TERRORIZER – BRANDON HUNT
Art: Brandon Hunt
I’ve been one of the artists for the band so far in its lifetime. My background is in creative and digital art, so I jumped at the chance to make our first single artwork. ‘Terrorizer’ is about being a voice and rising to fight whatever injustices may come. And in this day and age, a lot of that has to mean fighting online in some way, shape, or form. The digital aspects of the skull design reflect that the colours are intended to be a differentiator from the normal styles of death metal / hardcore art—light tones vs harsh blacks. While we love all heavy music art, we hope to stick out.
With the lyrics I like to go about it two-fold: A style I employ expands and amplifies my emotional state on a particular personal topic close to me: Losing loved ones, living amongst societal standards, fighting for my beliefs, etc. The other style is storytelling, usually inspired by my favourite entertainment. One of our upcoming songs is ‘Wizard & Glass’, based on Stephen King’s entry in the Dark Tower series, one of my favourite book series of all time. Sometimes I inject a little personal flair into those song lyrics, but as a creative, I treat it like it’s a script that I am directing and the song is my movie.
Creative rituals! I meditate a little, call in some creative guides, put myself in the zone and let what flows out of me be as true as possible. If it becomes a particular style over the other, I go for it and work through the long process. Usually, I let whatever emotion guide me, whether it be anger at a political outcome or event or feeling moved by a particular story. I might invoke the spirit of Paimon to move things in the way I want to. 😛
I aim to be as present as possible these days. I’m not particularly religious but maybe my form of spirituality. I like to believe that there are possibilities of manifestation in the ether. I certainly subscribe to escapism as a creative person and would rather live in one of those worlds I enjoy watching, which drives me.
Music is a tool for any cult. Heavy music is a release. Some people need to play more serious music to balance themselves out. Heavy music musicians tend to be more sociable because they act on a cathartic ritual every time they perform or practice. Sometimes, you’ll see pop artists or light rock artists act out aggressively in strange ways, and I think a little part of it is because they don’t have the release that a heavy song might provide. They’re also probably just assholes, but some should listen to Knocked Loose and headbang.
I like to think about projects over a nice hot meal, and maybe sometimes I go overboard. I’m a big cinephile and film buff, so definitely like some directors and writers (Denis Villeneuve, Taylor Sheridan, Kevin Eastman, George Romero, Darren Aronofsky, lots and lots of influences).
Music is 1000% a cathartic, creative release for me. I love sharing my deep, emotional side in an aggressive art form. It often takes people off guard when they witness a show of mine because I’m usually low-key and pleasant. But, as all of us are, I’m sure, I’ve got demons and bullshit I fight every day that I aim to release and heal through music and art. I feel like I’m being fully perceived when I get to be on stage. I am a big health fan. I came up in the jazz scene in college before I dove into metal, so I love a lot of classic jazz, acid jazz, and world music types of genres, dance hall and reggae. I still get down to KoRn.
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