Artist
Shortly before his untimely death last month, Chris Cornell shot a music video for "The Promise": his musical contribution to Terry George's 2016 drama of the same name, which follows refugees from the Armenian Genocide through their love and loss. Today, that clip–which marks the Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman's final music video–has been released. Directed by Meiert Avis and Stefan Smith, the clip depicts a lone Cornell reverently performing the acoustic-based song in a dark room, interspersed with a blend of old photographs and footage of present-day refugees in Syria, Libya, and elsewhere. Per the late legend's wishes, "The Promise" arrives in honor of World Refugee Day (June 20). Proceeds from the song will benefit the Chris & Vicky Cornell Foundation, a non-profit benefitting vulnerable children worldwide.
"Although it is bittersweet because Chris filmed his performance in Brooklyn, New York, shortly before his passing, he wanted his video to be released on World Refugee Day, and he was passionate about helping people through this project," commented "The Promise" producer Eric Esrailian in a press statement. "True to Chris's charitable spirit, he made a commitment to donate all of his proceeds from 'The Promise' to support refugees and children, and to further the conversation about the refugee crisis the world continues to endure."
Speaking with Rolling Stone back in March, Cornell detailed the emotional process that led to "The Promise":
For me, with this one ["The Promise"], I was asking, 'How close to it am I and how far away from it am I?' I married into a Greek family, and my wife's grandparents were affected by the same genocide at the same time, since it was part of the same Ottoman Empire policy. So I saw the nearness to it. And one of the producers is a good friend of mine, and he's Armenian and we talked about it for a long time. It affected his generation and you can see it echoing through the generations. ... I think we all have a responsibility to recognize the warning signs that lead to this.
This movie's a great opportunity to tell a story that needs to be told, to help engage the healing of something that happened at a specific time and place, but it also remind us that it's happening now and reminds us what to look for. You can see it now in Syria, where you have one regime that is trying to deny any [killing] is happening and you have ISIS on the other side, who is targeting a different group and advertising it.
BardSpec — the ambient new project featuring Enslaved composer/guitarist Ivar Bjørnson and Today Is The Day's Steve Austin — will release their new album, Hydrogen, on June 23rd via By Norse Music. In anticipation, the band has teamed up with Revolver to premiere the entire album stream right here, right now. Check it out below.
"I remember listening to Richard Burmer and his album Mosaic from 1984. I thought I fell asleep but I was in a semi-lucid state where I still registered music — but not much else," Bjørnson said of the appeal of trance-inducing aspects of music. "At the end of side A there's an explosion so violent and extreme that I jumped two feet into the air and was totally shocked. The weird thing is, I couldn't remember it being there. When I revisited the music again it was just a little 'thud.' I was just experiencing a trance so deep into the music that this deviation from the pattern and frequencies in the foregoing half hour of monotony totally shocked me. I loved it!"
In addition, BardSpec will perform a rare and special show on June 29th at Brooklyn's Saint Vitus Bar. The record release show — in association with AISA and By Norse – features BardSpec alongside Josh Graham's IIVII and recent additions, Gnaw. Tickets are still available.
To get Hydrogen, visit the band's webstore or digital retailers. For more on BardSpec, follow them on Facebook.
Deftones frontman Chino Moreno turns 44 today, June 20. For nearly three decades, he's been the face, voice and driving force behind the Sacramento alternative metal luminaries. Moreno's contrast-heavy, arresting vocal style, coupled with his lyrical penchant for all things sinister and sensual, catalyzed not only Deftones' rise to fame, but the mainstream's affinity towards nü-metal writ large. And of course, we can't forget his well-established reputation as a sex symbol. (Alas, he's taken.)
In honor of Moreno's birthday, we're taking a trip down Deftones memory lane to revisit one of the vocalist's best onstage moments. Filmed during the Deftones' set at the 1998 Bizarre Festival in Cologne, Germany, Moreno's performances of tracks like "My Own Summer (Shove It)", "Around the Fur" and "Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)", are textbook examples of what makes Moreno such a powerful bandleader: his whirling dervish stage presence, halfway between a rock singer and a caged animal; his unparalleled stamina, which allows him to skip, scowl and sing without missing a beat; his affable aura, keeping the rapt crowd in his clutches. Relive the magic below.
