Skinless – Foreshadowing Our Demise (2001)

Brutal Death Metal (Albany, NY)

Skinless have recently gotten back together and are doing shows again.  Foreshadowing Our Demise is their classic 2001 Relapse Records debut.

http://skinless.bandcamp.com/album/foreshadowing-our-demise

Interview with Goemagot

Virginia Beach - "Parasitic Incineration" Tour 2012:

Goemagot is:

Cody McConnell - Bass, Vocals 
Daniel Hemmerich - Drums
Matt Murphy – Guitars

 

Goemagot (pronounced go-EHM-uh-got) are a brutal death metal band from Rochester, NY, formed in 2011.  In February 2013, they released their first full-length CD, Eradication of Insignificant Beings, on Sevared Records.  I met up with Cody and Daniel at “A Day of Death 2013” to discuss the successful underground reception of Eradication…, their past spring tour, and to find out what’s coming up for Goemagot in the near future.
 

HA:     I recently moved back to Buffalo, NY after living overseas for a few years
            and was super excited when I heard about you guys, a slamming brutal death
            metal band so close to Buffalo.  At this point, it’s safe to say you guys are
            pretty well known in the underground death metal scene but that didn’t come
            without hard work.  You guys have been actively playing gigs in the north-
            east and throughout the United States since your demo, Parasitic
            Incineration, was released in June last year.

Cody:  Yeah, pretty much.  I’ve been in bands since I was 17 and I’m going to be
            turning 30 in February.  I’ve been trying so hard to just even do anything,
            even tour at all but I’ve never found people to do it with.  This is my shit,
            doing this type of thing.  I’ve just pushed really hard and I just have a knack
            for being able to set up tours.  It just kind of fell into place.  I found Dan and
            I picked up Matt.  Everyone’s brought their own influences to the table.

Daniel: It just took off and kept going.  I didn’t expect us to get as far as we did in  such a short period of time.  It’s very surreal kind of.

HA:     You guys released your first full-length album this year.  It’s a nice blend of
            slamming and technical guttural brutal death metal with lots of cool riffs and
            great moments, making it a unique and original record.  I think it was this
            mix of styles that made Eradication… so well received in the underground
            community.  Also, I think this record leaves the territory open as far as where
            your band is able to go next creatively.

Cody:  Yeah, that’s one thing we’re kind of excited about.  We’ve been kind of
            behind the scenes writing some new stuff.  It’s ridiculous.  It’s hard to play,
            it’s technical.

Daniel: It’s stupid heavy.

Cody:  It’s pretty much everything that we loved about the album we put out but it’s amplified.  It’s way, way better.

Daniel: It’s a little more melodic.  A lot of off timing shit.

Cody:  A lot more technical but the slams are way heavier but they’re unique and they’re not like...

Daniel: ...traditional slams.  There’re some tech elements to them.

Cody:  Our time together has been really short so we’ve been taking time to mold what we want to be.  In that short amount of time we’ve kind of now realized what we want to do.  A lot of the stuff on Eradication of Insignificant Beings is material that we wrote when we first got together.  A lot of it we don’t really dig.  It’s really simplistic.  It doesn’t really hit us like we’re really down with it.  Now, we’re taking so much time with every single riff and every single piece of every song we’re going to put out, just to make sure it’s really original and crafted really well.

Daniel: Yeah, I’m really excited about the stuff we’ve been writing.

HA:     You toured the U.S. this past spring with Animals Killing People.  You guys
            ended up having some shitty luck with your van on the road.  Also, Cody was
            filling in on bass for Animals Killing People for these show dates.  Can you
            guys tell us a bit about the tour?

Cody:  The tour basically was like super long drives that were terrible.  We would
            get like 2-4 hours of sleep a night.

Daniel: Wake up, drive 9-10 hours, get to the venue just before the show started.

Cody:  Some of the shows, the dude didn’t promote the show at all so there would be
            like no one there at all.  We would get paid squat.  We paid out of our
            pockets a lot until we got out to Las Vegas and then everything pretty much
            got a lot better financially.

