H R H - I N T E R V I E W S

Scott Wilson (Demicirous)
Interview February 2006

Matthew: Hey dude what's up?

Scott: Nothing man.

Matthew: Well I guess the first thing is about a week ago I got an e-mail from your PR people at Adrenaline with a link for some fucking listening party. And I was like, who are these sick fuckers? Man, I ain't got time for no more dumb shit! But hoping for the best I clicked on that motherfucker and damn am I glad I did. The first thing I thought is: why didn't somebody tell me Slayer released another old school album. You sick bastards really got to me with this record. I went nuts Scott, I fucking kirked out, freaked out, I absolutely flipped out dude. Seriously, I hate everyone. I hate everybody. I mean hating motherfuckers is like a sport to me, so when I heard and loved this album it was some rare shit for sure. I gave that shit a 9.6/10, and dude all year last year I might have given eight albums 9's or higher out of 140 reviews. What I want to do is read you the review I wrote on your kick ass new release One (Hellbound). Is that cool?

Scott: Yeah go ahead man.

Matthew: Holy Shit! Demiricous's release One (Hellbound) is as close to the excellence of mid '80s Slayer material as possible. Produced by Zeuss (Shadows Fall, Hatebreed), this is definitely the best of old and new thrash/death/speed metal. Every single song is better then the last! The guitar rides and wails are exactly the same treacherous and dominating "style" as Hanneman and King and they approach the leads and solos the same as well. When asked about his approach, guitarist Scott Wilson said, "I'm old school and I missed all the hooks and solos." Thanks Scott, this is outstanding thrash/ speed metal guitar work! Ben Parrish plays the other axe and compliments the hell out of Scott, and the productions use of separate channels for the pounding riffs then combining the two is also classic, old-school and very thoughtful. Lead singer Nate Olp is awesome, with his unique approach to death/thrash metal vocals, delivering an understandable yet still devastating growl technique. All real hard metal genre fans will love this, as it is heavy enough to take paint off of the space shuttle, while still showing some of the modern techniques. The drums of Chris Cruz are certainly much more modern then '80s thrash and kick teeth in pure metal/hardcore collaboration. Another thing about the CD that is impressive is the songs are short but powerful, shoving 12 cuts into 40 minutes of pure metal slavery and vile sense-numbing debauchery. The best piece of the CD is the dueling guitar rides in the middle of "Cheat the Ladder," and the best song is arguably the weapon of mass destruction "Matador." Chills will run all over you when this classic yet modern high explosive round touches down in your eardrums. This could be the best 40 minutes you will spend in 2006, so put Grandma, your wife and the stupid kids to bed and throw on a pair of kick ass headphones for this one, 'cause it will take you back at least 20 years. Is this Reign In Blood Pt. 4? Did you die and go to hell? Is this the best thrash/death metal album in 20 years? These will certainly be some of your last thoughts as a free man, when your wife wakes you up with a bloody knife in your right hand, a trail of blood down the back staircase and at least three of your neighbors dead on arrival from massive stab wounds. Or not. Bottom line is, no matter what happens when you listen, just buy the God Forsaken gem and love the privacy of your mind for 40 bone-crushing minutes. Outstanding effort Demiricous, thank you very much, real metal isn't dead. Metal Blade you have a HUGE winner with this album for sure.

Scott: Well you get it you, know what I mean? The reviews have been either great like yours or completely negative. But dude we wrote this album for people just like you, I don't' like anything either and while metal is making a comeback I don't like any of it. The bands that are real to me are the old shit you know Exodus, old Metallica, Slayer.

Matthew: Dude, growing up and partying in the Army overseas was the greatest and this type of music was my daily soundtrack. When I compare a lot of these rhythms and lead licks to Slayer are you upset or flattered?

Scott: Yeah, it is flattering. I hoped after we were done recording I thought yeah I hope a lot of people don't write us off as some cheap Slayer rip-off. You see a lot of the riffs I write, that's actually how I learned to play guitar, was I bought these albums and tried to play them. They were probably my favorite band of all time.

Matthew: It would be sad if people don't get it. I mean '80s Bay Area shit is my blood type, if I were bleeding to death I would have to get a transfusion of Master of Puppets or something.

Scott: Yeah me too dude, I have been listening to those same albums forever.

Matthew: The way you break off the wailing style solos, the slow deliberate way that you play the riffs to highlight the solo is coming. That's the shit dude. And even though it's Slayer style, that's a damn good thing as Slayer is Sacred to real death/thrash metal fans.

Scott: Yeah I am not pissed. None of us are. We knew we were going to get the references but that's the style we love. I don't really care we just wanted to write an album that we thought was good. Which has nothing to do with what many people think is good nowadays.

Matthew: Yeah the modern metal movement has a lot of bands that have a death metal growler then they also use a distinctly different "sung" chorus to set off the death vocals. Sometimes it works, like Shadows Fall, but so many bands are trying it now that most of it sucks. Also the Mathcore bands like Horse The Band that actually sound like they are playing three different songs at once.

