Metal Mayhem: It’s been a good few months now since the release of you latest album "War". What is your opinion on how it was received? Did you manage to see many of the reviews?
Karl Fieldhouse: I actually saw an awful lot of the reviews for the album, from all over the world, from online zines to magazines, both big and small and from what I have seen, "War" has been well liked by just about everyone who reviewed it. Out of all the reviews I have seen, I think I’ve only seen maybe 5 bad reviews and a handful of average ones. For all the rest, everyone has been really singing the album’s praises and that’s awesome that a lot of people have understood what we did with the album and some of the directions we chose to take. And another satisfactory thing is that our fans love the album too, but having said that, it's typical Born From Pain, so it's not like we suddenly sound like a different band, we've just expanded our natural sound.

MM: This is your fifth album now. How would you say it compares to you previous efforts?
KF: This is actually our 4th album now, as the first release we had was a MCD, but for me the comparison between all of our albums is pretty bold. Not in the sense that it sounds everything sounds like a different band, but more that each release has it's own identity, yet still falls under the Born From Pain sound as a whole. Each release in my eyes is very different from the next one or the previous one and yet every album is very recognizable as Born From Pain and I think that's a huge achievement for any band. So many times you hear bands recording the same album that did well before it and not growing or expanding their sound and just repeating what they’ve done. I think we have kept our own sound, yet moved around and changed within the parameters we have set for ourselves so that everything is unique and not a clone of the other albums.

MM: Where do you guys get your main influences from in regards to writing/creating music? KF: Well, the earlier influences for the band when we started out are still in there and are bands like Stigmata, Merauder, Bolt Thrower, Earth Crisis, Integrity, Testament, Slayer etc, but we've definitely been influenced by a lot of other bands in the past few years, not all of them heavy. I guess we're all influenced by everything we listen to, whether it is hardcore, metal, pop, rock or whatever. Ideas come from everywhere, maybe not so obvious in what we write, but there are definitely elements creeping from other

genres of music. Writing good songs means keeping an open mind towards other styles of music, after all, there may be something in an unexpected style of music that may fit in with what we want to do, but isn't too obvious. I like that.

MM: For those that are yet to hear Born from Pain, can you tell us a bit about what can they expect?
KF: I think the typical Born From Pain sound has a few ingredients so to speak, that are a vital part of what we are, and those elements are massive groove, fast aggressive parts, crushing breakdowns and anthemic choruses. Those are the staple of what Born From Pain is, but we also like to throw in twists of different sounds, such as the kinda New Orleans vibe, melody, which is something that is much more prevalent on "War" than on any other release we have had, but having said that, we only used it where it was right, where it benefited the song. We didn't go crazy and turn every song into some huge chorus, but there are a lot of hooks in our sound. I think the best way to put it, is that people can expect hard and aggressive music which can appeal to all kinds of tastes, because with "War" we've written a diverse and focused album that I think everyone can find something they like on there.

MM: You also had a few special guest appearances on "War". Can you tell us a bit about those and the main reasons for it?
KF: That's right, we have 4 guest appearances on "War" and those people are Barney from Napalm Death, Jan-Chris from Gorefest, Pepe from Hatesphere and Lou from Sick Of It All. The main reason we have some guests on the album is because it's always awesome to have your friends be a part of something you do, and create. All the people who guest on the album we know pretty well and see, some we know better than others and some we see more than others, but all are friends. It's definitely an honour to have these guys on the album and everyone of them bring something unique to add to the song they're on.

MM: Coming onto Hardcore/Metalcore in general, everywhere we look the press seems dominated by American hardcore/metalcore bands. Do you think it's fair to say that Europe is somewhat over looked when it comes to the genre?
KF: I think so to some degree it's fair to say that, but it doesn't just fall on the press either, it falls on the shoulders of the kids who maybe don't support bands or, let's put it another way, kids who view American bands to be more worthy than European ones because of where they come from. Now to me, that's bullshit, and that's not because I hate American bands or anything, because I am into a lot of American bands, but lets not forget that Europe has a lot of great bands to offer and there are a lot of European bands working really hard writing awesome records and touring, it's just for some reason, European kids don't give them the same acclaim as the American bands, or that American bands are seen to be more worthy. Like I said, no problem with American bands, because a lot of bands from the States definitely give props to European bands. I just think the hype machine works better on American bands for some reason, and maybe a lot of that is to do with the press, but it doesn't have to be.

MM: As you've just started a fairly lengthy tour. Can you tell us a bit about it and the support acts. Did you hand pick them personally? KF: Great! The bands on tour with us are First Blood and The Setup and we have some of the shows along the way supported by Samaritan and also 37 Stabwoundz at times. We did pick the bands ourselves because we wanted to tour with bands we liked musically and as people and to bring together an exciting tour package and we've done just that. The Setup are

one of Europe's best bands of which some people will know nothing about, which is great, because they will get blown away by them, and First Blood are just making their name too, so it’s great to give them a hand as well. The first bunch of shows have gone great and we expect the remaining 3 and a half weeks to go along the same way.

MM: For the people reading this that are lucky enough to have a show in or near their home town, why should they come and check you out? What can we expect from a live Born from Pain show?
KF: They should come and check us out because we play our hearts out, play with passion and energy and everyone has a good time. It’s a great place to let go of your frustrations, to feel empowered and to enjoy music.

MM: It seems a very busy year so far, what else lies in store for you guys for the rest of the year? Any festival appearances announced yet?
KF: Yep, always busy. The main thing we'll be doing is touring, touring like idiots, as always. The more shows the better ha. I'm not sure what festival appearances we have lined up right now, but there will be plenty, that's for sure. In September we will be on the Hell On Earth Tour as co-headliner of that tour and with some luck we'll get back to the States, Japan, Brazil, Russia and everywhere else we’ve already hit, as well as getting to some new places too. We'll be busy that's a promise.

MM: Can we expect any new Born from Pain material in the near future, maybe any info, ideas or anything you'd like to try on your next album.
KF: I doubt it right now. I haven't even thought about writing new songs or ideas just yet, and I don't think anyone else has either, but I'm sure the process will start all over again reasonably soon. I think we’re all just really pleased with "War" and want to concentrate on giving that our undivided attention and the support it deserves. I'm not really sure what we'll try on the next album, but I'm sure it will sound like Born From Pain, but there'll be odd twists in there once more.

MM: Thanks and good luck for the upcoming tour, we hope it all goes well. Are there any last words or comments?
KF: Thanks a lot for the interview and support, it's much appreciated. People can check details out about the band on www.bornfrompain.com or www.myspace.com/bornfrompain. Oh, and the new Kaiser Chiefs album is awesome. Thanks and take care. Karl

Chris Rogers