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Upon A Burning Body: 20 years later and We are Still Going Strong · ATX Metal Podcast

• ATX Metal Podcast (00:00.532) What's up, everybody? Ryan, ATX Metal Podcast back with the first one of the year. I actually just, I just realized that like mid thought this is the first one of the 2026 season and we got a special guest and we got a lot to talk about. So introduce yourself, who you are, where you're from, what band you're in and what was your favorite song before the age of 15? Ruben Alvarez (00:26.117) Oh, okay, okay. My name is Ruben and I play in a band called Upon a Burning Body. We're from San Antonio, Texas. We're a heavy metal band that's been going for 20 years, toured all over the world, toured with all the biggest acts and are still going strong. Completely independent now, I'm proud to say. And I would say my favorite song back in the day was probably Iron Maiden, The Trooper, for sure, for sure. ATX Metal Podcast (00:43.104) ATX Metal Podcast (00:50.88) Okay, okay, nice. Didn't they just get selected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Hold on, hold on. We've got the internet. I told myself I wouldn't do this. I try not to get these gotcha questions where I'm like, did you know? And then it's like, actually, no one knows. So let's find out. Let's see. When did Iron Maiden get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Ruben Alvarez (00:56.623) Did they? I-I-shit, that's an easy- Ruben Alvarez (01:09.401) That's good to know. ATX Metal Podcast (01:18.958) And survey says this year. Yeah. As of February 20, 25, February 25th, 2026, Iron Maiden. I'm sorry, has not has not been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. God, I'm really sorry. I got some people if you're listening or watching. Yeah, dude. man. Why then? Who was I listening to? Who did they mention on NPR? Ruben Alvarez (01:24.389) sweet! That is so badass! Ruben Alvarez (01:37.285) don't know. I was stoked. ATX Metal Podcast (01:48.462) Was it Megadeth? my God. This is gonna bother me. You know what? I'll look that up later. Let's talk about Upon A Burning Body getting into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Yeah. So, man, kicking it for 20 years. is, that it, there's a lot of things that don't survive 20 years. Like a lot. Relationships, countries, know, crypto. That usually doesn't last. Anyway. Ruben Alvarez (01:55.914) I know, shit. Ruben Alvarez (02:07.745) Yes indeed. ATX Metal Podcast (02:18.018) What's the secret sauce? mean, forgive my ignorance, but has there been any lineup changes throughout the years? And yeah, I could imagine. it's. Ruben Alvarez (02:28.546) it's- Plenty, plenty. Yeah, yeah. The only original members are me and Danny still. And that's when the band really took off in 2006. We actually got together probably 2004, but when we really started playing shows and touring and stuff, it wasn't until like 2006. But yeah, we're the only two original members. we're pretty much brothers. I've known Danny since I was six years old. We share a younger brother who's now in the band. ATX Metal Podcast (02:39.553) Okay. ATX Metal Podcast (02:47.874) Okay. ATX Metal Podcast (02:56.423) Ruben Alvarez (02:56.728) And yeah, so it's three brothers in the band and a drummer, Juan, who's actually back. was an original, he was the original drummer and he left the band before we got signed, before we signed our first record deal. And now he's actually back in the band as of late, as of the last like couple of months. So we'll circle, we'll Yeah. ATX Metal Podcast (03:09.334) okay. ATX Metal Podcast (03:15.598) Dang, that's what's up, man. I mean, how was it? And I've talked to plenty of bands, mostly that really haven't stretched their legs the way that you guys have. But what is it like bringing back an original member? Kind of like the first thing that hits my head is Killswitch Vocals, Jesse and Howard Swapout, What's it like bringing him back and trying like... Hey man, it's been a minute. We kinda got some new stuff, so, you know. Ruben Alvarez (03:46.948) Yeah, he's been adjusting, but man, he's killing it and we couldn't be more happy. It's cool. And when he came back in, I mean, he's the same person and we're all just joking around, clowning around and it's it's good time. So it's good to have him back. I'm stoked. I'm stoked to see where it goes now. And you know, now that we're all based here in San Antonio, we can really, you know, do some fun things and do some one-offs and just, just, you know, do different, do different things that we couldn't do before. We used have to fly, fly in people and do all sorts of stuff. So. ATX Metal Podcast (04:13.336) Yeah. ATX Metal Podcast (04:17.206) Yeah, that's, you know, kind of going back. mean, ever since the Internet got created, people have been sending emails and drop boxes and here's a file, here's a file for making music. But, you know, especially when the members are definitely