Doing an interview with a musician you admire can be rather intimidating. It can be even more intimidating when it’s your first interview. So you can imagine Ryan Stephenson’s reaction when he talked with Chris Barnes of Six Feet Under, and found out that he's just a music fan like you or me. They talked about music, sinkholes, the new album (which Ryan reviewed earlier this week), and their love for dogs. So, settle in and check out what the "Death Metal Legend" and Ryan spent an hour talking about.

CB: Hello?

(((o))): Hi, this is Ryan Stephenson from Ech(((o)))es and Dust.

CB: Hey Ryan, how you doing man?

(((o))): Not to bad, how about you?

CB: Pretty good.

(((o))): Good. Where are you at right now?

CB: At home in Tampa.

(((o))): Tampa?

CB: Yes sir.

(((o))): That’s cool, are you hoping you floor doesn’t cave in on ya?

CB: Oh with the sinkholes and everything?

(((o))): Yeah.

CB: Well you never know, right?

(((o))): Yeah. Dude they just had another one happening this morning in Pennsylvania.

CB: Did it really?

(((o))): Yeah.

CB: Well I guess the Earth is swallowing us up now huh.

(((o))): Yeah, you know what’s going to happen. I’m just waiting for all the conspiracy theories to start popping up.

CB: (laughs) Yeah, exactly. (both laugh) I’m sure they’re just waiting for it to come true.

(((o))): Yeah. So, other than that, any big plans? Going on tour anytime soon?

CB: Well we’ve got a little time off right now. The end of May is going to be the next thing we do, in Mexico. Then we’ve got some stuff planned in June. So we’ve got a couple months here to get our bearings together and figure out things for the rest of the year. I’ve got some side stuff I’m doing too.

(((o))): You stay pretty busy. I saw you were doing the iHate recording too.

CB: Yeah, I’m doing that and I did one song with Torture Killer. Just trying to stay busy while I’ve got the time. I like to do as much as I can, I don’t really like to sit still.

(((o))): I can tell, you’re a very prolific guy.

CB: Well you never know if I won’t be next year so I might as well get it out while I’m still able to. You just never know, so, the harder you work, the better it pays off in the end.

(((o))): Yeah I know what you mean. If you don’t have the drive some times and then you do, you have to do as much as you can.

CB: Yeah, just go with it while it’s flowing. I don’t really try to question it. If it’s there I’m moving with it.

(((o))): I know exactly what you’re saying. Ready for a few quick-fire questions?

CB: You can ask me whatever you want man. Weather I answer or not is a different story! (both laugh)

(((o))): That’s fair.

CB: No, it’s all good man I’m just messing with ya. Ask away man.

(((o))): Favorite Slayer record?

CB: Hell Awaits.

(((o))): Yeah? You know I’m a little younger, so I’m a big fan of Season in the Abyss and Reign in Blood. But I notice a lot of the early death metal guys say that’s their favorite Slayer album, and that it helped start the death metal movement.

CB: Yeah, 100%. Reign in Blood did too, but we were already musicians and working on our own material before it came out. So we were more influenced by Hell Awaits because if was a few years back and we were just starting to get to know our instruments. Hell Awaits was just the most heavy, evil album on Earth and the intro on it was just crazy.

(((o))): You remember the live album they did Decade of Aggression?

CB: Yeah.

(((o))): I believe they opened with that song and it’s just crazy. I’ve still never actually seen Slayer live.

CB: Really? I got to see them on the Reign in Blood tour for the first time and that was awesome. They’re still just as good now as they were then.

(((o))): Have you heard about the [Dave] Lombardo thing?

CB: Yeah, I read a little about it. It’s unfortunate that stuff like that gets thrown in the public area like that an bands can’t solve problems before the fans have to hear about it.

(((o))): I can imagine the fans would have been wondering where he was, but the whole “public statements” thing just causes too much negative attention.

CB: Yeah, but they probably had to do what they see as best and go with it.

(((o))): Ok, back on track. What’s your favorite Sabbath album?

CB: Born Again.

(((o))): Really? I’d have to go with Heaven and Hell. Dio’s voice really clicked for me. He had a powerful voice. It’s a shame the guy’s gone.

CB: Oh yeah, great guy. I had a chance to see him on the Holy Diver tour and have great memories of seeing him sing.

(((o))): Did you ever get to meet him?

CB: I did not, no. Some of my friends did get to and they all said he was such a sweetheart of a guy, a real very nice person.

(((o))): Yeah that’s what I hear too. Very original and down to Earth kind of guy.

