The band has also announced iTunes pre-order is now available for Breathing the Fire. The iTunes version includes an exclusive bonus track called, “Only No Rest for the Dead.” It can be ordered here.

Physical preorder packages for both CD and LP are still available at Prosthetic Records.

The band is currently on tour with Children of Bodom and The Black Dahlia Murder through October 12^th and then will provide support to The Black Dahlia Murder along with Toxic Holocaust and Trap Them. The band will then head to Europe for a rotating co-headline run with Toxic Holocaust and Goatwhore.
9/25    Elements Night Club – Kitchener, ON*
9/26    Sound Academy – Toronto, ON*
9/27    House of Blues – Chicago, IL*
9/28    Epic – Minneapolis, MN*
9/30    Garrick Centre – Winnipeg, MB*
10/1    Odeon Events Centre – Saskatoon, SK*
10/2    MacEwan Hall Ballroom – Calgary, AB*
10/3    Edmonton Events Centre – Edmonton, AB*
10/5    Commodore Ballroom – Vancouver, BC*
10/6    Showbox at the Market – Seattle, WA*
10/7    Roseland Theatre – Portland, OR*
10/9    Regency Center @ The Grand – San Francisco, CA*
10/10  Glass House – Pomona, CA*
10/12  Marquee Theatre – Phoenix, AZ*
10/13  Soma – San Diego, CA**
10/14  Karma – Victorville, CA**
10/15  Downtown Brew – San Luis Obispo, CA**
10/16  The Underground – Reno, NV**
10/17  The Boardwalk – Orangevale, CA**
10/19  Murray Theater – Murray, UT**
10/20  The Black Sheep – Colorado Springs, CO**
10/22  Picador – Iowa City, IA**
10/24  The Annex – Madison, WI**
10/25  The Basement – Columbus, OH**
10/26  Boney June’s – Evansville, IN**
10/27  Rocketown – Nashville, TN**
10/29  The High Ground – Metairie, LA**
10/30  Jack Rabbits – Jacksonville, FL**
10/31  Sector 7G – Augusta, GA**
11/1    The Soapbox – Wilmington, NC**
11/2    Ottobar – Baltimore, MD**
11/3    The Crazy Donkey – Farmingdale, NY**
11/4    Webster Underground – Hartford, CT**
11/6    Peabody’s – Cleveland, OH**
11/7    The Intersection – Grand Rapids, MI**
11/8    Uncle Pleasants – Louisville, KY**
11/10  Lost Horizon – Syracuse, NY**
11/11  Mohawk Place – Buffalo, NY**
11/12  The Chance – Poughkeepsie, NY**
11/13  The Kave – Bucksport, ME**
11.27  Doornroosje- Nijmegen , Netherlands#
11.28  Minus One- Gent , Belgium#
12.1    Coporation- Sheffield, UK#
12.2    Underworld- London,  UK3
12.3    Blacks-  Glasgow,  UK##
12.5    Hard Rock Hell- Prestatyn Sands, UK#
12.9    Hafenklang- Hamburg,  Germany#
12.11  Cassiopeia- Berlin,  Germany#
12.12  Eastclub- Bischofswerda,  Germany#
12.14  007- Prague, Czech Rep #
12.15. Feierwerk- München, Germany#
12.16  Soundcheck- Arcene (Bergamo), Italy#
12.17  Abart- Zürich, Switzerland#
12.18 Steinbruch Theatre- Darmstadt , Germany#
12.19  Turock- Essen, Germany#

*w/ Children of Bodom, The Black Dahlia Murder
**w/The Black Dahlia Murder, Toxic Holocaust, Trap Them
# w/ Goatwhore, Toxic Holocaust

[image: Adrenaline PR]

Post from: Metal Martyr

Here is some fan footage shot at the Starland in Sayerville, New Jersey on Sept 19, 2009:

The dates are:

11.27.09 Netherlands Nijmegen @ Doornroosje
11.2809 Belgium Gent @ Minus One
12.1.09 UK Sheffield @ Corporation
12.2.09 UK London @ Underworld
12.3.09 UK Glasgow @ Ivory Blacks
12.5.09 UK Prestatyn Sands @ Hard Rock Hell
12.9.09 Germany Hamburg @ Hafenklang
12.1109 Germany Berlin @ Cassiopeia
12.12.09 Germany Bischofswerda @ Eastclub
12.14.09 Czech Rep Prague @ 007
12.15.09 Germany München Feierwerk
12.16.09 Italy Arcene (Bergamo) @ Soundcheck
12.17.09 Switzerland Zürich @ Abart
12.18.09 Germany Darmstadt @ Steinbruch Theater
12.19.09 Germany Essen @ Turock

