The Inquisition - TOMBS

Mike from Brooklyn's own, Tombs (one of our new favs) took some time out to be the first to go under the red hot iron of the Inquisition. Enjoy! - Mr. Mogul

History in Their Words:
My old band Versoma had just broken up and I had a bunch of song fragments that didn't quite fit so I enlisted Justin Ennis from The Heuristic. I released a record by them a year prior and he was available so we started working together. Our first bassist was Domenic Seita. He recorded the first ep with us, but due to creative differences we split. He went on to form Storm of Light with Josh Graham. Our current bassist, Carson James was just this dude that liked the same music as us and wanted to be in the band. He's one of those "Natural Musicians" so so far everything has been smooth.

To make a long story short, let's just say that Justin was more interested in maintaining a party lifestyle than being part of a band; even signing to Relapse Records couldn't straighten him out. All of this came to a head right before our first European tour. He told us that he couldn't do the tour about nine days before we were supposed to board a plane so I turned to my long-time friend Andrew Hernandez who, at the time was playing in ASRA. Andrew learned our set and did the tour; he's been our full-time drummer ever since.

THE INQUISITION:

1. Why are you in a band?
Playing in a band is only thing that I've ever done with any consistency for my entire life. Jobs, relationships, etc all come and go but I've always played in bands and toured.

2. Do you consider your band successful?
That's an interesting question. I consider us successful in the spiritual sense that we are able to continue writing music that we all enjoy playing and are able to record and tour. That has to come first. Are we successful in the financial sense? No.

3. What are you currently listening to?
A lot of black metal: Leviathan, Gorgoroth, Aura Noir, Behexen, oldDarkthrone, Woe, Black Anvil. I've also been listening to the first Brujeria record quite a bit.

4. Who are your primary musical influences and do you think they are obvious?
My main influences are guys like Greg Ginn, Chuck Dukowski and the early SST crew. After that it's Joy Division, Swans, My Bloody Valentine and a lot of Black Metal. At different times it can be obvious. I think the SST/Black Flag influences are more obvious when we play live.

5. What other band(s) are out there that we should be listening to?
Ahh man; there are so many killer bands. Here are a few: Defeatist, The Wayward, ASRA, Black Anvil, Woe, Bastard Sapling, Engineer, Deathcycle. There's also the more obvious ones like Coliseum, Young Widows Genghis Tron...but if you're reading this site, you're probably in the know already.

6. As a band, what was your best show/experience yet?
Personally, I really loved playing Heart of Winter Fest down in Richmond. We played well, the show was run really well, all of the bands were killer and just being in Richmond is a good time. We have a lot of close friends down there. Also, the fest was totally run with a D.I.Y. vibe. everyone involved was a hardcore/metal/punk/black metal whatever enthusiast, there was a home-made vegan meal available and everyone was well taken care of.

7. What was your worst show/experience?
That would have to be getting shocked at the mic every night on the UK leg of our last tour. That was pretty much a drag.

8. What's your writing process like?
Well, typically, I come to practice with the the main riffs for the song. We run the parts and develop the rhythm sections. Usually, we write the bridges in rehearsal and hammer out the arrangements. The most painful part is the lyric writing which usually takes months to finalize. All the while we're playing the songs live and I try out different sets of lyrics. It's a real chore because whenever I feel like I'm making headway I read the lines and I get that really uncomfortable feeling that some people refer to as "douche chills."

9. Do you see yourselves still doing this in 10 years? Why?
Yes. It may not be the same band, but I can't imagine not playing music, I'm a "lifer."

10. Are there any shows or releases you want to pimp?
February 17, our LP "Winter Hours" is being released on Relapse Records. The repress of the TOMBS / PLANKS Split will be coming out in January on my label Black Box Recordings. We'll be hitting the road with Dysrhythmia in February and in May there's a US Tour with Intronaut, Bison B.C. and Giant. Also, if you're in the NYC are, we're playing a really cool set of shows on Saturday Feb. 21. First, we're playing a matinee at ABC NO RIO with Black Anvil, Woe and Bastard Sapling and then at night we're doing a show at Death By Audio in Brooklyn with Defeatist, Engineer and The Wayward. I'm really stoked about these shows because all of the bands are friends and we all go way back.

