Is there anything new under the sun? Maybe not, let’s do some digging with Silura and ShedRat Industries.
Review and Interview by Amy Salmoxie
Unearthly vocals are found underground and the guys of Silura know where to look. Silura have been doing their thing for almost a decade now.
Richard “Domo” Perdomo and Joshua “The Truth” Williams are talented, cutting edge musicians and very good friends as well. They each spoke highly of and deeply appreciate everyone they work with from the various accomplished vocalists to all of the proficient support they get from ShedRat Industries. These guys are changing the game for musicians in an important way.
Together with fellow shredder Andrew Bosko on bass, and different, featured vocalists Silura’s unique sound is forged. Andrew also plays for the SRI band Disappearance, be sure to check those guys out as well.
Silura produces music at an incredible rate, and they thrive through their very open stance on collaboration. Each song showcases another vocalist from underground scenes all over the world. The name Silura means a race of shapeshifters and originates from the book “The Chronicles of The Banned and The Banished” a favorite of Perdomo. A very suitable name for a band with an ever changing and evolving sound.
As bad ass as these guys are they remain humble and give so much credit to the support of each talented individual involved and ShedRat Industries. ShedRat Industries or SRI is a musician friendly and operated record label. They cut out the middle man by doing all design, production, merchandising, promotion, distribution;etc. in house. They offer bands tools and resources that are empowering for these artists. So if you are feeling stuck, or shit out of luck contact ShedRat Industries they may be your answer.
I caught up with Domo and The Truth for an interview when they had a few moments between rehearsals and recording. Initially I asked Domo for a list of songs he wanted me to listen to for my review. I was not expecting our interaction to go much further than that. He surprised me with his flood of information and I have included parts of our talk with the the review. His enthusiasm couldn’t be ignored.
The first song we talked about was “Occupado” featuring Mac Guarnieri of Protodream. The intro riff grips and pulls you into the demonic vocals. The foreboding is clearly conveyed and a peek into the lyrics verifies this emotion. Domo informs me that the song is about performing at a shitty dive bar, getting “super drunk”, plowing into the bathroom to vomit. Only to have the unfortunate occasion of puking on some dude’s lap, that was at that time on the pot. Truly hilarious, “Occupado” is correct.
“Tyrannical Mastication” is next, this song is powerful and arresting. I love the changes throughout, it’s is slower and heavy, definitely one of my favorites by Silura The vocals are guttural and magnetic. “We like to say we adopted a Velociraptor, locked him in the booth, and that’s where this song came from. ‘Cause Holy Shit, this guy is a monster behind the mic!” says Domo of Cutter Taylor the highlighted minstrel on this track. Cutter fronts the post-black metal band Love//Paranoia.
“Tyranical Mastication”-Silura
The third song I present for your approval, “A Species Sewn” with special guest John Galloway of Xehanort (formerly of Rings of Saturn) on the mic. Galloway is also credited as an engineer for this song “The tracks he delivered were insane! I actually used his mixed multitracks in the song because they fit so well” Domo informs me. Tantalizing beginnings stir visions of ancient battles and lust. Malevolent guitars, impressive vocals, hot bass riffs; this one has it all.
Finally, we have “The Withholder” an older track for Silura but one that proved problematic for many vocalists, “enter MuffDawg and his partner Joseph Sparks, they nailed something incredible!” boasts Domo. Jared “Muffdawg” Wesley is the CEO of ShedRat Industries and his collaboration here with Silura delivers! Overwhelming weighty vocals, dissonant jabs, a barrage of blast beats, and the hostile licks we come to expect from this band. Epic!!
Silura, shape shifting their way into our shriveled, blackened, metal hearts with each surly track. Their music is available digitally most any where ie. YouTube, Spotify, soundcloud, etc. Also, check out their website: https://keirosenrp2.wixsite.com/siluraband for the latest goings on.
My review of Silura quickly grew into an interview with the guys. Domo and The Truth were both quite approachable and easy to talk to, so we did:
How old were you when you picked up guitar?
Domo: I can’t exactly remember. I always had a guitar in my hands whether I knew what I was doing or not.
