Devilinside
Location
Minneapolis, MN
Website
Bio
If you’re in a metal/hardcore band and you hail from Minnesota, you have a big strike against you. Let’s face it, the hard winters, isolation from any particular “hot spot” or scene and other hardships combine to beat you into submission. However, the thick skin of Minneapolis’ Devilinside has kept the band as determined as ever to bring some heavy noise to the forefront of both the metal and hardcore scenes.
“We are somewhat isolated from what is going on in the current hardcore/metal scene,” says Joel Andersen, guitar. “Yes, we listen to a lot of the stuff that's out right now, but I don't think we relate to it that much. We don't draw influences from current trends.”
Formed from the ashes of the mighty Disembodied, the band that laid the blueprint for mid-‘90s metalcore, the five-piece one-up the lethal crunch and heaviness of their previous band while adding undeniably catchy grooves. After some initial member changes, the band solidified their line-up with Joel Andersen (ex-Disembodied) on drums, Tony “Tubes” Byron (ex-Disembodied) on guitar, Jaime Gonzales handling vocals, Andy Crow on guitar and Mike Van Heel on bass. Ignoring the latest fads and trends in metal and hardcore, the group cite bands such as Entombed, Sepultura and old Machine Head as their main influences.
"It seems like every heavy band nowadays sounds like they're from Sweden,” says Andersen. “I don't think we relate to a lot of the stuff that’s out there right now. We just want to be brutally heavy, but also let our influences show.” Those heavy, downtuned influences are apparent on Prelude, serving as an introduction to the band via riff after crunchy riff on the four-song outing. “We'd like to think that we could play with metal bands, hardcore bands, or death metal bands, or stoner rock bands, or noise bands, or whatever,” says Anderson. “We've done it, and will continue to do it.”
Originally recorded back in November 2002 (by the band themselves no less), the EP is finally seeing the light of day with the band’s debut full-length not far behind in 2004. Packing a solid boot-to-the-groin mixture of heaviness and catchy riffs, Andersen states, “We want to bring back when you were excited to listen to music, not just the brand new trend that will be gone in 2 months.” Expect the band to be playing shows and festivals throughout the rest of the year, proving that 2004 is the year that Devilinside makes an undeniable mark on the heavy music world.
