THE WAR INSIDE MY HEAD: TRACK PREMIERE WITH AVANT-GRINDCORE MONSTERS FEED THEM DEATH

Along with such bands as Chepang and Karkait, Italian/British project Feed Them Death represent one of the most refreshing, bizarre voices in that murky in-between space of grindcore and death metal. Mixing the sheer ferocity of grindcore along with an almost deconstructed jazzy sensibility of grind/death and (dare I say) jazz death metal of the Floridian persuasion they pummel you to submission while disorienting you out of your mind. Which, as you all well know, is what we all look for in our music. Dynamic, curious, and crushing, their upcoming release, Negative, due  May 7 via Brucia Records (which FTD's Void co-manages) is going to give your brain a well-overdue haircut. All of which points to our proud and awfully exclusive premiere of the Adorno-metal track "Eulogic (Negative Dialektik)" from Negative, available below. As you witness all that death metal grinding your mind out you can also read the short interview with Void down below, part of our The War Inside My Head interview series, where I talk with some of the most exciting, forward-thinking contemporary extreme artists and try to get at their sources of inspiration and influence. So, yeah. Good times.

Before we get to that this is just to say that you can check out our other interview series (Albums of the Decade, Pillars of the 90s) and, you haven't already, please follow follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Spotify and support whatever it is that we do on Patreon, and check out our kinda-sorta podcast, MATEKHET (YouTube, Spotify and all that). On to my chat with FTD.

What was the first album you bought with your own money, and where did you buy it?

Think it was Gun n' Roses' Appetite for Destruction on tape. I remember circling around the rock section of one of the many record stores in Genoa, my hometown. Genoa is a small town, but think it had the largest number of record stores per-capita back in the early 90’s, and most dealt with alternative music. I was like 11-12 years old and was hugely attracted by the art cover, at the same time considering what would the cashier think of baby me buying that black thing with skulls everywhere. Think it was the first time I was faced with the challenge of realizing what I now perceive as being the bliss of nonconformity in a world of normies, and took some time to build up the courage to embrace the oddity. Little did I know that that would have been the most mainstream shit I’d listen to and that the road to sonic extremism would have led me to move very quickly onto Metallica, Sepultura and then jump straight onto Deicide and Suffocation in the space of just a couple of years from then.

What 2-3 albums did you hear the most growing up?

Think the first album I had listened to lots was Metallica's …And Justice for All. I used to spend days and days learning the bass tabs, which is somewhat ironic if we consider that the bass is virtually absent in the mix ahah.

Fast forward just a couple of years and I got Suffocation's Pierced from Within the week was released: it was a love story set to endure for years, and to this day I consider it a perfect album, maybe the only one album I can think of in death metal history where every single note makes perfect sense.

All considering, I think that from a very young age and to this day, the album I gave the most number of spins to gotta be Carcass' Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious. I discovered it when I was 14 and that was THE game changer. I was floored. I remember spending days and days at the public library going through huge dusty tomes of anatomy with the excitement of having found the most incredible thing in life. I originally had it on tape: to give you an idea of how many times I had listened to that album, suffices to say that I had ruined the tape in so many parts of the album that still nowadays I instinctively expect loss of audio quality in various points of most songs and it weirds me out that I can go through the whole LP without hiccups.

What two albums taught you the most about making music (mixing, production, performance)?

As a bass player I moved my first step with the usual bands, but it was Necroticism that thought me how to be a musician. I spent so much time deciphering the tabs that it left an everlasting mark in the way I move my fingers on the instruments I play – it taught me dissonance, and that was fantastic!

From a production standpoint, I think that the album that changed everything was arguably Darkthrone's A Blaze in the Northern Sky. Different types of sonic extremism of course but think that for me personally an all time high was “Need to control”, which is a masterclass on how to produce something excellent scraping all the Morrissound-esque preconceived parameters of sound engineering. After Brutal Truth's Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses which I loved, it was a challenging listen, and did not like it immediately – it took some time for me to see the genius, but still now I consider Need to Control as one of the all-round best album when it comes to production and delivery.

What is the last album that absolutely shocked you?

Honestly, The Sun and The Mirror's Dissolution to Salt and Bone. I remember receiving the promo with Brucia and that day alone I played the album four or five times consecutively, because I could not believe it. Raw, visceral but weirdly sophisticated, it manages to be both dreamy and oppressive, often at the same time. It develops over time like a beautiful poetry, leaving deep scars all over you and a weird urge to hit play again.

What album relaxes you or centers you the most?

I am a huge fan of Bad Religion. Huge. They are by far my all-time favorite band, and actually the name Feed Them Death comes from one of their songs. It’s not only a matter of respect due to the longevity and influence of the band, but think that in terms of songwriting there is no one like them – few songs are shite but it’s to be expected when you have composed over 400 songs in 40 years. Greg Graffin’s voice always has the power to center me, every time: it’s like listening to my best friend talking to me, or how I imagine loving your parents must feel like. Can’t pinpoint an album, it varies all the time, but recently I have been rediscovering and appreciating Recipe for Hate more and more every day.

What are the 2-3 albums you’ve listened to the most recently?

With Brucia we receive quite a vast amount of submissions, and since we like to listen to everything and go back to everyone, let’s say that my daily quota of extreme metal is usually reached half way through the day, so in my spare time I tend to listen to other and various types of music. Recently I have been particularly enjoying Still Air by Kirlian Camera, which is something I regularly go back to.

The last Rope Sect is phenomenal, and I found myself revisiting it often.

I also only recently started appreciating 2 by Black Heart Procession, and been spinning it quite a lot.

Can I say a fourth? Always had a huge soft spot for The Lillingtons, and the latest release Stella Sapiente is otherworldly! They don’t release new stuff often so I am eagerly waiting to see what’s next from them.

What album is grossly underrated?

I think we live in the day and age of the “extreme mainstream," so for any one extreme metal band that periodically gets the hype treatment, hundreds go below radar unfortunately. Today most bands could potentially reach out and get some basic press coverage and so for me the term “underrated” applies primarily as a means for “not hyped enough”, as in these bands have indeed received very positive reviews already but perhaps not the hype I think they deserve.

For example, Post Tenebras Lux by LaColpa is a masterpiece. And think that Wolok, especially the last album, definitely deserves more hype because they are a complete mindfuck.

What album would you recommend from your local scene?

I am born Italian but have lived in the U.K. for 15 years, so I think that I am now part of two local scenes. From the London scene, I definitely recommend The Hollow Man by Void. From the Italian scene, I think that the new Ad Nauseam speaks for itself. I was also impressed by Introvertere by Gorrch, and think that Heritage by Laetitia in Holocaust is another criminally underrated release.