Human Filleted
Wywiad przeprowadził Wouter Roemers
In Indiana, the midwestern region of the United States of America, there is not much an extreme metal underground to speak of. Against seemingly impossible odds Kyle Christman has been putting out numerous projects in the death metal and goregrind genres. One of these numerous projects is Human Filleted, an impressive old school US death metal venture that harkens back to the early records of Dying Fetus, Fleshgrind, Gorgasm and Mortal Decay. Masterful Magazine recently was able to have a short chat with Human Filleted vocalist/guitarist Kyle Christman resulting in the following pleasant conversation about the band, his many projects, the scene in Indiana and death metal in general.
First off, I'd like to thank you for taking time to speak with me today. Congratulations for releasing such a great first album! How are things going now? Are you receiving a good response from the fans and international metal press?
So far it's been pretty good, actually. I didn't know what to expect of peoples' thoughts, but all in all I think people are digging what we are doing.
At which point in time did you make the decision to form the Human Filleted concept and how did things develop from there?
It started with a bunch of weed smoking with our buddy Kevin [Baum] (now drummer) and went from there. It was for fun at first... Get high and jam. He had a band already (Feast of Herod) and so did me and Ryan [Saylor] (Eviscerate) - but eventually it just got more serious.
How long was the process of putting the album together, as far as writing the music, the concept and arrangements is concerned?
I would say the songs evolved over about a year or so for the album... Some of which we still were arranging vocals for while in the studio.
What about conceptuality? Is the overall lyrical slant you've adopted on "Hideous Sculptures Of the Dead" any different from your other projects? Please explain the overall concept behind this latest release.
Well, I guess you could say they are slightly different, but never swaying far from the brutal death genre of lyrics. Some of the songs are to the point hack-slash-kill... Others have more of a story behind them. But once we wrote the lyrics for "Hideous Sculptures of the Dead" we all agreed that would be the album title, after I talked about the cover concept.
Staying with the new album, what was your intention when you began writing "Hideous Sculptures Of the Dead" - did you have a preconceived idea of what you wanted the record to sound like and what you wanted it to achieve, or did that come about naturally?
We worked on it... I knew from the beginning I wanted a clear, but old school sounding production. Something like an early 90's deep, thick sound. "Effigy Of The Forgotten" etc. I think we pretty much got what we were going for.
"Hideous Sculptures Of the Dead" is a great full-on US death metal album on all aspects. Although, I must say, the significant lack of shredding leads/solos does leave a void. Why weren't there any leads/solos done?
We just never really sat and wrote them, and we just wanted to keep it simple... I mean I did some solos on Purulent Infection, and also do leads in Catatonic Atrocity. It was just hard to fit them, I think, in the end.
With the album finished and available worldwide, what do you regard as the most accomplished song in hindsight?
Really a hard one to pick for me... I like certain riffs in certain songs. All the way through I really like ‘Dissected In Thy House Of God' and ‘Entrail Extraction Procedure'.
Which bands have had a huge impact on your playing and writing?
Gorguts, Gorgasm, Mortal Decay, Paralysis - it's a never ending list. I take a little here and there from almost all death metal, but mainly old school.
The album also features some great cover art by the very popular Pär Olofsson. How was it working with him different than working with the artists for your projects? Did he manage to translate your ideas, themes and concepts to the canvas?
Oh yeah, he was great and efficient... Anytime I had another idea he was on it. Toshi was great too for Purulent Infection. I would work with either one of them again. I can't say enough, though, how happy we are with the way this cover turned out.
Crematorium Records is a relatively young and small label, I can't recall many releases from them. Tell us in a few words about its profile and your co-operation with them at this point. Are you satisfied with the promotion, distribution and support the label is able to offer this release?
Well, my other project was like the test run... It wasn't even going to ever be a serious project, but he wanted to sign me, so I said what the hell. Crematorium Records is great to work with. I foresee great things in its future, if he keeps going the way he has with us so far. Very good to work with.
You remain quite busy in the underground, seeing has how you are involved with 3 more death metal bands: Catatonic Atrocity, Found Gutted and Purulent Infection. Apparently, there's no rest for the wicked as you are constantly putting out something with any of these 4 bands. What's the secret behind your insatiable drive, hunger and motivation to keep doing all these death metal projects?
I wanted to play drums in a project which is why I did Purulent Infection. I also wanted to do an old school dedicated project, so we started Catatonic Atrocity. Also, my younger brother plays bass and wanted to start a project that was more slam death oriented, so we started Found Gutted. I just always have ideas flowing and some of them seem to require an entirely different band to capture the feel.
What are your views on the state of the death metal scene as it stands today? A few years ago it was really stagnating, but now it seems to be slowly on the way up. Would you agree?
Death metal, in my eyes, is getting bigger than ever. At least it's catching back up to the early 90's and it is more and more widely accepted... I agree fully.
What do you think make a good death metal song? Is it the speed, the groove, the extremity, the catchiness or something entirely different?
I would say a combination of all the things you just said. A little of each element. A song has to have some groove for me. But I love fast, extreme and catchy... I say combine all the elements and you can't go wrong.
What would you say set you apart from the majority of other death metal bands that are out there?
Well, I think that we have a lot of different things to offer in Human Filleted... A lot of bands are all speed, or all technical, or all old school or all slam. We try to put some of everything in it. Some speed, some melodies, some slam, some technical shit here and there... Plus we wanted to push the bass guitar out there too, which seems to be less done these days.
How is the death metal underground doing in the Lafayette, Indiana area? Are there any new bands you think should be mentioned?
There are no other death metal bands around our area, haha.
Are there any plans to take this material on the road, either in the US or mainland Europe?
Sure, when our bassist gets done serving his sentence!!!
What are you doing outside of the band? Any interesting jobs, studies, hobbies?
I work on the railroad and drag race and off-road for hobby.
Thanks for the interview! Good luck with all your future endeavours. Feel free to add anything you want to close this interview.
Thanks a lot man! I want to thank everyone who has supported Human Filleted and any of my other projects! Also look out for the Catatonic Atrocity album later this year with Vitaly cover art!!!! Keep it sick and always support the underground!
Info: www.crematoriumrecords.com
