Ancestor is a black/thrash band hailing from the sunny paradise in Cuba. Though sunshine and beaches didn’t keep this band from sounding morbid and bleak, they now reign in America to bring all of the brutality that they have to offer. They quickly became infamous in Cuba, and it was only natural that they conquer in Miami’s close-knit metal community.
Ancestor offers everything we love about a black metal band: corpse paint, blood, and plenty of blast beats. Yet, this band has much more to offer than kvlt and baphomets. This band also takes a large part of their influence from thrash metal and heavy metal, making their sound a singular one.
Ancestor is currently working on their third album and planning on playing shows throughout south Florida. I spoke with guitarist Joel Kaos about what they’re planning, as well as more information about their influences and what they hope to accomplish.
Stephanie Jensen: So you guys are originally from Cuba, but moved to the States last year. Why did you make the move?
Joel Kaos: Ancestor was born in February 2005 in Havana, Cuba. After recording the first demo “In absence of light” we start playing shows around the island. The scene over there is big but is a small country so we spread our name fast. After the release of our debut album Hell Fuckin’ Metal in 2008 we start getting more international recognition from labels and media and at the same time things got bigger for us in our country. We did everything possible for a metal band in Cuba: festivals, tours, TV and even national music awards but there was no possibility of going further. Things like international tours or playing with major bands are almost impossible so you feel like running in circles. It’s also complicated when it comes to maintaining a band with gear, good recordings, etc. in a country with a struggling economy and a total lack of freedom. It was the right time for us to get to a new, different level.
Jensen: Do you incorporate any culture from your hometown in any aspect of Ancestor?
Kaos: We came from a very musical country, arts and culture are very important in everyday life and musicians are connected between each other no matter what kind of music you like to.play. It’s common to have a bass or drums teacher who plays jazz or traditional music; that’s the basic stuff you start to learn. In a way it remains in your system and you can hear here and there some different touches, mostly on drums.
Jensen: You guys dominated Cuba! How will you destroy America?
Kaos: We want to be everywhere! We feel the world is our stage and not just a specific country. Right now we are focusing on preparing our third album which is going to be our presentation for the American scene.
Jensen: What do you think of the Miami metal scene? And have you made your way over to Tampa?
Kaos: We are having lots of shows down here these days so it’s not a small scene at all, different for sure from where we came and [people are] very friendly. We’ll be playing more shows around the south Florida area for the next [few] months and of course we would like to play [at] the Brass Mug, which is something that will happen soon for sure. We are also planning to move to another state somewhere next year.
Jensen: I’ve never seen you live! Describe to me a typical Ancestor show.
Kaos: Playing live is something essential for us, it’s probably something you wouldn’t expect coming from a band from an “exotic” country: powerful riffs with speed drums, corpse paint, bullet belts, blast beats and 80’s Metal all the way around ‘cause it’s black metal but it’s exciting!
Jensen: Black metal has been making a huge comeback lately. What makes you guys stand out from other black metal bands?
Kaos: Our sound is the same [ever] since we started. Not trying to create something new we already knows what’s our path; a mix of Scandinavian black Metal, some says [it is] more close to the Swedish sound but with lots of 80’s thrash and our very own blood in every note and beat. We feel more close to the old way than to what nowadays is considered black metal; every time we start writing a new song it’s always live- oriented, not “atmospheric” or “occult” or other adjectives people chose for boring nonsense crap.
Jensen: Are you working on writing or recording?
Kaos: Sure! Our third album is about to be recorded in a few months. I’m very excited about it since it’s gonna be the first one where I will be playing all the guitars (I used to play bass before). The new material is very traditional, probably the most heavy metal influenced from all our recordings.
Jensen: You have a thrash metal influence as well as a black metal influence. Why do you include both in your sound? Does either influence you more than the other?
Kaos: Our first demo and the debut album are maybe more black metal, also vocals back then were more unorthodox with our first singer. But thrash metal was always there since “Vlad the Impaler” which is one of our very first songs and still the one we always use to end our shows. [With the new line-up] on the second album I am the Truth it was more close to thrash, I guess. I have written most of our material and I like both genres as well so I always find a way to mix them when making a new song.
Jensen: What are some of your favorite bands?
Kaos: Nowadays i don’t listen to modern bands that much, somehow I always end up listening to the classics. My favorites and those who has influenced me the most as a musician are Wasp, Slayer, Kreator, Dissection, Mayhem, Aura Noir, Motorhead, Deep Purple, Rotting Christ, Mercyful Fate, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Destruction, Unleashed…
Jensen: So you have been around for almost ten years. What’s the biggest thing you have done? What more do you hope to accomplish?
Kaos: There have been lots of great moments we all have been through. even before Ancestor, our vocalist the drummer and I played together in other bands. In 2008 we played in front of three thousand people for a big metal show in Havana, having our first album released through the Norwegian label Forces of Satan (Gorgoroth, Ophiolatry). [It] was amazing for us at that time, coming to this country [playing] the music we love after having some of our friends dead trying to escape from communism. [Also] playing Austin TX, SXSW. We have been making our dreams come true through the last ten years, that’s our biggest achievement and what we want for our future. We are gonna be doing this ’til death.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/ancestor666
