Vehemence
Vehemence, as their moniker
indicates, offer us aggressive, fast and furious music, which could be
labeled as melodic death metal. "Helping The World To See" is an amazing
album that every death metaller should have. We got astonished with their
sound and that's why we present them here. Check them out!
1.FIRST OF ALL, POINT OUT THE MOST IMPORTANT
MOMENTS OF THE BAND'S HISTORY TILL NOW AND INTRODUCE YOURSELVES TO THE
READERS.
Vehemence is a melodic death metal band from
Phoenix Arizona, U.S.A. The line up as of now contains Bjorn Dannov on
guitar, John Chavez on guitar, Andy Schroeder on drums, Mark Kozuback on
bass & screams, and Nathan Gearhart as the vocalist. Vehemence has
now toured with many well known metal bands and has gained worldwide recognition
from the releases going on the second Metal Blade released record. We have
done 3 full U.S.A. tours along with other tours with bands such as Incantation,
Impaled, Decapitated, Dead To Fall, Testament, Exhumed, Vio-lence, All
That Remains, Nuclear Assault, Deicide, Behemoth, Amon Amarth, and Revenge.
2.IF I ASKED YOU TO PRESENT THE ALBUM YOURSELVES
TO THE READERS, WHAT WOULD YOU TELL THEM? WHICH WORDS DO YOU THINK CAN
SUM UP IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY YOUR MUSICAL ATTEMPTS?
The production is a step up, our musicianship
has advanced, and the packaging is great. The album was recorded at Open
Primary Productions, and Porcupine Studios in Arizona. The album covers
all the realistic problematic issues the world faces today. The songs of
the album are energetic, faster, dynamic, and rhythmic. The packaging includes
Wes Benscoter artwork and an hour long video containing live & studio
footage of the band from 1997-2003. Vehemence is a melodic death metal
band and to metal extremists it is best to say that, but to those that
may not know this form of music one can call us death metal.
3.GIVE US SOME INFO ABOUT "HELPING THE WORLD TO
SEE"
RECORDING SESSIONS. WHERE WAS IT RECORDED,
HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU, WHO WAS THE PRODUCER? ARE YOU
SATISFIED BY THE FINAL RESULT? IF YOU HAD
THE ABILITY
TO CHANGE SOMETHING, WHAT WOULD THAT BE?
We had the luxury of recording this album
within four months instead of the two weeks we got with God Was Created.
The drum tracks were recorded at Porcupine Studios in Tempe, Arizona. Everything
else was recorded at a home studio with our producer Will Solares at Open
Primary Productions in Maricopa, AZ. We are completely satisfied with the
result and the only thing I can think of that could have been better was
if we recorded in a bigger studio with more options and gear to work with.
4.WHICH ARE THE MAIN SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES
AMONG YOUR RELEASES? WHICH IS YOUR BEST ELEMENT
AND WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU NEED FURTHER IMPROVEMENT?
The Thoughts From Which I Hide was more blood
and guts with anti-religious passages with our basic Vehemence sound which
was less guitar and vocal layered. God Was Created was a fictitious conceptual
horror story with layered guitars and layered vocals which was very melodic.
Helping The World To See is a realistic album and the guitars are more
straightforward death metal and energetic with an advancement of our skills.
We just write music for ourselves and do not compromise to the other popular
forms of metal. With each album we guarantee that we advance ourselves
and we improve our music to what we want to hear, and for those that enjoy
the Vehemence sound we will give it our 110% on our live shows.
5.THE TITLE OF YOUR PREVIOUS ALBUM IS "GOD WAS
CREATED" AND I FIND IT TO BE VERY INTRIGUING
AND
THOUGHT PROVOKING. YOU SAY THAT IT IS CONCEPT
BASED. COULD YOU GIVE US A CLUE REGARDING THIS CONCEPT?
The story has several twisted characters within
it, and the concepts talk about how god was fabricated and blown out of
proportion through out the years. We basically infer that you are your
own savior and you do not have to abide to the rules and regulation of
one religion, to become a strong willed person.
6.YOUR LATEST RELEASE IS ENTITLED "HELPING THE
WORLD
TO SEE". GENERALLY, I'VE NOTICED THAT YOU
USED
IMPOSING TITLES. WHY IS THAT AND WHAT DO YOU
WANT TO SUGGEST WITH THIS SPECIFIC TITLE? WHAT ARE YOU HELPING THE WORLD
TO SEE?
Vehemence are helping the world to see the
realistic problematic issues the world faces today basically. The issues
include songs about the terminally ill and their death process, terrorism,
a one sided Christian extremist television network, drugs, a true crime
story, an ode to all soldiers, depression, family dysfunction, political
issues, and the catholic pedophile church issues.
7.WHERE ARE YOUR LYRICS REFERRING TO? WHAT THINGS
ATTRACT YOUR ATTENTION AND "MAKE" YOU WANT
TO TALK ABOUT? IS "HELPING THE WORLD TO SEE" ALSO BASED ON A CONCEPT STORY?
We decided to talk about most of the issues
the past decade has brought forth that everyone can relate to. This album
is strictly a realistic album not a conceptual album.
8.IT MUST BE A REAL HONOR I SUPPOSE TO CATCH THE
ATTENTION OF BRIAN SLAGEL HIMSELF. HE AND
HIS LABEL
METAL BLADE DISCOVERED AND PROMOTED SOME REALLY
GREAT BANDS THROUGHOUT THE YEARS. DOES THIS FRIGHTEN YOU OR DOES IT MAKE
YOU FEEL MORE ANXIOUS, CAUSE YOU HAVE TO PROVE SOMETHING TO THE WORLD?
Slagel is the coolest label owner I know and
he is more metal than I can ever be unless I try and pursue his career
as a label owner. The trust and interest he has given us is a tremendous
gift and we aim to keep pleasing the label by the music we write for ourselves.
