First off we’d just like to say hello to all and greetings from Ireland. There are five members that make up Killface. Myself (Derek), Zammo and Daryl on guitars, Dee on bass and Ste on drums. The Daryl and Ste lads are new to the cause as we wrote and recorded the album with two former members.

'Feeding the Dead' is our first album following the release of our EP 'Faceless'. When we started to write for the album we sort of knew that we wanted it be as heavy as a whale's titty, harsh, hellish, full of filth, vicious, but with groove and an intensity that would focus on real life horrors and misguided perceptions of morality along with all the blood, guts, lawnmowers and brains that come with fictional horror movies and stories.

The aim was to make an album that hits you in the face from start to finish. We had written cool intros to a couple of the songs and we were going to use them, but then we thought, nah, we’ve heard a million intros so why not just cut out all that lark, get straight in and hold on. Not saying that intros are bad, it was just a decision and we went with it. We can always use them live sure, ha!

We recorded with Ivan Jackman in Silverline Studios, Co. Wicklow and later had it mastered by Neal Calderwood of Manor Park Studios, Co. Antrim. Ivan is a legend and a great producer and having recorded Faceless with him we knew he’d listen to us and give it his all. Neal is a beast himself and he really gave the album an extra kick. There will always be one or two little things you wish you did a bit different when all is done so we’ll take all into consideration for the next  album, which is coming together very nicely indeed, but at the end of the day we’re happy with the outcome and the feedback we’re getting off people is really positive so we must have done something right, haha!

And now onto ‘Feeding the Dead’ - track-by-track! What inspired you, which topics are you dealing with, what do you want to express with the songs etc.

01. Meatgrinder
Ha, the fictional side of the album kicks in from the get go. Meatgrinder is a homage to the all time classic Predator. We know that to say ‘a lot of bands’ doesn’t begin to describe just how many bands have actually written a song about Predator, but sure who cares. It’s a legend in itself.

We always have ideas floating around all the time about what type of song we should write and what it should be about, it can be hilarious at times but generally we tend to write and structure the music first, trying out different riffs with different beats, tones and tunings etc.

We had the song about 50% done when one of the lads says, “why don’t we do a song about Predator” which I wasn’t too pushed on down to how many times its been done but sure, I was sitting at home that night and the first two or three lines popped into my head like a couple of ninja’s and from there on out the song was shaped and named.

The tone is set on the fear and terror of the unknown that hunt’s the hunters and coming to the realization of how small, weak and behind mankind probably is in universal terms.

02. What’s Your Pleasure
The second the opening riff of this song poked its head into the rehearsal room it was done. The song would have to be about demons. Being big Clive Barker fans and all having a love for his Hellraiser stories and movies, it was decided that that’s what this song would be about. We do like our homages, haha!

It’s all about the cenobites and the box, what it is and its mysteries, what happens when you find out and the choice you’re giving if you do solve the puzzle. Pushing temptation really, out of curiosity or whatever it may be.  Everybody wants something different in life and some people will go to extremes to find it.

It’s a heavy one, full of piercing hooks, flesh and blood.

03. Murderers
This song came together really fast which is always great. All the riffs and beats just flowed. Musically the song was finished in no time and just needed lyrics. A day or two later I was in a friend’s house and himself and two other guys where there watching a video of what seemed to be something disturbing from the look on their faces.

What they were looking at was a video of these young guys in Ukraine smashing this poor old man to death with a hammer and piercing him with a screwdriver over and again. It was insane. I couldn’t believe what they were doing to this man. It turned out that these Ukrainian lads had a bit of a fetish for this type of thing and had committed a number of murders in a period of a month and a half, collecting images and clips of their victims.

I wanted to focus on the fact that it seemed like they believed it was funny and cool to capture and kill innocent, helpless people. It made them feel strong and above everyone.  They did it with ease. Not an ounce of remorse.

They’re not laughing now, though. In the end it turned out that they weren’t the brightest group of lads and ended up getting caught and if the judge needed anything to send them down, well there was a pile of pictures and videos all over the internet that would make any jury’s job a whole lot easier.

It ain’t the happiest of subjects but sure that’s metal.

04. Disaster’s End
This is another one that came together in a flash. It’s a short stomper that was written for banging the head.  The focus of the lyrics is on the personality of the planet and how we tend to forget that we’re on a blue and green ball floating around space that can at any second unleash a devastating force of nature to remind us of not who, but just what is in charge of this planet. As far as I see it, we’re just tagging along for the ride.

