“It’s Chaos, and it's Fucking Great!” - Diving Deeper into the Band Cave Bastard and Their Newest Album, Wrath of the Bastard

January 18th, 2022

(The entire audio recording of the interview, can be found at the bottom of the page)

Metalchondria:  This is Jason of Metalchondria, here with Cave Bastard, a pleasant surprise on the opening night of Cattle (Decapitation's) tour, here with Troy, Adolfo and Steve.  A pleasure!  Again, earlier, bummed that you won't be on the rest of the tour, but one performance is better than none!  Great crowd, I thought the fans resonated with the band, pretty greatly.  Tell me what you thought about the show tonight?

Troy Oftedal:  I think we had a great time tonight!  It was a good show, a good turnout, everyone seemed pretty fucking into it, everything, the whole night.

Adolfo Acuna:  Pretty god damn fun, I'll tell you that, man.  It's been a while, I haven't played the Brick (by Brick) with Cave Bastard, it was a good time, man.

Steve Pearce:  Yeah!  I thought overall the atmosphere was very positive, it seemed like was itching to get back to the Brick, and to see Cattle and this entire line-up tonight.  So overall, I thought it was a really good turnout, and it's just a really good vibe overall, it was a lot of fun.

Metalchondria:  San Diego, shows up.  Even being from Orange County, going to these shows, San Diego generally shows up, especially at this venue for sure.

Steve Pearce:  I can tell you going to shows here for you know, half my life, San Diego doesn't always have the best turnout, but, considering a Tuesday night for how packed this was, this was really awesome, really awesome!  And the San Diego fans that come out, are definitely the diehards, that's for sure.  Not for the casual fan.

Cave Bastard L-R: Sergio Carlos, Steve Pearce, Troy Oftedal, Adolfo Acuna

Metalchondria:  Literally hearing Cave Bastard, for the first time, started around 2014, two albums now or so, give or take.  Tell me about how the band started, and (just) a little introduction about it?

Troy Oftedal:  Honestly, it's started myself, Nick (Padron), he's the guitar player at the time, and it's like, "Hey!  You want to do something?"  "Ehhh, let's talk and do something, you know?"  We met up at a pizza place in Kensington area, Adams out here area, got some food, hung out, kind of turned it into what it was.  Trying to pressure Steve into doing vocals, he didn't want to, pressuring Adolfo to play guitar, eventually.

Steve Pearce:  I mean, as far as I know, these guys have that conversation, in what June 2014?  Is that right, Troy?

Troy Oftedal:  Yeah, so it was like May of 2014, when Nick and I actually got our shit together, and like, started writing shit.  He brought Chase (Ferguson) in, and I asked Sal to come play drums, and Sal was the drummer for Some Girls, and Secret Fun Club, he's done a lot of shit, Geronimo, whatever, it depends on what you're into.  But yeah, that's where we started.  And I hit Steve up, he was like, "I don't know, dude.  I like, I play Bass!"  You can do it!  You're fine, you can do it, you're fine!  You got this.

Steve Pearce: (laughs) Yeah, we kind of started something to do just for fun and stuff, it just kind of evolved into something much more serious.  Eventually, we got Adolfo to start jamming with us, in the summer of 2019, prepare mostly recording the last album, Wrath of the Bastard.     After two shows, we asked him, "Hey, you want to join full-time?"  He said, "Sure!"  So that was after our show at the Slidebar in Fullerton, yeah!

Metalchondria:  I've been there before, a number of times.  It's a good time.

Steve Pearce:  One of the owners, I think the guitar player from Lit?  Or one of those bands, yeah!

Metalchondria:  I think they have some connection, something like that.

Steve Pearce: (laughs)

Metalchondria:  So, hearing the music initially, when I hear the riffs, I mentioned earlier, hearing these interesting...when I say interesting, just really well-thought-out tremolo moments, these certain chords that I remember, hearing those in Humanure, mainly and a little bit in To Serve Man, that tells me, that's what Troy was doing and what you were, more or less writing, your style.

