"In Search of a Psychoactive Shift" - An interview with Roman Ring

Coming to invade your brains and put their own conceptual stamp upon the world of death metal, another burgeoning act full of budding superstars has arisen from the streets of Chicago. Formed nine years ago, the quintet known as Roman Ring is a pseudo-supergroup whose latest full-length release, The Halogen, seeks not only to ensnare ears and bewitch senses with its impressive tunes, but also endeavors to carve out its own brand of “Psychedelic Death Metal” ascendancy through its artistic motifs, lyrical themes, and consciousness-expanding abstractions. Part art, part music, and all goal-oriented, Roman Ring aim to set themselves apart from the herd; and if the way they’ve garnered their already massive fanbase prior to the release of The Halogen is any barometer, this accomplished group will hit their marks with ease.

Roman Ring’s guitarists and founding members Bill Fay and Nate Madden established the band as a departure from the act of their youth, as Madden explains, “Small Town Murder was a band that I started in high school. We had several lineup changes [from 2005 to 2011] under that moniker, and thus decided to rebrand. Initially, Roman Ring was a new name that better fit the [new] music we were writing.”

But the lineup changes didn’t stop there. After recording their initial EP, Gateways, bassist Franco Caballero came aboard in 2012, and about a year later, vocalist Danny Rodriguez – a former bandmate of Caballero’s in an act called Erjony – joined the fold. Along with original drummer/songwriter/lyricist Johannes Jans, the group then recorded their next EP, Babel, but before the release even saw the light of day, Jans was replaced with Jason Nitts, and the lineup of Roman Ring, which remains to this day, was solidified. “We’re all friends, [and] our music has a cohesion that directly parallels our personal lives and relationship to each other,” explains Caballero, “A big mix of dudes that have known each other for a long time. With each member, we make a well-rounded unit.”

However, even with the lineup finalized and gelled together, Roman Ring still faces the challenge of being fully comprised of members bound to other acts. Madden is also one of the guitarists for the popular blackened sludge artists on 20 Buck Spin, Immortal Bird, Kay moonlights in the enigmatic Something is Waiting, Caballero is also the bassist of the up-and-coming tech death outfit Wounds, Rodriguez was already the vocalist for eOne’s melodic deathcore group Through the Eyes of the Dead when he joined up, and Nitts also drums for the blackened progressive death stars of The Artisan Era, Warforged.

“We joke together about how our band is a supergroup”, quips Madden, and they’re essentially right, but one of the drawbacks to being such an act is that multiple projects for each member means multiple commitments of time and effort for each member. In other words, the more established bands usually take precedent over Roman Ring, and as a result, they’ve had to rely more on playing live to remain relevant with fans rather than staying consistent with releases to achieve the same ends.

That being said, Roman Ring have firmly established themselves as one of the premier local openers in Chicago for just about any of the national tours that involve technical or progressive death metal, and since the release of Babel, they’ve shared the stage with such big name acts as Pig Champion, Beyond Creation, Revocation, Gorguts, Aborted, and Archspire, among many others. In doing so, they’ve procured themselves a sizeable regional following, and Caballero adores them all: “I absolutely love our fans because there are so many types of people that we seem to appeal to, and I feel that’s the way it should be. We’re all a family when it comes to metal, [and] I think our breadth of influences and personal styles [allow us] to manage pulling it off originally and in a way that does not seem forced, which seems to resonate with others as well.”

Resonate with others it certainly has, and over the past few years, as the reputation of Roman Ring has grown and grown, the only thing that’s been missing to really kick things into a higher gear has been that big, satisfactory, full-length release to appease their ever-growing fanbase... and lo, the bubble finally burst on March 20th, 2020 with the independent release of The Halogen.

As it is, The Halogen represents only the third offering to be issued by Roman Ring, but since the band is on their own and not working under the pressures of a contract with a label, they could take all the time they needed to finetune and perfect their latest work. “I’m definitely proud of the album, we got to try everything we wanted to,” says Madden, “Half of a fourteen-hour day was spent auditioning different guitar heads and amps just for the main rhythm tone, [and] the album features [added] acoustic guitars, fretless bass, triple-tracked drums, scissor samples, and even some [guest] piano work by Adrian Perez of Warforged.”

