Without Mercy Interview

• Without Mercy’s new album is entitled Seismic and that title sums up your gigantic tour de force perfectly! So an obvious question, when writing this album what musical ideas, experimentation came to mind to showcase this relentless beast?

DJ Temple: The biggest thing about writing this record was that we took our sweet time.  We wrote and then rewrote it so many times over until each part was perfect to what we wanted.  We did it without an exterior timeline and we even started pre-production on it multiple times.  It had to be the best version of what we were thinking and then it had to have the best performance of what we could do.  There were countless times we worked parts outlive when on tour… times where we would expand and experiment in the rehearsal space as well.  It’s what we did to get everything where it needed to be.

• For those who haven’t heard the release yet, what words would you use to compare it to 2016’s Mouchido? How would you describe the evolution of the band’s sound?

Aside from the obvious that it more than doubled the track amount. ‘Seismic’ has more flair, more substance, and an even deeper resounding theme to the content than ever before. Not to mention that our structure and songwriting evolved significantly.

• If a fan was stranded on an island for eternity, which track on this album, would be best on repeat?– Disinfect The Soul.  It’s the longest and that could eat up more of your day.

• We noticed you have guitar gods Jeff Loomis (on opening track Thunderbird) and Chris Broderick (on Disinfect The Soul) as guests on Seismic, how did this come to be?

– Chris and I have been friends for years so that one came about very naturally.  We actually wanted to get him on our last release but the schedules just couldn’t line up, he’s a really busy guy!  As for Jeff, well that’s really a mutual friend introducing him and me.  From there we became friends and it sorta happened naturally as well.

• With this being covid times, what were your thoughts on releasing it during the pandemic? Did you consider holding off?

– We were actually advised by our management to NOT release it during the pandemic. We fought hard against that as we thought any of our fans that were out there would love new material.  What better time than now to get new material out for our amazing fanbase?  Hopefully, we can reach a few more as well!

• If Covid was a band, what do you think its debut album should be called?

– Bend over.

• Any touring plans post covid? if so where can we expect to see Without Mercy?

We have a few standing offers for European tours when things are more copasetic.  Expect to see us in North America and Europe the second it’s safe to do so!.

• DJ Temple has been quoted in the past as studying martial arts? We like to know how does one take what they have learned in the martial arts and apply it to extreme metal? and specifically Without Mercy?

– The biggest thing has been resilience. There are so many insane factors when you decide to be in a band let alone an extreme metal one.  You learn to find comfort in the uncomfortable and survive in the little pieces of hell.  As for Without Mercy, well that’s just another conversation all together 😉

And speaking of martial arts and metal, who would be the ultimate match if you had the best martial artist vs. the best guitarist? And what would you call their knock-out move?

– The obvious would be something like Bruce Lee vs Eddie Van Halen.  Both of them changed the norm within their own fields respectively. But to get even more cerebral, I’m going to choose Rickson Gracie vs  Alex Skolnick from Testament.  Each of those guys understands their craft on a monumental and intellectual level that they have transcended what we will understand.  Seriously though, look them both up as it’s pretty damn terrifying.

Any last words you like to add for our readers from Without Mercy.

– Hope you all dig the new album Seismic Grab it online or even order a physical copy from our
website!  www.withoutmercyband.com