Interview with Generation Kill bassist Rob Moschetti

Jaymz : How did Generation Kill form?
Rob Moschetti : Our current drummer Jim DiMaria, it was basically his idea to team us up, me and Rob Dukes, 2 guys from Rockland county, well known in the underground.
We knew of each other but we were never close friends. Jim thought it would be a good idea to team us up. Dukes contacted me, expecting maybe Jim would be the drummer at the time. Jim owned a businesss so he didnt want to commit to something at the time. So I would write the music, Dukes would write the lyrics. Dukes was watching band of brothers and had that war theme in his head. So we just started there. Originally i was playing guitar on the stuff, but i wasnt sure what my role would be yet. When it started taking more of a metal turn, I realized we needed shredders, cause I'm not really a shredder. So in come Jay and Lou, 2 guys i knew from high school. just 20 years later. For Lou, he just coudnt get his personal life together, and it started getting in the way. For Sam our drummer on the album, it was more creative differences. He was expecting more of a Reign in blood record than a ride the lightning. I always wanted to do stuff that I couldnt do with M.O.D. or Pro-Pain. Rob always wanted to do stuff he couldn't do with Exodus. When Dukes is screaming, i'm believing every word he's saying. You never know when its going to be your last show. I've bit the bullet many times on the road. I want every show to be important to these kids that come to see us. I want them to be blown away.


Jaymz : You already touched on my next question. Why did Sam Inzerra (Mortician/Funerus) part with the band?
Rob : Sam is a great guy and a killer drummer. He was expecting something super extreme like Reign In Blood and we gave him Ride the Lightning. Me and Rob just didn't wanna be submitting our material for anyone's approval. I'm done with that. I had to do that with MOD and Pro-Pain.
This is the first record, in 6 or 7 records that i've done, that I'm not diverting from what i'm doing and if you don't like it i'm not going to change it for you. A lot of times the songs that don't get the recognition they deserve, they become my misfit songs and go off to Ashes Of Fire. Sam's replacement is Jim DiMaria. Jim had already filled in for Sam at some shows while Sam was busy with Mortician and Funerus, we didn't have to audition him or teach him the songs. Jim just jumped in and was just a better fit for what we're going for. Lou just stopped showing up to practice. To me, when you stop coming, you quit. He blew off the 3 practices before of a show we had with God Forbid. In walks Jay Velez, who knew the material, wanted to be with this band from the beginning. He had filled in other times. Two rehearsals and he's with us on stage opening for God Forbid.


Jaymz : What are your biggest Musical influences?
Rob : My 2 favorites are the first 4 Metallica albums and the first 5 Sabbath Records. I'm from that power chord background - Metallica and Sabbath were the 2 bands that really innovated that style. For some reason my material, the faster stuff comes out sounding like Punk or hardcore. Which i'm not really a fan of. But my style just comes off as hardcore or punk. Hardcore guys are all about the attitude. That's what I love. I'm not the hugest hardcore fan, but its unintentional. I try to incorporate the Geezer Butler bass style, and the Hetfield chunk style when I'm writing guitar parts. Jason is pure old school metal, Slayer, Exodus, early Metallica. Dukes likes Rush, Pink Floyd, and a lot of really obscure punk bands like the Exploited and Discharge. He's ADD, OCD, everywhere with the music, He's wants to try everything and be all over the place. Musically he's open to anything. And it's really fun to work with a guy like that. Velez is more into Kreator, old school Metal. He has played in a hardcore band, but he just wants to play and create. Jim, a true metalhead, huge Slayer fan. We're playing with Dave Lombardo and his side project next week. Jim used to be a drum tech for Exodus. None of us really listen to any current metal. There's stuff going on right now. As long as it's passionate and original, I'm not anti anything really. As long as it's genuine i respect it.


