REVOLTING interview!

Here's a brand new interview with Rogga from REVOLTING! The band will be releasing their 2nd CD later this year on Razorback, titled "The Terror Threshold"! Hear what Rogga has to say about the band and the upcoming material...



1. hey Rogga, tell us about the upcoming 2nd CD from REVOLTING, "The Terror Threshold". What's different about this album from the debut CD?
Rogga: The sound is different as its from another mix session but besides that its pretty much more of the same rotten yet catchy death metal as on the debut. There's some more melody on this new stuff though, which fits very well into the Revolting sound.

2. Tell us about the unreleased MCD, "Bonesaw Leftovers". When was this material recorded and what do you like about the songs?
Rogga: These songs were recorded between the debut and the coming album, and is in the same style of corpse. Some of my fave Revolting songs are among these tracks actually, so I hope this minicd will be released in a not too distant future.

3. What would you say the differences between REVOLTING are with your other band RIBSPREADER? Obviously the art/concept is different, but musically would you say they're kinda similar or is there something that helps set them apart?
Rogga: Ribspreader is also the spawn of Andreas so we compliment each other when doing songs in that band. Revolting is just me writing the stuff, so it comes out a bit different. In Revolting there's more ugly riffing going on and blast beats as well which was something we never used in Ribspreader. However I can understand people who don't pick up on the difference between the bands haha.

4. REVOLTING has a killer, very eye-catching band logo done by Jeff Zornow. Are you happy with the way that came out? He's now provided the art for the 2nd CD as well. Are you happy with it?
Rogga: The logo is just killer, its totally old school and gory in that cool way. The artwork for the coming album is beyond cool too, there's so much detail to it and the overall concept is so cool. The man is a genius but I think most people know that already.

5. You've done a lot of REVOLTING material in a short amount of time. What inspires you to write material? Does it come natural to you at this point?
Rogga: Actually all the material for Revolting, the debut as well as the minicd and the upcoming album, was recorded within just a month or so. I had some inspiration and it turned out really cool if I might say it myself. Music like Revolting is the stuff that sure does come to me naturally, it's what I was born to write and play I guess. I couldn't write a pop song or a technical death metal song even if I spent weeks trying. I'm retarded that way. I'm retarded in many ways actually.

6. Do you have any unreleased REVOLTING songs besides the MCD? I know you were working on some new songs like "The Hatched" and "Diabolical Metamorphosis"?
Rogga: I sure have some pieces here and there, might even have a few finished songs too haha. Haven't felt the need to finish something big yet though as there's already so much material done. But when time comes I guess it´ll be a double album that needs to be released...

7. There's a photo on the REVOLTING myspace page with Martin from ASPHYX wearing a REVOLTING t-shirt! Who made these and where can a fan get them?
Rogga: Bob from Asphyx made them for the guys in the band actually, and he sent me one too. I was really blown away when he told me all the guys in the band were Revolting fans, stuff like that is crazy to hear for someone who has been one of their fans for so many years. Its very cool indeed, and very cool of Mr Van Drunen to sport it onstage as well.

8. What would you like to do for a possible 3rd REVOLTING album?
Rogga: As mentioned above, I'd really like to make a double album, a conceptual one with some really twisted horror theme. I think it should also be building up gradually with slower more ominous tracks in the first part and then steadily go towards the more usual Revolting sound and then finish with the faster more melodic songs. That would be a cool journey for the listener. Some cool guest vocals should be added too, especially if the concept of the album is built around a bunch of central characters.

9. Are there any bands out there you'd like to do some possible split EP's with?
Rogga: There are many of them haha, I'd especially like to do a split with Cianide someday. That band is awesome, however as they're legends and I'm not. I doubt there would be any interest in that haha.

10. Thanks for the interview Rogga! Any last words about REVOLTING?
Rogga: Of corpse, be aware of the Revolter!

http://www.myspace.com/revoltingdeath

FESTERED interview!

HOG-WILD HOWLS blog is back! blah blah...I'm not gonna ramble on about it. Let's just get to some cool updates and news! First off....here's a new interview I did with Ghoat from the band FESTERED, who have a full-length CD coming out soon on Razorback! If you like old-style Death Metal with catchy songs you can headbang to, then you'll totally love this stuff! This band will really surprise a lot of people.



