"CANNIBAL CORPSE IS IN THE TOP 40, SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THAT!" AN IN DEPTH, FANTASTIC DISCUSSION WITH JAMIE STEWART OF THE ABSENCE

16 years going, and 16 years going strong, The Absence have pummeled our senses with their high level of Florida Melodic Death Metal. Been in the game for so long, I had the pleasure to have a long and endearing chat with vocalist, frontman, one of the creators and founders of The Absence, Jamie Stewart. We discussed the band's new album in eight years, their Suicidal Tendencies cover, Metal history and popularity, difficulty writing quality Melodic Death Metal, and much more!

(The entire 40 minute interview is also available in audio form at the bottom of the page)

Metalchondria: Is this your first time at The Slidebar (Fullerton, CA)?

Jamie Stewart: Yes it is!

Have you ever heard about it before in Orange County?

Yeah, I've seen it on some fly tour flyers, posters and shirts. I've heard through it, about it on Facebook and stuff like that.

Have you tried the food here?

We did today, yes. And it was really good (smiles).

Food is really good here, there's free shows, there's a train station right here, it's a really great place.

Yeah, it seems like it. I like the decor, there's some old school Punk Rock stuff in there, which is right up my alley. Plus the Lemmy stuff, they have his boots inside in a little glass case, it's pretty cool.

And so on this tour, I believe today or a few days ago, the tour broke up. You were playing with Exmortus, and I believe today, now The Absence is headlining the rest of this now?

This is our first headline for the I guess, you can call it the "Mini-Tour After the Tour", for us on to take us home. Because the tour ended last night in Oakland, The Summer Steel Tour with Exmortus, and Hatchet. Black Fast were on earlier for a handful of dates. Micawber, and Novereign, Immortal Guardian but we didn't get a chance to play with them, because they were on earlier dates. We got on about a week into the tour when it hit Tampa. We picked up there, and then we did the rest of it over to Oakland. So obviously today's the first day, of our headline tour run.

Micawber played with Vader last year. They are tremendous.

Yeah, they were super heavy! They were supposed to be on a few more dates, but it ended up only being, I'm not really sure. I think it's some weird, yeah. Just stuff happens sometimes within the business aspect.

And I believe on the tour, were you co-headlining with Exmortus? Or were they headlining?

No no, it's their tour. We were direct support for them, their new album out. So all the tour, flyers and posters, were after their album art, so it was definitely their headline tour. We're the direct support, and then Hatchet before us. So it was a perfect package, actually.

About two years ago, they were openers for Abbath, and Children of Bodom, and they got one of the best, sold out Galaxy show, they still got one of the best reactions. They've been doing really well, and in regards to that, being on that tour main support, with the new commercial success they've been having, especially around this local scene. How was it being on that tour? Did you notice more in the crowds, the attendance, being around a young band that's getting really hot right now?

Yeah, there were some shows varied, but for the most part, the shows were pretty packed out. And even some of the ones that were, sometimes it's just hard to get people out on a weeknight, but more often than not, we've had really great success with weeknight shows. Like last night, was freaking awesome. But, the one thing I noticed the most, was even in places, well you'd say a "thin crowd", one man's person thin crowd could be the most people that's anybody's played for, so am I to say? And they were spending their hard earned money, on everybody's stuff. They were buying shirts, buying patches and stickers, buttons, and like you know, the drum heads or drumsticks, or blah blah blah, they were actually like, not just paying to get into the shows, but they were coming up to the merch table, and spending quite a bit of money on merch. At any given moment, you'd watch these kids walking out of shows, that are just arm fulls of all the band's stuff. And that was a really good feeling. Because a lot of people out there coming to shows, you know, people are broke, man, in this day in age. Especially here in the states, you know, time's are a lot tougher than some would say, there's real life man, you get older, you got bills, you got stuff, those dollars becoming very precious to you. A lot of people, even kids to full-blown adults, grey hair, and beards and all, you know? They were just supporting the bands fully, and it was pretty powerful, and kind of humbling, to see that.

Tonight's a free show too, so hey, more for people to have a little extra.

Exactly! No excuses, you know? Come on out, have a good time, it's free. And the food here is awesome, the ambiance is awesome, and we're looking forward to it, man, it's pretty cool.