Skeletonwitch guitarist, Scott Hedrick commented:

“Hell fucking yeah! We couldn’t be more stoked to announce our European dates with Goatwhore and Toxic Holocaust.  We’ve been wanting to get back across the pond for some time and who better to do it with?! We’ve logged a lot of hours and shard a few thousand beers with both of those bands on the road already.  Great fucking people, great fucking bands. Any bets on who gets arrested first: Sammy D. or Joel? Ben Falghoust, don’t forget your leather gloves brother!”

Skeletonwitch will be supporting their new full length, Breathing the Fire which was recorded in Seattle, WA by producer Jack Endino (High on Fire, Nirvana) and mastering by Scott Hull of Pig Destroyer. Breathing the Fire hits the streets on October 12 in Europe and October 13 in the US.

Post from: Metal Martyr

• Kylesa – Said And Done from their upcoming Static Tensions. Preorder it. 
• Scale The Summit – Sargasso Sea from Carving Desert Canyons Buy It.
• Hollow Corp – Sabbat from Cloister Of Radiance Buy It.

Go to Prosthetic Records Multimedia Page to download more Free MP3’s from their roster. If you like what you hear, support the bands by buying a cd, going to a show, etc.

Image: Amazon.com

Post from: Metal Martyr

I’m kind of catching up on some Prosthetic Records news from the last few days.

First up, Withered will be playing Scion Rock Fest a week from this coming Saturday. They’ll also be playing at the New England HC and Metal Fest this year as well as Blackened Fest. You can find tour dates after the fold.

Skeletonwhich will premiere the first video ever, Sacrifice For The Slaughter God this Friday on Myspace. This is their debut video and the song comes off of Beyond The Permafrost. Look for that tomorrow.

Lastly, Century has changed their line-up a bit. Recently rejoined by original bassist, Ricky Armellino and drummer Grant McFarland, the band has started working on their follow up to Black Ocean.

WITHERED on tour:

• 2/13       Warehouse – Atlanta, GA
• 2/20       Ground Zero – Spartanburg, SC
• 2/27       Criminal Records – Atlanta, GA (free in-store performance)
• 2/28       Masquerade – Atlanta, GA (Scion Rock Fest)
• 4/15       Sonar – Baltimore, MD
• 4/16       Union Pool – Brooklyn, NY
• 4/17       Palladium – Worcester, MA (New England Metalfest)
• 4/18       The M Room – Philadelphia, PA
• 4/19       Volume 11 – Raleigh, NC
• 5/21       The Fillmore at Irving Plaza – New York, NY*
• 5/23       Ground Zero – Spartanburg, SC*
• 5/24       Club Firestone – Orlando, FL*
• 5/26       Numbers – Houston, TX*
• 5/27       White Rabbit – San Antonio, TX*
• 5/29       Sunshine Theater – Albuquerque, NM*
• 5/30       Clubhouse – Tempe, AZ*
• 5/31       House of Blues – San Diego, CA*
• 6/2          House of Blues – Hollywood, CA*
• 6/3          DNA – San Francisco, CA*
• 6/4          Hawthorne Theatre – Portland, OR*
• 6/5          Studio Seven – Seattle, WA*
• 6/6          Knitting Factory – Boise, ID*
• 6/7          Gothic Theater – Denver, CO*
• 6/9          Station 4 – St. Paul, MN*
• 6/11       House of Blues – Chicago, IL*
• 6/12       Peabody’s – Cleveland, OH*
• 6/13       Majestic Theater – Detroit, MI*
• 6/14       Opera House – Toronto, ON*
• 6/15       Foufounes Electriques – Montreal, QC*

* Blackenedfest w/ Mayhem, Marduk, Cephalic Carnage, Cattle Decapitation

Post from: Metal Martyr

Also today kicks off All That Remains tour with headliners In Flames and label-mates Gojira, with 36 Crazyfists opening the show. You can check out a tour poster after the fold. Overcome has sold more than 70,000 copies in less than two months since it’s release on September 16th.

Album Image Source: Amazon.com

Tour poster courtesy of Prosthetic Records.

Post from: Metal Martyr

MM: It’s been almost 5 months since you announced LTC’s disbanding. What have you been doing since then?

