Human Taxidermy - Biography
The Introduction
Human Taxidermy was formed in Fresno, California in 2003 by musician, producer, and hot sauce aficionado Anthony Roark.
The band's latest release, 2012's Various Themes of Annihilation, is the result of Anthony's developing interest in the blending of death metal and industrial music.
With influences ranging from metal bands like Skinless, Dying Fetus, White Zombie, Weather-Beaten Wrinkled Corpses, and Skrew to non-metal bands like Depeche Mode and Tears for Fears, Human Taxidermy boasts a sound that is not at all difficult to describe, and, although it is unique, we would not be so pretentious as to actually say so.
Tell them about The Story So Far
Working with a guitar, a drum kit, a bass, and a four track recorder, Anthony produced and released the band's debut demo, Human Taxidermy, in 2003.
The second release, 2008's The Distinction of Extinction, was originally produced as straight death metal as well. However, after completing the album, Anthony decided to experiment with the addition of industrial textures, keyboards, and samples, which ultimately lead to his re-recording the entire album from scratch.
Now talk about the latest release
Various Themes of Annihilation is the next logical step in the band's evolution. Where The Distinction of Extinction was essentially retro-fitted to include electronic sounds and textures, Various Themes of Annihilation was designed from the beginning to combine death metal with the beeps, boops, doo-doo-doops, bwonks, and vzssssshts of industrial music.
The result is an entirely-new, 100%-original, never-before-seen musical genre Anthony has dubbed Indeathstrialemocore Core®™.
All of the songs on Various Themes were written, performed, recorded, engineered, and mixed by Anthony, with additional keyboards and samples by his brother Charles. Shawn Shannon (Despondency, Execration) provided additional bass textures and a 6-string bass solo on Inanimatactuality.
Following in the lyrical footsteps of Human Taxidermy's previous releases, Various Themes explores the idea of universal apocalypse, with each song examining the concept of "annihilation" from a different perspective - ranging from universal, to global, to personal.
Mention Some Other Projects
In addition to his personal recordings, Anthony has worked with other musicians - most notably California-based death metal band Despondency, for whom he has produced two albums: 2005's Keep Murder Brutal and 2006's Exposing Misery's Design. (He took on some performance duties for the latter release as well.)
Anthony has also worked with grindcore band Chronic Audio Assault and black death band Negro Muerte (formerly known as The Anti-Human).
The End
Through Human Taxidermy, Anthony has been analyzing ideas surrounding the end of the world for nearly a decade. This has given him some insight into the subject.
"When the end comes," he says, "my motto is 'Women and children first'. That way we can use their dead bodies as life rafts."
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Human Taxidermy's 6-track EP Various Themes of Annihilation will be available at www.humantaxidermy.com.
For more information, please contact us here.
PLEASE NOTE: We are also available for bar/bat mitzvahs and retirement parties.