Today we’d like to introduce you to Ian Bishop.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Cathexis started when high school buddies Ian (vocals), Chris and Sam (Guitars) started making music in between breaks in college (2011ish). We made a few releases strictly as a studio project with Chris playing bass and an electronic drummer. After Ian graduated and moved back to Austin (2014), we recruited a rhythm section and played shows for a few years while very slowly making new material. In Jan 2020, we went into the studio with permanent members Oscar (Bass) and Felix (Drums) and made Untethered Abyss. The album was all but ready to go in mid-2020, but due to the pandemic, our window of opportunity to release the record in a way we felt best had come and gone due to the pandemic. So we sat on the record for 12 months until we could settle on a release date with the label we have wanted to work with since we got together, Willowtip Records.
Currently, we are still playing shows all over Texas and having an awesome time doing it. Untethered Abyss has received some great press, and it’s been more than gratifying to have shared this music with the world. We truly did the record the way we wanted to with a potent lineup and a legendary record label!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’d say it’s been smooth considering the time between records. We are slow writers, so we never feel like we need to be on a timetable. We haven’t really suffered any real issues maybe outside of myself being in school in another state and various health issues that we have thankfully recovered from. We’ve been mercifully devoid of drama. Our only personnel changes came with our original rhythm section we put together when we started playing shows. We had a blast jamming with them, but we had no issues when they were offered positions in other bands who played the music they were happier playing. We ended up snagging Oscar and Felix and their entrance into the group has complimented all of us as musicians. Our only barrier now is how slow we wright.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are Cathexis from Austin, Texas! We play Death Metal, we specialize in playing Death Metal, and we are known for playing DEATH METAL!
Describing our band’s strengths is not for us to say. We focus on making a particularly dissonant kind of death metal while trying to keep the songs down to earth and “fun” per se. We try and keep songwriting our number one priority while blending dissonance with bits of tech death and brutal death metal. We are as particular as we can be in the studio. Opting to play with as little studio interference as possible and focusing on tight performance and nuanced recordings. We hope to deliver an end product that provides a different listening experience in many regards while still remaining familiar and satisfying.
Evidence of this pursuit can be found on our most recent album “Untethered Abyss”.
What makes you happy?
Big riffs, banging heads, and moshing bodies.
Pricing:
- Red and Black Merge Vinyl – 22$
- Random Color Vinyl – $18
- CD $9
- T-Shirt – $18
- Long Sleeve – $26
Contact Info:
- Email: cathexisdm@gmail.com
- Website: https://cathexistx.bandcamp.com/
- Instagram: cathexis_texas
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cathexisdm
Image Credits
Drew Nesbit (black and white pic) @njorodnyphoto