(((o))): So, some people don’t know the process between Undead (2012 release) and Unborn, could you explain how the writing session between the two came about?

CB: Well, it’s crazy really. I really wanted to involve myself with some new writers early on. In late 2010 I called up some people you know, Rob Arnold, Ben Savage and Jari Laine and I just really wanted to take a new step for the band as far as musicianship and songwriting. Mostly I wanted to spark a lot more creativity within myself, just as an original idea and it worked. It worked more than I thought it was going to. All these great writers I was working with came up with a bunch of really good stuff. So a lot of these two albums were written almost simultaneously. So a lot of those, a lot of ideas lyrically and with the storyline were transferred to these songs together.

Structuring a release with 20 plus songs at once was talked about, but you know, was thought of as too much of a single package. As far as I was looking at it, they were two separate albums. I didn’t look at it as one big album to release at once. So, it made more sense, made it a little more poignant, to separate it like they were separated at birth for a while, somewhere out in the cosmos. And I think it made more sense to just do that and it also gave us more time to work on some of the stuff that was unfinished, to write a couple more songs that fit the albums better and the storylines better, actually, as far as the subtleness of that goes.

(((o))): Was it hard to pick which songs were going to go on Undead as opposed to Unborn?

CB: It was, yeah it was at first. I sat there and really gave that a lot and a lot of thought. I went to a bunch of people about that. I researched and picked some peoples’ brains that I was writing with and just made my decisions based on those things and the vibe of how the songs lined up. As far as the storyline, the aggressive nature, the feeling overall, the path each should be and how it should work off of each other. It took a lot of time. I would say at least a week of sitting there going back and forth and trying various different combinations. Mapping it out and looking at everything as a whole and understanding which song fed off of the other songs when lined up. So, it took a lot of time, a lot of trial and error and a lot of thought behind all of that. What I came up with was Red and Blue, and that’s why the album covers tonally designate and encompass what’s on each album.

(((o))): I get the feeling that Undead might have been a little more to the point (At this point my angry bitch dogs start barking because my wife came home. Happy to see Mom!!!), whereas with Unborn it hits you right away but the more you listen to it…

CB: Its better! (both laugh)

(((o))): I like them both, I think they both compliment one another.

CB: I do to. See, to me I like the more rhythmic, mysterious type stuff, myself, to listen to more often. I mean that’s just me, but I think that overall they both have their ins and outs like you’re saying. I could say that Undead is more “this” type of album, and that Unborn is “this” type of album. They’re kind of counter parts so they should be [like that]. So I think that each emblem will find something different for each to hold. And you’re right, Undead hits you straight in your face, and this one [Unborn] gets in your psyche a little bit more and that’s how I wanted it to be.

(((o))): It’s more evil.

CB: Yeah, and that’s how I looked at the group of songs for each album. This song fits here and these songs fit here, and it just made sense to me. And were any of the songs mixed up between albums it’d wouldn’t have clicked, and that’s how all those thing fell into proper place. It works in that way, both albums shouldn’t be homogenized, I like ups and downs on albums.

(((o))): Atmosphere, so to speak.

CB: Yeah, dynamics. Dynamics have always been my main thing. Dynamics in production, songwriting, just making things not the same. It just doesn’t make sense, nothing is the same so why should you force yourself to a standard like that when EXPLORATION IS THE BASIS OF CREATIVITY.

(((o))): Yeah, I know what you’re saying. You can’t constantly be on the same straight line, where’s the art if you do?

CB: Kind of like on an EKG machine (both laugh). You need blips of life. But you know, they’re each fun albums.

(((o))): I love them both. I’d say on Undead, ‘Blood on My Hands’ is my favorite track.

CB: Thanks man. We need to play that one live, that’s one I really want to play live.

(((o))): I love not just your vocal delivery, because it’s very straight forward from the beginning. But then the guitars creep in slowly and they fit that song so perfect.

CB: I like that song a lot too. It’s definitely an eerie, eerie song.

(((o))): Yeah I get that feeling and nowadays people don’t get that feeling from music. Like back in the day when people first heard Slayer they were all like “Holy Crap!!” you know. And a lot of music doesn’t get that vibe today.

