Friday, May 25, 2012

CUNTSCUMB


Interview with Bonez Poley, vocalist for the southern Ontario metal band Cuntscumb.

Cuntscumb at the 2011 Niagara Metalfest

GT - Who came up with the name Cuntscumb?

Bonez - I did, back in highschool. I had this all-girl “band”, but it was a joke. We could barely play instruments and we didn’t have any original songs. I envisioned us becoming a crust punk band but nothing ever came of it. Then when Callum Labonte and I started jamming, the first song we wrote together was “Jizzrag”, and I knew that we were what Cuntscumb was supposed to sound like.

GT - How long has the band been together?

Bonez - Callum and I started jamming around 3 years ago. It took awhile to find a solid line-up and there’s been a few changes since. Our current roster has been steady for about a year. (Ryan Mattie (Killbat)- guitar, Rod Standish- bass, Kyle Foy- drums, and myself on vox.)

Cuntscumb at the 2011 Niagara Metalfest

GT - Cuntscumb is just as much a visual band as they are a musical band. was it hard to convince the guys to go along with the image/theatrics?

Bonez - Good question! It seems generally we’re all pretty stoked on the theatrical aspect, but everyone has somewhere they draw the line, whereas I’m always wanting to push it as far as possible. I used to have to bribe Callum to wear a bondage harness, though oddly he was all about rocking the adult diapers! When Kyle joined, he showed up to his first gig with us dressed completely in drag, all on of his own volition. I knew then that he was a perfect fit.

GT - Do you ever worry about being pigeon-holed as a novelty act?

Bonez - I don’t worry too much. I realize there’s only a certain type of people who will actually “get” what we’re doing, and at the end of the day it’s about having fun and not pleasing everyone blah blah, haha. But yeah, I think a lot of people don’t know what to make of us at first. Especially when we’re playing a venue with a less than ideal sound system where you can’t really make out everything that’s going on. I also think our stage show can distract from our sound. I’ve been told by people who didn’t dig us at first that they gained appreciation after paying more attention to the music. I’m hoping once our full-length comes out it will give more people a chance to hear us they way we’re supposed to sound and realize that there’s more to us than gimmicks and antics. But at the end of the day, gimmicks and antics are hilarious and a blast and that’s definitely a huge part of us too.


Cuntscumb at the 2011 Niagara Metalfest

GT - You've played many shows between Niagara Falls and Toronto, have you ever played beyond those areas?

Bonez - If you count London and Oshawa beyond those areas? Haha. We actually have a pretty good following in Oshawa and love playing there. (Shout out to Liam Wilson of Gutterslime Productions!) But no, we haven’t strayed out of Southern Ontario just yet. Hoping to get across Canada in 2012 in the wake of our pending album release… and then the world!

GT - How did the deal with SFM come about?

Bonez - Keegan Khaos (head of SFM) booked us a few times in Toronto. He dug what we were doing and appreciated our DIY ethic so he approached me about releasing our album. I love Keegan and love a lot of bands on SFM so of course I was stoked! And, seriously: Skull. Fucking. Metal.


Cuntscumb at the 2011 Niagara Metalfest

GT - When can we expect the full length to be released?

Bonez - Soon!! We are going into the studio shortly with Ethan Rising producing us, and it will be released through Skull Fucking Metal! Skull. Fucking. Metal!!!!

GT - Any chance of any dates south of the border?

Bonez - Currently at least 2 of the 4 of us are banned from the good ol’ US of A, but we are working on that. Hope to get it sorted out in the next couple of years, so stay tuned!

GT - Cuntscumb is a band that really needs to be seen to be fully appreciated, are there any plans to release a live dvd?

Bonez - Haven’t really thought about it. I guess it could happen down the road, but as with most heavy bands I’d say experiencing the raw energy is an important part of the show, and doesn’t translate well to film. So I guess you’re best off just getting your ass to Canada to come see us! You can crash at my place.








