Human Taxidermy was born in 2003, the bastard child of a guitar, a bass, a drum kit, a 4-track recorder, and a guy who knew how to use them. It was conceptualized by its founder, Anthony Roark, who recorded the band's ambiguously-titled limited-release (now out of print) debut demo Human Taxidermy out of his home base in Fresno, California.

Human Taxidermy's latest release, The Distinction of Extinction, finds the band venturing into new sonic territory - a fusion of industrial noise and grinding death-groove creating a blueprint for head-banging, tooth-smashing, goiter-destroying mayhem. Roark produced, recorded, performed, and wrote all of the songs on the album; his brother Charles provided keyboards and samples.

Between 2003 and 2008, Roark continued to shape Human Taxidermy's identity. The Distinction of Extinction is the result of its evolution - a process which found Roark completing the entire album, then shelving it and re-recording it from the ground up. He became involved in other projects during this period as well - most notably his work with 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 also took on some performance duties for the latter release.)

Thematically, The Distinction of Extinction delves deeper into some of the motifs Human Taxidermy has explored in its previous work, centering around the idea of universal annihilation and apocalypse. "This is about total loss of control," says Roark. "Having no say in the end of the world. Being a helpless bystander in the path of destruction.

"Oh yeah - and genitals. Plenty of genitals."

Roark feels there's a place for humor amidst the chaos. "It can't be doom and gloom all the time," he explains. "Maybe 87% doom and 27% gloom."

Ultimately, he says, "it's all for the sake of entertainment."

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