Interview with Ghoat from FESTERED!

1. Hey tell us about how FESTERED came together.
It was basically Elektrokutioner (Drums) approaching me saying he wanted to do yet something else from the other 3492749 side projects we both have. The intention with this one however was to make it an actual band, and he flew Reaper (Guitar, bass) down from Massachusetts, and they wrote and recorded the album in about 3-4 days. E. and I talk pretty fucking often, and he knew I was right for this, so it just unearthed itself.

2. You've been playing in the band FATHER BEFOULED for some time now. What made you want to get another band going? What are the differences between the bands?
These two bands are night and day, haha. FB is solely and firmly rooted in sounding like a dreary, oppressive death metal band from New Jersey, circa 1992. Our pretty much only influence is Incantation, haha. With Festered we wanted to do something a little thrashier, and more retarded directed, like Autopsy. Both Elektrokutioner and I are known for being in extremely heavy death metal bands (Father Befouled and Decrepitaph), and we wanted to show the fans/listeners that there are many sides to DM, and not just being fucking brutal.

3. There seems to be a very subtle horror influence to FESTERED...is this to keep the fans guessing what the songs are about? I'm sure not many people will be able to tell what they are!
I hope it is more than just subtle! I am a horror fiend, and I have never had the chance to convey my love of the form in music. Death metal definitely has a horror-feel, but I wanted Festered to be a direct homage to certain horror films, but do it differently than the 8747234 other bands that have done the same thing. Whereas each song on ‘Flesh Perversion’ has a direct theme from a particular movie, I did very abstractly. Too many bands make it so obvious that they are singing about Friday the 13th or whatever, and I wanted it to be obscure and enigmatic, so only the real fiends can figure it out. Even with the samples I tried to be vague, even though a couple of them are obvious.

4. The FESTERED album has a very old, 80's kinda feel to it, but done the American way and not the European way. Was this deliberate or did it just turn out that way? Were you guys trying to make it sound different from what the other older-style bands are doing today?
Well, we certainly did not want it to sound new and polished, but I try to stay away from the “this is old school, everything else sucks” mentality. We just fucking recorded it, haha. We wanted it to sound like the bands that influenced it, the way they sounded then, because that it what we listen to. Why bother with sounding like bands these days, when it sounded so fucking good back then? Anyone that says Mental Funeral needs a 2010 production can eat a dead dick.

5. The album sounds like if DEATH's "Scream Bloody Gore" was recorded in 2009, but yet, doesn't sound like anything modern FROM this year. How did you guys pull this off?
Haha, like I said above, we just recorded it… the sound is more from a real lack of knowing what the fuck we are actually doing in the studio than anything, haha.

6. You've been a long time horror fan for many years. Tell us about what kinds of horror stuff you love to collect. Posters, movies, old videos, etc.
I go hardcore-into collecting and watching horror films about 15 years ago, in high school. I was terrified of the shit when I was a kid, and then when I was like 14 or so, it just all clicked with me. I have a collector personality anyway, so watching them immediately became buying them. Mainly I collected/collect VHS tapes and posters. I have over 400 VHS tapes and probably 30 mostly original one sheet posters. For awhile I collected anything related to movies that I came across; daybills, promo shit, figures, toys, etc… but then I realized it was all mostly just a bunch of junk, haha.

Also, I got to where I would go to old video stores and buy like 10-20 tapes at a time, and never have the time to sit down and watch them all. So now, in lieu of collecting so much, I try to watch them on a more regular basis. Tapes are also becoming harder and harder to come by, and I never actively seek them anymore, so I only buy shit when I accidentally come across them. And I just honestly ran out of room for posters, so I quit buying them a few years ago too. Again, I will only buy choice shit if it falls in my lap.

7. Why does the poster art for THE MUTILATOR rule so much???
HAH – that whole movie rules. It is just dumb, senseless 80s slash filth. One of the best taglines ever! The “Fall Break” (the original title) theme song is such fucking awful garbage!

8. What are some other plans you have for FESTERED once the album is out. Does the band plan to do any kinds of splits in the future or other bonus/EP type of material?
Tentatively we want to do a 7” sometime next year on my label, Archasm Releasing. Right now it would be sitting behind several other releases, so it would be awhile before it happens. Then maybe a 2nd full length this time next year.