Thursday, May 17, 2012

OF SPITTING FROTH AND BILES

Sam Biles at A Day of Death 2011 (photo - Maga Sanchez)

Some thoughts on the Glorious Times era by none other than the hoochimomma himself, Mr Sam Biles (Hideous Mangleus/Goblin/Tejas Death Squad).

The first thing I would say about the “Glorious Times” is that if you didn’t live through them, you can never truly understand what it was to be a part of them or to have witnessed them. I don’t mean that in a negative way at all, but I am just stating  a fact. And the reason being is that so many things have changed since then. The advent of the internet, the ever growing phenomena that is Heavy Metal, Thrash and Grind music that now has spawned thousands of bands where there used to be few; the merging and popularization of many of the cultures that spawned these types of music like Punk, Rock, Thrash, etc. 

Sam Biles & the Tejas Death Squad at A Day of Death 2011 (photo - Maga Sanchez)

When Hideous Mangleus started we were just playing music in the style of our heroes like The Accused, The Misfits, Cryptic Slaughter, Slayer, Death, etc and locally bands like Doomwatch, Necropolis, Eviction, Dream Death, etc. But soon after our inception, once we started recording some stuff and playing shows we met local bands like Chaotic Plague, who were also somewhat new, but had already recorded their “Bloodslime” demo and were actively tape trading and sharing ads with people and bands from all over, like Deceased, Revenant, Immolation, Exmortis, etc. So once we got our demo recorded they started distributing our ads in their mail, and next thing we knew fellow music fans and bands were writing us from all over the world.



Gig flyers of course were the standard stationary most people used in a time when typewriter and audio cassettes ruled mightier than the computer and mediafire.

Although the internet is an amazing tool, which surely has made it possible for bands to be heard all over the world, and for information to pass seamlessly across international boundaries within minutes; I will say I, like many older members of the underground family, really miss the intimacy of snail mail. I mean, I cannot tell you how amazing some of the little pictures were that were scrawled all over these letters. Decapitated heads, Dismembered Carnage, Zombie Nightmares; People really took their time, and their appreciation and adoration for underground music just bled from every orifice. Surely, these feelings are still very much alive today, but the tactile abrasiveness is somehow missing.

When I think of how much great music came out towards the end of the eighties and the beginning of the nineties, it boggles the mind. I mean, I am not sure even where to start. Of course labels like Earache, Peaceville, Nuclear Blast, Roadrunner, etc were putting out records that are regarded now as timeless classics, but beyond that there was a barrage of demos from the four corners of the world through tape trading which introduced new styles of music to the largely late-teens newly formed network of music maniacs that now called itself “The Underground.”

Sam introducing Derketa at their first ever gig on Jan. 15, 2011 (photo -  Brian Pattison)

It was all brand new. And it wasn’t sure where it was heading, but it didn’t care because it lived in the moment. As for Hideous (Mangleus), we didn’t have a clue we were playing “Grindcore” at first. We were just playing the style of music we loved. We called ourselves “Horror-Core” which has since taken on a “Rap” connotation. All we did was skateboard, watch horror films and play/listen to music. For us there just wasn’t anything else. And as I started to mention earlier, we soon got to play and meet other music fanatics turned musicians like Exit-13, Chaotic Plague, Bathym, Rottevore, NunSlaughter, Deceased, Phlegm, Incantation, Mortician, Baphomet, etc. Each band had a very unique sound and was doing something very original, sure we all had some of the same influences, but we had different ones too and it spelled for an avalanche of creativity.