Jaymz : How Long Did it take to write & record "Red, White & Blood"?
Rob : We recorded in spurts because of Rob's schedule. Within one year we had half a record recorded. We didn't work on it 24/7 365. When Dukes wasn't around I would write. Probably within a 2 year period the songs were written and recorded. Then when Rob had another break, we worked on it a little more. It was recorded in 3 different locations.  Some in my house, some in a studio in New City, some in Pomona. We tried to make it all sound uniform.  But each song completely has it's own mix and own idenity. You don't want it to sound redundant. Each song has a different vibe. But it wasn't too diverse where it was all over the place. The order of the songs created a concept. We didn't go into it trying to create a "war" concept. I read the lyrics as I was going along and realized that it tells the story of a soldier going to war, wondering why he's there, getting into drugs, coming home, going into the looney bin, and the only way to escape was to blow his brains out. It was very creepy and bizarre and we just said "Roll With It". An unintentional concept album. The song "Self Medicating" is very personal about your demons inside of you are yelling back and forth at each other. My Dad died in '84 and there's lines from "Dark Days" that I've been wanting to put into a song since then. "Self Medicating" and "Dark Days" had nothing to do with war,  They were just about the human condition. Walking dead had nothing to do with the war theme, But put into the context of the ghosts of people this soldier killed coming back to haunt him, it made sense.


Jaymz : Have you ever thought of contacting the people from Walking Dead to see if they would use the song in the show?
Rob : Actually the guys wife or daughter hit us up on Facebook, the creator. Rob got the idea from the book. We were a little nervous about it - them giving us shit about using the name. But they are cool about it, and the series is done now. We're actually in a mafia movie called "Goat" that comes out in 2013. "Slow Burn" opens this mafia movie with Armand Asante. Ice T and Ja Rule from the rap world are also in it. From what I see from the trailer it's about a mafia guy who gets out of jail and immediately gets pulled back into that life. It's really powerful, Its a revenge movie. Slow Burn was written about a pyromaniac. But it actually fits into the movie,  in the theme of burning in hell.


Jaymz : What bass gear did you use on the album?
Right now I'm endorsed by Halo Guitars from california. They were cool enough to give me a few basses. But that was after we were recording the album. But prior to Halo I was using ESP. I used an old SWR head and cabinet. I rely a lot more on the clean signal direct when recording. Which allows you to split the signal. A lot of guys take their clean signal and alter it, and you lose that clean sound. A lot of new metal bands, theres really no bass guitar cutting through because they're so focused on compression. My trick is I want the Bass to stand out. I don't want it to sound like "And Justice For All". One good thing about the Black album is that the bass is huge. The bass is such a pure signal that I feel why corrupt it?People think my bass cuts through a lot. Maybe it's because I produce it. But The bass is the balls of the album. People think bass is an unimportant instrument. But tell that to Steve Harris, Geezer Butler and Cliff Burton. Those are the people I look up to.


Jaymz : How do you feel about the current metal scene?
Rob : I'm just not really exposed to a lot of the newer metal bands out there.
They hear our stuff and theyre probably not impressed. I think our live show defines us more than the record. One song on a record can't define us. You have to put on the entire record and listen to the full thing. Like when you listen to Master Of Puppets, after "Battery" is over, you know what song is next. Even with Sabbath.
The song after each one completes the song before it. I used to lay in my room with the headphones on and you just know what song comes next. The order of the songs on the album is so important. It's gotta flow. It's hard with these new bands. Some people don't understand. They think our record "dies" halfway through because some of the songs get melodic and have acoustic guitars. That's intentional. There can't be a heaven without a hell. You cant have heavy without soft. We don't want just one flavor throughout. One song alone might not make sense, but in the context of the two songs on either side of it, it makes sense. I don't think a lot of bands are doing that nowadays. They just want that processed crunch guitar sound. There's no personality in the drum playing. Bill Ward and Lars are incredible and under-rated drummers.


Jaymz : What are your Favorite Venues to play?
Rob : I'm gonna give the "Lemmy" answer on that one. As long as theyre going hooray and hoorah, it doesn't matter where you're playing. I've had equally as much fun at a festival opening for Motorhead for thousands of people, as I've had in a 200 capacity club with kids just going crazy. One of my favorite clubs was the Alrosa Villa, and then Dime gets killed there. The owner, the fans were all cool. Pro-Pain used to play there several times a year. Everyone knew us there. That place is completely ruined forever now. That was one of my favorite places. The load in doors were right on the stage. The back doors could be right open during the show because there's train tracks back there. That was my favorite place, but I haven't been back there since. I wouldnt want to step foot in the place again.


