HEMOPTYSIS : INTERVIEW

Last Updated on Saturday, 19 November 2011 22:35 Saturday, 19 November 2011 00:00

Written by ΔΗΜΗΤΡΗΣ ΛΑΖΑΡΗΣ

HEMOPTYSIS :FROM PHOENIX TO HARD CITY

Hemoptysis-Band

A new American band, created by talented guitarist, producer and singer, Masaki Murashita who founded the band since they released their first job in 2008 with the EP "Who Needs A Shepherd?" Since then, a band struggling to stand by their own selves in a specific and highly demanding market such American market is, come to the surface and I have to admit that they have done no bad at all. Although still without a record label, this is not an obstacle to win two consecutive years the award "Metal Artist Of The Year" by the music awards in Los Angeles, in 2009 and 2010. Many interviews, many radio stations have played and are playing their songs, they are very popular to college radio stations in USA.

The album "Misanthropic Slaughter" was released on May 25th,2011 and actually received excellent reviews throughout the world. Hard City had shown through its blog and then the album rating was 8.5/10. Music that has in it elements from Death Metal With a pure old school thrash and influences from Slayer, Kreator, Toxic Holocaust And Death.

Masaki Murashita gives an interview to help us better understand this new band. Here is what they answered for:

- How do they feel with the release of their first album

- What do they say about that most compare their music with Kreator’s music.

- What are their main influences and how they like to label their music

- Why they named their new album Misanthropic Slaughter

- What are the main features of their music and what are their Main goals.

- If they want to visit Greece and or they got some touring plans

But from here and after is better to read this interesting interview and get to know this band better.

-Hello guys. Would you like to introduce yourself to the audience? Who are you?

Masaki: We are Hemoptysis (He-mop-ti-sis), from Phoenix, AZ, USA. Drummer Travis Thune and I started this band together in mid 2007. We are a melodic death-thrash band. We have an old school thrash feeling, yet we don't limit ourselves as just a thrash band. Our lead guitarist, Ryan Miller, describes our sound as a “Buffet of Metal."

-You’ve just got released your first full length album. How do you feel about it? Are you satisfied with the results?

Masaki: We are very happy and satisfied with it. We went through a lot of things to get this album done, mainly financial things since we had no label to put money behind us and doing a record like this isn’t cheap. We wanted to make sure that this would be a record that we can be proud of, and we did it.

-Your music sounds to me very closed to Slayer and Kreator’s sounds. Are you agreeing with this?

Masaki: I get people saying that we sound like Kreator, especially on my vocals, but I never felt same way. I respect them a lot, though, so it’s a compliment! As far as Slayer goes, they are one of the legends in metal so we definitely grew up listening to them and have influences from them.

-What are your main musical influences anyway?

Masaki: We all have different influences. I’m mainly influenced from old school thrash, Travis and Ryan are from death metal for the most part and Sunao listens to anything, including non-metal music. Putting all of our work together makes our sound different and unique.

-How do you describe your music? Thrash metal, Death metal or what.

Masaki: Like I said, a “Buffet of Metal” is the best word to describe our sound. When Miller said it, Travis and I were like, “That’s a perfect way to describe it!” We play what we feel and what we like. We don’t want to set a specific sound that we must sound like.

-Who is responsible for song writing? Have you got a leader in to your band?

Masaki: I mainly write the music, then we put everyone’s parts and ideas together to complete the songs. Travis and I both write lyrics.

-Why you named your new album “Misanthropic Slaughter”?

Masaki: We felt that the song "Misanthropic Slaughter" was a perfect title track both musically and lyrically. It is a good musical representation of our sound and the lyrics are a good way to sum up the entire feeling you might get after listening to the entire CD. The songs are all very negative. You might have a stronger hatred for mankind after listening to the full CD and since killing is always a popular theme in our songs, you might want to kill all mankind, too. Hence the name, "Misanthropic Slaughter."

- What is your main goal with this release?

Masaki: We hope we gain new fans with this release and get attention from the music comunity. We work very hard every day to get our name out.

-In my opinion you got some great riffs in to your songs. What is, in your opinion, your strongest point as a band?

Masaki: The memorable riffs and melodies. With a lot of the songs out there recently, it is hard to recognize who the band is. We are always making sure the songs we write are catchy and memorable.

-The production on your new album is made by Ryan Greene as well as your song Shadow of Death since last year. How much this collaboration has affected you?

Masaki: He has an incredible talent. He took us to the next level. Sometimes it is hard to be objective when you look at your work because it’s your baby and you are attached to it. Having someone who knows what he is doing can polish your sound, making it tighter and stronger. He had the creative and objective viewpoint that made all the difference.

-What do you thing about N.W.O.A.H.M. music scene. Is there any band that you like more than others, from a new band I’m talking about?

Masaki: I do not follow and care about trends, but there are so many great unsigned bands out there than signed ones nowadays. My personal favorite is a band called Sargon. You must check them out. You will see why I dig them and why you should give a shit about this band. http://www.facebook.com/sargonextrememetal

-Have you got any Touring plans for this year? Will you plan coming to Europe?

Masaki: We do what we can. We love touring, playing different cities and seeing new faces. Touring in Europe would be dream come true for us! There are no concrete plans to tour Europe but we have been offered some shows there. We will see if we can work something out. It all depends on how big our fan base is in Europe. If enough people buy the album and our merchandise then we might be able to make a European tour a worthwhile venture.

-Would you like come to Greece for a gig?

Masaki: We want to. We just can’t afford it at the moment, being an independent band with no tour support. We love the food from Greece, that's for sure! If we can make the trip worth while then we will be there in a heartbeat!

-And after your first album released, what comes next? Are you planning soon, enter the studio again and record a new album?

Masaki: We just released a new music video for the song “M.O.D.” which you can watch at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRy7sW7cxlU We are doing out of state shows as much as we can and, in the mean time, writing new material for the next album.

– Thank you very much guys for finding the time to answer to my questions and give me this interview. Is there anything else that you wish to add?

Masaki: Thanks for your support! Follow us on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/hemoptysis If you liked what you heard, please buy our CD and merch at http://www.misanthropicslaughter.com and support us. We hope to see you on tour in the near future!