Cloak is an amalgamation of everything from black metal to southern rock. The Atlanta band’s eclectic sound has both evolved and refined itself over the years. LM2’s Dylan Bowker spoke with Scott from Cloak ahead of the release of The Burning Dawn and in the midst of their North American Desolation Tour. According to Scott, every show had great audience response throughout all stops along the jaunt. He said, “It was good to get to Canada for the first time. Visit those markets and see what it’s like. It was actually our first time in Eastern Canada as well.”
Cloak’s Evolution
The band has gone through a few permutations over the years. About six years ago, the band had more of a more normative death metal sound sonically. A bit of a hiatus from the project resulted in the band coming back and reinventing themselves without anything being communicated among the members.
Scott stated, “The 2013 stuff I would say was a different band at the time. It was just three of the members that are in the band now. We took a break in-between. Then we came back and we just started doing what we do now. We didn’t really talk about it. We just kind of did it. Just sort of a natural thing really. We’ll still hear some old demos and think ‘oh that’s pretty cool. We can use that.'”
Cloak as a spiritual band
A lot of it came down to the band members wanting to have varied dynamics in the music. Scott quipped, “I just think that’s something we’ve always pushed for. If it’s just going to be a blast beat the whole time, it’s not going to be interesting. If it’s going to be slow the whole time, it’s not going to be interesting. We listen to tons of different music, know how we write, know how to bounce ideas off each other”
Even beyond the melding of genres/ musical taxonomy of it all, Cloak really just has a spiritual ethos at their core that they look to get across. Scott stated, “Well I think first and foremost Cloak is a spiritual band. It’s dedicated to the devil’s darkness and that’s just how it’s always going to be. I think digging into parts of yourself that you may be afraid to discover is a core element of what Cloak is made up of. We talk about venturing into darkness (and) mean it…….Venture in parts where the normal man is not going to venture to.”
Musical Taxonomy and the Live Show Aesthetic
Cloak isn’t informed by what outside groups are doing. To be compartmentalized with other bands is something that is clearly irritating to at least some of the members of Cloak. Scott said, “We don’t really focus on what other bands are doing. It’s all internal. Reviewers are going to compare you to whatever they’re going to compare you to. I mean that shit’s never going to end. It’s getting kind of old. I think it’s sort of a lazy reviewer thing to do. Why don’t you just listen to the record and figure out what that sounds like? I think Cloak brings something new to the table. We want to inject the rock and roll spirit back into metal because I think it’s something that’s missing.”
The fog machines, backdrops, and ambiance of the live show really sets the mood. Cloak wants there to be a visual aspect/ situational dynamic that helps further punctuate the vibe of the music. Scott said, “It’s just as important as writing a good song. I think we put in the same amount of effort to the live show and the live appearance as we put into making an album. Nothing is half-assed. Even down to the live show, the live appearance. From the start that was something we talked about. Not enough bands did it and it was upsetting. So I think that’s something that Cloak brings to the table for sure.”
Cloak’s present and future
Cloak has a sound that can net them a variety of gigs whether in a classic rock vein or an extreme metal leaning. Scott said, “We did three shows with Mayhem. That was cool. I think Cloak is a band that can sort of mesh with a lot of different bands and still work.”
To that point, the goal for the band going forward is to really ramp up the touring. This is a change that may alter the band’s usual methodology for putting out new records. Scott said, “I think you just need that separation from one record to the next. One piece of work that sucked up two years of your life to where the next piece of work will suck up two years of your life. Now we’re going to be touring more. So we’re going to be touring on the next record a lot more. It’s going to be interesting to see when and how we’ll write the third record.”
It remains to be seen how the additional shows will inform Cloak’s musical output. What is for sure though is Cloak’s return to the GTA. Cloak comes back to Toronto on November 1st at The Velvet Underground and you can peep the band’s social media for relevant ticket information.
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