Photo: Bill Batchalor
Extreme metal has been on an upswing in underground respect over the past few years – especially coming out of the pandemic. Bay Area act Laceration have been an active participant in taking their brand of death metal with savage thrash influences to next level ferocity. Their latest album I Erode contains ripping riffs, killer high speed to mid-paced transitions, and a level of technical expertise plus melodic twists that will remind many of artists like Demolition Hammer, Morgoth, and Suffocation. We reached out to vocalist/ guitarist Luke Cazares to learn more about the recent lineup change on drums, process behind the new record, what working with Exhumed’s Matt Harvey was like in the studio, memorable shows, thoughts on new label 20 Buck Spin, family / friend support in balance to band activities, as well as what’s on the horizon.
Dead Rhetoric: You secured a new drummer last year with Aerin Johnson, who also plays in Vile Rites and Scythe among others. What do you feel he adds to Laceration in terms of his personality and playing abilities compared to previous drummers?
Luke Cazares: Oh man. How long do we have? Because I could go on about this one. Not to throw any shade at any of our previous drummers, Aerin’s personality is so even keeled. Whether its on the road or rehearsal or writing, he’s super chill, he’s super open. His playing ability it’s unquestionably sick and precise. Those attributes just meld perfectly with all the members of the band. He’s also a guitar player, and a sick guitar player at that, so he understands the connection between a riff and a percussion element fusing together. You can’t ask for a better combination, better than someone that understands just their instrument and that’s all. As a writer, as a player, and as a human being, he’s the best, he’s great.
Dead Rhetoric: I Erode is the second full-length album for Laceration. What can you tell us regarding the songwriting and recording sessions for this set of material? And how do you view the differences, changes, or improvements that may have been made to set this record apart from your 2021 Demise effort?
Cazares: It’s almost similar, but also very different at the same time. In the past, when we wrote Demise, we were getting together routinely, writing, and then assembling. It’s the same way, myself I would have a riff or at the time when we were working on Demise it was primarily myself and Corey Toleu writing a majority of that material. Donnie also had a hand in writing for that too. We would assemble these riffs, get together and rehearse, and the chemistry was good. This time around, the chemistry all around is on another level. We were also playing extensively with this specific lineup while we were writing this new material. You got the marriage of actual live performances and execution as well as we are going to write new material in between practicing the set.
This time around too with Corey not in the band, it’s been primarily Donnie and I writing the material. It’s the same type of perfect blend, we are all like-minded when it comes to how we are configuring the material. If there is a riff that’s sick, it’s always brought to everybody – it’s never just this is the way it’s going to be. Laceration, we’ve never written like if somebody is stuck on something, it has to be that way. The riffs are plugged in organically, and we are able to compose around things. It just works perfectly, there are minimal issues when it comes to material. It was a meld of personnel and creation.
Dead Rhetoric: Are there any specific songs from the new record that you believe took on the greatest transformation from their initial development to what we end up hearing on the final product?
Cazares: Oh yeah. I would like to say lyrically it was the title track. I’ve never taken longer to write lyrics for a song. For some reason, I kept going back and forth with that one. What it was and what it ended up being took like four months. Getting the entire story put together. As far as musically, funny enough the track “Impaling Sorrow” was a completely different song. About two weeks before we went into the studio to track the album, there was just something about the song, and we also didn’t have a name for it. It didn’t vibe at all, it wasn’t cohesive, it didn’t feel like a finished track. I re-wrote that song at home, it’s a pretty short song, but I’d like to think it still packs a strong punch within its two minutes. Gets the point across really brutality. That will only work if you have something to back it up – I configured that track with a drum beat off of You Tube, some generic death metal blast at 200 BPM with a double bass, mid-tempo thing. It was enough of the meat and potatoes to get the point across. We were able to bang that out in one or two rehearsals two weeks prior to recording it. We all agreed on the final product, the composition just smoked the other track. We may keep some of those other riffs in another iteration in our back pocket, who knows.
Dead Rhetoric: What is it like to work with Matt Harvey from Exhumed as a producer? Where do you think his insights and skill sets helped shape things or cause the band to consider different aspects that made the final output that much stronger for the group?
Cazares: Matt is great. That whole situation, it worked out wonderfully. Obviously, we spent six or seven days more or less living with him almost, and you really get to know somebody when you are in close quarters like that. He was almost like a member of the band. We came in with the full intention of this is what we’ve got, so we had the pre-production stuff laid out. We were able to just handle business, track things, and not fuck around. We tracked that album in six days total. He lent his insight into layering some vocal stuff or holding a vocal pattern here. He’s a guitar player and vocalist like me, and some vocalist / guitar players can just sing and play over anything. I can’t, so how I write a riff is definitely thought about if it’s going to have lyrics over it or is this not. If it’s going to have lyrics over it, nine times out of ten I have to write it in order to be able to play and sing at the same time. There were situations where he would work with me to try things like this, and it worked out really well.
He lent some advice as far as the lead work to Donnie. Basic effects, layering, stuff like that. We came in there with our (songs) already put together, so he didn’t have to manipulate too much which was great. We did our own thing. What worked, worked – certain areas he would tell us to hold things a little bit longer, put a harmony here. Stuff like that was a good idea. Something you don’t hear because you get stuck potentially on the time schedule, trying to get things done, and you don’t think of those things, so having his input was great. He was so easy to work with, accommodating, funny dude. He is the man, Matt rules for sure.