The beautiful artwork of The Halogen as rendered by Parin Cashmony

The Halogen was mostly recorded and mastered at various times between 2016 to 2018 at IV Lab Studios in Chicago by engineer Paul Aluculesei, and Caballero feels the choice was a good one: “[Paul did] a spectacular job as helping us achieve our vision. His patience and dedication are second to none, and I enjoyed working with him immensely. His input was so valuable, as was the care and love he put into this album. We couldn’t have done it without him.”

And now that The Halogen is officially available to the masses, Roman Ring’s full and true vision of “Psychedelic Death Metal” is out there for all to see, hear, and experience, but what exactly does that mean? Nitts explains, “I want people to think less of it as yet another subgenre in death metal and more of a branding. I was looking for something that would really resonate with our band and the ideas that go along with what we’ve worked on musically and thematically. Sure, people can listen to us and think we’re a tech death band or a progressive death band, but I think our experimentation with adding different sounds and feelings into our form of death metal, even in one composition, makes the difference, [and it will] most definitely be a theme continuing forward with new works as well.” Succinctly put, “Psychedelic Death Metal” more than just describes the music, it summarizes the very essence of Roman Ring itself, from album concepts to imagery and everything in between.

Available to the masses or not, though, The Halogen, like all other albums released amidst these trying times, has been hampered by the global COVID-19 pandemic. “We were working on getting physical copies rolling right when the situation got really serious,” says Madden, and not only are CD’s tougher to get going right now, Roman Ring are just like every other band on the planet in that they cannot play live to support their new effort.

But also like most other bands on the planet, they remain optimistic and dedicated to their craft: “We’ve been using this as an opportunity to start working out some ideas for [more] new music,” says Nitts about the quarantine, “Once this is all said and done, hopefully we will have some solid foundations for new songs, and we’ll be back to playing the Chicago-area as regularly as we can.” Caballero agrees, adding, “Hopefully we can make some time to really buckle down and perform after all of this has settled, and we’ll be dedicating some time for writing our next release and doing our best to keep on the up and up with our creative process.”

So, fear not, fans of Roman Ring! Not only will copies of The Halogen be available as soon as nonessential businesses return and get cranking out the CD’s, but just perhaps the follow-up to this remarkable release will already be well under way as well!

All in all, the plague has thrown a massive monkey wrench into the works of the world, but once we can return to our normal, show-going lives, Roman Ring plan on hitting the stage posthaste, so prepare yourselves for the inevitable by checking out The Halogen in its entirety below, and be sure to purchase a digital copy for the time being, and support this incredible band in the time when they need it the most! \m/

Roman Ring Links: Facebook, Instagram

"Hellbound and Determined" - An interview with Shaun Albro of Crusadist

Chicago’s up-and-coming melodic death metal quintet Crusadist have been making some significant waves already in their abridged existence as an act. Yet while the band itself could still be classified as rookies, the collective experience of the members goes far beyond any tenderfoot status the unified group may currently be shedding. Pulling together their cumulative skills and talents, Crusadist have immediately made a meteoric impact on the international metal community with the independent release of their debut full-length, The Unholy Grail, and are planning on deepening said impact in the coming months and years. Not satisfied with simply conquering their own backyard, Crusadist desire to conquer the world – and if the initial reaction to The Unholy Grail is any indication, the world might well be coming into the focus of this phenomenal act’s crosshairs.

Formed in 2017, Crusadist rose from the ashes of many former promising Chicago projects, explains vocalist and founding member Shaun Albro: “(Guitarist) Aaron Nobles and I have been in the same circles in the metal scene for many years now. I joined a band that came to be known as ApotheCarrion. Aaron was in the process of joining ApotheCarrion towards the end and unfortunately the project fell apart before anything was to come of it. Crusadist bassist Kevin Ariel was the bassist of ApotheCarrion, as well.”

