All fans of Death Metal need to check out ARBITER OF CONCIET. After reading the interview make sure to head over to myspace.com/arbiterofconciet to hear their music.
Interview with Arbiter of Conciet
Interview by DJ
So when & how did ARBITER OF CONCEIT Arbiter of Conciet form?
Arbiter of Conceit formed in the spring of 2005. I had moved back to Indiana from Virginia the year earlier and met Joel through work and we started
bullshitting about doing a sideproject because he was playing drums for Knee Deep In The Dead at the time. Well, push come to shove, Knee Deep
ended up disolving because of different issues within their band. I'd been working on some riffs at home and Joel ended up at my house one night, I showed
him the riffs and he was in. So we started looking for guys to join up. The first that came to mind was John Kelly who I'd played with in Akeldama back in
Virginia and I knew he could do it. So, I dropped him a line and he moved up in May. Following this we recruited our bass player Brandon from the place
we worked and the rest is history.
Who all consists of ARBITER OF CONCEIT?
Luke Tobias - Guitar
John Kelly - Guitar
Joel Frechette - Drums
Brandon Philipson - Bass
Todd Sirbek - Vocals
Lets talk about the DESECRATION OF THE IMMACULATE Demo, Where was it recorded? How was the responce been so far?
We recorded Desecration of the Immaculate at Plinko Manor in beautiful South Bend Indiana with our good friend Garth Mason. I've known Garth for
quite a while and had recorded with him in the past so it was pretty much the best option and it turned out sounding fantastic. The respons has been
pretty overwhelming for the most part. Everybody seems to be pretty into it.
Do you have any past recordings still available?
Not really. We've got some instrumental practice recordings and shit like that but this was our initial demo.
What's new with the band? How is the new vocalist working out? Any recording plans?
We've been working our asses off writing new material for our upcoming full length and getting Todd up to speed on the
material. We'll be recording our full length the last week in January at Smithsound in Richmond Virginia with Jeremy Smith
who has done shitloads of work for different bands but most recently recorded Gwar's War Party album. We'll record between 10 - 12
songs and as it stands now the release will come out on Meat5000 records from France ( http://meat5000records.free.fr )
Who came up with the name "Arbiter of Conciet" and what is the meaning behind it?
Arbiter of Conceit is a name that my friend Pete and I came up with when we were working an extremely slow day at
Guitar Center.
I must say your logo is fuckin sick, who is the artist that designed it?
I actually did the design. Which, sidenote, if any bands need work done, get ahold of me.
Arbiter of Conciet is from Richmond, Virginia right? How is the Metal scene there? Are there many bands,places to play?
Well, John and I lived there but we're based in South Bend Indiana right now. In Richmond the metal scene is pretty good by comparison to
where we are now. Lots of bands come out of there and there are a lot of kids that are into it and lots of venues. As far as South Bend goes,
there are really only a few places to play and even then, it's difficult because there really aren't any good all ages clubs and there are a lot of
cops everywhere. And, y'know, metal shows generally include, among other things, copious amounts of alcohol. So what happens is the cops sit
outside the clubs and wait for people to roll out and then they nab em for being wasted. So, people have just started being afraid to come out
and thats at least part of the reason the "scene" around here suffers slightly.
Best show you've played so far?
Hmm. All of the shows we've played so far have been pretty fucking wicked.
Do you currently have any merch available? If so where can people get it?
We've just got copies of our demo available and people can get it by dropping us a line on our myspace site. But, we'll have
shirts, stickers, and whatever else available at shows real real soon.
What are some of the previous bands you've been in?
As I said, Joel was in Knee Deep In The Dead who were a really brutal death/grind band from Northern Indiana. Todd was also in
this band and they were severely underrated. Before they were called Knee Deep, they were Triple F and before that, The Antics.
John and I played together in Akeldama when we lived in Virginia and he was also in a band called Shades Below who crushed.
Other than your myspace site, do you have anything else on the net you'd like to tell our readers about?
We've got a website at www.arbiterofconceit.com that's been under construction for quite a while now. It'll be up sooner or
later.
What band(s) got you into Death Metal?
I can't speak for everyone but the bands that got me into death metal were the ones you would suspect for the most part.
Malevolent Creation was the first actual death metal band I'd ever heard followed soon after by Cannibal Corpse and it was all
over from there.
Do you remember the first concert or show you attended?
I don't really remember it but my parents took me to see Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash at a county fair when I was like
4 or 5 years old.
What are your thoughts on current Death Metal, or Metal for that matter?
I think there are a lot of fucking righteous bands around right now in Death Metal and in extreme music in general.
Bands are just pushing the limits of what you can actually do and it seems like any sort of confining or limiting rules have been pretty much
thrown out the window by now and I think that's great. Nationally there are a lot of great bands doing crazy shit and just fully representing
what extreme metal is about at least in my opinion. Cephalic Carnage are out of control and Arsis blows me away everytime I listen to them.
Jim is an unbelievable guitar player and fully underrated also, Jeffs band WarTorn are about to explode and you should support them at any cost their
myspace site is http://www.myspace.com/wartorn. Locally, there are some really good bands people should check out if they have the time.
The Arsonists Daughter is a noise/grind band from around here that is really good ( http://www.myspace.com/thearsonistsdaughter ) and Decrypt
is a fucking brutal band that should not be overlooked. Other than that, check out Icarus Escapes, Skeleton Thieves, Imminent Demise and goddamn fucking
Hara Kiri who just returned from a sabbatical and totally fucking crush. If you don't have their Twilight of the Idols record, go fucking buy it.
Best live band(s) in your opinion?
There are so many good live bands.
Top 6 Bands?
This is by no way complete. But my top 6 right now would be as follows:
Arsis
Exhorder
Black Sabbath
Kill The Client
Cryptopsy
Cephalic Carnage
as far as metal goes.
Top 6 Albums?
A Celebration of Guilt - Arsis
A Diamond of Disease - Arsis
Lucid Interval - Cephalic Carnage
Whisper Supremacy - Cryptopsy
Wage Slave - Kill The Client
Mastadon - Leviathan
Does Arbiter of Conceit party much? Any drinkers or bud smokers in the band?
We all pretty much drink and smoke the tree. So please, if you see us on tour, hook it up.
Thoughts on the war in Iraq?
Well, this is a real delicate subject I guess but, from my perspective I see George Bush just descending further and further
into a pit. He's gotten us into a situation that he cannot rectify no matter how much fencing the issue or lying to the public he does.
We're basically at a point where this is a modern Vietnam.
What can us metalheads expect from Arbiter of Conciet in the future? Any plans to play Pittsburgh? We'll hook ya up.
Our full length will be release this coming spring with a couple of tours to follow. We'll definitely play Pittsburgh as soon as someone
hooks it up.
Current playlist?
Neuraxis
Tony Iommi
Sleep
Municipal Waste
Mastadon
Mara'akate
Leng Tche
Circle of Dead Children
Hara Kiri
Anything you'd like to add or close with?
We appreciate the support. We're going to be in Chicago in April at the Chicago Metal Devastation Fest
with a million righteous fucking brutal bands. So everyone needs to find a way to get out there and support this shit it's going to be
insanity. http://www.chicagometaldevastation.com other than that, keep your eyes peeled for our full length. Thanks again, DJ.
myspace.com/arbiterofconciet
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