With the release of our new Slipknot special collector’s issue, we’re celebrating Slipknot month on RevolverMag.com, unleashing new interviews, photos, favorite Slipknot song picks from a host of celeb columnists, and much more. So check back right here often. Below, Oh, Sleeper vocalist Micah Kinard talks about his favorite Slipknot song:
“‘Eyeless’ was the first Slipknot song I ever heard. I listened to it on my friend’s walkman CD player in the cafeteria of my high school in 2001 and it got me so pumped/terrified that I almost stabbed the lunch lady in the eye with my spork. Almost. Slipknot was the band that really ushered me into screaming metal music. After hearing ‘Eyeless,’ I delved into the entire [futureusgalleryself-titled] album and, to this day, am inspired by the way the band is able to capture such raw energy and terrifying atmospheres with such consistency throughout their career. Corey Taylor’s vocal performances inspire me to step up my game every time I approach the mic whether onstage or in the studio. Corey, you are a madman, and I absolutely love it.”
It’s Tuesday–the day that albums come out–and this one is a fucking doozy, stocked full of awesome new records. Check out the list of new releases below and let us know which ones you have already or are planning to get.
Anvil – Monument of Metal (The End)
Brutal Truth – End Time (Relapse)
Chickenfoot – Chickenfoot III (eOne)
Confession – The Long Way Home (Mediaskare)
Darasuum – Bite Back (Rite Of Passage/Mediaskare)
Deserters – Fail Yourself (Rite Of Passage/Mediaskare)
Glorior Belli – The Great Southern Darkness (Metal Blade)
Hatesphere – The Great Bludgeoning (Napalm)
Homicidal – State Of Mind! (Eulogy)
Hundredth – Let Go (Mediaskare)
Landmine Marathon – Gallows (Prosthetic)
Life As A Ghost – Drifter (Eulogy)
Lou Reed & Metallica – The View (digital single; Warner Bros.)
Machine Head – Unto The Locust (Roadrunner)
Man Made Machine – Become (Razor & Tie)
Mastodon – The Hunter (Reprise)
Maylene and the Sons Of Disaster – Maylene and the Sons Of Disaster: IV (Ferret Music)
Nightrage – Insidious (Lifeforce)
Nirvana – Nevermind (20th anniversary deluxe edition; Universal)
Noothgrush – Live For Nothing (Southern Lord)
Nothing Til Blood – When Lambs Become Lions (Strike First)
Oh, Sleeper – Children Of Fire (Solid State)
Rose Funeral – Gates Of Punishment (Metal Blade)
Rosetta/Junius – Split (Translations Loss)
Rwake – Rest (Relapse)
Sebastian Bach – Kicking & Screaming (Frontiers)
Suffokate – Return To Despair (Mediaskare)
Textures – Dualism (Nuclear Blast)
The Fucking Wrath – Valley of The Serpent’s Soul (Tee Pee)
Volumes – Via (Mediaskare)
Warbringer – Worlds Torn Asunder (Century Media)
Metalcore band Oh, Sleeper’s new album, Children of Fire, is available now digitally and will be released everywhere else on September 27. The five-piece will also soon be hitting the road in support of the record, which, judging by their past, means plenty of unfortunate mishaps could be about to ensue. During their time the Texas natives have experienced their fair share of embarrassing and shocking moments on stage and we got frontman Micah Kinard to fill us in on his top five.
5. When Guitar Meets Face
“In Houston, Texas, on our first full U.S. tour, playing with our good friends the Human Abstract, at an afternoon show, we took the stage at 3 p.m. At this time we had only released a five-song EP called the Armored March so we were only playing a five-song set. For some reason, amongst all of the jokes that were circulating about the 3 p.m. set time, we decided that we were going to go as crazy as possible on the small stage that we had.
“In Houston, Texas, on our first full U.S. tour, playing with our good friends the Human Abstract, at an afternoon show, we took the stage at 3 p.m. At this time we had only released a five-song EP called the Armored March so we were only playing a five-song set. For some reason, amongst all of the jokes that were circulating about the 3 p.m. set time, we decided that we were going to go as crazy as possible on the small stage that we had.
“Halfway through the first song, I swung my head back violently into Shane oncoming guitar headstock and made impact about two inches from my temple beside my eyebrow. I staggered back for about 10 seconds and proceeded to head bang. Eventually, it felt as if a vat of warm water had been dumped on my head and realized my hands were covered in blood. I decided to finish the set and by the end of it the entire front row, both guitars, the bass, and all of the front row cymbals were splattered with blood. I staggered off of the stage and was taken to the emergency room in Dallas four hours away. To this day, when we play Houston, I still get the occasional ‘Hey man! I was at that show that you splattered your blood all over the crowd!’ Makes me feel like an irresponsible walking bio-hazard every time.”
4. Gone With The Providence Wind
“The night before our ‘Vices Like Vipers’ music video shoot, we played Providence, Rhode Island. The show was a huge success and the crowd was super-into it. The stage was set up with the subs at the same level of the stage. There was about a seven-inch gap between the subs lining the front and the stage we were standing on so I basically stayed on the subs the entire time to be closer to the crowd. The whole show passed without complication until the end when we finale’d with ‘We Are the Archers,’ a song containing a huge gang chant at the end.