Sam and friends at A Day of Death 2011 (photo - Maga Sanchez)

I do not have words to say how special this time was or how special the friendships are that came from it; but I can say twenty years now removed, that these friendships and feelings are still strong. And as I meet the younger members of the Underground and feel their passion and excitement for the music, I can assure you it will never die! Hail Underground! Hail Death Metal! Hail Grindcore!
Hail Old Skool!
Sam Biles


 


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Reviews

REVIEWS BY MIKE ABOMINATOR 
(GRAVEHILL & METAL MANIACS)


WATER TORTURE "SELF TITLED".
Here we have band with no guitars. Just bass, drums, vox and effects. I do miss that chainsaw sound of a good guitar with these guys. But it is still good here. It is power violence fury that reminds me of old Man is the Bastard. Maybe even a little bit of Crossed Out and a little bit of Spazz at times. It's fucking heavy regardless. I prefer this stuff more straight forward like Hoglust and Inerds. But this is still good. The song "Enslaved" is pretty impressive, even though it has the standard start/stop-slow/fast dynamics that a million other power violence songs have, it is damn good. But I do find myself wishing there was a guitar running over the top of this noise. It would make it  that much better. This would be a must for fans of MITB. I could do without some of the electronics. Reminds me too much of GASP (puke!) hahaha. This is a solid release though. Good stuff!



SA SANCTUARY "ABANDON IN PLACE". BUTCHERED RECORDS.
This one goes all the way back to 2001. Not usually my cup of blood, but it is cool. It's thrashy/traditional heavy metal. Reminds me of Nevermore. These guys might not be the total rippers that Nevermore are but they can also play the fuck out of their instruments. It might also be a little more straight forward. For the time, back in 2001, this was rare. There was so much "nu metal" going around, this must have been a great thing to hear to some ears back then. They were called Sanctuary, but added the SA for San Antonio (where they are from) because of the confusion with the original Sanctuary (ironic since they are influenced by Nevermore! haha) But this is mostly mid paced, thrashy stuff going on. There are some acoustic passages and some cool riffs thrown in here. There are 10 songs on here. There might be some stuff that sounds like Pantera to some, I don't know, I'm kind of out of touch with this kind of stuff. But it  has a modern American heavy metal sound for that time of 2001. I remember quite a few bands sounding like this back then in the underground. It's better than the other stuff that people THOUGHT was metal back then!



HOGLUST "SUPPORT HATE" EP.
Crushing and brutal power violence here. This band attacks! They knock down the door and kick your whole family's asses! Killer dual vox. One guy sounds like he listens to Infest all day and power lifts while pounding red bulls. The young lady sounds like she is going to cut her boyfriends dick off and shove it in his mouth. They are both PISSED so watch the fuck out. The music is totally punnishing, heavy, and destroys. The fast as fuck vocal trade offs on "Relentless Voices" is pretty impressive. Another band that would fit on one of those classic bills. These fuckers might just steal the show too. Or destroy the place at the very least. The pace on here is usually fast and ripping. Even when Hoglust slows it down, they are pissed the fuck off and it seems that they will explode with speedy blasts at any time. Pretty godamn brutal stuff. Bad assery of power violence mayhem that any fan of full on aggressive and fast music will love.



INERDS "CHOICE CUTS". (These tracks are from a split release with the band Coworkers.)
Ugly and raw raging death punk is what we have here. Right up my bloody alley. The vocals are fucking pissed off. It sounds like there are 2 singers, and one is fucking pissed and the other is fucking livid. Pounding d-beats lead the charge for the most part, but the band can get slow and heavy, as well as faster banging with the best of them. Some nice sludge parts mix well with some blasting grindcore at times. Like Bestower, Inerds have a big power violence influence as well. I'm not very familiar with either band, but I hear that they share members. All 6 songs on this release are killer, but I think I like the closer "Humans Being" the most. It blends all of the styles and elements, as far as speeds go, very well. Like most of the stuff in this genre, the songs are short and to the point. But that is fine, it just ends so quickly. One of the dudes in Agoraphobic Nosebleed runs this Grindcore Karaoke label that I will have to keep my eyes and ears on. Killer stuff!