BAND OF THE MONTH - JANUARY

TRIGGER EFFECT:
punk/post-hardcore/madness from the Canada.

Equal parts Post Hardcore, Punk, Rock and Roll, and a dash Scandinavian type Metal(?) Trigger Effect bring a few key bands to mind, not the least of them Refused (who they just might be the spiritual inheritors of.) Based in Montreal, Canada, Trigger Effect, in terms of song writing, are incredibly high energy and intelligent. Featuring frantic scream along vocals, razor edged super fast riffs, and pounding drums - Trigger Effect could very easily become a new fav of any modern hardcore/punk/post fan. Check them out now!

Trigger Effect

The Faceless - Planetary Duality - 2008

Extreme Technical "Death Metal" is a rising genre, though not all together a new thing. Bands like Death, Morbid Angel, Cynic, and then ultimately Nile slashed and burned the ground clearing the way for a new generation of Death shredders to grow and flourish.

It's no surprise how brutal and talented this generation of Extremists are, and the Faceless are no exception. They rip and shed time signatures like dead skin, with drum work so technical and insane that many question if the drummer is a human at all. Guitars and bass, yes even bass, are so impressive as to make the rest of us want to put down our instruments for good. The dual vocal attack style also works well for them without feeling too gimmicky.

Their 2006 debut, Akeldama, was a pleasant surprise for me, and it stayed on my stereo for a solid week. Ultimately even though I enjoyed the album, I found songwriting it's biggest weakness. I was still very excited to hear their followup.

The first thing that stands out about Planetary Duality is the vastly improved production. Even in moments of extreme discordance, beats a blasting, every instrument is clear, again even the bass. The vocals are high enough to take predominance without drowning out the rest of the band.

The Faceless seem less afraid to allow a riff time to develop than they did on Akeldama, which definitely adds the songs. Song structures have also become a bit more clear, that's not to say they slump on the musicianship or craziness within a song, but actual song writing seems to take precedence here. Gone are the incessant start/stops that extreme metal bands seemed to favor over the last couple of years, and again I think this is to the album's benefit. The songs seem to flow much better. And of course, musicianship is the centerpiece here - these guys are insane.

There are also more moments on this album with clean vocals, ala Opeth, which overall seems to work to varying degrees. The multiple vocal layers and styles on this album help to keep the vocal work on each song interesting. The Faceless motto seems to be "keep it fresh" and they do a good job of that.

Overall I would say that Planetary Duality is a step forward from Akeldama in terms of song writing maturity and production. And although they have definitely tuned the brutality down (Nile = 10, Akeldama = 8.5, this album is maybe a 7) This is a solid album, start to finish, and I would recommend it to any fan of technical death metal.

Key Tracks:
Prison Born - I may be alone here, but there is just something fantastic about a 2 minute song that burns away your flesh. This album opener does just that, and weighs in at 1:58
XenoChrist - If you needed to introduce someone to the Faceless, this is the song you would use. It smokes and weighs in at 5:01
Planetary Duality II: A Prophecies Fruition - I'm starting to detect a trend here... as with Akeldama (Horizons of Chaos) We have another epic two-parter. This is the longest song on the album, at 5:27, and it is a dense, dark, and brooding thing, not unlike some Lovecraftian creature creeping from the depths. The rifts are generally slower than the rest of the album, but the vocals are also very diverse.

Low Points:
Planetary Duality I: Hideous Revelation - I get it, I really do. The sample was kind of cool, but I gotta be honest, I just didn't feel it worked, or was even needed. It kind of felt like an after thought to me. Part II - Awesome. Part I - not so much.