Vehemence and Metal Blade are on really good terms, and Vehemence will
continue to work harder to strive forth a career in death metal. The world’s
metal scene may not know our music all too well and some of our music may
lead to confusion but we will continue to show the world we are serious
band here to stay with uncompromising music to present.
9.WHICH ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE? WHAT ARE
YOU THINKING TO DO NEXT? DO YOU HAVE ANY SHOWS PLANNED?
Vehemence will tour extensively through U.S.A
and Canada for the time being and we have generated European interest to
come tour there for 2005. There are many festivals as well that we will
be a part of and we look forward to helping the world to see our band live.
We would like to venture to South America and Japan sometime if there are
booking agents interested.
10.YOU DID SOME SHOWS WITH HUGE BANDS OF THE EXTREME
METAL SCENE. WHICH SHOW DO YOU REMEMBER AS THE BEST ONE AND LIKE THE MOST
AND WHICH IS THE ONE YOU THINK YOU DIDN'T PLAY VERY WELL?
When we were on tour with Incantation, Impaled,
Decapitated, and Dead To Fall in the summer of 2002, we tied a blow up
doll underneath Incantations tour van as going away present. The checkpoint
security officers told them to get out of their van right away to see what
they had discovered. The blow up doll had our vocalist’s old high school
jean jacket with old school metal patches on it. As ridiculous as that
was they didn’t get in trouble for it and the security officers took pictures
with them and the doll. Incantation has kept the doll. Touring with Testament
for a short while in Dec 2002 was an honor because that is one of our bands
influences. It was also an honor touring with an old thrash band Nuclear
Assault which we were all familiar with. On the Deicide, Amon Amarth, Behemoth,
Revenge tour metal united along with culture barrier factor, and very mischievous
times were endured. There’s nothing like seeing Glen Benton haggle a promoter,
or breaking a whiskey bottle on stage near the heads of the venues security
team. Worst show I could remember was Gathering The Sick Fest in New Mexico
in 2001 and Buffalo NY in 2002, guitar and PA problems.
11.WELL, I'D LIKE TO KNOW HOW YOU'D "LABEL" YOUR
MUSIC. I MEAN IT SURELY IS DEATH WITH SOME
BLACK
TOUCHES, BUT I CAN'T DECIDE ON WHETER IT IS
CLOSER TO
THE AMERICAN OR THE EUROPEAN DEATH METAL SCHOOL.
YOU REMIND ME BANDS LIKE OBITUARY AND SIX FEET UNDER AND YOU ALSO REMIND
ME OF IN FLAMES AND DARK TRANQUILLITY. WHICH IS YOUR DEFINITION? NAME SOME
OF YOUR MOST BELOVED BANDS.
Our vocalist Nathan Gearhart has his influences
from King Diamond, Entombed, and early Pyogenesis. I think it is safe to
say with our new album the lyrics are often influenced by what is going
around in the world today. Vehemence has anti religious rants throughout
each album which we strongly endorse. Musically, I am influenced by all
forms of metal such as death, black, melodic, and progressive metal. My
biggest influences are Gorefest, Cannibal Corpse, Sinister, Suffocation,
Carcass, Embraced, Without Grief, Ill Disposed, Mutant, Theory in Practice,
and a lot of other American, and Scandinavian metal bands. We do not have
the In Flames sound or the Dark Tranquility sound because we have never
used our keyboards in that fashion let alone have that much keyboard or
sequencer effects in our music.
12.IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD IT
BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
The emotion would be anger, hatred, and depression.
Aside from our album covers the painting would include images of destruction,
agony, and a catastrophic mess of the world.
13.IF YOU HAD A PROPOSAL TO DO A VIDEOCLIP, WHICH
SONG OF YOURS WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND HOW DO YOU IMAGINE IT TO BE?
We actually did a video for the song on our
new album called By Your Bedside. It was shot within 11 hours and it came
out really good. It was directed by Scott Conditt and can be downloaded
in many different formats on our website. The video contained nurses, Nathan
as the terminally ill patient, medical supplies, and it was shot in our
rehearsal pad area. We are also thinking about making another music video
for We Are All Dying and that will be shot in New York on film.
14.IF WE ARE ALL JUST A WORD IN THE GREAT BOOK
OF
CREATION, CAN YOU SAY WHICH WORD COULD DESCRIBE
YOU BETTER? CAN YOU ALSO IMAGINE WHAT KIND OF AUTHOR WOULD BE THE CREATOR
OF THIS BOOK AND WHY?
Vehemence would be the word that describes
our being as a whole. The authors would be all of humanity because vehemence
lies within each of us, and any soul can name some form of vehemence they
have given to another in one form of another through out their life span.
15.IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO TRAVEL BACK IN TIME,
WHICH HISTORICAL PERIOD WOULD YOU LIKE TO VISIT AND WHY?
The Neanderthal times to get myself a cave-woman.
I think Moe from the Simpson’s cartoon said that, no I would go visit the
times when Jesus existed just to see exactly what went down because it
caused the greatest historical changes.
16.LET'S SUPPOSE THAT WE LIVE IN A WORLD WITHOUT
MUSIC. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IN SUCH A CASE?
The world would be a cold ignorant grim place,
I would kill myself.
17.WHICH FAMOUS PERSON WOULD YOU LIKE TO MEET
AND WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO ASK HIM?
I would probably want to meet Jim Morrison,
if he was still alive, just to pick his brain since I have read many interesting
things about him. I would also like to meet Bill Gates, have him explain
how he made the world’s first windows operating system for computers.
18.THANK YOU! HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK YOU ANYTHING
AND YOU'D LIKE TO MENTION?
Christine Parastatidou
|