COMBAT NOISE "FRONTLINE OFFENSIVE FORCE". SEVARED/BUTCHERED/OLD CEMETERY RECORDS.
Wow! A death metal/grind band from Cuba?!?!?!?! CRAZY! It HAS to be very difficult to pull this off down there. Immediatley have so much respect for bands and artists that do this from countries like that. You would have to ride under the radar in a sense. They have even been around since 1996! Anyways, these guys remind me of Deicide a little bit. They have that brutal Florida death metal sound of the era of the mid 90s with Brutallity and Monstrosity also coming to mind. These guys can play very well too. Some cool riffs and solos going on. The pace is all over with ripping grind parts and mid paced banging. There are some slower parts with guitar solos running over the top of them. This stuff attacks and punches you in the face. This usually isn't what I listen to as far as death metal, but these guys have conviction and heart behind this death noise. You also have to have balls to play music like this in Cuba. The lyrical concepts and song themes are all about war, and there are some cool lyrics going on. If you like that Floridian style of death metal, you will like Combat Noise. This is played very well and I would like to hear what this band can get going in the future.



INERDS "STONEWALL" EP.
More punked out and grinding punk/power violence shit from these Buffalo, NY maniacs. There is a good range of paces that are all over the place. I think this release is even MORE power violence influenced than the "Choice Cuts" release. But if you were a fan of that one, you will love this. Once again, all of the 6 songs are strong ragers, but the highlights for me are the doom dirge of the closer "Bloody Knees", the 10 seconds of "Inerds", and the opener "She Beast". I'm not familiar with most of the NEW power violence stuff, but being around during the original days, I can see Inerds playing some of those legendary shows of yore.



 RITUAL QUARANTINE DEMO
 This is a 3 song demo that is also a collectable, limited edition small format CD that is like 4 inches big. Pretty cool shit! It's also a short fucker at 3 songs. This band is from Buffalo and has a death metal/hard core thing going form them. It is NOT that awful metal core shit that is so popular. This is good stuff. There are a couple of "break downs" on the songs, but all in all it is good stuff. The dual high/low vox are cool. There are total death influences, as well as some punk rock type stuff on the 2nd song (or first song break, not sure, I don't have much info on the insert.) It has some good skank/d-beat stuff and some faster ripping stuff. I can't really think of a comparrison, but fans of crossover or the crust punk stuff will for sure dig it. This was so limited, not sure if it is available anymore, but keep an eye and ear out for this band!



 GRAVE DESCENT 2011 DEMO
Here is some old timers from the Buffalo, New York death metal scene getting together and slaying forth that familiar east coast style of death terror. A lot of those bands in the areas of Buffalo, New York City, New Jersey, Long Island and the other areas close by had this sound made famous by the likes of Cannibal Corpse and Suffocation. Jack Owen plays guitar on this recording. Also, Rich and Dennis from Tirant Sin, and Mike from Leviathan are also in this band. Tirant Sin and Leviathan are old school bands that had members of Cannibal Corpse and Malevolent Creation, among others, in them. Anyways, Grave Descent has that crushing and brutal style of the older Cannibal Corpse stuff. This is very well played and delivered with deadly precision. Any fan of that style of death metal that is catchy and heavy will like this band. There are 5 songs on here. "Feast of the Dammed" being a highlight for me. It has a total ripping pace that shreds all in sight. There is some killer death metal going on here! If you like that East Coast/American style, you will want to get this now! TOP NOTCH death metal. I think these guys will be signed soon! If they aren't, well labels, WHAT THE FUCK IS TAKING YOU SO LONG?!