Decapitated are set to drop their new album Anticult next month via Nuclear Blast. Ahead of the eight-song LP's July 7 release date, the Polish extreme metal quartet have shared an intense, occult-inspired clip for "Earth Scar." Director Dariusz Szermanowicz whisks Decapitated away to the wilderness for an epic performance atop a cliff. Later, the group relocate their jam session to a foreboding, shadowy room. As if that wasn't intense enough, Szermanowicz splices their performance with scenes depicting shamanic rituals and fiery witches. Check it out below.
"I have always drawn influences from all spectrums of metal and this song, and our new record, really reflect those influences," says Decapitated guitarist Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtyka. "Much like 'Never,' this song has been designed to crush on a stage, and we can't wait to add it to our set. Rasta wrote the lyrics with a lot of metaphorical content dealing with touring: the opposing lifestyles from the 'normal' day-to-day of being at home versus being on the road, and seeing our 'tribe' interacting with the music, and the almost restorative qualities of that!"
Speaking of the road: Shortly after Anticult's release, Decapitated will embark on a North American tour. Thy Art Is Murder, Fallujah and Ghost Bath will provide support for the trek, which begins August 20 at Pittsburgh's Rex Theater and runs through late September. Find all of their upcoming dates below.
Aug. 20 – Pittsburgh, PA – Rex Theater
Aug. 21 – Richmond, VA – Canal Club
Aug. 22 – Greensboro, NC – Blind Tiger
Aug. 23 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
Aug. 24 – New Orleans, LA – Southport Hall
Aug. 25 – Houston, TX – Scout Bar
Aug. 26 – Austin, TX – Come And Take It Live
Aug. 27 – Dallas, TX – Gas Monkey Live
Aug. 29 – Denver, CO – The Summit Music Hall
Aug. 30 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
Aug. 31 – Spokane, WA – The Pin
Sep. 01 – Portland. OR – Hawthorne Theater
Sep. 02 – Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theatre
Sep. 03 – Seattle, WA – Studio Seven
Sep. 05 – Reno, NV – Jub Jub's
Sep. 06 – San Francisco, CA – DNA Lounge
Sep. 07 – Hollywood, CA – The Roxy Theatre
Sep. 08 – Santa Ana, CA – The Observatory
Sep. 09 – Mesa, AZ – Club Red
Sep. 10 – El Paso, TX – Tricky Falls
Sep. 11 – Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theater
Sep. 13 – Lawrence, KS – Granada Theater
Sep. 14 – Joliet, IL – The Forge
Sep. 15 – Grand Rapids, MI – The Intersection
Sep. 16 – Toronto, ON – The Opera House
Sep. 17 – Montreal, QC – Corona Theatre
Sep. 18 – Ottawa, ON – Brass Monkey
Sep. 19 – Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
Sep. 20 – Syracuse, NY – The Lost Horizon
Sep. 21 – New York, NY – Gramercy Theatre
Sep. 22 – Philadelphia, PA – Theatre Of Living Arts
Sep. 23 – Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Soundstage
Sep. 24 – Columbus, OH – Park Street
Late last year, Manuel Gagneux released Devil Is Fine, his debut album as Zeal & Ardor. Though the project was originally conceived as a solo endeavor, its live setup necessitated a metamorphosis. Accordingly, when it came time to plot tours and live sessions, Gagneux assembled a six-person band to deliver the total sonic chaos of his vision.
Zeal & Ardor's tempestuous chemistry is on full display in the group's new live video for "Blood In The River", the standout Devil Is Fine track that Gagneux says is "partially about the Stono Rebellion, and partially about self-liberation from religion". Filmed at Off the Road Studios in Leipzig, Germany, Zeal & Ardor's performance jacks up the studio version's latent fury, transforming an already imposing barnstormer into a Category 5 hurricane. Watch it below (the performance begins at the 1:35 mark).
Gagneux and company's European tour behind Devil Is Fine continues today with a stop-off in Luxembourg. In August, they'll head for a handful of North American shows. Speaking with Revolver about what to expect from the sets, the frontman revealed that the group have prepared nine new songs, including material that, in his view, is "kinda better" than Devil Is Fine's offerings. "I couldn't stand behind a 25-minute set or playing some half-ass covers," he said. "The only fair thing is to deliver something that we feel is good."
