Long Island, New York is an area that is clouded by judgment from those living outside of it and from those within it. We know this Long Island “prejudice” exists because we are natives, born and raised and we have suffered the repercussions of it. Well, as more time passes, we tend to think of them as positive effects. For example, take a look at the Long Island metal band, This Is Hell. For us, growing up in a society ruled by trends, we chose to step outside of the box and design our own path. We think This Is Hell took the same approach. So, maybe it is best for us to thank our hometown for its indirect guidance, rather than blame it.
This Is Hell consists of vocalist, Travis Reilly, guitarist, Rick Jimenez, bassist, Pieter van den Berg and bassist, Mike Sciulara. Formed in 2004, This Is Hell has released three studio albums throughout the decades “Sundowning” in 2006 via Trustkill; “Misfortunes” in 2008 via Trustkill. “Weight Of The World” in 2010. Not breaking their album consistency, This Is Hell is set to release their fourth studio album, “Black Mass”, on October 11th. The metal group will also be heading out on their North American tour with Underoath, Comeback Kid and The Chariot, starting September 15th in Fayetteville, AR through October.
The Long Islanders have quite the hectic schedule this fall, but there are complaints from guitarist, Jimenez. We got to chat with the metal musician about the group’s upcoming album, which had an unreleased title at the time of our interview. Our conversation with Jimenez covered an extensive amount of ground as we discussed the trends in the music world, touring the world with This Is Hell, top metal groups and what direction he would like metal music to take.
Check out our interview below and it will become clear to you, Shockya readers, why we think Long Islanders should thank their hometown for their eccentric qualities.
How did you guys form This Is Hell?
We started in 2004. Same old story as other bands. We all knew each other from doing other bands. We kind of all got together, at the time, with what the lineup was, which is way different than what it is now. We got together and just started playing as a fun thing. We did that as well and went on tour with each other’s respective bands, at that time, over the summer. Then after that summer, we did This Is Hell as a full time thing.
How do you think the metal music scene on Long Island has changed from when you first started?
I think the Internet has made it even pettier than it had been prior. Being petty with things is just a nature of life, I guess. With hardcore, punk and metal, I like to think that we should all know a little better to be so petty with everyday bullshit and drama. And you know with following trends, what’s cool and what isn’t. You should be more rooted in what’s real, what’s genuine and what a person likes individually. Whether that fits into with what everyone thinks is cool. I remember in the very beginning, This Is Hell, had a lot of Internet hype and I remember thinking, this sucks because people weren’t paying attention to what we were doing so much. It’s kind of like, this person, that person and the other person, said we were cool. So, people, overall, think we are cool and you know, that only lasts for a little while. You, almost, get like a backlash from that.
What is like leaving Long Island and touring throughout the world?
It rules. It is without a doubt the best decision I have ever made to ditch the regular person life and doing a band as like a hobby. Really making that decision and saying, ‘ya this isn’t what I want to do, this what I am going to do,’ is awesome. It’s funny because when it comes to just traveling in general that is not really like a big deal to me. What’s a big deal to me is going out and traveling with the intentions of playing a show in a different place every night. That’s the best decision I ever made. It makes you really appreciate little things about every city. It makes you appreciate hardcore, metal and punk that much more because I am not just stuck seeing it in one point of view. I get to see how it goes throughout different scenes and different areas.
Do you have a favorite city to play in?
I like going to California, like L.A. L.A. and Chicago are like two of my favorite places, where I can actually see myself live in, other than New York and I am like such a New York guy. There are different places where I like love the people, regardless of how I enjoy the shows there, like Richmond, Virginia. The city is awesome and the people are amazing. Then there are some completely random places, where we always have good shows, like Boise. We played Boise, Idaho and that’s one of the most loyal and open-minded scenes that we have been to. Regardless of who we are playing with or what type of bands we are playing with or how big or small the show is on paper, we always have a really good time and really good shows in Boise. Stuff like that is really cool with touring. I would see Boise on the map and be like, ‘Nah, I don’t really need to go to this place. Who gives a sh*t.’ But I get psyched every single time we go there.
What were some of the metal bands you listened to growing up?
It’s funny because it is the same exact thing I listen to now. Like Metallica is my life-changing band. I remember the first time I heard Metallica was when I saw the one video on “Headbangers Ball”, which is cool. I know, now, like being older and being a Metallica guy for like 66 percent of my life and learning their history, Metallica making that video, which is like, aright we are going to go mainstream, was like a big, big deal to them. It’s cool because if they didn’t do that, I might have been a completely different person. Metallica was and has always been my favorite metal band.
Have you ever got a chance to tour or play at a festival with some of your favorite bands that you look up to?