05. Seduction
The music was finished on this one for a while before lyrics were added. When we start writing a song we usually go with the flow of things, unless of course there’s a particular concept  that we have in mind. More often than not though, the songs are written raw from the jam.  This song was a bit longer before I added vocals, we felt it dragged a bit so we cut out a few bars from a section here and a section there, added vocals and it was done.

It’s a song about the lust and pride of man and the lengths and depths it will take him. 

06. Daddy’s Girl
Daddy’s Girl is not a nice story at all. It’s based on the Josef Fritzl case. Other bands have visited this subject before, but I just wanted to do it from a different perspective. It’s a terrifying thought to know that things like this happen in real life. What the hell goes on in the heads of these psychos?

Sometimes the riffs and section changes go together like a glove, other time’s it can be like trying to use a flat head screwdriver on a Philips screw. A bit of patience and care and it will fit. This song is full on and was a challenge in parts but nothing a load of practice can’t sort out. It’s one of the longest tunes on the album and one of my favourite’s to play live.

07. Gutless Scummy Cannibals
This is one another my favourites off the album. It’s so much fun to play and it shows our more humorous, thrashier side so with that, you have to add zombie into the equation, ha.

We are all big fans of old school thrash metal so we wanted to focus on that style musically, but obviously with putting our own twist on things.

It’s a song about a man living alone in a world overrun by zombies. He’s been alone for years after seeing his loved ones and the world be savaged by the infection. He has his routine and can get around without too much bother, he’s as safe as safe can be in this situation, but as the years go on he loses it and decides he’s had enough.

He loads up and sets out on a quest to take out as many zombies as possible. He’s determined and won’t stop for anything. Sure what else would there be to do, haha!

08. Breeds Inside
Breeds Inside is sort of the odd one out from all the song as it’s more personal to myself. The pace is slower compared to the rest of the songs, but the riffs create a tone that keeps the vibe of the album intact. There’s sort of an eerie, tripped out vibe to this song. It’s like the calm before a storm sort of song.

It’s about living with an illness that drains all your will and turns your life completely upside down and how you must speak up and get sorted or else whatever it is that is wrong with you will a get a lot worse. People are so afraid to be seen as vulnerable but at the end of the day it’s your health so get it sorted or pay the price.

09. Feeding the Dead
With this being the title track for the album we wanted it to sound like something straight out of hell. It’s a thunderous song. A full on whale titty! It’s based on Peter Jackson’s movie ‘Braindead’ or ‘Dead/Alive’.

It follows an emotionally brainwashed man child whose mother dies after being bitten by an infectious rat monkey. Before he has a chance to move on and start living his own live his mother rise’s from her grave with a lust for flesh. Even though she’s dead he can’t do the right thing and finds a way to sedate and hide her. In his eyes its still his mother, but trying to care for the undead ain’t gonna be the easiest of tasks as he found out. The lyrics and music went together just right and with a title like ‘Feeding the Dead’, it had to be the name of the album.

Tell us a bit about the artwork and why you have used Swedish painter Marcus Larson’s ‘Nattlig Marin Med Brinnande Fartyg’?

Mike Dubisch of Phoenix, Arizona, is the man we have to thank for the artwork. He’s an illustrator, cartoonist and designer.

We first pitched the concept to Paul McCarroll at Unhinged.com who had done the artwork for our EP ’Faceless’, but unfortunately he was unable to do it at the time, but kindly he pointed us in Mike’s direction. Mike has worked on products like Dungeons and Dragons, Star Wars, Aliens VS Predator among other things. His collection of artwork and projects based on H.P Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos stories are incredible. When we checked out his portfolio we were blown away. We love his style and knew straight away we had to get him to do the artwork for the album. He’s a beast!

We gave him our ideas and a free run on the concept and what he sent back was an instant winner.

One of our most favorite things about Metal is the classic album covers from bands of all the sub-genres over the years. Especially the disgusting one’s ha! We love art and are a fair bit witty too so to have good art work for our releases will always be a bit of a no brainer.

On behalf of the band I’d just like to say thanks a million for having us. I hope I’ve provided you all with a little insight into the album. If you’re into thrash, death, groove, blood and guts then check out the album and get your head bang on.

Cheers! \m/