UN: Herod was started out of you guys wanting to play material that was more metal oriented then the projects you were involved in at the time. Did those bands just not allow you to explore outside genres?

Mike: In the previous bands I was in, their sole intent was to be hardcore with very little metal. None of us wanted to tarnish what hardcore was. All the bands around now are ruining hardcore anyway. We always in previous’ bands had too much respect for hardcore to play balls out metal and label it hardcore. Bands today are missing that point. It’s ok to be metal influenced hardcore, but to be a full blown metal band and call yourself hardcore is ludicrous.

UN: Was the initial sound of Herod what you had in mind, or has the sound come together over time?

Mike: Herod sounds the way it should now. The way me and Jesse intended the band to sound never materialized beforehand because we never had the right players in the band. We thought the others could grow as musicians, but they could not. So, we had to let them go.

UN: Not even after a year of being around you guys had an EP out, which was followed by Executive Protocol on Too Damn Hype. Do you think that things came together pretty quickly for the band?

Mike: Things came together quickly for the band in the sense that we had releases out quickly. The problem that arose was that neither label advertised or promoted the band. We did what we could on our own. The first few years have been rough.

UN: While on the subject of the older stuff, is it at all different from the newer stuff? I haven't had the chance to check out any of the older stuff just yet as the new disc served as my introduction to the band.

The older stuff is different from the newer stuff in two regards. The old material is all screaming. The old material was recorded in sub-par studios.

Bottom line---it’ll sound different even though it wasn’t much of a stretch to what we do now.

UN: How did Lifeforce come into the picture? Were they familiar with your previous material or were you guys shopping demos to various labels?

Mike: Lifeforce had known about us. I always sent material(demos) to the label. Eventually they decided that we were too fucking cool to pass up.

UN: Are you guys happy with your decision to go with Lifeforce?

Mike: Lifeforce has treated us excellently. Hopefully they’ll keep it up. They have done more for promoting and advertising the band in three months than our old labels did in three years. Don’t get me wrong, our old labels were run by friends, and they did all they could for the band. And if it wasn’t for them, no one would have known who Herod was.

UN:Now onto For Whom the Gods Would Destroy, I just have to say that I am totally blown away! I really went into the record having no idea what to expect, and I was surprised by one of the most refreshing records I've heard in quite sometime.

Mike: Well thank you. That is the best compliment a band could hear.

UN: Are you guys pleased with how the record turned out?

The record came out as good as it possibly could have. So, yes we are very happy with the results!

UN:Would you say that the new vocalist has added a lot to the bands sound? I think I read that he has brought a lot more melody to the band now. One of the things that stands out for me the most are the clean vocals and the very catchy vocal patterns.

Mike: Getting Judah on vocals was the missing piece of the band. He adds to the music instead of takes away from it like our old singer.

UN: Were the older songs mainly just screaming vocals?

Mike: The old songs were mainly screamed, but the pre-production for the new record was all singing by the old vocalist. He could not sound how we wanted him to, so we asked Judah to sing for us, and our old singer graciously steeped aside.

UN: I was just wondering if you could possibly go into detail about what exactly the name of the new album means. Does it tie into the album cover art at all?

Mike: The “gods” are all of the people who have tried to keep us down. We are rising up against the trendy people and showing them that perserverance will pay off. The artwork was done specifically to correlate with the album title. It was done by rob antonucci at www.luchadormedia.com great artist!

UN: What made you guys chose Tough Guy Studios to record the new album? Had you worked in the studio before? I have to say that it is one of the most natural sounding heavy albums I've heard in quite sometime. The lack of a fake sounding drum kit doesn't bother me one bit! Are you guys happy with the sound of the record?

Mike: Tough Guy Studios is owned by one of our friends. Mike Hatalak from It Dies Today. Judah and him were in bands with each other before. He knew what we were all about, and he knew what we wanted. I’d say he delivered. We never recorded with him before though. I wish we did some other records with him. The boy has skills.

UN:Did you guys put a lot of thought into the order of the songs on the album? It just seems to flow and every song just makes sense when you listen to the album. I especially found it nice that the songs seemed to alwaysbe followed by the heaviest tracks on the album.

Mike: Yeah, I put a lot of thought into tracking the record. To be honest, I used Metallica’s Black Album as a template. Big trade secret.

UN: How do you describe the Herod sound to someone that asks? I suppose the ideal way would be to say heavy metal, but that leads a lot of people to believe that you sound like Manowar. Do you think the multi-genre nature of the band makes it hard to pigeon hole Herod?

Mike: I would say that we are metal for every generation of metal head. Herod has something for everyone. It’s true, you can;’t pigeon hole us. That was our intent. We aren’t following a trend. If we were, there would be more mosh riffs, and out of tune vocals.

UN:Are you guys excited about your upcoming tour in Europe?

Mike: We are totally excited for Europe, but scared. Wouldn’t you be scared being an American outside the US? Everyone wants us dead! The tour should be awesome though! We will be in 10 different countries!

UN: Will this be the first time that the band has gone overseas or have any of you had the chance with previous bands?
This is Herod’s first overseas trip. We will make a lot of new fans. Other bands fell apart and couldn’t make it over.

UN: Is it important to have lyrics that have personal meaning? It's fairly obvious that a lot of emotion and thought went into the lyrics, and to be honest they aren't very typical of the metal genre. Was it important to avoid being typical?

Mike: Judah’s lyrics are very atypical for metal. The boy is positive and metal is very negative. And man is he emotional. But this is a good thing because he is bringing a different outlook to metal.

UN: I'm actually somewhat surprised to find out that you guys were from Buffalo. You never really hear of many bands from the area. I think the only other band that I know of that came from Buffalo was Cannibal Corpse, but even they moved to get away from the city. Does the city have much of a music scene?

Mike: Yeah, Buffalo blows goats in many regards, but the people are good here and the music scene is thriving. You have the Corpse, Malevolent Creation, Goo Goo Dolls, Ani DiFranco, Every Time I Die, and a shitload of pretty big hardcore bands from here. Metal is dead here. Hardcore and pop punk are king.

UN: I was actually a bit surprised by the part in your bio that compares you guys to Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest. I hear a little bit of Metallica at times, but I don't really hear the others. I think one band that could be added to that list is In Flames though. A lot of the heavier moments remind me of older In Flames. Are you guys In Flames fans?

Mike: We don’t necessarily sound like those bands mentioned, but if you listen to how we write our songs are structured and how the solos are carried out, you can make the connection. As for In Flames, I see the connection, but In Flames to me has always been sped up Iron Maiden with screaming. I love the band, but I Like Colony best. The boys are split on how much they like that band.

UN: Is touring important for the survival of Herod? It seems that you guys have pretty much be steadily touring since you formed. Is it easy to play shows being from Buffalo and being so close to the Canadian border? I'm sure you guys must play a lot of shows in Canada, as well as in the surrounding states.

Mike: Canada is the hardest place to get into, especially after 9-11. They don’t want Americans entering their country in order to make money. We have been turned away so many times. It’s a crap shoot if they let you in or not.

Just wanted to say thanks for the interview. We appreciate the support and hopefully we will have better luck at the border and can play Canada more frequently. The people in Canada always rule and you guys have the best hot dogs on earth in Toronto.

www.herod.cc
www.lifeforcerecords.com