INTERVIEW: Impending Doom

GENRE: Metal/Christian

HOMETOWN: Riverside, CA

LABEL: eOne Music

BIO: Impending Doom is an American Metal band from Riverside, California. Formed in 2005, jumped right into the touring lifestyle and gained their success very quickly. The band has released 1 e.p. and 3 full length records, selling over 70,000 records world wide. Signed by Facedown Records from 2007-2010. In 2011 the band signed a deal with eOne Records. Come see the band in a city near you!

SOUNDS LIKE: In The Midst Of Lions, Whitechapel, Oceano, Molotov Solution, 

A Plea For Purging, With Blood Comes Cleansing, I Declare War

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How did Impending Doom discover you?

We had all been friends since back in around 04 (me and Brook have known each other since 03, David and I since 05, Cory since 03). Cory and i were in XdeathstarX. He also innovated Sleeping Giant and I would mess around on bass with him. From there Cory and i stayed in touch and always talked and wondered if we'd ever be in a band again. One night I saw David go on Instant messenger and he NEVER goes on that thing...so I thought "lets see how doom is doing". So I proceeded to tell David, "Hey hows doom man? Ever need a fill in or help I'm here", (which I had always done in the past to them), David said "You never know man". Literally 10 minutes later he jumped online and said, "Hey..... Can you call me?". And of course I called him. He said that Isaac was moving on, they had to go to the studio in 2 weeks and didnt have a drummer. Of course I took the position, learned the songs by listening for about a week, then practiced several hours with them the week before the actual session in the studio. Funny thing is how powerful prayer really is. I had prayed so hard for anything to come about because prior I had lost a marriage, lost a great job, barely had a place to live. It was rough. And now here I am enjoying a great ride with my brothers taking it day by day seeing what God has in store next. 

Were you in any other bands before joining Impending Doom?

Yes I was. Here is a little break down of it: 

Dying Dreams 2001-2001 (One EP with Mitch from Suicide silence) 

Suicide Silence 2002 (started with Chris Garza) 

The Final Burden 2002-2004 2 EPs 

Plague Of Sheol 2002-2006 (2 EPsgeoff brouliette of Sleeping Giant) 

xDEATHSTARx 2003-2006 (an EP and a full length Underneath The Gun 2007 fill in 

for 5 shows Mirror Of Dead Faces 2008-2009) (full length) 

Earth From Above 2008- almost recorded full length 

haha Darasuum 2009 (one EP) 

Gabe rosales Vital nonsense- One track (Jennifer Lopez, Christina Milan, Sen Dog-Cypress Hill, 

Nicole Sherzinger-Pussy Cat Dolls, Lynch Mob) 

Austrian Death Machine fill in Sonshine fest 2009 Impending Doom- There Will Be Violence

Can you describe Impending Doom's sound?

Heavy, Pissed, Angry, Dark, Passionate, Real.....

What was the inspiration behind the lyrics for your latest album, There Will Be Violence?

Basically the turmoil that is going to be brought on this world when judgment day comes. And no not tomorrow on May 21st like every ones saying haha. Dont put so much energy into this world when its all going to be nothing in the end. The world is going to be insane when the day comes. Generally there are a lot of other meanings brook has that are dear to his heart and I can't speak for those

What has been the most interesting tour with Impending Doom so far?

Hmmm... interesting? Probably the Co-Headline tour we did with Chimaira. Just a completely different crowd than what were used to. The shows were cool, but alot different than the Doom crowd.

What has been your favorite Impending Doom album?

Mine was "The Serpent Servant". It had a lot of everything. Plus they added Cory to the mix. Dude is brilliant when it comes to writing a song 

What has been the craziest thing to happen at a show?

Hmmm... I don't think there's been anything too shocking at a show since I've been in the band.... I guess for them, there was this one time at a show in VA beach a guy pulled a gun out at the show. That's pretty crazy

Are you guys currently working on a new album?

Yes. We are writing. Slowly but surely it's coming along.

Are there any bands/musicians that you look up to when it comes to writing? 

Yikes. That list goes on and on for me. For the band as a whole I can say Slipknot, Deftones, Pantera, sevendust, karnivool, radiohead... I'm probably missing some important ones but those are primary up to date bands that will always influence us.

Any closing words?

Thank you for choosing to interview me. 

Hope to see you on the road and anyone else who reads this. 

Thanks!

Impending Doom is:

Brook Reeves - Vocals

Cory Johnson - Guitars

David Sittig - Bass

Brandon "Btown" Trahan - Drums

INTERVIEW: Mouth Of The South

GENRE: Progressive Ministry Metal

HOMETOWN: Arlington, Texas

LABEL: None

BIO: Quiet... Listen... There is a cry in the distance. A last scream of desperation. It's the sound of this generation. The sinners, the outcasts, the rejects, the addicts, and the alcoholics, they are all dying and they're reaching out for more. Tired of what the headlines tell them to do and who the tabloids tell them to be, and what the labels tell them to listen to, they march. In their rebellion they marched south, away from the stereotypes and away from all rules and regulations. They had good motives but they got lost in the mixup and their cause turned into a lust filled journey where their motivation was lost. They turned to anything that would satisfy no matter how long the high lasted it was all they wanted. But when high hopes and empty promises come to an end its time to start living for something real, something that will not fade, something that will never back down. That something is our God, Jesus Christ. The symbol of salvation hangs from our necks and urges us to press on. And now the time has come for this generation to stand up and take its place. Restart this march and reshape this world. There is a war out there and we are called to fight at the front lines, and take back this earth. We are the trumpets that begin the battle cries, we are the drum beat that initiates the march.

