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!