Troy Oftedal:  I mean, I guess.  A little bit, I guess, yeah.  This band is a little more forward than I guess those times, you know?  Still, it's very melodic, ahh man.  (pauses) on the spot, fuck!  Someone help me!  No, definitely all on the same lines, much more melodic and thought out, kind of staged, I guess.

Metalchondria:  How would you describe your writing style?  Do you start from bass to guitar?  Or write guitar--

Troy Oftedal:  Ohh dude, it's all over the fucking place.  Some riffs start on bass, some start on guitar.  Most finished with me, like finishing out on acoustic guitar, and then it goes to everyone else after that, and seeing how things fit.  And then, modifying it from there.  

Metalchondria:  Is there a reason writing all of those riffs and songs, that you stuck to bass?  Is there something, you ever tried to want to play guitar, venture out?  What's it about the bass that you stick with, even though you're writing here and there for both instruments?

Troy Oftedal:  Dude, honestly the bass, (pauses) I don't know, man.  To me, that's my instrument, where I feel at home.  The guitar comes later, and I'm not really great at it, but I can help get things across, same with drums.  I don't really understand it enough, but I'm learning to get to there, to communicate better.

Adolfo Acuna:  At least with this band, a lot of the guitar writing, the second album was about, it kind of had to be done.  He was writing the riffs; he was the songwriter.  It didn't matter what, some of the drums, some of the drum hits, some of the things that had to happen with the drums, you know?  The guitars, the bass, he's a bass player, but it's just how it happened.  But I can tell you now, moving forward, I mean, he's going to have a lot more help.

Troy Oftedal:  I mean, already going forward, an old song that didn't make the cut, and then moving on to new songs.  It's a much more collaborated effort, than it was before, yes.

Metalchondria: (To Adolfo) Did you record on the new album?

Adolfo Acuna:  Yes.

Metalchondria:  Did you write parts, or just record the music?

Adolfo Acuna:  I wrote the solos.

Metalchondria:  Okay!

Adolfo Acuna:  So, the guitar solos that are a little more, "note-ier", the shreddier solos, those are me.  There’re two solos that are not some of ours, those are the other dude, but I did this stuff (motioning technical soloing) deely-deely (laughs).  That was me, and some of the harmonies were my ideas, but like, basically a lot of those riffs were (points to Troy), those are all him.  There were just some parts that were like, "Hey, this needs a harmony."  I was like, "Alright, I'll figure it out."  And I did.

Metalchondria:  As a guitar player, hearing this style, I find it fascinating to learn, the little intricacies about this extreme music that we listen to.  As a guitar player recording the solos, hearing these parts and making melodies, how would you describe it?  And what do you do in your mind to know, what do you as a guitar player, to make sure you get the best out of his sound, and the band?  I'm guess I'm trying to word, what do you see in his music, in the riffs, that I guess, just channel.  A guitar player's point of view.

Adolfo Acuna:  So, do I match what he's doing, how do I make it happen?

Metalchondria:  Yeah!

Adolfo Acuna:  First of all, I ask (laughs).  Hey, so it's like trial and error.  Especially coming in, you know, I don't know, all of this stuff was written already, "Okay, so what do you want me to do here?"  It was a lot of that, how do you want to, what do you want to do, what do you want to do, what about here?  I have this, this idea, just ask him.  "Hey, is this cool?  No?  How about this?"

Troy Oftedal:  Free range.

Adolfo Acuna:  I had like, okay, so he had this one part, and maybe some parts he was like, "Hey, I'm hearing a harmony right here, what do you got?"  Well, I got fucking 3 or 4 ideas right here, motherfucker!  Like, what's up? 

