Spiritual Poison, Creativity and Personal Freedom

The new Spiritual Poison record- Incorporeal is out today.  It would not have been possible without the help of Drew, Andy and Will, and Closed Casket Activities for agreeing to release this strange thing. 

 I wanted to say a few words about my decision to express myself in a different way outside of the spaces I have typically been inhabiting publicly for the last 20 years. Though I will continue to play and love Harsh noise, doom & grind core, this new expression is out of a desire to not only flex and exercise/exorcise my creative muscle but to continue to grow as a musician.  I do not want to become stagnant, or complacent.   I want to continue to challenge myself.  I picked up the guitar for the first time 32 years ago and have been writing my own songs (for better or worse) since then.  And though I’m sure you can find common sonic threads through this new work  and my old work; you will not find the same spirit.   

 The music I have been a part of in the past has never been delivered without feelings of extreme darkness, violence, hopelessness, extreme hatred, feelings of being abandoned by the creator or the lack of a creator period, being alienated from a sick society, with no place to belong (Primitive Man).  Or extreme thoughts on personal grudges (Vermin Womb/Many Blessings).  What I am trying to express here with Spiritual Poison is a feeling of weightlessness and peace and a shedding of shackles & chains and an acceptance of whatever lies beyond.  An exploration of things greater than the mess of a life most “regular” people wake up to every day.  Imagine waking up somewhere else, outside of time and space.  That is what this record is representative of.  Stepping outside of the physical realm and into the spiritual one and what that might sound like.  Creating music in another place and what that might sound like.  Ghost songs.  Back to zero.     

 Long form classically influenced cinematic drone is not for everyone, it is an even more niche market than the ones I usually inhabit.  This is made very clear by the disappointed comments of CCA devotees… which I have had the unfortunate displeasure of accidentally reading.  I wish I could say I valued their criticism, but I do not.  By stepping away from the comfortable constraints of “extreme” metal I do not have to!  That journey has been an uphill battle for me and at this point in my life I see no reason to not continue to push a different boulder up the mountain.  If I am shackled to anything it is to my desire to continue to make art. 

Maya Angelou once said in an interview with Billy Moyers in 1973, “You are only free when you realize you belong no place – you belong every place – no place at all.”   So, I looked inside of myself, and this is what I found.  I found true freedom within and now I am free from my surroundings.   Dead to the world.   

 Some links here, including an interview I did with Cody Davis and another one for Slow Poke with Becky Laverty.  I tend to shy away from doing interviews after the “ask a black dude” era of the pandemic while PM were releasing Immersion, so it was fun to be a part of these in-depth interviews after staying away from them for the better part of 3 years- and with some good friends to boot.

 I hope y’all check out the record and I even hope y’all enjoy it.   

Order here: https://closedcasketactivities.com/products/spiritual-poison-incorporeal

-Many Blessings to you and yours.

-ELM