Authors of Fate is an amalgamation of seasoned veterans from the heavy metal bands Kaustik, The Slow Forward, Killix, and Ruach. Collectively these musicians have performed throughout California extensively, toured the U.S., filled in for acts in Europe and Australia, and played shows with numerous notable metal bands over the years. Their mission is to create aggressive heavy music that is genuine and professional, layered in technical prowess, as well as a lyrical depth that explores the darker philosophies of the human condition and social toxicity
plaguing the current world. They write music that appeals to them, as fans of a diverse catalogue of heavy genres, to give the audience an outlet to channel and release the rage and sorrow that builds within us all. Authors of Fate brings a unique sound that blends genres, while staying true to the aggression and intensity of extreme metal. A.O.F. plan to tour extensively in the near future and already have several new projects in the works. See you all in the pit.
- What are you still trying to figure out?
How to get more people to hear or know of us. We can write, record, and play music, and get quality art, production, and products on our own. But getting the word out for releases and shows/tours has been one of the biggest nuts we haven’t been able to crack. Thankfully this time around we were able to get more of that public eye time that we’ve been trying for, for so long.
- Do you have anything you’d like to tell any fans reading right now?
Hey bud! How’s life? Sucks right? But also kinda good sometimes? Yeah, we feel that big time. Remember, no one cares about you like you do, so don’t worry too much about it, or them. Just be as cool as you are, and things will go how they’ll go. Stay rad.
- What’s next for you?
We’re working on more music, more shows, more content, and more merch, as always. Before the newest release, we were already looking at the next thing. We’ve got a couple tours this year, and some music videos coming out finally, which we’re stoked about. Hopefully the next round will come out before you get bored with this one. Expect more chaos and aggression, coming to a town near you. Or just your town.
- For those not familiar with your band, can you tell us a little bit about yourselves?
This band has been in my mind for a long time. We’ve all been playing music together in other bands for the better part of two decades, and I knew who I wanted to work with to make this project happen. Luckily everyone was down. It’s definitely a passion project for me, where I just get to make whatever the hell I want, but everyone contributes and is down for the overall vision. Since we are older and wiser (?), we get to make decisions based on previous failures or missteps that give us some advantage as a “newer” band. Starting over is a lot of work and hard to accept some of the grind back to where you were, but it also allows you to clear that history and have a fresh start, ahead of where you were the first time.
- If you could design your ideal tour, which artists would you include and what would be the theme?
The tour I would want to go on would be a lot different from the one I would want to see. Strategically, I would want 3 bands that draw way better than we do, that are all slightly worse than us, and we play second to last lol. That way I wouldn’t be embarrassed by going out with our favorites or heroes that would just make us look like shit every night.. But for the question to be a fun dream tour, let’s say Dying Fetus, Black Breath (RIP), Nails, Rotten Sound, then Deafheaven to throw it all off, and of course us. Yeah, 6 band bill! Those are some of my biggest influences for our sound and I’d just be stoked to watch them every night.
- What’s the strangest thing that’s happened on tour or at one of your shows?
My old band used to have a spare tire for the van that was just loose with all of our gear in the back. One time we loaded it in with the merch,, and just left it there all night. While we were playing, the bass player from another band that played earlier, probably super sober, decided to get naked and roll it around the pit like an old stick and hoop. Just runnin around with it like it was his buddy. Then he made himself puke on the floor in the middle of everyone, and danced around it. I could barely play guitar I was so shocked/laughing so hard.
- What’s the funniest thing that’s happened on tour or at one of your shows?
See above for possibly all time weird/finny show answer. For this band, on tour, one of the best was a late night drive. Our drummer Bob has to sleep with a CPAP machine, and would plug it into an inverter that we plug into the cigarette lighter. He was asleep, along with singer Rob and bassist Gizmo on their benches while guitar player Joe was driving and I was co pilot. While Joe and I were talking, we heard a weird noise, like a pop, and thought we just hit something small in the road. All of a sudden Bob raises up from his bench like Dracula out of his coffin, all magical and shit without using his hands, and is making some crazy noise with this machine strapped to his face and his mouth taped shut (part of how it works). He finally gets it off and is gasping for air. Apparently the noise we heard was a fuze blowing that was responsible for his CPAP, and he legit couldn’t breathe. Once we figured it all out we couldn’t stop laughing at the physical comedy of the whole thing. It sounds messed up laughing at your drummer suffocating, but he was fine, so it was hilarious.
- When recording your latest release, did anything strange, wonderful, or terrible occur?
Honestly not really, other than it came out awesome. We went in super prepared, and got it done pretty fast. Took 4 days total for everything. It was one of the easier recording sessions I’ve had. Obviously Taylor Young is so pro that it helped everything go smoothly. I did get to play the only clean part on a guitar he has made out of steel, which was rad, and made that part sound especially Purple Rain-y.
- Do you use the same gear when recording as you do when playing live? If yes, what and why? If not, why not?
Yes and no. We all use the same instruments that we play with live. But we use whatever amps and pedals the producer has and knows how to make sound as sick as possible. On this new one, I used my custom Jackson Soloist that Joe (our other guitar player and Jackson custom shop master builder) made. It has Fishman Fluence modern pickups, plays perfectly for me, and sounds amazingly clear. Of course we made it sound super gnarly and distorted because that’s what we want. For amps, we blended a couple with some HM-2 style pedals, also blended into those amps for more control, and then all of that through the standard PIt 6×12 cabs. It honestly sounded insane in that room, and I couldn’t be happier with the tone. I use an Axe FX iii live through a Mesa cab, and try to emulate the tone we got in the studio with that as best I can. Gizmo used an LTD bass that I don’t remember the model, Joe tracked his solos with a Jackson Warrior that fuckin rocks, and Bob used his regular Pearl kit with the Vinnie Paul snare that a lot of people comment on. The main concept is to use the right tool for the job.
- How did you link up with the label for this release, and what about them was attractive enough to make you sign?
What label? Lol