CB: Totally, and there’s a lot of second-guessing going on nowadays and that’s why I like this project I’m doing, iHate, Ryan. It’s because there’s no second-guessing going on. It’s just the base death metal vibe where it’s kind of Neanderthal in nature. It’s written by someone that hasn’t been writing music for a long time. He’s not a musician from another world, he’s just... You know sometimes when people are first starting out writing, that raw aggression that you can’t get back sometimes when you’ve been playing your instrument for 15 years. So, when writing, a couple of these new songs I’m writing with iHate are so base aggressive and so broken down and nasty with blast beats like caveman death metal that vocal patterns in me I haven’t been able to learn because no one’s been able to write parts like that. They’re fucking weird! The first three Cannibal Corpse records that Bob Rusay had the riffs for, those were so completely outrageous that the other guys in the band had to coral in and figure out the structure. And when someone’s writing way out there stuff, man that’s where I at times kind of wish I could get back to and a lot of people wish they could get back to. But when people have been learning their instruments and a guitarist and a writer for 20 years they’ve gone so far past that, that they can’t remember how to get back to it.

(((o))): Kinda like strapping on the same pair of work boots.

CB: Yeah, exactly man.

(((o))): Ok. I listened to that iHate song and I read a lot of websites, and some people were speculating if it was a pun at Apple? (both laugh)

CB: Yeah I know and my main counterpart, he thought it was funny at first and then he was like whatever. I said look bro, this is how it is. Don’t worry about what these morons on these websites say. It’s just counterproductive because people that love you aren’t going to spend their hard earned energy and time sitting on a website, telling you how great you are. Buy it and be a fan and say “Fuck it, you rule.” They’re not going to be obsessive and some enemy on some message board. And I’ve got a lot of those and I think it’s funny because that just solidifies to me that I’ve done my job because I’ve upset these people so much that they actually have me in their head more than people that like me. I love that though, I say bring it on. Keep talking shit.

(((o))): It’s funny because they don’t even actually know you and if they were face to face with you they wouldn’t say anything.

CB: Maybe they would, some would, and that’s their right but the thing is it helps me in the long run and I laugh about it because these people are spending energy on someone they dislike. And that feeds me more energy. I feed on that. I’m a very spiritual person and I think that the energy that they’re expending on me, is giving me strength.

(((o))): Absolutely, I totally agree with you. Inspiration can come from anywhere, but in the situation you’re talking about, if someone wants to be so negative towards you, that just feeds your mind. And the product you put out, even if it isn’t directed towards them, they inspired that energy.

CB: Yeah but a lot of them should understand that I’m killing them in the lyrics. So I looked at my buddy [in iHate] and I said just let that shit go, cause he hasn’t been doing long enough to have skin like concrete like I do. It’s just one of those things that comes along with the job. Not everybody likes Kanye West, I don’t like Kanye West, some people do you know. Everyone isn’t supposed to like everything. And I’ve always said, that the minute I write an album that everybody likes, I’ll bet there’s something wrong with it.

(((o))): Absolutely. Especially in metal, people are so picky man.

CB: People are so picky bro, so picky. It’s like punk rock on steroids, you know what I’m saying? With punk rock it’s the same thing, but in death metal we don’t like being judged but we judge everyone with a microscope within our community in this style of music. We scrutinize and pick apart, and it’s so strange. And to people who aren’t into death metal who see this, like my girlfriend for example, she gets to see this stuff, and she makes comments on it all the time that it’s so strange that death metal people are like that. And she wonders why people act like that. And well, they’re very passionate; it’s a very passionate style of music on all ends, for the musicians and for the fans. I guess it just gets confusing after awhile. (laughs)

(((o))): It does and there are some people that will say certain death metal bands aren’t death metal you know, and really who are we to judge?

CB: Exactly man, and it annoying because I look at it like this: When people say a band like Whitechapel isn’t death metal, I say “Really?”. Because I know for a fact that if you take Whitechapel now, and move them back to 1993…

(((o))): Blow everyone away.

CB: Dude! They would have surpassed Cannibal Corpse because THAT is death metal there’s no doubt about it. Phil (Whitechapel vocalist) is a death metal vocalist in every respect. I don’t give a fuck if the guy’s wearing Nikes, has short hair and has his ears gauged. I have my ears gauged too, it doesn’t mean shit.

