photo by Zach Cordner

Cattle Decapitation defrosts by the Salton Sea after their Reykjavík trip (Travis Ryan, right)

It’s unusual that a local band can share stories about their latest tour to Europe. Cattle Decapitation, the extreme metal band that goes whole hog to support animal rights and other environmental issues, did its ninth European jaunt earlier this year.

“This was our first trip to Iceland,” says Travis Ryan, frontman/songwriter/veggie-in-charge. “It’s rare for a band to play Iceland since you have to make a special trip. It’s not part of greater Europe. We had a promoter there contact our manager about playing Reykjavík Deathfest, so that’s why we went.”

Ryan says the “Deathfest” ended up being a show for 200 at a bar. “There are a lot of black-metal bands in Iceland, which is basically the style of music we play.... The bus trip from the airport was awesome. There were, like, six destinations before we got to the hotel. We stopped by this beautiful natural mineral springs. Then we went to these big lava cliffs and this natural geyser that had this gnarly sulfuric gas.”

Ryan says the metal community is more supportive than other genres on both sides of the Atlantic. “It’s a mellow community based on a brotherhood or sisterhood that supports each other.”

Cattle Decap just signed a commitment to release three more albums on premier metal label Metal Blade. “Our first album was Human Jerky in ’99 with Satan’s Pimp out of Reno. Then we did Homovore with [local label] Three One G.” Six Metal Blade albums followed, including the latest, 2015’s Anthropocene Extinction, which spells out the decline of the human species due to environmental concerns.

Cattle Decapitation’s Wednesday show at Brick by Brick is the second date of a six-week North American headlining tour.