COALESCE – Crash and Bang

They have allowed the world to forget them. But after almost a decade of silence they returned and it's a comeback in the genuine style of mathcore/metalcore as it ought to be in the beginning. The “Ox” album released in 2009 with Coalesce classics “Functioning on Impatience” and “0:12 Revolution in Just Listening” is the band's highlight and the strongest effort to date. Guitarist Jes Steineger answers the burning questions.

You haven't put out a single record in 10 years. In 2009 we got an album and an EP in just couple of months. Was life boring without a band so you decided to show the world you're still alive and kicking?
Jes: Actually, I’ve become accustomed to telling everyone that there are really only two reasons for Coalesce’s existence: the friendship that we have between each other in the band, and the feeling we get from playing this crash and bang music.  I don’t think we’ve ever really cared if the world thinks we’re alive and kicking. We have been lucky to meet a lot of really cool people through Coalesce, so I think that’s another reason for doing it again: travelling and meeting new people.

The “Ox” and “Ox EP” artworks are nothing but original. It looks like some weird electronic music. Did you want to have covers that stand out in punk/hardcore/metal standards? Did you want to show you're different and unique?
Jes: I never think of Coalesce in terms of whether or not it’s “unique” or “different”. I think all of us just think in terms of what we like.  I think there are a ton of people who would disagree with you and say that our art work and music is neither unique nor different.  So it’s not even an objective criterion for doing what we do. Honestly, we try to keep things as simple as possible. Do we like it? Does it fit what we feel? Can we relate to it in some way? Basic questions you ask to make sure that your art matches up with your sentiments.

Both “Ox” and “Ox EP” are terrific records. Your style is unrepeatable. There is so many bands that try to improve their technique and production but end up sounding so similar and that is so disappointing. And then you come out of blue and bring these totally new records distancing all the others by miles. How are you able to do that?
Jes: Thanks for the compliments, but we really don’t think in those terms at all.  It’s dangerous to think in terms of competition when you’re in a band.  You set yourself up for major disappointment when things are based on others. We find it better to just focus on what we like so that when we complete a record or a tour we feel complete in some way; tranquil.  That’s how I feel after a recording session or a show anyway. Honestly, for all we knew, people were going to hate the new records; and there are quite a few people who do hate the new records actually. That emphasizes my point though: better just to focus on what correlates whatever it is you create with your sentiment.

Did you complete both records during the same session and then decided to put them out as two releases instead of one 40-minutes-long album?
Jes: Our original plan was to record an EP of just Western tracks. An entire EP of interlude songs like we had on “Ox”. Then we were snowed in at the Scion Fest in Atlanta back in February 2009. While we were in the hotel room we started putting together some of the riffs that made up the more crash and bang songs on the EP. We had already booked studio time to go in and do an EP of interlude tracks, so we just recorded the new crash and bang songs instead. Voilà.

Rumour says you got 12 children between 4 of you. That is hell of a lot of kids! Who's got the biggest bunch and is it fun to run such a kindergarten?
Jes: Sean and I have four kids each. Jr. and Nellis have two kids each. It is a lot of kids. They don’t go with us on tour or road trips.

Earache released your split with Napalm Death in 1997. Did you get more recognition because of that?
Jes: I was a fan of Napalm Death at that time and I still am. Such a solid band. I wish we could tour with them actually. I never think of Coalesce as a popular band really, but I’m sure that putting out that split with Napalm Death helped us out a lot in terms of exposure.

Kansas is more or less the geographical centre of the US. What is life there like? Do you still get to meet Native Americans there?
Jes: Life there is simple. I have lived in Chicago for about four years now, so I miss Kansas a lot. I hate the city. There is a significant Native American community in Lawrence because they have a college there. I worked with various Native American scholars when I was at Kansas University. In general, people in the Midwest stick to themselves and try to live simple lives. That is my romanticization of the situation.

No doubt you're huge Led Zeppelin fans. “There is Nothing New Under the Sun” says it all. Why are Zepps so important to you? Did you kiss your future wife for the first time listening “Stairway to Heaven” or something like that?
Jes: Haha! Don’t recall ever making out with any girl to Led Zeppelin. I don’t even think any of us consider ourselves to be “huge fans”. We wanted to do a cover record and sort of interpret some older songs in a crash and bang way. The more Zeppelin songs we learned, the more it just felt right. It was also a way for me to try and maybe give Coalesce some shape for my Dad to understand what was going on. I liked the idea of finding some way to relate my generation to an older generation of music listener. If I could go back, I would probably have asked the guys to do it differently and not record all Zeppelin covers but it is what it is.

