Saturday, January 5, 2013

Internal Bleeding (Death Metal from Long Island, New York)


Internal Bleeding Discography :-
1991 - The One Dollar Demo (Demo)
1992 - Invocation of Evil (Demo/EP)
1994 - Perpetual Degradation (Demo/EP)
1995 - Voracious Contempt (LP)
1997 - The Extinction of Benevolence (LP)
1999 - Driven to Conquer (LP)
2001 - Alien Breed (Best of/Compilation)
2004 - Onward to Mecca (LP)
2012 - Heritage of Sickness (Compilation)

Formed in 1991, Internal Bleeding are pioneers of the style of death metal called "slam." Their sound has paved the way for a whole generation of death metal and death-core bands who put heavy, groove laden riffs in the forefront of their music.

 After a long hiatus to settle their post-Internal Bleeding careers, raise families and settle down a bit, the core of the classic lineup is back to play shows and write new material that will hopefully end up on a release.



Interview with Chris Pervelis, founder and guitarist of internal bleeding.

Jonathan - What makes a good Death Metal band?
Chris
- In my opinion I think any band that is committed to their craft and willing and take the time necessary to create music that is tight, brutal and unique in some way makes for a good band. There's a lot of great bands out there who offer some seriously inspiring, memorable music. Most importantly, I think death metal musicians need to avoid getting so lost in being the fastest and most intense band on the planet that they forget about creating songs that are accessible in a melodic, harmonic or rhythmic way. Our breed is very technically adept and we need to avoid getting lost in that technicality. I think 99% of the bands out there get that.

Jonathan - What's your opinion of the DIY movement?
Chris
- Being that we grew our fan base and got to where we are through purely DIY methods, you can pretty much say I am highly supportive of it. It really allows for complete control over your product and your future. On the other hand, it involves a lot of hard work, dedication and focus. It starts getting difficult to be completely DIY when you start having to contend with a job, family and other financial obligations, so others go the semi-DIY route and work with an independent label and management. That's where we are in our careers. We try to blend DIY with more traditional methods. Because of our ages and where we are in life it's what's best for us.

Jonathan - I really believe the only passionate way to do music is with your heart. But sometimes hard times and trouble can get in the way. Why is it so important for you to be in a band and do you have any funny stories to tell?
Chris
- I couldn't agree more with the first half of your question. If the music isn't in your heart of soul, it's just not going to feel right. You have to love this stuff and have a real passion for it. It's important for me to be in a band primarily because it is a great release for me and helps keep me mentally balanced and reduces my overall stress level. Secondarily, and almost as important, is the camaraderie that develops within the band and the kinship you feel with your fans. On the band side, we just have a blast when we go out together. I cannot even describe the fun we have--mostly at other people's expense! Hitting the road, bullshitting with each other, smoking cigars and eating like pigs are always highlights of a tour or road trip. With the fans, there is just a bond there that is incredible. I can talk to any one of our fans and it feels as though I've known them forever.
As far as funny stories are concerned, there are a million of them. Here’s an example: When we were on tour with Six Feet Under and Immolation back in 1995, we used to carry this giant blanket with us in our van that we used to throw over people’s heads and commence (in a friendly way) to beat on them and give them a blanket party they would never forget. One time, while our roadie Sean was in a crowded arcade, we came screaming up in our van, skidded to a halt in front of the place, poured out of the van and into the arcade, threw the blanket over Sean and proceeded to do a fake kidnapping. It scared the living daylights out of everyone in the arcade. I remember as we were running out of the door and our vocalist was beating on him I yelled “you double-crossed us for the last time motherfucker. Now you’re gonna die.” Fuck, it was so goddamn funny when I look back on it now. Stupid? Yes. But we do that kind of crap all the time.

Jonathan - What's the origin of the band name, Internal Bleeding?
Chris
- Really there is no story behind it. I wanted to create a band name that fit what our music was going to do to people. I remember thinking “we’re going to be so heavy that it’s going to cause insides to collapse and people will die of internal bleeding.” That’s basically how the name came about.

Jonathan - Have you changed the band's name before?
Chris
- No. We’ve always been Internal Bleeding, since the band was founded in 1991.

Jonathan - Who are your major influences? Or do you just write what you like and that is the result?
Chris
- Well, I think since no human being lives in a vacuum, anything that anyone writes is influenced by something. For me personally, Black Sabbath and Tony Iommi in particular is my biggest influence. It goes without saying that a lot of early death metal bands were very influential as well. There’s also a lot of old 80s New York Hardcore in my writing as well.

Jonathan - How long have you all known each other?
Chris
- We’ve all known each other for over 20+ years. It’s been a long and rewarding time.

Jonathan - How did you meet?
Chris
- I met Bill by placing an ad in a local paper for a drummer. Brian I met through our original guitarist Anthony, Keith I’ve known since he was in his first deathmetal band, Witchborn and Jay has been a fan of Internal Bleeding since the beginning, so I’ve known him a very long time.

Jonathan - When did you form your band?
Chris
- We had our first practice in my parent’s house in Huntington NY in 1991. Our first release, “The One Dollar Demo” came out very late in 1991/early 1992.

Jonathan - What inspired you to make music together?
Chris
- We all had the same exact musical vision--to create deathmetal that emphasized groove, slam-riffs and heaviness as opposed to blazing speed and constant blast beats. Back then; no one was really approaching deathmetal in this way so we thought we had struck upon something rather unique.