Jaymz : Where can people get CD's and merch?
Rob : Merch you can get when we play live. The label is in France, Seasons of Mist, They take care of merch. CDs are available at Bestbuy.com You can order the hard copy cd there. Nuclear blast licenses the record. You can get it on iTunes. Also Amazon will have it. Right from the 2 labels - Nuclear Blast and Seasons of Mist Or from BestBuy.com

Jaymz : What shows do you have coming up?
Rob : Tomorrow in Brooklyn with Slam One Down. Sunday with Straight Line Stitch up in Poughkeepsie. Our street team is out of Florida, They hook us up with a lot of shows. The week after that 2 shows in NJ at Dingbatz and Champs in Nj with Dave Lombardo's side project Philm. Also we're playing with Diecast up in Albany. DRI in December. After Christmas we're really gonna get knuckle down with this new record. We have about 20 tunes written, musically (for the new record)
We're shopping for producers now. Peter Tagtgren from Hypocrisy is one we're thinking about. But we'd have to fly to Sweden and our budget doesn't really allow for that right now. We're talking with Zeuss, he worked with Hatebreed and Crowbar so I'm sold on him. We'll see, I mean it's all about timing and money, and finding someone who's passionate about it.We have to take our own path, it's a little bit different than most bands. We gotta be careful about how we present ourselves.


Jaymz : Last question, what are your Top 5 Albums of all time?
Rob : Well, if you say Metal,it's hard to even give a straight answer.
Metallica - Ride the lightning
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power
Megadeth - Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?
Slayer - Reign in Blood
Vulgar Display is a perfect blance of groovy and heavy. Just like Master of Puppets, heavy and eerie at the same time.
Peace Sells is like a staple in Metal. And Reign In Blood is just classic.

Cross Up Yours - "Holy Shit"

After a 90 second intro filled with eerie keys and bible quotes read in a demonic tone, Cross Up Yours kick into the namesake track from their debut EP "Holy Shit". It's slow, doomy opening riffs flows with tons of lead guitar solo's, then bursts into a flurry of tremolo riffery colliding with relentless double bass drumming provided by Kevin Talley(Dying Fetus, Chimaira, Daath, Six Feet Under). This tune bridges the gap from slamming classic death metal, to symphonic black metal evoking images of Vital Remains and early Cradle Of Filth. Cross Up Yours frontman Greg Bukinus(also the guitarist of NYDM Bronx veterans Demized) shows us here his songwriting prowess and pure musicianship as he performs vocals, guitar, bass and keys on all 3 of these brutal tracks. "Unforbidden Sin" pummels the listener with 4 minutes of machine-gun drumming, non stop riff-fest and unholy vocals that sound as if they are being vomited forth from the fiery underworld. Every few bars a different riff pops up in a different tempo and always keeps the listener on their toes not knowing what musical insanity to expect next. "Son Of A..." closes out this monstrous effort with stomping, headbanging evil death metal, that recalls glimpses of classic Morbid Angel and Behemoth. A thick slab of guitar wizardry, and spellbinding, mystical key patterns that satisfy your hunger for brutality, techinality and atmospheric melody as well. Cross Up Yours pummels and pounds sonically and they are relentless about it from start to finish. At 13 minutes total this short, but amazing effort from Cross Up Yours has pretty much everything the extreme metal fan could want. If this is just the beginning for Cross Up Yours than trust me, the future bodes well and holds big things for this band. This is basically a one man project, but dont let that deter you in any way, these songs were obviously worked on very hard, polished and honed and Mr. Talley throws down some of the best and fasest drumming I've heard him produce yet! And let's face it, Greg has a vision here, and sometimes the best way to get something done right, is to do it yourself rather than have other throw a wrench into what you want your output to be. I hope to see Cross Up Yours put together a live outfit and witness them slay the stages of the live scene. You can keep up with the band at www.facebook.com/crossupyours and you can also visit the website at http://www.crossupyours.com/ where you can purchase physical CD copies of "Holy Shit" as well as t-shirts. If your into brutal death and black metal at all, this EP deserves to be a part of your music library. You can hear cuts from this disk Thursday nights from 7pm to 10pm EST at www.brutalexistenceradio.com.