9. Were you excited to have artwork that Drew Elliott did, who drew tons of great 80's thrash/death stuff? The album art is so perfect for this band!
That art just completely fell in our lap, and it RULES. I believe it was for another RR band who did not use it, so we got the sloppy seconds. IT rules though, because we absolutely could NOT decide on art for this release. We had several options; one being some badass shit Rafal from Poland drew, which we loved, but just could not make work as the cover, and I wanted to poach some Chas Balun shit from an old issue of Gore Shriek, which is obviously illegal, haha! Then Billy from Razorback ran the idea of using this by us, and we were all just like “YES! THAT’S IT!!!” I actually had the honor of coloring it, so I was stoked on that!

10. Tell us about your label Archasm Records and some of the stuff you've released and plan to up ahead. Any possible FESTERED releases?
Archasm was started by me mainly to release the Father Befouled/Decrepitaph split that no one would fucking touch! Funny too, cause the shit sold out in like 3 weeks. Their loss, haha!

I always wanted to do a label, because, in addition to making music, I like to support music, and being an extremely creative person, I am always having to be doing something. Whether it be writing music, doing design (I am a graphic designer by trade… barely. NEED JOBS), or working with other bands, I have to have something in front of me.

Right now, our second release is about to come out; a CD by the Belgian bestial black/death band, Vociferian. Then a 7” by Encoffination – yet another Ghoat/Elektrokutioner collaboration. Haha, I am starting to feel like a rapper doing guest spots, fuck! Encoff is very morbid and occult sounding death metal. We wrote the songs together in Texas while FB was on tour and we were staying with E. at his place. He and I work well together, that is why we do so many side-bands. AR is also a platform for me to release shit by bands/projects I am in. I would rather have complete control of something, from inception to release, rather than fool with trying to sell it to another label to put out.

11. Thanks for the interview and feel free to plug the upcoming album (like we weren't going to do that already, haha)!
I really think the heads will dig this one. IT is filthy deathrash that any old ‘banger can fucking slay to!!!

FESTERED official page

HOODED MENACE CD out now!

HOODED MENACE "Fulfill the Curse" CD out now on Razorback Recordings!



Who are these unholy savages who hunt out their victims by sound alone? They are HOODED MENACE, arisen from their tombs to unleash Hell on Earth! The debut album is a 9 song masterpiece of deadly DEATH/DOOM METAL with tales of virgin sacrifice, slathering beasts baying at a full moon, and the relentless blood-search of the walking Blind Dead. Features Lasse Pyykko from the cult early 90's Finnish death metal band Phlegethon! This is one of the most heavy and amazing debut albums on Razorback ever...get it now before HOODED MENACE tears you to pieces as they ride across a DOOM filled landscape of terror!
Price: $10 US/$12 World
www.razorbackrecords.com





CRYPTICUS "They Called Me Mad" CD out now on Razorback Recordings!
The moonlight shines into the secret shafts & awakens The CRYPTICUS once more!
After 3 years sequestered in the unholy secrecy of the Filth Chamber,
Patrick Bruss has unearthed the dreaded sequel to his first album...
A supernatural symphony of sickness, madness & obsession whose title must serve as a warning to all mankind: "THEY CALLED ME MAD"!
12 new tales of terror designed to offend the religious & delight the insane!
Banned by the P.M.R.C. & protested by Colorado Mental Health officials,
only RAZORBACK RECORDINGS has been brave enough to temp the Horrors From Beyond
by unleashing this degenerate masterpiece upon an unsuspecting public!
You have been warned! Imagine Edgar Allan Poe and HP Lovecraft locked up in a haunted house while jamming early-DISMEMBER, DEMIGOD, ABHORRENCE(Fin), DEMILICH, GRAVE, etc.!
Get your copy of this morbid monstrosity now!
Price: $10 US/$12 World
www.razorbackrecords.com






