Slashpine Talks Black Metal, Forsaken Florida, and Death Art

​If you sense low rumblings, heavy crowd enthusiasm, and dark growls from behind the doors of music venues and art shows all over town, betcha it's Slashpine. This three-man band has the raddest, most organic name for a metal group based in Florida, ever.

These young dudes are all experienced musicians. Brad Lovett, the guitarist with about ten-foot-long blond dreads, used to play in Space Manatee. Dim Past is a project he's collaborating on with Slashpine bassist Rob Goyanes. Goyanes calls it a "dark wave electronic" keyboard project. His side project is called Self and Other which he works on with Gabe Miller. Drummer Ryan Howfield used to play for a group called Gacy, as in John Wayne. We're talking good band names here.

By asking the most basic questions, Slashpine revealed themselves to be a group that is smart, playful, and dark.

Crossfade: So, can you tell me a little about Slashpine? 

Slashpine: It's is debatably a black metal band that seeks to recreate the atmosphere of a Florida that has been forgotten, let go, or forsaken. We accomplish this through live performance and ceremonial incantations.

How long have you been playing together and known each other? 

For what seems like an eternity and which may in fact be one. We've known each other for a little longer than that.

Why'd you pick the name Slashpine? 

Time-Blade was too good of a name, so we decided to go with our second choice. The slash pine tree is a dominant feature of Florida's natural landscape, a place whose narrative has a large impact on our sound and mythos. It stands as a totem that draws our psyches toward ancient memories and the dimmest possibilities for the future.

Why'd you guys decide to start a metal band in particular? 

Certain types of music dominating Florida now represent it only as a place to catch sunny vibes and partake in feel-good merriment. Metal offers a different and darker perspective, and we use it to invoke some of the more dismal qualities of our region.

Where do you see the band going from here? 

We'll continue to metamorphose as we shed our outer form and expose a fresh and more hideous skin. Our doctrine of a New Floridian Death Art will draw souls into the swamp for an ecstatic, muddied baptism. We will continue to perform ritualized obliterations of all pretenses of the ego. Also, tour.

How do you feel about the scene in Miami? 

Music scenes, like any system, are entropic. They experience growth, stability, rupture, collapse, and putrefaction. We tend to the latter three like ghastly farmers on fields of sorrow.

You put out an EP recently? 

It's a three-song seven-inch record that, while not being officially untitled, does not have a title. It was released by Roofless and Fuku Records. We make deliveries for them by night. Also available at Sweat and Radioactive Records.

Slashpine with Hot Graves, Shroud Eater, and Guerrilleros de Nadie. Saturday, July 16. Beelzebub's Cave, 164 NW 20th St., Miami. The show starts at 8 p.m. and cover costs $5. Visit facebook.com/beelzebubscave.

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Slashpine with Shroud Eater, Ether, Holly Hunt, Orbweaver, and Consular. Thursday, July 21. Churchill's Pub, 5501 NE Second Ave., Miami. The show starts at 9 p.m. and cover costs $5. Call 305-757-1807 or visit churchillspub.com.

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