Cianide's first full-length album The Dying Truth came out 20 years ago, when I was only three years old. Over these past 20 years, Cianide have really shown their influence in the death metal scene. As my first interview for Pest Webzine, you could say I was quite eager to interview Mike Perun, vocalist/bassist of Cianide. I got the opportunity to discuss numerous topics with him, such as their recent re-appearance at fests, and their newest release Gods of Death. I asked Mike about his thoughts on the new generation of metalheads, his influences, and some other "interesting-to-know” facts. Enjoy an interview with one of death metal's ultimate influences.
So, recently Cianide have played the NYDM Spring Bash III and the Goregon Fest out in Portland. Will the band continue to appear on fest lineups and to play gigs?Fests are the way to go I think. Get more "bang” for your buck and we only have to play for a half hour or so. Fucking A! We never made it to Portland though unfortunately…
Would you ever plan a tour again?
Again? Never did. Never will. Touring is not a concern of ours and come to think of it, never was. The older we get the more we’re thinking along the lines of just staying put here in Chi-town to play. If you wanna see us live, you’re gonna have to make the trek here to Bloodshed City…
Deathgasm Records have re-issued The Dying Truth and Dark Descent have printed A Descent into Hell. Have you noticed any new wave of fans now that these releases are available?
Well, whether they’re age eight or eighty, Metalheads are Metalheads to me. I don’t really think about the age factor, but I guess you’re right. There does seem to be a lot of younger Headbangers into us of late. Then again I’m the one who just keeps getting older…
How do you feel about younger fans, myself for example, who were, what? About three years old when you started up. Who worship what you have done, but weren't around in the beginning?
Three years old??!! Jesus Fucking Christ!!! Now I really feel like an old corpse grinder!! Hah!! Nah it’s truly an awesome feeling knowing that people still continue to get into what we do. We barely thought we’d ever make it past 2 full length albums. But here we are coming off of one of the better years we’ve had since we started. We’ll never take that shit for granted and appreciate every maniac that jams to our tunes. You fucking rule!!
Being such a massive influence in the death metal scene, you have a lot to live up to with your own name. As a band, were you happy with the results of your most recent release, Gods of Death?
Couldn’t be more happy with it. We did it all ourselves and it took us for-fucking-ever to get it finished, but sometimes you gotta put some hard work in to get the desired results. But it just makes you appreciate it more when it’s all said and done. I’m still kinda taken aback at how well the album flows as a whole, especially considering our haphazard songwriting process and the length of time it took us to get an albums worth of shit together. As a total package - best thing we’ve done thus far in my opinion.
Do you continually write music or do you take time to relax?Oh we like to relax! Shit. Heh heh! Kinda both really. If somebody has some ideas for a tune, we’ll run with that. If we have a show lined up, then we just rehearse the set. No rush anymore, no hurries no worries. That’s pretty much our secret to longevity. Don’t want this turning into another job y’know?
Are you writing any new material at the moment? If so, are there any plans as to what you will do with it?
Actually we just started writing some new shit. Got one song almost completed down right now and some decent ideas for a second. We’d like to have a 4 or 5 song EP out sometime mid next year. We wanna go into a real studio and bash it out in a week just like old days. No fucking around this time.
Where have your influences come from? Do you have any non-metal influences?
Nope. No non-metal influences. EVER. If by non-metal you mean some good old punk/hardcore or some good old hard rock then I guess there’s probably a subconscious influence if you listen close enough. Honestly though we’re nothing more than a combination of Master/Deathstrike, Celtic Frost/Hellhammer, Death, Massacre, Post Mortem, Slaughter. It makes my toes curl into a ball when bands start thinking they’re special and citing industrial, jazz, funk, etc influences. I wish they would all fall off a bridge and DIE!
What was your main goal when forming Cianide? What did you want out of the band?
We just wanted to play the heaviest and catchiest DEATH METAL in the world. That’s still our goal come to think of it and I don’t think we’ve achieved it yet. But we have come close…
You have worked with several different labels over the years. Besides a label perhaps being defunct, what was your reasoning for switching up labels?Yeah!! It seems like almost every label we sign to goes belly up after they release our shit!! Heh heh!! Let’s see: Grindcore/Red Light, Lost Horizon, Merciless Records, and Displeased/From Beyond all went Chapter 13 after we’re done with them. Had a good laugh telling that shit to the Razorback and HellsHeadbangers dudes. "Better watch out!!” Maybe we should do the world a favor and sign to Earache. Put them out of my misery…
What are some major differences that you have seen in the metal scene from when Cianide formed up to now?
Well the internet sure as shit made everything easier. Wish I had it when I was younger - I probably be ruling the world right now. Instead it’s just gonna take some more time. Heh! Other than that shit’s still the same, but I lived through the best of it all so now I can just sit back, relax and laugh at all you youngsters…
It was amazing getting a chance to interview you! Anything else you'd like to say?
Thanks Megan and PEST zine for the interview!!
METAL NEVER BENDS
-Mike
Interviewed by Devoured Death
August 2012