How was the Euro tour in June 2009? What were the reactions? What European countries did you find interesting, where would you like to return?
Jes: The summer 2009 tour was my favourite Coalesce tour ever.  I had such an awesome time and I think the other guys feel the same way. We got to play an entire spectrum of shows: from huge festival shows to extremely small club shows. It really was perfect to experience so much in such a short amount of time. I am seriously counting the days until I can return to Europe. I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed every country we visited. I wish there had been more time to see some medieval sites, but I was content to see what I was able to: particularly Kües in Germany. Hopefully next time we’ll get to see Poland, Denmark, the Scandinavian countries, and more of France and Italy. I really want to see Athens and Moscow as well.

Watching your live videos I have the feeling you're a pretty fucked up band. I mean you seem to lose your minds and freak out. Does the live act bring you some sort of catharsis?
Jes: Any way we go about trying to describe what we get out of a Coalesce show always sounds ridiculous. It is a very unique feeling of freedom for us. Most times I feel really tranquil after a show, so maybe catharsis is the right word. I just think Coalesce opens up a small cavern in Being for us. A place where we can do what we want for 40 minutes or so and feel a certain way that we can’t get anywhere else.

You have a flippin' awesome guitar sound? How did you work it out?
Jes: I don’t think it is worked out. Most of my stuff is broken half the time so it never sounds the same way two nights in a row. Whatever it is you consider to be awesome and original is just me being a horrible guitar player, haha. Honestly. I’m a guy who loved a few metal bands growing up but was never good enough to play metal. It was easier for me to get on in the punk scene. That’s maybe a good way to describe how Coalesce came about: a crappy punk guitarist trying to play Metallica, haha.

With two releases in a short period do you plan to keep that intense activity going?
Jes: We don’t have any plans at this point to release on any sort of schedule. Just two weeks ago we started kicking around ideas for what we think the next Coalesce project will look like.  I’d like to do at least one more record or EP or even film of some sort, but we’ll see if our schedules allow for it.

I suspect you might be a Western films lover. So John Ford or Sam Peckinpah? What are you favourite films of all times?
Jes: I’m an Eastwood guy, all the way. “Fistful of Dollars” is my favourite, but all of them are freaking awesome (the rest of the Man with No Name series of course, “High Plains Drifter”, “Hang  ‘Em High”, “Joe Kid”, even the newer stuff like “Pale Rider” and “Unforgiven”). All of the classics, man: “Once Upon a Time in the West”, “The Wild Bunch”, “The Magnificent Seven”, etc. Nellis and I were watching all of these movies when we were writing “Ox”!

What active bands are in your opinion the most inventive, original and inspiring for you?
Jes: I think The Mars Volta are the most creative band in the world right now. They are like a bottomless abyss of creativity. I love that band. I love the Black Keys as well, but for different reasons. I think Minus the Bear fits all the criteria you listed, as does Mew (whose new record is impeccable).  I think Torche is eclectic and original –  great band. There are some bands that I like because they are just so into what they’re doing: Stuntman and Chere Catastrophe from France, Taint from Wales, The Atlas Moth from Chicago.

You've played at some vege/vegan festivals/events. Do you care about the diet and animal rights yourself?
Jes: I haven’t thought about it in a long time. Coalesce is not a platform for any sort of ideology. None of us have any sort of commitment to animal rights or dietary concerns. Our friend Dan Askew is a vegan, so we always try to accommodate him when he travels with us.  Ultimately, it’s like I said earlier, Coalesce is really just about hanging out together and trying to ignite a certain feeling we get when playing our songs. When it comes to everything else: to each his or her own, as we say in America.

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Coalesce interview was done in November 2009 and published in Polish in 2010 in “Struggle Zine”. It's the first time it's published in English.

CANNABIS CORPSE – Stoned to Death

Make no mistake this band is not a joke. It is as real and death metal as Immolation, Deicide, Obituary or Cannibal Corpse. And they have funnier song titles. Songs like „Staring Through My Eyes That Are Red”, „I Cum Bud”, „Mummified in Bong Water”, „Gallery of Stupid High” or „Skull Full of Bong Hits” are top examples of brutal blasting and heavy crushing riffage. I spoke to a vocalist Andy „Weedgrinder” Horn to find more.