BESTOWER SELF TITLED.
Short songs, straight to the point punked out grind/hard core madness here by Buffalo, NY's Bestower. Lots of killer d-beats and angry screamed/shouted growls for any fan of grinding REAL hard core. The guitars are heavy as well. The band is loose and raw, yet the music is tight as fuck, if that makes any sense. The way they deliver the songs, in such a controlled AND chaotic way really stands out. There is a power violence influence through out this release as well, especially when the band slows it down a bit on a song like "The Question Nobody's Asking". Then there is an all out assault of fast, ripping stuff like the next song "Because That's How They Want It". The variation between the slower chugs and prods and the fast, relentless stuff reminds me of the classic power violence sound. Th vocals fit everything just perfect, as the singer sounds pissed off and tortured with life. THAT is how the vocals SHOULD sound with this stuff. We are all soldiers of death noise and Bestower are one of the new recruits working their way up the battle ladder. This is a kick fucking ass release!


CHECK OUT MIKE'S WORK IN THE ALMIGHTY GRAVEHILL


























Saturday, May 5, 2012

BUFFALO DEATH RETURNS



Seplophile at the Funeral Home (photo - Brian Pattison)

A side effect of releasing our book, GT was quite hopeful, would be a shot of adrenalin to the system of a once great underground scene. A couple years on from the dust of the book's publishing having settled, it would appear that the medicine is working with the Buffalo NY scene starting to bubble again with more people becoming active, more shows happening (many of them standing outside the now set parameters of other gigs) and more bands stepping up to the plate with genuine quality music. GT brings you another interview which was destined for the return of Chainsaw Abortions zine, this time with Buffalo death band SEPLOPHILE!

GT: Seplophile formed in 2010 by veteran members of various Buffalo based bands. Give us a brief background of what went into Seplophile and what brought you all together?

    Greg: The band was formed in early January 2010 initially by Al and myself, a few weeks later we added Shawn to the mix on bass, then about a month after that Matt joined the band on second guitar, and then Colin joined up in June of that year of vocals. Al and myself had been in a band years before (From This Day, Shawn was in that band as well but after I was long gone) after I had left in 2004 they continued until the summer of 2009. By that time I (as well as Matt) were in our second stints in Herod, after I had done a couple years in Sons of Azrael. We (Herod) had some downtime planned as the other guitarist, and lead vocalist, Jesse entered fatherhood for the first time, during that downtime Al and I decided to start a death metal band. We had been in bands in the past that had definite death metal elements, but we had wanted to start a band with the dominant influence/sound being death metal. The initial songs pretty much wrote themselves, even if they were a bit one dimensional, but I think if the desire to create is there, writing is never a problem. One demo, a bunch of shows and songs later, and a full length in the works, and that about brings us up to speed.

    GT:  The band burst onto the Buffalo scene with a choice slot opening for Malevolent Creation. Did  you expect the gigs to come so fast and furious during the bands infancy?

Greg Absolutely not. There had been a drought in extreme metal in Buffalo for quite sometime, and even the bands that were around and killing it, were mostly overlooked or lumped in with the local hardcore scene, as that was the dominant scene in Buffalo for a very long time. Shows for really any type of metal were sparse, and we had initially anticipated playing maybe 2-4 times a year locally, getting out of town if the opportunity was right as well. Very low expectations. After that Malevolent Creation show, all of a sudden, shows started appearing out of nowhere. The quality of the local bands, the Funeral Home, and yourself are a big reason for that. Needless to say, we eclipsed our 2-4 show max about 2 months after that Malevolent show.


Seplophile at Club Infinity (photo - Brian Pattison)

   GT: I once overheard you tell someone that you write most of your riffs on an acoustic guitar. What     made you go with that unusual route for writing death metal riffs?

Greg: I have an acoustic guitar at home, I love playing it, and with most of my gear at our rehearsal space, the acoustic is the best, most convenient option. Not to mention, if a death metal riff sounds killer on an acoustic, it'll sound even better ripping through my amp full blast with proper distortion.

  GT:  Does the band write songs as a collective unit or do you tend to write songs individually then bring them to rehearsal and do any tweaking there?
 
