Incite: Metal Family Values
At the time of talking, INCITE are just about to release their new album Wake Up Dead and it sees them reaching new heights of heaviness with a collection of songs that is the best to date from the band. We caught up with frontman Richie Cavalera to hear all about Wake The Dead and the songs that feature on it as well as discussing a life surrounded by metal music, the strong family ties that feature on the album and throughout Richie’s career and how that has shaped both him and INCITE.
Wake The Dead is an apt title for their new album as it has been a longer wait than usual for the album to come out but now that it is almost here, the excitement is high for it to come out as Richie explains. “We’ve been waiting for two years, nearly, so many delays with redoing the record and all these things. I’ve never been so excited for the record to finally come out. It’s such an exciting time of building patience but we’re nearly there.” There were a few reasons for this delay as he adds, “we were looking to release it last summer, but we joined on a new management team, Atomic Fire Records came on board and we just wanted to do things right. With the pandemic still raging hard, we felt like taking a taking a step back and do things right, and now, I feel like we’ve reached that point. It’s getting the attention that I feel that it definitely deserves.”
Attention is what it will certainly and deservedly get. Talking about the songs on the album, Deadbeat was the rousing first track released from Wake The Dead and Richie tells us that it sums up the uncertain period of time during the pandemic for both him and the rest of INCITE. “It’s a song about the band’s daily life and my daily life throughout the pandemic. I think relates so much to so many people, you know. The entire world basically was going through that, and it was a look of the things we were doing and having no motivation, just wondering if it was the end of the world or not. I love that song and how it came out, and how many people have contacted us, saying they related to that so much during the pandemic, and the overall craziness of how the world has been.”
With that uncertainty and craziness, the making of the album must have been a cathartic experience as Richie confirms. “Without question, every record kind of is. I build up these emotions over the course of time, and when a record is ready to be written, I try to dig deep into what’s been happening with my feelings, and this one more than anything before I’ve ever done, I think it captured my personal experiences and how I felt every day going through this, and really wanted to put it into the album.”
INCITE followed Deadbeat up with War Soup, a song title that seems apt for certain current situations regarding conflict. War Soup features an appearance from Richie’s stepfather Max Cavalera who Richie had guested with on a number of occasions but features on an INCITE song for the first time and it’s something that he is very excited about. “It’s cool, because I’ve always been collaborating with him on his music, so we felt it was a good time to finally flip the script and have him be a part of an INCITE record. I think this song more than any, had a good relation of what Max has been through as well with his legendary status and how he records and what he does, it’s just so cool to kind of direct him this time and tell him what words to sing and he just nailed it and it sounds so good. I think our two voices sound really good together and his accent, from singing different words that he’s not so familiar with was just such a cool take for the song. I absolutely loved working with him and it’s awesome to have your father and just family in general part of, what you’re doing in life. It’s definitely a special song for us.”
Having Max on an INCITE record is the latest in a long line of the musical lineage of the Cavalera dynasty, something that Richie is very happy about. “I feel incredibly fortunate, grateful and appreciative for the family I have. We’re like metal’s first family and it’s such a cool thing, because we all support each other and understand what each other is going through and has been through. I think it really helps when you get a lot of support and love from each other to keep going on and keep pushing the music, it’s just been a blessing for us. I’m so excited to be able to continue on a legacy as well as creating my own at the same time.”
With a life lived through metal, the highlights of being around so many bands have been plentiful and when it comes to INCITE, the highlights are just as plentiful. “You know, number one on the list would be, you know, playing at Bloodstock on the Friday morning, opening the main stage. I felt that was one of the biggest honours I’ve ever had in my life, to kick off the festival. That was something we’ve always strived for, to play these kinds of festivals. Another would be playing Mexico City at Heaven & Hell, literally the day the world stopped with the pandemic, we were kind of the last metal show on earth. That was another special but sad moment for the band!”
As we round up our chat, Richie leaves the final word for all British fans of INCITE and what we can look forward to. “The UK is our number one priority right now. The UK metalheads have supported us. They have grown with us, and we look forward to getting back there with all you guys and just having fun again, man. I just want to thank you guys at Distorted Sound, you guys have always supported Incite and I appreciate that so much.”
Wake Up Dead is out now via Atomic Fire Records.
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