Internal Bleeding Interview

How did you discover Death Metal and other underground music?

I guess I just gradually fell into it. I had done a lot of tape buying from thrash bands, and pretty soon I noticed the stuff kept getting heavier and heavier. Then, my friend Eric just totally turned me onto a bunch of death metal bands by constantly bringing tapes over for me to borrow--next thing you know I was totally consumed by death metal; which at the time I don't think was even called death metal. As it turned out, Eric ended up being the second vocalist for Internal Bleeding.

Do you remember the first Death Metal band you heard and did you like it from the first time you heard it or did it have to grow on you?

I am sorry I do not remember specifically the first one I heard. I can remember hearing Cannibal Corpse's first demo, Malevolent's, Amon, etc., Death metal didn't have to grow on me because I always thought thrash wasn't heavy enough and it was too happy sounding for me--I hated that one two one two thrash beat. I knew there had to be something more and once I discovered it, conversion to full-blown death metal head was easy as hell.

Considering a lot of bands today who crossover Death Metal and Hardcore are still met with hostility how did people react to Internal Bleedings groove filled sound in the 90's?

Fortunately, fans took to it like crazy. I think that's because we really didn't put a lot of hardcore sounding breakdowns into our songs. We had slam/mosh breakdowns like hardcore bands did, but our breakdowns were heavy as hell and purely of a death metal orientation. I think that is the one critical difference. There were some purists out there who hated us, and that's OK, but generally, people really took to it because it was a new approach to death metal. Instead of speed and technicality, we came in from another angle, which was a focus on heaviness. The blasting, speed and technicality took a back seat to our primary focus, which was being completely groove filled and heavy in a death metal way.

On that point, in your opinion how do you think Death Metal has changed since the 1990's and who do you think has played the most important role in the genre since the year 2000?

First, production values have changed greatly. Demos and promos sound awesome nowadays from a production standpoint. I wish I could record our first two albums over again. Second, the virtuosity, technicality and plain quality of the musicians has increased dramatically. I am just blown away by some bands and their ability to play. Generally speaking, I still prefer the classic 90's era bands but I am really turned on by a lot of new groups as well. It's all very exciting.

What has been your proudest moment so far over the span of Internal Bleeding's career?

I think it was when we played this club in Ohio (don't remember the name of the club) during our Voracious Contempt tour and I looked out into the crowd and saw people literally smashing chairs over people's heads and just going completely off-the-hook nuts. After our set I went to the bathroom and this kid was bloody and had a smashed arm and he came up to me and said "This is the fucking sickest show I have ever seen in my life." That was one proud moment hahah.

You're recognised as one of the pioneers and founding fathers of the genre "slam", could you please explain what "slam" means to you and how it differs to regular Death Metal?

Thank you for the complement. I think I answered this question above, but to elaborate, it's a concentration on groove and heaviness as opposed to speed and technicality. The key to this style is tension and release. If you cannot build up tension in the listener, then the groove and heaviness will have no impact. We spend a great deal of time on arranging songs so that they have the optimal level of tension and release. The riffs have to be able to get your head bobbing automatically.

On the Devourment forum I saw two pieces of Internal Bleeding artwork but have only found one available to buy. Apparently the other is being released with "The One Dollar Demo" via Sick Chainsaw Productions but apart from a few paragraphs in a forum I haven't found anything else about it. Do you know when we will be able to buy this shirt?

We are currently putting all merchandise stuff on hold so we can assess the situation and figure out what we are going to do. Keep tuned to our official facebook page for news. We will have merchandise available at our shows for sure.

Whats the new music turning out like and when can followers expect a new Internal Bleeding release?

So far so good with the new stuff. It's Perpetual Degradation/Voracious Contempt era Internal Bleeding stuff but with a bit more craziness thrown in. Total old school IB. Really happy with it all so far. As for a release, it's going to be a while as we only get to practice once a week.

Do you have any words of wisdom for any young muscians and bands?

Stay true to yourself and your music. Play what you love and don't let the naysayers get you down.

To finnish off do you have anything you would like to touch on that I failed to mention or anything you would like to say to the fans?

Check out our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/InternalBleeding to keep up to date with all our happenings. Most importantly, thank you to all of our loyal supports. We cannot wait to see you on the road. It's been entirely too long!

A BLAST from the PAST

I did this CODC interview a while ago, anyway if you didn't catch it the first time check it out!

1. What has inspired the lyrics for Circle of Dead Children over the years? Have any new topics/ideas been used on your next release, "Psalm of the Grand Destroyer"? 

Lyrics are as important to me as crafting the vocals are, no doubt about it, but I don’t put a lot of forethought into particular topics or anything like that.  Generally I find myself writing for CoDC in random bursts.  Ideas and whatnot seem to pop in and out of my head all day and night long sometimes and when those types of things are happening I try to write it down on anything around that I can write on.  I think I’ve hit on a lot of different topics over the years, but obviously the overall tone of the lyrics for Circle have a similar feeling.  No good-time sing-a-long lyrics and nothing to leave you feeling inspired.  The lyrics on “Psalm of the Grand Destroyer” are a continued progression of the same style of lyrics I’ve been writing with Circle since the beginning.  