It's been about eight years, seven years since your previous record Enemy Unbound, now A Gift for the Obsessed released in March, and I made a comment about the album too. I noticed with first 3 albums, you play Melodic Death Metal. The production on the low end was like in a way, it was like a treasure map, had to hear more parts, learn more things as you go along. With the new album, I felt the production was solid, not in a "modern" kind of way, but still very clear. I felt like everything was all at once, and this kind of an open, expansive, with this kind of production. Talk about it's been so long since the previous record, and how the making was for this?

Well, Jeramie (Kling, drummer) and Taylor (Nordberg, guitarist) both engineered and produced the record. We recorded it at their studio, Smoke and Mirror Studio. So we were able to have way more of a hand's on approach, and this is pre M-Theory being involved. Because we recorded it, tracked everything ourselves, or I should say Jeramie and Taylor did, and not to say that we had to take our time, but we had a little extra cushion, in what we wanted to accomplish. We didn't have to look at the clock so to speak, you know? And then we set it off to Sweden, to Ghost Ward Studios with David Castillo, and to have him mix it, just because you get so involved with your own thing, and they did a preliminary mix on it and stuff like that. Once the demos were done, and, "Hey, can you send that to me?" You want to hear what you just recorded, whether it's mixed or not. They did a pretty good job setting it up. David just killed it, so I think the combined effort of Jeramie and Taylor's magic ears, and not tweaking mixed with his, and then "PLEC" Johansson, the guy that mastered it, they all made it scream, man! It's the best sounding record we've ever made, it's the best record we ever written.

We're all extremely proud of it and happy with it. I mean it was already paid for, and mixed, and blah blah blah all that stuff, and Marco from M-Theory caught wind, and was kind of helping us with some other stuff, and he's, "Hey, I'm doing this label. Really interested in putting that out, love the way the album sounds. We kind of had a three song demo, we put out "Sceptic Testament" about a year before that, as a stand alone single, because that was one of the ones that was ready to go. It kind of showcased everything, so yeah, I'm going to have to go with Jeramie and Taylor, and David kind of, and "PLEC", really just, they just...I (pointing at himself), can actually listen to it as a fan, which it's been a long while since I've been able to do that. And not to sound cocky or anything like that, but I do prefer to actually enjoy my own music, from time to time just put it in, and just kind of in my, in my lonesome drives home from work, or whatever. Just kind of gloat a little bit, like a proud father. So all credit to those guys. And you know, in this day and age, people have better ears, I wouldn't say exactly. It's (pauses), maybe just innovation with recording techniques, and what not. And they all know what they're doing, to a profound degree and it shows on the record.

One of the other parts I noticed too, the S.T. cover. I like the fact that, well, it's really hard to do a cover. I believe for covers there's two rules you should have: It should have enough of your original sound, but should also have enough of the original song as well. There was a melodic intro in the beginning, and then main line and it goes into it, you can already tell! Tell me about picking that song in particular, and with that kind of rule set, where you want to sound like The Absence, but you also wanted to remind people, this is Suicidal Tendencies!

**A Gift for the Obsessed, The Absence's latest album in seven years**

It's all really all in the title. There's been a lot of adversity against the band throughout the years. Sometimes you roll the dice on some decision making, processes and you hope for the best, and always try to do the best thing. And sometimes, and as Chuck Schuldiner would say, "Trap yourself in a corner", a little bit. But you got to rise above, and you have to overcome those things. Just drama maybe with former members, or just people who are just like, "Oh, the original guitar player's aren't there, who gives a crap?" Or, "Oh, it's been eight years since you put out a record, it's been x amount of years since you toured, your band's done!" "You're all older, having kids, doing this..." Blah blah blah, and you know what? It's a song we've wanted to cover as a band for a few years now, and it just kind of got tossed in, when it come time to talk, "Hey! Let's do some covers." Because we rerecorded a few, and obviously it was the one that was released. The other ones aren't ready for anything yet, but that one in particular, the title's like, "You Can't Bring Me Down", you know? And it's got kind of a political leaning to it, without being overly focused on one thing, just kind of the general consensus throughout the years, people are getting upset about the wrong things, and all that. It's about people wanting to talk trash, and it's like, you can say what you want to say, but you're not going to bring us down, we're going to cover this song, obviously we got Bjord Strid of Soilwork to come in and kind of handle, because that song is pretty intense vocally, so it was kind of perfect. You could do two people on this song, and it worked out great. He did such an amazing job, and obviously Soilwork, from way back when was, and are a huge influence on us, so that was a dream come true, to share a track with that man. Yeah, it's all in the title, it's a fun song, it rips! That song freaking rips, man. So it's a little bit of everything, but it was a kind of happy coincidence with the title. It wasn't just the title, but in the end, that's the best way to put it. You can't bring us down, let's go ahead and put it on the record. It fits very well.