Ben: Well, I personally started attending UC Berkeley in August, so I’m busy with that.  I also have an awesome job at Pirates Press, who do all the vinyl manufacturing for all major metal and punk labels.  Other than that, jamming on some new music and enjoying life! Laura is bartending and most likely going back to school next year.  Jon, Ryan and Brian are all just working and looking for another project.

MM: Are you still in touch with the other members of Light This City and is there still a friendship factor there? Do you still work with Laura at all?

Ben: I won’t go into details, but MOST of us are on good terms. There was a bit of drama after Laura and my decision to break up the band, understandably.  There were some emotional times for a while, but for the most part things are great now.   As for Laura and I, we are working together on a new project that won’t be uber-professional and full-time,  so yeah Laura and I will still team up on something new, but I don’t want to divulge too much about that yet…

MM: You announced the disbanding on your myspace back in June. A lot of people were disappointed to see this happen so early in to your success. You kind of touched base on why you guys chose to go this route due to how touring full time had taken it’s toll on you, but it was still kind of vague to most. Would you care to elaborate on any of that?

Ben: Again, let me clarify it wasn’t everyone’s decision, just Laura and mine. In that sense we feel bad that we had to cut this career short for the other guys, we definitely do, but they are incredible musicians and they will bounce back soon.   In terms of the decision being early in our success, I am sure we could have gotten much bigger and sold many more records, but I had been doing this band since I was 14, so it was 6 years. We did 4 full length records and it was just enough for Laura and I. We were burnt out on the touring lifestyle, massively in debt, and not so excited about playing that style of music every night.  I guess it happens if you are exposed to it so often, but the band lost its fun and innocence that we really lived for in previous years.  We wanted to end it on a high note with “Stormchaser”, and we always promised ourselves we wouldn’t keep doing it if our hearts weren’t in it anymore.  We also had goals we wanted to accomplish before it got too late, and touring full time with the band wouldn’t allow those to be achieved.   We never wanted to do this band half-assed or 50%, so we decided to stop it altogether. So between all of those factors, we decided it was the best decision for us personally.

MM: Was that one of the toughest decisions that you’ve had to make? To bring to an end something that you put so much time in to?

Ben: It was definitely the hardest decision we’ve EVER had to make, but it suddenly became so clear to us.  It was a gut instinct, and we always follow those.  I don’t regret it, although there are aspects of the band we will always cherish and miss.

MM: The new Album comes out on the 11th. Obviously a lot of work went in to writing and recording this album. After the disbanding do you ever feel like all that work was in vain or is it more or less just another stepping stone in your career?

Ben: No, not at all. None of it was in vain. For me, metal and music in general has always been about the record, the songs, the listening experience. Sure, live shows are great, but sitting there with your headphones and really connecting to the music is what meant everything to me.  The new album is truly amazing, and undoubtedly our best work ever, and I feel honored that our fans will buy it and love it. What matters most to me is that our fans are able to pick up the album and appreciate it, which I am sure they will.  The absence of live shows they can live without I’m sure, but I am happy to leave them with this last record, which really does rule.

MM: You guys worked with Chuck Billy of Testament on the track “Firehaven“. Did you guys work directly with him or was the track finished and he recorded the vocals elsewhere?What was it like working with a legend in thrash metal?

Ben: We worked directly with him. He lives in the Bay Area as well so he just drove over to the studio and hung out with us for a day!  It was really awesome, and totally surreal.  He kept asking how we wanted this and that, and we were just like “Dude, you’re Chuck Billy.  You could do anything to this song and we will love it.”  It was a little crazy having to tell Chuck Billy what to do, but he was awesome!! Totally killed it, and the track is probably the heaviest thing we have ever done.

MM: Are you working on any different projects or bands that we might see in the future?

Ben: Jon, Brian and Ryan are already working on new projects, not necessarily together, but they will have new things in the works soon.  Just stay tuned to the LTC myspace site as we will keep people updated. As I said earlier, Laura and I are working on some new music, which won’t be metal, but will definitely be awesome.  I don’t want to talk much about it though being that it won’t come to fruition for a while, but we will let you know when it does..

MM: Is there any chance that Light This City will ever perform again, if not just for a local show or two?

Ben: We are trying to work out a last San Francisco show, but it is slow coming. There are a lot of details to work out, so it may or may not happen. But I will never rule out any reunions or shows years down the line.  Who knows what will happen. All we knew is that for right now we wanted to stop the band, it was what was best for us as people and musicians.