Jun. 20 – Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg – Rockhal
Jul. 15 – Anyksciai, Lithuania – Devilstone Festival
Jul. 21 – Katowice, Poland – Metal Hammer Festival
Jul. 28 – Neuensee Bei Lichtenfels, Germany – Rock Im Wald
Aug. 10 – Avenches, Switzerland – Rock Oz'arènes
Aug. 13 – Ieper, Belgium – Ieperfest
Aug. 17 – Winterthur, Switzerland – Musikfestwochen
Aug. 19 – Los Angeles, CA – The Hi Hat
Aug. 20 – Las Vegas, NV – Psycho Las Vegas
Aug. 22 – Chicago, IL – The Beat Kitchen
Aug. 23 – Brooklyn, NY – Saint Vitus
Aug. 26 – Reading, UK – Reading Festival
Aug. 27 – Leeds, UK – Leeds Festival
Sep. 20-23 – Hamburg, Germany – Reeperbahn Festival
Oct. 28 – Munich, Germany – Manic Street Parade
Nov. 11 – Utrecht, Netherlands – Le Guess Who Festival
It might be hard to believe, but this year's Warped Tour features none other than Gwar, metal's most outrageous masked marauders. June 16's Seattle stop marked the band's first performance as part of the travelling festival, and to commemorate the occasion, they unveiled a new song called "Fuck This Place", their first new music since the passing of frontman Dave "Oderus Urungus" Brockie in 2014. Check it out below at the 8:10 minute mark.
Gwar's last album, Battle Maximus, came out in 2013. Last week, the band announced its follow-up, The Blood of Gods. The record, due out this fall via Metal Blade, is Gwar's first release with Brockie's successor, Michael "Berserker Blothar" Bishop, and will be available for pre-order at all Warped Tour locations. Out of the kindness of their ice-cold hearts, they've even released a pre-order how-to video starring guitarist Brent "Pustulus Maximus" Purgason.
Jun. 21 - Albuquerque, NM – Balloon Fiesta Park
Jun. 22 - Phoenix, AZ – Fear Farm Festival Grounds
Jun. 23 - Las Vegas, NV – Hard Rock Hotel
Jun. 24 - Salt Lake City, UT – Utah State Fair Park
Jun. 25 - Denver, CO – Pepsi Center
Jun. 27 – Nashville, TN – The Fairgrounds Nashville
Jun. 28 – Metairie, LA – Zephyr Field
Jun. 29 – Atlanta, GA – Lakewood Amphitheatre
Jun. 30 – Orlando, FL – Tinker Field
Jul. 01 – St. Petersburg, FL (Tampa) – Vinoy Park
Jul. 02 – West Palm Beach, FL (Miami) – Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre
Jul. 04 – Wilmington, NC – Legion Stadium
Jul. 06 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion Charlotte
Jul. 07 – Camden, NJ – BB&T Pavilion
Jul. 08 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Amphitheatre
Jul. 09 – Hartford, CT – Xfinity Theatre
Jul. 10 – Scranton, PA – The Pavilion at Montage Mountain
Jul. 11 – Virginia Beach, VA – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheatre
Jul. 12 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center
Jul. 13 – Darien Center, NY (Buffalo) – Darien Lake PAC
Jul. 14 – Burgettstown, PA – First Niagara Pavilion
Jul. 15 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
Jul. 16 – Columbia, MD (Washington, DC) – Merriweather Post Pavilion
Jul. 18 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH (Cleveland) – Blossom Music Center
Jul. 19 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
Jul. 20 – Noblesville, IN – Klipsch Music Center
Jul. 21 – Tinley Park, MI – The Palace of Auburn Hills
Jul. 22 – Chicago, IL – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
Jul. 23 – Shakopee, MN (Minneapolis) – Canterbury Park
Jul. 24 – Milwaukee, WI – Marcus Amphitheater
Jul. 26 – Maryland Heights, MO – Hollywood Casino
Jul. 27 – Bonner Springs, KS (Kansas City) – Cricket Wireless Amphitheater
Jul. 28 – Dallas, TX – Starplex Pavilion
Jul. 29 – San Antonio, TX – AT&T center
Jul. 30 – Houston, TX – NRG Park – Main Street Lot
Aug. 01 – Las Cruces, NM – New Mexico State University (Intramural Field)
Aug. 04 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre
Aug. 05 – San Diego, CA – Qualcomm Stadium at Jack Murphy Field
Aug. 06 – Pomona, CA – Fairplex Pomona
Sept. 09 – Knoxville, TN – The International
Sept. 16 – Louisville, KY – Mercury Ballroom
Sept. 17 – Chicago, IL – Riot Fest
Mike Patton is no stranger to side projects: From Fantômas to Nevermen, Peeping Tom to Tomahawk, the Faith No More frontman's list of auxiliary musical endeavors runs deep. His latest venture is Dead Cross, a hardcore-flavored supergroup featuring Retox guitarist Michael Crain, Locust bassist Justin Pearson and Slayer/Suicidal Tendencies drummer Dave Lombardo. Today, they've shared a video for "Seizure and Desist", off their forthcoming eponymous debut, which arrives August 4 via Patton's label, Ipecac Recordings.
