DEAD MAN’S CHEST are back with a new record called “Negative Mental Attitude”! Full of anger, hatred and loads of amazing featurings with Jonny X Plague of WINDS OF PLAGUE, Pelbu of KNUCKLEDUST / BUN DEM OUT LBU, John X Music of xTYRANTx / KING OF CLUBS, Matt Spencer of HOMETOWN HATE and Dwid Hellion of INTEGRITY, the outing will crush you like a 18-wheeler! The record comes out on April 4th via Beatdown Hardwear and Seventh Dagger Records!
I caught up with the band’s drummer Andy X Edge to reveal a bit more about the new record, their touring plans, line-up changes and explain what it means to have a negative mental attitude. Scroll down to read the full quick chit-chat with DEAD MAN’S CHEST!
Hey boys! Thanks for taking some time with me! How is DMC crew in the very beginning of 2014?
We are all good. Looking forward to releasing our new material on Seventh Dagger Records in the States and BDHW Records in Europe.
Brand new lineup, brand new EP, brand new video. Damn, that’s a lot of “brand news”, huh? :) Please shoot us some more on each story and display it on a timeline.
Since the last record, we have a new guitarist (Maury), a new bassist (Kay) and a new vocalist (Dave), we have the new record coming out at the end of February/start of march along with a new video and gigs and tours.
Your last lineup change (2 Sams leaving the band) was almost 3,5 years ago, right?. How did that differ from what happened last year?
The lineup changes have just made us more determined as we are confident this is the most productive lineup DMC have ever had and our new record will hopefully show that.
Remember when you said that DMC were stronger than ever before back then? How tough are you right now? What makes the new lineup better or different?
This lineup is bigger, angrier and more determined than ever before and everyone is happy with our final results. We work our asses off so hard. Practicing in every free time we have. Gigin and writting than never before. What makes us stronger and happier in the same time.
Ok, so let’s share some more thoughts on the new EP. Jonny X Plague of WINDS OF PLAGUE, Pelbu of KNUCKLEDUST / BUN DEM OUT LBU, John X Music of XTYRANTX / KING OF CLUBS, Matt Spencer of HOMETOWN HATE and Dwid Hellion of INTEGRITY. It sure looks like a freakin’ collaborative piece. Tell me more about the idea for a such a nice set of partnerships.
Basically all the guests are friends of ours and all sing in great bands so our thinking was rather than one or two guest vocalists, why not have a guest on every song, we are extremely pleased with the final result.
What does the city in the cover art mean to you?
New York City is hailed as capital of the world by many. It’s also regarded as the capital of hardcore by some. Where such legendary bands like SFA and SHEER TERROR come from. … The birthplace of hate-core, haha.
Sure thing we’ll get to that :) Can you explain a bit how the recording process went?
The new record was recorded by Stu McKay at Studio 6 in Swindon, UK, but to be honest, we started this in the mid of 2012, and turns out shit, cuz the guy we worked with was shit and lazy and fuckin piss take and joke and fuckin thief. Anyway, stu tracked us at studio 6 and we mixed and mastered this at Planet Z by Zeuss (HATEBREED, EARTH CRISIS, THROWDOWN, SWORN ENEMY).
Awesome! You’re still releasing via Seventh Dagger, aren’t you? Please tell all the rookies out there about the label and how you evaluate your cooperation.
Yes we are still signed with Seventh Dagger and they have done loads to help us in the US! Seventh Dagger has always been home to some of our favourite Straightedge bands such as EARTH CRISIS, XTYRANTX, SEARCH BLOC, GHOSTXSHIP and ONE X CHOICE! It’s an privilege to have them take such an interest in us and help us out so much.
Ok, mateys. Let’s get it straight. After having prepared so much for early 2014, I feel it would be extremely absurd not to hit the road! It’s coming up close to forever since you have done a proper tour with more than a few shows :) Tell me about you touring plans.
Well 2014 we will be hitting the road a lot, with tours around the UK, Europe and possibly the US to be announced!
Gritty, dark, violent, evil, intense, god-free and angry – these are only few words that are used to describe DEAD MAN’S CHEST. You guys are damn scary people! Are you an anti-PMA extremist? ;) Please explain, what exactly is hatecore and who should be scared :)
No one, to be honest we do our own thing. Hardcore as we see it through our eyes. Since day one, Hardcore as we remember it always was just like the way we do it. In your face, straight forward and honest to the bones. We aren’t going to sell out and be cool wearing PMA on our shoulders, it’s not our thing. This is not some happy pop punk band. This is just hardcore, full of anger, hatred and the negative aspects of our lives we want to talk about. Hard working class HC, not suburban kids who have rich parents that are raking in at least 400 thousand pounds a year, and they go to either their typical white Christian / Catholic private schools and they never gonna learn to THINK for themselves. They are all under the impression that their lives are terrible, and they hate their parents. They have iPhones, iPads, Trendy Air Maxes, Trendy Band shirts, that their parents pay for. They fuckin fake ass vegans eating what mommas is cooking, and that’s not usually vegan either vegetarian. Hidden under their mommas tits and screaming to their laptops or iPads how shitty hardcore these days is. I fuckin hate posi kids. They suck and know nothing about the world, nor do they care.
Straight up, Andy!
Let’s sum it up, shall we? How are you feeling about 2014? How are you going to make this year different to the rest?
New record, new tours, new videos and loads more surprises up our sleeves to keep things interesting. 2014 is the year of DMC.
How about 2013? Concert-wise, what were your highlights of the last year?
We got to share stages with some of the best bands, new and old. From the mighty BIOHAZARD, NEGATIVE APPROACH and our family in ONE LIFE CREW to the more modern heavyweights like HARMS WAY, LIFELESS and STEEL NATION! Also a shout out to our UK friends in BACK DOWN, DOGFIGHT, BUN DEM OUT, TEMPER FRAY, PAY NO RESPECT, PROVEN, CRIPPLER LBU and KARTEL!
What 2013 records topped your charts?
Re-issue of Systems Overload is probably the cherry of the top of 2013. NASTY – Love was good, but way too short. BENCHPRESS – Controlled By Death is well heavy and
WORLD OF PAIN – Improve and Survive. What else, UK finest’s MALEVOLENCE and their Reign of Suffering. Another one, HARMS WAY – Blinded. LOOK MY WAY – Mentality and WILL TO LIVE new record and STRENGTH FOR A REASON. CLENCHED FIST new EP. One Choice new album. SWORN VENGEANCE new album. VIOLENT ARREST new album as well, and more and more…
Alright Andy. Thanks a lot for your time and good luck with the new Negative Mental Attitude era! Feel free to add anything you want!
Keep an eye out for our new record Negative Mental Attitude coming very soon and our brand new video!
For info on shows/new material check out our Facebook and Instagram page.