MM: What is your main focus right now as a musician?

Ben: I am actually writing a lot of music on guitar, as I always have, and really enjoying it.  Writing different kinds of music is totally refreshing, and pretty exciting. I am constantly buying new CDs of new bands that people tell me about. So I would say my main focus is honing my songwriting and really delving into what makes a song amazing, and trying to accomplish that in the future.

MM: Your label Creator-Destructor Records has released Mirror Of Dead Faces new cd and Signed Nekrogoblikon this year. Is there any other new acquisitions or are you just focusing on the bands currently on your roster?

Ben: I am also putting out a new EP by the Funeral Pyre, who’s last record was put out by Prosthetic. That is called “December” and should be out in March 09. Other than that, I am just focusing on Mirror of Dead Faces and Nekrogoblikon. The MODF record is out now, and it absolutely crushes.  Make sure you melodic death metal fans out there check it out, it is true quality!

MM: That’s all the questions I have. Is there anything that you’d like to say or add?

Ben: I just want to thank you for this interview and helping get the word out about this new record. A lot of press are understandably not interested in covering a broken up band, but this album is the best thing we have ever done and definitely deserves the attention. Pick up the new and final record, “Stormchaser” on November 11th!!

Image Source: Amazon.com

Post from: Metal Martyr

After the winter tour with fellow label mates All That Remains, Light This City got in to the studio and started recording Stormchaser. They headed out with God Forbid and Death Angel on the In Thrash We Trust tour early in to the summer but about midway through they announced their plans to disband. Sadly for their many fans, Stormchaser would be the band’s swansong, but the founding members Ben Murray and Laura Nichol had their reasons to disband. You’ll find out more in an interview to be posted later this week.

November 11th will mark the fourth and final release of Light This City and if you’re a fan, then chances are that you’ll be very happy with this album.

Stormchaser picks up where Facing The Thousand left off and does so with a vengeance. Each song has a lot of thrash driven melodic guitar work with great hooks and rhythm. Lyrically the songs are well constructed and each song tells a story. Ben Murray and Laura Nichole offered a little bit of insight in to two of the songs that I favor the most. Firehaven feature Testament front-man Chuck Billy and the last track on Stormchaser, Self Portrait.

On Firehaven:

Laura: This is my favorite title from the album. For a while, I considered titling the album, “Firehaven”, but I was outnumbered. I love the concept because it is the complete opposite of “Stormchaser”, which is all about the hunger for adventure and being a touring machine. This song came at a point where I felt a little fed up with the touring lifestyle. I was reading Ray Bradbury’s The Illustrated Man, and one of my favorite short stories in that book is one called “The Long Rain”, about a spaceship from Earth that crash-lands on Venus, a planet where it never stops raining. The men go, unprepared, on a journey in search of a “Sun-dome”, a refuge that earthlings built all around the planet to shelter visitors from the rain. But the Venusians hate earthlings and smash all of the Sun-domes. The guys from the rocketship are just wandering aimlessly, being driven insane by the constant drops pounding on their heads, looking for something they might never find.

At times on tour, I felt similarities the protagonists of the story. Here I was, searching for adventure, and I got it tenfold. Of course there are days you love being on the road. But sometimes the adventure gets to be a bit much, like a cloud constantly overhead, and you end up thinking that you need to be more careful what you wish for.

But then you get Chuck Billy to do guest vocals on a song and everything is right again! …That was such a trip. I would look into the vocal room and see this guy that probably fills up most of the booth he’s in, and then I look to my right and see our little Ben giving him all this direction on how he should be singing for the part. Chuck is the coolest dude ever. I just wish we had better beer to offer him when he visited the studio.

Ben: As Laura said, what stands out about this song is Chuck’s appearance vocally, but the music is also incredible in my opinion. I think the practice-room title for this was “Municipal Waste” because it was SO thrashy, we couldn’t help but call it that! The beginning just hits you in the face and doesn’t let up until it’s over. The chorus is a bit darker/melodic death, while the verses are totally mid tempo thrash, which we really explored on this record. When Chuck’s vocals come in at the end it just peaks and ties it all together, from there there is a heavy slam anthrax-style riff, followed by a ripping solo. All of that was really new to us and totally fun to play.