Generation Kill - "Red, White And Blood"

Generation Kill are a 5 piece, raging Thrash metal band from NY. Their lineup boasts Exodus frontman Rob Dukes, and former Pro-Pain and M.O.D. bassist Rob Moschetti, so while the band itself may be relative new to the metal community, it's core members are certainly seasoned veterans who have long paid their dues, and this is readily apparent on the bands Season Of Mist released debut album "Red, White and Blood". This 11 song opus is rife with the old school "denim and leather" vibe that will have purists of this classic genre foaming at the mouth, ready to guzzle some cold suds and jump into the pit. After a melancholic acoustic intro, the album opener "Hate" suddenly kicks the listener in the teeth with breakneck riffing, running the gamut from super angry punk metal to speed fueled mayhem. The album's title track showcases more of the bands traditional hardcore roots, undoubtedly brought to the forefront by Moschetti. Crunchy choruses and hook-filled bridge riffs, make this track one of my personal faves on the album, fans of the Full Metal Jacket movie will especially appreciate the lyrics on the break in this one. "Feast For The Wolves" is yet another especially noteworthy track that begs for repeated listens. It's wrist-shattering verse riffs just ooze with classic thrash metal sound in the vein of early Exodus and Megadeth, and it's melodic open chorus calls to mind "Souls Of Black" era Testament. The dual guitar attack on this entire recording is solid and completely air tight. Both players harness the classic thrash metal tone, with the crunchy attack made famous by the forefathers of this genre, and the blazing leads sear through the speakers and just melt the listeners face off. Rob's thick wall of bass is very audible in the mix and packs a powerful punch without being muddy. And let's be honest here Rob actually makes use of his instrument and isnt just a "follow along" player like some of the big dogs in the thrash game, as evidenced in the brooding "Self Medicating" and the surprising melodic ballad track here "Dark Days". You read that right, there's a ballad here and Rob Dukes actually sings, and sings quite well. Mix Pantera's cover of "Planet Caravan" with the Down classic "Jail" and you have something close to this awesome track Generation Kill serve up. I think mr. Anselmo himself would be proud and I could actually hear Rob and Phil trading vocals on this one. Since this recording the band have recruited Jim Demaria to pound the skins, but on this recording Mortician/Funerus drummer Sam Inzerra takes the throne and his attack is relentless. His tight groove couldnt be any more "in the pocket" on tracks like "Depraved Indifference" and "Slow Burn", and when he lets the speed loose, his playing is second to none on tracks like "Walking Dead" and "Hate". Top this stellar musicianship off with Rob Dukes angry, venom spewing vocal assault and Moschetti's irate backing vocals and you have a perfect recipe for a dangerous album. Above all else, what stands out here is the pure raw songwriting talent. Fast raging riffing often flows seemlessly into catchy, punk fueled pieces and then transition into groovy barrages of hardcore slam. There's an undeniable chemistry on Generation Kill's "Red, White and Blood", that I feel alot of the new wave of thrash bands are lacking. This isnt a novelty act with patch covered demin vests, flipped-brim baseball caps and nike high-tops. This is a band that writes great music and as long as they keep this monsterous machine well-oiled, they will have alot of staying power and keep hitting it out of the park like they do on this debut. If this band didnt keep the listener on it's toes enough through this excellent recording, we are lastly treated to their twist on the Nine Inch Nails classic "Wish". The industrial vibe and slight effects are kept alive in the songs verses, and the chorus bust wide open with throbbing metal fever. It's not often a band can do better than the original, but with this tune not only do Generation Kill do the original justice, they make the original sound weak by comparison! If your a fan of Rob's work with Exodus, if your bored with all these new kids playing the same recycled Meshuggah riffs, if you crave something new and fresh, yet simultaneously true to the old school sound...if you love heavy metal, you need to make "Red, White and Blood" from Generation Kill a part of your CD collection. You can find this disk at FYE, Bestbuy, Amazon and you can download it from itunes as well. You can keep up with them at http://www.facebook.com/GENERATIONKILL1 they have a ton of upcoming shows including August 26th at Dingbatz in Clifton, NJ with Kill Devil Hill(featuring Rex Brown of Pantera/Down and Vinny Appice of Black Sabbath). You can hear cuts from this CD Thursday nights from 7pm to 10pm EST at http://www.brutalexistenceradio.com/