also available on Razorback Recordings

LORD GORE "Resickened" CD
IMPETIGO "Horror of the Zombies" CD
CIANIDE "Death, Doom And Destruction" CD
GRUESOME STUFF RELISH "Horror Rises From The Tomb" CD
BIRDFLESH "Alive Autopsy/Trip to the Grave" CD
F.K.U. "Metal Moshing Mad" CD
COFFINS "Mortuary In Darkness" CD
IMPETIGO "Ultimo Mondo Cannibale" CD
FONDLECORPSE "Blood And Popcorn" mini-CD
BLOOD FREAK "Multiplex Massacre" CD
BLOOD FREAK "Live Fast, Die Young, and Leave a Flesh-Eating Corpse!" CD
BLOOD FREAK "Sleaze Merchants" CD
LORD GORE "The Autophagous Orgy" CD
FRIGHTMARE "Midnight Murder Mania" CD
WTN "Rotting In Pestilence" CD
ANIMA MORTE "Face the Sea of Darkness" CD (horror soundtrack music in the vein of Goblin and Italian horror/zombie movies! like the soundtrack to a Fulci/Argento film!)

all CD's are $10 US/$12 World each
http://www.razorbackrecords.com

Razorback Recordings
PO Box 321
Farmingville, NY 11738
USA

TOMBSTONES have risen!

From the ashes of Beware, comes TOMBSTONES!

The new band feauturing Stevo from Impetigo, Patrick from Crypticus, and Wayne from Decrepitaph!

Debut CD out early 2009 on Razorback Records!

Take a listen to a rough mix advance song from the album!

http://www.myspace.com/tombstonesdeath

HOODED MENACE interview!

The debut CD from HOODED MENACE will be out this Fall on Razorback Records! I spent some time asking lead hooded-freak Lasse some questions about the band and upcoming album! Check it out! And also go to the Razorback Records myspace page to hear an exclusive new track from the album.


1.Hey Lasse, tell us a little bit about how HOODED MENACE came together. What was your inspiration to start this band?

Lasse: It all started in June of 2007 when I was jamming Candlemass songs with my two friends. Instead of melodic singing I just growled the lyrics in death metal vocal style. We really enjoyed playing that style and liked how it all sounded and thought that maybe we should write our own material that was a combination of doom and death metal. Also we couldn..t think of too many awesome doom/death bands that were around at the time but just lame keyboard "doom" bands and boring funeral doom crap so we decided to give it a try.

2.HOODED MENACE takes influence from the Blind Dead films, but also other stuff as well. Why do you think the Blind Dead imagery fits so well with Doom Metal? Also, what is your favorite of the 4 Blind Dead films?

Lasse: The overall creepy atmosphere of the films and the slow pacing of the Blind Dead just fits so perfectly to this type of music. All that foreboding mood... It's a match made in heaven or hell.

Choosing the best of them is so hard that I'd rather not do that but if someone forced me to I guess right now I would choose "The Ghost Galleon" because I haven't watched it for a while. Next week it could be "Night of the Seagulls". So the favourite keeps changing. I just choose them all!

3.I know yo'u're a big fan of CANDLEMASS. Tell us which your favorites are by them! Also, do you think the melodies in the band help keep HOODED MENACE separate from some of the other bands playing doom metal today?

Lasse: I'm a fan of the old stuff up to "Tales of Creation" which I think is the last great Candlemass album. "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus" is easily my favourite right next to "Nightfall". I know they (Leif Edling) improved from the debut album to "Nightfall" a bit songwriting-wise but at the same time the band lost a bit of that murky atmosphere that made "Epicus..." so special. Of course the singer is also different and I have to say I..m more a fan of Johan Langquist than Messiah Marcolin though both are awesome vocalists. I just think that Langquist had more feeling in his vocals and he just had that perfect tone for Candlemass.

Yeah, I guess the melodies we have must make us a bit different from the other bands out there nowadays. I hope so. We are not about pure monotonic crushing doom or gay keyboard sweet melody "doom". We are more like an evil ugly and chunky little brother of Candlemass or Cathedral. A brother that didn't want to sing but just grunt.

4. What are some other doom metal bands you enjoy? Do you think there's too many of them and not enough to make any stand out from each other? What do you think helps keep HOODED MENACE interesting and not "just another doom band"?

Lasse: Aside from old Cathedral and Candlemass I enjoy doom bands like Electric Wizard, Trouble, Saint Vitus, Reverend Bizarre,Isole to name a few. The rough doomy stuff like Winter and Coffins is also cool. I don't follow the scene too much and I listen to only a handful of bands compared to some doom freaks out there. I can stick with my old faves and get inspired by them again and again.

