Cage Fight: Vulgar Display of Privilege
Isn’t it ironic how solitary confinement can bring out the creative genius in us all? Whilst COVID-19 came and conquered, shepherding us into our rooms, artists all over took to their instruments. Whilst many chose to colour in familiar lines, others strayed from the path. Take crossover artists CAGE FIGHT for example. Born out of bedroom boredom by TESSERACT’s James Monteith and long-term collaborator Jon Reid, they took out their frustrations on the world by paying tribute to the bands of their youth.
“We started off with just me and Jon having a laugh, writing the music of our youth. Things like HATEBREED, TERROR, BIOHAZRD, and MADBALL,” James explains from a rooftop, taking a break from TESSERACT rehearsals to put on his CAGE FIGHT cap. “Some of the early ideas we had seemed pretty cool, which got us motivated to do more, but then we hit a brick wall because we didn’t really know what to do with it, or where it would go.”
CAGE FIGHT’s story isn’t too dissimilar to that of every artist making music during the pandemic. Too many projects to this day remain shelved, waiting for the right moment. But once in a blue moon, those right moments have a habit of showing up when we least expect it.
“It was on the back burner the year before last, but then I saw Rachel’s video online doing a song by THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, and her profile said ‘looking for a project’ and something clicked and I was like ‘okay, maybe that’ll work, maybe that’s what we’d need.’”
It didn’t take too long for things to come together after that, as they welcomed drummer Nick Plews and former-ETHS vocalist Rachel Aspe to the fold. Although at that point, CAGE FIGHT was still nothing but a boredom buster, a Rubik’s cube waiting to be solved and thrown in the corner.
“There was still no intention of making it a full band that’s gonna go on tour and release albums, it was just like a musical fun project – but then Rachel got really involved and everything snowballed from there.”
Snowballed is an understatement. Try an avalanche of epic proportions. From the moment James sent Rachel a demo of One Minute to muse over, it was a match made in heaven. “We didn’t have much of a conversation, I just emailed her the instrumental and within 24 hours she emailed me back with this absolutely killer demo and that was the point I felt like we had something.”
CAGE FIGHT had something alright. Written, recorded, and in the bag in six months, they skipped their EP era in favour of unleashing their self-titled debut. Clocking in at 14 tracks and 43 minutes long, it’s a tour-de-force of beatdown, hardcore punk, and thrash that never lets up. Believe it or not, the project came together like protesters outside parliament – with ease and intent.
“It all just fell into place really easily, which is why it happened so quickly. This time last year we were still debating what the name should be, but the four of us managed to put together an album in six months.”
They say time flies when you’re having fun, but it also speeds by when you have something to say. Locked up in their rooms whilst pandemics shut down their industry and political parties set fire to the world, they were frustrated and ready to fight. Everything this album, and the band that’s made it, is about goes right down to its name.
“Initially, it was just something that encapsulated our violent sound,” laughs James, before suddenly shifting focus. “Thinking a bit deeper about it, it’s a metaphor for all of our struggles in everyday life, we are always constantly battling one thing or another, and it’s like we are in that cage and in that battle is something inevitable that you’ve always got to deal with.”
Whereas other bands have searched for an escape, CAGE FIGHT come flying out the starting gate with all the evidence you need to sentence half the world’s leaders to prison. Inspired by a stream of global events, they’re ready and willing to open eyes, including their own.
“I think everyone was feeling the strain and frustration of lockdown, but if anything, that period really highlighted many issues in the world like the George Floyd murder and the Black Lives Matter movement, and various episodes of the Me Too movement. Those events, those protests were quite an inspiration.”
They took that inspiration and ran with it. Whilst it’s riddled throughout the politically and socially conscious lyrics, it’s interweaved into their sound, too. The intro track is an audible collage of speeches and protest footage that fuels the fire follow-up The Mirror Shattered breathes.
Beyond their music, it’s written into the world they’ve built as a band. From their artwork to their videos and merch, taking the power back runs through like blood in a body. “We wanted something that was aggressive, something that could visually represent our message,” James reflects, between ordering a Katsu Curry from a bandmate, before adding, “take the artwork, which is the logo tattooed on the palm of a hand, which we all thought was crazy at the time, and we were like ‘how the hell you gonna find someone to do that?’”
It turns out it was easier than you’d think. People love free tattoos, and when Rachel Aspe has an idea, she’s unstoppable. “Her idea was because it’s the most painful place to have a tattoo, and it’s a clawing hand so it represents the struggle and the pain that’s trying to get across on the album – it’s quite gruesome, but the dark imagery helps get the message across.”
Getting the message across comes easier to some of their visuals than others. Take their Vulgar Display of Privilege t-shirt, which features Boris Johnson being brutally beaten. The band pull no punches when it comes to the prime minister.
“I think that T-shirt is directly our frustration with Boris and how much damage that man has caused by being a playboy. All of his decisions are about his own personal gain to the detriment of all of us, and not that I advocate violence, but it feels like there’s no stopping him, like he’s still around now after everything that’s going on now, so it feels like maybe a punch in the face is the only way to end him.”
There under no illusion though, they’re not going to change things overnight. Despite the platforms they’ve individually built over the year, they’ve still got echo chambers to smash out of first. “I think we’re completely preaching to the converted, so I don’t know if we’re actually helping anybody’s understanding. Obviously, yes, if we’re able to provide information to those who need it, brilliant, but maybe I’m being a little pessimistic here but I feel like the people we’re talking to already know what we’re talking about, so we’re more of a release, an outlet to deal with their frustration.”
And if that is CAGE FIGHT’s purpose, they deliver in spades. A brutal combination of genres, every inch of their self-titled debut is unrelentingly punishing. It comes from the freedom letting their own frustrations out gave them. “I think there was 100% freedom, there were no real rules – the only rule is if it sucks, it doesn’t go on” he laughs, pausing to plot out his next move. “We come from different backgrounds and that’s reflected, like it’s a mishmash of styles. There are elements of hardcore, there’s elements of thrash, there’s elements of death metal. Eat Me Alive is full of death metal blast beats whilst Guillotine is like a four-chord punk song.”
It wasn’t just the music of their youth that made its way into CAGE FIGHT’s training regime. James took a trick or two from TESSERACT’s prog-metal playbook for his favourite track, the six-minute opus My Dreams. “Musically, it’s taken a little further, it’s more of a production song. It started off simply as riffs and vocals, it was a simpler song than I took it to my home studio and it sort of evolved and went a bit proggy, which wasn’t my intention, but it goes off on a journey with lots of different layers. I don’t think it’s one we’ll ever play, we’d need another guitarist, but maybe it’s something for the future.”
The future, for CAGE FIGHT, might as well be in a galaxy far, far away. They’re taking it one day at a time, hopping on every show they get offered and letting the music do the talking. And that’s all they can ask for.
“In all honesty, we’ve just been rolling with it and seeing where it goes, and we haven’t had time to think about a plan so I’m still in that same mindset. Thinking practically, it’d be nice for us to still do some decent live stuff, I just need to work out how that’s going to work with TESSERACT, as it’s going to be a busy year for us.”
Until the moment comes when CAGE FIGHT takes up their next bout, one thing is for certain: they’re here to show up and help you shout out about how you feel. “If people relate to any of the subject matter and it’s cathartic, then that’d be great and if people just find it really fun and aggressive and want to jump around to it, that’d be great too. Ultimately, I just want people to enjoy it, and if people like the record, then that’s the job done as far as I’m concerned.”
Cage Fight is out now via Candlelight Records.
Like CAGE FIGHT on Facebook.