Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
Ok, well, I'm A. Human. I play guitar, and sometimes bass, using 3 amps and 2 pedalboards full of effects, and I also do vocals. After my last band INTERCONTINENTALBALLISTICMISSILE broke up, I moved to the middle of nowhere to go to grad school for Biology. I spent my leisure time writing songs and messing around with a variety of effects pedals. One summer, my buds in PALE HORSEMAN asked if I wanted to perform solo at BEARD METAL FEST, a big party they used to throw every year. They told me to just bring my guitar and effects, and that I could use their amps and PA. That was the first time I got to use three full-stacks (two guitar stacks in stereo, and a bass stack). I performed under the name MULTIDIMENSIONALHYPERVOLUME, it was awesome, and ever since I've been playing with a three-amp set up. In 2018 I got sick of playing shows with a drum machine, so I asked my long-time friend Fabian to join the band. I knew that he was in 100 bands already, but I needed a professional. So, he joined the band and we dropped the "MULTIDIMENSIONAL" from our name. In 2019 we started performing as HYPERVOLUME and began recording our first album CONCEIVE. 2020 started out pretty good, we played at a raging house party, and in mid-march we played at Cobra Lounge in Chicago. Thanks to the 'Rona, that ended up being the last gig in the city. Fabian was stricken with Covid 19 and spent most of April in a hospital. Over the summer we slowly started practicing and working on our music videos, and now we are looking forward to releasing our album on December 4th. 

How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?
Our style is hard to describe, I usually use the term "experimental," since we don't fit well into any formal genres. We are definitely a metal band, there's no question about that, but we don't rip-off enough Sabbath riffs to be doom, we have too many slow parts to be thrash, it's too dynamic to be death metal, and there aren't enough awkward time signatures or solos to be prog metal. Essentially, we like to blend a lot of influences to make music that we would want to listen to. Being a two-piece band brings some limitations, but I feel that it also helps us widdle away extraneous bullshit to carve out great songs. Personally, I am heavily influenced by the classic metal bands like Death, Metallica, and Slayer... Classic rock bands like Hendrix, Uriah Heep, Black Sabbath, and The Doors... Punk bands like the DeadKennedys and the Misfits... Prog metal bands like Opeth... Doomier bands like High On Fire and Crowbar... and grungy 90s stuff like Soundgarden, Nirvana, and The Melvins.

Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?
Our debut album CONCEIVE, being released December 4th, is 30 minutes of pure-metal-bliss. No ambient noise, no masturbatory solos, no clean-singing, just 30 minutes of raging riffs and solid hooks from start to finish. We focused on songcraft, and we delivered an intense album for those who love heavy music. The artwork was done by the talented Janna Weddle of Bezel and Thread, who designed the cover, a kaleidoscopic vagina, and etched the art into brass. Whatever your favorite genre of metal is, there is something you will love on this album.

What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?
We released a song called "Orbit" in April as part of a compilation called ANGRY PEASANTS. The song will be featured on our forthcoming album as well, and a video will be released soon. We have had a few write-ups about the tune, BENEATH THE REMAINS is a blog from London that praised "Orbit" for "seamlessly embedding elements of psychedelic and stoner rock alongside the pure aggression of the vocals, then diving straight into a punk-inspired change of pace," and complimented the song's "refinement and ability to merge genres in a way that other bands would shy away from."

Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?
Well, live gigs are the reason I do this, but we have been avoiding gigs since the pandemic started. We have played a few great gigs, including a raging house-party last winter that really rocked. I felt like I was back in high school! Cobra Lounge in Chicago hosts an annual party every year to honor our prolific drummer. Its called FABULOUS FUCKING FABIAN FEST. Usually six or seven of Fabian's bands will play, and he hires AMMUNITION to do burlesque dancing between bands. She specializes in grinding off chastity belts while dousing the crowd in sparks. He also invites a dozen or so artists to display and sell a wide variety of sculptures, paintings, prints, and other pieces. FFFFV was last March, it was the last time we played in front of an audience, and it was also the last show in Chicago before the shutdown.

What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?
There are a lot of metal bands out there that are trying. Trying to sound like this band or that band. Writing lyrics about things they think others will like. Trying to appeal to a certain audience. I say fuck that. We make music that we think is cool, we do things that we like, and damn the opinions of the masses. I write riffs that I think rock! I write lyrics that have deep meaning FOR ME, I don't just slap together a bunch of cliched bullshit and pretend that it is deep or meaningful. Too many metal bands have lyrics that sound like they were written by 16 year olds that just discovered Joe Rogan. Our lyrics deal with mankind's contempt for truth, our willingness to deny our connection to nature in order to engage in mindless consumerism, and our destruction of the sacred to attempt to fill the gorge in our souls that was eroded by our pitiful culture. 
Hypervolume is now and will always be a metal band with integrity, one that strives to make music that connects with those who are disenchanted by modern human civilization.

What plans do you have for the near future as a band?
We will be releasing a music video for "Orbit" soon, and our full-length album CONCEIVE drops December 4th.

Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?    
Our webpage is: http://hypervolume.us/
You can find our music now on Bandcamp: https://hypervolume.bandcamp.com/
Once the album drops, it will be available for streaming and downloads on all the major music outlets, and merch will be available for sale on Bandcamp.

November 2020