Could you tell me about the history of the band?

Weedgrinder: We began as a 3-piece home recording project in Richmond, Virginia back in late 2005 or early 2006. My memory isn't too sharp these days. Hallhammer and Landphil were staying in my tiny modest apartment with me and my room mate for a couple months. They began recording “Blunted at Birth” and asked me to track most of the vocals. We never intended to really release it, or play out. We figured it would be fun to just re-approach Cannabis Corpse, which the brothers had played a show as sometime ago. Our close friend had just started Forcefield Records and offered to release a CD/LP. It was received so well that people encouraged us to play a few shows. We did, with the help of Nickropolis on guitar and had such a blast that we continue to play now. Couple of  years later with 2 LPs and a “Weeding” EP.

No doubt Cannibal Corpse is pretty much your favourite band. How did you get the idea of sort of remaking them? I know that you're a unique band with kick ass songs but I suspect lots of people might think you're only taking a piss and didn't take you seriously at first. Was that ever an issue?

Weedgrinder: We have always taken death metal seriously, as have we taken this band. We never tried to “reinvent” Cannibal, we just use to always throw weedy song titles around whenever we were smoking and listening to death metal. To me, death metal is no joke, it is a part of our lives that cannot be replaced. Cannabis Corpse is death metal we love, so we play it whenever we can, and are happiest when we get to play it. I'm sure some people think we are taking a piss, but fuck that. We play what we like. No parody here, just worship.

One of my ideas how you could have started is you all been Cannibal Corpse fans and loved to play their songs together and one day you started to write your own songs but writing them like you're them, sort of “how would Alex Webster write that bit or how would Paul Mazurkiewicz play that blastbeat?”. Does that make any sense or I'm chatting some bollocks?

Weedgrinder: Your perception of our band's conception isn't to far off. We never tried to copy Cannibal, or any other band. We are playing a form of death that we like very much. To me, death should be punk. If you're not behind your music, you might as well be a bunch of silly jazzheads playing the most complicated technical jibberjabber you can, which is often unlistenable. We all like death metal you can bang, thrash, and skank to. Not art metal, no breakdown mosh crew radio false metal.

Phil was with Municipal Waste before and surely that gave you some more recognition since they're a great and popular band. What bands did other guys play with before or still playing?

Weedgrinder: Yes, Landphil plays bass in Municipal Waste. Nickropolis plays in Parasytic (ala Deviated Instinct, English Dogs, Concrete Sox) and Volture (heavy metal ala old Priest, old Maiden). I play in Battlemaster (ala Immortal, Absu, Destroyer666). All of these bands are still active.

I dig Cannibal Corpse but need to say I prefer their earlier stuff with “The Bleeding” being my favourite record. Last couple of records seem to be slightly repetitive and I was over the moon when I first get to listen to “Tube of the Resinated”. It blew me away because it had all the best things I always loved about Cannibal Corpse but all the freshness on top of it. You have somehow reinvented their style, redone it and to me it's better then their new record because it's less expectable. How do you see that?

Weedgrinder: We all have different favourite albums. We all favour the older stuff, as do I, but my favourite all-around record is “Gallery of Suicide”. Our favourite to listen to in the van is the “Created to Kill” sessions. Every album they have is heavy as shit. Again, we aren't trying to reinvent them at all. Thanks for the kind words, but we just add our fair share of 90's east coast death metal influence, haha!

You are a pure worshippers of the ganja and its magical qualities. Do you support legalization? How does possession law look like in Virginia?

Weedgrinder: We support the legalization. In our country, the pot you can find ranges from super shitty to super trippy. Our federal government wages a silent drug war where they profit on two ends: 1) a large percentage of drug traffic funding is filtered into the pockets of politicians via loans we give to central and south American drug bosses/politicians and our west coast's growing “medical marijuana” industry, and 2) through privatized prison systems which overfill constantly, creating a tax cycling cash-grab that American citizens pay for in the end, while the corporate pig gorges itself on our incomes, crushing the weaker swine underfoot. In our state, Virginia, pot is illegal completely. Even a pipe with any amount of resin could feasibly get you jail time or 1000's of dollars in fees and fines, along with months to years of state-sponsored drug-testing and “rehabilitation”. It's bullshit, but we just do our best to stay away from the pigs. It's like this through out most of America, with the exception of parts of the west coast, where they simply give you relatively inexpensive tickets. A huge part of the population smokes weed regularly despite these cock-sucking laws. Drug-free and stoner alike, we all get along here. We are lucky to have a scene where people are not concerned with each others habits, clothing, race, etc.

