Parasitic Skies and Losing Skin 7" split coming soon
Parasitic Skies
In a brief description, Parasitic Skies is about veganism, straight edge and 90's metalcore throwback sound. The band has released a 7" Ep and full length album for Seventh Dagger where they execute some grim and gritty hardcore which takes as much from Earth Crisis as from straight up metal. Hardboiled caught up with the guys for a short interview about the new album.
In a brief description, Parasitic Skies is about veganism, straight edge and 90's metalcore throwback sound. The band has released a 7" Ep and full length album for Seventh Dagger where they execute some grim and gritty hardcore which takes as much from Earth Crisis as from straight up metal. Hardboiled caught up with the guys for a short interview about the new album.First of all, thanks for doing this interview. What is the latest in the life of Parasitic Skies?
Mike: Well we are trying to put together a couple tours for this coming year. We will have a short NW tour soon followed by a larger East Coast tour w/ Withdrawal and another small NW tour in there as well. Hopefully we will also get to some other places we havent been to yet. But we will see.
So let’s get right to it – your new album is called The Descent. What brought about the name?
John: The Descent is the name of one of the instrumentals on the record. The song best represents the feel of the rest of the record and we didn't want to use one the names of the lyrical songs.
What did you want listeners to be able to pull from this album in particular? Do you think you have any social or political role as a band?
John: I don't really want to make people to feel good, I want them to be uneasy and unhappy with themselves. If you eat animals I want you to feel like shit about it. Our socio-political role is that we think we're right about everything and we want to rub everyone's faces in it.
How do you feel straight edge changed your life for better?
Mike: Well for me its the only way I can live. I was a drug addict and alcoholic when I was a teenager,So besides my distaste for it for other reasons. Its simply not an option. Moderation isnt something I can do.
John: Like Mike said, I can't do moderation. So straightedge keeps me focused, keeps me alive.
Your music is heavily rooted in metal sound, but in the way hardcore bands were doing it couple of years ago. Were there any specific bands or albums that influenced the writing of The Descent?
Mike: I listened to alot of Sepultura, Crowbar, Morbid Angel and Slayer and just created our own sound combining different influences.
And what currently active bands you admire these days?
Mike: I would never use the term admire. But I like alot of hardcore these days. Bands like Harms Way, Withdrawal, Lockstep, Losing Skin and Wolf City are all really good. But I still love bands like Earth Crisis, All Out War and Disembodied. There is just alot of good music going on right now in hardcore. I listen to alot of metal as well. Bands like Crowbar, Bolt Thrower and Immortal.
John: Burning Love.
Do you have any hardcore quotables that you live by? Any song lyrics that deeply touched you?
John: Our own.
How do you feel about the state of hardcore nowadays? And what do you think about the Seattle scene in particular?
Mike: Like I said before there is alot of really good music. Nothing revolutionary but
just good music. Seattle and the NW in general have alot of really good bands right now. Bands like Losing Skin, Unrestrained, Envision, Cascabal, the Helm, Heiress, Ill Intent, etc...And alot of newer bands coming up as well..
Seventh Dagger is a label that is in hundred percent dedicated to promoting sober, drug free lifestyle, did this play into your decision to work with them?
Mike: Not really, we dont necassarilly need to be on a label that we have much in common with, but its nice to have some similarities. Seventh Dagger treats their bands really well. And thats really important Because I have had some bad experiences in the past with labels.
John: Danny's a good guy who also knows how to run a business. That's exactly what I want from a label, that's all they have to be.
Is there any band you would like to see reunite?
Mike: I would love to see Prayer for Cleansing they never played the westcoast. And I could never make it out to their east coast shows. Other than that maybe Until the End. Alot of older bands I would want to see,I dont wanna see them as sellouts,so it wouldnt really work. Most bands that I like I have already seen. So there isnt much out there that I wanna see reunite. I am more stoked on current bands.
John: I already got everything I wanted.
What should we expect from Parasitic Skies in the future?
Mike: More touring here and there and eventually more music.
John: We're going to be a lot more focused with our activity this year- touring smarter not harder. It's gonna be a really good Summer.
Do you have any shout outs or anything that you would like to say?
Mike: Thanks to our friends and anyone else who has ever come to a show or helped us out on tour. And to anyone that does or supports direct action. Veganthis.org
Parasitic Skies - The Descent
After the well received 7” for Seventh Dagger, Seattle based Parasitic Skies are back with the full length album, The Descent. For those not familiar with the band – they stand for straight edge and veganism and musically are leaning heavily towards metal sound. This album brings a lot of memories of the times when a lot of hardcore bands started incorporating death metal influences into their sound, but it was long before the deathcore plague and it still sounded legit.
That’s the deal with Parasitic Skies – their sound is down-tuned, heavy as fuck, with groovy riffing and deep, growling-like vocals but there are no silly pig squeals and no tempo changes every 15 seconds. The drumming is intense and on point, but thanks God there are no blast beats. Parasitic Skies knows what they’re good at and gets down to business without trying to get fancy. The songwriting on this album has a gritty yet sharp energy. That means the thin line between being cool metallic hardcore band and being lame death metal wannabes has not been crossed. And good, cause it sounds merciless and uncompromising enough without that fake shit. And while the regular songs never let down when it comes to intensity, the instrumental tracks make use of some sludgy, dissonant riffing which adds more depth to the album. When it comes to lyrics, their approach is far from being straight forward. The overall tone is pretty dark and apocalyptical at times but you gotta dig deeper into what they’re saying to figure out the meaning. This aspect is very similar to now classic H8000 bands like Liar and Congress which also used images of warfare and demons to get their straight edge and political message out.
The Descent is a good album – if you want to hear the solid metallic hardcore but you’re fed up with the current state of the genre, it will give you the experience that you are looking for.
Review by Dloogi
Label: Seventh Dagger Records
Year: 2010
Band's website
