But Hod fucking slayed that night, and a few months later, I interviewed their singer, Beer Reebs after a ripping set. Again, pardon my interviewing ability as I was still learning the ropes, especially with in-person interviews. Anyway, here's the text with some minor editing for clarity.
1. JH: I understand Hod has undergone some lineup changes since "Serpent" was released last year. Would you like to introduce the new band members?
Beer Reebs: Well, honestly, we got T [Trans-Am] on bass and that's pretty much all that needs to be said. The [previous] bass player [Derek Rivers], he had some cancer problems. As far as the second guitarist, we're working a session person right now. [7/13/2015 - At this time, this was Dustin, formerly of Khringe, Doom Siren, and more. He also books plenty of awesome shows]
2. JH: How is the recording process for the new album going?
BR: The recording process for the new album is still going. We're doing the drum tracks first, and it's still going, we've had a couple of minor setbacks in the fucking recording process, but it's running smoothly.
3. JH: What can fans of "Serpent" expect from the newer Hod material?
BR: Better shit. We've got nothing bad to say about "Serpent", but with the new album, we've all come together as one single unit as opposed to five motherfuckers that just killed everybody on their own anyway. So now we're five motherfuckers that kill everybody acting as one single unit killing everybody.
4. JH: Do you have any song titles planned out for the new album that you'd be able to share?
BR: We got "Walking Wounded", which is an FBI term about people who are abducted and sexually tortured, mentally abused and tortured, and you don't know what's going on. We've got "In the Den of Wolves", which is basically, "you're in the wrong place at the wrong time"...
JH: It's a very Destroyer 666 kind of vibe I'm getting.
BR: You can do that, yeah.
5. JH: Your vocals are very distinct, they seem to vary from a putrid growl to a devilish croak. What are some of your influences, and how did you develop that style?
BR: Well, fuck, man, I'm a firm believer in "if you can't do it, don't do it." We've worked with the same producer, engineer, whatever you want to call that shit, I don't know, I'm not a professional guy. We've worked with the same guy, he's worked with me in my other bands, my metal bands, and he knows how to do my vocals. Like I said, again, "if you can't do it, don't do it", but it's...[Beer was distracted and lost his train of thought here]...What was the question?
JH: Basically, what are some of your vocal influences?
BR: Vocal influences, I'd have to say Jeff Clayton from ANTiSEEN, John Tardy from Obituary, Michael D. Williams from Eyehategod, you know, any of the dead horse guys, I mean, it goes on, you know.
6. JH: How are Hod's lyrics usually written, like, [how does] the process usually go?
BR: I write all of the lyrics and vocals, and in my opinion, the lyrics and the vocals are the last thing that matter, so until I get the song down, I don't write lyrics until I feel what the song feels. It'll always be nasty, it'll always be ugly, it'll always be the bad guy, always being on the wrong side of the tracks. It'll always be fucking metal. But, the lyrics are the last thing that will be involved in any song. I may not have anything to do with the music outside of arrangement, telling them to do this or that, but the music comes first, and the music puts me in the mood for what it is I sing about.
7. JH: Texas is proving to be the home of a ton of up-and-coming true extreme metal bands, would you like to tell us about some of your favorites?
BR: Oh, I'd have to give a shout-out to Hexlust from Kileen, those motherfuckers, those are our little brothers.
JH: ...Who happen to be playing a show tonight in San Antonio, but unfortunately, we couldn't be in two places at once.
BR: We can, but we just can't let the rest of ya'll know about it.
JH: [Laughs] If we told you, we'd have to kill you.
BR: We'd have to kill you. Actually, we're gonna kill you anyway. [Laughs before returning to the question] Hexlust, Butchered Saint's a good band, Engaged in Mutilating really puts themselves out there, and they work it. Doom Siren from Austin are good friends of ours, you know, we can go on.
8. JH: On that note, you play a lot of local shows. What are some of your favorite venues to play in Texas?
BR: Houston has always done us good, Walter's, and their promoters. In San Antonio, the Ten Eleven is awesome, it's a venue run by guys that are in a van, no, a band, not in a van, they tour, they respect everything. That's a good venue. In Austin, we've been taken care of at Emo's, we've been taken care of at Room 710 lately, we always played at...no, no, we got taken care of at Red 7, we were always taken care of at Room 710, we miss that place. It just depends on who's booking the show.
9. JH: Thank you very much, for the interview, Beer! Any last words you'd like to throw out in order to conclude this interview?
