Ricocheting throughout the gelatinous swamps of modern, hyper-energetic and surgical gore-fixated American Death Metal is a wicked quartet hailing from San Francisco. Having first emerged from their musical abomination birthing sac in 2014, Cartilage is one freakish band that deserves the watchful ears of every lover of true extreme Metal high-violence. Renowned for a uniquely theatrical and explosively dynamic sound, Cartilage are a take-no-prisoners / give-no-fucks outfit. The band are purveyors of consistently unique songwriting and uber-skillful performance chops. These maniacal masters have their third studio album ‘Operating Altar’, waiting within their medical theatre for a September 11th release. I caught up Adam, the drummer of this modern US Death Grind anomaly to discuss their brilliant approach to bloodied musical absurdity.
Thanks for taking the time to conduct this interview with us here at VM-Underground. Would you mind kicking things off by telling us a little about the origins of Cartilage?
Thanks for having us on your Zine! Cartilage began in 2014 with the core members of Mike Flory, Adam Houmam, Mark Wallace, and Ria Flory. We started the band to create something similar in vein as Carcass, with influences of gore like Exhumed, Impaled, and Impetigo.
The band employs such a theatrical and narratively-driven sound and it makes your music really engaging. How did this aspect come to be such a key element to the Cartilage sound?
We are all huge fans of King Diamond and concept albums, so naturally we thought maybe it was time for us to do our first concept album after a few releases. The theatrics of “Operating Altar” include passages and voice samples to heighten the listening experience for fans.
The singles you have already released for your album ‘Operating Altar’ are fantastic. I sense that the album is going to be quite a conceptual experience. How did the band manage the creative process of this new record compared to your previous material?
Glad you are digging the singles so far! Definitely a conceptual record. The storyline for this record came about from a nightmare one of the band members had, and from that became a detailed horror concept for this album. Musically, we wanted to push the BPM faster on this record than any previous release we’ve done before. Also hints of brutal death metal scattered around, as we are huge fans in that realm.
Anybody who has listened to your music will know that you people are a collective of seriously skilled musicians. Could you tell us a bit more about the backgrounds of your band members musically?
Thank you! Mike graduated with a degree in music and is a guitar teacher. Adam is a self taught drummer, and is a drum teacher. Ria and Mark come from a musical household where both of their parents played and sang music all through their childhood.
San Francisco is a great city with a lot of great musical heritage. Are there any bands from your city or nearby that you think our listeners should be paying attention to?
Absolutely! Laceration, Cobweb, Burning Palace, S.C.R.A.M., Deathgrave, Logistic Slaughter, and Frolic are some great ones to start with.
And lastly, a customary fun question for my interviews! If Cartilage were to play a show with any three other bands / artists in existence, who else would be on the bill with you?
Hmmm. I think something along the lines of Gorerotted, Iron Maiden, and Carcass haha.
That would be a next level event, Iron Maiden accompanied by some genuinely fierce opening acts would go down a treat! Thanks again for taking part in this article with us.