“We neared the end of the song and set and at the chant part the crowd surged up to pile-on and I caught them. I began to stagger backward as more people piled on until my foot wedged into the seven-inch crack between the subs and stage. I twisted around, foot still stuck, falling to the ground, dislocating my knee cap and then smashing it against the monitor behind me. I instinctively started punching everyone on top of me and crawling for the edge of the stage screaming obscenities until [futureusgalleryoriginal bass player] Lucas Starr came and scooped me up Gone-With-The-Wind Style and carried me to a flight case on the side of the stage. There, he and Shane Blay relocated my fractured knee cap chipping an inch of bone off of the back. I punched a fist-sized dent into the metal flight case I was laying on, in front of an on-looking crowd of 250+ camera phones and video cameras. Once again, I was rushed to an emergency room, diagnosed with a broken knee cap, given an immobilizing knee brace and sent on my way to our video shoot in Pittsburgh.”
3. Shit happens… onstage?
“During the recording of our recent album, Children of Fire, we played a show in Maryland. Toward the end of the show, I noticed a horrible stench toward the front of the stage. While screaming for an hour straight live, you tend to take many deep breaths through your mouth and there were times that I literally started to gag because the smell was so bad. I noticed that, although jumping up and down and going crazy, the people on the front row were also looking around in wonderment of the obvious stench. During our set I looked around and made eye contact with every member and all seemed to acknowledge that something atrocious had happened. As soon as we finished, a member of the band, that will go unnamed, disappeared for about 20 minutes and returned extremely aloof to the incident. As I was signing things at the merch booth and talking to fans, about 80 percent of them questioned me about smelling something while looking at me very suspiciously… But I swear it wasn’t me! To this day it’s still a mystery as to who dropped a massive deuce in their pants that fateful night.”
“During the recording of our recent album, Children of Fire, we played a show in Maryland. Toward the end of the show, I noticed a horrible stench toward the front of the stage. While screaming for an hour straight live, you tend to take many deep breaths through your mouth and there were times that I literally started to gag because the smell was so bad. I noticed that, although jumping up and down and going crazy, the people on the front row were also looking around in wonderment of the obvious stench. During our set I looked around and made eye contact with every member and all seemed to acknowledge that something atrocious had happened. As soon as we finished, a member of the band, that will go unnamed, disappeared for about 20 minutes and returned extremely aloof to the incident. As I was signing things at the merch booth and talking to fans, about 80 percent of them questioned me about smelling something while looking at me very suspiciously… But I swear it wasn’t me! To this day it’s still a mystery as to who dropped a massive deuce in their pants that fateful night.”
2. Something blue this way comes
“On the night of our home show CD release of Son of the Morning, for some reason, I was extremely nervous. I had a lot of friends and family coming to the show and for one reason or another we didn’t receive the CDs that we were throwing a party for releasing. It was about three hours until we went onstage and I hadn’t eaten anything so I set out for a Sonic that was right across the street. I ate a large chili cheese tater tot and washed it down with a large blue Ocean Water.
“When I got back, the venue was packed and my nerves started racing. I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t slowed by my impulsive feast so I slammed back three Red Bulls and took the stage up the stairs through the rear entrance. About three songs in, I held out a scream for as long as I could, instantly regretted it, grabbed my mouth, sprinted to the stairs in the rear of the stage overlooking the band area, and proceeded to spew a chunky blue fountain forth from my mouth drenching all that lay in its path, including eight of the opening bands members and gear. As soon as I realized what I had done I screamed ‘I’m so sorry! I’ve gotta get back out there!’ and finished the set. I returned to the band area after the set was over to find four of the opening bands members cleaning my puke off of the floor and their gear. I still can’t look those guys in the eye.”
1. A Flooring First Impression
“Before we formed Oh, Sleeper, I played bass in a pop-rock band. The now Oh, Sleeper guys and I had been jamming for about a month and they really wanted to see me live. My pop-rock band had a big home show coming up so I invited the guys out to see me in action. The show was a huge success; it was packed out, a huge line out the door, and everything. Toward the end of the set, I’m feeling like a million dollars and decide that I’m going to really show them what I can bring to the table in a metal band. I proceed to hurl my 6’4″, 200lbs, bass-wielding body off of the stage in what I’m thinking is going to be the most epic deal-sealer to show these guys that I am the real deal…. not the case. Not at all.
“I fail to remember that my bass cable is connected and tied to my bass head to make sure that it doesn’t come unplugged during my intense rocking out and it does just that. My self, my bass, my bass amp, and my bass cab come crashing down. I plow down about seven of our 15–17-year-old female fans, knocking one unconscious, giving one a bloody nose, and another a black eye. I hit the ground after a seven foot fall, climb back on to the stage to find my bass head smoking in a heap on the ground, my cab face down on the ground, and every soul in the room staring at me. I delay the playing of our last song about 20 minutes, have to get all of the opening band’s bass players to bring their gear on stage to find a match to mine, and basically singlehandedly completely kill the best show our band had ever had in front of the best band I’d ever be a part of. It was definitely a night that I’ll never forget, the Oh, Sleeper guys have made sure of that.”
]]>