2. I read another interview in which you talked about how rushed past recording experiences have been. Did this change at all with the new album? 

We took a little bit of a different approach this time, but in some ways things weren’t so varied from the past.  We recording in the most professional environment we’ve been in to date and this was the first time we tried to slow down a bit in tracking all the music.  We did it over the course of two days instead of one.  I wasn’t able to get into the studio to lay the vocals for another seven months.  In the past I’ve always rushed the vocals for no reason other than wanting to get it over with and move on.  For “Psalm...” I decided to try taking my time so I booked two spots over the course of two different days to lay them out.  But, as things would have it, I ended up blowing out all the vocals in just over an hour on the first day and canceling the other time which was booked.  Once my adrenaline is up and my mind is in that zone, I hate breaking it and hate stopping.  I don’t like listening back to what has just been recorded and would rather just go with my gut feeling.  I don’t like doing several takes either.  The last thing I ever want is to strip the raw emotion from this band and I think our methods of recording over the years have really helped keep it doing.

3. How did Scott Hull come to be mastering the album? Do you know if hes going to be keeping the extremely raw sound or if he will be putting a new twist on the classic sound? 

We’re mutual fans of one another’s bands, and I think that’s probably the best part.  We’ve been wanting to work together but things hadn’t worked out before.  I wouldn’t expect the sound to be as raw as “Zero Comfort Margin” or some of the really old material, but I don’t think you could ever fully clean up our sound.  The music is still as ugly and barbaric as ever, but Scott’s work just be pushing it to a new sonic level and maximizing our sound I think.  

4. According to the ever reliable and correct "wikipedia" you have passed on deals from larger record labels. If any truth is behind this what reason was it that made you decide to continue working with smaller labels?

Oh yeah, that’s definitely true.  The first time we started getting some attention from larger labels was in 2001, just prior to recording “The Genocide Machine”.  Signing to multi-record deals, doing hyped up tours on the drop of a dime with bands we’re not into and having fancy DVDs and videos was not really what we were all about.  We didn’t start CODC to get the biggest fanbase we can or be cool band of the minute.  We started before myspace and before the big rise in popularity of “grind” or “brutal metal” or whatever.  All we wanted to do with CODC was play fast punk-influenced metal in Pittsburgh and drop a 7”.  There was no scene and no popularity of this shit, and that was perfectly fine by us.  CODC is, was and will always be primarily a punk band, no matter how savage or sick the music gets.  The attitude and soul of this band is punk rock, and signing to popular record labels so we win cock size contest with our friends isn’t important.  Prior to “Zero Comfort Margin” coming out we started to get a couple more offers from some of the bigger metal labels, but again we didn’t really put much thought into it.  If I wanted to be popular with my music, I sure as hell wouldn’t have called my band Circle of Dead Children.

5. Moving away from the new album now, what made you want to become a frontman and what vocalists influenced your sound?

It’s weird because I’m not a social person at all.  I hate speaking in front of people and I don’t really like big crowds too much.  But I have always been drawn to vocalists, singing and language.  My first influences were probably Kevin DuBrow of Quiet Riot, Vince Neil and Billy Idol.  As I got older I started really digging the style of a lot punk and thrash bands and bands like DRI, Nuclear Assault, Cryptic Slaughter, dead horse, Candelmass, Slayer, etc.  By the beginning of the 1990’s, my tastes kept being drawn to the the more brutal and fast end of things and I was getting into Napalm Death, Morbid Angel, Sepultura, Death, Sodom, Bathory, etc.  All of that shit made me want to play in a metal or punk band and since I sucked at playing the guitar my dad had bought me and my parents weren’t crazy enough to let me get drums, vocals had to be my gig by default.  I think the three records which really helped form me into the vocalist I am now would be: Incantation “Onward to Golgotha”, Sepultura “Bestial Devastation” and Disgorge “Cranial Impalement”.  

6. How come you don't normally have gigs posted on your sites or seem to tour much? 

Different reasons at different times.  We’ve gone through so many lineup changes and each time we have a lag period where we can’t play out or whatever.  The period of time between our last drummer and Matt, our newest guy, was a really long and drawn out one since Matt was living 7 hours away in upstate New York and having to make that drive whenever he could to come and practice before finally moving to Pittsburgh.  That created a really long break in productiveness for us.  The other thing is money and work.  I can only get off a few weeks per year due to my job and I’m in no position to quit my job for the sake of going on the road.  Other guys in the band have had various levels of financial hardship that has kept them from being able to play out as much as we’d like. Stuff like that has just become the norm for us and the things that seem to break up so many other bands have just been temporary setbacks for us.  