Directed by Eric Livingston (the same artist behind the artwork for Dead Cross), "Seizure and Desist" explores America's present political tension through a cracked, blood-spattered lens. Following a brief glimpse of President Trump's face melting away to reveal a skeleton, we're presented with grisly scenes of dismemberment, destruction...and bugs, lots and lots of bugs.
"For a lot of humanity, this world is a mean motherf–king place," Pearson said to Loudwire. "The video captures the severity of the times we live in, as well as a means to communicate beyond basic language using iconic imagery, campy techniques, historical relevance, as well as a glimpse into the future."
Beginning in August, Dead Cross will hit the road for a month-long North American tour with openers Secret Chiefs 3—the San Francisco band fronted by Patton's Mr. Bungle comrade Trey Spruance. Check out the itinerary below.
Aug. 10 - Santa Ana, CA - The Observatory
Aug. 11 - Las Vegas, NV - Brooklyn Bowl
Aug. 12 - Phoenix, AZ - The Marquee
Aug. 14 - Dallas, TX - Gas Monkey Bar & Grill
Aug. 15 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
Aug. 16 - Austin, TX - Emo's
Aug. 18 - Tucson, AZ - The Rialto Theatre
Aug. 19 - San Diego, CA - The Observatory North Park
Aug. 21 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre
Aug. 23 - Berkeley, CA - The UC Theatre
Aug. 25 - Vancouver, BC - Vogue Theatre
Aug. 26 - Seattle, WA - The Showbox
Aug. 27 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
Aug. 29 - Sacramento, CA - Ace of Spades
Sept. 08 - Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Soundstage
Sept. 10 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
Sept. 11 - Boston, MA - Royale
Sept. 12 - New York, NY - Gramercy Theatre
Sept. 13 - Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw
Sept. 15 - Detroit, MI - St. Andrew's Hall
Percussion runs in the family for Slipknot's Jay Weinberg–his dad, former "Conan" bandleader Max Weinberg, sits behind the kit in Bruce Springsteen's E Street band. This past weekend, the two musicians showcased their bond in a new Guitar Center commercial released in honor of Father's Day. The ad was filmed in Manhattan's famed Avatar Studios (where the elder Weinberg recorded his drum parts for the Boss' seminal albums The River and Born In the U.S.A.), and shows father and son banging out rhythms and reflecting on their musical relationship. Check it out below.
"It was very fun for me as a father to be loading up a van or a car and take him [Jay] to his own recording session, because it's something my father did, and it was something that brought us even closer together, and has continued to this day," says Max Weinberg of his son, who stepped in to substitute for him during an E Street Band tour in 2009.
"I take any opportunity I get to see them [The E Street Band] play, to see him drum, because I always learn something," gushes the younger Weinberg. "When you look at what he's been able to accomplish and is still accomplishing, that's a major source of inspiration for me."
Weinberg joined Slipknot in 2014, after co-founding drummer Joey Jordison parted ways with the band. The group are currently working on the follow-up to 2014's album .5: The Gray Chapter. In the meantime, frontman Corey Taylor has reconvened his side band Stone Sour for a new LP titled Hydrograd, due out June 30 via Roadrunner.
A Perfect Circle have announced a North American fall tour, with support from the Beta Machine. The trek, which kicks off October 21 with a headlining set at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California, and wraps up December 4 in Eugene, Oregon, marks the second leg of the supergroup's first extended outing since 2014. A Perfect Circle's line-up for this tour comprises Maynard James Keenan (duh), Billy Howerdel, James, Iha, Jeff Friedl and Matt McJunkins (Ashes Divide, Puscifer). Check out the whole itinerary below.
A Perfect Circle's last album, eMOTIVe, came out in 2004. In 2013, they released a new song, "By And Down". Earlier this year, Howerdel revealed that the group had signed to BMG, and were working on a new record. The band subsequently shot down rumors that the long-awaited LP would arrive this year, responding to fans' queries via Twitter with a quipped "not true".
