For their debut release on Prosthetic Records, ACxDC are coming out swinging. Five years after their last full-length and four years after their last EP, ACxDC has seemingly stored up enough bile to fill several records. For now, they’ve squeezed what powerviolence they can onto their upcoming album, Satan Is King, due for release on May 15th. Today, we’re pleased to give you an insightful interview with the band’s vocalist Sergio Amalfitano, taking on the band’s new offering, their local hardcore scene, and some politics.
For a band whose full moniker is Antichrist Demoncore, it may come as no surprise that Satan plays a prominent rule across the record. However, Satan here serves as a motif; a motif for rebellion, for self-discovery, and for rejecting authority rather than as a literal figure of praise. With a tongue-in-cheek title that serves as a response to Kanye West’s Jesus Is King album, Satan Is King is the antidote to excess, greed, and mindless indulgence.
Although the album is released during an election year and against the backdrop of a politically fraught environment,the members of ACxDC are not proponents for party politics. Their message – like their music – retains a distinctly DIY attitude. As always, the band is politically charged, distributing sonically raw dispatches at break-neck speed as a true seam of revolution runs through the album’s lyrics, imploring the need for immediate and drastic action to save the planet – and ourselves. Railing against corporations, pushing back against institutions that oppress, and challenging the concept of critical thought in the face of society that rewards greed and champions homogenous thinking all form threads in the fabric of Satan Is King.
ACxDC returned to producer Taylor Young (Nails, Twitching Tongues), who recorded and mixed Satan Is King at The Pit Recording Studio in Van Nuys, California last November. Brad Boatright later mastered the album at Audiosiege. The resulting fifteen-part manifesto of fury is a visceral open sore of aggression. Embracing grindcore, powerviolence, and more, ACxDC funnels multiple genres through their unique lens. Fans of Gulch, Nasum, and Minor Threat will have plenty to immerse themselves in with Satan Is King. Cover art by Dylan Garret Smith is the cherry atop this barb-wire laced cake.
In advance of the release of Satan Is King, No Echo is streaming the record’s title track. Notes vocalist Sergio Amalfitano of the latest bruiser (see more in our exclusive interview below):
“The song is a sort of fuck you to Kanye West and any evangelical type. His whole album is praising Jesus as king and this title track is sort of a ‘so what? Satan is king, too.’ But in the lyrics, I see Satan as a rebellious liberator that’s king of his own domain and Jesus is an authoritarian demanding submission over all.”
Satan Is King will be released on CD, LP, limited gold edition LP, and digital formats via Prosthetic Records. Find preorders at THIS LOCATION.
Interview with Sergio Amalfitano
Hey Sergio! Thanks so much for joining us here on IDIOTEQ. How are you? How’s the band? I feel you’ve kept a low profile or have been in hiding for a couple of years since 2016. Apart from irregular live shows, what’s been keeping you busy?
All is good! The band broke up in April of 2017 and we got back together sometime in 2019. We sort of just decide it was time to come back and start doing what we loved again. We’ve been writing a new LP thats about to come out so thats kept us busy. Other than that just sort of planning everything for the year and upcoming years!
How’s your SoCal scene by the way?
So Cal is always great. Theres always new bands forming and old bands reforming ha. Its a privilege because everyone wants to come play LA and we get to see them or play with them. So Southern California is always a really great scene.
How would you say hardcore scene is adjusting to modern day and digital times?
I think it all worked out. The one thing I miss is paper flyers but I guess its for the better. But we’ve all sort of jumped on board wit digital media. It helps get your music everywhere faster. It helps connect people a lot easier. It definitely makes touring the easiest its ever been. Seems like everything is a lot more democratic and easy to do. Recording studios popped up like crazy because technology was cheaper. The way we write songs sometimes is different in that you can send a riff idea over the phone.
How have you personally and your relationship with the scene evolved over the years?
I just take everything a lot less seriously. Not in a bad way just in the sense that I don’t stress about things as much. I focus more on family and work and enjoy what I do with music and friends on a different level. I book way less shows for other bands because I really couldn’t do it justice at this point. Between managing my family, my business, and my band I can’t help out as much. But luckily I can point people in the direction of those who can help. So generally Im a lot more relaxed.
How about your recent shows? Where there any highlights of what you experienced last year and early 2020 when it comes to live gigs?
Its stupid but every show is fun and great in its own way. I enjoy mixed bills a lot. Getting to play with adolescents, strife, lower class brats, lack of interest, etc was great. Touring Japan again was amazing! Touring central and south america was all brand new and absolutely a bucket list moment for the band. One of the reasons we came back was to play the Break the Chains fest in Leeds so that was amazing.
Give us a quick tour through most thriving places, venues, DIY labels, and independent undertakings in your area?
Rec Center in LA is killing it with amazing shows right now. Other than that most venues havent really been super DIY. Theres a bunch of venues that host shows from underground bands but generally they are legitimate venues that pay taxes and have booking staff. We haven’t really been able to do too much of the house shows, backyard shows, illegal generator shows, or playing in non traditional venues as of late. I don’t know if I’m just super out of touch or things have just changed a lot. I think it may be a bit of both.