Daniel: We blew two tires out leaving Colorado.  It was pretty late in the day so the shop with the part that we needed was going to close in like half an hour.

Cody:  Yeah, everything was always last minute.

HA:     What was it like playing with Animals Killing People?

Cody:  It was really tough.  I had to learn all their songs from videos that they sent
            me online so I just sat at the computer and watched them.  We didn’t really
            practice.  I just learned them and then I got on stage and played them.

HA:     Did they even give you tabs or anything?

Cody:  No because I’m more of a visual person so I like to watch someone play and then see what their fingers do and then I learn that way, but I learned it all.  What was really tough, I would have to play for Animals and then I would have to play for Goemagot.  By the end of every night I was just so dead and tired because I would put everything into both sets, back to back.

HA:     I saw you mention something on Facebook a few months back about Daniel
            playing drums for Amputated Genitals.  I’m a huge fan of Amputated
            Genitals and am naturally excited to hear this.  They were signed to Sevared
            Records this year, indicating another album is on the way and they’re also
            planning show dates in the US for 2014.  More recently, they posted photos
            on Facebook of themselves practicing with, who I presume is, a new
            drummer.  Daniel, are you still going to be involved with Amputated Genitals
            for any of this or was it just a discussion with them earlier in the year?

Daniel: When I was at “Maryland Deathfest,” I met Danny Paz (guitarist/bassist from Amputated Genitals).  We were talking and he brought up the whole tour thing.  I guess their drummer can’t get into the country.  Don’t quote me on that.  I added Danny on Facebook and we were talking.  I’m not going to do drumming on the new full-length.  I’m going to be a fill-in drummer for their US tour.

HA:     You’re working on a new promo release for late 2013.  You’ve also stated on
            your Facebook that there will be less slam.  What can we expect to hear on
            the next release?

Daniel: Tech!

Cody:  There will be tech but there will be slam.  There will be lots of slam but it
            will not be just masturbating the first three notes slam.

Daniel: It’ll be slam with sweeps and polyrhythmic.

Cody:  You hear a slam, you’ve heard all slams but we’re trying to change that. 
            We’re trying to make them stand out and sound not the same as other slams
            so we’re taking our time with everything that we do.  We’re being very picky
            with everything.  We have a song now that Matt wrote and it’s severely
            crushing and the slams are ridiculously heavy but it’s very different and
            we’re really excited.

Daniel: Pretty much we’re just pushing our musical abilities to our limits.  I’ve never
             heard or played anything like this and I’m excited but it’s different.

            Goemagot will be performing at “Delaware Death Fest II” next weekend or you can catch them in late October with Wormed, Infernal Revulsion, Condemned, and more in Montclair, New Jersey.  Also, look out for their new promo release in late 2013.

https://www.facebook.com/Goemagot

Nephrectomy – Geriatric Coprophilia (2013)

Brutal Death Metal (Denver, CO)

            I was getting bored with slam this summer but Nephrectomy is just the ticket.  This CD is available at Morbid Generation records.

Interview with Seplophile

Seplophile, Mesonoxian CD release show at The Funeral Home – 2/9/13:

Seplophile is:

Colin Winkelman - Vocals
Greg DiPasquale - Guitars
Matthew Backlas - Guitars
Shawn Gomez - Bass
Allen Malkiewicz - Drums

Seplophile is a death metal band from Buffalo, NY that formed in 2010.  Their first full-length CD, Mesonoxian, was co-released by Butchered Records and Sevared Records in February 2013.

Although Seplophile has been together for only 3 years, some of its members have been active in the underground metal scene for 10-20 years.  They have already played with some of the biggest acts in death metal including Cattle Decapitation, Devourment, Internal Bleeding, and Suffocation.

I recently sat down with Al, Greg, and Matt to discuss Seplophile, their new album, and the underground death metal scene in general.
 

HA:     How many years have you guys been active in the underground scene in Buffalo and what are some other bands you were in?

Al:       Probably close to 20 years.  I was in Three Below and From This Day.

