Interview by Kris Peters
Heavy metal and blues music have a long history that is ignored by some and refuted by others, but when push comes to shove there can be no denying the two genres can not only co-exist in the same musical realm, but also owe much of their existence to the influence of the other.
This is perhaps no more evident than in the case of New Orleans sludge metal outfit EYEHATEGOD, who combine the sounds of southern rock, blues riffs and hardcore punk to create a musical division of their own that while being unashamedly metal is still a bastardised love child of centuries of history and tradition that has come before.
Born into a musical climate that shunned their very existence and forced them to evolve, adapt and create unto themselves to negotiate the treacherous waters of the music industry, the band have gone on to become a dominant force, with many bands citing EYEHATEGOD as being hugely influential on their own career trajectory.
They are a band with no master and therefore no guiding light other than their own darkness and have become such a pivotal catalyst in the amalgamation of musical diversity that Phil Anselmo, Pepper Keenan and Randy Blythe have all crossed musical paths on their journeys, with each leaving better for the experience.
With EYEHATEGOD on the cusp of their first Australian tour in half a decade with Goatwhore, vocalist Mike IX sat down for a chat with HEAVY to tell us more.
"It's gonna get crazy," he laughed. "It will definitely get weird at some point."
When talk turns to the early days of EYEHATEGOD Mike was unapologetic in regards to their early insistence to do things that made them happy, not that were considered safe or acceptable.
"We didn't fit in," he shrugged. "People hated us. People couldn't stand us. We had very few fans locally. The climate back then was still mostly thrash metal with bands doing the Exodus, Slayer type of thing. There was a lot of different styles, but there was some hardcore punk bands, then there was the thrash stuff. There wasn't a lot new going on at the time. We were big fans of Black Sabbath and Black Flag and all these bands, so we thought let's just do that. That's all we wanted to do."
In the full interview, Mike talks more about the upcoming tour and what to expect, what has changed with EYEHATEGOD since their last visit, the name of the tour and what significance that has on what we can expect, touring with Goatwhore, putting local supports at each show, new material and more.