Scott: Yeah, I have heard a little of that but I don't get it. It just doesn't do anything for me.

Matthew: Another target audience that could be captured with this album is the millions of American businessmen that are in their car on their way to work listening to the same metal albums for the last 20 years, just like me.

Matthew: What does Demiricous mean?

Scott: It doesn't mean shit. We had a show coming up and we needed a name. Nate likes to play with words like "Repentagram" for example and he said what about "Demiricous,", and we said, yeah OK. It is weird that it doesn't mean anything but it's cool cause it doesn't pigeonhole us into one thing like it doesn't mean fuck a goat for Satan or something. It's like an open door right now it means US. Which is kinda cool.

Matthew: Yeah, with the movement of everything being death inspired like As I Lay Dying or Everytime I Die, or Beneath The Remains, Demiricous actually sounds like a Roman Emperor maybe 100 years after Caesar.

Scott: Yeah it sounds a lot cooler then it actually is.

Matthew: What is your favorite thing to play on this album?

Scott: I guess I'd have to say "Repentagram," which is so fucking intense that we almost always start the set off with it.

Matthew: You mean the pure speed of the chords in the riffs that you have to play?

Scott: Yeah yeah, that's the fun one. I tell you what, the other one I love is "Perfection and the Infection." That was the song that really blew up in the studio, when we recorded it became better and better. The middle part where Nate is singing over the bass drums and the second time I chime in there.

Matthew: Yeah that's cool. When Ben's solo starts it sounds exactly like the tone of the old Slayer guys. Is Ben's tuned a little higher.

Scott: Ibanez sent us the guitars and we just kind of turned them on and recorded the album. Ben found a sound that he liked and we went for it. All the solos are done with the same exact guitar as the rhythms.

Matthew: That interesting. I don't remember the last time I heard that from a lead and rhythm man. OK, so you lay down the dark treacherous rhythms and he spine tingles the fucking leads and speedy solos from hell.

Scott: Yeah Ben plays all the leads. He is much faster than me for sure. He has been playing like 10 more years then I have.

Matthew: Which one of these maniacs on this cover picture are you the one giving the finger? Ha Ha.

Scott: Nah that's Ben giving the finger. I'm the fag in the cowboy hat. (Laughing)
Chris is like the Mexican one, the baby faced dude, and the heroin addict is Nate.

Matthew: Ben is only 25; he must have been playing his whole life to be that damn good.

Scott: He was in a band, playing guitar even when he was in high school. He was in a band called Upheavel that had an album out. For me actually, I didn't pick up a guitar for a long time. I haven't been playing for very long at all just since we started the band 5 years ago.

Matthew: Well dude, first off I asked for you 'cause I love those rhythms and I never would have known you haven't played for 10-15 years. What do you do to get better and stay sharp do you practice your ass off?

Scott: I practice a lot and would love eventually to be like these bands that are trading off the solos back and forth. Ben is pretty awesome and usually the solos he comes up with are better then anything I could write. Someday, maybe I'll be like, hey guys check this out …and play something tight. I just need a lot more experience.

Matthew: What are you guys doing with a tour schedule?

Scott: We are going out with Ringworm and Himsa here in a few days. Then a few dates with August Burns Red. Then we do a full tour with Still Remains, who are on Roadrunner and are actually friends with us.

Matthew: I could talk metal with you all fucking day; I unfortunately don't have enough audiotape. Ha ha. Have you heard the new Exodus album?

Scott: We played with them the night they hit our town and it was fucking awesome. Which is ridiculous. They replaced pretty much their whole band instead of Gary.

Matthew: So what's next?

Scott: Bottom line is we tried to come out with a great new album, and I think we did. We are going to tour on this motherfucker. And I just want to have a brew with some cool motherfuckers along the way.

Matthew: Dude I play death/thrash metal in my car every single day on my way to work. And it's almost all old shit, but this album touched me. When I was in the Army in the late '80s, we used to grab a six-pack each and all play hackey-sack to Sepultura, Megadeth, Slayer for hours. This album would fit right in with those freaks dude. What does this entire shit feel like?

Scott: I wake up and think I'm on metal Blade records. Holy Fuck. What the fuck? As far as jamming to '80s thrash metal … yeah, we used to be skateboarding freaks and man we used to take our boom box and to that music you are going to get hyped. Those old Megadeth, Sepultura albums were just perfect. Suicidal Tendencies too man, Lights Camera Revolution. I would annoy the fuck out of people on the school bus. My boy and me would synchronize our walkmans and sing every word of it.

Matthew: You bringing up Suicidal Tendencies is cruel dude. One of the greatest songs was, "How Can I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today." Also, an album called Join the Army come on dude, I had just joined the Army. All right dude, thanks a lot for being so generous with your time but I'll let you go. It was a blast talking to you. Good luck with the album and the tours; just be safe dude.

Scott: No Matt, thanks so much for all the positive coverage. Take care.