DEVOURMENT Didn't Take My Bait

I wanted to get them talking shit about deathcore, but instead they had to be all diplomatic. Bah humbug. Keep an eye out for an excerpt on Noisecreep sometime soonish.




DEVOURMENT
Interview for Noisecreep
w. Kim Kelly

Congrats on signing with Relapse! How did that come about?

MM- They contacted us a couple of years back about doing an exclusive t-shirt design and we just kind of stayed in close touch with them ever since. A couple of the Relapse guys caught us live a few times and were impressed with our performance I guess, and pretty much approached us at one of those shows and said they were interested in us. We were definitely interested in Relapse we well as it seemed like a logical progression so they patiently waited for us to be free from our previous contract and the rest is history.

You’re heading off to Europe in support of 2009’s Unleash the Carnivore, and will be hitting some pretty major festivals. Have you played over there before?

MM- Yes, we had a successful headlining European tour in 2007 with Viral Load and Despise, and it was an amazing experience. So this will be our second full tour there, which we will be doing with Cerebral Bore. These will probably be the biggest fests we have ever played, especially Partysan and Brutal Assault.

You’ve got a US tour coming up quick as well, and will be heading out with Cattle Decapitation as well as a handful of newer bands. How do you think your fans will react to a band like Knights of the Abyss or Burning the Masses?

MM- Hard to say really, as this will be our first US tour so everything will be a very new experience for us. We have played in the US before but very few cities so it will be exciting to see how it goes. I’m sure all of the bands on the tour will do great and have a lot of fun.

Devourment are one of the most well-known brutal/”slam” death metal bands out there, and have undoubtedly inspired countless others. It’s not much of a stretch to assume that many of the modern deathcore bands have taken some cues from your ultra brutal approach. What do you think of deathcore and your theoretical influence upon it?

MM- Well I can’t really speak for any bands, I mean it would be pretty arrogant to assume any band is influenced by us just because it’s a similar style. We didn’t invent that style so who knows. I personally don’t listen to much deathcore or whatever, but I have no problem with it, each his own. Shit I ripped off a Van Halen song on Anal Electrocution.

Do you see deathcore/metalcore as gateway drugs to the real underground metal scene, or as something to be ignored/condemned/stamped out? It seems like many metalheads take the latter stance. Do you think the generation gap between younger deathcore fans and older death metallers is part of that?

MM- I honestly don’t waste my time or energy giving a fuck what other people talk about or care about. I always have my Reign in Blood CD close by. If it skips, that’s when I get fucking pissed.

Do you feel that the death metal scene lacks unification?

MM- Yes.

What five records are you listening to the most right now?

MM- As far as new albums,
Misery Index: Heirs to Thievery
Immolation: Majesty and Decay
Dying Fetus: Descend into Depravity
Cannibal Corpse: Evisceration Plague
Skeleton Witch: Breathing the Fire
I always have my old school death and thrash CD’s close by as well, but I do listen to other music, not just metal.


Cheers for the interview, see y’all in NYC!

Awesome, thanks a lot!