(Troy laughs)

Adolfo Acuna: (laughs) Which one did you like, right?  So yeah, I was very flexible, I was trying to be as flexible as I could be for this, you know?  I didn't want to alter as much, as this is already written out.  I wanted to contribute, not so much, changing much, I was like okay, what am I doing?  Yeah man, so asking, trial and error, ideas from my background, what I like to do, and what do you think of this?  It worked out to what it worked out to be.

(Troy imitates Adolfo) "I like some of this!"

(Steve, Adolfo and I laugh)

Adolfo Acuna:  Exactly, some of this, this, no?  Okay, so keep going?  No?  What about this one?

Metalchondria:  Steve, with the lyrics and vocals, I presume you write all the lyrics?

Steve Pearce:  All the lyrics.

Metalchondria:  Is there any music contributions with the band, that either here and there, drum accents?  Using the vocals as an instrument, too?  Or is it straight singing only or--

Steve Pearce:  There's been at least a couple of things, where I might help with an arrangement, where I'll be listening to these guys working on a part.  I'll say, "Hey, how about you guys do "this"?  And that ended up sticking.  There's one part in the song "The Kreist", where it gets to that one part which is the guitar playing, in the (singing the riff) "Dun dunnnnn!"  I suggested that, like, "Hey, why don't we try doing this?"  Had to give it, a little more dynamic(s), a little more feel, and it seemed to work.  So, I pitch ideas here and there.  As far as the actual riff writing, I pretty much stay out of it.  On our first album, the opening riff of the first song, I actually wrote ("Throes of the Devourer").  But it was, not necessarily intended for the band, it was something I wrote years before.  I was like, "Hey, what do you guys think of this riff", you know?  But that was it, I had played bass in previous bands I was in, so I was familiar with learning riffs, and writing riffs, stuff like that.  

But for the most part, as far as like the music writing goes, the last album it was all Troy.  I threw some ideas out there for some of the arrangements, but besides that, I pretty much stay out of the whole music writing process, and focus on the lyrics and stuff.  Our old drummer, the drummer that recorded, he made sure to accent certain things, on the vocal patterns, the vocal parts, stuff like that.  So, I think that kind of help really, convey a lot of the emotion, and different feelings within the songs, stuff like that.

Metalchondria:  I see!  And I mention that because, I've noticed the past several years, with extreme music, the vocalist now isn't "just" singing, but they'll almost use their certain lyrics, or certain parts, as instruments.  They'll do the same thing as the drums.  Anata does that a lot, Archspire does it too, where the drums are (mimics a beat), and the vocals will do just that.  So, I think that vocals in general in Metal, in Extreme Metal, have played more of a role instead of singing right there in front, they're using the voice and the lyrics injunction with the instruments around.  At least with your experience as a singer, what do you try to keep in mind when they're playing their style of Death Metal?  When you're hearing it, what do you try to keep in mind as a frontman, as a vocalist, to extra heighten the musical notes, in there?

Steve Pearce:  Well, for one, when I write lyrics and when I try to figure out how the vocals are going to go.  I don't want to do something that's going to be like, very predictable, you know?  There are bands that have fallen victim to that.  And so, I try to do something where, yes, the vocals are their own instrument, along with the guitar, the bass, and the drums.  Where, it actually makes sense with all of the music, and it's like, okay, when it comes to song titles, does it make sense that this song is called this?  When you hear the song, is this the name that you're figuring out, you know?  Because obviously, when it comes to music, everyone of course has their own experience, but with us, it's like okay, where are we taking you with this?  What emotion do we want to convey?  And you know, a lot of people say, "Oh, Death Metal is just a bunch of, blast beats and gutturals, or whatever."  But it's like, no, we're telling a story, here.  And, you can feel different emotion, where you can feel triumph, you can feel sadness, you can be morose, you can, just sit there go, "Oh fuck, that fucking riff is sick as shit!"  Overall, when it comes to writing lyrics, and doing vocals over something that they've written it's like, what theme works best here?  And, where am I going to be able to fit this in, to where it doesn't sound cookie cutter, but it complements the rest of the instruments, just like the instruments will complement the vocals, you know?  That whole cyclical aspect.

