TOXIC HOLOCAUST
Interview with Joel Grind
John Jf HaagTOXIC HOLOCAUST, a three-piece terror originally founded in Portland, Oregon, is due to release Command and Conjure on July 19th via Relapse Records. Since the early days of this former one-man band, TOXIC HOLOCAUST have managed to stick to their roots even in today’s times when metal as we know it has changed for better or for worse. Joel Grind, the band’s conjurer fills us in on the details surrounding TOXIC HOLOCAUST’s upcoming release.
What was the main idea or concept behind Command and Conjure, set for release on July 19th?
The main idea for the record was to step up the aggression in the music and have a bit more going on arrangement wise. Lyrically I delved a little deeper into occult themes than I have in the past. More ancient stuff like Greek mythology, witch burning and necromancy.
When trying to decide what sound you wanted to go for on this record, did you turn to anyone for guidance?
Actually, this time around we recorded and produced it ourselves, so instead of turning to others we decided to use what we know to get the sounds we wanted. I’m really happy with the sound of this one.
Did you play all of the instruments like on some of your earlier albums?
No. The guys who I have been touring with are on the record. They totally killed it. Basically everything I was hearing for the songs was realized.
Going off of the artwork sample that has been released, are you wanting for this CD to have the similar style and direction that maybe some of your early 2001-2003 releases did?
Not intentionally, I was trying to make it look like an old occult artifact or book. The artist Sawblade, who did the cover, is someone I’ve been wanting to work with for a while.
What gear did you use in the studio for this album, anything new in particular?
For guitar I used my normal live rig which is a Marshall JCM800 and a 1977 Marshall JMP, but I used various other heads like a Sunn. But overall we used our live gear.
Who recorded/produced the album and why?
We did. We recorded it at our drummer Nikki Bellmore’s studio called Dexter’s Lab in Connecticut.
What can the fans expect from this upcoming release?
10 songs of aggressive metal. It has a lot of different stuff going on.
When will we get to see the new material live?
Well, we are playing a few shows in June, but once the record is out in mid-July we are going to hit the touring hard again.
