UN: How did Atrocious Abnormality first come into fruition? I know that Steve was also in Lust of Decay, did AA form during a time of inactivity from that band?

Brent/drums: Good question, but Atrocious was formed before Lust of Decay became inactive. Me and Steve talked of doing a brutal band back in late 2005 when I was still in the band Chaosego, and he was doing Lust of Decay. I left Chaosego in early 2006 and me and Steve started working on songs. During this time, we shared practice space with L.O.D. and both bands went strong until sometime after the Central Illinois Metalfest in 2007. This is when Jordan stepped down as the drummer for Lust of Decay to do some new things, and the band has been inactive since. But Jordan recently helped out Jay Barnes new band Cesspool of Vermin by laying drum tracks for their full length due out on Sevared Records later this year.

UN: Atrocious Abnormality is quite extreme yet the band tends to be a bit more technical and speed driven than other similar bands. When writing is it a challenge to get things to come together? Does it take a long time to get the songs to a point where they feel finished?

Brent: It is not really a challenge putting the songs together. But we do put a lot of time into our songs. We try to write songs that we enjoy more than anything, and we usually don't add a riff until we are all happy with it. The new material we are working on has been taking a little more time to construct, because we really want to top our last album, and make better songs, yet still keep that Atrocious Abnormality vibe.

UN: You guys also tend to keep songs on the short side. Do you think with this style of music it is better to basically pummel the listener for two minutes and then move onto the next song? It makes the album even more annihilating and without any filler.

Brent: We really try not to think about the length of the songs we write. But we also try not to have long epic songs that repeat riffs over and over. We mainly try to keep the song to where its neither too long, nor too short! But I must admit, some of my favorite bands have short songs, and that probably influences our writing too!

UN: How has the reaction been to Echoes of the Rotting? Are you guys pleased with how the death metal scene has embraced the album? How have the reviews been?

Brent: We are VERY happy with the reaction we have received from the scene. The album sold out of the first 1000 within about 8 or 9 months and is still going strong on the second 1000. And as much as I see our album up for download on blogspots and soulseek, I would say more people have downloaded the album, then bought it. So there must be a good many people enjoying what we have to offer. All of the reviews have been very solid as well! I must say the new album will crush this one though...!

UN: One thing that stands out about Echoes of the Rotting is the awesome production. Did you guys spend a lot of time in the studio? Everything is razor sharp yet still incredibly heavy.

Brent: Thank you! We spent a lot of time on the mixing of this CD. We recorded all the instruments quickly, and spent a lot of time in front of the board with the masterful engineer Bob Moore. We knew that he could get us the sound we were looking for. We recorded in the same studio Nile has used since the Ramsees Bringer of War EP, as well as other great albums from bands such as Lecherous Nocturne, Lust of Decay, SikFuk, and tons more! This is one of the best studios in the Carolinas to record a great death metal album at.

UN: One aspect of the death metal underground that has improved greatly over time is the artwork and layouts of the releases. While once every CD by an underground was plastered with gore photos found on the internet, the style has become a bit more artistic. How did Steve doing the art and layout for the album come about? I know he does a lot of the layouts for most Comatose releases and they look fantastic.

Brent: Well, we were discussing who we should get to do our cover art, and Steve simply said that he would try and sketch something up. Steve has always has great artistic ability. He has done all of the Lust of Decay album covers, so I knew he could do something sick. And he did! We were very happy with the cover, and as for the layout, Steve does great layouts. He is a master at using photoshop!

UN: How does the songwriting work in the band? Does the entire band work on the songs or do you and Steve work out the skeletons of the songs and then you show it to the rest of the band? You and Steve have played together for quite sometime so there must be quite a dynamic formed.

Brent: Well, for most of the first album, it was mainly me and Steve constructing the songs skeleton, and then showing James so he could have input as well. But for this new album, we are really trying to split the writing duties evenly. James is writing a lot of sick riffs as well as Steve, and we try to put them together to create a new level of Atrocious brutality. And yes, me and Steve have always had quite a dynamic when it comes to writing. But me and James are the same way, we all really click together, and that will be evident on the next album!

UN: Russ Hardin joined the band after the debut album was already written and recorded. Has he been contributing to the songwriting at all yet? Does he bring anything different to the band?

Brent: We recorded "Echoes" while we were still a 3 piece, but we recorded the album with 2 separate guitar tracks and sound, because we knew that we wanted to eventually add a second guitarist. And we found Russ right after the recording sessions were complete, so it was too late to get him on the album, but he has brought a ton to our live shows. He adds to the brutality of the live show, and he writes some sick riffs too.

UN: With Echoes of the Rotting out for almost a year now, how far off would you say the follow up album would be? Does the band have a lot of material written for the next album yet? Are you planning on recording at the same studio?

Brent: I would say that the new album will be out around the summer or fall of 2009, but that is just speculation. We will definitely have a demo out before too long to get the buzz going. Also, I must admit that we have not written a lot of the new material yet. 2008 was a huge year for us, we did a tour, and a ton of shows including some great fests, but this really took away from our writing time as you can imagine. But we are not booking many shows at this time just to concentrate on the new stuff. We are very excited about the new material! And yes, I think we will use the same studio!

UN: Would you say that releasing the album on Comatose takes some of the stress off of the band? After all, this is Steves label and you really wouldnt have to worry about any pressure from the label and you know that Steve is going to put 100% into the release.

Brent: I would not say that it takes the stress off of the band, but it does help us feel that we have support from a solid label. Comatose is a great underground label to be a part of, just ask any Comatose band, and they will all agree that Steve takes care of business. He is very professional about doing it the way it should be done. And Steve puts 100% into every single release, not just ours.

UN: Touring normally isnt all that common for underground death metal bands, but AA seems to be a band that plays a lot of shows. Is the live aspect important to you guys? Does the bands song translate well into a live environment? I would assume that a good monitor setup is pretty much mandatory for a band of this nature.

Brent: Yes, a good monitor set up is always helpful. And playing live is what we live for. When we started this band, it was mainly to do as many shows as possible. The songs translate very well live also, I feel like our sound is a lot more crushing in a live environment. We plan to do a lot of touring in the future as well!

UN: What are your thoughts on the current death metal scene? I think there are a lot of bands out there that are kicking ass yet at the same time there are a lot of copycat bands clogging the scene. Are there any current trends in death metal that you find infuriating?

Brent: Yes, I must agree that there are many great bands coming out now, but I also agree that the copycat ratio is getting ridiculous! But that really is not what bothers me most, what does bother me are all these so-called death-core bands that infuse death metal elements into metal-core songs. I hear SO MANY new bands in the local scenes doing this simplistic music with hardcore vocals, and emo fans. It is really sickening! I get so tired of hearing open D chunky riffs like a third rate Hatebreed. It is so overdone!

UN: The internet has totally changed the way the underground operates. Do you miss the days of demo tapes and postage stamps? Theres something a bit more personal about a hand written letter, but the cost of postage alone makes email much more convenient. As clich as it is, do you think Myspace is one of the best ways for bands to get their name out right now?

Brent: I honestly think Myspace has changed the music scene a lot! It makes it so easy to get your band heard by thousands...even millions! It really can boost a bands popularity, and it has become a way for labels to find new acts to sign as well. I really feel that Atrocious would not be doing as well as we are without Myspace or the internet in general. The good ol days of trading demos was great, but times have changed and demo trading has changed right with it. But on the bright side, the internet has brought the value of actual demos WAY up! People are paying top dollar for old hard to find demos, and the reason they are so hard to find now, is mainly due to the net, in my opinion.

http://www.myspace.com/atrociousabnormality