Greg:   About 10 years for me.  I was in Three Below/From This Day, Herod, and Sons of Azrael.

Matt:   I’ve been in Herod, The War We Create, and a bunch of other random punk rock bands.  I’ve been involved in the scene about 10 years, if not more.

HA:     What are some of your main influences for the sound of Seplophile?

Greg:   Older death metal bands.  Cannibal Corpse.  Pretty much any fast death metal
             I liked.

Matt:   My big influence for everything was Entombed.  That’s where I was coming from.  Not that it was going to sound more Swedish, but it was definitely going to sound more like Sunlight Studios, where all the first Swedish death metal records like old Unleashed were recorded.
 

Greg:   Autopsy for doom parts.  We get the Vader comparison a lot.  I like Vader but I never was a crazy Vader fan, but somehow we must be doppelgangers.
 

Matt:   The influences we list on our website are Stockholm, New York, Buffalo, Tampa, and Birmingham.
 

Al:       Probably anything pre-2000.
 

Greg:   Earache records, 1989-1993, Roadrunner Records, 1988-‘95.  Napalm Death, Carcass.
 

HA:     How do you feel about the general reception of your album around here and in the United States, and have you gotten any positive reception from overseas?
 

Greg:   Around Buffalo people seem to dig the record.  We had a really good turnout
            at our CD release show.

Matt:   A lot more people showed up to that show than some of the national act
            shows around here.

Greg:   We had an 8/10 (review) in Decibel Magazine a couple months ago.  We’ve
             been getting contacted from people in different countries: Iran, Singapore. 
             A Korean energy drink company tweeted our Youtube video of “Under
             Shifting Sands.”

HA:     Why?!

Greg:   I don’t know.  We couldn’t read it!

HA:     You guys have played some pretty cool events in the north-east region.  Can
            you give us highlights of some of your favorite events/bands you’ve played
            with?

Matt:   My favorite show so far was "Brutality Reigns II" last year in Rochester
           (hosted by Sevared Records).  The show was amazing.  All the bands were
            incredible.

Greg:   Our first show was with Malevolent Creation.  We got to play with Kam Lee
            in Massacre for a night (an old school death metal band from Florida).  This
            led to us being asked to be a part of the reanimated Baphomet line-up.

HA:     You also have a couple great shows coming up this summer and fall.  Can you talk about those?

Greg:   We have a show in about a week in Pittsburgh with Abysme and Rottrevore. 
             Then we have “Summer Sleaze II” in August with Incantation, Embalmer,
             and Mausoleum, there’s maybe 12 bands, in Johnstown, PA.

HA:     I know you’ve been working on a few new songs lately.  Do you have any
            plans yet for a new recording?

Matt:   We’re either gearing up for a split or some kind of EP.  If someone wants to
            put it out on 7 inch, that’d be cool because vinyl’s always cool, otherwise
            we’ll find someone who wants to put it out on CD for us.
 

https://www.facebook.com/seplophile
 

And be sure to check out Seplophile and a ton of other sick bands this September at “A Day of Death 2013.” See you there!!

https://www.facebook.com/events/491976784201940/?fref=ts

Burnt by the Sun – The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good (2003)

Hardcore/Grindcore (New Brunswick, NJ)

            Burnt by the Sun were very influential in the underground scene when they were active.  The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good was their second full-length.  All of Burnt by the Sun’s releases are available at Relapse Records.

http://burntbythesun.bandcamp.com/album/the-perfect-is-the-enemy-of-the-good

Uphill Battle – Uphill Battle (2002)

Grindcore/Hardcore (Santa Barbara, CA)

            Uphill Battle is the band/album that got me into grindcore.  Their CDs are available at Relapse Records.

http://uphillbattle.bandcamp.com/album/uphill-battle

Candiria – The Process of Self-Development (1999)

Hardcore/Hip-Hop/Jazz

            Candiria are a hardcore band from Brooklyn, New York.  Their fusion of hardcore, hip-hop, and jazz creates a groundbreaking sound that is still unmatched to this day.