I don't know if there are too many doom bands as I don't follow the scene that much. I guess there are too many bands in every category today and as far as I know in every category vast majority of the stuff is boring. Probably it's just the same thing with doom bands.

I think Hooded Menace is interesting and stands out because we have good, catchy songs tho they are very crushing and doomy still. We are not slow just for the sake of slowness. We do not play one note for like 4 minutes to make our song more "epic". We try to avoid of being boring. Good songwriting is the fond of it all. To make a slow, creepy, crushing, long but still interesting and great song is a challenge in writing doom/death metal. Also not many bands don..t seem to play stuff like we are.

5.Your first release just came out, "The Eyeless Horde" 7" EP. Tell us about this release and how it came out on Doomentia Records! The quality and packaging is amazing! Will you be doing the LP version of your album with them also?

Lasse: Thanks! I agree it really came out great! Doomentia did amazing job as well as Eric "Rot" Engelmann created totally brilliant artwork for it. We will work with Doomentia again for the vinyl release of our full lenght. I bet that will be such an awesome package too!

6.Tell us about the upcoming debut album on Razorback Records. Name some of the songs, and tell us what they're like compared to the demo/EP songs you did. Are you happy with the production and sound for this album?

Lasse: The album is entiled "Fulfill the Curse" and it contains 9 songs. We are very happy with the result. It sounds and looks great. Putrid did a stunning job with the artwork. It..s all black&white and just grim! Also the layout by who else but Sly from Fondlecorpse rules! The production is crushingly heavy and big. Still totally DIY without any of that expensive pro studio shit.

Music is still very much in the same way as on the demo/EP. However there is a track like "The Love Song for Gotho, Hunchback of the Morgue" which is a bit faster than our usual stuff. Of course "fast" only in terms of Hooded Menace. I would also bring up a song called "Grasp of the Beastwoman" with its pretty melodic Candlemass and horror soundtrackish Fabio Frizzi influenced parts. That..s also a new flavor and hey, we have also covered Fabio Frizzi..s "Theme from Manhattan Baby" for the album!

7. What are some goals for the band? Do you want to play live or just focus on recordings? Do you want to get more EP's out and more vinyl releases? Any bands you'd like to do splits with?

Lasse: We have no plans to play live. It doesn't feel tempting at all. We just wanna document our music. Playing live, doing a show is not really what we are all about. We rather use that time and energy in creating new music. We don't have plans after the full length is out other than planning the follow up album but sure a split or 7"EP could be cool. I really don..t know with whom we would love to make a split. We haven't thought about that at all yet. Maybe they should reform Eternal Darkness for the split release... or are they already resurrected?!?! I know shit! Anatomia could be also a cool partner for a split.

8.When it comes time to do a 2nd CD, what would you like to try to do with it? Any changes? Is it a challenge to write such epic sounding songs?

Lasse: It will be a challenge to write songs but it..s also something I..m really looking forward to. We have a few riffs in store and they all sound like "Fulfill the Curse" material so for now I don't except any big changes. I only wish that we could record as solid entirety for the follow up. We wanna stay as creepy and crushing as always.

9.Tell us about any doom bands from Finland that you enjoy. What has the response been towards the band over there?

Lasse: Puritan (if you can call them doom) and also Fall of the Idols sounds nice. Again, as I don..t follow the scene that much I possibly miss some decent stuff. So, I'm far from an expert to answer to this.

The response towards Hooded Menace has been pretty good in Finland also. Sweet reviews and nice response.

10.The glory days of the old Finnish death metal scene are long gone, but it seems like you're helping to keep it alive with HOODED MENACE, as well as your other band VACANT COFFIN (interview with that band in the future). Do you miss the old days in the early 90's? Who were some old bands you were good friends with in those days?

Lasse: I miss the freshness of ideas and since I'm very nostalgic person I miss the those times just like I miss the 80..s too. Anyway, I'm very comfortable with the present and what I ..m doing musically today. These days rule! To me it's almost like the late 80s, early 90s are back since I spend over a decade doing basically nothing sensible and serious musically.