On Self Portait:

Laura: Music has a way of traveling through one’s body like water through cracks in a rock, searching out and filling up that core of someone, touching on emotions one didn’t even know how to bring out of themselves. Working these lyrics into the music flowed just like that. Ben sat down with what I wrote, played the song, and we were able to figure out the vocal patterns in half an hour, without changing a thing.

I always wanted to find a way to thank the bands that have inspired me and pushed me to accomplish things like creating “Stormchaser”. I remember riding around on the bus when I was fifteen years old, listening to Darkest Hour, and feeling like my eyes were being opened to the world of music. Not radio crap or the stuff my guitar teacher showed me. Real music. Music I could make if I just listened and learned. “Self Portrait” might read like a love song, and it sort of is one, but it was inspired by listening to my favorite bands. And I wrote it as an ode to them (and one band in particular) for continuously challenging me, causing me to realize certain aspects of myself that make up who I am today.

Ben: This song came together pretty slowly in the practice studio, and it was one of the last ones we wrote. I feel like this along with “Beginning with Release” has the most impressive guitar work the band has ever done. Ryan’s solo at the end just blows me away. This song always felt like the last track, it was so epic and felt like a finishing track. The chorus reminds me of a Darkest Hour Kris Norris kind of melody, and the harmonies are just so sweet. We didn’t really anticipate how well this song came together but I’m pretty sure it is a band favorite. The whole thing just flows great, and turned out being a really nice surprise towards the end of the writing process for “Stormchaser”.

This isn’t your run-of-the-mill metal album thrown together to satisfy a contractual obligation of a band on their way out. A lot of time and effort was obviously put in to this record. Brian Forbes and Ryan Hansen are great guitar players and bring a lot to the table with lead riffs and rhythms that are both memorable and relevant to the style of metal that Light This City established themselves with. Self portrait has a solo near then end that almost oozes with Dave Mustaine influence, or at least it kind of has an Into The Lungs Of Hell feel to it, to me.

The only thing that I can say that can be taking in a negative manner about Stormchaser is that I would have liked to see a bit more variation in Laura Nichol’s vocals. She has a great scream but there is something that I feel could make it sound even better and I can’t quite explain it. If there was a bit more of a fluctuation in her vocal tone at times I think I would enjoy it a little more.

Overall Stormchaser is a great album and a good closing to a band who’s career was just starting to take off. If you liked Remains of The Gods and Facing The Thousand then you will love Stormchaser.

Keep an eye out later this week for a short interview with Ben Murray. He will catch us up on what he’s doing these days and a little more detail in to what led up to the decision to disband Light This City.

Image Source: Amazon.com

Post from: Metal Martyr

ALL THAT REMAINS on tour

(In Flames, All That Remains, Gojira, 36 Crazy Fists)

• 11/06 Montreal, QC – Metropolis
• 11/07 Toronto, ON – Sound Academy
• 11/08 Detroit, MI – Emerald Theater
• 11/09 Cleveland, OH – Agora
• 11/10 Chicago, IL – House Of Blues
• 11/12 Minneapolis, MN – Myth
• 11/14 Calgary, AB – MacEwan Hall
• 11/15 Edmonton, AB – Events Center
• 11/17 Vancouver, BC – Commodore
• 11/18 Seattle, WA – Showbox Sodo
• 11/19 Portland, OR – Roseland
• 11/21 San Francisco, CA – Warfield
• 11/22 Los Angeles, CA – The Nokia Club
• 11/23 Las Vegas, NV – House Of Blues
• 11/24 Phoenix, AZ – Marquee Theatre
• 11/25 Albuquerque, NM – Midnight Rodeo
• 11/26 Denver, CO – Fillmore
• 11/28 Dallas, TX – Palladium
• 11/29 Austin, TX – La Zona Rosa
• 11/30 Houston, TX – House Of Blues
• 12/02 Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Live
• 12/03 Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle
• 12/04 Norfolk, VA – The Norva
• 12/05 Baltimore, MD – Rams Head Live
• 12/06 Worcester, MA – Palladium
• 12/07 New York, NY – Terminal 5
• 12/09 St. Louis, MO – Pageant
• 12/10 Milwaukee, WI – The Eagles Club

(with The Haunted, Johnny Truant)

• 1/17 Nottingham, UK – Rescue Rooms
• 1/19 Birmingham, UK – Academy 2
• 1/20 Glasgow, UK – Garage
• 1/21 Manchester, UK – Academy 3
• 1/23 Brighton, UK – Concorde 2
• 1/24 London, UK – LA 2

(with The Haunted, Deadlock)