Akem Manah - "Night Of The Black Moon"

Akem Manah are a 3-piece Death/Doom band from Eugene,OR. Here we are presented with their 8 song offering "Night Of The Black Moon" released via Freak Metal Records. Akem Manah mix super slow, funeral dirge type riffing with haunting keyboard passages and super low death metal growls to create an almost ritualistic vibe for every track on "Night Of The Black Moon". "Black Moon" opens this disk with tons of droning sludginess. Epic riffs slowly grind away and seemlessly flow into each other, while evil death growls create an inexplicably creepy aura. From looming verse to stomping chorus, this song sets the pace and mood for the entire album and let's the listener know that we are in for a slow, methodical ride to hell. "The Dead Man's Heart" crawls along at an almost Candlemass type pace with it's hypnotic and catchy verse. The lyrics here draw inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe's classic "Tell Tale Heart", and honestly after hearing this song I'll never be able to read that story again without hearing these riffs in my head. A perfect fit to a perfect horror story for sure. Served up next is Akem Manah's version of the Electric Wizard classic "Return To...Funeralopolis" from the Dopethrone album. This version is a bit slower and alot darker. Dead Nedry's growls from hell make this song even heavier than the original if that's at all possible. Doom purists will especially enjoy this tribute to one of the genre's defining bands. "Witches Ride" rages along with an almost Crowbar/Eyehategod feel to it. This 3:52 tune is not only the shortest song on the release but also boasts alot of noticable "NOLA" influence and is the perfect precursor to the 10:27 doom-fueled audio journey that is "The Dark Hours". Once again Nedry's deadly vocals provide the centerpiece for this epic full of Tony Iommi worshipping verse and chorus riffs. The haunting keyboard sends constant, chilling passages throughout and the militant stomp of the drums never lets up. Akem Manah are far from a happy, upbeat stoner band. This is cold, raw, haunting doom metal at it's most rotten and ugliest, and quite honestly is a breath of fresh air for the genre in general. "This Tortured Soul" slowly limps along for over 9 minutes and is chock full of slick guitar wizardry reminiscent of classic Black Sabbath and Paradise Lost. The lyrical theme here dealing with eternal torment in hell by the hands of Satan himself. Bringing the album to a close "End Of Days" is a gloomy, organ and guitar driven interlude that melts into the album's last and most epic track "Into The Darkness". For this reviewer, this track in particular defines the album's overall theme and the sound and style of the band itself as well. The muddy riffs here ooze with a blackened hellishness that is really incomparable to any other band. It's hard to keep a listener compelled for 20 straight minutes, but there's nothing boring here. Akem Manah serve up what could be a theme song to any classic occult horror flick from the Hammer era. Invoking dark, shadowy imagery, you can almost hear a cemetery gate creek open on a cold winter night, and feel the shovel-fulls of dirt drop down on you while this track slowly, but steadily moves along like a giant rusty wheel in motion. Fans of doom, death and horror related metal will find themselves enamoured with Akem Manah and their "Night Of The Black Moon" release. Picture Acid Witch but with slower, longer tunes and more of a classic doom metal influence and you'd have somewhat of an idea of what Akem Manah serve up...actually I'd love to see Acid Witch and Akem Manah tour together!(a guy can dream right?!). But dont take my word for it, go find Akem Manah on facebook and hit that "Like" button and listen for yourselves. You can find "Night Of The Black Moon" on CD Baby as well as Amazon along with a couple of the bands past releases, so go grab some CD's and make this awesome band part of your Metal collection!!! You can also hear cuts from this disk Monday nights from 7pm to 10pm on http://www.brutalexistenceradio.com/. Akem Manah recently finished studio work on a brand new EP slated for an October release and which will feature drum work from former White Zombie drummer Ivan DePrume so keep your eyes peeled!!!