outside of the state, some halfway across the world, depending on, you know, the project, whenever you guys had to like how big of a pain was that? Just I could understand it from a logistic standpoint, but is there Ruben Alvarez (04:44.206) Yeah. ATX Metal Podcast (04:46.442) Is there, I guess the question I'm trying to ask is, is there too far of a distance that a band trying to really make it, is there, I don't know, is there a threshold? Ruben Alvarez (05:00.002) I would say maybe out of the country would be tough, but I mean, it could all be worked out. It's just a matter of weighing how beneficial it is to make it work and getting them over and balancing out. If we had one show, it wouldn't really make sense, but if we booked a couple, then it's like, okay, now it's gonna be worth it to fly them in and drop that money for a flight and hotel and all that stuff, so yeah. ATX Metal Podcast (05:10.124) Right. ATX Metal Podcast (05:22.838) Right. The one thing I thought about was, you know, because obviously you want to sell out every show. That's the dream, right? But when you have band members that are in different cities and you magically just route through those cities, you're like, the band is kind of having like a hometown show, you know, in various states. mean, is that a thing? That's just something I've always thought about. Ruben Alvarez (05:47.864) Yeah, that can happen. mean, it depends how many members, I guess. It was really just our drummer, our last drummer Tito, who is in Michigan and our crew too. They come from out of state and we have to fly them in and stuff like that. yeah, when we went to Michigan, he would have all his friends come out and it was always like a hometown show for him as well. So it was nice. ATX Metal Podcast (05:52.556) Okay. ATX Metal Podcast (06:06.189) Yeah. That's cool. Well, I tell you what, speaking of hometown shows, you guys just put on, if I'm not mistaken, a free festival down there in San Antonio. was last year sometime, if I'm not mistaken. Ruben Alvarez (06:20.268) Yes, yes, think it was actually, I think it was a year before last, but yes, yes, we did do a free show at a brewery and it was crazy. It was a really good time. mean, there was a ton of local bands too and it was put on by just this random guy who wanted to throw a festival. ATX Metal Podcast (06:23.927) or year before last. ATX Metal Podcast (06:32.604) yeah. ATX Metal Podcast (06:37.921) Hahaha! Ruben Alvarez (06:38.436) We're like, all right, I mean, we'll do it. It was a good time, though. It was great. A lot of people showed up. And those people hanging out on the bridge, it was overlooked by this bridge. So all these people came out, and it was crazy. was like they had a bunch of tents, too, a vendor. It was a full-on thing. ATX Metal Podcast (06:52.865) Yeah, I do. I remember I remember seeing it and and it was just like I was like, my God, upon upon is headlining this. It's all free and there's like vendors all over the place. And I mean, the flyer, I mean, either way, just know that you guys are always I mean, when you think of a pawn and Burning Body, it's like that like that's a fucking Texas band. mean, Jesus. And I know you've heard this a million times and here's a million and one. like You know, the stars at night, that is just so, just, it's so anthemic. and, speak, speak words, Ryan. Speak words. You're a host. Anthemic. There we go. Um, like when you guys were writing, like when you guys wrote that one, was it just like, I've got an idea and let's just full send it. Ruben Alvarez (07:31.447) you Ruben Alvarez (07:42.538) Yes, that's exactly what happened. Literally like that. was crazy. That album was wild because we wrote the first record and we noticed when we played it, we were very progressive at that time. So we noticed like, okay, everybody is waiting for the breakdowns. Everybody is waiting for the sing-alongs. So we're like, let's just put more of them. And I think we went too hard. And when we send the next, the pre-pro to the label, they're like, no. ATX Metal Podcast (08:00.417) Always. ATX Metal Podcast (08:06.184) Hahaha! Ruben Alvarez (08:11.908) Like this is a 180, like you guys are gonna shoot yourselves in the foot. So we were there at the studio, we had already paid for the studio, we're working with Will Putney and he's like, well, we gotta write another record now. And he's like, we got two weeks, you guys got two weeks to go upstairs and write a record. And that was one of the songs that we wrote in those two weeks, just had to. ATX Metal Podcast (08:13.12) Absolutely not. ATX Metal Podcast (08:32.909) Dang. Ruben Alvarez (08:34.052) Stay up all night just trying to write songs. We're stressed. It was so stressful. But we made it happen and we got it. That's how Red, White and Green was written. And I think only one or two songs made it from that pre-pro. Sin City was the other one that was part of that first pre-pro that we kind of snuck in, kind of rewrote it little