I don't know if we were very "good friends" with anyone but I recall we felt that we had something in common and some kinda friendship with bands like Disgrace, Xysma, Sentenced, Demigod... We weren..t the most social guys really.

11.If you have any last words please tell us! Good luck with the debut CD and keep crushing with the mighty HOODED MENACE!

Lasse: Thanks for this nice interview, Billy! I'm pretty bad at last words so I'm just gonna say look out for the upcoming Hooded Menace album! If you liked the demo /EP you won..t be disappointed! Cheers!
http://www.myspace.com/hoodedmenace

VACANT COFFIN cover artwork!

VACANT COFFIN "Sewer Skullpture" CD coming later this year!
artwork by Wes Andersen!

CRYPTICUS interview!

The new CRYPTICUS album, "They Called Me Mad", will be out soon on Razorback Records. Here's an interview with mastermind, Patrick Bruss, that lets you know all about it!



1. Patrick, tell us a bit about the upcoming new CRYPTICUS album, "THEY CALLED ME MAD". It this a concept album? What are some themes you're taking on with it this time around? Anymore Lovecraft inspired stuff?

Patrick: Hey Billy, here we are 3 years later doing another interview!
I initially didn't intend it as a concept album, but as I was writing the lyrics they all ended up concerning weird obsessive madmen & secret cults planning elaborate & supernatural revenge upon the world for its lack of imagination.
I'm not expecting any radio play, to say the least!
As always, I snuck in many Lovecraftian elements, but "THE SHUNNED HOUSE"
& "ASTROPHOBOS" are the only real literary adaptations this time.

2. Why did it take over 3 years for the album to be completed?
Did you become METALLICA or something? haha, just kidding.
What were some of the hardest parts of doing the album and some of the challenges and goals you had for it.

Patrick: Hey, we still have 2 months to go before it's officially 3 years!!
Also, I'm pretty sure this sounds MUCH better than "ST. ANGER"!
(or "ST. ANKY" as I like to call it.)
I basically kept changing things & re-recording stuff until I felt
that there were no boring, or redundant parts & that it was all evil!
Then I got really obsessive & began to micro analyze every detail,
trying to capture my weirdest thoughts & translate them into Death Metal riffs.
After about a year I had so many strange elements lying around
that it became a titanic task just to assemble everything
into something someone else might possibly enjoy listening to!
Luckily my friends Justin, Andon & Carl came on board & helped give me some perspective as well as lending their talents.
Initially I just wanted to make some more evil Horror Metal,
but things got WAAAY out of hand & it turned into a Frankenstein monster with a life of its own! In the end it all came together as a good sequel to the low budget original. If the first album was "THE EVIL DEAD", this would be "EVIL DEAD II"!

3. One of the things that's different on the new album are the use of real drum sounds, instead of the drum machine from the debut.
How do you feel having real drums over the drum machine this time around?
Who performed the drums, by the way?

Patrick: That was one of the big challenges in the beginning.
I'm so used to doing everything myself that it felt very strange
involving other more talented folks!
It was a true collaboration - My friend Carl Kumpe (of the late PAINSTAKE)
played the drums, but they were mainly composed by myself & my buddies
Justin Lascelle & Andon Guenther who are in ENEMY REIGN.
Putting the 2 albums side-by-side there's no comparison:
The live drums have a much nastier, more rotted sound to them & alot more character!

4. The new album once again features artwork from Allen K.
What is it about his art that you enjoy so much and that makes you want to work with him? A few people have said the new album art reminds them of the DECEASED "SUPERNATURAL ADDICTION" art, which is not shocking since it's the same artist. But the art on the new CRYPTICUS album was drawn YEARS before the DECEASED one, right?

Patrick: As far as I know, yes.
Either way though, Allen K. is a master of the macabre
& I'm a HUGE fan of that DECEASED album as well!
Both DECEASED & Allen K. have been a huge influence on CRYPTICUS,
so it's no coincidence.



5. You told me you felt the new album is more "cinematic" than the debut.
Tell us what you meant by that.

Patrick: I set out to create an album meant just for headphones.
Every song leads right into the next one & there's a lot more weird,
progressive riffs & atmospheres than before.
Strange interludes, snippets of macabre dialogue & more creepy keyboard parts!
The title track alone has almost as many riffs as the whole first album.
Instrumentally it's much crazier than before, but it's all meant to create a circus of horrors in the mind of the listener.