The same goes for Maynard James Keenan's other band, Tool; Despite sharing a mysterious trailer in March and kicking off their spring tour with the previously-unheard "Feathers", the group have yet to formally announce their first new album in over a decade.
Oct. 21 - Sacramento, CA - Aftershock Festival
Oct. 23 - Colorado Springs, CO - Broadmoor World Arena
Oct. 25 - Albuquerque, NM - Tingley Coliseum
Oct. 26 - El Paso, TX - UTEP Don Haskins Center
Oct. 30 - Knoxville, TN - Thompson-Boling Arena
Nov. 01 - Fairfax, VA - EagleBank Arena
Nov. 02 - Brooklyn, NY - Tidal Theater @ Barclays Center
Nov. 04 - Reading, PA - Santander Arena
Nov. 05 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
Nov. 07 - Camden, NJ - BB&T Pavilion
Nov. 08 - Boston, MA - Agganis Arena
Nov. 10 - Portland, ME - Cross Insurance Center
Nov. 11 - Albany, NY - Times Union Center
Nov. 12 - Syracuse, NY - The Oncenter
Nov. 14 - Montreal, QC - Laval Centre
Nov. 15 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre
Nov. 17 - Pittsburgh, PA - Petersen Events Center
Nov. 18 - Cleveland, OH - Wolstein Center at Cleveland State University
Nov. 19 - Highland Heights, KY - BB&T Arena at Northern Kentucky University
Nov. 21 - Detroit, MI - Fox Theatre
Nov. 22 Grand Rapids, MI - The DeltaPlex Arena
Nov. 24 Chicago, IL - UIC Pavilion
Nov. 25 St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
Nov. 28 Spokane, WA - Spokane Arena
Nov. 30 Vancouver, British Columbia - PNE Coliseum
Dec. 01 Seattle, WA - KeyArena at Seattle Center
Dec. 02 Portland, OR - Veteran's Memorial Coliseum
Dec. 04 Eugene, OR - Matthew Knight Arena
With a stint booked on this summer's Warped Tour, Municipal Waste were already positioned to gain more mainstream exposure — even before an unexpected mention by comedian Kathy Griffin's attorney at a widely covered press conference.
"That was so crazy," acknowledges vocalist Tony Foresta. "I was on vacation with my girlfriend. I came out of the bathroom after a shower and I saw, like, 100 text messages about the whole thing."
Foresta is referring to the recent controversy around Griffin posing for a photo holding a fake but all-too-real-looking severed head of President Trump. She was subsequently fired by CNN as Anderson Cooper's sidekick on their New Year's Eve special. In an effort to defend Griffin, her lawyer referenced Municipal Waste, Marilyn Manson and Gwar. "The band Municipal Waste has an image of Trump with a bloody gunshot to his head on a band T-shirt," the attorney proclaimed. "They're all just considered bad boys. Unlike these male artists, Kathy apologized."
"I just think it's funny that we got called 'bad boys,'" Foresta says.
As a band best known for playing rapid-fire thrash songs about hard partying and graphically violent sci-fi movies, often featuring pointedly puerile titles (example: "Guilty of Being Tight"), Municipal Waste have never been ones for political correctness. So Foresta and his bandmates — guitarists Ryan Waste and Nick Poulos, bassist Phil "Landphil" Hall and drummer Dave Witte — seem more amused than anything to be dragged into the Griffin scandal. Though the singer does feel bad for the comic.
"Why the fuck is it a big deal that she's doing what Brujeria did [on their 1993 full-length, Matando Güeros, which depicted a purportedly real gangster holding a decapitated head on its cover], you know what I mean?" Foresta says. "Maybe it's because she's mainstream. But I think everyone should have the right to desecrate Donald Trump's body. It's just fucked up that she's being victimized for it."
True to these words, Foresta's band pulls no punches on its new album, Slime and Punishment; songs like "Shrednecks," "Bourbon Discipline" and "Low Tolerance" charge forward with the kind of classic thrash licks and hilariously sophomoric lyrics that fans have come to expect. But the record is no rehash of Municipal Waste's last LP, 2012's The Fatal Feast (Waste in Space). With Slime and Punishment, Municipal Waste — a band that fans might picture spending less time crafting songs than shotgunning beers — worked hard to challenge themselves musically. They even threw away an entire album's worth of material they weren't happy with and started again from scratch.