bit. But everything else we wrote was fresh and it was on the spot. It was crazy. ATX Metal Podcast (08:57.761) Wow. See, that's man, that's why the fact that you guys went in with an idea and then, you know, someone over here was just like, no, do it again. And then, you you guys are like, okay, two weeks, let's go. And then you just start riff after riff after take after take after take after take. But I thought it was interesting. You call it red, white and green. What's the relation there? Ruben Alvarez (09:24.488) It's a little bit of of, so we're wearing suits at the time and the whole thing was was Al Pacino, was the first record and the second record was Robert Rodriguez movies. So we're kind of playing off of that kind of vibe, Mexican and Italian where, I don't know, I don't, it was just all over the place. So we're like, this is the, the, label was kind of the one that, that helped us name that one. But, so it doesn't really have a cool story behind it, but it definitely now looking back at it, everybody that's, that's like the record. ATX Metal Podcast (09:40.875) Hahaha. ATX Metal Podcast (09:55.115) Yeah, I mean, it's very, it's very, you know, stand out-ish, you know, if you're, if anybody still goes and hunts for CDs at, you know, record stores or, you know, FYE and you're just kind of browsing, that one, that one would definitely stand out. So you go from label support to independent, which obviously everyone that starts a local band, you're not out the gate signed. I mean, I don't know of any, you know, it always takes that grind. What do you guys like? I guess give me the pros of both. Like what were the pros of a label and what were the pros of being now independent? Ruben Alvarez (10:33.55) So we actually went through two record deals. We went through one with Sumerian Records and then we signed another one with a record label called Seek and Strike. And they both were very supportive and we had a lot of great things. I have nothing but great things to say about them. So with Sumerian, they supported us and they got us on tours and we would... A lot of times we would group with the label mates and we'll tour with them like Vella Maya, Born of Osiris, like those guys, Asking Alexandria. So, you know, there was a lot of those tours that happened within the label that we only got because we were part of that family. You know what I mean? And then with Seek and Strike, Seek and Strike was run by two people that were in the industry with Sentry Media and PR, and they did a lot of stuff like that. So we had another chance to just learn and grow. And they taught us a lot about how to promote and, you know, how to how to try to harness our fans and get out there as much as possible. So after that, we decided it was time for us to step out and do it on our own. And we're just like, you know, think we're ready. We have built up a fan base long enough to where we can do it. you know, it's still a learning process. Like we're still learning how to do everything and try to get it going. But as far as financially, it is the best thing that we've done. Like think that's the only way we could have survived financially is like, you know, to support our families and make it happen and not having to tour constantly. Now that we own the rights to our music 100%, I think that's where the balance came is like now we can pick and choose when we want to tour and we don't have to be gone all the time. So it's badass. ATX Metal Podcast (12:12.651) Yeah, definitely. when you're making music, living your dream like a rock star, there still is work-life balance, guys. Gotta have some work-life balance. Ruben Alvarez (12:20.708) Yeah, we're gone like for eight months out of the year at times. It was just like constantly on the road. at some point you're like, damn, what am I working for? I don't even get to chill at home. I'm just always gone. So there's definitely came a point in time as we got older, we started having kids and we wanted to start a lives of our own. We're just like, okay, we gotta figure this out. We gotta figure out how to make this work. ATX Metal Podcast (12:43.841) Yeah, yeah. What's the one thing that having a family at the level that you guys are at now, mean, obviously, you know, everybody, you know, deals with their family in this way or the other, but whenever you guys were gone, like you said, you're like, man, like, what am I working for? mean, was there ever a moment like if I'm gone X. time. Is there a tough discussion with the Mrs.? Look, Ruben, you just got off tour. Sit down and kiss your kids, okay? Ruben Alvarez (13:15.103) yeah. Yeah. It was brutal, man. mean, a lot of us would come home and not be able to pay rent still. Like, you know, we'd be on the road for. Yeah. Yeah, it's crazy, man. It's brutal. All the all the money that would go in and then you have unexpected things. You have breakdowns. You know, you have stuff that you got to pay for on the road. And then you come home and you're