Plowing through all the death metal pretenders out there, are Chicago's own Fleshgrind. With their unrelenting style of brutal death metal, these guys pose a major threat to any band thinking they are extreme. Fleshgrind brings more to the table than just speed however, as they have a wide range in dynamics as well. I recently had a chance to speak to Fleshgrind's guitarist, Steve Murray, about their new album and various other topics. So, without further ado, I proudly present to you...Fleshgrind!

- Adam Block


To start things off, how long have you guys been together, and how did it all come about?

We have been together 8 years this month, March. So, we started off in March of 1993 if you don’t want to do the math. Rich our singer and Dave our old drummer had this band called Burial, so I started jamming with them on that. Then that went to shit, so we basically turned it into Fleshgrind. Soon after, we did our first demo in December of 93 entitled "Holy Pedophile" which really got the ball rolling.

You guys have a new record out called "The Seeds of Abysmal Torment." Tell us a little bit about the album and how it differs from the old one.

Yes we do, its out on Olympic Recordings and should be in most stores. It’s a bit different than Destined For Defilement. We replaced our old drummer Dave with our current drummer Alan and he is WORLDS better than Dave. so we were able to do a lot more and try a lot more than before. So the newer stuff is a lot faster, more varied, just a lot better I think. Also we replaced our old bass player Ray with our current bass player Jimmy, who also plays guitar for the band Avernus.

Who are the main song writers for Fleshgrind?

I write all of the music, but our drummer helps out with arrangements and occasional hummed out riffs here and there. Alan and I both write the lyrics as well.

Have you been able to take any of the new stuff out on the road yet?

We played 2 shows, one in Tennesee and one In Alabama right before the album came out. Unfortunately, at the Alabama show, Rich broke his ankle REALLY bad and so far we haven’t been able to play any shows for the new album so that really sucks, its hurting the album ya know. But we will be back! All bands go through down times. It’s been 6 months since that last show.

Give me a little bit of insight, if possible, on what a normal Fleshgrind live show is like.

Ahhh its nothing too crazy, no stage props or visuals. We have intros sometimes, our drummer makes them up, or we sometimes use Vivadli's "Winter" piece. Other than that we just bang out on stage, we really get into it. We try to have the crowd participate. Creates a really cool vibe.

As of now, do you guys have any future tour plans?

Yes we will be doing at least 2 weeks in Europe with Deeds of Flesh and Resurrected. It will hit Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, and the Netherlands. We toured there last year with Resurrected and it was KILLER, so we cant wait to go back. As far as the US goes, we will tour I'm sure after we get back from Europe, but nothing is concrete as far as the US goes as of now. But we will be touring the US.

How is the death metal scene overall in the U.S.?

It has its ups and downs. Good spots, horrible spots. I think the bands are putting out quality music, but there aren’t as many as there should be. I think too many bands latch onto one thing extreme and beat it into the ground. Like if they're fast, its non stop ALL the time, and it stops being extreme to me anyhow. It’s great for a few songs, but not a whole cd. Nothing wrong with a tempo change to my ears. Or super deep vocals the WHOLE time gets to be UN extreme. Like you become desensitized to it. No dynamics kills it after awhile. To me anyhow. To each their own, right?

What are your opinions on nu-metal bands such as Slipknot, Mudvayne, etc.?

Ummm, I don’t pay much attention to those bands. I've never heard Mudvayne. its cool that Slipknot promotes death metal though, I have to respect that. But I haven’t heard much of Slipknot. Its just not my thing and if its not my thing, I don’t pay it much attention. If other people want to listen to it, then listen to it. I might not like the new metal stuff, but I cant stop it and things evolve, they just do. A lot of old thrash fans don’t like death metal, so on and so forth, its just the way it is. Some people listen to it all, if so, whatever, doesn’t affect me. Who’s to say what others should listen to.

What bands do you enjoy listening to in your spare time?

Shit, lots of bands, to name a few: Kiss, Nevermore (the new one is AMAZING), Hate Eternal, Suffocation, Sacrilege (Sweden), Dark Tranquility, Yattering, Vader, Skinless, Mortal Decay, Regorge, Disgorge, Dying Fetus, Spinecast, Fleshtized, Krisiun, Severe Torture, Malevolent Creation, Lividity, Burial, Immolation, Coercion, Pyrexia, Deeds, Angelcorpse, Gorguts, Morbid Angel, Rain Fell Within and classical. I try to keep it varied from style to style.

Who influenced you to become a guitar player and how long have you been playing?

Well I originally wanted to play bass when i was a kid because of Gene Simmons, but I found it to be boring at the time, ya know. So i picked up the guitar. I was really into old Motley Crue, well I still am really into old Motley Crue. Then of course Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer etc.. Guitar players that I love now are Erik Rutan, James Murphy, Alex Skolnick, Yngwie, Eliot Fisk, Casey from Fleshtized.

So what is next for Fleshgrind?

Get past these problems, and tour our asses off and write!

Got any final words to say to those death metal fans out there?

Thanks a lot for the interview, and check out our new album. Hope to see ya on the road!!

www.fleshgrind.com
www.olympicrecordings.com

Fleshgrind
P.O. Box 7142
Grayslake, IL
60030 USA

Straight Hate are four muggers who have been dabbing in death/grind extremes for 12 years. They've already added an EP, 3 splits and 2 albums to their resume. The last two albums struck with such huge blows, that to this day you will find traces of them throughout their reviews. They also marked off their presence on the stage of Brutal East Festival (IX in 2016). The release of "East Grind Attack" and "Black Sheep Parade" was a great excuse to exchange a few words with Kuba (voc.).

