1.How did you all meet? How long did it take for you 3 to realize that you would be UNBURIED?
Matt and Mark met in middle school, they had gym class together. Mark was into death metal and he exposed Matt to it. Matt started Unburied in 1996. The original line-up was Matt on guitar and bass, Mark programming the drum machine, and Chris Taylor singing. Matt and I met shortly after Unburied’s first release. He came over to visit my roommate one night, we got along really well so we started hanging out together. Around that time Chris lost interest in the band, so Matt started trying to convince me to sing. In reference to the band name, Matt came up with UNBURIED. The name has fantastic and emotional meaning to him. The word unburied makes him think of rotting, gortesque, corpses emerging from the grave, and it represents all of his relentless hatred toward the vast majority of man kind. His hatred cannot be buried.
2.What other projects have you all been in before? I know Mark & his twin brother, Mike have worked in other projects before?
Unburied is the only band I’ve ever been in. Mark and his brother, Mike has a project called SOIL BLEEDS BLACK. They also had a band when they were in high school called EXCRESCENT. Matt was also in a band in High School called TORMENT.
3.What bands are you into? Besides metal do you enjoy other forms of music?
I’ll only list a few so I won’t bore you to death…Integrity, Vital Remains, Banished, Jesus Anal Penetration (a really brutal anti-christian band from Australia), Embalm, and old Metallica. I’m into other music besides metal. I enjoy Classical Rock from the 60’s and 70’s a lot. I love The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and all that other drug induced music from that time period. I also like alto of classical music and opera.
4.I’ve been doing this zine for a while and I always find guys that are not aware of females in brutal bands or don’t think of females as capable of creating brutal death/ black metal material. What do you say to this?
I haven’t been active in the underground scene for very long, since I’ve only been in UNBURIED for about 2 years, and have only been doing mail for about six months, but I’ve found that a lot of guys are ignorant to women’s participation in the scene. Most guys are very interested in hearing Unburied because there is a female singer. Some guys, though, don’t want to hear my band because of my being the singer. My demo has been refused for review twice because the editor doesn’t like girl singers, or doesn’t trust them (whatever that means0. But I don’t really care too much because the reaction has been very good so far, and why should I care about narrow-minded assholes anyway?! (You go girl!-L)
5.Besides vocals, do you play any instruments? How did you prepare for your part as vocalist for Unburied?
I don’t play any instruments. The closest I’ve ever come to being a musician was when I tired playing drums in the 6th grade. I didn’t prepare for singing in Unburied at all. One night I was hanging out with Matt and a few friends of ours. They were jamming and we were all getting drunk. Matt told me to growl in the microphone, and I did. Shortly thereafter I was in Unburied. I don’t use vocal effects or anything, I guess it comes naturally.
6.Who wrote the lyrics for the Tortured Remains demo? Were they written with someone in mind?
Matt and Chris (the original singer) wrote Two Faced Murders and How You Died, the song Tortured Remains was written by Matt and myself, I came up with Kill.., and Abraxas Annihilation is a cover song originally performed by Integrity. The songs weren’t written about anyone in particular, just people who suck. For us, writing the music and the lyrics is the only legal way of releasing our built up anger.
7.Have you played live shows in Virginia, USA? If so, tell us of this experience. Where do you play live and where do you go to watch shows? What kind of crowds do you get there?
We haven’t played a show yet, but we’re going to play our first one in March. We’ll he playing with Dying Fetus, Hatred, Black Mass, Decapitate, Internal Bleeding, and more at the Kremlin Kore Death Fest at Phantasmagoria in Maryland. That’s the best place around here to see death metal shows, I think. They have a couple every year, and the crowds are really great, lots of people come out, and there is a lot of underground flyers, stickers, demos, CDs, records, and information there.
8.Do you feel the death metal scene is on the rise again or do you find there isn’t a notable difference?
A lot of distros and zines say that death metal is making a come back in foreign countries and in the U.S. I think that black metal is getting to be really popular. A lot of "wanna be" metalheads listen to Cradle of Filth and think they’re in the underground scene. It might not be like that most places, but around here it is. Death metal seems to be as unpopular as ever, though. I really don’t see a difference.
9.With 2 artists in the band, how do you decide who will do the cover art for the demos?
I’ve never even considered doing the cover art! I think that Mark is much better at drawing gory pictures than I am. We all want gory demo covers (especially Matt), so Mark is the best one for the job.
10.Did you learn to draw in school or on your own?
I learned to draw on my own by imitating other people’s work and developing my own style from it. I wish I had learned art in school, though. I don’t know how to draw natural backgrounds and I can’t draw the human anatomy very well. I probably would have learned how to do these things and more if I had classes. I think I developed a good style on my own, despite not having art classes, I think I have a lot of patience, and therefore can draw in a lot of detail. The type of drawing I do doesn’t really require any education, just a hell of a lot of time.
11.What other interests do you have aside from Unburied?
Well drawing is my main interest, and I am studying horticulture in school. Soon I’ll move on to landscape architecture. That’s the design of landscapes using plants, decks, pools, etc. I have a part-time job, but that doesn’t really count as an interest, since I hate my job. I wish I could do other things but I don’t have enough time as it is!
12.What are Unburied goals?
Right now we are trying to play live as much as possible. We really want our next release to be a 7-inch, probably a split, we’re not sure yet because it depends on money (as always). But we’re promoting the demo a lot right now, since “Tortured Remain” is only four months old, and I guess that’s it.
13.Any last words?
Thanks for the interview, Lucifera!!! I love your zine and I think its great that you support women in the extreme scene!! Everyone get in touch!!!
Contact:
Unburied
P.O. Box 301
Herndon, VA 20172 USA
