Emerging from California’s underground extreme metal scene, Tentacult has carved a niche with its brutal yet intricate sound. Since their formation in 2018, the band has navigated the challenges of independent artistry, forging their identity through relentless creativity and a DIY ethos. Their latest album, Untamed Revulsion, refines their unique blend of brutality and dissonance, offering a more direct yet equally unorthodox sonic assault. In this interview, Tentacult delves into their evolution, the Sacramento metal scene, and what the future holds for their ever-shifting sound.
Serial Metalbums: Tentacult was formed in 2018 within California’s underground scene. What were the biggest challenges and opportunities you faced as an emerging band in that environment? What’s the meaning behind Tentacult, and how does the name reflect in your music?
Tentacult: The biggest challenges we faced, and still face, are likely the same that plague any smaller band working in extreme music. Lack of exposure, high costs for equipment and rehearsal spaces, gas prices, dwindling venues that are willing to support underground music, insularity and gatekeeping in local scenes, etc. Beyond that, Tentacult was the first committed band that Tyler and Siino worked in, so there was quite a bit of time learning how to work collaboratively in that new context. Siino wasn't even a proper musician when the band started. Lots of growing pains and patience with one another. Anton didn't join until the very end of 2020, and Tentacult was his first serious project as well.
As for the name, we spent about a year coming up with options and Tentacult won out. There's no greater mythos behind it. It's between something serious and something silly, and that's who we are as people. Fitting in while standing a little off-kilter, much like our music. The other option we weighed was Apocrypheliac, but we decided that not enough people would get the bit. (Don't take that one, it'll get used soon enough)
Serial Metalbums: Your debut album Lacerating Pattern laid the foundation for your brutal and incisive sound. How would you describe the evolution from that album to Untamed Revulsion? Brutality and dissonance are central to your style. How do you balance technicality, atmosphere, and sheer aggression?
Tentacult: We start from what feels good. Finding a melody that's fun or interesting, or maybe a feeling of the path we want a song to take. There is usually some strange rhythmic element from the start, and the bass and drums take their time digging into those pockets and finding further ways to fuck with it. We are prog-informed more than prog-centric, if that makes sense. We want our songs to take a listener through some experience, and we get there by going through it ourselves rather than intellectualizing the components and charting them all out beforehand. Back and forth, honing each part through repetition and exploration. The more complicated elements emerge naturally.
Serial Metalbums: What was the writing and recording process like for Untamed Revulsion? Did you experiment with new approaches compared to Lacerating Pattern?
Tentacult: Untamed Revulsion was recorded the weekend following the release of Lacerating Pattern. We wanted to hit this one hard and fast, even if it did end up taking two years from recording to release. Patrick Hills of Earthtone Recording Company did everything, recording, engineering, mixing, everything. The man is a genius. Our time in the studio was much shorter and tighter, all recorded in about two days, and there were some new techniques we tried but not anything significant enough to mention here. The real difference was in our writing and rehearsal. This time around, we wrote the material as a band that had a better understanding of collaboration. We wanted it to be more direct without losing any of the outsider strangeness. You'll find the time signatures in Untamed Revulsion are much less unconventional than they were on Lacerating Pattern, but we keep a pulse that maintains an angular groove.
Serial Metalbums: Do you write together in the studio, or do you prefer to compose individually before refining songs collectively?
Tentacult: It varies from song to song, but generally an idea is brought out during our weekly practice. If it speaks to us, we work on it, and then we take some pieces home and others we work out the next practice. It generally stays organic and contemporaneous.
Serial Metalbums: Tentacult is part of California’s underground death metal scene. How would you describe that scene today, and where do you see yourselves within it? Which bands, whether Californian or not, have influenced you musically and philosophically?
Tentacult: Sacramento's music scene is an unkillable weed. The city is a place of urban sprawl and alienation and disrespect from outside and within, a fertile ground for frustrations to build. Everyone here is driven by a powerful urge to make something different. There is a discipline to the scene here. All our venues die, get shut down, run out of money, and five punk houses rise to replace them. All of the bands leave or break up and a year later a hundred new bands are made.
Tentacult is no different. We do this because we want to, we need to. We have the love and support of every promoter, band and sound tech we work with, because we give it to them as well. We're all here for the same reason. Love, passion, that is the only thing that holds any of this together. We're proud to work in such a vibrant community.
There are many different bands and artists that have influenced us in one way or another. We all have our personal favorite genres and artists that rarely overlap, but there are a few that all four of us tend to enjoy, such as Bolt Thrower, Crowbar, and Carly Rae Jepsen.
Serial Metalbums: What have been the initial reactions from fans and critics to Untamed Revulsion? Have there been any responses that stood out to you?
Tentacult: So far, the response hasn't been as loud as it was compared to the chatter around Lacerating Pattern. There were unexpected delays with the new album’s upload to streaming services; it just went live on Spotify this afternoon, over a week after the official release date. Plus, it's tough to get play anywhere in music media without the homie hookup. That said, the music video for “Geometry of Shadows,” made with so much love by Joel Goulet, Adam Murphy and their accomplices, brought us to a completely new audience.
Anything with wizard puppets getting fucked up by mystical horrors is bound to get some play. Tentacult can't thank Joel and the team enough for all of the passion they put into that project, and we're honored to have provided the song for it. The real thing that has stood out is that we're getting interviews now. That's new.
Serial Metalbums: With two albums under your belt, do you have the ambition to explore new sonic territories in future compositions?
Tentacult: Just wait for album three. We don't like to stay in one spot for long.
Serial Metalbums: Finally, what would you like to say to your fans, both longtime supporters and new ones?
Tentacult: Thank you for the kind words and for telling your friends about us. And for buying the records and our merch! Us smaller bands put everything into this. Time, money, so much sacrifice. We would do it regardless of praise, but seeing any comment or criticism makes it feel so much more real. Many of the reviewers and listeners who have taken some time to talk about Untamed Revulsion have impressed us with their disciplined ears. Much of what has been said evoked the goals we set for ourselves in making the record, and it is a beautiful affirmation when others can pull that out without us having said anything to inspire those perceptions.
