THE PORTLAND QUARTET R.I.P. is a serious heavy-metal band that doesn't take itself too seriously.
Check out their press photo. Taken at SuperShots in the Lloyd Center—Portland's original green-screen portrait studio, according to the website—it's a charming combo of tenderhearted and tough as nails. "It is very powerful," R.I.P. vocalist Fuzz warned of the picture, "so please use it wisely."
Formed about four years ago by Fuzz and guitarist Angel, the band arose from a vision to create something "new and knuckle-dragging from the streets." The two guys added drummer Willie D and "supreme tickler of the four-string motherfucker" Jon Mullett, and R.I.P. was born.
In March the band released their debut full-length, In the Wind, via Totem Cat Records. It's a snarling, '70s-influenced slab of what R.I.P. calls "real West Coast street doom." But don't let the word "doom" fool you: In the Wind doesn't pound its riffs into eternity. In fact, the album's 10 tracks are tight and efficient, with a rumbling low end, guitars coated in heavy crunch, and deep, dark grooves as far as the eye can see.
R.I.P.'s brand of heavy metal is a throwback to headier times without veering into pastiche. To find out how they do it, the Mercury emailed a few questions to Fuzz, and boy, did we get some answers.