"The thing is, everyone had really busy touring schedules with their other bands," explains Foresta, referencing Municipal Waste side projects including Iron Reagan, Cannabis Corpse, Volture and Bat. "Two and a half years ago, when we started working on the new Municipal Waste, we liked what we were coming up with, but when we looked back at it, it wasn't up to the quality that we wanted. We were all scattered and not on the same page at that point. So we ditched, like, 12 songs, and started again."
With second guitarist Nick Poulos (Bat, Volture, ex-Cannabis Corpse) onboard, Municipal Waste were able to expand and diversify their sound. In addition to integrating their newest member, Municipal Waste have strived to balance their side projects from their main gig and taken strides to break the conception some people still have that they're little more than an exceptionally talented comedy band. We recently talked to Foresta about all the above and more.
REVOLVER Slime and Punishment is another fun, furious Municipal Waste album, but it has more diverse riffs and better mosh sections. Did you have a good time making it or was it a struggle?
TONY FORESTA We matured as a band over the past five years. We did a lot of relentless touring the first two years after we did The Fatal Feast. Touring like that was hard, so to mix things up a little, we started writing an album at around the two-and-a-half-year mark of the tour. And that turned out not to be such a good idea. So when we started writing again last year and got Nick in the band, that helped focus us even more to write a great album. The hardest thing is getting everyone on the same page, but once we're all together the good stuff happens. I think this is the best record we've ever done.
You and Land Phil toured pretty hard for Iron Reagan's last album, The Tyranny of the Will, and Phil toured with Cannabis Corpse, as well. Was it hard to get back into the Municipal Waste mindset after that?
When you're working with different people, everyone has different ways of doing stuff. In Iron Reagan, we write stuff differently, but it's also refreshing to play with people that you haven't seen in a while. The frustrating part is coordinating the schedules and getting everyone to focus at the same time.
You guys recorded and then scrapped a whole Municipal Waste record.
That was when the Iron Reagan tour schedule started. It got pretty crazy so we wrote every once in a while for Municipal Waste. By the time we got together to do the demo five months later we forgot how we did the songs. So we changed things around and tried to get focused again. It was overwhelming at times. I still have demos of a bunch of the songs. They have lyrics and vocals and everything. But it wasn't clicking. The stuff didn't make us go, "All right, cool. That's a great song."
You're a crossover-thrash band with a reputation for being goofballs and drinking heavily. It might surprise people that you scrapped a whole album and didn't go, "Yeah, fuck it, that's good enough. Now, where' the bong?"
We're goofy, but we take our music very seriously and we tour really hard. We make sure our instruments are tuned and everything sounds as good as it can. We care about it, and not just for us. We really want to deliver something that people want to listen to. So, we take that shit real seriously — even though we are ridiculous human beings.
Why did you decide to bring Nick Poulos into the band?
I have been trying to get him in for years. I always wanted a second guitar player for live because it pushes the sound and makes it real heavy. There's only a few people in the world that we all get along with and want to be around, so that was always kind of an issue, but everyone agreed Nick was perfect. He helped to inspire everyone to write stuff. Plus, he had some good ideas of his own.
How do you know him?
He's been a friend of mine for over 10 years. We're both from Florida. I got him a gig for playing in D.R.I. five or six years ago when Spike Cassidy was sick. They had to play a show in South America and didn't know what to do. I said, "Look, I know a solid dude that will rip a guitar," and sure enough he learned the songs, flew down there and three days later he was jamming with them. That's the kinda guy he is. He is a stand-up dude.
You released your breakthrough album, The Art of Partying, almost exactly 10 years ago. At the time, you were lumped into a scene of retro thrash revivalists that included bands like Evile, Warbringer, Bonded by Blood and Toxic Holocaust. Did that help push you to the next rung of popularity?
I don't know, but we kinda hated that. The reason we were grouped in with them was because the label we were on [Earache Records] were trying to sign on any thrash band at the time and attach them to us. It was strange. They wanted us to be the flagbearer for them and I was like, "C'mon, dude. I don't even listen to half this shit." I think Toxic Holocaust is great, but a lot of the other bands were forced and weirdly trendy. They were way oversaturated and cheapened everything.
Was that offensive to you as dedicated crossover revivalists?
It just seemed contrived. I mean, every fucking band had a neon green logo. It made us like, "Ugh!" You wouldn't believe the amount of times that our label tried to get us to take out those bands on tour. And if we didn't want to listen to their music or tour with them, then we didn't do it. We stuck to our guns. And that's what we still do today.