broke and you're just like, how do you explain that to your family? Like, I've been gone for six months and I have nothing to show for it other than, you know, we are growing, but you can't see any of that on the back end. You know, so it was there was a lot of tough tough ATX Metal Podcast (13:29.279) What? ATX Metal Podcast (13:46.068) Ruben Alvarez (13:53.094) discussions, you know, back in the day. So it was hard. It was hard, man. I'm not gonna lie. I know there was a point in time that, you know, we were at our most successful doing Mayhem and Warped Tour. And on those two tours, we came home with nothing. We maybe made like, you know, $200, $300, you know, because we had to rent the bus. We had to like, you know, pay for all these things. And in the end, we're just like, damn, we're left with nothing. And then we started getting smart. bought, we started, we ATX Metal Podcast (13:56.385) Man. ATX Metal Podcast (14:07.691) yeah. ATX Metal Podcast (14:20.461) Wow. Ruben Alvarez (14:23.014) stopped renting vehicles, we bought our own vehicle, we invested in our own things, and now we're smart about it. And we're just like, we're never gonna do that again. We're never gonna go back to blowing everything on the road and coming home with nothing. So we're very smart in that sense. We really try to keep everything in house and do everything as DIY as we still can, you know? ATX Metal Podcast (14:44.001) Well, speaking of DIY, obviously a part of this is to support the locals that aren't signed, which again, you don't have to be. I feel like you don't need the support in the way that you used to these days, just based on social media. you could, I can't count how many, how many songs I've seen on Tik Tok or bands I've seen on Tik Tok. Like never heard of them. You go check out their profiles. They've got like a couple thousand followers and it's like, this music is fucking great. Like why, why is this just, you know, floating around my algorithm? Why is it not, you know, on the radio? It's, it's, well, 80 % of the shit that we listen to can't, you can't listen to on regular radio. So, but we do have our own hour long session now called the Texas Takeover. So we can get independent bands. Ruben Alvarez (15:30.904) Yeah, that's true. ATX Metal Podcast (15:42.027) and local bands that are trying to get a broader reach. mean, when I got offered this, was like, my God, what? So being able to just take this humble little podcast and now elevate it to the radio show, mean, how many times have you been on Liquid Metal? Ruben Alvarez (15:49.548) That is amazing. Yes, yes. Ruben Alvarez (16:03.67) yeah. Yeah. I mean, we got lucky with that one. We're good friends with Jose. So he's constantly giving us love. And yeah, yeah, yeah. ATX Metal Podcast (16:09.181) Jose's a dude, He's like, man, he's a vibe. For the kids listening, it's on SiriusXM satellite radio. Is that channel 37? Yeah, yeah. There's a nice old plug. I go over to 40. 40 is where the hard stuff is. Anyway. I'm not hating. I'm not hating. It's just, you know, sometimes you want to hear some blast beats. So speaking of blast beats. Ruben Alvarez (16:21.294) Yes, yeah, you're right. Ruben Alvarez (16:29.732) ATX Metal Podcast (16:39.019) We've got a new album out, yes? How long's that bad boy been out living? Ruben Alvarez (16:41.72) Yes, we do. We dropped it in December, I believe it was, I can't even remember the exact date, I think it was December 5th we dropped it, so it's pretty fresh, yeah. ATX Metal Podcast (16:51.233) Yep, that's the internet says December 5th. yeah, it's still, mean, hell, it's still in its infancy stage. What's the feedback been? Ruben Alvarez (17:01.336) it's been great. So we released a lot of the singles. We're doing that whole rollout, like slow rollout, dropping singles and then building up to an album. So half the record was out already, you know, previously, and we just been leading up to it. And now we finally package it together into something physical, dropped it right at our end of the year tour that we do in Texas. We always do an end of year December run. And we're like, that's the perfect time. Let's put it out and get some physical copies out in the world. So all the collectors that still buy CDs and ATX Metal Podcast (17:12.311) Right. Ruben Alvarez (17:31.2) Records and like yeah, we're still printing CDs. I'm like hell. Yeah, I mean we get hounded for him all the time And I'm just like alright. We're making CDs. Let's fucking do it. They The relics ATX Metal Podcast (17:31.393) ATX Metal Podcast (17:39.885) Kids these kids these are okay. God, I can't believe I grabbed this. All right. Let's let's just take a quick peek. What did I grab? Because this is my this is my definitely Texas pile because I have to take all of these and then transfer them because they're not on there. They're not on the Internet. So. Oh, dude, no, I have I'll show you some see thumbscrew. I got to see you, man. I see you. For those that don't know, thumbscrew