Very well said. You also mentioned about your new members, your previous guitar players Patrick (Pintavalle) and Peter (Joseph), who were in the band for a very long time, are not in the band anymore. You have Jeramie and Taylor, your newer guitar players, what was the writing like? Was it more of guiding them into something of a vision that you've known the band before, or knowing how good they are as players, and what they like as well? Confident enough to bring them in, and keep that The Absence sound as close as possible?

**Myself, and Jamie Stewart of The Absence**

Well, Taylor has been with us, Peter quit quite a while ago, at this point. It's been quite a few years, I can't remember exactly, really have to think back. But Taylor's been playing with us for quite a while, he's done previous to this, a bunch of touring with us extensive, and just at home stuff, or short runs. The last time we did a full US tour, he was on it. We went to Mexico, Canada, the whole nine. To be honest with you, as far as the writing process, Jeramie came back, he was not on Enemy Unbound, and then shortly after we released that, we lost our drummer Justin (Reynolds) at the time. The accident happened, and Jeramie kind of just worked out, where he just came back to the fold. It was a family reunion because, he's the drummer for this band, you know? He was playing with Taylor in Infernaeon, and he mentioned, "I got a friend who plays in Infernaeon, he's pretty much into everything. Loves The Absence, loves Melodic Death Metal, he's a great player, he an handle all the leads." And he could, because he listened to Pete's leads, and learn them all, I mean figure all of them out, played them the best I've ever heard them, to be honest with you. But he already had it down, he knows how to, just kills it. And obviously Jeramie always had a lot to do with the writing process as well, with arrangements and you know, knowing when the tell the guitar player,"Hey, you should play that, this many times and stop there."

Not like this run-on sentence, they kind of power housed it initially, and they wrote the whole record, with the music and what not. And then we got Joey towards the end, and he put his touch on it. And obviously, we started working on vocals, with the demos and stuff like that, so they just kind of hit the ground running with it, and this thing, where he, Taylor would just start sending demos. He would record to a click, and Jeramie would put some drums on some stuff, but it started this barrage. Songs would be done in every three days, or two songs every three days. It's at to the point now where he's doing that again. We got like 12 songs demoed on deck, guitar wise after this, so we don't have plans on slowing down on the side note. But yeah, they killed it, and were sending songs like, "Whoa, man! You guys like really captured the sound of this band, while progressing as players and progressing as sound." Anybody can listen to it and go, "Oh, well that's not what Pat would have played, or what Pete would have played." Well I think there are parts where you can say that. But of course, there are parts where you're not going to hear, you're going to be able to say, "That doesn't sound like what they would have played", because they're not playing it.

And to be honest with you, it's seven and eight years, I would imagine that it probably wouldn't sound the same, as it did back then? People progress as players, and that was a big thing with Pat, is that he didn't want to play Death Metal anymore. And he did his own band, Porcelain, which I think is now defunct, he might still be doing it, where he sings and plays the guitar, and a lot of those songs, were supposed to be Absence songs. And they were cool, but it wasn't what we wanted to do. He wanted to do more the clean singing thing, he wanted to be the front man. And you know what? You should do your thing, and do your own band. And he did, and it was a lot of headbutting as far as the writing, and why it took so long. He went in and did that, and if anybody wants they think if Pat was still involved, what The Absence would have sounded like, they can check out Porcelain, which, great songs. He's got a great voice, he's an excellent player. And you can hear the tinge of Absence in there because of, you know, he and I started the band originally before Jeramie, way way way back in the day. We both realized in the middle of the street outside of a club, we loved the band Edge of Sanity, the Swedish Death Metal band, and that sparked a lot.

Dan Swano.

Dan Swano (smiles). Again, people can talk, people can say what they want to say, none of it's going to bring us down. It's Melodic Death Metal, and I think as a genre we're doing, for the genre, I think we are doing it justice, I think we're still doing it justice, and I think we do a really job at doing it justice.

