Rabies Caste

The seeds of Rabies Caste were sown in 1990 when three Russian-born friends – Dave K, Russell Bear, and Dale Rabid – were moved by their parents from their Communist homeland to Jerusalem. "All the time we knew we were different because we came from Russia and were different from Israelis," says Dave. "As kids, it was difficult as we were always getting beaten up!"

The boys’ overwhelming sense of alienation defined the angst-ridden sound of their first band together, Cradlenoise. After graduating high school and claiming insanity to avoid the draft, the band renamed themselves Rabies Caste (as in a "rabid social group") and in 1995 they played their first gig... or would have if it hadn’t been cancelled!

"We had our first show November 1995, but it was cancelled because the Prime Minster of Israel was killed a week before hand and the country was in mourning!" recalls Russ with a smile.

In the face of such violence and unrest, the guys honed their sound and vision. As the media reported scene of carnage in the streets outside their doors, Rabies Caste escaped into a world of their own music. The guys found solace and inspiration in the tortured sounds of such US bands as alterna-noise cult Melvins and sludge-addicts Eyehategod.

"In Israel it’s not like you go to a show and see a band, you have to go and find for yourself what you like and search really hard," explains Russ. "It’s sometimes difficult being on our own, but maybe it helped us a lot, being the only band... it made us who we are. We didn’t have any other band to compare ourselves to, we just did what we felt like" reasons Russ.

The band recorded two demos in 1996, followed by For The Vomiting Tractor Drivers in 1997. An initial print run of 230 copies were pressed by the band themselves, and Rabies Caste quickly won themselves fans in the American underground noise/hardcore scene, including praise from the mighty Coalesce.

For The Vomiting Tractor Drivers soon officially released on CD on US label Infernal Racket Records in 1999, and a year later the band toured the UK. In Summer 2001 before heading into Southern Studios in London to record their most challenging record to date - Let The Soul Out And Cut The Vein.

Recorded with Harvey Birrell (Therapy?) at the helm, Let The Soul Out And Cut The Vein blends the intensity of Unsane with the power of Neurosis, the preciseness of Shellac, the nastiness of Today Is The Day, and the darkness of Godflesh in a way as yet unheard.

Now, with the sole focus of hitting the road anywhere and everywhere, the future of brutal music has arrived.

"We don’t want to be an Israeli band - we want to be the band from nowhere," spits Dale. "We spent half our lives in Russia and half in Israel, we’re just people from nowhere in particular, that’s not what is important. Our pasts aren’t important to us, our music is the only thing that is important in the future."