I've been advocating for CT black metal band Autolatry for awhile now. I've written about the band's past two releases, Of the Land and Native here on this website and it's been genuinely interesting to watch the band grow and develop their sound. I've known guitarist Dave Kaminsky for a long time now, so I figured as part of Underground Week, I'd chat with him for a bit to see what the band was up to!
Metal Injection: Hey man, thanks for checking in with us! What's the latest news with the band? Is a new album in the works?
Dave Kaminsky: There is actually a hell of a lot happening with Autolatry right now, although to this point the cards have been fairly close to the chest. We are indeed working on a new album, of which about 3/4 has been written and fully demoed out. We also recently completed the recording of a long 15-minute song which will appear on a split release with three of our favorite bands from New England. In addition I just moved back to our home town of Mansfield, Connecticut after four years away working in Florida to spend more energy on writing and recording with this band. My return means we can finally book regional and local shows with higher frequency as well as turn out more music in a timely fashion. And in lineup news we made this announcement back in the spring of this year, but our original vocalist Karl is no longer with the band, and vocals will be a platoon effort on the new recordings. There wasn't any bad blood with Karl, but after the tour with Obisidan Tongue last year all of us felt the pulled in different directions musically.
How is the material you're working on now different from Native?
Let me first say that we are more excited for the world to hear what we are working on currently than any other musical output of mine, ever. I know every band says their new album is the latest and greatest, but there is a clear departure in the band's direction even from that of Native, and I think it is nothing but a good thing. With Karl no longer with us I think we have more options in terms of vocal styles and delivery – a variety of which are being utilized on the new record. Musically we are moving away from being rooted in black metal at all, and I have been focused solely on writing heavy, heartfelt songs that affect you to your core. When writing Native, I felt compelled to maintain elements of what is being called American black metal today, which ended up feeling quite restricting. After a shakeup to the lineup, a geographic move for me, and a lot of time to think on how this band needs to evolve, we determined together that there shouldn't be any walls to write around. Lyrically, this new album is going to be the first output of ours not to utilize a concept or storyline, which was also very freeing. So far all lyrics are drawn from poetry Matt and I have written over the last year, offering a very personal view into what the songs in the collection mean to us. I think for the first time ever, we have a chance to capture the essence of the band in such a way that it will still be an accurate representation of what we do years down the line.
How would you distinguish each of your albums, including The Hill?
When we started this band, it was more of just a fun hobby than anything else. It went literally something like "hey, let's write some black metal songs today" while at rehearsal for another band of ours. So while The Hill isn't exactly a mature sounding album, it has some endearing qualities due to the lighthearted and almost joking nature we had while writing and recording it. To me the Of The Land EP, albeit short, was a cool way to transition the band into legitimacy. We got a little more serious about songwriting, and started to believe we might have a band to continue forward with. With "Native", I wanted to expand on our EP's sound but with a darker overall tone to the record, and with even more progressivisms. Out of the three releases I'm most proud of "Native", but I don't believe any of the three have managed to capture the true essence of what the band is (at least now) – which is why I'm so excited for the chance to make the next album!
A lot of people like me from southwestern Connecticut tend to forget your part of the state even exists. Which is funny since you guys actually have a unique culture where ours is just an extension of NYC. What is it about eastern CT that inspires you guys to write about its history?
Most people totally don't immediately think of our little corner in Northeastern Connecticut when discussing New England. I think it comes down to us wanting to memorialize this oft-forgotten little place that we grew up in. Outside of driving out of town to a show or something, there wasn't much to do in town and we ended up spending our time just enjoying the place around us. So really the woods, hills, rivers, and nature around us when the band formed played the biggest roles in each of our lives, and was our biggest personal influence in who we all were at that time. Autolatry will always be a vessel for expressing the focus of our lives, but as we move forward that focus has shifted off the natural surroundings of our home town, to more broad concepts of spiritual experiences, self-discovery, and general openness. It all comes back to not wanting to feel restricted within a lyrical concept or a musical theme.
What do you think of the current state of Black Metal? Do you think there is still room for bands to explore, purist critics be damned?
I am absolutely not a purist – none of us are – and I believe that music should evolve just as the people making it change over time. Enslaved, one of my favorite bands, is a perfect example of black metal gone prog. The way they successfully shifted from true-as-fuck-black metal to progressive rock/metal gradually over the course of their career has always been inspiring to me, especially since they've created beautiful and lasting music with every album along the way regardless of musical style. I was drawn to black metal in the first place because it felt like one of the most "blank slate" sub-genres of heavy music, where there is endless room to explore and try new things. Sometimes a band will try so many different things that they leave the genre classification that they started in, and to me that's totally okay; it's basically what we're doing with Autolatry! As for the current state of black metal, I think there are a lot of fantastic bands doing really impressive stuff right now. Our good friends Obsidian Tongue are making music that digs it's way into your soul and stays there. Bastard Sapling are doing a great job of expanding on true, no frills vintage black metal. Groups like Young And In The Way have provided a great bridge between the black metal aesthetic and pure, nihilistic, aural fury. There are tons of bands out there taking bits and pieces from the genre and melding it into something more, and I for one hope the evolution never ends.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKSK7b5S5yA[/youtube]