You swayed right into my next question. It's more of an interesting theory when I was thinking about hearing the new album, and your previous work of course. Hearing the track, "Fear of Existence", and everything, and I know in the middle, there's this really dark, Thrashy breakdown after all of the lead at the middle. And it took me back and said to myself, "It's hard to write good Melodic Death Metal." It's hard. There's a lot of copycats, a lot of people taking that style of: (humming an attempt at what a typical Melodic Death Metal song starts out) , that typical style where drumming's at about 150 BPM. Is it hard to write Melodic Death Metal for the band, today still?

It's hard to write anything, really, you know? Obviously you want to be fresh, and you want to be (pauses), I don't know what the word I'm looking for is. You want to be dynamic, you want to be creative, you want to be able to put out something that again, does it justice but at the same time, is invigorated and has it's own sound going to it. I think they kill it, because they have their own sounds and styles as players, you know? Taylor, Joey (Concepcion, guitarist), Jeramie, Mike Leon (bassist), myself, we have our own particular styles and we all play in other bands. Jeremy and Taylor's Swedish Death Metal band are playing tonight, where Jeramie's the singer, Taylor's the drummer, and our sound guy Brandon's the guitar player. Since we're all here, they're the direct support band for basically, we're basically opening for ourselves. And Taylor plays bass with Soilwork, Jeramie plays drums in Venom Inc., and Joey plays with Jasta (Jamie Jasta of Hatebreed) in Armageddon, and various other bands, he just went out with Sanctuary.

So everybody has their own individual and when you bring it to the table, it's still Melodic Death Metal. I can't speak, and I don't know how hard it was for Taylor to write it. I personally think that he's one of the most creative people, I've ever met. And due to the fact that he was able to write a song, demo it, and then three days later, write another song, demo it, two songs later, and just keep banging these songs out. I would imagine that there's no shortage of inspiration. So I'm going to go with in general yeah, it's hard to play guitar, it's hard to scream, it's hard to be, your dexterity and your fluid motions and stuff like that. Because I think because how often that he makes music, I mean he and Jeramie are in a like a million bands together, they're constantly making music. I think that creative flow, gets the juices flowing as far as writing. And I think he was coming off writing a bunch of stuff, for other stuff and what not, and I think that probably helped with the demoing of these new songs. Which there's only one that has some drums or whatever, and he still was going to write stuff. I'm going to with a yes or a no, on that one (laughs).

Taking you back a bit, nostalgia. June 2006, Graveworm, The Absence, Destruction, Kataklysm, Vader, Showcase Theater in Corona. I was there for that, and you mentioned that people progress and evolve, I like to think Metal is a lot like computers. In a year, so much time and so many things happen. That was 12 years ago, right after From Your Grave, about a year after. Tell me the Dark Age of those bands that people may not remember, Lykethea Aflame, Anata, Ingurgitating Oblivion, Devourment, Gorguts, etc. Talk to me about that time period, when in that 2002-2006, Metal was golden. Vital Remains headlined The Galaxy in Santa Ana, 1000 people, sold out during Dechristainize. People forget what it was like at that time period.

I think for us, we ended up touring with Metalcore bands, kind of a bit. I wouldn't say unfortunately, because we like some Metalcore. I came up in the Punk Rock and Hardcore community, and that's still a huge part of my life. Bands like that, I was there for like the birth of Metalcore, in the 80s and 90s, and stuff like that. And I like a lot of it, but with the Melodic Death Metal thing, a lot of people gotten a At the Gates CD, and a lot of people, as you were saying earlier, got that like, that freaking, (His rendition of your average Melodic Death Metal song), and I think that kind of lumped us in with some of those bands, but at the same time, we still get the, "Oh my god, I can't believe this band is from America! Oh my god, I can't believe this band is from Tampa, Florida!" But back then, I feel like we put our album out, after Metal had this grand resurgence, you know? Headbanger's Ball came back, Jamie Jasta was hosting it. I remember when Hatebreed was a band, that had, before Satisfaction is the Death of Desire. I remember that band before that, when they had Under the Knive and the split 7" with Integrity, a split 7" with this band Neglect. For people now, Jamie Jasta's created an empire with Hatebreed and for himself, and all that kind of stuff. But to see him do that was like so freaking cool, and it kind of really big win for us, in the Heavy community. Where like, Hardcore and Metal were totally, I also remember Hardcore kids and Punks, Metalheads, it was like oil and vinegar for the most part. But Headbanger's Ball came back, all these Metal labels, and honestly, it's because of the internet. You know, in MySpace music? (laughs) You remember that! But, it was like styles and genres at that point, weren't going away. Nu-Metal was just as popular as it ever was, and then here comes Death Metal. Here comes bands like Killswitch Engage, or Shadow's Fall, or Darkest Hour, some of those bands had the whole good cop, bad cop screaming and singing thing. But some of those bands didn't, and some of those bands ended up getting that later on anyways. There was a big resurgence, and it wasn't going anywhere, it getting more, and more, and more, and more popular. Sounds of the Underground, Ozzfest was still going on, and you go to Ozzfest and it'd be like, Lamb of God, Slayer, Every Time I Die, Slipknot, Hatebreed, you know, Mastodon, freaking or whatever, Superjoint Ritual, Priest, Sabbath! You're getting old school with the new school, and again, it wasn't going anywhere, nothing was running it's cycle and unpopular, so to speak. Bands fall by the waist side, but that's on a band level, styles and stuff like that. Even to this day, I mean, Death Metal is the most popular it's ever been. Maybe outside the 90s where it was like, "What is this?!" When you come out of the 80s and it's Cannibal Corpse being in freaking Ace Ventura, and Jim Carrey genuinely being a fan of Death Metal and talking about Napalm Death on Arsenio Hall.