After ApotheCarrion, Shaun eventually joined the talented-but-sadly-on-hold Against the Plagues; and he brought one of his friends with him. “Against the Plagues was in the process of reformation and I ended up pulling Aaron into the band. When Against the Plagues went on hiatus, I joined up with Marco Martell, also formerly of ATP, to help with the creation of Deadhand System. I went [on] to record an EP with Deadhand System and played a handful of shows until the lineup changed due to guitarist John Major moving out of state. There was a slow point where Deadhand System was struggling to find members, and it was then when I decided to contact Aaron and Kevin to start something fresh.”

And so, the propitious juggernaut now known as Crusadist started to form, but it wasn’t quite complete. Not yet. “We went through many interested musicians and eventually Jason Rak stepped up and was determined to help push things further. He became the permanent drummer in February of 2018. After [trying out and] working with thirteen different guitarists, we were stuck on who would be the fifth member and lead player we needed. We decided to contact Dan Klein [of Iron Hand Audio in Chicago] and recorded a three-song demo to showcase our sound and hopefully attract a second guitarist. [At the start of recording,] on a whim, I contacted Luke Sever and asked if he would lend his services. He agreed and recorded the guitar leads on the 2018 Demo. Shortly after the demo was finished, we had an opportunity to perform as an opening act on Exmortus' “Summer of Steel” tour at The Forge [in Joliet, Illinois]. Luke agreed to doing the show and remained a permanent member ever since. From there, writing for the album and plans for our conquest began.”

Crusadist (L to R): Shaun Albro (Vox), Kevin Ariel (Bass), Aaron Nobles (Guitar), Luke Sever (Guitar), and Jason Rak (Drums)

Writing a great album, though, is a group effort through and through, and it takes all five members – and sometimes more – to concoct something as bold and brutal as The Unholy Grail. The three songs on the 2018 demo (“Only the Fearless Ride”, “The Moonlit Brigade”, and “The Noble Savage”) all appear on the full-length and were born mostly of Nobles and Ariel, but another song on The Unholy Grail owes its existence to someone else entirely. “'Tempered in Black Flame’ is a song that we wrote with one of the previous guitarists; one of the thirteen actually, the last one before Luke stepped in, by the name of Dave Gormley. Dave was with us the longest of the thirteen and had been contributing ideas up until his departure in March [of] 2018. ‘Tempered’ was his baby and was tweaked and turned into a Crusadist song, and with his blessing, we kept it alive and put it on the album. Some of Dave's riffs can also be found in ‘Beyond the Count of Grief’.”

But once Luke Sever arrived to permanently fill Gormley’s place, the final piece to the puzzle had been found. “Luke definitely brought a new energy, [and] ‘For Blood and Conquest’ and ‘The Unholy Grail’ were mostly comprised of Luke’s contributions. We are all on the same page musically with what we want to write, and I feel like everyone’s styles are compatible with one another. [It] really helps to bring our own genuine and unique blend of something fresh, yet classic.”

Thematically and lyrically, Albro uses not only personal inspiration, but also rhythm and feel to form what he thinks will work best with the songs. “I usually have a concept and a general story in mind beforehand. While the music is being written, I start to develop vocal patterns, cadences, which start to help inspire the emotion. Once the emotion has been identified, the words and story start to take place. The story is usually a parable of my life, what I'm going through at the time, the battles I'm fighting. I always strive to make the music real, to help redirect the energy that I absorb throughout the day or throughout life. I started doing vocals not only for my love of music and metal but as a cathartic release. I wanted to personify the voice screaming inside, that violence and aggression, and turn it into something beautiful. To inspire and to entertain all in one.”

Crusadist performing live in Indianapolis, May, 2019.

Inspiring, entertaining, and sounding remarkable in the speakers, The Unholy Grail was recorded at one of the Midwest’s most legendary studios, Belle City Sound in Racine, Wisconsin, by the ultra-experienced Chris “Wisco” Djuricic. Wisco, who has recorded some of the finest works by acts such as Jungle Rot, Novembers Doom, Disinter, and Origin, made Crusadist feel almost literally right at home during their recording sessions. “[Chris] has rooms set up [in his house] for bands [to use] when they record. A bottle of scotch, some Spotted Cow, and a leather LaDonna [massage chair] lulling me into a pool of goo after my sessions became something of [a] paradise. I’ve got to tell you, we had so much fun recording this album. Despite the hard work, we had an amazing time full of laughter and great energy. We definitely went in with the idea of giving our best performances knowing the great recordings that have come out of [Belle City]. We wanted to live up to the caliber of professionalism we felt the studio and Chris [deserved].”

