UN: Decrypt will probably be a new band for many of the people reading this. Can you go through a history for the band? Were any of you guys in bands before playing in Decrypt?

Zach: Decrypt was officially formed around the beginning of 2000/1999. Brad (drums/vocals) used to sing for a punk band, Chris (guitar/vocals) played in a few Pantera styled metal bands, Jimbo (bass) was in a short-lived death metal band with Zach (vocals) before they separately joined Decrypt; All just basic local high school starter bands.

Chris: Decrypt started back in January of 2000 with just me(Chris Montez-guitars/vocals) and Brad Vanderzee(drums/vocals) then we recruited Billy O'neil on bass guitar and started recording our demo "Transmissions from the Fuckhole" and Billy decided to part way and focus on his dick sucking abilities... and then at a local porn store came Jimbo "the Reaper" Kelly replacing Billy on bass and all over his face and we went back and erased all the old bass tracks and rerecorded them with Jimbo's 6 string madness.... We went through about 5 singers in the before our current vocalist... We have always had troubles with finding singers until we ran across the deep throat specialist Zach Gheaja(ex-Ritual Homocide) ... which at that point we decided that we have achieved the perfect line-up for world stimulation... Current line-up: Chris Montez(guitar/vocals)-Brad Vanderzee(drums/vocals)-Zach Gheaja(deep throat specialist)-Jimbo Kelly(bass)

UN: Did you guys have a sound in mind when you guys formed the band? Has it taken awhile to get the sound together? I’d say you guys are definitely a grindcore band, but there are a lot of outside influences as well. I also get the feeling that though the subject matter sometimes isn’t very serious, that you guys take the music seriously.

Zach: The sound pretty much came together on its own through similar ideas and tastes for music. As far as planning there’s not much of that going on, otherwise we’d probably suck. We all love crazy ass shit like Cryptopsy (lord worm is my no.1 influence). My personal goal for this band is to be as ridiculously extreme as we can but we’re smart enough to know that you have to incorporate new things in your music or else it becomes stagnant.

We take chances and hopefully they work out in the end. Brad is very punk-oriented, and he writes 50 percent of the music and 70 percent of the lyrics. All of us listen to other shit besides death metal and grind and I guess all that comes off in our music.

As far as the subject material, we like to have fun and laugh at shit so we’re not afraid to write some silly shit every now and again to ease the tension a little bit. Hell, I laugh at my favorite bands everyday for their extremity.

Chris: When we started in 2000 we were looking for the most extreme music set at the fastest pace possible... All of the first songs were straight grindcore... Non-stop grinding!! but as we kept writing shit, our musical influences were expanding and it started to show in our music and then also with the addition of Jim and Zach added to the whole overall writing of the songs.... but the greatest influence came from an old Rick Astley tape emerged and pushed us to write the sickest grind shit known to man and the rest is history..... The music and lyrics are very serious shit to us but sometimes it is good to not be so serious and talk shit about all the downfalls of society....

UN: Just a quick question here, what exactly does the name mean? I’m assuming you guys just made up the word, but you guys must have a meaning behind it.

Zach: Well its up to you to decide your own meaning for it. I think it represents our obscurity quite well so I’ll not answer that with a definition.

Chris: We were looking everywhere to find something that wasn't your everyday run of the mill name... Something serious yet really does mean shit... Decrypt is to uncode special messages/ to break through and expose.... b/c i do love to expose myself in front of all boy catholic schools....

UN: How did Forever Underground come into the picture? I think they are a label that is definitely going to be around for a long time. They seem to find bands seemingly out of nowhere and consistently have amazing releases. Are you guys happy with the work FU has done on Holy Erotic Rapture?

Zach: Actually Bill lives a neighborhood away from me in my town and I started going there to buy death metal CDs from his distro about 3 or 4 years ago before I even heard of Decrypt. He was actually the one who told me about Decrypt, I still remember it; “I went and saw Decrypt. Total Cryptopsy worship! The singing sucks though.” It took a while to release Holy Erotic Rapture because he lost his job and ran short of cash but now that it’s out I think he’s doing a real good job. We got a bit impatient but that’s over with. He’s all by himself so it has to be difficult.

Chris: Bill from Forever Underground is a great guy and great friend that gave us the opportunity that no-one else would.... We sent our shit out all over and no-one seems to like grindcore anymore... Everybody wants that experimental crap that you care more about your haircut then the music... Bill is always giving young, supple, up and coming talents a shot to shine and he represents his sexuality all over their face... We pretty much did everything ourselves except getting it pressed and Bill help with the layout but all the artwork and shit was there and ready before sending out to any record labels.... Bill does a great job on his shit and if you are not familiar with Forever Underground Recs check out Jasad, Mutilated, and the almighty Prophecy!!!

UN: I would say that Holy Erotic Rapture has a surprisingly strong sounding production. Who produced the album? Was there a certain sound you guys had in mind? I can’t get over how good the guitar sounds, and the drums are super tight as well. In short, it sounds better then a lot of albums on much bigger labels.

