Hails and Greetings Danny!! What’s the latest from the Malignancy camp?
Hey brother!! Right now Ronnie & Lance are laying down guitars for the promo CD. Four songs total. We intend to distribute it to potential labels. The promo will be available to fans too. After the promo is complete, we are going right back to writing the new full-length. It is yet untitled!

After having heard Intrauterine Cannibalism, Cross Species and Motivated by Hunger, I find that you guys have incorporated various elements of Death/Grind and Gore in your music. How would you classify your music in your words??
Wow! That is a difficult question. Technical death/grind might be the right classification. Our sound has evolved tremendously since Intrauterine Cannibalism. That CD to me is more-straight forward death metal with some grindy parts. We have tried to progress with each release and I feel we succeeded. Our music is not for everyone, I find that musicians enjoy our style more than most.

You have had a lot of changes in your line up; do you think that Malignancy has finally found a consistent and killer line up now?
Shit I hope so! Our history is jaded yes, but I feel the changes were all for the right reasons. They also came at the right time. All of the line-up changes in the beginning happened because of musically differences & sometimes lack of dedication. We do not plan to make any changes to the line-up at all.

From the time you guys started out in 1992, how has the journey been? Have you guys got appreciation for your music, and are there any "long term" goals that the band wants to achieve?
The journey for me has been definitely a learning experience. Just to be able to take part in the bands direction & progression has been killer. Our true sound, I feel, matured when Motivated was released. Intrauterine basically chronicled our early works. On Motivated the songs are more spastic & technical. Malignancy is all about being different. Death Metal is so saturated with the same old style, we always tried to go in the other direction. The only goal I ever wanted to achieve in Malignancy is to be known as innovators not followers. Oh one other thing…to play Wacken Open Air some day.

I believe you will be releasing your promo disc soon. What labels are you currently looking at, and some insight into the kind of stuff that we can expect from your new recording?
So far the recording is going well, very heavy & technical. The sound on this one is different because of our new drummer Mike. His style is nothing like Roger’s style. As far as labels go, which ever one will be able to get us better tours in the states. Advertising is a big thing for us. Cross Species didn’t have any promotion and sales suffered. If no labels want us then we plan to release the new one ourselves!

What are your favorite bands, both contemporary and old that has strongly influenced you?
I guess I draw my influence from early thrash & death. I grew up on all that shit, those are my roots. When we first started out I sounded like a bad Martin van Drunen (Pestilence, Asphyx). Then I tried guttural vocals, Max (early Sepultura) & Barney (Napalm Death) were big influences on me. I eventually made a style that I could pull off & fit the band.

Are any of the band members engaged in side projects? If so, what kind of stuff do they play?
Ronnie plays in another band called Dirty Brown Eye. It’s more of a hard rock/heavy metal band. He is very active in that band; I would not classify it as a side project. Mike is involved with a death metal band called Kalopsia from New Jersey. Mike would like to play in every kind of band. He is young guy that just wants to play drums! That’s all he cares about.

Are you full time musicians or do you have your own professional commitments? Is it hard to make money out of playing extreme music?
Hahahahahahahha!! I wish we could all do this professionally. I am a graphic artist, Ronnie is a subterranean engineer, Lance is an audio/video nugget & Mike is furthering his academic experience in college. There is money to be made but not much! There are a ton of crazed fans that will buy anything unfortunately they buy all Cannibal & Morbid stuff!!

As far as your lyrics go, is it you who does all the writing? Where do you draw inspiration for the same?
Yes I do write all the lyrics. I draw inspiration from the news. It is surprising how stupid & corrupt human beings are. Just when you think you have heard it all, you read something that tops it.

What is your overall take on the extreme metal scene that exists today? Do you think that now there is more appreciation for genres like Death/Gore/Grind etc? Do you get support from the other bands in the same genre?
The extreme underground metal scene I love because we are part of it. The more mainstream metal bands are not my cup of tea. Both the underground & mainstream are really killing the scene as a whole. Maybe the labels are to blame because they just sign any old band. I remember when it was really difficult to get signed. When you got signed you were the elite of the scene. Now with so many underground labels, everyone gets signed no matter how bad or good. That sucks! With such an influx of death/grind bands sometimes the really good ones fall under the radar. It happened with the thrash scene in the 90’s. It’s happening right now!

Have you heard any bands from India, and do you have any idea about the small underground scene that we have here? Have you heard about Gruesome Malady- A Goregrind band from India?
I have heard about the scene over there! You would never think that some sick grind band would come out of India. Well India is making its mark on death metal, that’s all that matters!

Are there any specific gigs that you consider memorable in terms of your performance and the crowd response?
Almost every gig leaves a lasting impression on me. Some memorable shows were The Brutal Assault Fest in the Czech that was the first big crowd we ever played for, something like 1,000 people give or take. Another sick show was on our 2002 tour with Godless Truth in Slovakia. Wow! It was killer! I hope when we go back they are just as sick!!

Has Malignancy toured outside the US? Any Asian country like Malaysia or Japan which have a great UG scene?? Do you plan to do that in the future?
Yes we played the Brutal Assault Fest Vol. 5 in the Czech Republic in 2000. The same year we hit Mexico for 2 dates with Mortician. In 2002 we toured for 2 ½ weeks with Godless Truth. We played Belgium, France, Czech, Slovakia, Germany & Austria. We plan to tour Europe in September 2005.

Thanks a lot for taking time out for this interview Danny. Any words for all the extreme metallers, especially in India?
Thanks for the interview! Keep the scene alive but at the same time choose your bands wisely. Look for the obscure, unsung heroes of the underground! Those are the bands that need all your support! Stay Malignant.

Interview By : Saion Chatterjee (saionc@gmail.com)