Troy Oftedal:  Cyclical. Huh, yeah!  (laughs)

Metalchondria:  The vocalist is surrounded by the colours within the music, and the sounds.  That's going to shape, how you sing, how you growl, how you're on stage, how you attack certain instrument parts, and everything.  So, it's something I think that vocalists in Extreme Death Metal now, don't get the credit they deserve.  Considering, that we continue to, the genre continues to evolve, constantly and constantly.  And I think, that's something that should be more noted, and other bands should take note of that.  Don't be just the person, that's just upfront.  Your voice can do so much with the music, too.

Troy Oftedal:  It's a whole other instrument in the music, it really is.  How Steve does it, he's the frontman, he's got this voice, but he has these screams and these parts that are like, they fit, and they're not there, the rest of it doesn't have that same substance that it should, you know?  It's that other instrument that needs to be there, it really is, you know?  For sure.

Steve Pearce:  I think that's something unique, very unique to Extreme music.  Whether it's Black Metal, Death Metal, whatever, is the fact that vocalists in those genres are able to manipulate their voice in such a way, that it goes beyond what we would call conventional music, you know?  Don't get me wrong, singers in other type of music, that's also an added instrument, too.  I mean, you listen to Mariah Carey, holy shit!  Her highs are insane!  It's insane!  I mean, no one else can do that!

(I saw Mariah Carey in Las Vegas, in 2018, she was excellent!)

Metalchondria:  She's incredible.  On "Emotions", those highs, I have Metal friends who are, I just tell them, "Hear her voice, trust me."  They're like, "Holy shit!"

Troy Oftedal:  I don't know, dude, Nitro?  I don't know, Jim Gillette dude, he can break fucking crystal, with his voice!  What the fuck!

Steve Pearce:  Talking about that, if everything, all vocalists, singers in all genres, understand like:  look, your voice is not separate from everything else.  It's an instrument added to the entire ensemble, to the entire orchestra, so to speak.  And that plays its own part, and it's able to have its own story, within the mix of everything else, you know?  As far as Extreme music goes, what we do, is voice manipulation, not necessarily singing, but voice manipulation.  So, we're able to create and do different sounds, outside of conventional music, that really can complement a song, and the other instruments as well.

Metalchondria:  And, to that point about Extreme, at least for me, hearing those initial notes from the band, that's what came to my mind.  Bands like, if you guys maybe have heard or been around:  Anata, Augury, Beyond Creation, maudlin of the Well, Lykathea Aflame, those, Deathspell Omega, Ulcerate, that very, just different, dissonant.  There are maybe no choruses, maybe there's 12 riffs, the songs don't follow the typical structures of chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-solo-done.  And, I'm just fascinated learning more and trying to talk, like Gorguts too, those kinds of bands.  Seems that you kind of understand, what they're attempting to do, playing the instruments and what it's like.  Any of those bands that I mentioned, if you know they are, can you tell me, anything with those bands that you can at least...When you hear Deathspell Omega, when you hear Ulcerate, when you hear that kind of style, it's still sometimes difficult in a good way, it's difficult to describe what they do.  And I'm still ever learning, figuring out what that is.  I think Cave Bastard, some of those sounds, notes, where the placements are, remind me of those type, and that's a type of Metal I feel is, severely underrated.

Troy Oftedal:  I don't know what to say about that.  That's awesome.  Hearing that with Ulcerate, to me, like something like Zhrine, it's in the same vein, I guess.  (pauses) I don't know where I was going to go with that.

Metalchondria:  I was told, someone said they don't follow rules, in terms of how they write.  It's not just random, but they literally make their own kind of rules, that their instruments are just, it's not just a "happy chord or sad chord", they literally take complete advantage of the instrument, and I'm just trying to figure out that "code", more and more.