Zach:Well thanks man, our friend Neil Burkdoll in Stump produced the album along with our upcoming album Armageddon Anthems/Stump split. He’s got a degree in that shit, we record at his home studio for real cheap. He just recorded Brad’s solo project The Pink Machines in 1 day and it sounds fuckin great!

The sound we had was basically our live sound and regular guitar equipment, which I might add is not Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifiers. The guitar rig is a Peavey 2*15 cab and a Peavey 4*12 cab pushed by a Crate guitar head of some kind and a Crate Power amp. Pawn shop crap and through a noise gate/distortion cranked to 11. We didn’t plan any particular sound and we weren’t disappointed with what we got.

Chris: Thanks for the kind words on that shit!!! It was recorded and all done up by Neil Burkdoll from Stump( www.manuremetal.com ) and he does fucking awesome work at a great price... We were looking for anything better than our demo recording but not too overproduced b/c it loses the intensity without the rawness.... The guitar sound was kinda like throw a mic in front of a speaker and go at it... We really didn't search for a certain guitar sound... but i am happy with what came out but the new shit will destroy that... and the drums were all done on the first take b/c Brad is the man and does it like that... like a fucking machine!!! Sometimes i just sit there behind my speaker and rub my dick watching him play, but ssshhhh don't tell Brad....

UN: I was curious to ask how the artwork tied in with the name or the whole concept of the album? It’s a very well down drawing that I think would look pretty damned good on a t-shirt. Are you guys pleased with the art? Who was the artist that did it?

Zach: Ryan Flaherty!!!! He is the most amazing artist I have ever seen. He’s got skills with all types of mediums. You’ll have to go through us to contact him as I don’t know his contact information, but it’s well worth it because he can do whatever you need him to. He’s going to be our Dan Seagrave. We’re going to have him do all our album covers. He is part of the Decrypt image.

The concept of the album to be frank is God descending on Earth to copulate with humans. The art is what it is and we didn’t feel we had to have a picture of a long gray haired man fucking people doggy style on the cover. The art was done long before the album came out. It’s just another example of our obscure nature, I guess.

Chris: Fucking Ryan Flaherty!!! He does some of the best artwork i have ever seen... he does all of our shit for us including the demo, the full length, the split with Stump, our 7"/cd, our shirts, and also clips the shit bundles off my fuckhole... So he is an all around bad ass and we will continue to use his shit for as long as we are around... the artwork really speaks for itself and has any meaning you want to come up with on how it ties together with the title....

UN: I haven’t heard the demo you released prior to the full length on Forever Underground. Is it along the same lines as the newer material? Would you recommend that people into Holy Erotic Rapture should check it out?

Zach: “Transmisssions from the Fuckhole”, an extremely raw and harsh album that many people seem to like BETTER than Holy Erotic Rapture. Brad did vocals in my place because I wasn’t in the band yet. It good shit, and if you like Holy Erotic, then you’ll like that too. I think its less metal than Holy Erotic and more extreme in certain respects.

Chris: "Transmissions from the Fuckhole" is more for fans of true grindcore... it is super-fast as fuck and just all out insanity... We cover Blondie's "Call Me" and Danzig's "Mother" in a whole new way plus 6 originals... there is a couple of songs off "Transmissions..." that we re-recorded for "Holy Erotic Rapture" -Greed Disease and Fecal Matter Platter... definately if you like "Holy...." b/c of how extreme and up your ass it is then you will truly enjoy "Transmissions...."

UN: I was curious to ask if you could tell us more about Armageddon Anthems? Is this going to be the next full-length release from the band? Is it recorded yet? Can we expect it to be in the same vein as Holy Erotic Rapture? Any idea who’s putting it out?

Zach: “Armageddon Anthems” is a split with Stump that is to be released around April/May by Forever Underground. It’s all done and we are waiting for Stump to finish the mixing on their side. It’s still Decrypt, but it’s different than Holy Erotic. I don’t know if it’s as fast but it’s more polished, more methodical. Once I heard the mixed version I was really pleased. There are a lot of new vocal elements on it that I didn’t get to do before. It’s good times.

Chris: It will be the longest split out there that i know of with Stump.... We will each have over 30 minutes of music on it... There is 10 new songs from us and a re-record of Poop Chute Massacre from the demo... Everything is done except we are working on the layout and it is looking for a mid/late 2004 release on Forever Underground Recs again... You can expect a even more diverse album out of this one... it is very Brutalical!!! Brutal yet technical with a pinch of sickness!!! there is some advanced mp3's on the site www.decrypt.cc

UN: How does the songwriting work within the band? Does everyone have a say? Do the songs usually take a long time to finish or do you guys just go on feel and bash through songs as quickly as possible? Is it important to still have memorable riffs even if you’re playing at breakneck tempos?

