If one were to employ an extended metaphor that compared South Florida's extreme music (see also: metal) scene to a secret pagan cult, then Shroud Eater would be the guy wearing goat horns and dangling a human sacrifice over the Hearth of Eternal Doom.
That is to say, the brutish trio of guitarist/vocalist Jean Saiz, bassist Janette Valentine, and drummer Felix Torres, play an important role in the region's appreciation of righteous riffs and cookie monster vocals.
Parallel to the ascendancy of their practice space clubhouse -- Beelzebub's Cave -- as a DIY music hot-spot, Shroud Eater is a beacon of productive brutality. They throw a seemingly never-ending stream of quality, cheap live music events. They release their own records. And they don't blink when tapped to open for heavy legends like Corrosion of Conformity. We spoke with Saiz and Valentine about the particulars of the band.
New Times: Shroud Eater has been identified as drawing from a number of metal
variants. Everyone hates to play the genre game, but where do you think
your sound falls on the three-dimensional plane of extreme music
subgenres?
Jean Saiz: A lot of people like to use the term
"beard metal" as a catch-all for this sludgy, doomy, stoner type of
music. We definitely employ some gallop-y metal tempos in conjunction
with slower tempos for bong-blazing. Since there's only one beard in our
band I'm gonna have to say we fall in the "bush metal" category.
What's the story behind the band name?
Jean: "Meat Eater" didn't really cut it, so we went with our second option.
Metal is often associated with evil, witchcraft, Satan, etc. How does Shroud Eater relate that tradition?
Jean: I'm a left-handed, Luciferian lesbian fronting a metal band. That should be enough.
Describe the first time you got caught in a mosh.
Janette Valentine: Slayer circa '91 or '92 at the Cameo theater I believe, with a bottle of Wild Irish Rose. There was puke.
Tell us about your worst bangover.
Janette: Again, Slayer.
Shroud Eater, with Holly Hunt and Slashpine, with visual effects by Bleeding Palm and Audio Junkie and Radio-Active Records DJs at 10 p.m. Saturday, July 21, at County Grind Live at Green Room, 109 SW Second Ave., Fort Lauderdale.
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