was fucking wild. I actually got to see them play. Ruben Alvarez (17:55.788) Is that a thumbscreen CD? Ruben Alvarez (18:03.96) Hehehe ATX Metal Podcast (18:09.389) their very last show at the Acadia Bar in Houston. And it was their last show and it was the bar's last show. It was like Mammoth Fest 3 or something. I found all kinds of cool bands. Steak Sauce Mustache. Oh my God, The God Awful Truth. They're from Denton. It's like math core stuff. Anywho, but Thumbscrew fucking killed it. And I got to give Daniel a ride over there. So I felt good. Ruben Alvarez (18:18.526) man. Ruben Alvarez (18:23.268) bit Ruben Alvarez (18:31.234) Okay. Ruben Alvarez (18:35.011) Yeah. Ruben Alvarez (18:38.691) Yeah. ATX Metal Podcast (18:39.085) So this is, let's see, what CD is this? An Army at Dawn. Oh my god, Ruben, this is one of the first CDs I was ever getting. This is like 11 years old. This is one of the first ones that I've ever been given. And I remember me and my buddy Crowe, who started this with me, we were just like, hey, we're running a podcast. And they were like, holy shit, here's our demo. And I mean, they got the Sharpie marker on there. I mean, it's, yeah, it's. Ruben Alvarez (18:49.752) Holy sh- Ruben Alvarez (19:03.977) Yes, that's how you do it. ATX Metal Podcast (19:07.283) That's the track list. Let's see, what else we got? We got Killing and Apathy. Our man Anthony Stevenson from Come and Take It Live and Come and Take It Productions used to be the drummer in this band. Ruben Alvarez (19:20.728) Get out of here. ATX Metal Podcast (19:23.053) Actually, this one is still in the plastic, unopened. It's a band called Id. This is Philosophia. These guys, I actually just played them on the Texas Takeover, I think on the second episode. And I made the comment, or I realized to myself that I was not into a band like that when I should have been into it. know, just totally just missed the opportunity to really go see some cool music. And then last but not least, we've got Isonomist. I don't know if we can get that in the picture. my God, that looks great. Yeah, they are also kind of mathcore-y. so I'm told, God, if I'm breaking news right now, Chuck, I'm sorry, they're coming back. They took a little hiatus. There was some dark times, some shit went down, but we're back. I hope they're back. And there's gonna be some fucking angry music. Ruben Alvarez (19:58.084) That's a cool, that's a cool cover. Ruben Alvarez (20:18.98) heavier. ATX Metal Podcast (20:19.309) So I'm ready to play it. I'm ready to play it on the Texas Takeover, which is on 93.7 HD2. Most cars these days have an HD option. You just have to turn it on. And you just go to 93.7 and just wait for it to kick on HD. And then you click over, and it's no control radio. Ad free, commercial free, just nothing but music. So Sundays at 8 o'clock, can find me there curating a playlist with guys like this. Ruben Alvarez (20:39.394) That's better. ATX Metal Podcast (20:46.626) Speaking of, yeah, we're gonna play Daywalker. We're gonna drop kick everybody in their face with that one next week. So why that one? Why that one from, why are we gonna put that one on the air? Ruben Alvarez (20:59.556) To me, I feel like it's the culmination of what the album is. It's just everything that we do great, and it's all in one song, and I love that song. And the cool thing about this song is actually gonna be on a movie called Devour. It's a horror movie that's coming out. by Scott Hanson, yeah, and it's gonna be featured in there. It's actually, he told me that it's actually gonna be hitting theaters, which is awesome. He's an independent filmmaker. He made an amazing horror movie and he sold it. So now it's gonna be in theaters. I was like, hell yeah. I think there's like, I forgot how many werewolf kill scenes. It's like, it's crazy. He got like, it's all practical too. A lot of it's practical. It's like, it's really sick what they do. And we've been friends with him forever. ATX Metal Podcast (21:22.316) Okay. ATX Metal Podcast (21:29.666) Aw hell yeah. Ruben Alvarez (21:43.724) a lot of our music videos, so that's how we know Scott. ATX Metal Podcast (21:46.529) That's wow dude, I'm gonna have to, my wife is a horror fan through and through. like the bloodier the better, but she really loves the like B rated flicks, where it was shot on a shoestring budget with way too many Starbucks trips. Ruben Alvarez (21:57.986) Yes. Yep. Ruben Alvarez (22:05.054) Take out the premise the premise is a band of vampires travel the country and feed on fans and then they they run into like This crazy guy In this town who who like has a bunch of monsters with them and they it's like it's just a crazy crazy story. So yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, which is like there's there's all sorts of crazy creatures that come out and it's it's really sick really cool ATX Metal Podcast (22:23.565) So they start beefing with the locals? Oh. ATX Metal Podcast (22:30.743) Man, that's