It’s early in the week but I’m already looking forward to what’s coming at the end of it. Within that, a name you should probably already be familiar with. Whether through her work across several Vastum albums or her impressive solo catalog, Leila Abdul-Rauf is simply a name to know. She has been at the forefront – truly a key contributor – of the 20 Buck Spin discography going back a decade and a half now and Friday marks the release of her latest effort, Andros Insidium. The talented multi-instrumentalist pushes herself further with a deep sense of honesty and intensity with this release, and it’s one that absolutely must be on your list. There will be plenty to unpack with it, so give her responses to our Profile questions a read while you check out the album’s early offerings. Worth a read, and then worth a listen many times over.

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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’ve been playing music since I was six years old. I started with classical and jazz as a kid and then during my teens was mostly involved in the punk and hardcore scenes on the East Coast. I didn’t start playing metal until my 20s. Then many years later, I began my solo project in 2012, three years after Vastum was formed. At that time, I started feeling confined by the traditional guitar/bass/drum structure of bands and was ready for something new where my creative ideas could be expressed without having to compromise it in any way. I also think my ears were getting tired of listening to mostly guitar/drum-based music all the time so I went to the opposite extreme and started making very minimal ambient material that I tracked myself without any prior recording experience. My parents have always been supportive of my music making, even though they never really took to the kind of music I made until I began my solo project. The lower volume level of this music as well as clean vocals, they found a lot more tolerable than punk or death metal.

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

I make cinematic, ritualistic electronic music based mostly around trumpet, voice, ambient textures using synthesizers, programmed drums, and hand percussion. I blend darkwave, neoclassical, industrial and eastern folk influences into something that probably sounds like none of these things. My earliest material was more minimal and ambient whereas the two latest records are more active and rhythmic.

Is there anything about your upcoming album or about your project that no one will find in any interview or review that you care to divulge?

When I was recording the title track for “Andros Insidium”, I kept re-recording the screamed parts over and over again, because I wasn’t satisfied with the results. I wanted the screams to sound crazed, desperate and terrified. They were too controlled and commanding, like how I growl in Vastum. So I took things to another level when I asked my friend to come to my studio and punch me as hard as she could right before I recorded the screamed parts and that approach worked very well!

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

During the pandemic, I played a solo set outdoors in the yard of a house that periodically puts on shows. During the quietest moment of my set, someone next-door from the yard started banging on a drum kit, breaking into a full-on James Brown funk beat. It’s hilarious talking about it now but in the moment, it was quite frustrating!

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?

I’m mostly speaking for the Bay Area, and maybe the Pacific Northwest too, but the scenes have become growingly more diverse – both in style and demographically – since I first started playing metal; musicians are infusing all kinds of other influences into the genre. I think this makes for more interesting bands and scene overall. At the same time, modern metal in the 21st-century has become hyper-conformist among bands at the global level, especially the more popular ones making a living at it. These metal bands are at the mercy of bigger record labels who have more control over these artists and their sound, look, stage presence, etc. I think a main reason for this hyper-conformity is that record labels both big and small are just not willing to take the creative risks they used to and are most concerned about making a record into a product that they know they can sell and unfortunately, this squashes originality out of the art. Doing a band on any DIY level in this day and age is so astronomically expensive, much more than it was 20 years ago. The cost of rental vans, gas, plane tickets, baggage fees, monthly rehearsal spaces, etc. has soared. Unless you’re hugely popular, you’re usually just breaking even. It’s a double-edged sword, because financial success and artistic freedom are inversely related: the more financial success you have as an artist, the less creative freedom you have for the most part, and vice versa. If you are a top selling artist in the 21st-century, you are basically a corporate brand and product. I suppose the sweet spot would be somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. But even in the middle, you’re going to be struggling financially. We can blame this all on capitalism and the “values” that come with it.

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?

