UN: The Red Death definitely might fit into the metalcore genre, but you really seem to be a much more metal based band stylistically. You're more then likely to be playing tremolo picked riffs, then huge breakdowns. Is it important for you guys to keep that heaviness, yet still stay firmly planted with your hardcore based mentality?

Josh: Yes and no. We definitely have been skewing towards being more metal as of late, but we all definitely like having heavy breakdown-esque parts in our songs. However, if it doesn’t sound good to have a breakdown somewhere, we won’t put one in, so if it ever came to the point where a song didn’t have a breakdown, we would never try to shove one in some place.

UN: The bands sound is definitely influenced by the Swedish death metal scene, but I find that The Red Death manages to stay away from typical sounding riffs and manage to use the influences uniquely. Would you agree that the Swedish scene has had a huge impact on the bands sound?

Josh: Definitely. We all listen to several different genres of music ranging from spaced out indie rock to epic metal, however if you pulled over our van at any given time while we were on tour we’d probably more often be listening to Dimension Zero, older In Flames, At the Gates, and Arch Enemy. Also, we listen to a lot of Mastodon and Buried Alive, because they are both good.

UN: How did the deal with Metal Blade come about? The Red Death is still a fairly unknown band so the opportunity to release music on Metal Blade and really make a name for the band must be pretty exciting.

Josh: Our friend Metal Jake does a metal radio program for the school radio station at VT in Blacksburg, VA. He hooked us up with some contacts there and strong urged us to send in a copy of our CD. We thought we might get a little constructive criticism back at best, but instead they called us back shortly with a proposal. Needless to say, we’re all pretty stoked to be quitting our shit jobs at gas stations and grocery stores to go on tour with some label backing.

UN: Do you feel like you guys have really stepped it up for the Metal Blade debut? Was there anything in particular that you guys wanted to do with the album?

Josh: Basically, I would say the new songs we’ve written for the first MB release are definitely heavier and/or faster in general. We basically just want this CD to be a non-stop super aggressive CD from beginning to end, but we also wanted to make it interesting and keep away from being a bland metalcore band. Song structure is very important to us, so we always try to do what feels right without being predictable and cliché.

UN: Your new guitar player was also in If Hope Dies. Did he leave If Hope Dies to play with The Red Death or is he doing double duty? How is he working out? Does he bring anything new to the table for the band?

Josh: Well you see, one day all ten guys in both bands were on a trek through a vast and glorious meadow, when suddenly a great fissure formed in the ground with firey magma burping down deep within its sharp crags right where we were walking. The bands were separated on either side of the abyss, except Aaron ended up on our side, so we planned on making him a roadie and merch guy, except as the ground continued to rumble Nate (our current guitarist) lost his footing and fell victim to the lava’s hellish fury. Aaron was immediately promoted to guitar, and If Hope Dies ventured back home to for a new recruit. Actually Aaron had left If Hope Dies some time ago to pursue an education in the field of photography. Coincidentally, he realized he wanted to be in a band again around the same time we were looking for a new guitar player, and If Hope Dies let us know. He’s definitely a welcome edition to the band, and he definitely steps up our live set, and we’re looking forward to including him in the writing process. He also brings lots of hot pockets and bagels, and we all know that those are delicious.

UN: Are you guys excited to get on the road and really get the name known across the country? Will the upcoming months of touring be the most the band has toured yet in the time you've been together? Can we expect the band to be on the road almost non stop?

Josh: Touring is something that everybody in this band couldn’t be more excited about. The next few months will definitely be the longest we’ve been on the road at one time, and we’re all very eager to head out soon. There’s nothing like seeing people from hundreds of miles away bang their head to a riff you came up with or sing along to a lyric you wrote.

UN: Do you think it's an exciting time to be playing heavy music? Metal Blade especially right now has amazing bands and it's an exciting time for ears right now. Winter Solstice, Into the Moat, and The Red Death are really taking American heavy music in an exciting direction.

Josh: Considering that I think we’re looking at the decline of nu-metal with the rise of popularity of bands like these? Definitely, yes.