actually, that's actually, I want, that's such a good premise. That's such a good band so they can only travel at night. And then when the set's over, you know, they can do a little partying, you know. and it's an all-girl band! So we got all-girl vampires rolling around as a band just murking people in the streets, or not in the street, I don't know where. Ruben Alvarez (22:36.569) Yeah. Ruben Alvarez (22:45.718) And they're all girl band. ATX Metal Podcast (22:59.661) Wow, that's okay. It's called Devour. Okay, do we know when it's gonna come out? Ruben Alvarez (23:02.626) Yeah, yeah. They're already hitting a bunch of festivals. I know they're having some screenings and stuff. I don't know when the theatrical release is going to be. But I know it should be this year. Yeah, I believe it's this year in the fall. ATX Metal Podcast (23:08.279) Okay. on the circuit. ATX Metal Podcast (23:15.297) Okay. ATX Metal Podcast (23:18.679) Well, man, keep me posted. I would love to go see that. Just be in the theater. Just be like, you guys know that band? I know that band. Ruben Alvarez (23:26.532) So the way we wrote the song actually is because Scott wanted to use one of our tracks on the movie. And we were like, the track he wanted to use was like, it's owned by the label and we're like, it might get a little weird, like we would have to negotiate and stuff, but we're like, we're independent now, we'll just write a song for the movie. that's what we did. So this song is actually for the movie. It's literally, so when you hear it, you'll hear kind of the horror theme and the lyrics and everything. so it's very, very thematic. ATX Metal Podcast (23:45.706) ATX Metal Podcast (23:57.399) That's...man, that's cool. Congratulations, dude. Congratulations. That's...not everybody gets their shit in the movies. Ruben Alvarez (24:04.45) Yeah, I'm excited. It's really cool, man. And Scott's an amazing, like I said, he's an amazing director. He came back actually after he started after the movie was released, not released, but made. He came back and shot a music video for us using the werewolf that's in the movie. So that should be out soon. mean, we're waiting on the final cut and it should be dropping soon. We're going to drop a music video and it's going to have some of the werewolf in there and it's going be sick. ATX Metal Podcast (24:22.221) ATX Metal Podcast (24:28.759) Dude. ATX Metal Podcast (24:32.801) That's going to be, yeah, just to tie it all together. mean, that'll be really great because, I mean, you said one hand feeds the other. It's like, you can go see the movie and there's the music video and man, that's cool. Man, that's really cool. Now I just want to go watch one of the just shittiest horror movies that my wife has in her hundreds of, I mean, she's a, you know, she's an old schooler. So she's got all the DVDs and all the box sets and obviously Freddy and Friday. Ruben Alvarez (24:44.344) Yeah, really cool. ATX Metal Podcast (25:02.647) 13th and she's all she's in that world, but I mean, yeah, she'll be excited to go see that so cool Well speaking of other things exciting to go see when are you guys hitting the road and? Where are going? Ruben Alvarez (25:18.766) We are heading the road in the summer and actually tomorrow, when is this episode gonna be dropped, released? ATX Metal Podcast (25:25.773) what, hold on, what's today? I'll cut all this sh- I'll cut all this trash out. It's like, and pause. Yeah, cut. Let's see, today's the 25th, fast forward. Ruben Alvarez (25:28.43) Today is the 25th. Ruben Alvarez (25:35.47) Cut. Ruben Alvarez (25:41.77) I could say this, it's not going to be out tomorrow. we're getting announced for Warp Tour tomorrow. So we'll be doing all the... Yes. Yes, it will be. ATX Metal Podcast (25:44.318) no, no, no. ATX Metal Podcast (25:49.453) nice. Nice. So by the time you hear this, it is already announced. And if it's news to you, then congratulations. You've just learned. Ruben Alvarez (25:59.428) Yeah, yes it is. So we're going to be on all the Warped Tour dates this year here in the United States. And then we're playing Rock Fest, which is a huge, huge festival in Wisconsin. Yeah, with Gojira and it's going to sick. Yeah. ATX Metal Podcast (26:06.635) What? ATX Metal Podcast (26:11.947) Oof. Nice. Mostly, I know when you say Gojira, you think of the Olympics, right? When they opened up in France was unreal. Ruben Alvarez (26:24.162) What a moment. My grandma was watching and she was just like, yeah. ATX Metal Podcast (26:27.477) Yeah, right. mean, you just don't introduce the world to something like that. I was curious, how did that happen? Somebody's like, I got an idea. Let's just let Gojira open up. Ruben Alvarez (26:40.772) Yeah, it's cool because my grandmother, she's from there. So she was like, she knew like the story. She's like, that's Mary Antoinette. And she's like telling us the history behind like the story. And she's like, that's cool. ATX Metal Podcast (26:47.703) no