Troy Oftedal:  It's the, what fits, not only for us, but what sounds right, I guess no matter what.  The writing, you know?  I don't know, it's how it's going to progress a mood, and everything before then, and after that, will fit.

Adolfo Acuna:  I mean, a lot of what you were describing, sounds a lot like Prog.

Metalchondria:  There's a little bit of Prog in there, a little bit, yeah.

Adolfo Acuna:  A lot of that is.

Metalchondria:  It's like Extreme Progressive.

Adolfo Acuna:  It's not all about messing with time signatures, a lot of it is, this album is a concept album, it's got some weird shit in it.  (laughs) I ain't going to lie, it's got some, yeah.  A lot of what this is, help me.

(Everyone laughs)

Metalchondria:  I like to ask these really intense questions, because I think they matter, you know?

Adolfo Acuna:  I was hoping you would ask awesome questions.

Metalchondria:  Thank you!  (honoured)

Adolfo Acuna:  You're asking great questions.

Metalchondria:  Thank you!

Adolfo Acuna:  Thank you for asking awesome questions.

Metalchondria:  It's what it's all about!

Adolfo Acuna:  Yeah, when you were asking before, it just sounds a lot alike, like the kind of Prog sound, it's very like, the harmonies, what you were saying like the chorus-verse-chorus, that traditional kind of shit.  That's what it is!  Yeah, we're not going to do that, we're going to take a thing, and we're going to evolve it in a way that you're not going to expect.  We're going to take a riff, twist it, develop a riff.

Troy Oftedal:  What sounds right.

Adolfo Acuna:  We're gonna play a riff, that's going to be a verse, and then you're going to get another verse, and guess what, motherfucker?  You're not going to get it in the same way, you're going to get it different!  That's kind of like, what I was going for, and hopefully moving forward, it's going to get a little weird.

Troy Oftedal:  It's already getting a little weird.  We took an old song, and we've been kind of rewriting it.  And yeah, it's getting weird and getting the right way.  It's like sitting in the right pocket between one record to the other.

Adolfo Acuna:  Using very different harmonies, and like you said, not your traditional harmonies, like, "Oh, I know where this chord is going."  No, you don't!  No, you don't, motherfucker!  That's what you're going to get right now. (laughs)

Metalchondria:  And, talking about that as well, with how you write, this kind of style, if there's standard Punk/Thrash band, "Let's write a Punk riff!  Let's write a Thrash riff!"  This kind of music, I don't believe writing, doesn't work that way.  So, how do you personally see either life, emotions, colours in general?  How does this stuff, come out exactly?  Is it positive, you bring it out when you're negative?  How do you write this stuff, I guess is what I'm trying to...it's kind of redundant, but...?

Troy Oftedal:  So, speaking of like, Wrath of the Bastard, that album, that was honestly written out a lot of turmoil, and it was pretty hectic, and fucked up, and I don't know, it was rough.  But that all played a part somehow, and then also on top of that, reutilizing things that are, that we've already done before.  I don't know, dude...a lot of those riffs, a lot of that stuff came from, well, kind of that.  You know that, that angsty bullshit, or whatever you want to call it, right?  So, I feel like it's Papa Roach.  I know, right?   I said it, it's terrible.  I said it!  Fuck!  Ah, shit. Are you going to edit that?  Good!  Leave it in or whatever.

(Everyone laughs)

Adolfo Acuna:  You should have just said, "I'm pissed off, and I love these riffs."

Troy Oftedal:  Yeah, but was I really pissed off?  I was just kind of pissed, a little bit.  It's, those moments, you know?  There are these moments that, at least when writing Wrath of the Bastard, there was these moments, where this riff just kind of came, you know?  I'm sitting there playing my guitar or whatever, or bass, whatever the fuck it was at that time.  It was there, and I was like the catalyst to the rest of the song, and how it fit with the other songs that were already there.  I don't know, man, it's all seems so contrived, and ridiculous, dude.  It really is, it's so fucking ridiculous.

