Give us a quick rundown of the KNIFE story so far?
James: Since being in hardcore bands together in the 90’s we’ve always wanted to work together. Mark left Hand of Fear due to personal reasons i.e. family and work commitments, but we didn’t stop working on music together. Knife was a natural progression of combining various genres that we were both into. The EP was written, recorded, and refined during the multiple lockdowns. We have since recruited a drummer and bass player with the intention of playing live very soon. We also had a close mate, Stephen Owen of industrial greats No Names guiding the production to the aggressive style we were after.
Labels & webzines often like to write at the end of a bio or review with the term ‘for fans of’ such & such bands. But really I think the band itself should be telling us this. So enlighten us if you would. KNIFE is for fans of?
Nailbomb, Napalm Death, Early Fear Factory, Godflesh, Crust bands such as Antischism, Nausea and Agnosy.
Your debut EP, ‘Wound’, is out now independently. What would you say to a metal punter now to convince them to part with their bitcoin or credit card & grab themselves a copy?
Mark: If you love that amazing era of 90’s metal aka the Earache Records golden era that really was all about the riffs and suffocating aggression, you will certainly dig us, but equally if you like bands from the Industrial genres as well as thrash and crusty hardcore, we will meet your needs and bleed your ears!!
Speaking of bitcoin, if you were going to start your own cryptocurrency, what would you call it & why?
Blade because it sticks to the Knife theme and who the hell does not love the epic vampire slaying classic from 1998!
What is the angle lyrically on the debut EP? Any messages or points you are trying to convey?
Mark: Lyrically this EP covers tons of ground in a broad sociopolitical manner and we verbally take aim at corruption, governments, religion, war hungry politicians etc.
One of your other projects is a killer blog www.devilshorns666.com. Can you tell us all about this blog & the reason you began it in the first place?
Mark: Thanks for the praise on my other obsession.Excuse the cliché, but I have always been a deep fan of extreme music be it metal or hardcore and I used to write for a mixed genre zine called Ragged Press, but when that folded I really wanted to do a zine focusing on metal and extreme music, thus Devil’s Horns Zine was born. We have interviewed Napalm Death, Amenra, Max Cavalera, Venom Prison, Testament, Destruction, Harm's Way, Carcass, Integrity, Corrosion of Conformity and Obituary as well as local and other Aussie bands. We also covered Soundwave as well as Dark Mofo festival. It’s fair to say we have achieved massive things in our short existence. Suss us out and we look forward to even bigger things once the international acts start touring again!!
Mainstream metal vs the underground – what’s your preference & hit us with 3 bands that have been tickling your fancy lately & we should check out.
James: Definitely underground. I’m constantly searching for new music. I do also listen to some mainstream metal as well, such as Amon Amarth.
One band I listen to a lot these days is Misþyrming, epic raw Icelandic Black Metal. Recommended album “Algleymi”
Another great album is “I Surrender to the Void as I am the Void” by No Names, our producer Stephen Owen’s band. Great heavy industrial metal.
Mark: Underground is my jam, but I love what Venom Prison are doing at the moment-super modern mix of death metal, hardcore and metalcore. They are gaining popularity, but are still an absolute crushing band.
Otherwise, I would recommend Choof from Melbourne; real nutso sludgy grind with powerviolence and absolute off it head riffs. And Klavier Krieger-unclassifiable and brilliant; it’s metal, it’s keyboards and they destroyed a piano with a axe and a sledgehammer at a gig…nuff said!!.
Favourite musical format? Tape, vinyl, CD or digital and why?
Vinyl for sure. The sound is fuller, the artwork is full size. It’s old school beauty at it’s finest.
What formats will your EP be available on & is there any merch to speak of yet?
At this stage it’s only available on Bandcamp but Cd’s should drop around March. We would love to release it on vinyl but it’s so damn expensive. Merch will come eventually once we’re ready to play live.
Hypothetically, your next album is out, you’ve booked a massive national tour. What would be your ultimate Australian heavy music line-up that you would take with you to support you on it?
Reaper-because they rep the original metal style so well.
The Amenta because they still crush your skull after all these years and are so multigenred.
Acolyte-because they are black metal done really well.
No Names and Schkeuditzer Kreuz because both are industrial bands of god tier status..
12 Gauge Rampage-because they do Death Metal so brutally.
Given the plague is here to stay for a while & I’m gonna need shit to check out, recommend us a stupendously good:
Record Label:
Innercity Uprising-As well as doing sick reissues of old metal and crust bands they constantly put out quality metal, noise and hardcore; all you could ever want all at a decent price and Jay who runs it is the most genuine bloke in the industry.
Album:
Yersin-Guilt, amazing album of blackened thrash/grind/crust-this album will blow your mind-so heavy, so clever.
Artist (as in artwork)
Eliran Kantor, you cannot go past his amazing cover art for so many bands; Testament, Hatebreed, Venom Prison, Sodom, Despised Icon amongst others-it’s beautiful art but haunting as hell.
Beverage
Single Malt Whisky for the win-current fave would be Aberloar
Restaurant
We are not fussy bastards, we adore any quality Chicken parma from a pub!
And lastly, if you could give your honest answer on this.
KISS – would you say they are a miracle medicine like penicillin that has been healing people for decades, or more like a chronic disorder like Irritable Bowel Syndrome & have been leaking nothing but utter shit for the same amount of time?
IBS 100% why give any credit to a band that may have influenced some people, when classic bands like Judas Priest still can make killer albums and are still awesome live. KISS is utter shit, pure and simple.
Check out Knife at these spots!