GregA lot of the initial Seplophile material was kinda prepared either by Matt or myself individually with Al. There was some collaboration obviously between Matt and myself, but I think it was good for Matt and I to prepare material on our own with our first batch of songs, just to kind of get an idea as to how each of us would interperet death metal. Because of that, I feel collaboration is more apt to happen for the next batch of songs, as we know kinda how each other writes this type of music. It helps sometimes to have a few different cooks in the kitchen so to speak, if i had written all the material, we'd be a very one dimensional, fast death metal band. With Matt and myself writing, we're a very three dimensional, multi-speed death metal band, haha.

Shawn


    GT:  You have a deep love for power metal acts such as Helloween. How much do those power metal  acts influence the riffs you write for Seplophile?

GregIn a way, anything I, or we, listen to influences Seplophile, even if it's a sign of where not to go. But yeah, I'd say that style of metal influences us. Matt and myself are huge fans of classic heavy metal, and if you dissect a lot of our material you'll see it's (for the most part) very traditionally arranged, a la verse/chorus/verse/bridge/chorus, that's definitely derived from our classic metal sensibilities. I think that's important to have, i love music that has strong structure and meat on the bone to sink your teeth into. There's nothing wrong with having simple, or "catchy" song structures in death metal. That being said, we're also not afraid to riff it up and use the abilities we've attained over the years as musicians. We will never be technical just to be techincal, nor will we be simple just to be "old school". Everything we play has a purpose and we follow no codes or rules that aren't self imposed. We are a death metal band, plain and simple, and if you listen to us it's my opinion that you'll hear bits and pieces of everything that's created the death metal "sound" from 1985 (or whenever someone else thinks it started) until today.


    Colin

GT:  This summer Seplophile will finally begin venturing outside of WNY for shows. Why has it taken so long for you to begin doing out of town shows?

Greg: Well we had played a show in Rochester in October of 2011 with Decrepit Birth and Decapitated, but other than that the reason why we haven't gone out so much is because of scheduling. Lame as it may be, we ain't kids anymore, and job and family scheduling does make going out of town a little more complicated and difficult. We've all done our time in the past as far as road slavery is concerned, (we all spent the majority of our 20's broke haha) and family and paying bills are a higher priority at this point in our lives. In order to tour "right", you gotta hit it hard and for a long time, time which we don't really have anymore. The number of shows I've played in the last 9 years outweighs my recorded output by a lot and I'd rather stay home, and practice our craft and improve ourselves as a band, and get some more recordings out there. At this point in my life the creation of the music is more important than the performing of it live, but we will continue to play out when we can, because we enjoy it, not because we have to.


Al

    GT:  When I offered you the chance to be Kam Lee's backing band for A Day of Death 2011 you quickly jumped on it, but just as quickly learned that Matt would be unable to play the show. How hard was it for Seplophile as a band to learn all of "From Beyond", teach Tony Lorenzo the Seplophile set list and still fit in normal rehearsals with Matt during the first half of 2011?
   
Greg: Very. Life's a journey and a lesson, and if I had that over again, in retrospect, I can see what could've been done differently to make that an easier process. It's was probably most unfair to Tony, who had to learn 18 songs he either had never really heard before, or was only vaguely familiar with. He was a champ though, stepped up big time for us, and played the shit out of those songs. I definitely think the Seplophile set suffered as a result of my insistence of placing more emphasis on learning the Massacre material, because let's face it, there was no one there strictly to see lil' old Seplophile play 3rd on a fest full of underground metal legends like Deceased, Insanity, Rottrevore, and Kam Lee. As a headliner, we had an obligation to learn the Massacre tunes as best as we can to make sure we didn't make Kam look shitty, or you look stupid for picking us as his backing band. I think we succeeded in not letting either of those happen.

    GT:  When I gave you the call on July 13 (2011) to let you know Kam was with me and we were on our way to rehearsal did you feel any apprehension/nerves?

 Greg: Some nerves, no apprehension. Apprehension leads to doubt, doubt kills confidence, and no confidence leads to shitty performances.


