thePULSEBy Jillian Locke
On December 19th, a blustery, BRUTAL tour will blow through The Palladium ~ feast your ears on the Decimation of the Nation 2 Tour, featuring headliners Hatebreed and a grueling supporting cast of heavy metal heavyweights Cannibal Corpse, Hate Eternal, Thy Will Be Done, and a band that can warmly expect “home field advantage” in Worcester, Unearth. Vocalist Trevor Phipps comments on the tour, the re-release of 2008’s The March, their new drummer, and what it takes to stake a solid claim in the heavy metal game.
Decimation of the Nation 2 is a BRUTAL tour ~ what do you think is the best thing about the diversity of this tour, and what are you most looking forward to being on the road with Cannibal Corpse and Hatebreed?
The best thing about the diversity of this tour is that it will force fans of five very different sounding metal bands into a building to mosh, stage dive and let their aggressions out together. At the end of the day it is all heavy metal no matter what sub-genre people want to put it into. If it’s aggressive and you can bang your head or move to it in the pit, then it should be one amazing show for everyone in each city we roll through.
You’re re-releasing The March in a deluxe edition ~ what made you decide to do this with that particular album, and what can fans expect?
The purpose of re-releasing a disc is to try and get new fans or people who have yet to pick up the disc to go out and give it a shot. The bonus DVD is the main focus of the re-release as it is chock full of behind the scenes footage from the tour, the studio, the writing and rehearsal space as well as all three music videos for the album (“My Will be Done,” “Grave of Opportunity,” and “Crow Killer”) AND four live videos from our performance at Wacken Open Air festival last August in Germany.
Since you’re re-releasing an album, can fans expect new material soon?
We do have some riffs and some ideas swirling around, but nothing fully solid yet. We do expect to be in the studio by the fall of 2010 to record a new full length for release at the end of the year or early 2011. In the meantime though, we did just get asked to do a cover song for a legendary metal band tribute disc. We can’t announce the band or cover tune yet, but it will be an honor to lay those tracks down. Fans can expect that out in early 2010.
You chose to work with Adam Dutkiewicz again ~ how do you feel that influenced the crushing sound that you’re so proud of on The March? Will you be working with him on the next album?
Adam D. simply knows our band inside and out. He knows us as individuals very well, he gets our sense of humor, he knows our strengths in the studio and most importantly, he knows how to get those strengths out of us when he presses a record. We do hope to work with him many more times in the future.
What experiences in particular, if any, heavily influenced you during the writing/recording process of The March to make it an album that you’re all “proud as f*ck” of?
Writing the album with a new drummer, Derek Kerswill, and the chemistry we had this time around, seemed to make for a positive experience. A lot can be said for everyone getting along and being on the same page while writing and recording an album. On top of that, we all know the music climate changes every couple of years, so we had a fire under our asses to make an album that keeps us growing as a band and not disappearing like so many bands we have toured with in the past. Trends come and go, and the bands in those trends follow suit. It is our mission to continue to write albums people want to listen to and to always give the energetic live shows that people keep coming back for.
With your rise in popularity and success within the metal/hardcore community, do you feel that’s changed your sound or made you work harder to stand out?
All of our albums have the “Unearth” stamp sound, but each one is different enough from the other to tell them apart. The only changes we have made to our sound are to keep it fresh for ourselves and fans. We’ll never change our sound in an effort to jump into the mainstream. As for working harder to stand out, we have always busted our balls on the road for eight or more months a year and that is one of the main reasons why we are here right now. Without the hard work and constant touring it is easier for people to move onto the next thing; Neil Young’s lyric, “It’s better to burn out than to fade away,” is one of the most relevant things ever written when applied to rock’n’roll bands.
Worcester could be considered a “hometown” show for you ~ what’s the best part about playing in Worcester, being from MA?
The fan support is always bad ass, and family and friends are always there to take part in the raging activities. The stage is so familiar from playing it so many times that it is easy to go out there and just focus on playing your best and getting the crowd as amped as possible. It is definitely similar to home field advantage in sports.
The Palladium has seen its fair share of annihilating tours, being one of the top metal venues in Massachusetts, but the Decimation tour will surely deliver a knuckle sandwich that neither your eyes nor eardrums will soon recover from. Bring your earplugs and prepare to lose yourself in the onslaught of heavy metal pummelage!
