Fate

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Not to be confused with the belief of some cosmic drive pushing each of us to an inevitable destiny, the “Fate” we’re referring to in this article is a quintet of metalheads united in the effort to drive some of the harshest music to come out of a non-coastal California city (Carmichael, near capital city Sacramento, to be exact) and push it into every corner of the cosmos. Since forming in September of 2003, this five-piece of barely-legal thrashers have had more packed into their short musical career than many bands who’ve been around five times longer than they have. On top of stressful line-up changes and nearly fatal car accidents, some of members are still dealing with the pressures of earning a high school diploma.

Despite the setbacks neither rolling tour bands nor standardized tests seem to be stopping the momentum they’ve been gaining for the past couple years. It started when they booked themselves on the Sacramento stop of the Van’s Warped Tour and continued from there. They cemented their line-up with Justin Krahn on vocals, Bryce Yusan and Kyle Fishman trading licks (get your mind out the gutter) on guitar, Devin Durrett on bass, and Jacob Durrett on skins, while sharing bills with the likes of Bleeding Through, Unearth, and Amon Amarth.

Not longer after gigging around the Californian scene they caught the ear of some power suits at Metal Blade Records and somehow managed to ink a record deal with the heavy-hitters. How many of us who were in high school bands can claim the same?

Now, Fate is on riding the fresh, invigorating, and exhausting wave of their first album release. Entitled Vultures, this debut from the five piece hardcore/thrash/death/metalcore/kitchen sink five piece tosses aside any of the misconceptions one might have about the average age of the band (renting cars is still a faraway dream for them) and replaces it with a musical aptitude that kicks most other upcoming wannabes straight in the throat.

Taking some time out of their bustling promotional schedule Blistering was lucky enough to catch up with Fate bassist Devin Durrett for a quick Q&A session to get their views on the short past, the (hopefully) long future, and the “school bullshit” in between.

Blistering.com: By gaining a major label deal at such an early point in your career it's clear that record execs see a lot of potential in your abilities. How do you not let that sort of pressure get to you when on the road or writing new material?

Devin: There really isn't any pressure at all. We aren't being expected to be anything more than we are so we just try to be ourselves, if that makes sense. I mean we just do what comes naturally to us so when we are writing or on the road there isn't any more pressure than there would be during any other time. It pretty much just comes down to not trying to be someone that you’re not and just constantly pushing yourself to achieve higher and better goals.

Blistering.com: Debut albums really define a band. Making a strong first impression is crucial, especially in Metal. Tell us a bit about Vultures. What did you feel were the most important things to include on this album?

Devin: Vultures was a very rushed album. We had an immense amount of line-up changes prior to completing it, so when we actually got our current solid line-up there wasn't much time to finish the record. We ended up using some old songs such as “Decapitate Delilah” and “The Ruins of Necropolis.” These songs are upwards of three to four years old and you can definitely tell a difference in style from those songs compared to newer ones such as “Of Riddance and Innocence.” Most of all we wanted to include all of our members’ influences. I believe that if everybody in the band participates at an equal level, it will allow our sound to grow and mature and become even more unique. Overall,we just didn't want fans to think they were listening to the same song over and over.

Blistering.com: It's easy for bands who've been around for a while to list pioneers like Iron Maiden, Behemoth, Voivod, or what-have-you as big influences. What are some of yours?

Devin: Even though we are so young we definitely have some older influences such as Decapitated, Nile, Behemoth, Glass Casket, At The Gates, Dimmu Borgir, Necrophagist, Cannibal Corpse, I mean, the list could go on and on. We also have many influences that aren't metal of course. Bands like Paramore, Boys Like Girls, and Saosin are always frequent on our playlists.

Blistering.com: Besides musical influences what other artists and philosophies contribute to the main messages you try to convey to the listeners?

Devin: Early on in our career we found ourselves writing for the listener and not ourselves. While this is not a bad idea, as they are the ones buying the CDs, it got a little bit old. Now as we have matured in our writing styles and playing styles we try to write music that appeals to ourselves and the listener. I would say anybody who can follow a main song structure and keep up the flow would be very influential. It doesn't have to be all over the place to be appealing and it took us time to realize that. But, now we are on our way to growing together as mature song writers. All I have to say is America is not ready for our sophomore release.

Blistering.com: What are your touring plans to support Vultures?

Devin: Well we had a couple of tours in place with bands like Elysia and The Warriors, but those plans fell through when we rolled our van and trailer in Wyoming. Although this is a major setback, we are working to get back on our feet and support the shit out of this record. We are ready to tour 24/7 and not stop until every person knows Fate as a household name.

Blistering.com: Not to sound cheesy, but what is the fate of Fate? Being such a young band, does anyone have plans that could include going away to college or pursuing some other goal?

Devin: We all have agreed that the goals we want to pursue all include music. Music is what surrounds our everyday lives and we can’t think of any better way to live. Right now our youngest member is still finishing up his junior year in high school, so as soon as he’s done with that we will be even more on our way. We all plan on going to college one day, but now is definitely not the time for school bullshit. We are here to play some fucking metal...and nothing else.

Blistering.com: How does it feel being on a label like Metal Blade and having them behind you for your debut album?

Devin: Let me tell you: it is one of the most amazing feelings in the world. Everybody at Metal Blade has done amazing work for us and we wouldn't want to share our careers with any other label. It’s good to know that they are behind us 100%, and it just makes us that much better. They treat us as if they would any other band on their label. I couldn't ask for more!

www.myspace.com/fate

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