Heavy music has no boundaries and there is few better examples right now than Attila. Their new offering, About That Life, is a sinister hybrid of metalcore, rap and excruciating guitars that will leave you gasping for air at the last note and you will want more. Attila and their sickening guitar player Chris Linck dropped in on Sacramento on an off day from the 2013 WARPED journey and fed Metal Exiles an exclusive on what made About That Life happen.
An interview with Chris Linck of Attila.
By Jeffrey Easton
Metal Exiles: You guys just kicked off WARPED and you dropped your fifth album, About that Life. Is it good to be you about now?
Chris Linck: I am loving life right now, our album is out and we have so much good feedback on it. I am stoked to see how this record is going to do, I think it is going to take our career up to another level.
Metal Exiles: Artery has a lot going on as far as hype for your album release.
Chris: This is our biggest release so far and this is a prime position for our band. We have not put out a record for almost two years and from where we were then to now with the amount of exposure we have had and with what we are expecting with this record is exciting.
Metal Exiles: Did you think you would get five albums deep into your career?
Chris: I always thought we would get this far but I did not know how long it would take us but if you have the drive and motivation to do something you can do anything you want. I planned on coming this far so it is good that things are rolling the way they are for us.
Metal Exiles: Joey Sturgis did this album for you. What did he do for Outlawed that made you want to bring him back?
Chris: I think a lot of the electronics and the small things that he added to the record that made it happen. He likes to take a song and put himself in the mindset of “this is the most boring song in the world, what can I add to it to make it more interesting?”. He brings a good thing to the table by having a good ear for the quality of the whole record.
Metal Exiles: As a guitar player, what did you bring to the table for this album?
Chris: I tracked this album with another engineer so I had free range to play whatever I wanted.
Metal Exiles: What did you get to do with About That Life that you have yet to do?
Chris: Make a rap song, which we got to do with this album. Our Dean sponsor also sent us some new guitars with Floyd Rose tremolos so we could add a Dimebag Darrell feel to it.
Metal Exiles: It seems with this record that Attila is schizophrenic. You are dark and heavy, almost death metal, to black metal and rap to clean vocals. Is this where you wanted to go with it?
Chris: Yeah, we did not want to have a structured record, like here is the formula to follow. I feel that for our fans to keep enjoying our music you have to have diversity. Everybody in the band has so many influences that when we come together to write we have so many different avenues to take. That’s one of the reasons it took so long on this record, we wanted everything we had to work so it would not sound ridiculous from the collaborations.
Metal Exiles: Is there anything that you brought that was nixed?
Chris: I am such a perfectionist that if I am working on a track and it is not flowing the way I want it to I will cut it before it is even heard.
Metal Exiles: To me Attila is a party threat, your past albums have had some huge party anthems but with About That Life it seems to have a more serious slant to it.
Chris: This record is a lot more serious than anything we have done. I think at this point in our career it is time for us to put out something other than another party record. We wanted to keep the happy vibe but there have been some people in our lives that did not think we could not make us and would talk shit about us. We have been in the game for awhile so we wanted to take a different approach and show you what we can do and this is why we are doing it.
Metal Exiles: What song do you think speaks that point loudly?
Chris: I think the last track on our new album, The New Kings, is the best song to listen to to get an idea about what has happened with us. You did not believe in us at the beginning so here, this is what we can do and we are moving forward.
Metal Exiles: Do you think bands really care about each other?
Chris: I do not care what other people think because if you did you would constantly be freaking and there is no band in history that has had everybody love them either. You have a ton of people that love you what you do and you have a ton of people that write on the internet that “you want our family to blow up”. You mean to tell me you want my family to die because you do not like my band? That seems a little dramatic to me but ok. I don’t really give a shit what people say, I have seen it all.
Metal Exiles: The riffs on the record are extremely thick and heavy. What were you using besides your Dean Guitars to make this album so heavy?
Chris: One thing that added a lot to the record was the bass tracking. We obviously used bass modules and recorded bass and added more layers of guitars. We also turned down the gain on our amps to make it less distorted and punchier but the layers is what made it so powerful. We did not do anything really crazy that we could not pull off live.
Metal Exiles: This is your first WARPED Tour, how did you guys land this prime gig?
Chris: We were submitted for it and they wanted us to do it. We have a lot to bring to the Monster Energy Stage, I feel that we are a good fit and WARPED is one of those things that are meaning to happen for us.
Metal Exiles: What are you looking forward to the most with being on WARPED?
Chris: I am looking forward to the amount of drinking that will be done. I will not name bands because I do not want to offend but one of our friends bus has a Fireball dispenser, one has a jager dispenser. There is unlimited alcohol and anything you can imagine floating around everywhere so it’s going to be unreal. I am also looking forward to the crowds, meeting the fans and doing signings every day. It is going to be a big summer.