I saw that (laughs).

I think that we came out right after that, that big like boom, you know? For us playing a European, a predominately European style, I would say, for an American band that set us apart. But you know also, it's our first album, our first tour, you throw it at the wall to see what sticks. We had trouble with booking agents, and just decision making processes, like any young band. We learned a lot throughout the years, and at this point, I think we're utilizing it to the best of our abilities. It was cool, it was weird and really cool, for being a fan so long, and to see that and be a part of it. To go and see bands like Opeth play these insanely huge venues, going from the Brass Mug, which is the classic Metal club in Tampa. It's like the size in there almost (pointing at outside deck), it's a real small place. Dude, I saw Amon Amarth, Deicide, Behemoth, Revenge, and Vehemence, in that building, know what I'm saying? And look at Behemoth now, and look at Amon Amarth now, Deicide. I saw tons of stuff Nile there, Incantation there, DRI, freaking Death Angel, I've seen so many amazing shows throughout the years there. When Nile was playing on a stage that was less than a foot off the ground, you know what I'm saying? Well, the Death Metalheads are here and you look around and it's like, "Yeah, there's like 30 people here." Now when you go to a Nile show, there's going to be like 300 people here, because Death Metal isn't getting any less popular, it's getting more popular. It's hitting Billboards, like the fact that, Casey Kasem passed away, but if you really think about this, I can't remember which album this was. But Cannibal Corpse's, one of their albums, I remember it hit the Billboard Top 40, at one point. A few albums, I really don't remember, it was like #37.

Might have been Kill, maybe.

I think it was after that, but maybe not because Kill was a big comeback record for them. And if you think about it, if Casey Kasem was still alive, he would have had to have played that on his Sunday show. I'd love to hear, (In an awesome Casey Kasem impersonation) "Hey! This is Casey Kasem! Coming up next from Tampa, Florida you got Cannibal Corpse." I would love to hear that! It's crazy to think about that, because you don't think that a band that was banned in Russia and various countries because of lyrical content, and because of censorship and stuff like that. A band that talks about literally gutting the world, and ripping entrails out of everything. And very eloquently I might add, those dudes nail it man, such a phenomenal and amazing band. They're in the Billboard Top fucking 40, dude. That's huge! I consider that a huge victory. And then you get guys like Sam Dunn, and he makes A Headbanger's Journey, in Toronto, talking with a new friend of mine, who works with him for Banger Films. This is before I knew who he was, or who he worked for, but I thanked him on the second record. That came out right after that too, and then you get the Zen of Screaming with Melissa Cross and stuff, so there's all these things coming out, because of that boom. And again, I keep saying this, it's not getting any less popular.

Those festival tours have come and gone, but you still got Summer Slaughter, Ozzfest still exists to some sorted degree. You got Knotfest now, Psycho Los Vegas, you got freaking Maryland Death Fest, they got the Death Fest everywhere now! Tour packages are so great, The Summer Steel we just got of, it was phenomenal. I thought it really showcased, and even though we're Melodic Death Metal, the thing with Melodic Death Metal is, it has a lot of Thrash influence. You have Hatchet, who are straight up Bay Area Thrash, and then you got Black Fast, who are this weird hybrid of, Thrash and Death Metal, Black Metal, and just Metal in general.