Day 2 of Kam Lee rehearsals (photo - Brian Pattison)

   GT:  Those two rehearsals with Kam seemed to go pretty well. He seemed to fit right in with the band like he belonged there and not at all like an outsider. Were you happy with those rehearsals?

Greg: Absolutely, I looked at it like this: We were a band for 3 days, we had 2 days to be a tight for the 3rd day, we had little time to fuck around, but like a true band, we did find some time to have some fun amongst the business. We cleared through a couple cases of beer, shot some shit and got to know Kam a little, which was cool. We wanted Kam to be comfortable and at ease with this room full of strangers that he was going to headline a fest with in 2 days. Us being fairly easy going dudes I think Kam was able to drop his guard quick, hang out, drink a few beers, and rattle our walls with "wipe-outs". It was a great time and Kam's a cool guy. You saw me smiling, it was total genuine fun.

    GT:  When the time came for you guys and Kam to take the stage, did you feel any added pressure of  knowing that the old schoolers in the crowd who had seen Massacre in '91 would be watching you with a very critical eye? Despite a minor flub or two were you happy with the bands performance that night?
  
Greg: Actually I wasn't worried about old schoolers watching us. I knew that as long as we did our job, they would get into it. Billing be damned, I went out there with the attitude of: "I'm in Massacre for one night, I have to perform these songs as if I've written them". Shawn, Tony, and myself were not gonna stand up there like scared kids in the shadow of an underground legend. We are dudes who've spent a lot of time on stages, we know what it takes to put on a good show, and we acted accordingly. Any flubs we had I thought were like you said, minor, and more of a result of either over enthusiasm or monitor troubles. Except for "Skulls", that was just lack of preparation as we had just learned it the last rehearsal before the show, haha.


Kam and Greg at A Day of Death 2011 (photo - Brian Pattison)

    GT:  Seplophile has been known to cover Cannibal Corpse's "Skull Full of Maggots" live, yet when given the opportunity to play the song in the presence of two original Cannibal Corpse members you chose not to, even though Alex was hoping you would. You had an opportunity to play it and perhaps even get one or both of them to join you for it, yet you declined, why did you chose to pass on playing it especially knowing you may never be given another chance to play it in their presence?
   
   Greg: Well we hadn't played the song in like 7 months, and we didn't think it was the right place for something like that, would've felt crass. It was a charity event, and to me it would've seemed like we were trying to get a "Cannibal seal of approval" by either playing that song or having those dudes play it with us. I wouldn't want anyone to think we were playing this show for any other reason than for the reason everyone else was playing it, to help out our friend. I'll take a seal of approval from Cannibal Corpse any other day of the week, just not that day. As you know, we did a Voivod cover instead (Tribal Convictions) as that's a band that we love and Tony loves too.

 GT: You are currently in the studio recording your debut full length. How has the recording gone so far?

Greg: Recording has gone well, all we have left to do is record bass, vocals, and lead guitars and we'll be done. It's been 2 and half years in the making and we're pretty excited to finish it up. The vocals, rhythm guitars and drums were recorded by Scott Nadolinski, bass and leads are being recorded by our other guitarist Matt.


Kam Lee band after A Day of Death 2011 (photo - Brian Pattison)

    GT:  Besides the show June 23 show in Cleveland, do you have any other out of town shows lined up or in the process of being lined up?

 GregWe're also playing the Sevared Records "Brutality Reigns 2" fest in Rochester on June 22nd, besides that and Cleveland the next day, we have nothing planned for out of town until at least the fall. I'm getting hitched and need some time to lock down the family aspect of my life for a bit before I can worry about hitting the highway again.

    GT: Any final comments?

 Greg: Thanks for the support now, in the past, and hopefully in the future Brian. You're one of the reason's Buffalo's had a bit of a resurgence for metal, and it's appreciated by all of it's practitioners who know what's up. Also, readers, keep an eye out for our debut album "Mesonoxian", it should be finished by the end of May, stay tuned to our Facebook page for updates.