UN: Before sitting down to write out the questions for this interview, I sat down and listened to the song Crisis contributed to the Cry Now Cry Later compilation. It made me realize that the band definitely has come a long way over the years. Would you agree that the band has progressed over the years but haven’t really changed stylistically?

Jwyanza: The concept remains the same. We really try to challenge ourselves with every song that we write and the results this time have brought us some new changes, notably a songwriting style that is a little less schizo than before and a new lyrical approach for Karyn which has more to do with struggles that are going on externally as well as internally. There are of couse also things that are integrally Crisis that remain and always will.

UN: Initially I was a bit surprised that the latest album was to be released by The End Records. In the past they have mainly been known for avant-garde music but seem to be expanded their roster to include unique bands from every genre. Do you think that being a band that stands out from the rest of the bands is a good thing?

Jwyanza:It seems that we stand out from the rest of bands no matter where we are we've always seen it as being a good thing even if the industry hasn't. As far as the End Records goes, we're proud to be on a label that doesn't cultivate trends but respects and encourages originality/the avante-garde.

UN: Did the band ever put any thought into signing with Metal Blade again? I think with the End you’ll get the attention that you deserve. It never seemed like Metal Blade really pushed Crisis as much as they could have,

Jwyanza: We have never considered going back to Metal Blade Records again. Our relationship with The End has been positive from the very start. Since they don't have as huge a roster as some of the other labels that deal with the kind of music that we do they can afford to actually treat their bands right which they have.

UN: There was quite a bit of time in between The Hallowing and the new album, Like Sheep Led to Slaughter. Was the band on hiatus or did the band actually break up and reform? I know that there are a few new members in the fold, so I’m assuming it might have been the latter.

Jwyanza: In the time between albums Crisis did a lot of touring. I joined in winter of 1998 and in January 2000 we moved to LA. Soon after we lost our drummer and instead of searching for a new one continued to make music recordings at home using a drum machine. The results of that were to become Skullsick Nation songs which was a bit of a departure from the original Crisis sound (hence the name change) We never broke up. We were always making music. After a while we started to miss the original Crisis sound and concept and began writing while searching for our new drummer who we found in Josh Florian who joined in April 2003. By the summer we had written a bunch of songs together and decided to record them with Billy Anderson although we hadn't yet been signed to any label yet. After recording those songs (re-mastered versions of which are on LSLTS) we hooked up with Andreas and The End Records and eventually went back in to finish the album.

UN: Was working with Billy Anderson something the band has always wanted to do? I think as far as raw sounding productions goes, he can get the most out of them and still make the bands sound incredibly heavy. He has an ability to catch the natural sound of a band. Is the band pleased with how the album turned out?

Jwyanza:Yes, we're very pleased. Billy has worked with some of our favorite bands and as it turned out he had wanted to work with us too for quite some time. He's an expert when it comes to brutal sonics while at the same time retaining a live organic sound which was exactly what we wanted.

UN: Obviously the band has a hand in everything visually, whether it’s the photographs or even the sculptures used for the album covers. Is it safe to assume that you have an ideal visual style that you want to represent the band?

Karyn Crisis: :It was a conscious effort that began years ago when we first moved to L.A. At that time, Crisis fans were getting really involved and starting up websites, doing mass emailings, etc to help support us. All the sites were excellent, but one in particular, called KarynCrisis.com, began as a black, white, and grey site. I liked the work so much that I asked Jwyanza to get in touch with the webmaster and check him out to see if he's the real deal or a flake because I thought I'd like to work with this person in the future. Turns out, the guy's name is Steve Conard, and we've been working with him since those early days in L.A. and he's a friend as well. He's done the new CrisisSite.com as well as the KarynCrisis.com site, and I felt it would be great to have him contribute to the album artwork as well. I love his sense of painterly quality that he achieves with computer generation. His techniques remind me a lot of the graphic novels that I "grew up" reading.

This album's concept was mine. The photos were all done by me and Afzaal, and I created the entire layout. Steve added his graphic stamp to the whole thing.