Black Fast is quite underrated.

Well, their new album is getting a lot of press, and I'm really glad for them, because it's phenomenal. And then you got Exmortus who obviously have the Thrash thing, but then they got the Blackened Death thing, and the Classical virtuoso thing going on. And I thought it was a really good showcase of that, just Thrash in general. You can branch off with all the sub-genres, but you get tours like that, you get things like that. Another thing was, amalgamated bands of different weird styles, how all these things are just melding into each other. So it's been cool to watch the progression, to have been a part of it before that, and especially living in Tampa and finding out a lot of things were already over by the time I got involved. But you hear the stories, and you meet the people, meeting the Tardy brothers (Obituary), becoming friends with Rob Barrett and freaking Paul, from Cannibal. Meeting people involved in the industry and all that kind of stuff, and hearing those stories and watching the progression, watching Metal evolve into this amazing, it's always been an amazing thing. But to really see it get the respect that it deserves, it's pretty awesome because, there's always those stigmas, "Oh look that drunk Metalhead's a freaking idiot!" And that's not the case, man. There's going to be idiots involved with every genre of music, and everybody always wants to look at the negative, but we're not all like that, we all have something to say. And just because you don't necessarily like it, doesn't mean it's not valid. And to watch the validity of Metal increase to a degree where, hey man, Cannibal Corpse is in the Top 40, say something about that!

After this album had just came out, and this tour is going to end, what's next for the band? Touring as much as possible, wanting the right tour, what's the plan for 2018?

The album's out, it's doing really well. We did this tour, as far as because everybody's schedule, this was the tour we could do this summer. We signed a new management deal with a friend of ours, we got Jon Zazula in our corner, as far as spiritual guidance, you know, but he's retired and a good friend of ours, so he's a phone call away. We just plan on touring as much as possible, doing the right tours, and doing things on our own terms and not having to placate to anybody. Just really ready to get it going, and no more roadblocks. No more attitude problems, no more shitty managers, no more shitty booking agents, we've got everybody in our corner, and they're the real deal. Prime, and ready to go.

My last question, as you mentioned before about the past, 2005 From Your Grave, that's an album that most people consider to be, and not just the "First album is always the best from the band", I don't believe that stigma, but the tracks "Heaven Ablaze", "I, Deceiver", "From Your Breath", those classic songs from 13 years ago! You've been in the band since 2002, and are the original member of the band. What have you learned after all these years, and everything you've witnessed in terms of the good, the bad, everything you've observed, which I could always tell you're very observant. What's one of the things you've learned the most through all this time, and what can you look back on and be proud about?

(Long pause) Definitely, it's the age old saying, "Stop and smell the roses." Because it can be gone in a flash, and it's almost been gone in a flash a few times. My thing was, I was always, if this was it, I would really like to be able to look back on that, despite the fact that we didn't get to this, or this never happened, or blah blah blah. We got to do...if it stopped right now, I could always go look back on it with a smile. We got to do a lot of things, we all know people, everybody's in a band, everybody's a DJ, everybody does this, has songs, and everybody wants to perform or can't find a drummer, or can't find the courage to get onstage or whatever. There's a lot of people that would, despite the lowest moments on tour, which I do believe are character defining moments in the face of true adversity. The other night, when we needed a new starter, and then we tried to have the van towed from the venue in Portland, and the tow truck driver was being incompetent, and smashed our rear freaking window out of the van, in the face of that adversity, my dog Jeramie Kling, set his alarm for 7:30. We got our van to the auto parts store, got up, got the thing, popped it in, installed it, because he's the most mechanically involved, and we made it to the show, late, but we made it in time to load in, set up merch, get on stage, exercise our demons, and have one of the best shows of the tour. It's utilizing those moments to your advantage, taking the time to enjoy what you have, and realizing that, it might be a low moment right now, but there's probably about 9 billion people out there, that would kill to be in your position right now, just for the sheer life experience of it.