We are the Mouth of the South.
Forget what you've heard, forget what you've seen. Mouth of the South is here to break the mold. With the goal of sharing the love we have in Jesus Christ and playing some rawnchy music while we are at it we are more determined than ever. Music is what we love and what we do best. We aren't perfect people but we have a God that keeps us going. We have been ransomed for the soul purpose of making God known wherever we are, and the only way we know how to come close to expressing this is through music.

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How did you guys get started?

Well, Mouth of the South became a band almost 5 years ago when everyone was just a bunch of little kids that couldn't drive yet. None of the current members were around back then but it got started really as just something fun to pass the time with haha.

Can you describe Mouth Of The South's sound?

We really try to encompass a lot of different styles in our music. Each one of us really enjoys metal as well as hardcore and melodic hardcore so we try to mesh all the styles we like into what we write. Our goal is to write aggressive groovy music that people can get into.

Are there any bands/musicians that have inspired your music?

Yeah, we get a lot of inspiration from all the smaller local bands we play with that are like us. Their passion and drive really encourages us to do what we love and write music we care about. 

Do you have a favorite song to play at shows?

Right now our favorite one to play is probably our new song 'Revelation' it seems to get people moving and we just really enjoy the song!

What has been your favorite band to tour with so far?

Well we've only been on one tour to date and that was with Before, there was Rosalyn. So I guess I'd have to say that Before, the was Rosalyn is definitely our favorite band to tour with by far!

If you could go on tour with any band, who would it be, and why?

As Cities Burn with their original lineup would be a dream come true. Their first CD is incredible and we'd love to listen to it every night haha. Also, For Today would be sweet. I think it'd be cool to hang around those guys and grow from who they are.

What has been the most interesting tour so far?

Well unfortunately we've only been on one so I'd have to say the most interesting tour we've been on was the one with Before, there was Rosalyn by far!

What is the craziest thing that has happened at one of your shows?

The craziest thing that has happened at our show was probably when we played an outdoor show and someone decided it'd be cool to throw an artillery shell over the fence from the neighbors yard in the middle of Texas' summer and almost caught the place on fire.

What has been your favorite venue so far?

We love our home venue 'Live at Phil's' in Arlington. But we've played some awesome venues on the road: The Lighthouse in Midlothian, TX. Art Ambush in Waco, TX. and the 7 venue in Douglasville, GA

Any closing words?

We're looking for a new drummer and guitarist right now but we'll be back on the road in february so keep on the lookout for new updates we'll post soon.

Members: 

Vocals- Josiah Lyle

Guitar- ???

Guitar- Mike Butler

Bass- Colton Bartholet

Drums- ???

INTERVIEW: Covenants

GENRE: Technical/Progressive Metal

HOMETOWN: Los Angeles, California

LABEL: Unsigned

BIO: We are Covenants, a Technical Metal band from Los Angeles. We have a 4 song EP titled "World Of Augury" which you can pick up on our Bandcamp page now! We are playing shows so hit us up for booking and if you like our stuff don't hesitate to spread the word! P.S. We love to chat so hit us up if you want to talk.

SOUNDS LIKE: Meshuggah, Veil Of Maya, Circle Of Contempt, Within The Ruins, Periphery, After The Burial, Vildhjarta, Animals As Leaders, Volumes, Elitist, Structures, 

And Hell Followed With

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How did you guys get started? 

We started off in the summer of 2010 with just Victor on guitars, Zakk on drums and Gus on vocals. We wrote "Prevail" and "Delusion" and got them recorded and just went from there.

Can you describe Covendant's sound?

We honestly take influence from so many different genres of music so it's hard. However, if we had to describe our sound it would be a mix of Progressive, Death, Black and Groove Metal along with some other influences (Jazz, Classical).

Are there any bands/musicians that have inspired your music? 

A few bands that we really love are: Meshuggah, The Faceless, Veil of Maya, Within the Ruins, Behemoth, Animals As Leaders, After The Burial, Beneath The Massacre and MANY more. 

Do you have a favorite song to play at shows? 

I believe we all have different favorites, but I know we all love to play Delusion, it really gets the crowd going. 

What has been your favorite band to tour with so far?

Unfortunately we have not toured yet, but hopefully that will change in the near future!

If you could go on tour with any band, who would it be, and why?

I think it would be awesome to be able to tour with After the Burial or Veil of Maya. They're both some of the best bands in the Progressive field right now and are some of our biggest influences as a band.

What has been the most interesting tour so far? 

Again, we have not yet toured. Hopefully we will have some crazy tour stories next time!

What is the craziest thing that has happened at one of your shows? 

We were playing a backyard show one night and a guy spin kicked 2 guys in the face and knocked them out cold during our set. It was pretty intense!

What has been your favorite venue so far? 

We really like the Whiskey in Hollywood, we have an upcoming show there on November 8th with Mureau and Elitist! One venue we have not had the chance to play at yet but would love to is The Glasshouse in Pomona, such an epic venue to play at. 

Any closing words?  

Thanks for taking the time to check us out. If you have the chance, take a listen to our EP World of Augury at http://facebook.com/xcovenants or http://covenants.bandcamp.com If you like what you hear, please spread the word and try to make it out to a show if we're playing near your area! We'd love to see you all come out. 

Members:

Gus Ornelas-Vocals 

Victor Lara-Guitar 

Anthony Gamboa-Guitar

Dillon Shamma-Bass

Zakk Perez-Drums