(((o))): Same here

CB: We’re warriors dude. That’s what it’s about. And you know what, with that guys voice, he’s a death fucking metal singer. That band is pure death metal. And I don’t get that because I don’t find any truth or logic to the press and how people want to portray things you know. I came from a time when I was listening to Slayer and Slayer was listening to D.R.I. and all of a sudden all the fans of Slayer saw that Jeff Hanneman had a D.R.I. sticker on his guitar or that Lombardo was wearing a D.R.I. shirt in a picture. And you know what, D.R.I. became one of my favorite bands and I went to see them every time they came to town. And then metal heads and hardcore kids, in 1986, 1987 and 1988, they all started coming together and that formed death metal. All of a sudden people started moshing at a Slayer concert because there were a bunch of D.R.I. fans there, because Slayer had enough respect to wear one of their shirts, and that’s how people started slam dancing and shit. That’s how it all crossed together, and to have this separation in music, in death metal, with all these people with their fucking noses stuck in the air about things and being elitist about things, they should take a step back and look in history and see how it all started.

(((o))): There’s one thing I had heard, was that at the Summer Slaughter tour, there were fans in the front row that would turn their backs to Cannibal Corpse if they played before Between The Buried And Me, and I found that really disrespectful. It doesn’t make any sense to me to pay money to see bands all day to then turn your back like that on a band, it’s just gross and disrespectful.

CB: Yeah I didn’t know about that man. That’s sad. It’s annoying. I don’t know if its ignorance or just…it’s strange man.

(((o))): I just think its narrow mindedness. I mean, I’ll listen to anything really.

CB: See, it’s these weak minded people that only listen to what their friends listen to. It’s peer pressure.

(((o))): Now, I did some research and I see that the album has leaked, about two weeks before the street date. And I didn’t want to ask and offend you because this is my first interview.

CB: Dude, don’t worry, you’re doing good. I didn’t know this was your first interview. Crazy. Wait, yeah I do remember now. You mentioned something about it on Twitter, now I remember.

(((o))): Dude, Seven Psychopaths was good. [Chris had tweeted a score of 7/10 for the movie, and we shot back and forth about it a bit.] When Christopher Walken is tripping out in the desert. (both laugh)

CB: It was kind of long though you know in the beginning with the main guy. But I love that movie, the part that kills me is that dog looks exactly like my old doggy, and it was just killing me.

(((o))): I’m sorry man.

CB: Yeah…But that movie was just a little long.

(((o))): I thought the first hour could have been shortened up a bit.

CB: That and the desert scenes were just kind of long.

(((o))): Back to the question I had, sorry to get sidetracked: The leak of the album. I know a lot of people will download the album and if they like it they’ll go buy it, or merch to support that band. I always buy band shirts. My wife hates my dresser. (both laugh). So to me this is a two way street, I can see bands not liking when people download their album. But a lot of people will go out and buy albums after they’ve heard it.

CB: It’s true it’s true. And it’s not unlike what they used to do with record store in Europe and here. Back when they had the stations with the headphone stands and you could preview a good part of the album before hand. So it’s an idea that we’ve all had to start with. So if I find out it leaks I’ll send the label an email about it. If they want to do something about it, they do. If they don’t, they don’t you know. And then they can blame me if record sales aren’t high enough because then it’s something I’ve done, its all my fault. But no one wanted to address or hire someone to kill all those active leaks.

(((o))): Yeah, you said it man. That’s how it goes I hear. So, I was looking up record sale on Wiki, because we both know its entirely reliable, but as of 2003, yeah apparently 2003 was the last update. (both laugh). But as of 2003 Six Feet Under is the fourth most selling death metal band.

CB: Yep, and I was in the number one selling death metal band as well. So number one and number four isn’t bad. I guess that would make, what, like two and a half?

(((o))): Two and a quarter maybe. [upon transcribing this, I greatly realize I am incompetent when it comes to simple math on the fly, and should stick to writing-Ryan]

CB: It makes me the number one selling death metal vocalist. (laughs). I’ll take it. I’ve sold a few records and I’m proud of it.

(((o))): You should be, you have quite the catalogue under your belt. I remember the first time I ever actually heard Six Feet Under was quite a few years ago, back in high school. Some friends and I were drinking in a buddy’s basement and he had this VHS take that had a pre-show warm up you guys were doing. Your drummer had a practice pad and you guys were in a circle. I don’t know if you remember that. And then I saw the video for Victim of The Paranoid.

CB: Oh yeah, yeah I remember that. I think it was from Maximum Video. It was before we went on at Waken or something.

(((o))): Yup, and then we watched the whole video and Victim… always stood out to me. That whole album, Maximum Violence, it’s probably my favorite album from you guys. That was right around the time Steve [Swanson] joined the band right?

CB: Yeah that was right when Steve joined the band, and it’s one of my favorites too. I still think the first three are my favorite albums.

(((o))): Yeah, the first album, Haunted, with song like “Remains of You” and “Lycanthropy”, I loved that album.

