Terry: Excellent thanks for asking.

Sam: Yep.

 

Terry: Sam and I were pitching some ideas back and forth dealing with similar names and this one stuck.

Sam: I think I initially mentioned some lame ideas to Terry. I think Horror Metal was one. He tossed a few ideas back. One had the word Holocaust in it. I mentioned it to Blaine and he suggested Hardcore Holocaust. Which is a great name, but there's already a pretty famous comp by that name. But then the lightbull went off and we came up with Horror Holocaust.

 

Sam: The second we got together, we made a crappy rehearsal demo. The songs were really, really rough as we were just getting our sound together. I sent it to a few places for the heck of it. John wanted to sign it immediately. Even though we barely resembled what we would eventually become, he totally understood where we were coming from and saw the potential. It's a very difficult time for record labels now. But John's heart is totally in the right place and he's a huge supporter of metal and puts everything into Ibex Moon. For a label of this size, they do a great job. Because John cares so much about the band. It's very cool.

 

Terry: Actually we recorded Horror Holocaust and They Rise at Sam’s studio. GL Studios , and we mixed at Mana with Brian Elliot.  I had recorded an album there with Six Feet and I liked the mix that we got. So when we needed a place to mix I suggested Mana. Brian is a killer engineer and mixer and Mana is a great studio. I recommend it.

Sam: Brian really understands what we want and he's great. We're really pleased with the way this record sounds, especially.

 

Terry: I think the most challenging part was finding new members. Corrupted Flesh,  because it just hits you like a bag of hammers right at the beginning. Flesh Coffin and Horror Holocaust  are killer as well. 

Sam: It was definitely tough to figure out exactly what to do after the first line-up fractured. Some of the songwriting was challenging, too. As we really wanted to outdo our previous effort and make sure the songs on Horror Holocaust were as good as we could possibly do. Every time I listen to it I have a different favorite song. They're all very different, in my mind.

 

Terry: I personally hate albums that drag on. I think ours is perfect. It rapes your ears and mind and leaves you wanting more.

Sam: It was initially going to be an ep. But things was going so well that we decided to extend it to a full-length. But we stopped while we were ahead. There's absolutey no filler on here. We didn't see the point of extending the album just to reach some time mark. I think it's the perfect length.

Sam: That song is really unique. It was actually written drums first. Then me and Terry came up with parts to go along with it. I was shocked at how 'together' it sounded in the end. It sounded so good that I thought it would be a cool idea to just make it into a total shred jam with a bunch of other guitarists. Kind of like a grand finale. Terry is, of course, friends with every notable person in death metal. Especially in Tampa. So it was really easy to get these guys on board. They were all very cool and gracious and I love the way the final product sounds.

I've worked with Steve Swanson when we did the Massacre tour together. I think  the dude is really amazing and totally underrated. Definitely one of my favorite death metal guiarists. And of course the section where Ralph and James have a  dueling solo is just unreal.

 

Terry: A lot of the friendship between bands is still there. The scene is still strong, not as good as before but still there. There is still a lot of support for the local bands when they play.

 

Terry: We have a tour in the works for Europe in January. We don’t have all the specifics yet such as what other bands will tour with us and dates. That will be finalized in a few weeks.

 

Terry: Sam would you like to give the play by play for this one… 

Sam: It was just a horrible experience being in a band with Kam, in particular. I've been in dozens of bands over the years, and I've never seen anything like it. Like pretty much everyone that's ever worked with Kam, I didn't get  along with him on any level. As Denial Fiend got more successful, he became more erratic and hard to deal with. I tried very hard to keep it together because I loved the band. But after reading interviews with him trashing me and other members of the band, we told him to get lost. It disappoints people to hear stuff like this. It certainly disappointed me to have the singer from one of my favorite bands turn out to be such an unbelievable pain in the ass. But that's life. He's a talented front man that sang on a legendary album. But he's also very self destructive.

Sam: I had met Blaine the same way I met Kam. Working together on an album I did with a bunch of guest singers years ago. The Accused has always been a huge,huge influence on me and Denial Fiend. We have always stayed in touch. And Blaine has always been very cool. It seemed like a really natural choice for vocals when we the need came about. 

It works on a number of levels. His vocals are completely different than Kam's, which is what we wanted. I hate when bands switch singers and find a clone. And the direction we were heading kind of lended itself to more thrash oriented vocals. I've heard one of the songs on the album with both singers. And definitely Blaine fits the new material best. Blaine's band before the Accused was a hardcore band called the Fartz. That's where his moniker comes from.

 

Terry: The band is tighter, stronger; meaner the buzz seems to be gaining speed.

Sam: We haven't been writing new material yet. But the band is back in full swing. So we don't forsee any more 4 year breaks.

 

Terry: It can be but we are all committed to Denial Fiend. We are all in bands that tour but we will find time bring Denial Fiend to the Hordes of fans that await us.

 

Terry: It might be cliché to say but I always and will stay a Zombie fan. I love the Italian Zombie flicks. I love "The Thing” I love movies that have people isolated and getting picked off one by one. It seems so hopeless. 

Sam: I also like all the classic zombie movies. I'm glad to see them make a come back.The older movies always hold a special place in my heart. But there is good stuff still coming out. I think Walking Dead (the tv show) is easily one of the best things to come out of the horror genre, ever.

 

Sam: We'd love to. There was talk at one point before the album was finished, but it didn't quite pan out. We were going to try and work with the production team of After Party Massacre. It's a little more difficult than usual because our singer lives in Seattle. But I think it'll definitely happen one of these days.

 

Terry: We had a TV show that came on every Saturday called Creature Feature. It was mostly Hammer Films and classic Monster movies but I was 10 years old and it scary as hell. As far as music my Uncle was a little older than me and was playing Deep Purple, Kiss, Led Zeppelin all the time. So I was exposed at an early stage. I always gravitate to the darker side of things.

Sam: Creature Feature! Yes! One of the best things about being a kid in Tampa at that time. It was kind of like a local version of Elvira's show. Hosted by a guy that went by the name of Dr. Paul Bearer. They played all the classic monster movies. To this day, the old Hammer stuff is probably at the top of my list. I was always into Halloween, comic books and fantasy stuff. From that, bands that had cool images like KISS and Alice Cooper really caught my eye and drew me in.

 

Sam: Mostly gearing up for the release of the record and hopefully a tour that will occur sometime next year. Setting stuff up for next year after the release of the album. Maybe some shows before that. Who knows?

 

Terry: Thanks to Pest and to the fans for your support!!!

Sam: Seconded.

http://www.myspace.com/denialfiendband 

Interviewed by: Robert Williams and Osi Stef

Answers by Terry Butler (bass) and Sam Williams (guitar)

August 2011