New Interview with vocalist Joe Horvath. Interview by DJ.
Circle of Dead Children have just released their new full length "HUMAN HARVEST". It is the most devastating release to date. Joe's vocals are by far the best on this album. He does some crazy shit, that i didn't hear on previous releases. Just listen to the first track on HUMAN HARVEST, you'll hear something sounding like a Tazmanian Death Metal Vocal attack. You must get the new album if you haven't yet. Its out in North, South and Pan America on Martyr Music Group, and available in Europe and the rest of the world through Displeased Records. So here it is, a brand new CODC interview with vocalist Joe.
In the liner notes of the new album "Human Harvest" it states a lot has taken place since the last recording. Care to elaborate on that at all?
joe: The time between our last release, 'the Genocide Machine', and 'Human Harvest' was filled with countless emotional blows for some of us. There were numerous personal issues as well as band and world wide issues. Our lives were surrounded by deaths and trama in what seemed like a neverended downpour of shit. As far as the band goes, we lost our second guitarist, our drummer and our bass player and decided to only go with a new drummer and maintain the band without a bass player or second guitarist. Of course our entire country and world felt variable effects from the September 11 damage. It was just one thing after another for us and for the people close to us and it seemed like it would never stop. Oh, and I don't want to forget about all the crap that we've had to deal with as a result of the bastard who runs Necropolis. Still to this day, we have never been paid one cent for any of the sales of 'the Genocide Machine' and haven't even received the payment for the recording of that CD! And for some strange reason, even though it's been declared as out of print for a couple of years and we demanded a cease and desist on all represses, it still is out there in distros. Hmmmm? I think that all the shit that went down with us between the releases fully helped to develop the sound that is found on 'Human Harvest'.
Lets talk about the new cd "Human Harvest", i think it is a masterpiece. In your words how would you describe it? Also do you have a favorite track off the album?
joe: We're really happy with Human Harvest and totally appreciative of all the positive responses it has been gathering so far! This was the first record where we have been able to really practice for and not rush the song writing process for. When we changed drummers and the Rosswog joined the band, we were able to start practicing weekly instead of quarterly throughout the year. The intensity and drive to create our most powerful album to date came quite natural and Andrews and the Rosswog really developed a good song-writing mesh together. Personally, my favorite track on Human Harvest is "Bring Her a Mushroom Cloud 1".
You recorded Human Harvest with Steve Austin at Austin Enterprise, have any studio stories you'd like to share?
joe: Steve was such an awesome person to work with. The man reeks of genuine passion and sincerity and he was totally behind us from day one with this. There were absolutely no stresses or worries while in the studio. I was awesome to see Andrews actually enjoying the recording process for once! He usually gets really pissed and stressed out the entire time, but with this stuff, he was in a great mood and it pushed right through his fingers and hands. Steve let the Rosswog build a custom drum kit for the middle section of "Mother Pig". If my memory serves me right, the kit consisted of one huge but narrow kick drum, one very large and deep floor tom. two snares, a china symbol, and a hi-hat that had a china as the top cymbol. A total noise machine beast factory. Mike also got to beat on a steel car bumper with a hammer over the last snare hits in "Sleepwalker". The mics we used were totally sick vintage rock and roll tubes of excellence. I spent a large part of time walking around in a euphoric haze with my camcorder attached firmly to my face, filming a short and crude documentary of the whole process. If things go as plans, we will be releasing a DVD in the near future that will showcase some of the stupidity that went down. I'll never be able to thank Steve enough for all the passion he was able to channel with us.
The artwork and layout is fantastic, and a new Circle of Dead Children logo. Who designed the new logo? i also was wondering who designed the old logo?
joe: Oh wow, thanks DJ! I agree, the artwork is really awesome! Mark Riddick designed it all and his styles and ideas really complement my own and it works our wonderfully. The man is such an artist! He was able to successfully create the dirty, cold and fragile side of humanity with a really creepy but beautiful atmosphere going on. Both the old and new logos were made by me. I studied the fine art of extreme metal logo engineering for years in Germany and it really paid off I think!