shit. ATX Metal Podcast (26:56.205) Yeah, and I think that's really neat because yeah, like the Antoinette aspect of it where people are like, why is she holding her head? It's like, maybe you should look it up. Look it up. But that is a good one. And Gojira is also a good band to go check them out. You know, obviously they've been doing things for a while. So let me ask you this question. We'll kind of wrap up here. How much more gas you guys got in the tank? Because I'm 42 and Ruben Alvarez (27:04.992) You should maybe know that one. That's a good one. ATX Metal Podcast (27:25.933) Like I said, I'm a pool service trainer. Like I teach kids how not to fuck up hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment. And I'm out there in the heat sweating, you know, doing what they do. And people are like, man, you're 42? I'm like, look, I may not look 42, but man, there's days where I feel 42. So what's like the lifespan? know, are we looking like, you know, Ruben Alvarez (27:47.64) Yeah, yeah. ATX Metal Podcast (27:54.925) like we're going until we drop or, you know, we're just going to hang it up after 25. All right. All right. Ruben Alvarez (28:00.91) that's the goal, no? Just to go until the wheels fall off and just keep going, keep writing music. I think now that we're independent, we've got like a whole new breath of fresh air where we're just writing what we want and we're able to do whatever we want. So it's it's awesome. So we're going for it. We're just, we're going to keep going as long as we can. ATX Metal Podcast (28:20.575) cool, man. I look forward to catching you guys whenever you are around. You did mention something about your end of, you guys do an end of year kind of Texas run. Did I catch that right? Do you just do, that's right. That was the show I was thinking of. I think it was like December 19th in last year. I think that was. Ruben Alvarez (28:34.244) Yes we do. Ruben Alvarez (28:44.391) Mm-hmm. Yeah, we actually did Austin. We always skip Austin because San Antonio is so close and we always play home. But last year, Anthony was like, come and play Austin too. And the show was killer. So I think every year we'll probably end up adding it to the shows. Yeah, boom. Mm-hmm. ATX Metal Podcast (29:02.775) That's right. That's right. Because I threw my annual showcase. actually brought Darkness Divided back. And then you got, yeah, I got to kind of relive my little 2015 memory of, you know, whenever they were, you know, out touring, just crushing it before they kind of took a little break. So yeah, that's right. Yeah, you played Austin. God, man. I really should do more homework, right? Ruben Alvarez (29:09.817) hey kid. Ruben Alvarez (29:26.495) Come and come and see a show man. It'll be a good time ATX Metal Podcast (29:30.547) dude, I am 1000 % whenever you guys are ready to come back. I mean, if you want to work it out, if you guys are bored, like I said, I throw my show first Saturday of every December at the end of the year. It's just to promote nothing but locals, like people that I think really stood out this year. That's kind of what it's morphed into. I I can see all this stuff hanging behind you, and I got all of my show flyers over here. And it's just really cool to just sit here and look at some of these bands don't even exist anymore. But yeah, that's why we do what we do. We keep the music going. We keep it flowing. Any final shout outs? Any thank yous? Anybody you want to start a diss track with? Ruben Alvarez (30:16.687) No, I just want to say, if you haven't checked out our new album, go check it out. It'll mean the world to us. We're doing this all independently now, so every bit of help. goes a long way, so definitely go check it out and I think you'll be surprised. Actually, I do have one thing to say. We're in the process of releasing the deluxe version, so we're gonna add two new tracks and we're getting it remixed and remastered, and we're gonna be dropping that here, hopefully in the next, I don't know, two months, it should be out, so we'll be announcing that soon. ATX Metal Podcast (30:49.293) Okay, so it's gonna be Blood of the Bull, like, 2.0. All right. Ruben Alvarez (30:52.831) Yeah, basically, we're adding two new tracks and we're getting it all remixed and mastered. The thing is, songs span from so long ago. When we put them together, we noticed that they were all over the place. We're having our producer go back and redo everything and he's going to make it sound really good, really nice. Yeah, yeah, tied it up. ATX Metal Podcast (31:13.421) Tighten it up, just tighten it up. Well, I appreciate the 11 songs. I know that these days where people are like, we're releasing an album and it's five songs. OK, first, I am no one to speak. I don't make music. I don't write music. I just fucking listen to it. But the days of 9, 10, 11, 12 track albums, Like where do you guys fall? Like is that more comfortable for you guys? Or you know, I don't know, why 11 songs? Is that