Exclusive Premier – Alex Bent / Arkaik – Bladegrasp Priesthood

My name is Alex Bent and I joined Arkaik late 2011 and since then it has been quite the experience. I’m honored they asked me to be a part of something with a great reputation of brutal technical death metal with members of past and present bands like: Brain Drill, Odious Mortem and Deeds of Flesh.  Coming from a jazz-fusion background, I knew I was going to be physically challenged playing this type of music. Shortly after being asked to join we had a few months until our sophomore CD was to be recorded at Castle Ultimate Studios in Oakland CA by Zach Ohren .The songs were already written by the band and I was told to add my own elements to the music. Coming from playing fusion music, I play a lot of cowbell and clave, with a lot of fills with a Jazz/Gospel feel.

 

I think today’s metal drumming doesn’t have a lot of that going on, so I figured I would try and mix that into what Arkaik does. When we first got together and jammed I Showed them the things I wanted to do that I felt would stand out musically. For example: One of our songs “Bladegrasp Priesthood” in the chorus has a 2/3 Cuban clave rhythm over a blast beat and another song “The Laughing Prophet of Doom” has a triplet Ostinado in the bridge/guitar solo that was inspired by drummers like Thomas Lang . The band was very happy with what I had to bring to the table. I’m a fan of all types of music including Country, Jazz, Latin, Metal, Hip Hop etc and I feel that there is no limit between mixing genres of music and hopefully some of the things I did on this album will show that. Working with Zach was a great experience. Although I woke up sick with a 103 temperature, he still pushed me in the recording process and was very fast at what he does. We were able to record the album in 10 days.

 

My gear for the studio:

 

Arkaik is:

 

Jared Christianson – Vocals

Craig Peters – Lead Guitar

Ivan Munguia – Bass

Chance Strickland – Guitar

Alex Bent – Drums

 

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Arkaik’s sophomore CD “Metamorphignition” will be released in late 2012 on Unique Leader Records. We just got off of the road with the legendary Cannibal Corpse which was an amazing experience. We are now working with Extreme Management Group Inc. and we plan on extensive touring to support the new record. We really hope everyone enjoys the new album when it’s released. I am very excited to see what the future holds with me and Arkaik. I would like to thank the fans for their support and for helping to spread our music. I hope to play a city near you.