Napalm Flesh: Horrendous Interview

This week we have an interview with Pennsylvania (by way of Baltimore, D.C. and South Carolina) death metal newcomers Horrendous. The band’s debut album The Chills is a must-hear for any death metal fan old or new. I talked with Damian Herring, who handles guitar, vocals and sometimes bass duties in the band. Also on tap are reviews of new albums form Aborted, Lacuna Coil, Lamb of God and Young And In the Way. And  as usual, we have weekly event rundown as well as a couple upcoming show announcements.

If you didn’t already, know Sweden’s Ghost will be playing the Complex on Saturday, Jan. 28 with support from Blood Ceremony and Ancient VVisdom (not the Swedish band Ancient Wisdom with a “W”). Check out an interview that was featured in January’s print issue of SLUG Magazine in the actual mag (available any place cool) or right here on the internet. http://www.slugmag.com/articles/3193/Ghost.html. Tickets are available from $15-$17—sorry non 21+ folks, Ghost is playing in the Vertigo portion of the Complex.

Just as a courteous heads up, some big spring tours worth checking out have been newly announced.

On April 10, GWAR returns to Utah playing Saltair with support from Municipal Waste and the mighty Ghoul. Tickets should be available for purchase soon.

Also coming up on April 18, The Complex hosts the return of Behemoth with Watain, The Devil’s Blood and In Solitude.



Horrendous Interview
Napalm Flesh: Where did the idea and inspirations come from to create Horrendous?
Damian Herring: The three of us played instruments and wanted to make music together, so we rented a storage unit/pseudo-rehearsal space and started jamming. The music we naturally created together was immediately classic-styled death metal, despite our various metal influences, so we've just gone with it ever since.

Napalm Flesh: From the information provided me, the band is a three piece, but unless my ears are really that far gone, I hear two guitars and bass on most of the tracks on The Chills - was there some multi-tasking going on as far as the recording?
Herring: There is a lot of multi-tasking. There's bass on every song, as you hear. Bass duties were handled by both Matt and myself, and I also handle the guitars and vocals.

Napalm Flesh: Has the band performed live? Does being a trio with a layered sound require you to have an extra live musician?
Herring: We have played live before, but it was always as a trio of drums and two guitars. Compared to those on our demo, the songs on The Chills are much more intricate bass-wise and compositionally, so we hope to find a suitable live bass player for future shows.

Napalm Flesh: The influence of classic Swedish death metal is undeniably noticeable in your songs, but there does feel like there is a small bit of Floridian styled death metal trying to pop in from time to time as well, and early Death feels like it has a small part on the album. This question is a bit of a interview cliché but what is Horrendous’ biggest influences?
Herring: There are definitely all sorts of influences incorporated into The Chills, not just Swedish death metal. There's probably as much old American death metal influence as European death. Our biggest influence is really just good metal in general; metal with interesting songwriting, memorable riffs, and great atmosphere.

Napalm Flesh: The sound of the album production-wise has some unique aspects, especially the guitar tone on the soloing—it has a vibe that feels in a way a bit extra curricular to the meat of the songs. Was the production/recording style meant to highlight the guitar soloing?
Herring: Maybe they sound highlighted because they are a bit cavernous? I (Damian) guess I just naturally mix solos with a good amount of reverb. I want the solos to fit in, but I want the listener to be able to hear every note of every song, every drum hit, every instrument, etc. without having some sort of clinical, clean production. The production should be dark and gloomy and fitting for death metal, without obscuring any parts too much.

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