When lead singer Scott Lewis of the San Diego based death metal band Carnifex discusses the negative undertones in the band’s music, you have to believe it. With album titles like “The Diseased and The Poisoned” and the latest album, “Until I [...]]]>

Carnifex unleashes far more than "Nothing" at Harpo's this Saturday.

When lead singer Scott Lewis of the San Diego based death metal band Carnifex discusses the negative undertones in the band’s music, you have to believe it. With album titles like “The Diseased and The Poisoned” and the latest album, “Until I Feel Nothing”, it’s safe to say that some form of pessimism runs through the band’s veins.

But given the band’s disposition, the band has seen a steady rise through the metal ranks throughout the past half-decade or so. The band has become a fixture on the road, playing on various tours since as the Summer Slaughter Tour in 2010, and various tours on this side and the other side of the Atlantic- where the band gets a lot of traction as well.

Following a rough patch for the band, it fueled the anger for the new album, which came out back in October. The album is a blazing, quick 30 minute exercise in venting out frustrations for the band and their fans. The band is out on the road with Born of Osiris and Veil of Maya throughout the end of November.

Before the tour got going, I had a chance to chat with lead singer Lewis about how that negativity fans the flames of the band’s music and how he looks back at the band’s past album, “Hell Chose Me”.
Here’s my interview with Scott:

AM: Going into the recording for “Until I Feel Nothing”- what was the mood of the band at that time?
SL: Honestly, it was a pretty low morale at that time. It had nothing to do with the album- it was other stuff dealing with certain people in between those albums. We were kinda burnt from the last tour cycle, which lasted 16 months and we were pretty tired.

AM: Did that attitude help push the musical vibe on the album that much heavier?
SL: Actually, most of the music was written well before we got into the studio and we knew what it was going to sound like. We started writing late in 2010 and there might have been one or two songs that were not written prior to going into the studio. But when writing my lyrics, they tend to stay negative no matter what sort of situation is going on in my life.

AM: Was there anything you really tried to stay away from when recording the new album?
SL: It’s not that I tried to stay away from any one particular thing, but we were more interested in refining and re-focusing our sound. We weren’t going to write political lyrics, because we’re not that type of band- our lyrics reflect more personal stuff. We wanted a different feel to the album versus past records. I’d say it’s probably our most refined collection of songs to date.

AM: What did As I Lay Dying singer Tim Lambesis bring to the production table this time out?
SL: Actually, it was engineer Daniel Castleman who did a lot of the work for the album. Tim did a lot of the pre-production and we shared some of the same rehearsal space and the same building during the recording. With both of them both, it was a pretty laid back vibe. Daniel was more aggressive about the song structure, while Tim was more of the bells and whistles guy and used as a safety net.

AM: When looking back at “Hell Chose Me” (past album), is there anything else you’d change about it?
SL: Maybe a riff or two, but I was really satisfied with that album. It was a good showing at being as real as we could. I think the new album is more melancholy than “Hell Chose Me” and prefer this new album over the past, but it’s tough to compare the two albums.

Carnifex plays at Harpo’s on Saturday, November 26^th. Tickets are $15 and are available at www.ticketmaster.com. Additional tour dates and band info can be found at www.myspace.com/carnifexmetal.

It is always a potentially chaotic scene when metal kids meet hardcore kids, and this year’s Atticus Metal Tour was another display on how it can get a little tense. Boston metal band Unearth headlined the six band show, which featured metal [...]]]>

Unearth headlined the metal vs. hardcore show March 27th.

It is always a potentially chaotic scene when metal kids meet hardcore kids, and this year’s Atticus Metal Tour was another display on how it can get a little tense. Boston metal band Unearth headlined the six band show, which featured metal bands such as Carnifex and hardcore groups such as Stick To Your Guns for a mostly packed house at the Magic Stick on March 27^th.

Even though all the bands were on the same bill, the show almost seemed like two different concerts rolled into one. When hardcore bands like Stick To Your Guns and England based hardcore group Your Demise were on, it seemed to be their fans dancing (if you want to call it that) and wailing their arms generally into nearby fans, while the metal fans generally hung towards the back and drank beer. Anaheim based Stick to Your Guns were the only band out of this group that didn’t come off as a fourth-rate Hatebreed and seemed to have even the metal fans paying attention.

As for the metal bands, San Diego based Carnifex delivered a better than expected 30-minute set in which the death metal band punished fans (in a good way) with songs from their Hell Chose Me record (and a special thanks to the merch guy for the band for letting us check out the UFC 111 matches on his laptop). And during their half hour set, Chicago “Sumerian-core” based band Veil of Maya played tracks off their upcoming record Id (Out April 6^th) and showed that they have become far more proficient in their skills over the past couple of years.

As the band prepares to release their upcoming record in the summer, Unearth played a mixture of new and old in their 65-minute set. Starting with the fiery “Crow Killer,” Unearth played a set that showed that the metal road warriors are a well-oiled machine at this point. The crowd responded well to fairly new tracks like “My Will Be Done” and “Giles,” in which the old fashioned mosh pits replaced the karate kicks that dominated the pits during the hardcore bands. By the time the band reached towards the end, with one of their signature tracks, “Black Hearts Now Reign,” the band had the fans in the sweltering Magic Stick satisfied and hoping that the new album comes out soon.