My first four solo albums came from a more personal and self-reflective space. Beginning with the fifth album “Calls from a Seething Edge”, I purposely shifted my sound. Initially, this decision was a practical one: playing quiet music in loud bars or clubs became increasingly more frustrating. So when I went for a louder sound, I wanted the vocals to be a lot more front and center. At the same time, I began writing lyrics that came from an angrier and more confrontational place, even more so than the lyrics I write for Vastum. In 2024, the year that “Calls” came out, the genocides in Gaza, Sudan, and elsewhere were front and center in my mind. So that album had a lot to do with war, and a feeling of futility that humans will always be in a state of war despite having the capacity to be above it. With the latest album “Andros Insidium”, probably my angriest solo album to date, I finally let out the rage that I’ve been holding onto my entire adult life – rage around the insidious damage that patriarchy has inflicted on people of all genders for thousands of years and also hoping for some kind of reckoning by a violent goddess or global matriarchy, and the restoration of feminine wisdom. This is the kind of album I’ve always wanted to make, but I was afraid to in my younger years. I was too concerned with being ostracized by my peers back then because unfortunately that meant not being taken seriously as a musician and not being able to access opportunities that might come my way. But that fear is completely gone now.

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

To pay the bills, I have a 9 to 5 job as an administrator at a psychoanalytic institute in San Francisco. I’ll give the occasional guitar or death vocal lesson as well. I’ve also taken up running and muscle strengthening since the pandemic to stay in better shape. I like to cook, hike, meditate, read, especially musician memoirs. I love being in nature and there are a plethora of beautiful spots here in the Bay Area. Recently, I also discovered that I enjoy acting and may want to follow that path at some point.

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 think to better serve the hard-working musician, the economics need to play out differently, which may or may not ever happen. Content creation overall is becoming increasingly undervalued as time goes on, especially in this age of AI. The work that human musicians do needs to stop being taken for granted, and deemed as necessary as any other profession, but somehow it is not, at least not as seriously as owning a venue or streaming service company. Most critics and journalists of underground music are volunteers so I’m not sure they would be the ones in power to create such a change. It’s the venues, the corporate ticketing platforms, and most of the bigger streaming services out there that are keeping a lion’s share of the profits that should be given to musicians. Musicians are expected to give all their work away for free, and cover all expenses on top of it; It’s absurd. I often wonder if artists will ever get fed up or if it will continue going on like this forever.

Any specific long term goal(s) in mind?

I want to tour more often as a solo artist. I’d also love to have my songs featured in film soundtracks if good opportunities came along.

When you’re not obsessing over your own material, what are some of your favorite albums to listen to currently?

It’s true that I have very little time to listen to new music because I’m more often working on my own music. I mostly get exposed to new music by going to live shows, or if I have strong recommendations from friends of mine. Last year, Wardruna blew me away live as did Kitka, a local Eastern European folk style women’s singing group whose gorgeous double LP of winter songs I purchased recently. There is also a new local band called Cobweb (featuring Kienan from Cartilage [who also makes a couple of guest appearances on my new album] and Pranjal from Cardinal Wyrm) who play Mercyful Fate influenced metal. All of the Judas Priest and Black Sabbath albums are constantly in rotation, usually during my daily workouts. I’m also very involved with the experimental, noise and electronic music scenes in the Bay Area. Venues like The Lab in San Francisco, Paul Dresher Ensemble Studio and Temescal Arts Center in Oakland host weekly and monthly concert series that I will drop by to see on a regular basis.

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

A solo record release show is currently in the works for the spring, after the Vastum European tour in April. And very likely I’ll do more solo touring after that. I’ve also done a lot of guest and collab recording over the past year as well that will likely see the light of day in 2026. I’ve also begun working on album number seven.

Summarize your project in one word.

Dark…!

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Many thanks to Leila for the time!

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Andros Insidium is out on April 17th through 20 Buck Spin. To keep up with Leila Abdul-Rauf, follow along on Instagram or Facebook.