Because, that's like...I don't know, it builds character, it builds the comradery with your people, man. I love these dudes, they're like brothers to me. I'm an only child, it's the closest thing I've ever known, to having a brother outside of a handful of best friends that I've had. I was in a band previous, side project thing I did, Jeramie and I especially from that, have been through the ringer, and we've apologized, said our sorrys and learned from it and moved on. And I think we influence each other a lot. I know he influences me a lot, he's a great inspiration, he's an amazing father, an amazing human, and I love him to death. Taylor as well, he's one of the most positive, creative people I've ever met. Joey is just so cool and funny, just a sweet guy. And Jesse Jolly from Amon, and Paths of Possession, he's filling in on bass, he's an amazing dude, grown close. Richie Brown, from Mindscar, he's filling in on guitar. We've known him for quite a while as well, and a great player. We all joke around and Mike Leon's on tour with Soulfly, which I think he's home now, but he was in Europe. That dude's like my little brother man, I've known him for so long, since he was 19, you know? He's like my little brother, one of my best friends, and I just love these guys. I couldn't ask for a better group of humans to play and create something with, and to be fans of what they do and them to be fans of what I do, and on a general, and genuine level. "I want to read, send me your lyrics! I want to read your lyrics." You know, I'll say previous members, probably didn't give two halves of a crap about that, and that's fine, not everybody's into that. But, just learning to appreciate those kinds of things, learning to hire a lawyer to tell you a contract say, and you don't need to roll over at the first deal. You don't need to, it's your band, do what you want to do. Obviously you have management, you have lawyers and advisers that you hire, to help you with those decision making processes. But just because they tell you to do something, doesn't mean you "should" do it. You should consider it, and maybe that is the right thing to do, but you know, think about it, mull it over between amongst yourselves.

And also, it's a racket, it's a game, yeah there's a lot of friendships to be had out here, but in the end, it's a business, you know what I'm saying? And a lot of people are out here to get their "nut", and there's a lot of people out here who will help you, but there's way more people out here that are just trying to help themselves. So don't be gullible, don't roll over, don't just blindly follow what people have to say. And on top of that, don't really listen to what people have to say. Somebody doesn't like your album, that's on them, sucks for them, you know? Or people have and think, "Oh, this is the worst album I've ever heard!" Don't let it get to you, that's why I really don't read reviews and I don't want to read what people have to say, because I'm a sensitive person, it'll probably bum me out or whatever, but at the same time, you get that person that comes up to you, that's like, like the other night in Seattle. Some dude drove 13 hours from Alberta, two dudes drove 13 hours from Alberta, Canada, to come see us in Seattle. And it was like, "I've loved you guys since From Your Grave, you're one of my favorite bands." It's like, mission accomplished man, that's one of the endearing things that somebody ever tell me, it kind of chokes me up a little bit thinking about it. Because, when have you driven 13 hours to go see? I've driven 13 hours to play a show, I can't think of me, driven 13 hours to go visit my family, out of state. But this dude drove 13 hours on a weeknight, to come see our band, and paid to get in, paid and bought merch, and brought his own record for us to sign, and was like, "I can't believe I'm hanging out with all of you right now." Take those moments in consideration, and just step back, just for a moment, and appreciate it. Don't get caught up on, "Oh, they gave us a pizza again tonight! The venue didn't have this, or the sound guy sucked, or you got a flat tire." It's going to happen whether you like it or not, there's nothing you can do about it, to a certain extent. Don't focus on that so much, focus on the guy that's willing, the man or woman that's willing to drive 13 hours to see your band, the person that's willing to spend money on your output, the person that's willing to show your band to their friend, the person that's willing to come and spend their last $100 on you and the touring band's merch. They know that if they don't support music or Metal in general, no one else is going to do it. And then bands like us aren't going to be able to come back. And that's the bottom line.

Any last words for the fans tonight, the rest of the tour, and the rest of the year?

Just buy the album, we got it on ITunes, we got it on Google Play, you can go to M-Theory.com, you can order it from us, out on vinyl, CD limited edition, only 500 are pressed, and we're blazing through those. Get the old albums as well, we're trying to get those pressed on vinyl, finally. And just support Metal, and support the music that you love. Don't download it off the internet, don't steal it, go out and buy it. And if someone gives you a burned copy of the CD or somebody gives you the MP3s or whatever, go to their BandCamp, go to their web store and order T-shirts, order stickers, order patches, order bottle openers, order the lighters or hats, or beanies, or whatever bands have. Whatever you're going to wear, that's how bands really make their money, unless they're putting out their own records, you know? Support what you love.

Jason WilliamsSeptember 23, 2021