MM: Firstly, thanks for taking the time to talk to us!
Doc Coyle: No problem. God Forbid appreciates the exposure and interest you’ve shown in the band.

MM: Your latest album "Gone Forever" was our first experience of God Forbid; can you just tell us a bit about the band?
DC: We’ve been together as God Forbid with the same line up since 1997. We didn’t start jamming to be a serious endeavor, but after we did a demo called "Out of Misery", which eventually became an EP cd, it was obvious that we were doing something that stood out a bit and that there was talent. Things really got serious though after we recorded our first full length cd, "Reject the Sickness" for 9 volt records. This album immediately garnered the attention of Century Media records. We knew this would give us the opportunity to tour, and really have a shot at doing something that most people would never had the opportunity to do. We still didn’t have huge aspirations at this point though. We signed with CM in 2000, and released our first full length album for them, "Determination". After the release we toured for a year and a half with the likes of Cradle of Filth, Hatebreed, Shadows Fall, Opeth, Poison the Well, and every other prominent metal or hardcore band it seemed. After all the touring, we still weren’t happy with our progress, and focused all of our energy to the writing of the next album, which took about a year to write. The final product was "Gone Forever", and we are extremely proud of it. Now we’re on tour and will be indefinitely.

MM: It’s been a few weeks since the release of "Gone Forever", what has the reaction to it been like from fans and from the press?
DC: The reaction from fans and media alike has been extremely positive. With the exception of the lukewarm Metal Hammer review, people really seem to appreciate what we are trying to get across. Even with the over saturated metalcore market right now, I’m happy that the press realizes we’re doing something a bit different. It is gratifying to see so many people enjoy what you’ve poured your heart into. It will still take a while to get a real guage of what the fans think because the album just came out, but so far, so good. We did a small headline run, and the kids went nuts to the new material.

MM: How would you compare your latest album to your previous releases?
DC: It destroys anything we’ve done before because it takes the best parts of our old material, and takes it up 2 or 3 notches with better riffs, melodies, and most importantly, much better songwriting. Our older material is faster and choppier. The new album has a better flow, and is easier to listen to. We had to teach ourselves to relax, and just groove out a bit. Not be on 10 all the time. Work more dynamicly. We also added some clean vocals in several of the songs which really added depth and soul to our band. That is something that really lacked in earlier records. We’ve grown so much as musicians as well, and really focused on getting the right feel, and really playing our parts properly. Performance in production was key. It’s like night and day from "Determination" to "Gone Forever", but in a good way. I always want to keep changing and evolving. Some bands like Motorhead and AC/DC keep putting out very similar records, and that’s great, but I want be more of a band that keeps growing like the Beatles.

MM: Hearing you guys for the first time reminded me of when I first heard Shadow’s Fall. Where would you say you draw your main influences?
DC: The Shadows Fall comparison is very fair. Both bands have been around for the same amount of time, and we doing similar styles without knowing it. Although, I think they knew their focus a lot earlier on than they did which was a thrash band. They were the first American band besides us I heard that mixed European metal, old school American thrash, and metalcore. The most important thing we have in common is trying to resurrect a certain mold of the American metal band like Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, etc. That gave us a great kinship to those guys, which still holds to this day. We actually did our first tour with them. I consider them to be brothers in this thing, and I couldn’t be more proud of their recent success. They’ve paved the way for a lot of people, and should get their due respect. Our influences of late really had us studying classic metal records: Metallica "Master of Puppets", Megadeth "Rust in Peace", Pantera "Vulgar Display of Power", Sepultura "Chaos AD", Machine Head "Burn My Eyes". We tried to understand why those albums had the impact they did, and held our own material to that standard. Personally, I listened to a lot of Guns n Roses, Alice in Chains, Arch Enemy, Killswitch Engage, and ton of classic rock while working on the record.

MM: You’ve been touring the US pretty extensively for a while know, when was the last time you came to the UK/Europe and what was that like?
DC: The last time God Forbid was in the UK was December 2001, and it was actually a horrible tour because it was booked last minute, and the accomadations we really poor. We couldn’t do our tour with Opeth, and had to headline. It was also freezing. We toured with Stampin Ground previously that year, and it was fucking amazing. I know the UK is a great place to play. The press has given us a lot of attention, and I think people will really respond to our new record. I can’t wait to get back to the UK this summer.

MM: You’ve been announced for the 2004 Ozzfest, which is probably going to be one of the best yet. Which bands are you particularly looking forward to meeting/playing along side?
DC: First of all, let me say that we are really grateful that we’ve been given the opportunity to play Ozzfest. This is really beyond any of the dreams we conjured up. Playing with Slayer is probably the most amazing thing. I think that’s one band every metal band dreams of playing with. Getting a chance to see Ozzy, Priest, Hatebreed, Lamb of God, Slipknot, Dimmu Borgir will be unreal. We are also friends with pretty much all of the second stage bands, so it will be a big party the whole time I’m sure.

MM: Are there any other major tours/festivals your doing that we should know about?
DC: We are doing a full US tour with Machine Head and Arch Enemy in April-May which will be amazing. In June, we will be supporting Killswitch Engage, Chimaira, and Shadows Fall in the UK and Europe. There should be some big festival stops on that tour, but I’m not sure which ones. Besides Ozzfest, we will be doing off dates with Slipknot. That will be crazy.

MM: Will there be any UK dates this year?
DC: The New Wave of American Heavy Metal tour. Hopefully we can come back in the fall for headline run in the fall.

MM: In your bio on http://www.godforbid.com, it states that you guys still have something to prove: "It's intriguing. It's almost like we're cheating. Everyone in this band knows that we're good at we do, but a lot of people check us out because it's like a taboo. They think, 'Oh my god! They're black”. Is this a sore point for the band, and have you ever came across any prejudices or discriminations?
DC: Nah. It’s not a big deal.

MM: OK, time to test your sales technique, how would you sell the new album to someone who has never heard of God Forbid before?
DC: God Forbid is the best metal band on the planet, and if you don’t buy "Gone Forever", you should kill yourself. Just kidding. If your into bands like Metallica, Machine Head, In Flames, Killswitch Engage, Lamb of God, Pantera, than you will probably love our new record.

MM: And finally, what do you hope to achieve during 2004?
DC: I hope to go out on tour, really give people a great show, and show people that God Forbid is a top band in the metal world. I also hope "Gone Forever" reaches out to a lot of people, and we finally break out as real contender that helps put the American metal scene back on the map.

MM: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us, any last comments?
DC: Thanks for the interview, and much props to Jagermeister.

You can visit the band @ http://www.godforbid.com