Five Will Die Interview

Five Will Die are a Sludge/Doom Outfit from Ireland.Their debut album 'Slung from a Tree' was released on Friday Oct31st 2008 and from what i have heard its quite a Sludgefest.Howard(guitar)did this interview with me.Enjoy.

1.You formed in 2005 after the break up of Sludgehook who I read were a Grindcore band.How did this all happen and Five Will Die are miles away from being Grindcore.

Yeah, Sludgehook was something different from Fivewilldie, it was where myself(Howard Guitar), Alan(Drums) and Frank(Guitar) came from. We were'nt really a traditional grindcore crew, we were more influenced by the likes of Cannibal Corpse, Sepultura and Napalm Death. We were a mix of a lot of things, but grindcore was a tag that stuck. Sludgehook was a big stepping stone to Fivewilldie, and a lot of our current material is a progression from where we were at back then. As we got older, bands like Sabbath and Electric Wizard made more sense to us, and we needed a fresh start, so members parted ways and Fivewilldie is what was left.

2.Sludge Metal is finally becoming a well known genre of Metal,do you think Five Will Die are bringing anything different to the table or would you even consider the band to be Sludge Metal?

We have no problem with being labelled "Sludge Metal" at all. Its something we can relate to for sure. As for bringing something different to the table, we try our best not to be generic in any sense, but I reckon its our live shows that set us apart. We put a hell of a lot of effort into our gigs.

3.I see you posted a negative review in your blog section,that's something not many bands would do.Whats your opinion of reviewers in general?

I'm not sure about reviewers yet. I liked the negative review we got because everything that particular reviewer found upsetting about us, are things we find exciting and positive. Objective opinions are important though, and in that sense, reviewers are essential.


4.Whats the main thing that drives you to play music like influences etc?

Live shows are our main reason for playing! Whether it being upsetting a bunch of students or making shit of a sweaty crowd, its always savage! We fuckin love playing live! Influence wise, the likes of Cult of Luna, Isis, Neurosis, Electric Wizard, all come to mind. That feeling, like you're underwater for an hour, then BANG! You're out of the pool, all wet and upset. Confusion is an amazing thing, all sorts of shit can happen, when you're confused you're easily led on. Confusion drives us.







5.You recently won a battle of the bands,what was that experience like?

We entered that competition with a pinch of salt. There was some decent prize money up for grabs and we were low on funds for the album. Winning that money helped push things along that bit quicker. Overall, it was a very worthwhile experience. The final in particular was a fuckin deadly night! We've had a lot of interest come our way since then, more than we bargained for, but its been all good so far. It definitely brought us more mainstream exposure. It sold our souls to the cunting radio though, but we don't care. Doom on mainstream radio is fine by us.

6.You also played with the likes of Mastodon,that must have given the band some good exposure.

Absolutely! That was a fuckin amazing night. We went on the piss with em afterwards. Got sick all over myself soon after. Been getting steady feedback since, and definitely more interest from a wider audience, which is cool. Barry kept showing them his cock, I think they were impressed, they didn't get upset anyways. They were particularly impressed with Andy's vocals though, that was cool. Very nice guys.



7.The debut album "Slung From A Tree" sounds great from what i have heard.Where was it recorded and how long did it take?

Cheers! It was done very quickly in terms of recording. Guitars and drums were done in just two days at An Cruiscin Lan. The Cruiscin is our main haunt in Cork City. Most of our gigs are put on there, and its an old building with shitloads of character. We tried to capture that in the record. Bass was finished in a single afternoon, and vocals were done over a week. We used local producer Philip Cotter, who took on board everything we wanted. We're not big fans of over produced and polished material, so we deliberately kept it loose and raw. We've had a bit of stick for not making it huge and shiny sounding, but for this album, its not what we wanted. We are what we are, a Doom ridden hardcore crew from Cork. We're not into smoke and mirrors, pretending to be something we're not. We mastered it with Richard Dowling in Limerick over two days. Practically, it took about 2 weeks, but we were very restricted financially, so overall it actually took about 3-4months.

8.Who does most of the writing in the band?

We all contribute riffs and ideas, we generally write collectively. However, myself and Alan usually have the final say in what goes ahead. We're stubborn cunts that way.





9.What have the shows been like and what is the local scene like over there?

Cork is a small city, so the shows can differ dramatically. Sometimes the crowd is huge, sometimes its just you and the bar staff. Either way, we play the same show. There are some savage bands here though, Altar of Plagues, Brigantia, Ghost of Medina, Days of Night, the list could go on. It's a much bigger scene here now than 10 years ago for sure, but its not reliable in terms of audience just yet.

10.From what I have read you sound like you really enjoy playing live, are the shows as crazy as they sound?

Yes, we'd like to think so. We suffer a lot live, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Its about having fun, albeit in an aggressive sense. Its very frustrating watching talented bands stare at there shoes and flick their hair for the camera. We're more about making sure everyone who comes leaves confused, not by the gender of the band they just saw, but by themselves, and their own sexuality. The only certainty should be whether or not they like us.


11.What do you want the band to achieve? Tours?

It would be good to get some financial backing from a label. We're hard working cunts, so it would be nice to fuck off on tour without the hangover of losing loads of money. But its metal, its never meant to be easy. We've a tour planned for the Uk in April, and we'll be hitting Europe sporadically over the next year. America would be somewhere we definitely want to reach. If things progress well in 2009, we'll be there in a heartbeat.


12.Are American Sludge/Doom bands well known over there and if so which ones seem to be popular?

Yeah, there's a bit of interest, more towards the more mainstream Sludge/Doom bands though. Crowbar are very well known here, High on Fire, Isis, Nuerosis, The Ocean, Old Man Gloom all come to mind. The likes of The Doom Metal Alliance, and of course yourselves, are good places to go to check out some of the more underground bands from across the pond.


13.What has the band got planned for the next 12 months?

New material, find a label, play as much as possible in as many places as possible.





14.Why should people listen to Five Will Die,time for some shameless self promotion.

Don't listen to Fivewilldie, we're awful cunts and your mother would hate us. Come drinking with us though, its far more fun. Keep an eye on your cans though, coz we'll steal them.http://www.myspace.com/fivewilldie