CODC are now with Martyr Music Group, how has that been? Will you be doing future releases with them?
joe: Things with Martry have been cool. Maria is friend and a great person and we were very happy to work with MMG for this release. As far as future releases go, I can't really say right now. We still have to see how this one totally pans out in the end.
Human Harvest was also released in Europe through Displeased Records. Are there any differences between the Human Harvest cd from USA and the one from Europe? Do you think you'll get to tour Europe?
joe: There are no differences between the two releases. Human Harvest was licensed to Martry Music Group for North, South and Pan American territories and to Displeased Records for Europe and the rest of the World's territories. Displeases also released Human Harvest on vinyl which does sport different, but complementary art. Touring Europe has almost happened twice so far but to no avail. We must get there! Europe and Japan or bust!
Did you use any vocal processing on this record? What are your thoughts on vocal processing?
joe: I don't really give a piss either way if people choose to process their vocals or not. I personally like working without processing and get some sort of weird primitive internal satisfaction when I can really push the limits without using anything. Human Harvest was the first time that I messed around with some effects. During the middle part on the song "Mother Pig", Steve and I both screamed and yelled our brains out with some sort of distortion on our voices. Outside of that, none of the main vocal tracks use any effects or hand cupping or anything.
Are you guys looking for a bassist, or are you going to continue as a three piece?
joe: We've gone through two bass players already and to be honest, we just don't feel like teaching somebody all the songs over again only to have them eventually quit or something. Screw it. We're down to the basic ingredients right now and we're totally enjoying it this way. In our opinion, it just adds to the power of the delivery. It's stripped down and raw and we have no plans to make any changes at this time.
Circle of Dead Children will be touring with Today is the Day, and Goatsblood right? I seen Goatsblood live back in October. Very intense, especially the drummer. Sounds like it would be a killer tour.
joe: Yeah, that's right, sucker! There's going to be a trail of dirt and blood stained into highways of the US and Canada. It's a really sick combination of bands with none sounding anything like the other but all having a dark and violent vibe.
I've always wondered about the Warnings on all of CODC's recordings? Is there really subliminal and backwards messages in the music? If so thats cool, could you give us a hint to what songs have them?
joe: It's homage to old school metal, baby! Homage to the idiots of the 700 Club! "Gnick, knogg, flish glish, offer up your sister."
Have you seen any good movies lately?
joe: To be honest, not really. My favorite movie of late has been Ichi the Killer! I have a thing for Japanese horror and shock films and Ichi has to be one of the tops right now. That shit is going kvlt soon!
What is your current playlist?
joe: This changes as often as the clouds move but some of the stuff I've been rocking to lately has been the new Massive Attack, RA the Rugged Man, Con-Dom, the new Sadis Euphoria, Acid King, Man is the Bastard, and some Cash, Johnny Cash.
What are your opinions on whats going on in the world today?
joe: More and more of world are being treated to a highly censored, but still scorchingly apparent, display of how sick and uncaring our government truly is. We're seeing a dangerous rise of Nationalism all across the globe and idiotic attrocities that accompany them. At this point, I'm so sick of the news and everything around me. Sometimes I wish I could just vanish into some cartoon world of personal utopia, but then the alarm clock rings again and I have to get up for work and see it all around me again.
What can CODC fans expect in the near future?
joe: I've come to the conclusion that there is nothing definite with us outside of our commitment to keep creating the most powerful music that we can and trying to give a product that sticks to your ears and mind.
Thanks for your time, anything you'd like to close with?
joe: Thanks a ton for the awesome support that you've shown us, DJ! Everyone can keep up to date with us by checking out the website from time to time. Thanks and peace in '03.
CODC LINKS:
Official CODC website
Martyr Music Group
Displeased Records
EXTRA CODC LINKS:
CODC @ MP3.com
CODC Yahoo Club
Archived CODC Bushmado interview from early 2002
21 CODC photos from 12/18/01 in Pittsburgh,pa
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