Fornicus Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

We are a black/death metal band hailing from KY. The band started as a just myself and our bassist Chris in late 2012 in whom I've known for several years having played with him in one of my earliest bands as a teen. We approached David sometime in early 2013 expecting him to not be interested and surprisingly he was more than eager to get involved...fucker lives nearly 2 hrs away and makes the drive over for practice every Friday night. Kelly is our latest addition to complete the lineup on lead guitar. We also play together in a death/grind band called Gorgy where I actually drum. Kelly and I had another project going before he joined Fornicus that was black metal called Storming Heaven and since the projects sounded so similar we just merged the two, hence why the debut album is titled Storming Heaven.

2.Recently you have released your first album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

The album I think has a fairly wide range of sound. Some songs such as We Are Sin and Pallium Mali have a riffier, more old school sound, some have a darker edge such as Into Obscurity, and some have a pretty heavy death metal influence such as King of the Egoists and The Beckoning.

3.A couple of the band members also have a background in death metal, how would you compare playing black metal to death metal?

Black metal for me pulls deeper into the essence of who you are...it can represent a wider range of thought and emotion than I think death metal can. Death metal satisfies me on a more primal, pure aggression level. I love both genres however so it depends on my mood as to which I favor.

4.Your lyrics cover some satanic, occult and anti christian topics, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in these subjects?

Having been raised as a christian as a child right in the heart of the bible belt, especially in a denomination that felt it was the only "right" one a lot of the anti-christian sentiment stems from my own rebellion from the religion and my views of its hypocritical and mentally abusive nature. The use of satan for me is more a literary and metaphorical reference as I do not believe in any deities. Satan of course represents rebellion and freedom from the binding chains that religion had on me when I was younger as he dared to defy god as well. Views vary a bit from member to member but at its core, we are very much anti-religion.

5.I know that the name 'Fornicus' comes out of the movie 'The Cabin In The Woods', what was the decision behind using it as a band name?

It was suggested by either David or Chris one night when we were trying to figure a name out. We're all horror fans, some more than others and we thought the name sounded good and wasn't overly complicated so it would be easy for people to remember. 

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

My favorite show thus far was our debut show last May. We opened it but the crowd was already there and they gave us some very enthusaistic and positive feedback. There aren't any stage theatrics that some use within the black metal world in our performance (not suggesting anything negative towards that, just not what we choose to do), its just straight forward, no bullshit thrashing black/death from beginning to end.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new release?

Touring is probably not an option in the near future as well all have full time employment and a couple of us have families as well. We do however and will continue to play regionally in surrounding states on weekends.

8.According to the Metal Archives page the band is signed to Negative Earth Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

Negative Earth is a DIY label Kelly used to have a few years ago that he revived to release our album. We had interest from a few established labels but we felt that we had the resources to achieve what we wanted to achieve ourselves and the offers weren't 100% to our liking.

9.On the album you also did a cover of Sepultura's "Antichrist", what was the decision behind doing your own version of this track?

I had always loved the raw, aggressive sound of early Sepultura and always had this song in mind as a good one to cover which the rest of the band agreed. Felt we could make it our own while preserving what the song originally was as well, to which I believe we did successfully.

10.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black metal?

We just released the album a week ago digitally and are currently taking pre-orders for the CD which will ship by the end of August so there hasn't been a lot feedback just yet but so far the bulk of our sales/pre-orders have been international from different European countries so I believe fans from abroad are finding us to their liking.

11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

We are already writing for the next album and are actually considering talking with some other bands about doing a split. So far the writing has been a little darker and some playing more on the aggressive side of black metal.

12.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Bands that have had an influence on myself include early Emperor, Marduk, Angelcorpse, Dissection, and Goatwhore to name a few. I've also taken a bit from local metal stalwarts Abominant as they've recorded their last three releases at my studio so I think they've rubbed off on me a little, ha! Bands I frequently listen to at the moment include Craven Idol, Vader, Prosanctus Inferi, Oubliette (a band from nearby that just released a fantastic album), Goatwhore, and Gorgasm as far as more recent shit goes and have been revisiting Emperor a lot lately from all the media attention for the reunion shows they're doing. 

13.What are some of your non musical interests?

Don't have a lot of time for other interests between work and music but myself I do some gaming here and there, same for Chris. David is big into weight lifting and such and Kelly...I don't know where he finds time to breath, ha!

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

We appreciate your time and the interview very much! Hails to all that support the underground and keep its flame burning, you are its spirit!

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