MetalSucks

Photo by Mart Reinson

While winding down their recent European trek with Unearth, Daath and Throwdown, Mark Hunter, vocalist of perennial MetalSucks favorites Chimaira, was cool enough to answer some questions via e-mail. After the jump, get Mark’s thoughts on European audiences versus American audiences, eating at McDonald’s abroad, the joys of Don “The Dragon” Wilson, showers in Germany, and more.

And by the way, there’s a NSFW image in this interview. You were warned.

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I am SO PISSED that I missed Chimaira’s most recent tour (with Hatebreed), because a) Chimaira slay live and b) I’m fucking dying to hear some more material from The Infection in a live setting – when I saw the band on this spring’s Music as a Weapon tour, the album had literally just come out that day and the band were, consequently, only playing two new songs.

So. Rhythm guitarist Matt DeVries had to pull a Mark Morton and leave the tour early so he could get home for the birth of his new child, Austin (Mazel tov, Matt!); filling in for him is Daath co-guitarist/all around cool dude Emil Werstler. I am using this little fact as an excuse to post this video I saw on Blabbermouth of the Wersterful Chimaira performing “The Venom Inside.” Also, to point out that bassist Jim LaMarca seems to have shed his signature locks. That leaves DeVries as the only dude in Chimaira capable of windmilling. Just sayin’.

Chimaira continue to decimate Europe alongside Unearth, Throwdown, and our friends in Daath through October 12; then, at the end of the month, they hit the States again with Trivium, Whitechapel and Dirge Within. Get dates here.

-AR

Chimaira have never made the same exact album twice, so the only thing a listener can assume about a new Chimaira record is this: it’s going to be crushingly heavy. This band makes truly unpleasant, misanthropic Metal with a capital fucking “M.” Fuck, their most famous song is all about how they don’t like you very much.

The Infection is no exception. It sounds at once both distinctly like Chimaira and yet not precisely like anything the band has ever made before. The dichotomy of it, though, is that the vitriol is wrapped the catchiest and, in some ways, most optimistic music the Cleveland sextet has ever created.

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Few bands in modern metal are as exciting as Chimaira. That’s because few bands constantly undergo such a dramatic and undeniable evolutions from album to album – and do so with a bare minimum of line-up changes. From their 2000 self-released debut, This Present Darkness, right up to 2007’s Resurrection, Chimaira have never made the same album twice. Elements of thrash, death, groove, black, and even prog metal and punk abound, and, ultimately, the only thing you ever know for sure about a new Chimaira album is this: it’s gonna be heavy as a motherfucker, and just as catchy.

As the band – which includes guitarists Rob Arnold and Matt DeVries, bassist Jim LaMarca, drummer Andols Herrick, and keyboardist/sampler Chris Spicuzza – anticipates the April 21 release of their sixth album, The Infection, we were lucky enough to snag an exclusive e-mail interview with vocalist Mark Hunter. After the jump, read Mark’s thoughts on the group’s latest offering, the ongoing metamorphosis of their sound, reuniting with longtime producer Ben Schigel, the internet as a marketing tool, the state of his pure hatred, and more.

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While in the studio recording their new album, The Concealers, the members of Daath decided to record a medley of classic death metal songs by Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and Dying Fetus (see behind-the-scenes video above). Charmingly dubbed “Fecal Finger,” the track won’t actually appear on the band’s new album, so they decided to let us pass it on to you… for free!

Daath drummer Kevin Talley explained the genesis of the track to us via e-mail:

“Fecal Finger”… a beautiful name for a beautiful piece of music. One day we jammed some death metal songs and we jokingly said we should play them at a show… so we did. We chose the DYING FETUS song because I wrote and recorded it with them and many people never saw me play it live. Matt DeVries [Chimaira] and I used to jam that MORBID ANGEL riff a couple years ago so we brought that in since it is crushingly brutal. And you can’t jam a jam without Jim Carrey’s favorite death metal band CANNIBAL CORPSE. We recorded this freakin shit because kids these days need to recognize who influenced the newer bands they listen to. After hearing the originals for so many years, it’s weird hearing these songs with a newer style recording. But Sean Z’s vocals are fucking sick and Jonny Davy’s (Job for a Cowboy) guest vocals on the MORBID ANGEL part are amazing. This recording is finally growing on me and it’s actually my favorite thing to listen to right now.

-Kevin Talley

And so, without further adieu…

Daath, “Fecal Finger”

The Concealers will hit stores sometime in early 2009.

-MetalSucks

So as you may have heard by now, Chimaira are allowing fans to watch them live in the studio as they record their new album. The way it works is, you go to their official site and if the “Live Cam” icon in the upper right corner of the screen is red, you can click on it and watch whatever the fuck they’re doing at the moment. Sounds pretty cool, right?

Unfortunately, as I watched drummer Andols Herrick finish up his tracks yesterday afternoon, I remembered something I already knew: being in the studio is not super exciting. In fact, it’s pretty tedious. Herrick played some drums, picked his cuticles, played the same song again, picked his cuticles some more, fucked around with the cymbals a little, spoke (inaudibly) with producer Ben Schigel, played the same song again… and then I woke up an hour later with drool all over my keyboard.

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