6. CRYPTICUS seems to be a band that is a pure "album only" band.
Everything has been crafted perfectly to be a true album listening experience.
Are you content with this, or do you ever see yourself playing live in the future?
What makes you prefer recording albums over doing the whole live thing?

Patrick: I've been on tour with other bands & never really enjoyed it.
Too goddamn hectic!
I'm much more of a studio musician -
I like having the time to experiment & change things.
Just like my hero Dan Swano I sweat all the tiny details,
but thankfully I don't have all that damn talent of his to weigh me down!
I'd like to play a couple of special shows someday,
but that would be purely for fun, not for commerce.

7. Musically, the new album is more varied and a bit more "insane" sounding,
but still keeping that catchy early 90's Swedish death metal influence strong.
What were some things that helped to influence and inspire you for the new album.

Patrick: Oh boy - this will probably freak-out alot of the Razorfiends,
but besides my steady diet of NECRONY, DISMEMBER & INFESTDEAD,
the new album was hugely influenced by SIGH, GOBLIN & early RUSH!!
I've combined the weird, proggy aspects of '70s & '80s
Horror movie soundtracks with the Scandinavian Death Metal elements.

8. Your vocals seem to be even deeper and more "inhuman" than on the debut album,
though I remember you told me that doing the vocals were the most difficult part of the album. Tell us about the vocal recording process and what you like and dislike about it. And how the hell do you get your voice to sound like a demon lurking deep within the grounds of hell?

Patrick: Unlike Rogga Johansen, I haven't been blessed with the voice of Hell
so it's pretty tough for me to do this crazy stuff!
I refuse to go the Goregrind route & just pitch-shift everything,
so my throat gets pretty messed up by the end.
This time I discovered that eating hot peppers between verses helps to preserve the gross growls. A better microphone helped too!

9. It doesn't seem like CRYPTICUS fits into any one "scene" or genre, despite being total death metal. It seems like the people who enjoy the band are people who really enjoy quality death metal and aren't looking for the next trend or fad,
and just enjoy the band for what it is. How do you feel about that?
Are you happy being a cult band or do you have any bigger goals for the band?

Patrick: Well Billy, as you know I've been turning down offers to play OZZFEST for years now. They just refuse to fulfill the pipe tobacco & New Belgium Beer clause in my rider! Seriously though, I'm just really happy that there are morbid individuals out there who share my love for the macabre & hatred of sunlight!
All my goals concerning the CRYPTICULT involve horrific plans best not described here - just read the lyrics to "MOAT OF BLOOD" & you'll understand!!

10. I remember a few years ago you were planning to do a split CD with RIBSPREADER. Whatever happened with that release plan?
What are some bands you'd like to do splits with if you could? Do you plan to do any EP's with CRYPTICUS ever?

Patrick: I will if you put them out ya bastid!
I'd love to do anything with Rogga, him being another hero of mine.
I think he's probably too busy these days though.
My dream splits would be with DEMIURG, CLAWS, MACHETAZO or VACANT COFFIN. I'd really like to do some 7" releases in the future, so anyone interested
in releasing some cursed vinyl needs to get in contact!

11.You're currently recording for the debut BEWARE! album.
Tell us what that's been like so far and how it's all going and what you expect people will think of it. What kinds of musical influences are you bringing to this band?

Patrick: It's coming out great!
Wayne from DECREPITAPH has done all the drums & they sound awesome!
So far it's a mix between DECEASED, "SHOW NO MERCY" era SLAYER & CIANIDE.
A total Deathbanger's ball!
It's all in the spirit of early '80s Death/Speed Metal,
so I'm going to keep it raw & under produced as an antidote to all this triggered, soulless bullshit Metal. I hope all the Razorbastards will love it!

12. Thanks for creating an amazing and memorable new album!
People are really gonna be blown away by this very special and horrific recording.
Any last words?

Patrick: As always, thanks to you & Jill for releasing so many awesome underground gems & for giving my music a chance to be heard outside of my basement! It's great to actually be a part of my favorite label!
Now get to work on finishing that CLAWS album!!!!

CRYPTICUS myspace page
http://www.myspace.com/crypticus