Jonathan - Im sure some countries or crowds are more enthusiastic than others, do you have any particular anecdotes to tell us? Any funny moments? Disappointments?
Chris
- Well, I find the crowds in Europe and Canada to be a lot more enthusiastic than they are here in the states. I think that is more a function of the fact that we play in Europe and Canada far less than we do here in the states. There were plenty of disappointments over the 20+ years we’ve been together, but that is to be expected when you are playing underground music. Funny moments? Jesus, too many funny moments to mention in this space, the last funny moment occurred when we played the Mountains of Death festival in Switzerland last year. We were schedule to play the second night, so on the first night we all got really polluted. Anyway, my bass player decided he was going to be a badass and go into the pit and knock some people out. He handed me his keys and exclaimed with much bravado “I’m going in.” Two second. I mean two seconds later he came out with his clothes filthy, his hands cut up and his head spinning. “Fuck that shit, I’m too old,” he said. I laughed my ass off.

Jonathan - Which songs do you perform most frequently?
Chris
- Mostly stuff off our old demos and first album, songs such as “Anointed in Servitude”, “Inhuman Suffering” and “Prophet of the Blasphemes”.


Jonathan - Do you ever play any covers?
Chris
- We used to do a medley of Black Sabbath songs inbetween two of our songs, but we haven’t done that in a long time. I don’t think we are going to do any covers anymore; it’s not really our thing.

Jonathan - Who writes your songs?
Chris
- It’s mostly a team effort if you ask me. Generally, I may write most of the riffs, but everyone really does contribute equally – especially in the arrangements. Songs are put together as a team, because we all jam out and put the riffs together and toss in ideas. The real magic and secret to our sound is in the arrangements. A song that sounds so-so one minute can sound amazing when arranged properly. It’s all about the arrangements. Something I think that makes us unique. We probably spend more time on arranging than actually writing riffs.

Jonathan - What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs?
Chris
- They vary. In the beginning it was kind of shock-value gore, but with a hidden message, it has progressed to more society-based ideas. Human misery, social degradation and societal ills now dominate our lyrical approach.

Jonathan - Do you think these topics will change over time?
Chris
- I think I answered that in the previous question, but you never know what the future holds, our approach could change again. Depends on the mood of the lyric writer.

Jonathan - Could you briefly describe the music-making process?
Chris
- In a nutshell: usually it starts with a bunch of riffs that have been recorded into our iPhones, in the case of guitar players, its usually done in AmpKit, in the case of our drummer having a riff, he usually hums something he thinks is cool. Then I’ll do a basic arrangement and a rough recording in GarageBand. After we have this rough arrangement, we tear the song apart, learn the riffs and arrange it until we are satisfied. It usually takes about 1-2 months to complete a song. Sometimes faster.

Jonathan - What are your rehearsals generally like? Do you have a set time each week in which you practice or are rehearsals more spontaneous?
Chris
- We try and practice twice a week, it depends on our schedules with work, etc. When we were younger, we used to practice 3-4 times per week. I wish we could do that now, but we just can’t. Rehearsal is very business-like when we are working, but after we practice we usually kick back with bourbon and cigars and just chill and talk about music, our lives and band business. When I say business-like, I don’t mean that we’re all buttoned down and serious, but we’re very focused on accomplishing our goals and managing to have fun along the way.


Jonathan - How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together?
Chris
- Well, quite simply we are more mature and more willing to step out of our comfort zones and experiment. We all have little pet-ideas that we’ve wanted to play with and in the past we would say to ourselves “no, let’s stick with what we know and what works.” Now, we’re much more willing to indulge some of our creative impulses. We don’t let it take over the music and ruin our sound, but we are all very supportive of letting each other try out new ideas and incorporate them into our sound, providing it feels and sounds right.

Jonathan - What has been your biggest challenge as a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?
Chris
- The biggest challenge has definitely been trying to carry on when the chips are down. We’ve been through a lot of demoralizing periods in our history, from being ripped off by record labels and promoters, to many breaks that never went our way and the fact that we’ve been able to keep it together for 20+ years is an amazing accomplishment and something we are all very proud of. I think we’ve been able to overcome this because we have a vision and we are determined—come hell or high water—to make that vision a reality.

Jonathan - What advice do you have for people who want to form their own bands?
Chris
- It’s not all fun, games and glamor; be prepared for the hard work, the let downs and insults. As long as you have that in the back of your head and you truly believe in what you are doing, then go for it. It’s critical that you truly believe in your music and you’re not just playing it because it is popular and the thing to do at the moment—people will see through it.

Jonathan - For those who don’t know you, How can fans-to-be gain access to your music? Do you have a website with sample songs or a demo CD?
Chris
- You can buy our past 5 albums on amazon.com, ebay, iTunes and other online sources. If you’re reading this and you don’t really know who we are and what Internal Bleeding is all about, I would suggest purchasing our special release “Heritage of Sickness,” which is a compilation of our demos of the early 1990s; which many critics and historians point to as the blueprint for the current “slam” genre of death metal. It’s only $7.00 and it’s available exclusively on our website, www.internal-bleeding.com. If you want samples of some of our songs, check out our reverbnation page at www.reverbnation.com/internalbleeding.

Jonathan - And the last question is all yours, you decide what to say here!
Chris
- Well, thanks a load for the interview; we really appreciate it. To our longtime fans, a special thank you is always in order and to the new fans, thank you as well. For those who don’t know who we are, check us out if you like your deathmetal heavy, groovy and memorable:
www.internal-bleeding.com
www.twitter.com/internalbldng
www.youtube.com/internalbldng
www.facebook.com/internalbldng
www.reverbnation.com/internalbleeding
or simply drop us an email at internalbldng@gmail.com
Once again, thanks!


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