Shroud Eater Self-Release EP, Album to Follow

Releasing an EP on its own is an ambitious undertaking for a new band, but Florida's Shroud Eater saw the experience as pleasurable, since they were incredibly resourceful, taking the term DIY seriously and to heart. "Releasing the EP was definitely a fun process," vocalist/guitarist Jean Saiz told Noisecreep about the self-titled effort. "We kept everything in-house, had our friends record, mix and master it.

"And once everything was ready, we contacted a bunch of places to have the EP heard, reviewed and spread throughout the interwebs. We just wanted to hit the ground running because the three of us feel very strongly about our music. Our goal here is to go as far and do as much as we can with our resources, rock the f--- out and have a good time doing it."

The EP is a sludgy, doom-a-riffic slab of bottom-feeding metal that could have been reared in the mucky Florida swamps alongside alligators and slithery snakes. "Our music is a combination of aggressive stoner and sludge metal with noise rock, like if the Jesus Lizard, Helmet and Hammerhead had sleazy Hessian sex with High on Fire, Kylesa and Black Sabbath," Saiz said. That's some dirty, nasty, 'take an immediate post-coital shower' type of sex metal! Saiz continued, "There are a couple of psychedelic touches thrown in here and there for breathing room."

Shroud Eater plan to remain independently minded, issuing a full-length on their own, as well. "We are open to having a label back it up and that'd be pretty rad, actually," Saiz said. In addition to doing things on their own dime, Shroud Eater also feature two ladies in the ranks, which has elicited some stereotypical reactions from metalheads. Saiz said, "We've had people come up to us after gigs and say, 'I saw two girls setting up big amps, and I thought you guys were gonna suck!'

"So a lot of times people just think a girl in a band is going to sound, play and sing in a particular way. It's cool to shatter those expectations because there are a lot of ladies in metal right now that are kicking some major ass. Actually, a better question would be to ask our drummer Felipe what it's like being the only dude in the band."