Adolfo Acuna:  It's chaos, man.

Troy Oftedal:  It really is, it's so fucking stupid (laughs), its chaos, and it's fucking great!  It kind of is, it's whatever!  Cool, are we stoked, fellas? This sound rad?  Yes, it does.  Rad, let's keep going.  Alright, cool, that's what it is!  It's not about trying to be any type of genre, or any type of band.  We're going to do what we're going to do, and what happens, happens.  Suck it!  Like, pretty much it's what it is.  Just go, go!

Adolfo Acuna:  It's a different background, we all have very different styles.

Troy Oftedal:  And we all have very different backgrounds, but some of them intertwine and mesh here and there.  Some are really obscure like, "What the fuck?!"  

Adolfo Acuna:  We're not out here thinking we need to be a genre; we need to be one thing.  We're not a Death Metal band, or a Black Metal band.  We're, no.

Troy Oftedal:  We're an Extreme Metal band, and we're going to continue to do what we're going to do, and where that goes, it goes.  I don't know, that's how I feel about it.  I want to continuedly progress, I want us to continuedly grow and move.

Adolfo Acuna:  And be a lot more Progressive. (laughs)

Troy Oftedal:  No, just progress, not be Progressive. 

Troy Oftedal:  We'll be Symphony X, next. (laughs)

Adolfo Acuna:  No, no, we're not going that far, god damn!

Metalchondria:  So, with the new album, you mentioned about having other material.  With all of the downtime we've had, and everything, is the next album going to be out this year, or next year?  Is there an angst to put out more material quickly?  Or just focus on this records promotion, and playing it?

Troy Oftedal:  I want to say, next year would be, probably be the time for recording, and getting our shit solidified, actually have a whole album worth to do it.  That makes the most sense.  Not going to rush through anything, just for the sake of it.  "Oh, it's been a year or two years!"  Whatever, like, I don't know man.  Our releases have been few and far in between.

Adolfo Acuna:  We've had a few lineup changes.

Troy Oftedal:  There's been that, too.  And this last record, we unfortunately got this, we recorded right when that shit hit.  Steve drove, pretty much straight, right?  All the way home, from Colorado.

Steve Pearce:  From Colorado.

Metalchondria:  Wow!  

Troy Oftedal:  From Colorado!  We were recording there, did Wrath of the Bastard there, and it's like, "Cool, bass, go go go go!"  A day and a song, and then Steve busted shit out like crazy!  Super fucking fast.  It's like, "Alright guys, you got to go! 'Cause shit's happening."  We got to go!  And that was it.  It was strange, man.

Steve Pearce:  Yeah, we were wrapping up bass and vocals, as the shit was hitting the fan, as far as the pandemic goes.  

Troy Oftedal:  It was insane, dude.

Steve Pearce:  We were reading about, we're in Colorado we're like, "Oh shit!  They're closing everything in San Diego County, like what the fuck?"  And oh shit, everything in LA is closed.

Troy Oftedal:  They closed the borders, the crossing of state lines, we didn't fucking know!  We got to go, we got to go.  Dave's like, "You got to go, you got to go!"  "We're going!"

Steve Pearce:  And also, too, the day that we were supposed to be recording vocals, there was a power outage in that neighborhood.  So, we didn't get started until super late in the afternoon, we maybe only gotten a couple of songs done.  And so, that's why it took us an extra day to get all that shit done.  And so, one thing, so David Otero, he's the one that recorded our album, he also did the last few Cattle records, and he's done--

Troy Oftedal:  Archspire, Allegaeon, Cephalic Carnage, Primitive Man, the most badass bands ever, dude!

Metalchondria:  Wow!