just what you had, you know, like just hanging in the background? You're like, let's throw them all together. Ruben Alvarez (31:54.853) Nah, it just feels right for an album. think if you're putting out an album, you want to take the listener on a journey. And I think, you know, to get them there, you have to have dabs and flows and 11 tracks. Yeah, kind of where it landed, but, you know, now we're going to have two more that fit in there. So I'm like, all right, let's go for it. Let's keep dropping music. And I think the next thing is, you know, we're just going to keep dropping singles and work up to the next release, you know, the next physical release. ATX Metal Podcast (32:22.653) Yep. Always. It's always out at singles, music video, sing another single album, and then you tour on that for the year. And then while you're doing all that, you're writing new stuff, just talking into your phone like, right, I'll save that one later. Yeah. man, the voice memo is your friend. So one last question before we get out of here. Ruben Alvarez (32:40.111) Exactly. I got a bunch of those notes. ATX Metal Podcast (32:52.489) Before I start doing shameless plugs for for the for the radio show When you said I love the fact that you said you want to take the listener on a journey. I Have a few albums myself that can go start, you know from one to the end specific one of those is after the burial just because I love I love ones and zeros and What is what is one album that you? can play front to back from a different band. Ruben Alvarez (33:23.108) Ooh, the new silosis is really sick. Yeah, yeah. ATX Metal Podcast (33:25.385) Brother in Christ Man, all right. We and you know, hey crow man. Thank you for introducing me to silos is dude Such an underrated band in my opinion. I mean the fucking wizardry that those dudes pull off All right, I'm gonna quit having My god, yeah Ruben Alvarez (33:38.333) Yeah, really cool. Really. Ruben Alvarez (33:47.583) Shout out to LifeCycles too for touring with them from San Antonio. ATX Metal Podcast (33:53.961) There was that there was that thing in my head where like it couldn't complete the sentence and I was like there's something else about Silosis that really connects all of this and then you said it Yeah life cycle I have to get them on and see what tours like because I remember catching so like was it it's something Silosis did on Instagram and they were like Talking in their accents like the things You know life cycles. I'm like, my god. I didn't even know life cycles was was touring with them. So I don't know. I need to get out from under a fucking rock I'm under right now. Kind of try to see what's fresh and see what's happening out there. So anyway, thank you Ruben so much. You've been great. I've had a good time. Like we spoke about Ford, just hang out for a second, let everything finish doing what it does. For everyone else, thank you for tuning in. This is the ATX Metal Podcast. If you missed it, we are now running an hour long show on 93.7. HD2 no control radio Sundays at 8 o'clock where I get to curate a local a local playlist I mean, but you know I get to go back as far as you know the thrash metal days of the 80s to literally songs that you know Ruben and the gang are stirring up so from all the way back then to all the way now we got a lot of a lot of stuff to cover so I'm I'm actually trying to figure out how to like do it so The episode that's gonna drop this coming week, actually by the time you hear this, it will already have happened, but it's gonna be nothing but like San Antonio, San Marcos, you know, that area. can definitely find 15 bands from that area to play some music. And then I think I'm gonna hop around. I'm gonna do like a Houston episode, you Houston Corpus Christi. I'll do like a DFW and then I'll just do like a East Texas and you know, just everyone out. God, man, it's so desolate out there. Ruben Alvarez (35:29.215) Yeah, it's hilarious. Ruben Alvarez (35:34.367) withstand. ATX Metal Podcast (35:49.627) I don't know how I know how they do it. That's that's a Ruben Alvarez (35:52.223) It is, like El Paso and then Amarillo. ATX Metal Podcast (35:54.995) Whoo brother Yeah, that is that is a different type of Texas and maybe that's why the music has a little bit more anger in there but but Man makes me remind me of a band called known suffer and steel Lake and I'm gonna give them guys a call Dude yeah, they they came down for I think a battle and I want to say they made it to this to the next round I can't remember off top of my head, but Ruben Alvarez (36:03.535) It's a little bit more grindy. It's a little more grindy. Ruben Alvarez (36:13.215) Ayyyy we just said it Steel Lake great guys ATX Metal Podcast (36:24.615) I just remember that their songs and their sound was really good. So shout out to Steel Lake. But all right, bud. Thank you very much. Again, my name is Ryan. This is Ruben. This is the ATXMODE Podcast. See you later. Ruben Alvarez (36:28.851) Yes, yes.