Although I’d ideally love to be able to conduct hard-hitting, in-depth interviews, who has the time these days? In lieu of this, I’ve thrown together the below question template, hopefully to gather some interesting and informative results, without taking up too much of anyone’s time.
Introduce yourself – who are you and what do you do?
Ryan Lipynsky and I am one of the three guitarists in Reeking Aura based out of New Jersey and New York. On the album my guitar is heard down the centre and I play the heavy metal leads. I am also the main riff chef.
Tell us about your latest release and why people should listen to your music
Our latest release is called Blood and Bonemeal and it is our debut album with Profound Lore Records. On its face, the album is a focused onslaught of riffs and brutal vocals but underneath lurks a disturbing lyrical concept for the listener to discover.
You should listen to Reeking Aura if you appreciate Ancient Death Metal vibes with a unique sincere approach from a crew of older heads that really worship this form of metal. It is not as flashy and technical like lots of modern death metal tends to be, rather it has its own particular doomed stench that seeps into your brain and marinates in your subconscious.
What’s the most important thing to you about your music? What meaning does it give you and what purpose does it serve in your life?
The most important thing about our music is that it comes from a true appreciation for the cult of death metal. I must confess that most of my DM influences come from the 90s and prior… There is something about the early days that bands were so savage and paved their own path. I’d like to think we draw influence from those bands and then blend with many other strains of music and art.
The purpose it serves in my life is to keep creating new and exciting brutal music for my own satisfaction and enjoyment with my metal brothers in Reeking Aura. We are all maniacs of music and all play in other bands. This is our death metal battalion.
Tell us a lesser-known interesting or funny anecdote about your band or music
We recorded our first EP Beneath the Canopy of Compost in Queens NY literally RIGHT before covid hit. Who knows where we would be if we didn’t get that in time before lockdown insanity.
Finally, what are you listening to at the moment that you especially enjoy and wish more people knew about?
Not necessarily at this moment, but I think Beyond – Fatal Power of Death is one of my favourite unsung Death Metal records over the past decade. Morbid Angel influence for sure, but just blinding, vicious, nasty Death Metal with a crushing atmosphere. Just the way I like it.
Wonderbox Metal 