• 1/26 Stuttgart, GER – Landespavilloin
• 1/27 Bochum, GER – Matrix
• 1/29 Hamburg, GER – Knust
• 1/30 Göteborg, GER – Brewhouse
• 1/31 Stocholm, SWE – Kägelbanan
• 2/02 Helsini, SF – Nosturi
• 2/04 Copenhagen, DK – Pumpehuset
• 2/05 Berling, GER – Magnet
• 2/06 Leipzig, GER – Conne Island
• 2/07 Prague, CZ – Abaton
• 2/08 Wien, AT – Arena
• 2/10 Milan, IT – Zoe Club
• 2/11 Winterthur, CH – Salzhaus
• 2/12 Trier, GER – Exhaus
• 2/13 Amsterdam, NL – Melkweg
• 2/14 Paris, FR – Noveau Casino
• 2/15 Brussels, B – AP Box

Image ©MetalMartyr.Com2008

Post from: Metal Martyr

Album: Dystopia

Release Date: October 28th, 2008

Record Label: Prosthetic Records

Mixed by Jason Suecof, mastered by Alan Douches.

Album Art by Felix Rancourt

Last week when I named my ten picks for the best death metal vocals (IGN.Com names 10 Best Death Metal Vocals) I stressed how I enjoy clarity. I like to hear what they are screaming, growling or grunting, if not maybe just a little bit. Let me start off by saying that this is the only thing I don’t like about Beneath The Massacre’s sophomore release on Prosthetic Records, titled Dystopia. It’s not like a totally inaudible sound like some other death metal bands that I’ve heard. It’s just slightly incomprehensible. Dystopia does however has a melodic brutality about it that you don’t get very often.

Hailing from Montreal, Canada, this four piece death metal band has had a lot of road time between the release of their first EP (Mechanics Of Dysfunction) with Prosthetic Records and Dystopia, which comes out tomorrow, October 28th. That’s the only way you’ll make it in the extreme (I’m so tired of that word) metal genre. You have to go out there and tour your ass off to get your name out there and more than just another band signed on an indie label. I mean, let’s be honest, it seems like it’s getting easier and easier for bands to get “Signed”. You have to be a self-sustaining band as well and have a good label supporting you.

As far as Dystopia goes, the guitar work of Christopher Bradley is complex and melodic while Justin Rousselle’s drumming is a furious onslaught of blast-beats that somehow keep a consistent rhythm with speed that’s matched by very few drummers these days. The problem I have with such complex riff work is that at times there feels like there is no solid hook to keep listeners like myself coming back for more. There are so many melodic leads that could be complimented by more low end chugging rhythms. Sometimes a little simplicity can make the biggest difference in how a song is delivered. When there are good chugging rhythm riffs is when I dig this cd the most, like on Lithium Overdose and Never More. There are some great solos that seem somewhat short natured but well placed and constructed. Dennis Bradley’s bass playing could be more evident on this record. Perhaps a little more bass guitar could improve on the lack of chugging riffs that I feel like I’m being deprived of.

Elliot Desgagnés vocals, as I said leave me wanting a little more clarity. He’s got a great deep, guttural and throaty growl that sounds good, but I desire more enunciation in the lyrics. Maybe it’s me getting older or maybe it’s my taste in metal that seems to change from month to month. Lyrically, Dystopia is great. Condemned starts out the cd with the line “Can you feel the anguish taking over? Thrown into this world with no essence. We are what we asked for; rapists and architects of decay and destruction. We claim our innocence…”, while the song Wasteland reads as: “Knee deep in the blood of our peers/ It’s already too late/ There is no turning back? Oblivious to our actions/ Conditioned lifestyle leading to our extinction”. No complex, 4 syllable words to have to look up, just straight forward lyrics that say it all. Human beings are a parasite to this world, that don’t often learn from our actions. We see the destruction left in our paths and we say we need to change, but we keep on being the greed-filled entities that we are, with little remorse and even less solutions. Maybe one day we will learn and change before we become the product of our own demise.

Overall this isn’t a bad record but leaves me feeing like I couldn’t listen to it very often, kind of like The Acacia Strain. One of those bands that sounds really good…in great moderation. This, to me, is one of those records that’s appreciated more when it’s not played on a regular basis. Perhaps with time I’ll find myself listening to it more like I did with Withered’s last release. Give Beneath The Massacre a listen on Myspace. If you like that then you will probably like the rest of Dystopia.