Steve Pearce:  So, one thing he told us, as we're wrapping up recording.  "Well, at least with all this shit happening right now, you guys haven't released the album yet.  So, you guys can put this on the backburner, and release it when the time is right.  Versus, someone that just put out an album at the end of last year, and now they're fucked."  You know, 'cause now they can't tour, they can't do any of those things.  So, considering that we just released this album in November, we still have a lot of promoting to do.  We still have a lot of shows to do, any type of touring that becomes available throughout this year.  So, we need to make sure to get that out of the way, but it's still not going to stop us from writing for the next record, but anytime type of recording, probably won't be until next year.  But, at least for now, we can start working on, actually are working on material for the next album, already.  Just to have that ready to rock.

Metalchondria:  In terms of the shows, perfect world, we don't live in one, but "perfect world", what would Cave Bastard, what's the plan for this year?  Is it to get on any kind of show, what would the band like to do?

Steve Pearce:  Well, any type of touring, if it's, we did the West Coast before, we done the Southwest.

Troy Oftedal:  Let's get across to East Coast, like travel the US, do an actual US tour, or, at least get a full Southern tour across, to the East Coast and back.  It kind of depends on the market, what we can do, I guess.  What's viable for us.

Steve Pearce:  To play what's viable for us, play where we haven't before.

Adolfo Acuna:  I haven't played anywhere; I just want to tour.

(Steve and Troy laugh)

Adolfo Acuna:  I've never been on tour.  I'm excited whatever we'll play.

Steve Pearce:  Even the places that we've played in the past, were a lot of fun!  And so, basically, any place that will have us, what we're able to plan out where it works really good.  Overall, it's to get ourselves out there, you know?  Prohibiting that, any of this shit gets any fucking worse, and there's a new strain, you know?  The fucking Jesus Christ strain, or whatever the fuck, you know?  He crucifies people, I don't fucking know.

Metalchondria:  He'd have A LOT of questions to answer for, if he exists.

(Steve laughs)

Metalchondria:  A lot of questions to answer for.

Steve Pearce:  Exactly.  Overall, get ourselves out there, hit the road, play anywhere where anyone would like to have us.  And just, have fun!  Ultimately have fun, and you know, bring a new type of joy or entertainment, to anyone that'd be willing to come to watch us play.

Adolfo Acuna:  To deliver those riffs, dude!  Just whatever we can.

Troy Oftedal:  Deliver the riffs!

Steve Pearce:  That's right, the riffage!

Metalchondria:  And my last question actually, mentioning about this tour.  I can safely say, I've heard Creeping Death, the other bands I haven't heard on this tour, except Cattle.  I'm assuming that Cattle brought these bands because:  A. They like them.  And B. Cattle last time they had Atheist, they had Suffocation a couple of years ago, I don't think these bands can do headlining, I could be wrong, doing headlining tours like they can exactly.  So, I feel like in a way, with Cattle's name and recognition, that these bands are getting a boost, in sight, merch, eyeballs, and just attendance overall.  Just speaking about that, with Covid and anything going forward, there's this hunger for people to go to these shows again, and I hope it stays, and I hope people don't go back to those habits of, "I'm going to a show, but I'm not!"  What would, at least have noticed during Covid, and getting people to stay with the bands?  What can bands, fans, and in general, do better going forward to make sure these kind of shows, keep going strong?  And knowing, the strains get worse, it can be taken away, again!  I guess, I want to try to help get the scene, even a little more people, a little more each time, to where it's just like this night, all the time.  Any tips, or what can do something for that?

Steve Pearce:  I think one thing can be said, is don't take anything for granted.  Because, I think a lot of people took like you now, shows in general, for granted in the past.  Once it was taken away, they didn't realize how much they missed it until it was gone, you know?

Troy Oftedal:  It's like the Art, in general thing.  "Oh, this shit's gone!"

