Band: Altar
From: Bay Area, California
Their formation story:
(Will, vocals): "I was writing some music for another one of my bands that was heavily influenced by emotive '90s-style hardcore that I’m really into, and it kind of so happened that everybody in that band was wanting to go in a little different direction.
"I went ahead and worked on the songs on my own for a while, took those songs and kind of showed them to a few people and eventually linked up with my friend Sean from Invocation (which I also play in) and he was really into them and we pretty quickly were able to morph them into a finished product with the help of my friend Marc Estabillo recording and mixing."
Their sound in their own words:
"The sound and style can pretty much be traced back to early New Age Records releases. Some of the older bands I was really drawing inspiration from were Strain, specifically the Here and Now LP, Unbroken: Life. Love. Regret., Grip: Friction Burn Fatal, Abhinanda: Senseless, and Bloodlet: Entheogen were all records I was rotating through heavily when trying to write this material.
"I wanted to have a kind of midtempo groove with lots of tension building parts. I would say I was going for something more emotional and heartfelt which is how music from those bands affected me. Very '90s in the spirit, style, and ethos of the music."
Latest release info:
"The newest release is out on tape on Willmore Records from my friend Emiro from Long Beach. I met Emiro through playing and going to shows in California and he’s just a really genuine individual. He runs a small tape label and books shows through Quarantine Productions.
"I really believe a first release should be done through a DIY label and when I mentioned the band to Emiro he said he would love to do it and it was pretty easy from there. We have an alternate cover coming out for the first gig too just because the first 50 already sold out.
"The album art came from a picture I took of a calla lily in Golden Gate Park and Luis Ramirez went and contrasted that with some images of our dying planet. Everybody in the band right now is vegan and straight edge and while that may not always be the case especially because we all live so far apart. I started the band to voice my frustrations with our planet and the way that we are constantly manipulated for the profit of others just because we need a place to live and food to eat."
Future plans:
"I’m working on some new music right now because I’m feeling inspired by the reception of the EP, but other than that we need to play some gigs. Invocation is about to go on a big west coast tour and I’ve been busy camping a lot this summer so I haven’t had time to get everybody together and rehearse much.
"Hopefully, once we play some gigs, people will start to see the vision and we can grow from there. The goal is just to play shows and have an impact on people with our music."
What other bands from their region should we check out?
"Other bands from the region that people should check out include: Stand Tall, Eliminators, Opposing Force, Invocation, From One Hell, Doomsday, Eightfold Path, Natural Human Instinct, Condition 1, Impurity, One Last Prayer, Bad World, Likewise, Staple, Enkased, No Way Out, The Test Dream, Extinguish, Rule of Thumb, Deprave, As My Ashes Blur the Sky, No Right, Bare Minimum, Disillusion, Prevaricate.
"I also want to say RIP Jody Taylor from Strain. That band has had a huge impact on me. Obviously, Altar is named after a Strain song and would not exist without Jody."
Altar on social media: Instagram
Tagged: altar
