In a new interview with music writer Joel Gausten, Christian Death guitarist/vocalist Valor Kand discusses The Root Of All Evilution, the band's first album in nearly a decade. 

The group is in the final days of a special PledgeMusic campaign to fund the recording and manufacturing of the album. Exclusive items and incentives for fans range from special art created by Kand's daughter Zara to having the band play your funeral. (“We’ll be on standby until your demise” says the band on their PledgeMusic project page at  this location).

In Kand's mind, funding the upcoming album through PledgeMusic - and thus not working with a record label - allows Christian Death a level of freedom they haven't enjoyed in some time.

“You don't have to deal with other people doing it this way,” he says. “With labels, you're talking about their money; you're talking about they way they do things as opposed to, 'Let's just do this and that's all there is to it.' Another reason it's not worth dealing with record companies is that they don't have any money because people really don't buy CDs and vinyl anymore. That was their mainstay, so now the cash flow isn't there to really fund projects and put bands on the road to do good shows.”

Naturally, the album's title and overall tone stems from Valor's long-running interest in the darker sociological aspects of human existence. As he sees it, the evolution of evil has been an ongoing process throughout history– from the deeds of Adolf Hitler to the hypocrisy of disgraced religious leader Ted Haggard.

“How evil can it really get? How cruel can people really be?” he asks. “The things (these people) did were just completely opposite of what they were selling. It's something that I'd like more people to think about, because it would really have an effect on all of our lives if we get a handle on the insanity of it all.”

The complete interview is available at this location.

Christian Death's 1986 album, Atrocities, was released digitally on December 5th, 2013 for the first time ever. Check out audio samples and purchase the album via iTunes here.

The Atrocities tracklist is as follows:

"Will-O-The Wisp"
"Tales of Innocence"
"Strapping Me Down"
"The Danzig Waltz"
"Chimere De Si De La"
"Silent Thunder"
"Strange Fortune"
"Ventriloquist"
"Gloomy Sunday"
"The Death of Josef"