Beneath The Massacre: Dystopia Track List

1. Condemned
2. Reign of Terror
3. Our Common Grave
4. Harvest of Hate
5. The Wasteland
6. Bitter
7. No Future
8. Lithium Overdose
9. Never More
10. Procreating The Infection

Beneath The Massacre On Myspace

http://BeneathTheMassacre.com

Image Source: Amazon.com

Post from: Metal Martyr

MM: Hey Mike, how’s it going?

Mike Martin: Good, we’re just watching the Sox game.

MM: I’m a Yankees fan, myself.

Mike: Then you must hate us.

MM: Nah, I’ve had 4 years to get over it. (Referring to the last time the 2004 play-offs where the Yankees were up 3 games and then lost the next 4.) Good thing I didn’t put money on that series.

I was scheduled to talk to Phil and all these questions were geared toward him so maybe you can answer them and maybe not…

Oli: We’ll try to answer them like Phil.

MM: On the new album. With all the layered clean vocals, a lot of people were not necessarily saying that their bad, but weird. Was there any reason why they layered them so much?

Oli: You’re talking about all the vocal tracks?

MM: Yeah.

Oli: Just to give it a bigger sound.

MM: To make it sound bigger? Something different than before?

Oli: Just to give a thicker sound.

Mike: It wasn’t to specifically to piss people off. They’re going to freaked out when they hear more singing regardless, they’re going to hear more singing and say (In a kind of deeper condescending voice) “Oh, That’s not metal”.

MM: Was that something that Jason Seucoff suggested doing?

Oli: Absolutely.

MM: You guys covered Nevermore’s Believe In Nothing. I thought it was a good cover. Some people said it was good but it made you want to hear the original. Right after it was released it was announced that Firewind did a cover of the same song. Are you guys familiar with Firewind?

Mike: Yeah, we got a kick out of that. We shared a bus with them in England.

MM: I saw them live back in May, they were great, I expected Firewind’s cover to be a lot better because Apollo has a different range than Phil does because he’s got that big power metal sound but I actually liked your version better. (Shameless ass kissing)

Mike: Anytime you read anything on the internet, most people get on there just to smash the band, especially Blabbermouth. They’re going to comment (again with the voice)”Uh, that’s the worst just cause I feel like saying it.

Oli: You’re never going to top the original, but you try to keep it as close as possible. We changed it a bit with the chorus and a little guitar and added some more layers.

(Mike Martin claps at the TV because the Red Sox just scored. He comments that everything started going well in the game ever since I got there. I guess I was like a good luck charm or some shit. Too bad the Sox lost the next day)

MM: IN the new Revolver and how You (Oli) and Jason would get in there and you (Mike) and Phil would get in there and would ask them to “Dumb it down” a bit.

Mike: Yeah, definitely as far as Oli goes, Jason being a drummer…I think every drummer we’ve ever worked with has gotten mad at us because at some point we might say “Hey, can you just do a really dumb Metallica beat there or something.” and they would say (Once more with the voice) “That just sounds stupid” It’s always like that with a drummer go, you’re gonna deal with that all the time. Sometimes a really heavy riff just sounds so much better with like the dumbest possible drumming that there is. A lot of drummers don’t want people to think that they’re crappy drummers and want to put something complicated over it, but we want to do whatever fits the song best. Oli writes some very aggressive stuff sometimes too, sometimes he comes with a whole song on the computer and if we did it exactly how it sounds, the computer would not sound like the band at all. We have to strip it down here and there.

MM: When you (Oli) write the main riffs and leads and rhythms and it comes down to what Mike will be playing, so you suggest to him how he should be playing it?

Oli: I usually have both the parts written.

Mike: Everybody kind of picks everyone’s parts apart and sometimes say, “Hey you should try this” and sometimes it sounds a lot better. Everybody pretty much knows how to push each others buttons the right way and it works out for the better.

Oli: I write the guitar and bass parts…

Mike: He’s a writing machine…

Oli: I take each guitar part and work on the sound and try to make it sound as big as possible.

MM:Phil keeps it lyrically simple without over-thinking the lyrics by throwing big words in there. You don’t have to sit there and wonder what that means.

Mike: Some people might say it’s stupid but by keeping it simple the kids really relate to it. There are so many people on the internet with tattoos of the lyrics all over them.

Oli:It’s not as dumbed down as like, let’s say Hatebreed, it’s just obvious, especially in metal, you have to have a straight forward message.