7. How did it come to be that you sang on Anaal Nathrakhs song, "Genetic Noose"?

This again was started through having a mutual appreciation and respect for one another’s music.  They had originally wanted to get me to do some guest vocals on their “Eschaton” record, but it just didn’t work out.  Fortunately they still wanted to do a collaboration for their following record, “Hell is Empty and all the Devils are Here”.  I really had no idea that they were going to give me an entire song to do myself.  I was recovering from a serious illness that had me laid up for a few months at the time and hadn’t sang with Circle in several months.  Drew, our bass player, came over to my home and we hung a microphone from a nail in the ceiling of my basement and laid the vocals down while I had an IV sticking out of my arm!  Talk about keeping it sick, right?  No matter what, it was a honor for me and something I’ll always be appreciative of.  

8.A big thank you for this interview Joe, any final words? 

And thank you as well.  Hails to all the fans in the UK.  We’d love for nothing more than to get our asses over the big pond and do some touring throughout the UK and Europe next year.  Hope to see you guys and girls around!

Res Ipsa Loquitur (Unit 731 Interview)

"Heavy hardcore metal from Pittsburgh. Our songs are a reflection on ourselves, our society, and our government. We probably headbang harder than you, but we're up for a challenge. We do this mostly for ourselves... as an outlet for our aggression, beliefs, and as a break from the day-to-day grind. If our music helps you in the same way, come out to a show and get wild with us."

1. Please tell us some information about the band?

Unit 731 is a heavy hardcore metal band based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  We basically do this as an outlet for our aggression, beliefs and every day bullshit.   Four good friends that probably headbang harder than you.  The band started in 2006 with a demo which was followed by "A Plague Upon Humanity" in 2007 and we just released our new full length "Res Ipsa Loquitur."

2. Is "Unit 731" a band with a specific message that you try to get across through your music and does the band stand behind any particular set of beliefs or ideals?

The band is pretty much a collection of what we all believe.  Every single one of us has written lyrics.  So, even though we share similar beliefs, each song comes from a little different point of view.  I'm pretty sure we can all agree that humanity is responsible for a lot of wrong in this world.  You have people trying to wipe out entire ethnic groups, governments oppressing their people and starting wars for anything imaginable from resources to a radical view of religion.  People in third world countries are working for absolutely nothing.  We live in a pretty fucked up world.

3. With modern tools such as the internet leading to mass over saturation of the scene across the globe, what do you think are the positives and negatives of so many bands all being apart of what is already a very niche genre?

  Obviously the positive side is that it's easier for good bands to get in contact with people from all over the globe and get their music to so many more people.  I know we wouldn't have had half of the success we've had without the internet.  On the downside, there are so many bands touring out there.  Most of them have no business playing outside of their town, let alone outside of their country.  Shitty bands saturate the scene and make it harder for bands that actually matter to get somewhere.  


4. What does hardcore mean to you?

  It's all about putting a bunch of people that aren't the same in a room together.  People that don't necessarily fit into "normal" society or actually believe in something unlike most of the zombies in our world.  It's all about a positive outlet for our aggression and people that want to hear about something other than  money and fucking in their music.  I wouldn't know most of my friends without hardcore, so that's pretty significant.

5. Personally for you, what do you think are the top 3 most important metal or hardcore albums?

  That is a super tough question.  I would have to say, for me personally, that my top 3 albums would be All Out War "For Those That Were Crucified," Crowbar "Broken Glass," and Sepultura "Chaos AD."  You can't deny how influential all of these albums have been on metal and hardcore as a whole and how many hours they have both spent in my CD player.

6. What is your opinion on illegal downloading and file sharing?

  Honestly, I do it.  If I didn't download music I wouldn't hear most of the shit out there these days.  If I like a band, I'll buy the disc after I download it just to support them.  It's how I avoid buying shitty music.  I'm totally fine with people "stealing" our music.  If you dig it come out to a show and buy a copy.   Buy a shirt to support us.  I just want people to hear our music.

7. What has been the personal highlight for you in "Unit 731"?

  Definitely our European tour last year.  The fact that we got to travel across the world to play music to a bunch of people that most don't even speak the same language is incredible.  We made a lot of friends and did a lot of shit that most people never get to.  Everyone was so good to us and the shows were great.  Hopefully we'll have another one of those in 2011!

8. Have you received any negativity or hate as a result of the name "Unit 731"?

  Most  people with a brain realize that we aren't a bunch of douche-bags using a name like Unit 731 to try and offend people.  Considering our lyrical content, you might have to be brain dead to think that.  The most we've gotten is a few ill informed internet heros trying to call us out only to be shot down by the more intelligent people out there.

9. How has your latest album "Res Ipsa Loquitur" been received by critics and fans?

  We haven't really had the chance to really promote it honestly since all of us have been pretty busy the last couple months.  People do seem to be into it, though.  There have been a lot of "can't stop listening to the new album," kinda comments thrown around on our facebook and stuff.  Personally, I think it's 10 times better than "A Plague Upon Humanity."

10. To finish off, can you think of anything you would like to mention that hasn't been asked about?

Just to thank everyone who is reading this and  anyone that has supported us in any way!  Keep an eye out for something new next year and [hopefully] another trek to Europe in 2011!