Well that they absolutely did. Since the independent release at the end of November of The Unholy Grail, fans, journalists, and industry peers alike have offered Crusadist words of praise and encouragement, including James Malone of Arsis, Noah Carpenter of Skinless, and Jadran “Conan” Gonzalez of Exmortus, among others. All things considered, Albro is truly floored by the public’s and the industry’s warm receptions. “Honestly, we set out to make a statement with this album, and the response has been surreal. Of course, the overall goal always is and should be to blow people away, but when it actually starts to happen, it's an amazing feeling. We are still carving our way into and through the metal industry as a band, but the response has been awesome to say the least. We have sold and shipped albums to Canada, Poland, The Netherlands, Moscow, Ireland, Slovakia, as well as all over the United States. We are honored to have made some top albums of 2019 lists and mentioned alongside some incredible bands. The fans and industry folks who have reached out to personally express their love for the album is truly an honor. This definitely makes us hunger for more and writing on the second album has already begun.”

Consequently, now that The Unholy Grail is out there and doing so well, and that the composing of its follow-up has already commenced, Crusadist may begin to truly explore representation on the next level, even if they already gave it a shot with the current album. “When we were finally finished with the production of [The Unholy Grail], we sent it out to some labels both big and small. We received a lot of good feedback and some offers from smaller labels, but, in the end, we decided to remain independent. We came this far on our own and knew we still had some growing and some dues to pay in order to ascend to a higher level. Yes, it takes more work, more sacrifice, more money and more time, but in the end, it all reinforces that statement we intend on making. We are a serious, hardworking band that will make shit happen regardless of who's support we have. We already have about twenty-seven shows booked up until mid-April of 2020, including an east coast tour in March. On top of those dates, we are [also] adding festival appearances that will be announced shortly. We are hoping to be ready to record our follow up to The Unholy Grail by the end of the year and to release the second album through a bigger label by Spring of 2021.”

The outstanding cover art to The Unholy Grail, as rendered by Par Olofsson.

Sounds like Crusadist has its plan in place and have begun executing it step by step. Ultimately, though, while gigging and recording and potentially getting signed are all good and admirable, they are not all that Crusadist is about. Not by a longshot. “Crusadist is a band that strives to write good [tunes], to carry the torch for true metal, and [to] do our part to keep metal alive and well. We are first and foremost fans of music and the genre in general. We create to inspire. We create to redirect the negative energy and [to] expel it into something that is positive and powerful. All of us in this band have always been forced to [strive] and overcome against the odds. Music has been something that has empowered us and liberated us from societal constraints, and [has] allowed us to conquer our fears, to be unique, to be dreamers. We hope to inspire that fighting spirit and to awaken that energy that allows you to be relentless in the pursuit of that which you desire. We want to entertain, to grow as a prominent name of our time, and to be noted within pages of the history of metal.”

Talk about some lofty goals, Shaun and the rest of the guys in Crusadist have their sights extremely high, but as Hunter S. Thompson once said, “If something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right!” Riding the strength of The Unholy Grail will certainly get this budding quintet quite far, but wisely, they also know that the train doesn’t stop here. It must keep chugging on with new music, new releases, and updated goals as the days, weeks, months, and years tick by. Crusadist has already come quite far in their short time together as an act, yes, but they also know that they have much, much farther to go. Indeed, the future looks incredibly bright for Crusadist, but while only time will truly tell just how far they’ll get to go, so far, so very fucking good!

To listen to The Unholy Grail in its entirety, just press play below, and be sure to visit Crusadist on the web by clicking the links provided below the music. Thanks for reading, and Happy New Year from Hated One Metal Reviews! \m/

Crusadist Links: crusadist.com, facebook.com/theunholygrail

(Photography Credit (Top Photo/Promo): Cheyenne Jaworski - Many thanks to Shaun Albro of Crusadist for providing so much of the meat to this piece with his fantastically detailed and full answers. It is always a treat to interview artists who know that this is their stage and their time to speak out and be heard about the passion that is their music. Stay metal, always!)