MM: You guys sold like 28,000 in your first week and that’s twice as much as the last record. Some people say “I don’t give a shit about record sales because I don’t make my money off of cd sales” but every cares how many people are buying the cd. You guys care, right?

Mike: Numbers to an extent don’t lie. There are some bands that don;t sell a lot of records but they draw a ton of people, but for the most part numbers are numbers and it gauges how you do to an extent.

Oli: It looks good on paper too

Mike: Yeah, it always looks good on paper, even if you;re not drawing a lot of people, the venue might see the numbers and say, “Oh, you’re selling this much, we’ll give you this much money.

Oli: We don’t see money from cd sales for a long time, but it’s always better to sell a lot of albums. We don’t write the records with the though in mind that we’re going to sell a million records, we just right the songs the way we think they should be.

Mike: It’s all like a resume thing.

MM: What about label support? Do cd sales key in to a lot of label support meaning, like the bus is a big expense. Does the label help out fund that kind of stuff.

Oli: The label does but you have to pay it back. They might say, we’re going to give you $40,000 to pay for your bus, but that money will come out of your record sales. You’re way better off being able to just pay for it yourself as a band and not take money from labels because they’ll just take it back. It’s an advance and you always have to pay it back.

MM: I just wanted to better understand that. Do cd sales directly effect label support going in to the future?

Mike: Sometimes with festivals you have to take some money for tour support because you get so little money from festivals.

Oli: You take as little as you possibly need because…

Mike: You don’t want to dig yourself a hole.

MM: How many bottles of Jim Beam do you guys usually go through on a tour

Mike: Jim beam…hmm.. that’s been really slacking off on this tour a lot. Jeanne and Phil  are the main ones and they have barely drank at all on this tour. Phil quit smoking this tour so his Red Bull and whiskey intake has really slacked off cause the two kind of go hand in hand. For a little while there it was getting pretty impressive.

MM: You gu8ys still big in to Guitar Hero on the bus?

Oli: We haven’t had it this time around. We’ve been rockin’ the Whitesnake live Still Of the Night DVD. We have NHL Hockey and he (Mike) kicks my ass every time. Sometimes I feel like cross-checking him on stage sometimes.

Mike: He hit me in the face with his guitar yesterday…

Oli: Yeah, that was for the game.

MM: First thought. First thing that comes to mind…

Oli: We both get to do it?

MM: Yeah why not? ok…Sarah Palin?

Mike: Stupid…

Oli: Hot

Mike: I don’t know why everybody says that.

MM: She’s got a cuteness too her but she’s ridiculously stupid

Mike: I saw her on that Katie Couric interview and I was like ‘Oh my god’, I could have answered that question and I’m a moron.

MM: Favorite city to tour?

Mike: New Haven Connecticut. Last night was so out of control you would not believe it.

Oli: Want to know the worst city to tour in? Sioux Falls South Dakota.

MM: Why’s that?

Mike: It just sucked. The turn out sucked and the kids just stood there with their fingers in their asses the whole time.

MM: What’s the worse job you’ve ever had before playing in ATR?

Mike: I’ve only had one other job, it was a family business awesome, so I’ve never really had a shitty job.

Oli: Dishwashing at Dennys. That’s a bad fucking job. I got fired and I was happy.

MM: What kind of music do you generally listen to, Oli?

Oli: I like a lot of progressive power metal. I also like a lot of traditional music like classical and jazz.

MM: It’s seems like a lot of your guitar playing is classically influenced.

Oli: Oh yeah.

MM: How about you mike?

Mike: I like a lot of 80’s hair metal, it’s like my favorite thing ever as a kid. I also listen to an insane amount of bubblegum pop because I really like bad music. I can’t help it, I just like it.

MM: Favorite porn star?

Mike: I’d say right now….I love Gina Lynn.

MM: I have no clue who that is…

Mike: I know them all…I’ve done a severe amount of masturbating…

Oli: I would say Belladonna because she’ll do anything dirty

MM: Well that’s all the questions I have. Thanks for your time and I’ll see you out there.

There may have been some other stuff said but you could hear 36 Crazyfists playing in the background and something were inaudible. I wanted to talk to Oli in my first interview back in March but only had a chance to talk to Phil and Mike Martin for a short time, so this was cool for me and Oli seemed like a really cool buy. They ended that tour last Sunday and will be heading out with In Flames, Gojira and 35 Crazyfists starting on November 6th in Montreal Canada.

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