Are squats still a thing in California? I remember my interview with Cameron of LA BELLA and Bridgetown DIY collective back in 2015 and it would be great to get an update on that from your perspective.
Not really. At least not the ones I knew of. Fresno and a few other places had them but I think they’ve generally all been shut down or people have moved out of them and now they’re just hipster art galleries ha.
Tell us a bit about your upcoming European shows. Will there be a full tour announcement soon?
No we aren’t going to be doing any full length tours. Balancing the band and family was very hard for me and my family so Ive made it a point to say if someone really wants us to play their country thats great but we can’t lose money coming over and we can’t spend 2-4 weeks touring and trying to recover money. Its not so much about making money as it is about not losing money and struggling to pay my families bills if I leave for a long time. So we’ve only been doing weekend trips for festivals and some surrounding shows.
Recording-wise, apart from the new full length follow, will there be more Antichrist Demoncore releases this year?
Only a few more months til you can have a brand new LP in your hands! We have a new LP coming out and we recorded enough material for a split EP or single sided EP so well see what happens with that this year. We’ll also be collecting our last 4 eps into a collection LP.
Apart from ACxDC, how do you uphold your beliefs in every day life? Are there some projects and other activities you’re involved in?
I maintain my life thru the same DIY ideals I carry into ACxDC. I work for myself as a screenprinter, DJ, photographer, etc. I mostly dedicate my off time traveling with my partner and kids. I try to get them to see a more well rounded world and not just TV. I want them to hike, take in nature, travel to new cities, eat new foods, learn about new cultures, etc. Basically its the same I do with ACxDC but with my family!
Lastly, after a couple of years of Trump administration’s activity, how do you feel about the political climate in the US?
Same as always except that its all out in the open. Before it was all very hidden racism and sexism and homophobia. Now its all out there. But all governments do the same thing. They create laws that benefit them and profit them and their friends. It seems the same all over the world currently. Lots of right wing governments coming out and stoking fear in the masses. Lots of liberals saying we need to show peace and love and understanding and vote and change the laws. At some point someone has to say fuck that and start shooting nazis and the politicians that normalize them.
Are you going to vote in the upcoming presidential election?
I’ve never voted once! If I had voted for Obama id have the blood of millions of middle easterners on my hands, the deportation of millions of “illegals”, the bailout of banks, etc. I don’t vote because its all rigged to benefit the upper class. Things have never really changed for the better after voting. I think things haven’t gotten worse either. I think that again the digital age just makes it so we see everything more. I’m sure if we had a democratic president bombing some country no one would complain. But I’m an anarchist so the second fascism takes over I’ll be on the streets.
Thanks so much for your time, Sergio! Feel free to drop your last words and take care! Cheers from Warsaw!
Cheers and hopefully we end up coming over there soon!
ACxDC will quake stages both stateside and abroad on a host of shows and festival appearances including Dreadfest in Leeds, Punkytud Fest in Mexico City, Maryland Deathfest in Baltimore, and Earslaughter Fest in Montreal. See all confirmed dates below.
3/14/2020 Blue Spade 75 Studios – Los Angeles, CA w/ Lower Class Brats, Naked Aggression
3/19/2020 Blackheart – London, UK
3/20/2020 Roisin Dubh – Galway, IE
3/21/2020 Nice, Sleazys – Glasgow, UK
3/22/2020 Dreadfest @ Temple Of Boom – Leeds, UK
4/09/2020 Cirque Electrique – Paris, FR
4/10/2020 Epplehause – Tubingen, DE
4/11/2020 Le Trois Pieces – Rouen, FR
4/12/2020 Neuronoise Fest – Rennes, FR
4/18/2020 Grind Now, Die Later Fest @ Norwalk American Legion – Norwalk, CA
5/01-02/2020 Punkytud Fest – Mexico City, MX
5/14/2020 Observatory – Santa Ana, CA w/ Negative Approach
5/22/2020 Maryland Deathfest – Baltimore, MD
5/23/2020 Sixty Sixth Congress – Brooklyn, NY w/ Negative Approach, Bandit
5/24/2020 Once Ballroom – Somerville, NJ w/ Negative Approach, Bandit
5/25/2020 State House – New Haven, CT w/ Negative Approach, Bandit
5/26/2020 QXT – Newark, NJ w/ Negative Approach, Bandit
5/27/2020 Voltage Lounge – Philadelphia, PA Voltage Lounge w/ Negative Approach, Bandit
5/28/2020 Mohawk Place – Buffalo, NY w/ Negative Approach, Bandit
5/29/2020 The Fuze Box – Albany, NY w/ Negative Approach, Bandit
5/30/2020 Earslaughter 5 Fest @ Foufounes Electriques – Montreal, QC
7/19/2020 Zesta Grande 2 Fest @ The Colony – Sacramento, CA
ACxDC is: Sergio Amalfitano – vocals; Jorge Luis Herrera – drums; Ryan James Corbett – bass; Edward Jason Oropeza – guitar.