Undivided - "No One's Safe"

I've been salivating to get at this one for a while now. "No One's Safe" is the much anticipated follow up to Undivided's 2009 release "Until Death". This stellar 14 track release overflows with furious, thrashing crossover hardcore. I'm a huge fan of title tracks, I believe they set the tone for the entire album, and as a musician myself I believe if your going to title your album after one of your songs, it better be a rager. Well there's no disappointment here at all. "No One's Safe" kicks this disk off, and runs the gauntlet from speedy thrash to rugged hardcore riffing, and the ripping guitar solo is the icing on the proverbial cake. This tune literally lays the foundation for the other 13 tracks to follow and let's the listener know we are in for one hell of a ride. Songs like "The Line's Been Crossed", "Words Of Wisdom","Keep It To Yourself" and "The Rebirth Of The Righteous"(both of which boast more face-melting guitar leads provided by Nick Koykas) arent just catchy, but literally infectious. Undivided have a penchant for stringing together unforgettable riffs and turning them into really solid songs, that if your a fan of all things thrash and harcore you just cant get enough of. The rythmn guitars seethe with classic thrash metal tone, and recall the choppy, stacatto and almost "Helicopter"-like sound, most notably heard on the classic Metallica debut "Kill 'Em All" and Exodus' cornerstone "Bonded By Blood". Frontman Dante's angry vocal snarl and bassist Max's frantic screams compliment each other perfectly. Picture if you will, Carnivore-era Pete Steele, and Subzero frontman Lou Dibella sharing the microphone in a call/answer style similar to classic Biohazard, (but with alot more thrash influence and a little less hip-hop going on), and you'll have a good idea of the chemistry between these two. While I love this whole disk, I do have my favorite tracks that stand out to me. "Some Cunt In A S.U.V." with it's thuggish, stomping verse and frenzied, hyper-punk chorus, is short and to the point and tells the ultimate road rage tale lyrically. "If You Only Knew" is one of the albums longer tunes, and plods along at a heavy mid-pace. The lyrics here play out somewhat of a "Death Metal"-esque stalker story. Man wants woman, woman hates man, man breaks into womans bedroom, kidnaps her, has his way, leaves her in a ditch, then wakes up to realize it was a dream. Almost something you'd expect to read from a Cannibal Corpse lyric booklet, but that just shows how Undivided keep it fresh and think outside the box to keep the listener from growing bored. "4 For 25", picks the pace back up a bit, a little less thrash and alot more traditional NYHC is on display here musically. Rugged, pavement pounding verses and chorus ooze from the speakers, while lyrically the song tells a story of the ills of heroin abuse. Undivided also manage to show off their traditional punk roots in this disk as evidenced in the songs "Why You Runnin?" with it hyper verses and choruses and also in the 1:04, catchy power chord fest that is "Never Forget". "Alone For A Reason" ends this album on more of a classic NYHC note. Elements of Madball and early Biohazard and Pro-Pain combine to round this song out and leave the listener ready to hit the repeat button on the stereo and take this ride all over again. If I could try and sum up the Undivided sound in one sentence, I think I'd call them NY's answer to D.R.I. Think the classic "Thrash Zone" album with the rough and rugged NY attitude and style and you'd have a pretty good idea of what these crossover masters from Rockland,NY serve up. You can find Undivided on facebook at www.facebook.com/undividedny contact the band, hit the "Like" button and inquire how to grab copies of this awesome CD! The band will be heading out on a European trek with Hemlock, and veteran road-dogs Pro Pain, so keep your eyes open and go see Undivided live, I can personally attest that their live show lives up to their recorded performance! You can hear cuts from this disk every Thursday night from 7pm to 10pm EST at www.brutalexistenceradio.com.