Zach: The songs come in quick succession in groups and then there is a 3-month gap between work on anything new. This isn’t intentional but it is most certainly a pattern I’ve noticed. Brad and Chris write most of the songs, but sometimes I get to write and so does Jimbo. The riffs have to be spectacular, no matter what. Chris writes the best riffs ever, I think. I don’t know where he comes up with it sometimes. We’ve got a couple new songs, “Peter Pan Christ”, which is about the messiah flying into your bedroom window at night clad with bulge enhancing tights and “Shattered Terrain” which is about the end of the world, both written by Chris that are amazing songs. I can’t wait till we get those recorded.

Chris: We usually write the songs and then come to practice with the shit already in mind and it goes smoothly as hell b/c everyone is like a finely tune fuckrod and everyone learns the shit within seconds... I think every song that we have wrote, we were drunk as shit and ready to fuck... Usually takes a couple of hours to get a song down and tight... We try to make all our riffs memorable but we really don't like to repeat shit, so it is hard to remember something that you heard for 3 seconds of a 4 minute song... we just try to keep shit flowing like the juices of humanity....

UN: It seems like there is a lot going on within the songs, which is a bit different for most grindcore. I was actually curious to ask if you guys were big fans of Macabre? I especially hear it when you guys will be playing a riff on the lower strings and doubling it with essentially the same thing on the higher strings. Macabre does this quite a bit.

Zach: Ha. You’re the second person to compare us to Macabre. They’re awesome, man. We’re all fans of Macabre, but I think they’re the last thing we’re thinking about when we write songs. It must be because both Decrypt and Macabre are prone to use a higher string in a main riff of a song. Most death metal bands stick with the heavy strings it seems.

Chris: We are all big fans of Macabre but i am losing interest with them as they are losing interest in writing good music... I think it is just having 1 guitar thing that you really don't know what you are going to play for 2nd guitar when you get to the studio and it is easiest with that kinda speed to just blast the same thing but somewhere else on the gat and all the riffs are just the way they were meant to be and it is hard to add to the madness that is going on already....

UN: Lyrically you guys seem to be a bit different then the norm for Forever Underground. While most bands on the label seem to have the gore approach you guys seem to have either personal lyrics or somewhat political lyrics. Was it important to have lyrics that said something instead of just rehashing the same gore themes over and over again?

Zach: Well gore got boring a long time ago so we just write about whatever we want to. A lot of it is anti-religious and political but we aren’t limited to that. This is my life and I’m not going to let anyone’s standards for a death or grind band influence what we do. If there’s something we need to get off our chest, this is the perfect place to do it, not that anyone will be able to sing along to it.

Chris: I really enjoy gore and pointless lyrics b/c they are funny to me and being offensive is great but it is much better for it to mean something... Offend someone where it hurts.... b/c the music is so serious, it is only right for the lyrics to be as well.... I think that you need gore lyrics for anyone to notice you nowadays... but it is too easy to be unintelligently gory... our shit has a lot of heart and meaning to it and really means alot to us...

UN: Do you guys get the chance to tour much or do you guys mainly just play a few shows at a time or single shows? Would you guys be interested in heading out for longer periods of time, or do you schedules just not permit it?

Zach: We definitely are nowhere near big enough to tour yet. We actually tried to set up a tour for this week but most of it is falling through. Our schedules don’t permit us to lose our jobs over a 20 person show we’re used to playing, my guitarist would likely disagree with me here, but nonetheless it’s not economical at this point. We don’t get paid for shows very often. Now if Suffocation and Nasum went on a tour and asked us to come out, that’d be a different story. But honestly, I don’t see it happening and I don’t see us as a band accessible enough for most people to support therefore we will be staying right where we are.

Chris: We would love to tour all over and i would love to do it everyday of the year... We were supposed to go out and do some shows this month(march 2004) but our bassist cried his way out and couldn't quit his $6/hour job for fear of losing his McDonald's employee of the month for 2 months in a row... So I had to cancel all the shows an hour before leaving?? Which sucks!!! but we will continue to grind all over with or without a bassist... We have tons of shows coming up and we do plan on doing a tour a soon as we get some shows... so contact me at decrypt@rock.com if you want us to play in your hometown and we will be there....

UN: What’s next for the band? Are you guys pleased with the direction the band is heading? Hopefully once Armageddon Anthems sees the light of day Decrypt will be a household name within the underground.

Zach: I just want to record some more music. It’s been too long. In the end it’s all about creating something new.

Chris: We have tons of shit coming up including a 7"/cd titled "Juices Of Humanity" on Undecent Recs. We are going in to record another split with our good friends Plague Bringer (www.plaguebringer.net) and another split with Putrid Pile (www.putridpile.com) and as said before Armageddon Anthems out this year (2004) which is a split with Stump... plus we have 2 different shirt designs now "Fuck Your Opinions" and "Abortion Anniversary" basically we are playing shows wherever we don't get kicked off of the stage...

Well, thanks for the interview and the support.... I hope to see you all on the road in the journey for world stimulation... check us out at www.decrypt.cc and contact us at decrypt@rock.com.............