Saviours Don’t Mind Being Compared to Mastodon

If you've heard 2008's 'Into Abaddon,' it shouldn't surprise you to hear that the Oakland, Calif. band Saviours are often compared to Mastodon. And sure, drummer Scott Batiste gets it.

"I think maybe just because we have the dual-guitar thing going, and we have some timing things that we like to do ... we like to keep it interesting, and not keep it too predictable," Batiste offers. "But at the same time, we're trying to write real songs. We're not trying to jam 20 riffs into a song and just go, 'That's a song.' When I play drums, I'm not trying to blow you away with my chops. I could give a f--k. I want it to be a good song, first and foremost. So, maybe the parallel is that, and we've toured with those guys, and I see where they're coming from. And I've talked to them about it, and it's the kind of thing where, we're just crafting quality songs first. For them, the technicality comes with that because they're great players. But ultimately ... yeah ... I don't know."

On the band's forthcoming record, 'Accelerated Living,' which hits stores on Oct. 27, fans will hear a slightly different Saviours. While past efforts have been stoner rock mayhem, this upcoming LP, with songs like 'Acid Hand,' 'We Roam' and 'Living in the Void," will be a tad faster.

"We're playing off influences like the classics ... Venom, Motörhead, Slayer, because that's where we're at right now," he says. "There's something about modern metal that ... a lot of the magic has been beaten out of it. There's no mystique anymore, like Cronos or Lemmy or King Diamond and those guys. There's a mystique about them. There's like this larger than life ... like, those guys are just beyond rad. They're icons. There's no modern incarnation of that, since those guys are still alive. But, like, where's that for our generation. Not that we're trying to be that, but we're just trying to bring some of that in."

He doesn't think the stoner metal tag applies as much these days, either. "I think of us as a metal band, and maybe even a hard rock band at times," Batiste says. "But we can play with stoner rock bands, and we can play with thrash bands, and we can play with black metal bands ... but I mean, our vibe ... we like to smoke a lot of weed and party and s---t, but we're not making music for stoners."