BR: Support real fucking metal! If you do not go out to shows, they're not gonna come back! [7/13/2015 - Truth, see Lethal Aggression: "No Scene".]
1. JH: I understand Hod has undergone some lineup changes since "Serpent" was released last year. Would you like to introduce the new band members?
Beer Reebs: Well, honestly, we got T [Trans-Am] on bass and that's pretty much all that needs to be said. The [previous] bass player [Derek Rivers], he had some cancer problems. As far as the second guitarist, we're working a session person right now. [7/13/2015 - At this time, this was Dustin, formerly of Khringe, Doom Siren, and more. He also books plenty of awesome shows]
2. JH: How is the recording process for the new album going?
BR: The recording process for the new album is still going. We're doing the drum tracks first, and it's still going, we've had a couple of minor setbacks in the fucking recording process, but it's running smoothly.
3. JH: What can fans of "Serpent" expect from the newer Hod material?
BR: Better shit. We've got nothing bad to say about "Serpent", but with the new album, we've all come together as one single unit as opposed to five motherfuckers that just killed everybody on their own anyway. So now we're five motherfuckers that kill everybody acting as one single unit killing everybody.
4. JH: Do you have any song titles planned out for the new album that you'd be able to share?
BR: We got "Walking Wounded", which is an FBI term about people who are abducted and sexually tortured, mentally abused and tortured, and you don't know what's going on. We've got "In the Den of Wolves", which is basically, "you're in the wrong place at the wrong time"...
JH: It's a very Destroyer 666 kind of vibe I'm getting.
BR: You can do that, yeah.
5. JH: Your vocals are very distinct, they seem to vary from a putrid growl to a devilish croak. What are some of your influences, and how did you develop that style?
BR: Well, fuck, man, I'm a firm believer in "if you can't do it, don't do it." We've worked with the same producer, engineer, whatever you want to call that shit, I don't know, I'm not a professional guy. We've worked with the same guy, he's worked with me in my other bands, my metal bands, and he knows how to do my vocals. Like I said, again, "if you can't do it, don't do it", but it's...[Beer was distracted and lost his train of thought here]...What was the question?
JH: Basically, what are some of your vocal influences?
BR: Vocal influences, I'd have to say Jeff Clayton from ANTiSEEN, John Tardy from Obituary, Michael D. Williams from Eyehategod, you know, any of the dead horse guys, I mean, it goes on, you know.
6. JH: How are Hod's lyrics usually written, like, [how does] the process usually go?
BR: I write all of the lyrics and vocals, and in my opinion, the lyrics and the vocals are the last thing that matter, so until I get the song down, I don't write lyrics until I feel what the song feels. It'll always be nasty, it'll always be ugly, it'll always be the bad guy, always being on the wrong side of the tracks. It'll always be fucking metal. But, the lyrics are the last thing that will be involved in any song. I may not have anything to do with the music outside of arrangement, telling them to do this or that, but the music comes first, and the music puts me in the mood for what it is I sing about.
7. JH: Texas is proving to be the home of a ton of up-and-coming true extreme metal bands, would you like to tell us about some of your favorites?
BR: Oh, I'd have to give a shout-out to Hexlust from Kileen, those motherfuckers, those are our little brothers.
JH: ...Who happen to be playing a show tonight in San Antonio, but unfortunately, we couldn't be in two places at once.
BR: We can, but we just can't let the rest of ya'll know about it.
JH: [Laughs] If we told you, we'd have to kill you.
BR: We'd have to kill you. Actually, we're gonna kill you anyway. [Laughs before returning to the question] Hexlust, Butchered Saint's a good band, Engaged in Mutilating really puts themselves out there, and they work it. Doom Siren from Austin are good friends of ours, you know, we can go on.
8. JH: On that note, you play a lot of local shows. What are some of your favorite venues to play in Texas?
BR: Houston has always done us good, Walter's, and their promoters. In San Antonio, the Ten Eleven is awesome, it's a venue run by guys that are in a van, no, a band, not in a van, they tour, they respect everything. That's a good venue. In Austin, we've been taken care of at Emo's, we've been taken care of at Room 710 lately, we always played at...no, no, we got taken care of at Red 7, we were always taken care of at Room 710, we miss that place. It just depends on who's booking the show.
9. JH: Thank you very much, for the interview, Beer! Any last words you'd like to throw out in order to conclude this interview?
BR: Support real fucking metal! If you do not go out to shows, they're not gonna come back! [7/13/2015 - Truth, see Lethal Aggression: "No Scene".]
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