MOUTHY ISSUE TWO
May 2003
INTO ETERNITY
interview by Ian C Stewart

Who does what in the band?
Into Eternity is a five man metal project. Tim Roth: Vocals and Guitar, Scott Krall: Bass, Jim Austin: Drums, Chris Krall: Vocals and Jeff Storry: Guitar. We used to have a keyboard player Chris, but he has since gone back to school and is now out of music. In the Century Media bio it lists us a a six piece band, but we are now a five piece band.

Where did the band's name come from?
It came from a song we wrote on our debut album, which is called “....Into Eternity.” The song was written in late 1996 and we stole the name from the song. Basically, every name out there is already taken. We had a bunch of different names, but that one seemed to stick. It was also important not to have a name that stuck you with a certain style of music. People hear the name and don't know what we play. Most people thing we're a Christian rock band.

When did the band form?
Into Eternity got together in mid-1997. It was all done for fun and we just started writing songs together. The next year we recorded the self-titled disc. It was all done for us to listen to ourselves. We had no idea we would get signed from it. DVS Records from Holland offered us a deal first, so we signed with them. We sent packages out to every label, magazine and radio station that supported metal. Originally, we were hounding Steve Joh to get us signed and now Steve has been at Century Media for years. We got back from our European tour in late 2001 and Steve Joh contacted us and said that Century Media was ready to sign us. In 2002 we signed a seven album deal with them, which also includes the two previous discs, Into Eternity and Dead Or Dreaming. That's the condensed version!

How do your songs come to be?
Our songs always start out with a guitar riff. Jeff and I will get together at my place and get a real basic riff structure. At rehearsal, we show the other guys and we will all arrange the music to fit everyone. When we have something going, Chris and I will start singing some melodies over the riffs. The lyrics are done last usually. Its good to have some type of melody so I can fit the words around it. After hearing the music, we can tell which parts should have singing and which riffs should have heavy death vocals going on over top. Most of the time the music is done before the lyrics.

Who has influenced you musically?
I grew up during the bay thrash metal explosion in the late eighties. That's when I started playing guitar seriously. There are so many bands that I looked up to. Testament, Annihilator and Megadeth were at the top of the thrash scene. Those bands had great riffs, great songs and killer guitar solos! How could I not be influenced by them? Iron Maiden and Judas Priest were at the top for me back in the day. They had the incredible clean vocals and great harmony guitar leads. In the past few years, I've been into more progressive bands like Cynic, Nevermore, Spiral Architect, Zero Hour, Evergrey, Death, and Pain Of Salvation. Now thrash seems to have come back, with all the killer Swedish death metal bands like Soilwork, In Flames, Darkane, Children of Bodom and The Crown. I'm a big fan of all metal. The bands that everyone in our band can agree on are Nevermore, Dream Theater, Symphony X, Cryptopsy and Death. On road trips, those are the discs that we will likely listen to.

What's the biggest show you've played so far?
The Prog Power Festival 2001 in Holland for about 900 fans. The Westfallen Festival in Germany was cool too. By the time Destruction came on there were 1500 kids there! Overall, Prog Power was the most fun ever onstage. Between the songs, the fans would be doing those soccer chants. It was really, really cool. I had to pinch myself onstage. We also met a ton of cool bands there, like Zero Hour, Silent Edge, and Wolverine.

Touring mishaps?
Well, anything I say here might get us in trouble, so I'd better not. Okay, maybe one. In Holland, our drummer Jim got really wasted and went to hang out on Anathema's tour bus. He went to get up and grab a beer and he ripped the door off of their fridge. Then he got locked out of the hotel room, so he started throwing rocks at our window at four in the morning. I'm still surprised he didn't break a window. The funny thing about Anathema was that, just hours before they were going to headline the show, they were totally wasted and falling on the ground. Two hours later they were onstage crushing, and you would never guess. They put on a great show. They also called me lad a lot.

What's next for the band?
We have a lot planned. The first thing on the list is to hit the USA on a full tour. It will be Hate Eternal, Dying Fetus, Kataklysm, and Into Eternity. I cannot wait to get out on the road and open up this tour. It will be hitting 23 states with multiple shows in different states. From the west coast to the east coast. It should be a blast. I can't wait to see Hate Eternal and Kataklysm every night. When we get back, we have to hit the studio to record our third album. It will be called Buried in Oblivion and it will be our first album exclusively though Century Media. The CD should be out by summer and then we will hit the road again. We have been talking a lot about going back to Europe, so that's the plan. We'll also be playing dates in Canada and the US to support the new album.


www.intoeternity.com


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