Dead Rhetoric: James Bousema handled the cover art for I Erode. What have you enjoyed most about his approach and what he was able to provide for Laceration on this piece?
Cazares: His approach was great. I had a concept in mind, gave him… it’s one thing to describe something that you want drawn out. Essentially what was in my mind and what we all talked about as being really cool, and it would showcase the format and landscape for which the concept is surrounded by, based on more or less a paragraph of the explanation and the concept behind the title. His first rough sketch was it. The final product which you have with the cover art, there was minimal going back and forth. Working with him was great – he was super willing to take our input, little changes here and there. He knocked it out of the park. As far as communication too, going back and forth, he was on point. He nailed the concept, absolutely incredible.
Dead Rhetoric: You are now a part of the 20 Buck Spin roster. How did the opportunity come up to sign with the label, and how do you believe they will help improve the profile of the band as they seem to have a very strong roster of artists plus a healthy understanding of how to promote their bands, no matter what styles?
Cazares: Yeah, absolutely. We’ve all been fans of the label from the outside looking in for many years. We are always in the know as far as what’s coming out. In 2021, we happened to be filming a guitar playthrough for the track “Verbal Expiration” off the Demise album. When we were done, we saw an end of the year non-affiliated bands favorite list. And Laceration was on this list, and that was crazy. You just never know who likes your (album), you know? An entity that we fully support, from the outside looking in, we saw that they liked us. Here is a good opportunity to go about the demo submission – they do have a policy on that. We had a new track, and it gave us more reason to do pre-production on it.
I have to rewind. Beyond that, we did a magazine cassette release for Noxious Ruin. They do a compilation tape, all new tracks or unreleased tracks. That was a reason to demo that track. We used that track to send to the label and went from there. The rest is history. Being a part of this label, like-minded individuals with bands on the same level. We are all doing this shit – no matter what level a band is on, you go on stage and do your thing. There is no difference of who has more followers, we are all playing a show and trying to gain a following. A great label, and a bigger platform to spread out brutality to the outer reaches it may not have gotten to otherwise.
Dead Rhetoric: How would you describe Laceration when it comes to your live performances versus what people hear from your studio records? And what have been some of the more memorable or standout performances the group has done to date?
Cazares: We like to think that somebody may see us live and they can forge their own opinion, but we try to be as aggressive as the music. It’s an intrinsic feeling, playing death metal and extreme music in general, if it doesn’t take over you, the adrenaline kicks in and you feel the riff. It goes to everybody that’s ever been a part of Laceration, when it’s time to get nasty, we get nasty as far as our stage presence. We go for the throat, just like the music, high energy and let it loose.
Some memorable performances. In 2022 we played Las Vegas the Monsters of Brutality festival where we shared the stage with Morpheus Descends and Skinless. That was crazy. Some of our most memorable shows have been our hometown shows. The Demise record release show, that was a spot that now is closed. Absolute uncontrolled energy. Same thing with some of those shows that followed over the year, into 2022. Full stage diving, circle pits the whole time. A crazy good environment any time we play. It could be ten people or two hundred, it doesn’t take much to get us excited. We are happy to play. Long Beach was exciting last year when we played with Fulci and other bands.
It’s also great when the sound is good too. Every band will say this, a great show is when you can actually hear everyone in the band. You don’t hear just one instrument; you hope you are on time.
Dead Rhetoric: What concerns do you have regarding the world that we are living in today? If you had the opportunity, finances, resources, and energy to tackle one or two issues that would serve the greatest good for all, what issues do you believe need to be addressed most?
Cazares: Oh, that’s a loaded one! Where do we start? Realistically, there are so many issues, it’s not necessarily new, but with so many different outlets, as far as media coverage and real news – issues with genocide happening in the world, get swept under the rug because someone put Dijon on their burger. Why is this being talked about when thousands of people are being murdered over land? I don’t know, it’s a tough one. Restructure the entire system, tear things all down, get back to farming on your own plot of land. Talking to your neighbors in the community, not necessarily living behind your phone. We need to dismantle the government; it starts with chaos for sure. There is no healthy way to go about it, it’s too engrained. The police state is definitely a problem.
Dead Rhetoric: How do the members balance out the musical activities and responsibilities while also maintaining jobs and family/relationships? Do you have the proper support from those closest to you when it comes to your musical endeavors?
Cazares: Our families are great. They’ve all been watching us do this for the better part of a couple of decades. Early on, there may have been an aspect of this being a phase, but from my parents and Donnie and Eli, they are brothers, the parents are at every local show we play, giving support. It isn’t easy to balance work life and band life. You can play one-off shows, week-long tours, but once those start to stack up, you still have bills to pay, a job to hold together. There is only so much a job will put up with you unless they absolutely need you and they recognize that. I am fortunate to be in that position, so is everybody else in the band. We are in a unique position to balance it out. Long extensive endeavors will be handled accordingly as they can be, being away from the family is never fun. We are not going to stop. We all pull weight, help out with merch, gear, whatever it may be.
Dead Rhetoric: What’s on the agenda for anything related to Laceration as far as touring, promotion, festivals, etc. over the next twelve months or so?
Cazares: Next month we start to roll things (out). We will do the official record release show in our hometown of Santa Rosa – we will play the album in its entirety. August 10th, and at the end of the month we do a West Coast tour. Go down to Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, back into California, go up to Oregon and then back down. We will do that with our friends Molten from San Fransisco – a ripping band, those guys rule. Everything else I can’t say – we will have some cool stuff in the works for next year.