Saturday, July 30, 2011

"OUT FOR BLOOD" Speed Kill Hate's thirst for thrash has left me SLAIN (in the best possible way)!

Dave Linsk (Overkill) + Dave Bizzigotti (Ripping Corpse) + Bob Barnak (Mr. Grim) + Tony Ochoa (Sindrome) = SPEED KILL HATE!! East Coast Thrash is still alive and as raging as ever. Dave Bizzigotti (bass) contacted me recently. After listening to their current album, OUT FOR BLOOD, I insisted that we do a Q & A along with Bob Barnak (vocals). I love the CD and these guys are pretty damn cool too!!



Hella Jenn Blog: How did you and Dave Linsk hook up?

Dave Bizzigotti: We knew each other in New Jersey....met through a friend many years ago.

Bob Barnak: When the band did the METAL CRUSADERS TOUR Tony hurt his back and couldn't play. I was jamming in Jerzee with a band called Mr. Grim. Our drummer was Jim Roe who through a few of his and Dave's mutual friends got the gig. He and Dave stayed in touch after the tour and when the old singer, Mario Frasca, and Dave decided to part ways Jim told him I may be what he was looking for. Dave flew me down to his home in Florida and the rest is history.

Dave Bizzigotti

HJB: How long did you guys work on Out for Blood? What are some of your favorite tracks and why?

DB: lol.....it took forever.....had some pc issues and almost lost the whole record....Dave saved it but he had to start the mixes all over again.....it was nerve racking but it all worked out in the end. My favorite track is Mark of Judas then I'll say The Cleansing and Breeding Hate...

BB: Dave and I blasted out the lyrics and vocals in a week. A little tweaking here and there and after that I re-recorded parts of Stains of Callous with Jim Roe in his studio in Jerzee. Written in Blood is my favorite tune on the cd. It just gets me going every time I hear it.

HJB: Hammerfist Records is Dave Linsk's company. It seems very DIY, underground, not having to work with a label. How is that working out for you guys, what are some of the pros and cons?

DB: the cons...for me....things take a little longer and that’s about it....the pros....we control our own destiny.....=)=)

BB: Having to do everything ourselves is great. Labels just wanna hear about how much money you can make them. The business is what it is these days. No deadlines is the best part, we get to make music we love at our own pace.

HJB: (To Dave B.) Dave Linsk calls you "the glue necessary for keeping the recklessness together". What does he mean by that? Tell me about some of the recklessness.

DB: That's a tough one.....Dave and I work hard on sound and tone.....there are very few people like Dave that do......he will do what ever it takes to keep a nice clean guitar tone as will I with my bass tones....right now we have it dialed in very nicely so when its time for him to solo there is really no drop in the intensity.....I've learned alot with Dave as far as making your gear work live and in the studio....alot different from other guys I've worked with from back in the day were it used to be "this is my sound your work around me"....so I would say it's a combination of everyone working together and making certain sacrifices that keeps it glued tightly but I guess what he means is that's what a bassist does.


HJB: When are you guys gonna tour? When will you come to San Francisco?

DB: Looks like around January....I hope so....I heard great things about San Francisco...

BB: We are ready to destroy any unsuspecting victims at a moment’s notice. Anywhere, anytime.....lol.

HJB: Tell me something about Speed Kill Hate that you think the masses need to know. Why should they go get a copy of Out for Blood?
Bob Barnak

DB: I have something for the masses.....we started the new Speed\Kill/Hate record....can’t tell you what we are calling it but it will be a double record....=)=)

BB: We are vampires and if they don't buy OUT FOR BLOOD we will be out for blood.........

HJB: THANK YOU GUYS!!! I love what you are doing and I hella look forward to new stuff and seeing you live SOON!!!

You can get SPEED KILL HATE CDs on itunes and Amazon and also at their website here: http://www.davelinsk.com/store.html 

Friday, July 15, 2011

ACRASSICAUDA-Make or Break It Tour 2011

Acrassicauda, the first metal band out of Iraq, is on their second part of touring the United States right now. I had an opportunity to talk a bit to the bass player Firas and later a video interview with Firas and the drummer Marwan. Their music is amazing as well as their courageous fight to get out of Iraq as seen in Vice Magazine's 2007 rockumentary Heavy Metal in Baghdad.



HJB: Hey Firas how has touring in the US been going so far for you guys?

Firas: Good but exhausting but I love it cuz this is what I want is to be on the road and meet new people and play my music.

HJB: Speaking of meeting new people, who are some of the bands you've been performing with? I imagine you have discovered some great ones. (By the way, the band who is supporting you in San Francisco is Yeibichai and it includes the former drummer of Death Angel-Andy Galeon, this will be so fun).

Firas: Well if I could say that every band that we have shared the stage with is great and playing with Yeibichai will be fun ..

HJB: Who are some of the bands who have been an inspiration to you?

Firas: Well as a band we have a long list of people and bands who have inspired us like Metallica, Testament, Slayer, Over Kill, Death and the list keep going cuz the more we live the more we see

Firas Alateef

HJB: Can you tell me something about your latest EP, 'Only the Dead See the End of the War'?

Firas: Wait a minute are we doing the interview now .. lol

HJB: Yes, ha ha! Is this okay? If you want to change your answers, too late! Just kidding. I thought it would be good to ask some questions now and we can do a group video interview on Friday too :)

Firas: Its ok, well this ep means alot to us but its not all what we had yet we have more coming and we can do the video later

HJB: I love the Garden of Stones video. What inspired this song? And tell me about the making of the video.

Firas: Well I will tell u when I get there

HJB: Okay. I saw the video of James Hetfield meeting 3 of you after a show. He handed one of you a guitar. Was that you? The look on your face is AWESOME :)
Marwan Hussein

Firas: The guitar was James' guitar and he gave it to our vocal Faisal Talal and that was one of the best times ever ..

HJB: His eyes were so big!! I loved it!! I can imagine how great that must have felt! Well I am very happy that you are coming to San Francisco! I hope you like our city!
Firas: Ya we r happy too that we will get to play in San Francisco and will love the city. I bet that we love the city from what I heard its a nice city

HJB: It's very foggy! I hope you guys will be warm enough. San Francisco and the bay area is the home to so much great metal, we are very glad to have Acrassicauda visit!


For more info about Acrassicauda please check out their facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/acrassicauda and myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/wwwacrassicaudas5com