer bands, established and new.
Who are your heroes (either personal or musical)?
Cliff Burton, Lemmy Kilmister, Geezer Butler, Phil Rudd, John Bonham, Bill Ward, Keith Moon.
What are the best and worst things about being in a band?
I've always played music, so its killer to go out and tour and do it. It’s all I know really. The downside is that sometimes it’s like having three terrible girlfriends. Usually we all have a good time together though.
What CD do you own that people might be surprised about?
Nothing surprises me. I like a lot of obscure weirdo stuff.