People say you start with a little blunt or two then you move to ecstasy, speed and coke and all of a sudden you might end up pretty bad taking some serious shit. Do you think ganja is only a harmless funnier version of tobacco or can it be bit dangerous and you need to be conscious it may fuck you up?

Weedgrinder: What you refer to here is what the government propagators refer to as a “gateway drug”. Everyone has a different body, and responds to different drugs differently. I think idiots outnumber non-idiots. Idiots are the ones who slave themselves to hard drugs out of desperation, social naivety, and ignorance. I wish they weren't a concern to me, but you must be aware of all around you. My advice is to decide what you want, and then do whatever you want to do. But what you do is none of my business, you know?
 

The United States are a bloody big country with lots of different regions, accents, people and cultures. What would best describe Virginia and Richmond? What is characteristic about that place?

Weedgrinder: Richmond is the former capitol of the Confederate States of America, which was a short lived country comprised of the south-east part of America and went into Civil War with the United States of America in the late 1800's. The southern attitude and culture isn't as evident as it once was here, but it still survives. That attitude is typically more friendly than the north. We have some of the oldest surviving buildings in our city, which are not old at all compared to Europe's castles and towns. Richmond has a strong scene of hardcore punk metal freaks. We all like to party a lot. We have tons of killer bands and awesome people, but have been struggling for good venues for shows. We end up having house shows here a lot, with a few small bars and restaurants willing to open their doors to drunk and smelly punks and metallers. I love our city, and it is a great place to stop if any of the readers tour over here.

 

You have a mysterious friend appearing at your gigs. Who's the man and do you pay him in green, well I don't mean Benjamins!
Weedgrinder: The Bud Monster is who you speak of, haha! We don't know much about him, but he stops by many of our shows. His real name is in a language so ancient it remains unspeakable today. His name roughly translates to “Cool Dankula”. Not sure where he came from but we speculate he slid through a portal to our universe sometimes in the mid 80's. He's learning to cohabitate with humans, but it is a slow process.

What I love about Cannabis Corpse is that you simply have a sense of humour. Taking all your song titles, artwork etc. It's so important to be cool and don't treat yourself too serious especially when you're pushing 40, putting on corpse paint, wearing same pair of jeans for last 5 years and stating that you're true and never get your hair cut though you don't have much left anyway. Lots of metal bands just make me laugh though I love their music. Is Cannabis Corpse a bit of a mocker in a metal world?
Weedgrinder: We all have decent senses of humour, but by no means do we mock metal at all! Metal isn't some sort of short-lived phase or trend. Metal is what we have always loved, and lived. I see mockery everyday, and it lies in the fly-by-night trendies, metalcores, false metals, etc. These bandwagoneers maybe think that metal will get them money, or girls, or fame, or friends. This is people using metal, and that is mockery. We all laugh at stuff that is funny, whether it's in metal or not. A fat old guy in a corpse paint I would probably laugh at, unless his music was so black I didn't find him funny and lame.

Could say some more about your appearance in the film “In the Loop”? What's the plot about? Does it have anything to do with “Ace Ventura”? What was your part and how did it work out?

Weedgrinder: “In the Loop” is a British comedy dealing with the US and the British politics. We were contacted last minute about filming, and told whoever called that we'd show up and play some crushing death metal. The scene is kind of random, the two main characters go to a club for a drink, and we just happen to be playing. The only connection to “Ace Ventura” is that Cannibal Corpse played a similar scene in that movie and well... you know, we're called Cannabis Corpse. The director didn't seem to know that. I think it was a pure coincidence!

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Cannabis Corpse interview was done in November 2009 and published in Polish in 2010 in “Struggle Zine”. It's the first time it's published in English.

WE WITHER LINKS

Some links to good metal websites that We Wither recommends:

VIOLENCE MAGAZINE

DOOMMANTIA

DOOMSMOKER

SEVEN GATES OF HELL

DEATH METAL INVASION