FORCE & FIRE talk about their upcoming “Disintegration Process” vinyl release on Throne
“There is an ambitious mentality to sound unique and we are hard to classify”
FORCE&FIRE is the brand new band from Ryan Lipynsky (master-mind behind Unearthly Trance, Serpentine Path, The Howling Wind, Humanless, etc.) and Steve Bago / Pat Flynn (bassist and drummer in NYHC legends Indecision). “Disintegration Process” is a sick, vicious, twisting blend of Crust, Sludge, Black Metal and Hardcore.
A truly awesome debut album being released on vinyl along this summer.
Knowing Ryan and his multiple bands, one might think he’s hyperactive or something, yet “originally, Force & Fire started with myself and Pat Flynn [Drums] jamming together in his basement in Bay Ridge Brooklyn. I was looking for a new musical outlet for guitar and at the time, the only band I was doing that rehearsed was Serpentine Path and in SP I didn’t play guitar. Unearthly Trance was inactive and I was kind of dying to play some guitar in a band in a rehearsal atmosphere. Back then, I lived 5 minutes from Pat and it was easy to just go down and jam on some song ideas I had. After putting together a few songs, we asked Bago to play bass as Pat and Bago have a played together in NYHC band Indecision for like 20 years. So they played super tight and have this unspoken way of locking in that is rock solid”.
“Disintegration Process” is not their first recording, yet it is quite different from “Vast Descent”: “Originally we had the idea of basing our sound on more of a Rock feel but as time went on things became increasingly harder and more metal. The first recording “Vast Descent” was us exploring our sound and the second was us really finding our sound. The first demo was a recording that I recorded and the new one was done at Jay Newmans [Unearthly Trance/Serpentine Path] studio. We also went for a more darker, harder and harsher vibe for “Disintegration Process” which of course, is right in my wheelhouse. We have a bit more faster tempos on the new one and the guys also pushed me to to all harsh vocals. I am very pleased with “Disintegration Process”.
Obvious comparisons to the three members’ main bands will arise; “I think the similarities between F&F and any of my other bands that I play guitar in would be of course my guitar playing style, sound and vocals. It is very much my identity. The difference is I have always purposely wrote in this band with the idea that I was not trying to do anything in the UT style. It was important for me that I was trying to make it different and stand on its own. There is an ambitious mentality to sound unique and we are hard to classify. At the end of the day, that is what pleases me most! The similarities between F&F and Indecision would certainly be Pats drumming style and approach. Also Bago’s intensity in the live setting obviously resembles his maniac bass swinging ways with Indecision ways as well, haha. F&F are worlds apart musically and lyrically from Indecision. There is actually nothing in each bands vibe that is remotely similar. Both Bago and Pat love Metal, especially Pat, so this band serves as a great outlet to explore different sounds and tones with a low tuned aggressive dark metal vehicle”.
Yet Force & Fire is more than just a side-band project: “It was conceived out of the idea of playing for the enjoyment of it. Going back to basics and just having some beers and hanging out. Pat and Bago are old friends since the 90’s and we always have a good time rehearsing and shooting the shit. To me this is the most important thing about being in bands. Having a good time and enjoying being in the room creating. I don’t see this as a project but a band as we do things quite organically. I do other projects like The Howling Wind and that is a project through and through. In THW we trade recordings back and forth as a duo because we live on opposite sides of the country. F&F is totally different. We jam on ideas I come up with and talk about the sounds and fine tune things with arrangements and riffs. We plan to take things as they came. Both Pat and Bago are family men with kids and that is their priority in life but they always make time to get together, which I really respect. We will keep doing things but this isn’t a full time kind of thing, rather a band that we do at our own pace and determining”.
The D.I.Y. ethics have been present in every band Ryan has taken part in, F&F not being the exception: “I am in charge of the art and it really comes down to myself experimenting with design and getting feedback from the guys and tweaking it out. Kind of like how we put our songs together. Force & Fire is a very DIY band and we have no problem doing things like this because of our backgrounds”.