CB: Right on man, thanks.

(((o))): Yeah, even my wife, she’s not really into the death metal thing. But she’s getting better. I’ll play you guys while we’re eating dinner or something and she’ll guess it right. So she’s getting somewhere.

CB: That’s good, man. (both laugh)

(((o))): So, I had a few more questions but I think we’re running out of time.

CB: No man, you’re my last interview of the day. We can keep on going, I don’t mind.

(((o))): Really, I thought I was the first one.

CB: No man, I’ve been doing this for most the afternoon.

(((o))): Well I hope you got something to drink or a fucking bottle of water, sheeesh.

CB: (Laughs) It’s all good man, we got time.

(((o))): Ok, well I was reading the promo that came with the album, and you gave pretty high praise to Ben Savage, and I personally agree with you on his style and he’s an amazing guitarist.

CB: He’s amazing man, he twisted.

(((o))): Yeah, like on the intro of the album.

CB: Yeah! Yeah, you can tell all of his songs on this album, man. You know that’s the thing with this album. On Undead it was all Rob Arnold songs, and on this album it’s three different writers. And to be able to do something like that it took someone like Ben, and it took someone like Jari to really to really offset parts of the album to bring in some of the dynamics that put the album together. And his stuff, Ben’s style is just so insane and twisted. It’s like a fucking whirlpool man. It just keeps rotating and the energy is extreme.

(((o))): He’s a very “outside the box” writer. When you hear a lot of stuff, it just sounds like rehashed ideas, and Ben is just out there but in the confines of death metal.

CB: That, that is exactly right man. You hit that head on. He’s an innovator. You nailed that, like when you hear something and it sounds done before; Ben is just in a league of his own. That’s what interested me so much about his songs, were the rhythms or the time spacings were just out there, and I’ve never had a chance to attempt those comfort zones you know. To try out the patterns, and he brought something out of me that I’ve never tried, that I never had the opportunity to try. I think it turned out really different and really eerie sounding.

(((o))): It did, he can have an evil sound in his guitar writing but at the same time he throws some curveballs in that aren’t right on the straight beat.

CB: Exactly dude, he’s out there with that stuff. He’s such a cool guy to man. You’d never expect that he’s such a mild mannered dude, and we get along so well. It’s funny man, I just really like those Whitechapel guys. They’re a great bunch of good people.

(((o))): I’ve never seen them live, but I have their albums. I like Phil’s voice, but the three guitar thing threw me off at first. But after awhile they learned to use it well, with the lead being doubled, or the rhythm being double under the solos, it all sounded stronger.

CB: It’s insane dude. It’s just insanity going on. I mean, you’re right. They’re solid in their style with everything they do and it’s just interesting, dynamic once again. It’s what I love about music like that. It keeps you guessing, it keeps you on your toes. It feels cool man. Especially when it’s recorded and produced well. You just get a good vibe from it, it’s infectious. And I love that layering and you just hear something different every time you listen to it. A lot of people have been telling me that have reviewed the album [Unborn], that they liked it on first listen, but then after five or six listens it really started to sink in and they loved it.

(((o))): See, I like some albums to just be straight up bashers that you get right away. But I really like albums that give you a challenge. You don’t know if you like it on first listen, but then you listen to it a few times more. And then all of a sudden, when you’re not listening to it, you find yourself humming or tapping the beats and guitar lines.

CB: Yeah you know, it’s almost like finding a band that you didn’t know was around before and then maybe it’s something that no one digs, but you’re like “Wow man, I really fucking liking this shit.” It’s a good feeling to have that. It’s discovery through music. It’s kind of like “Oh well I didn’t know I liked that kind of food” or something.

(((o))): Like it’s been there, and you’ve seen it plenty of times but for once you finally go for it and it’s like “Holy Shit!!”.

CB: Then you’re all “Hey man you gotta check this out.”

(((o))): Yeah, for me man, I’m a pretty big death metal guy and I went through all the late 80s early 90s stuff and…. Man I was just born a little too late you know? I would have loved to been around in that scene.

CB: You’re an open minded guy, Ryan, and it seems to me that a lot of people are too afraid, or too boxed in with their friends to give anything a shot.

(((o))): I think people need to really learn to explore the roots, that’s how they learn to appreciate things.

CB: That’s true man, that’s true. A lot of people need to do that to understand things better. I think a lot of people do as time goes by. It just like growing up and finding your way and finding what you like through trial and error. Find out who the people are around you in life, and things change in life and its fun to ride it out and see where it takes you.