Arek

Hi Kuba, it's been almost 4 years since our last meeting at Brutal East Fest IX. You were fresh after your debut release then, now after "Black Sheep Parade", and right before - "East Grind Attack". What wore you out more: promotional campaigns or all this COVID crap?

Hello! I think the virus hit me the most. The insurance industry in which I work did not slow down, and I had my hands full. Difficulty of staying in contact with my clients additionally complicated the matter. On the other hand, I absolutely cannot complain because I was not affected by unemployment. Promotional actions are very tiring, but it is a kind of fatigue that is very satisfying, especially when you see the results of your work. I am always positively motivated by promoting something new. It's nice to be able to share your creations with people from all over the world, get to know their opinions and feelings after listening to fresh material.

You played a little bit here and there, and you even managed to score a few foreign fests. Are you satisfied or do you still feel unfulfilled?

At the same time, I feel both satisfied and unfulfilled, because when you play more and more, the appetite for the increasing number of concerts intensifies. Before the time of the virus, we were developing our performance activities very smoothly. I even planned a few in advance for the fall. Unfortunately, on March 8, our last concert took place in Warsaw and since that moment, like all bands, we are waiting for further developments. After all, we are very happy with what we have played so far and we continue to work.

Tell me, what is it about Lublin that metal thrives like tulips in Netherlands??? S.H., B. Of P., Ulcer, Deivos and I could keep on mentioning for a while ... Is this a reaction to the proximity of the Catholic University of Lublin, or rather the lack of employment pushes young people into such dark and extreme regions of culture?

It seems to me that this is simply due to the enthusiasm and active attitude of people towards creating music. We still have many committed people in our region who have not gone abroad. In addition, there has always been a strong metal scene in the Lublin region, so this tradition should be constantly maintained.

On our (eastern) side of the Vistula - in Białystok, you could also once find so many "beautiful" and various 'flowers', but that's history. Life also kicked us in the teeth with Cyjan's passing, taking away concerts he organized. How are you guys doing in these damn weird times?

I think that for a totally niche, little known band we are doing quite well. We realize that the GC scene in Poland has been slowly going extinct for a long time. Nevertheless, we still do our job the best we can, without looking back. There is no time to speculate. I think that the passing of Cyjan wrecked the entire underground scene, not only in our country. It is an irreparable loss. Personally, we have been on good terms with him over the past few years. In fact, our last concert in Białystok was for the 27th anniversary of Dead Infection...

Enough small talk, music is more important, he, he ... Thanks to the cooperation with Wojtek (Deformeathing P.) we are already after first listens of "Black Sheep Parade". Second album seems to be a bit more polite, maybe even more melodic, if we can even say that about grind core. How do you feel it, how do rate it since the publishing dust has settled?

As for politeness and melody, I agree with you 100%. This is what we intended from the beginning. When creating both the first and the second album, we wanted all songs to be primarily 'live' ready and accessible for people from outside the grind spectrum also. We try to follow this rule. After reading the opinions that reached us, I say that to some extent our idea was successful. Besides, we treat Black Sheep Parade as a mature album, fully thought through and refined in the way we intended.

What's new are you going to propose on "East Grind Attack"?

There will be 3 tracks on the split. One in the atmosphere of our second album, the other is a kind of gore / grind experiment, and we will end with punk.

The recording session of second album were probably not too tiring since you returned to the studio so quickly. Tell us what the recording session with your participation looks like?

I would not exactly say “quickly”. We are not bound by deadlines or contracts, we didn't have a whip over our heads, so we spent a little more time recording the material. The drums were recorded in the Roslyn studio, the guitars at home, the bass in the practice room, and the vocals at a friend's house. Our bassist Przemek with his wife and children watched over the mix and master, because he usually did it late at night at home. This is the production of the Straight Hate album short.

And how did it happen with Mr. S.? Planned or total spontaneity? Was it fun and you liked it, will it continue?

It was spontaneous. While composing 'Above The Law', I immediately came up with the idea of inviting Paweł. Whether the idea will be continued – it remains to be seen. We will see what the new music will look like. Maybe something interesting will come to our minds again.

Tell me, does Jakub listen to some metal after lunch or on the way to work or at home, or is it a radio or something else for a change?

Usually when I work in the field, I catch up with music because then I have more time. Coming home, I often play stations playing the 70s and 80s. From an early age I was brought up in these climates, so I do not hide my love and sentiment for the music from that period, even though I was not alive yet.

It is 300 km and then some from Lublin to Sucha Beskidzka, to Biała Podlaska about 130 km. How did it happen that you ended up in the hands of Wojtek (Deformeathing P.), and not at Karol's stable (SelfMadeGod R.)?

I sent our previous recordings to Karol before the first album. Unfortunately, we came to a time when he no longer had free publishing dates. The proposal to join Deformeathing was accidentally made during the 25th anniversary of Parricide in Chełm. Wojtek brough his whole kiosk to this event, and in a casual conversation that involved some high-proof beverages he simply asked us directly if we wanted to release an album with him. We did not think about it for a long time and we are still in this symbiosis until today.

This COVID chaos gives all of us a hard time, but as I know you, you probably are not staying idle and musical ideas grow not only thanks to the spring rain. Will you reveal at least a morsel of what is happening behind the scenes?

Yes, we do not stand still. We are currently at the stage of composing new pieces. Besides, I really hope that we will be able to play something this year and we are hopeful that nothing will stop our plans.

You can't overdo it with the grind, so let's not stretch this interview anymore. Thanks, Kuba and I hope to see you soon, because I miss your energetic kick in the ass.

I also thank you for the interview and the constant support from you and the rest of the dinosaurs from Podlasie!!! We miss playing in your neighbourhood very much. See you soon, hopefully!