The Truth: I started when I was 6 years old, it kinda started out as I wanted to be like my dad kind of things. So he told me I had to learn at least the major open chords and he’d buy me a guitar for Christmas. I learned those and then some so he had to buy me a guitar. I still remember that Christmas like it was yesterday…but yea after that I just kept playing guitar, pl-aying guitar, and kept play-ing guitar!
(HAHAHAHAHAHAHA) all
20 years now!
Alright, that brings me to my next question quite nicely. Who else taught you and molded your blinding skills?
TT: Uh Youtube, mostly, the best teacher. I mean my dad got me started. You know gave me a couple books.
And Domo?…Do your parents play?
Domo: My family on my mom’s side has had a very long history in music. My brother has played and taught me piano, violin, trumpet, french horns, and even drums. My grandparents played traditional Puerto Rican folk music. It’s definitely in my blood. Haha!
What do you want the world to know about you?
TT: Oh man, (sigh) about me? About little old me? Hmmmm, I don’t know. I’m a fun loving guy. I love walks on the beach, under the moonlight…(pause)
Hahahahahahaha!
Yea, uh, with Marilyn Manson. That’s what I want people to know that I’m good friends with Marilyn Manson. And uh, yeah, I don’t have anything but good things to say about the guy. He’s a fantastic dude! Check out his stuff, he’s done a few underground projects over the years and he’s a really cool guy, I like him a lot.
Hahahaha, right, good to know. What is your dream guitar?
TT: I actually own that. The Ibanez Xiphos is by far my favorite guitar. In high school I got the 6 string Ibanez Xiphos XPT700 and it just felt so good. It has a good weight to it and the scale is perfect. When I found out that there was a 7 string version I had to have that. It took me 10 years to find one, because they don’t make it anymore. But I bought it, so now I own my dream guitar.
See, dreams do come true and they expand.
TT: Now I am actually having a custom guitar made; it’s gonna take about 6 to 7 months.
Where from?
TT: Uh, Italy. The company is MRK Guitars, The guy we’re working with is Mirko Costa and he’s awesome. His guitars are beautiful, ,and I’ve heard they play impressively. As a collective ShedRat Industries is working with MRK to establish some kind of endorsement deal. MRK is going to create guitars for some of the SRI band’s guitarists. So I’m already getting it made. He’s going to take the exact dimensions of the Xiphos neck for my SRI/MRK guitar. So exactly what I feel now on a next level guitar. I can’t wait.
Wow! That blows my mind, so great and very exciting! What are your influences?
TT: Music is my influence. Growing up playing music and just being around it. You know, my dad was a guitar player since he was a little kid. My mom has always been a singer, my older brother played trumpet and he was fantastic! Just growing up around music and my dad kinda forced me to branch out beyond metal and heavy stuff. He’d give me something and say “here I want you to learn this” and you know, he’d challenge me. Once I learned that one he’d give me another. I kept taking his challenges and it stretched my abilities, forced me to branch out and learn new styles.
Give me a few names.
TT: As far as metal goes, Ryan Knight former guitarist for The Black Dahlia Murder They really influenced a lot of my writing and the older sound of Silura. Currently, I love the guys in Rings of Saturn, they took things to another level of what guitarists are doing these days. In the metal community there is a huge divide, either people love them or they hate them. Like them or not they made a huge wave in what’s currently going on in that specific genre of metal. Of course I have to mention all the great bands coming out of SRI. Outside of metal, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, they changed the game for Blues and a lot of their licks are just so iconic to them. Also Chet Atkins, anything he did is so good.
And you, Domo? Tell me more about influences and your playing style.
Domo: I play aggressively and passionately. I take influences from everything I can. Growing up I was around a lot of different music. My current favorites are Guthrie Govan, Misha Mansoor, Josh Napert, and all the guys in SRI.
How did you learn about recording and mixing?
Domo: The good ol’ internet, mainly. A lot of it came naturally. I’ve always been really savvy with electronics and computers so (after learning the basics) it all just really started clicking very quickly.
You do the mixing, mastering, and guitar. Joshua (The Truth) is lead guitar, composer and song writer. Who does the artwork?