(((o))): I agree completely. It’s a journey you have to take, ups and downs

CB: Yup, let the bad things go down stream, and you keep going up stream.

(((o))): Well I won’t keep you too much longer, but I have one more question for ya.

CB: Sure man.

(((o))): Do you think you’ll be relocating to Colorado anytime soon?

[Legislation was recently passed in Colorado to allow the use of marijuana]

(big laugh from both of us)

CB: I knew that one was coming up! You know, I’m looking more towards Washington state. I don’t like being land locked, so I just don’t like living somewhere that isn’t by a body of water.

(((o))): You don’t like Florida anymore?

I love Florida man, but Washington, it’s legalized there, and I enjoy the climate there better than Colorado. It mostly because of the climate I grew up in. In the snow, and I don’t really want to go back to that.

(((o))): Oh that’s right, you guys were from Buffalo (New York) weren’t you.

CB: Yeah.

(((o))): See, I’m from Wisconsin.

CB: So you know what I’m talking about. Once you leave the snow you don’t really want to go back to it.

(((o))): Yeah, not really .

CB: I was your age when I left Buffalo, I was 26 and I cruised out of there and I haven’t looked back because that last winter was just so bad. I had just enough of it. So to think about going to Colorado and not being by water… I’ll have to go with Washington State.

(((o))): Don’t worry, I’ll leave that out of the print.

CB: (laughing) It’s ok man, I’m sure some people will understand.

(((o))): I’ll see what my editor has to say. The site’s actually based in the UK, and I’m one of the few American writers they have.

CB: Yeah I’m sure Colorado would be ok with not having me there smoking up all their weed anyway.

(((o))): Yeah they’d probably be like “You’re costing us too much money, get the hell out of here.”

CB: “He does smoke a lot of weed. Maybe its better that he’s not here.”

(a lot of laughing from both of us)

(((o))): Can I ask you one more question.?

CB: Yeah sure man.

(((o))): Ok, what kind of dogs do you have?

CB: I don’t have any now man.

(((o))): Really?

CB: No, I had to put my last puppy down in July.

(((o))): Well I’m sorry.

CB: Yeah she was old man, 16 years old.

(((o))): What kind of dog was it?

CB: A Lhasa Apso. Just like that dog is Seven Psychopaths, she looked just like that.

(((o))): Ok. 16 years is a long time, man.

CB: Yeah, and I had her friend, he was about 17 years old and he got put down a couple years ago. So, I had dogs for a long time and I’m not looking into it again. It a little too tough and I have a lot of tours to do and it was different before when I had someone who could watch them.

(((o))): I know what you’re saying. They’re like your kids

CB: They really are man, they were really like my kids. It was really tough, but it’s something to think about. I really do love doggies.

(((o))): Same here, I have two and they’re my babies.

CB: That cool man, I love all doggies man. My neighbor across the street, he’s a hunter and he’s got a red lab and this dog is number two in the state and he’s only like two years old. This guy is an expert dog trainer. It’s unreal to watch him work.

(((o))): Well maybe they should give him his own reality show.

CB: Yeah. He’s a really cool guy. He’s a championship spear fisherman.

(((o))): Damn, you’ve got some cool neighbors.

CB: Yeah, he’s one of two that are cool actually. The others are retards.

(((o))): I know exactly what you’re saying. I live by people who don’t mind their children and rednecks.

CB: Yeah, I’m by two older people, and then two cool guys across the street. Just a part of living.

(((o))): Well I suppose.

CB: It was awesome talking to you Ryan. Great job on your first interview.

(((o))): Thanks man, it’s a dream come true. Did you happen to catch my review I wrote?

CB: Yeah man, really liked it. Looked professional.

(((o))): It was my first “long” review.

CB: I wouldn’t have thought that. It looked good.

(((o))): I guess it’s just like anything else in life, just like your craft, keep going and you get better at it.

CB: Exactly man just keep plugging away.

(((o))): Alright Chris, it was good talking to you, and hopefully if you tour around the Minneapolis area I’ll be able to make it up to the show and talk to ya.

CB: For sure man, let me know.

(((o))): Absolutely, I will.

CB: Alright man, good talking to ya.

(((o))): You too Chris.

CB: Bye.

I would like to personally thank Chris for his time and a great conversation with a like-minded

individual. Make sure to pick up the new album, Unborn via Metal Blade on March 18th (19th in the US).

Interview by Ryan Stephenson.