Metal Monday: Q&A with Cephalic Carnage

posted in: Features

Self-described rocky mountain hydro grind veterans Cephalic Carnage are fresh off a spot on this year’s Summer Slaughter Tour, about to release their sixth studio album, Misled By Certainty and head overseas for another European tour.  It doesn’t sound like they’ve got time to catch their breath really, but we still managed to talk with guitarist Steve Goldberg to see how things were going between tours and to ask about the new album:

MtD: First off, how was Summer Slaughter this year?

CC: Pretty awesome man, the shows have been really good.   The downsides are the long days and long drives.  You don’t get much personal time, but the shows have been awesome.

MtD: Your stage antics are a lot different than the other bands on the Summer Slaughter, do you think the crowds receive them well?

CC: Yeah, I think they do. We have a bit more of a comedy factor in the live setting, like funny samples and stuff like that going on. So yeah, we think it’s received pretty well.

MtD: So, how are the crowds receiving the new songs from Misled By Certainty?

CC: It’s going over good too.  Not really getting the same pits as we did with the old stuff, but everyone’s really pumped about it and absorbing it and we’ve been getting really positive reactions”you know, loud cheers and everything.

MtD: Can you give us a little insight to Misled By Certainty, and how you got the name for it?

CC: Oh, the title can pretty much relate to anything.  Like, an example would be that we put about $2,000 into our van and were certain things would be good and we were set” but sure enough we blew a transmission first week into it. So it’s just kinda scenarios like that, never count your chickens before they hatch.

MtD: So, how about the first single, Abraxas of Filth, what exactly is an Abraxas?

CC: [Talking to someone else in the band] What does Abraxas mean?

It’s like an ancient God, and apparently he hasn’t bathed in a while, so he’s pretty filthy.

MtD: Now, with the new album there was a preorder contest where the grand prize is a vaporizer, how did this idea come about?

CC: There’s this place called Silver Surfer out in Colorado who kinda sponsored us as a band, and we just wanted to have some kinda cool promotion for a grand prize and they were kind enough to donate to the cause.  Whomever wins that should be pretty happy because those things rule.

MtD: So, it’s no secret that you guys are pro-marijuana; do you ever catch any grief about it on tour?

CC: Nah, no issues.  Maybe some like, podunk country cop you know, but we never really get any flack about it.  People these days tend to be pretty pro-pot.

MtD: Now that you’re done with Summer Slaughter, you’re off to Europe to headline a tour”what are you most excited about being back in Europe for?

CC: Oh man, just the good times over there.  Europe’s the best place to tour.  Get back over there with our buddies Psycroptic and just looking forward to hanging out, playing some shows, and having fun.

MtD: You’re also on that tour in Europe with Ion Dissonance”is it your first full tour with them?

CC: Nah, the first summer slaughter tour four years ago actually.  There’s also this band called Our Penance, and I’ve heard their songs on the Internet actually, and they’re pretty ridiculously brutal so I’m excited to check them out.  The other band’s Discarnate, whom I haven’t heard yet.

Misled By Certainty drops on August 31th on Relapse Records” and you’d be a fool not to buy it (get it here).   The tracks posted to the band’s MySpace page promise more of the same great Cephalic Carnage from Xenosapien and Anomalies”so, we’re all in for a treat.  If you happen to be located in Europe, you’d also do well by your ears to check out their tour with Psycroptic, Ion Dissonance and more.