About That Life will damage your ears beyond repair, prepare yourself for some life altering beats.
Official Attila Site!
BUY ABOUT THAT LIFE!
An interview with Chris Linck of Attila.
By Jeffrey Easton
Metal Exiles: You guys just kicked off WARPED and you dropped your fifth album, About that Life. Is it good to be you about now?
Chris Linck: I am loving life right now, our album is out and we have so much good feedback on it. I am stoked to see how this record is going to do, I think it is going to take our career up to another level.
Metal Exiles: Artery has a lot going on as far as hype for your album release.
Chris: This is our biggest release so far and this is a prime position for our band. We have not put out a record for almost two years and from where we were then to now with the amount of exposure we have had and with what we are expecting with this record is exciting.
Metal Exiles: Did you think you would get five albums deep into your career?
Chris: I always thought we would get this far but I did not know how long it would take us but if you have the drive and motivation to do something you can do anything you want. I planned on coming this far so it is good that things are rolling the way they are for us.
Metal Exiles: Joey Sturgis did this album for you. What did he do for Outlawed that made you want to bring him back?
Chris: I think a lot of the electronics and the small things that he added to the record that made it happen. He likes to take a song and put himself in the mindset of “this is the most boring song in the world, what can I add to it to make it more interesting?”. He brings a good thing to the table by having a good ear for the quality of the whole record.
Metal Exiles: As a guitar player, what did you bring to the table for this album?
Chris: I tracked this album with another engineer so I had free range to play whatever I wanted.
Metal Exiles: What did you get to do with About That Life that you have yet to do?
Chris: Make a rap song, which we got to do with this album. Our Dean sponsor also sent us some new guitars with Floyd Rose tremolos so we could add a Dimebag Darrell feel to it.
Metal Exiles: It seems with this record that Attila is schizophrenic. You are dark and heavy, almost death metal, to black metal and rap to clean vocals. Is this where you wanted to go with it?
Chris: Yeah, we did not want to have a structured record, like here is the formula to follow. I feel that for our fans to keep enjoying our music you have to have diversity. Everybody in the band has so many influences that when we come together to write we have so many different avenues to take. That’s one of the reasons it took so long on this record, we wanted everything we had to work so it would not sound ridiculous from the collaborations.
Metal Exiles: Is there anything that you brought that was nixed?
Chris: I am such a perfectionist that if I am working on a track and it is not flowing the way I want it to I will cut it before it is even heard.
Metal Exiles: To me Attila is a party threat, your past albums have had some huge party anthems but with About That Life it seems to have a more serious slant to it.
Chris: This record is a lot more serious than anything we have done. I think at this point in our career it is time for us to put out something other than another party record. We wanted to keep the happy vibe but there have been some people in our lives that did not think we could not make us and would talk shit about us. We have been in the game for awhile so we wanted to take a different approach and show you what we can do and this is why we are doing it.
Metal Exiles: What song do you think speaks that point loudly?
Chris: I think the last track on our new album, The New Kings, is the best song to listen to to get an idea about what has happened with us. You did not believe in us at the beginning so here, this is what we can do and we are moving forward.
Metal Exiles: Do you think bands really care about each other?
Chris: I do not care what other people think because if you did you would constantly be freaking and there is no band in history that has had everybody love them either. You have a ton of people that love you what you do and you have a ton of people that write on the internet that “you want our family to blow up”. You mean to tell me you want my family to die because you do not like my band? That seems a little dramatic to me but ok. I don’t really give a shit what people say, I have seen it all.
Metal Exiles: The riffs on the record are extremely thick and heavy. What were you using besides your Dean Guitars to make this album so heavy?
Chris: One thing that added a lot to the record was the bass tracking. We obviously used bass modules and recorded bass and added more layers of guitars. We also turned down the gain on our amps to make it less distorted and punchier but the layers is what made it so powerful. We did not do anything really crazy that we could not pull off live.
Metal Exiles: This is your first WARPED Tour, how did you guys land this prime gig?
Chris: We were submitted for it and they wanted us to do it. We have a lot to bring to the Monster Energy Stage, I feel that we are a good fit and WARPED is one of those things that are meaning to happen for us.
Metal Exiles: What are you looking forward to the most with being on WARPED?
Chris: I am looking forward to the amount of drinking that will be done. I will not name bands because I do not want to offend but one of our friends bus has a Fireball dispenser, one has a jager dispenser. There is unlimited alcohol and anything you can imagine floating around everywhere so it’s going to be unreal. I am also looking forward to the crowds, meeting the fans and doing signings every day. It is going to be a big summer.
About That Life will damage your ears beyond repair, prepare yourself for some life altering beats.
Official Attila Site!
BUY ABOUT THAT LIFE!