UN: This album also marks one of the bands first experiments with computer generated art. I believe most of the bands previous covers have been paintings. Was it a conscious decision to try something new for this album, or is this just how everything happened to come together?

Karyn Crisis: : I've been making art for so many years that it's as much a part of me as the music. As soon as I joined Crisis in 1993 I was drawing the show flyers and t shirt designs, etc. It seemed natural- it was a job that no one else took in the band so I took it upon myself. Since I have an artistic vision, I wouldn't consider using anyone else's art for the album cover, but working with Steve has been an enjoyable collaboration, because I think his understanding of the band , and his creativeness add a lot to my work in ways that I am not technically capable of doing, but that I would do if I could. We have very similar tastes, artistically.

UN: Do you think that some bands forget about the artistic side of things? When you put so much effort into the musical side, I couldn’t even imagine giving someone else the responsibility of coming up with a cover concept and putting together the layout. Would you say this is why you mainly do it yourselves? So it represents what the band is all about?

Karyn Crisis: : Like I mentioned before, both the art and music are fused into me and the way I look at the world and communicate with it. One influences the other and vice versa. I don't dictate how I want to band to be represented visually at all. The artwork and concepts are dictated to me in the same way the lyrics come about, largely. But I do have standards and an editing process that I hold all my ideas up to before I settle on "the one". If it hits me hard and gives me a sense of excitement, discovery, then it works.

UN: Musically the new album takes the Crisis sound to the next level. It’s similar to previous material but seems to flow much smoother. When writing the material did it seem any different then previous material? Could you feel that this album was going to be something unique compared to past releases right from the get go?

Jwyanza: Over the past 7 years, Crisis' musical style has definitely become less schizophrenic as far as song arrangements and such. It flows more as you put it. Crisis has always been about maximizing independence between the instruments, that meaning we're all playing different parts a lot of the time as opposed to just locking in together all of the time. Since we've got 2 guitars instead of one this time it does add an extra dimension that wasn't there before. We had no clue how anyone would respond to it but most of the feedback has been great so far.

UN: I find it somewhat amusing that there are a ton of newer bands coming along playing what they call metalcore and it has similarities to what Crisis has been doing for years. Do you think that Crisis gets a bit overlooked when it comes to bands starting to combine elements of hardcore and metal? Like I mentioned before even on a song like Smash to Pieces, you hear the combination and that song is pretty old.

Jwyanza: Yeah, you're right. There are a lot of bands right now that are doing things that Crisis has been doing for about a decade now. Between the music and the band make up and the imagery it proved to be too much for a lot of people when the band first started. Since I just joined in '98 so I'm not being self-important when I say that Crisis pioneered a lot of this stuff that we're hearing in heavy music today.

UN: Does it seem a bit silly that just because you have a female vocalist the Kittie comparison comes up in some of the newer reviews? I can’t help but laugh when I read this. I think it just comes down to ignorance really. Even if this was Crisis’ debut album, I still don’t see the comparison. Crisis was playing heavy music when Kittie was still in pre-school.

Jwyanza: Yeah, it's completely silly. We sound nothing alike. People make those kinds of mistakes when they have trouble accepting something for what it is and feel the need to place it in a familiar category that makes them comfortable. It is one of our challenges to make people like that feel uncomfortable enough to try to dig a little deeper and find out what we're/they're really all about.

UN: It was just announced that Crisis will be opening for Soulfly on their US tour. Would you agree that this will be a great opportunity to bring your music to people who may not have had the chance to be exposed to it before? Chances are Soulfly fans might be more open to different styles of music, so they might not have a hard time getting into what Crisis does.

Jwyanza: We're excited about the tour, the prospect of playing with Soulfly and getting to play in front of their audience. We're looking forward to seeing some old faces on the road as well as creating some new converts!

UN: Would you say that Crisis is around for good now? I would hate to see the band go on hiatus again after coming back with the strongest album of your careers.

Jwyanza: Weeeeee're baaaaaack!