Domo: Daniel Williams does the main pieces and I edit them together for the final product. I’m always so greatful to have amazing tracks and art to work with. Silura wouldn’t be this amazing without Josh and Daniel. Joshua is basically the guitarist I aspire to be.
What are your career goals for the future?
TT: Just really more of what I’m doing right now. Play lots of shows, record and release fresh new music…to be able to have a sustainable income from music. I mean you know, who doesn’t want to make a name for themselves? I don’t care that much about everybody knowing who I am. I’m gonna do it whether anybody likes it or not.
That was an in your face “Metal” answer, I like it. Yea! Alright. When you write songs do you think in terms of bewitching riffs and build songs around them? Or, do you have ideas for songs as a whole then add the face mangling riffs later?
TT: Alright, that’s a whole different interview. I could go all day on my song writing process. I’m actually going to do a full length video on my writing process, but I will give a short snippet. Most of the time I come up with a riff, just play around a bit until I hear something I like,you know noodle around until something sounds good then I’ll build off of that. I figure out how to make it bigger, add more to it. I go in knowing how I want it to feel…slow and heavy, slow and melodic, or just fast. I find something that sounds good…it comes pretty naturally to me, it just flows out. It usually only takes me about a day to write guitars and program the drum tracks into the computer. Domo records his guitars after I’ve written everything. We’ve got Andrew Bosco from the SRI band Disappearance on bass. This guy is a madman! He’s done all the bass work for Silura thus far. We have new, different vocalists all the time. I don’t do anything with the lyrics. We give each song placeholder names (before lyrics are added) just from what’s sitting around on the desk in front of us. We had a song called AGK KEYS because AGK was the brand of headphones we were using and the keys were sitting there. We had a song called FORK…in all capitals fork. We pull the (final) title from the lyrics. I can’t mention the work Domo puts into our sound enough! I can write music, and I record clean stems for him, but he takes them and makes it sound like they were recorded in a major studio! You know? Not like it was done in my bedroom. I can’t convey that enough, because it would sound like a 2 year old did it if it was left in my hands. (giggle)
Hahahahaha, Ok we’re almost done. Just a few more. The moment and our perspective is truly all we really have. What solidified this for you? Performing, music, guitar…When did you know you had to do this?
TT: Oh I was 11 or 12? I was up late at night, I would record Mtv’s or may be it was Fuse? They had a metal hour and I would set that to record on VHS…
It was Head Banger’s Ball on Mtv for me as a kid! That was my shit!!!
TT: YES!! It might have been Head Banger’s Ball actually, but uh I’d record it and then watch when my parents went to sleep because they weren’t all for the devil, head banging,music. (chuckle) But I remember I was watching the music video for Avenged Sevenfold’s “Cease the Day” and in it when the guitar solo comes up Synyster Gates is standing on this casket as it’s being lowered into a grave. He’s playing the solo, the camera is panned up looking at him; walking around him as he’s ripping this guitar solo…you know, thinking about it now, it’s kinda cheesy but, as A KID…(It blew your mind!) exactly. I was like that’s what I want to do with my life. I had already been playing guitar for 6 or 7 years, but I didn’t have a direction. After I saw that video, I was like that’s the guy I wanna be, that’s so cool. (snicker) (hahahahaha) After that I really got serious about playing, learning more, and especially, particularly about playing and writing metal.
Great answer, I’m glad you found your direction, and I’m sure your parents are proud that you took to the devil’s music so well. Hahahahaa Final Question, What’s next for Silura?
TT: There’s always something next for Silura, because of the way we do things we try to put out content at least every other week. We release a song the 2nd Saturday of the month and play through is the following first Saturday. Within 2 weeks we have something coming out.
The Truth, Domo, thank you guys for taking some time to chat with me. It has been an absolute pleasure.
TT: Thank you
Domo: Thank you
There truly is always something next for Silura! Be sure to follow these guys and subscribe to their Youtube channel. Don’t miss your chance to say, “I knew them when…”AS-GDM
MOON BRIGHT ALCHEMY 
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