VITRIOL – AN INTERVIEW WITH ADAM ROETHLISBERGER
Death metal band Vitriol will be in Hartford on November 18th with Dying Fetus at The Webster Theatre. The band is touring in support of their most recent release and debut album To Bathe from the Throat of Cowardice, which was released to rave reviews.
The Portland natives formed in 2011 and consist of Kyle Rasmussen (vocals/guitars), Adam Roethlisberger (vocals/bass) and Scott Walker (drums). Vitriol blends jaw-dropping technicality, ferocious riffs at savage paces, a brute dual vocal attack, and a sinister vibe that makes them destined to become death metal icons. The band proved as much with their 2017 EP Pain Will Define Their Death.
Adam Roethlisberger from Vitriol was kind enough to answer some questions for AMP.
AMP: What can your Connecticut fans expect from a Vitriol live show?
Roethlisberger: We put on a very aggressive show and I think the Northeast is famous for how rough and tumble the hard core shows are. Even though we’re not a hard core band we definitely have a hard core spirit. If that’s something people are into then Vitriol is the band to come out and see for that.
AMP: When people in the Northeast think about the Northwest, we think grunge and alternative. How did you get into death metal?
Roethlisberger: It’s interesting, all of us were children of the beginning of the internet. Even though we were surrounded by grunge and alternative music and stuff like that we still had access to bands all over the world. A lot of us grew up on Cannibal Corpse and Morbid Angel. We played around in different styles. We tried a little of this and a little of that, some metal core, some hard core, some black metal, really experimented with a lot of things but ultimately we found the aggressive nature of death metal to be our home. That’s kinda how we found each other. There’s some death metal up in the Pacific Northwest but there’s not a whole lot of it so we had to look for inspiration outside the Pacific Northwest to fuel us.
AMP: How has the internet impacted the music business for you?
Roethlisberger: Growing up I was still into buying albums, getting into the romance looking through the booklet and reading through the lyrics as I listened to a brand new record. Nowadays with music being so easily accessible and so many people doing it, anybody can post stuff on Spotify or YouTube so there is a sea of music out there. Some of it is really good but unfortunately some of it is really bad. You have to work really hard to find the diamond in the rough. It’s been interesting watching things evolve. I’ve always been a huge Metallica fan and even though they roasted Lars for the whole Napster thing, him and guys like him kinda saw this coming. Their a rich band and they don’t need the fucking money but they were a big voice speaking up for younger people who were trying to make it.It’s definitely made it tough for us and for many bands starting out. It’s hard enough to make money and to make it worthwhile to tour and not making money off the records any more makes it even tougher. You evolve and you endure and that’s really all you can do.
AMP: What’s your favorite song to perform?
Roethlisberger: My personal favorite to perform I’d have to go with the song “Victim”. I really like “The Rope Calls You Brother”, there’s a lot of techniques there but “Victim” was a very personal song for me. It’s one of our most aggressive songs and I love playing aggressive music.
AMP: If you could change anything about the music industry what would it be?
Roethlisberger: There’s a lot of small things that I think can be changed. Generally speaking I think the music industry has always operated with bigger industry interest taking advantage of young talented musicians. I wish musicians had more of a voice when it comes to the suits. I think in extreme metal a lot of the suits are actual metal fans so we don’t struggle with it too much. Just a lot of that corporate behavior taking advantage of young talent and them just getting chewed up by the machine.
AMP: What story would you like to share about “maybe trouble” you have gotten into?
Roethlisberger: This is actually a really personal question and something I don’t mind talking about. Growing up in the metal scene I always worshiped bands that partied hard and I actually had a real serious problem with alcohol. Drugs weren’t really a big deal but alcohol was taking me out. My best friend took his own life and I really went off the deep end. Battling the addiction felt like the most trouble I had ever been in. I was able to get into treatment and get that taken care of. I’m 7 ½ years clean and sober now.
AMP: Congratulations
Roethlisberger: Thanks man just finding my place in this universe.
AMP: I see a lot of shows and notice a lot of times the bass player sits on the E chord but you really play the bass. I was impressed.
Roethlisberger: Thanks, I used to be a guitar player when I was younger, like a teenager, and I found that good bass players are few and far in between so as soon as I switched to bass I always had a job, there’s always people looking for a good bass player. I just wanted to hammer the thing as hard as these guitar players did. There’s a lot of lazy bass players out there giving us a bad name but I’m trying to bring it back.
AMP: Do you have anything you would like to add?
Roethlisberger: We are really looking forward to the tour. I just really want people to come out and have a good time, it’s gonna be a crazy show.
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