God Forbid
The U.S. metal bands are back for good and this time they explore genres that they haven't explored ever before. Like for example God Forbid who offer an incredible melodic death/thrash metal album, that can be equally compared to the bands from Gothenburg. Come on step into their world and you will be "Gone Forever"... Lets see what the band told us...

1.FIRST OF ALL CONGRATULATIONS FOR "GONE FOREVER"! IT'S AN INCREDIBLE ALBUM!
  • Thank you very much! We are very proud of it!
2.SO, SINCE THIS IS MY FIRST ACQUAINTANCE WITH THE BAND COULD YOU POINT OUT THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS OF THE BAND'S HISTORY AND INTRODUCE THE CURRENT LINE UP TO THE READERS?
  • The benchmarks for our band would be each of the albums we’ve made. We have a demo, and 3 full length albums out. Each album shows the progression of the band from one album to the next. There are 5 of us. Byron-Vocals, Corey-Drums, Doc-Guitar/Vox John-Bass, and me, Dallas-Guitar/Vox
3.WHERE WAS THE ALBUM RECORDED? WHO WAS THE PRODUCER? DID IT TAKE YOU A LONG TIME TO COMPOSE AND RECORD THE SONGS? ARE YOU SATISFIED BY THE FINAL RESULT? IF YOU COULD CHANGE SOMETHING NOW, WHAT WOULD THAT BE?
  • The album was recorded at Trax East in South River, New Jersey. Eric Rachel (Nora, Every Time I Die) produced the record along with my brother, Doc, and myself. The record took about a year and a half to write and record. I’m very happy with the final project and I wouldn’t change much of anything. We will most likely use the same combo for the next record as well.
4.YOUR MUSIC IS A GATHERING OF DIFFERENT TASTES AND MUSICAL GENRES. I MEAN, YOUR SOUND MAINLY IS MELODIC DEATH/THRASH METAL WITH HARDCORE AND CLASSIC HEAVY METAL INFLUENCES AND A PROGRESSIVE TINGE FROM TIME TO TIME. HOW DIFFICULT IS IT FOR YOU TO ACHIEVE THIS? WHAT KIND OF PROCEDURE DO YOU FOLLOW WHILST COMPOSING? DO ALL THE MEMBERS CONTRIBUTE IN THE WRITING PROCESS OR NOT?
  • In the past, every member contributed but for the newest record “Gone Forever”, my brother and I had a strict focus of what we wanted the record to be. We don’t really follow any procedures because we have all of the elements ingrained in our writing style. We wanted to make a record like Pantera, Metallica, Megadeth, and we got as close as we possibly could. 
5.WHICH ARE THE MAIN SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN "GONE FOREVER" AND "DETERMINATION"? IN WHICH FIELDS DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE EVOLVED?
  • I think the main strengths of God Forbid were rooted out and abused for our new record. Determination was a record where we just tried to show the talents of the band with out thinking about writing a great song. Our song writing and melodic side of God Forbid has evolved the most.
6.WHY DID IT TAKE YOU 3 YEARS TO RELEASE A NEW ALBUM? DIDN'T YOU HAVE A PRESSURE FROM YOUR LABEL FOR AN EARLIER RELEASE? YOU HAVE BEEN TOURING FOR ABOUT 2 YEARS IN THE U.S. MAINLY. DID YOU COMPOSE ANY SONGS DURING THIS PERIOD?
  • It took a long time because good records take a long time to make. The touring also effected the time too. We wanted to disappear for a while so we could reinvent ourselves again. All of these things contributed to the gap between records. Century Media has always been awesome with us and giving us all the freedom with our records.
7.COULD YOU TELL US IN A FEW WORDS THE MAIN SUBJECTS THIS ALBUM DEALS WITH? WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO WRITE LYRICS? HOW IMPORTANT ARE LYRICS FOR GOD FORBID?
  • We try to deal with real issues that everyone has to deal with in the world. Love, hate, politics, despair, etc etc. I think that the music is #1 for us, but the lyrics ultimately make a record memorable. I think the combination of the music and lyrics have to be very powerful and both are invaluable to making a good song.
8.WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SUGGEST WITH YOUR MONIKER, GOD FORBID? THAT GOD IS FORBIDDEN OR THAT GOD FORBIDS SOME THINGS TO HUMANS? DOES IT HAVE PERHAPS A DOUBLE MEANING? WHICH IS YOUR INTERPRETATION?
  • There is really no meaning to our name. I like it because it makes people think. It’s really a universal term. None of us in the band are religious so we just think the name is catchy and powerful. It definitely fits a metal band.
9.TELL US A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE ARTWORK. WHOSE IDEA WAS IT AND WHY DID YOU USER SUCH A FAMOUS DESIGNER AS TRAVIS SMITH? HOW HELPFUL DO YOU THINK IS FOR A BAND A GOOD ARTWORK? 
  • My brother and I had an idea of what we wanted and Travis elaborated on that idea with the images that are now on the record. We wanted it to be epic and desolate. Travis nailed it. The artwork is major in making a record. It offers another road for a “message” or “state of mind” for the band. Travis Smith is a genius and we’ve always wanted to work with him. His work speaks for itself. 
10. WHICH ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE? DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR TOURING? WITH WHICH BANDS WILL YOU GO ON TOUR? WHAT SHOULD THE FANS EXPECT FROM A GOD FORBID LIVE SHOW?
  • We have a lot of touring ahead. We’re booked until the beginning of September. We have A Machine Head/Arch Enemy tour, Ozzfest, Slipknot tour and some headlining shows. We’re still trying to get to Europe because we’ve never played there before. I know when we come over to Greece you guys will be blown away because we are always better live. We don’t give you any time to breathe
11.IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD IT BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
  • I think our music is a range of emotions. You can feel despair, happiness, or hope. We’re not limiting ourselves to one thing because it becomes uninspired and boring. If we were a painting we’d be a cloudy sky of dark colors (reds, greys) with shades of light shining through. The sun and the moon would be visible but the clouds would always move.
12.WHICH IS, ACCORDING TO YOU, THE BEST AND WHICH THE WORST PART IN YOUR MUSIC? WHICH IS YOUR TRADEMARK?
  • I would say our trademark would be guitar harmonies. The worst part about our music was its uncontrolled chaos. Fortunately, I think we’ve deleted the worst parts of our music on our newest record. 
13.WHICH WORDS DO YOU THINK COULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR NEW ALBUM AND YOUR MUSIC IN GENERAL?
  • Powerful, melodic, dynamic, aggressive.
14.WHICH FAMOUS PERSON (DEAD OR ALIVE) WOULD YOU LIKE TO MEET AND WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO ASK HIM?
  • John Lennon. “What was it like changing the face of rock n roll?”
15.WHICH IS THE WEIRDEST/FUNNIEST QUESTION SOMEONE'S EVER ASKED YOU?
  • If the “brothers” call us sell outs because we play metal.
16.THANK YOU! HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK YOU ANYTHING AND YOU'D LIKE TO MENTION? LEAVE A MESSAGE...
  • I like to thank you for the interview. It’s amazing that you’d take the time to learn a couple of things about God Forbid. We will be in Greece and we will kick your ass!! Shout outs to ESP, Peavey and Jagermeister for all of their support!! If you like metallica, megadeth, or pantera, you’ll love Gone Forever!!
Christine  Parastatidou
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