"Altar the Sky was formed in 2001 by Andrew LaBarre (me) in Oakland, CA. I started playing guitar when I was 12 years old after hearing Testament, Anthrax, and Metallica. During high school, I took guitar lessons from James Murphy, of Testament/Disincarnate fame. I started listening to more extreme black metal, death metal, and experimental classical music. Between 2001-2003 I was also playing guitar and singing in the Oakland death metal band Impaled. I played on their albums Mondo Medicale, Medical Waste, and Dementia Rex. Plight of the Vomit Eagle was written between 2001-2003 during a period of crippling depression and anxiety. Can you hear it in the songs? I was heavily influenced by Swedish black/death metal band Dissection, Norwegian black metal band Satyricon, and Florida death metal band Morbid Angel. After a nervous breakdown in 2005 I stopped performing music and took up competitive cycling. I’m currently an elementary teacher in the East Bay area of California." - Andrew ( original 2020 YouTube description )