Exclusive Interview: Vitalivour talk “Part One”!

“Vitalivour is a demonic manifestation of mankind’s grief, rage, hatred, and venom, spawned in the repressive Mormon state of Utah. An ear battering catharsis…” ~ Joshua Bowden

Sometimes you read, hear or even see something and it grabs your attention so much show that you rush out to find out more. That’s what happened when one man Death Metal project Vitalivour surfaced on our radar with flavours of Groove and Melodic Death Metal all coiled around the spine of debut EP “Part One” like a serpent. So logically after we reviewed the record it was only a matter of time before we gave you an exclusive interview with multi instrumentalist mastermind Joshua Bowden about how it all happened…

If we are the product of our genes, influences and surroundings, what is in your jeans and who have been your influences in bringing Vitalivour to life? “I just put on a fresh pair of pants, so right now my pockets are empty haha As for genes, my dad has been a guitarist most of his life, and played in a few hard rock bands as a hobby when I was growing up. My parents also took me to my first concert to see KISS when I was 8 years old. This ingrained a deep love for live music in me and I knew since then that I wanted to be a musician. I got into heavier music as a teenager, and since then have been heavily influenced by such bands as Opeth, Gojira, Nile, Behemoth, Dimmu Borgir, Suffocation, and Cattle Decapitation”

What made you choose the solo project path as opposed to getting together a full band? Do you have any plans to flesh out the project in order to take these songs live? “So, I live in Utah. Our local metal scene is basically dead. There are few musicians capable of playing death metal here, fewer that are interested, and even fewer still that don’t flake out. After several years of trying and failing to get enough musicians together to form a band, I figured I would just get going on building Vitalivour myself. At least this way, I can write, record, and release music and make Vitalivour a real thing. Do I plan on fleshing out Vitalivour as a full band for live shows? Absolutely. I am hoping releasing the music will draw musicians to me”

The lead work on “Harbinger of the Last Omen“ is incredible! When you put it together, as a solo project did you find yourself taking more of a perfectionist route to remain? “Thank you! On the one hand, I want everything to be the best it can be. On the other, once a riff or song is feeling and sounding really good, I don’t want to touch it too much and ruin it. So I like to lock things in when they are feeling and sounding the way they should. Minor imperfections add to the humanity, the emotions, of the song more often than not. While I do want to release music that is “perfect” for the purpose it sets out to achieve, I am not a perfectionist in the sense that every note MUST be perfectly played. I dont want it to sound like a robot played the part!”

You’ve given us a guitar playthrough video for a cut titled “Mountain Of Bones” which is yet to surface, what are the plans for that one? “Mountain of Bones was my very first song for this project. I originally planned to include it on the debut EP, but finances forced me to drop the song count down to 4 songs. I do plan on re-recording MoB and getting a studio-quality track of it released in the future!”

What’s next for Vitalivour? “Right now, I am neck deep in riffs working on putting Part Two together. I am always on the lookout for fellow musicians and other industry people and am slowly building a network. I hope to,  very soon, have a band together and start playing shows. I still have some connections to venue owners and promoters here in Utah, who are hoping to revive the local metal scene. Much remains up in the air, but one way or another, I will make Vitalivour happen live and MUCH more music is coming!”

“Part One” by Vitalivour is out now and available over at bandcamp.