We did Soundwave, which is like the equivalent to Warped Tour in America, but Soundwave is in Australia. We did that with Anthrax in 2010 and that was like the coolest thing. Just the fact that we are on the same stage as Anthrax was amazing. Anthrax is one of the biggest bands in my life. Anthrax had that little crossover into hardcore, a little bit, at least and they are a New York band. That was like the biggest, biggest deal and it still is like so cool to me. We did a show with Testament in New Jersey and that was really cool, but we’ve yet to play with Slayer, Metallica or Megadeth.
I actually got to talk with Megadeth at the Mayhem Festival, which was awesome.
Ya, we just saw Megadeth in New Mexico because we got to New Mexico early and we had a show later on in the night. We knew a couple of the other bands playing, so we went to hang out and it was cool. We got to see Megadeth. That was actually the 3rd time in a year span I got to see Megadeth for free.
This show was for Mayhem in New Mexico?
Ya, I saw them at the Mayhem in New Mexico and last fall, they played the Rave in Milwaukee in like a three story building. We played in one room and Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax were playing in a different room. So we got to play, go upstairs and watch Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax.
You guys are releasing your fourth studio album in October. Have you thought of an album title yet?
We are keeping the album title under wraps for now. It’s only a matter of time before it comes out because the record comes out in October. Out last record, “Weight of the World” was a more thrash direction for us, but this record is even more in that direction. It’s extremely Slayer and Metallica influence. We are really psyched. It’s nice to do something a little different for us. The whole process of writing, demoing and recording was really cool. It was a little different, but it’s not like it is out of left field for us, but it’s a little out of our comfort range. We were like, ‘Oh I don’t know what people who like our band prior are going to think about this, but well f**k it. We never worried about that before. So we are not going to start worrying about that now.’ We did a tour out in California and we are playing nine or ten songs. We are playing three new songs a night live and we kind of figure like we want to do it, so whatever. Kids are reacting very positively to the new songs. That is such a great compliment to get from kids live.
They are hearing these songs for the first time right?
Ya, they are hearing them for the first time and they are like, ‘Ah, the new stuff is awesome.’ There are people saying sh*t to us about the new songs, while we are in the middle of the set, like taking a break between songs and like running up to the stage saying, ‘These songs are awesome.’ I remember one show, someone did that specifically and I’m like, that has never happened. I never witnessed that with any band.
Do you get nervous playing the new songs on stage?
I think I pay more attention to try not to f**k up. If anything, it is almost a little liberating.
Ya, they won’t realize if you mess up.
[Laughter] Ya, that too. I can always say, ‘Oh, I messed up. They won’t know the difference, but well, I know the difference.’
Is there a general lyrical theme throughout the album?
There are different things we touch upon. We touch a lot upon injustice overall, whether that’s a racial thing, a class system thing, a sexual preference thing. Especially, not just Long Island, but where I am living, there’s a lot of different types of people living around and there’s a lot of ways people are treated. That’s something that I will never be comfortable with.
If you could design your own path for metal music to take, what would it be? Or where would you like to see it go?
Um, that’s rough. I think in a lot of ways, it is on the right path. Something that I like to see happen that would be really important is the whole crossover between hardcore and metal, for them to kind of team up again. I think that is something I would love to see happen and I see it happening in some places. I think it’s great. It makes me nervous that it is a bit of a trend, like ‘oh, crossover is cool right now.’ That’s going to bum me out. I know for a while New York style hardcore was making a comeback and there are a lot bands doing that style now. As far as hardcore goes, New York hardcore is one of the important parts of hard core and I would hate for that to be a trend. I think it’s important for that to not be one united scene, but for at least, everyone to recognize that it is under the same umbrella. Another thing that is so good about punk, hardcore and metal is that it is always progressing and is always growing. That’s what keeps it alive and stops it from becoming a trend. That’s something that has always been important to me and has always been a credo for the band.
Any other This Is Hell news? You guys are going on tour with Underoath, Comeback Kid and The Chariot right?
Ya, we are going to do a couple shows on our own. That tour is like a crazy, diverse tour and that’s awesome. We have down so much touring with Comeback Kid, but we’ve never toured with Chariot; we’ve never toured with Underoath. That is going to be an awesome run. It is going to be some pretty big venues for us, but not for Underoath. I think that’s going to be a lot of fun. You know the fact that it is going to be kids, who normally go to shows in venues that are like 1,000 to 2,000 cap, are coming to the shows that are going to sell out with five or six hundred people. That’s even big for us and that’s a place where we can really thrive and we can really draw the crowd in. That type of crowd has never really seen something like us. We are going to be playing way louder than an opening band is supposed to be playing. We are going to be putting way more energy into anything. We always give 100 percent, but on a show like this, where we are going to be playing to a lot of new people, we we are going to give it that much and more.
by Lonnie Nemiroff
