With tons of likeminded groups eyeing for attention amongst an ever-growing sea of ADHD level attention spans, what’s a band to do to snag the spotlight or hell, even standout? Take the approach of Oakland, CA’s Barbarous: be incredibly brutal with your death metal while carefully interspersing damn catchy melodicism and groove to corner the attention market and really stick the landing. That’s the name of the game on the band’s debut full length, Initium Mors, and let us be among the many to say that for a debut, this thing absolutely shines. That being said, we wanted to know more and drummer Travis Zupo was kind enough to shoot back some Profile responses so head directly below to see how it went down and hit those links to snag a copy for yourself.

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How and when did you first get into playing music, or metal more specifically, and how did your band get its start? Any pushback from family/those close to you?

I got into playing music in the beginning of high school. It was after watching Stevie Ray Vaughan on TV. That’s really when I got the bug. After falling in love with punk rock I discovered metal from illegally downloading music on LimeWire. That’s when I discovered Slipknot. It was over from that point forward. The band got started from many other projects falling apart. It took some of us 15 years of playing in different bands and different types of metal to finally land on this one. But the wait was worth it. There’s definitely something special about this project, it’s unexplainable. Family and close friends have always been very supportive of what we do. No, it’s not easy leaving your family for any length of time, but those are sacrifices we have to make.

How would you describe your band and what you play to someone who is completely in the dark?

To quote the great Trevor Strnad “It’s called Death Metal, go check it out!”

Is there one (or more) thing about your latest / upcoming album or about your band that no one will find in any interview or review that you care to divulge?

All members in the band are into different types of music, but we all absolutely love 80s bangers.

Any funny stories from playing shows / tours / festivals, etc?

Not anything super funny yet, we’ve only been a band for a year at this point. But I’ll say this, you can’t always trust your local sound guy.

What do you see as some of the great things happening in and around the metal scene (yours or just in general) and what are some of the worst things happening right now?

Metal is in a very good place right now. That said, all extreme music is in a great place. Hardcore is bigger than it’s ever been. Death Metal is fucking huge; the old school style has made a huge comeback and it’s really cool to see. History tends to repeat itself, and sometimes those things that used to be in popularity tend to come back even stronger. Kids are also fucking pissed right now with the current state of the world, and that always breeds great music.

Most folks have passions for a cause or causes that are close to them. What, if any, are some of the most important issues (social/political/humorous/etc.) for you / your band and how do you insert those issues into your music?

To be honest, we keep all those serious subjects out of our music. Most songs are pretty on the nose standard death metal lyrics. But we also like to party.

Do you guys have day jobs or hobbies you want to share?

Yes, we all have day jobs. Some of us have kids and families. And most of us do have other hobbies. For example, our drummer loves trains lol.

What advice do you have for music critics and outlets out there? How can we all better serve the genre in the eyes of a hard-working musician?

I can’t give any advice to the critics or outlets. But as for everyone else, I’d say just support local music. All the “big bands” out there started as local bands and only blew up because they had a product that caught people’s attention and grew a fan base. It’s possible for anyone really.

Any specific long-term goal(s) in mind?

Yes, we want to tour as much as possible and continue to create killer riffs.

When you’re not obsessing over your own material, what are some of your favorite albums to listen to currently? (Feel free to include non-metal)

The Whispers – Just Gets Better With Time, Stephen Sanchez – Angle Face, Ace Of Base – The Sign and Andrew W.K – I Get Wet (especially the iconic song “Party Hard”)

What is the near future outlook for you or your band? Any specific events on the horizon that the masses should be aware of?

Well as I type this our record is about to drop so that’s a huge one we are waiting for. Besides that, we have some killer shows coming up that I am looking forward to.

Summarize your band in one word. (Disclosure: If you use more than one word, we’ll probably just pick our favorite.)

Barbaric

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Many thanks to Travis and Barbarous for their time!

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Initium Mors will be available August 1 on Creator-Destructor Records. For more information on Barbarous, visit their Facebook and Instagram pages.