Steve Pearce:  It's like Joni Mitchell, you don't know what you got 'til it's gone!  So, I would say, don't take anything for granted, and also too, be smart about your health.  Obviously, if Covid gets worse anything like that, anything of this can be taken away again, it could be shut down or whatever.  Just be smart.  Don't take unnecessary risks, you know?  If your health allows it, get fucking vaccinated.  Get boosted, wear a mask out in public, if you can!  If you're doing something that you're able to, you know?  I work with the General Public, and I wear a mask every fucking day at work.  Because, I don't know who`s going to come through that door, if they're not vaccinated, not wearing a mask, were to cough on me, what they're carrying, whatever.  

So, I would say moving forward, if people are available to make it to a show, if they have the funds to go to a show, do it!  Because, without the fans, us bands really can't continue to keep doing this type of shit.  Especially the ones that are as big as Cattle!  As big as any other big band, they rely on this type of shit.  And so, if people aren't going to shows, and they're not buying merchandise, and they're saying, "Well, I can do this another time, or I rather stay home and watch my streaming services."  Or any of that type of shit, well what you're doing is, you're helping kill an artform.  That's the plain way to say it.  Because, twenty years ago, well before streaming, before the internet was a giant thing, and people getting their entertainment that way, this was a big source of entertainment.  Go to shows, whatever it is!  Whether its comedy shows, music, whatever.  

Troy Oftedal:  Where you find all the new shit, you know?  You show up and you're like, "Oh, what the hell is this?"

Metalchondria:  How I found the band today!  Just out of nowhere, not expecting it, it was like, whoa!

Troy Oftedal:  Back then, there was no Facebook, or any of that shit, Myspace.  It was like, "This is it, there's your show!  See what's going on."  "Who are the opening bands?  I don't fucking know, let's find out!"  There's no precursor to it all, to where you can judge everything.  It's just to enjoy.

Steve Pearce:  Yes!  It allows you to stay open-minded, to listen to bands you never heard before, to meet friends you didn't know that you had, and just experience something that, you're not going to be able to get doing anything else, and going anywhere else.  So, as a fan, and as a musician, I can say that, you know, don't take this shit for granted, it can easily go away as it did before.  Without the fans, there's no reason to be doing this type of shit, you know?  If people altogether were to stop going to shows, I mean, you'd see places like this close!  

Metalchondria:  I've always said the day I can't go to a show anymore, is the day a part of me dies.  And I really feel that.

Troy Oftedal:  Absolutely!

Metalchondria:  And I'm going to enjoy it as much as long as I can.

Steve Pearce:  Exactly!  Yeah, I mean, keep enjoying it as much as you can, and it's all about having fun.  This is the main reason why any of us do any of this.  Whether we go to shows, whether we perform, any of that shit, is to have fun.  Ultimately, in my experience there's nothing else that can take the place, the type of fun that can be had, attending a show or performing a show, you know?  

Metalchondria:  Especially quality tours and shows, like this, and what you play.

Steve Pearce:  Absolutely! 

Metalchondria:  What's the best way fans and people can hear Wrath of the Bastard, best way to hear it, buy it, best way to hear the new album?

Steve Pearce:  You can go to cavebastard.bandcamp.com, to purchase the album, whether it's CD, digital download.  You can hear it in its entirety streaming on Spotify, on YouTube.

Troy Oftedal:  Amazon music.  It's on multiple streaming services right now.

Steve Pearce:  You can follow us on Instagram, follow us on Facebook, and any updates on the band, you'll be able to find there, any links directing you to any type of streaming or you know, merchandise links, you'll be able to find all of it there.

Metalchondria:  The floor is yours, any last words you'd like to say for the night, and going forward for the year?

Adolfo Acuna:  That's a hard one.

Troy Oftedal:  I know.

Steve Pearce:  Keep fucking moving forward, don't ever fucking give up, and just continue to follow your fucking dreams, and have fun whatever it is that you're doing.  Once you're not having fun anymore, that's when it's time to walk away!