Sworn Enemy
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New York City boasts one of the great music traditions in America. The Big Apple was instrumental in jump starting punk and its cousin, hardcore. Hardcore bands such as Cro-Mags, Murphy's Law, and Agnostic Front planted the seeds to what would become a tall tree with many branches. Amongst the bands near the trunk were Sick of it All, Gorilla Biscuits, Pro-Pain and Biohazard. Further up the tree were groups such as CIV, H20, and Earth Crisis. One of the newer branches to this ever-growing tree is Sworn Enemy.
Along with their Connecticut brothers, Hatebreed, Sworn Enemy has brought hardcore in front of much larger audiences than their ancestors. Since their birth in the late 90s, the group has gained momentum by taking their unrelenting brand of hardcore to the streets. Sworn Enemy has shared stages with heavy metal headliners like Cradle of Filth, Fear Factory, Shadows Fall, Slipknot, Killswitch Engage and Ozzfest '03.
Not content with being boxed in as merely a hardcore group, in 2006 they released The Beginning of the End. This album signified a new beginning for the band, marked by an increased use of thrash elements. Content with the new direction, the group took an even bolder step with their latest offering, Maniacal.
Maniacal continues the blend of hardcore and thrash, while adding subtle touches of death metal. Before Sworn Enemy hits the road with Earth Crisis to try out this tempestuous new album on pit-hungry fans, guitarist Lorenzo Antonucci spoke with Blistering on a number of topics ranging from their new album to using As I Lay Dying drummer Jordan Mancino on the recording to having coffee and bagels with Life of Agony guitarist, Joey Z.
Blistering.com: How do you feel about your new album Maniacal?
Lorenzo Antonucci: I feel good about it. I feel it's our best work to date. We worked really hard on it. It is the fastest and the hardest album we ever put out. It is also the most melodic. We are definitely on the best label to be on with this album. I love the artwork. I love the way we recorded it, and the drummer we had record on it. Everything about it is the best thing for Sworn Enemy, so far.
Blistering.com: What was it like working with Jordan Mancino from As I Lay Dying?
LA: It was awesome, man! We've known him for a while. It was cool for us to jam out with him and get the tunes together, as they were just being written by GarageBand/Pro Tools. We were sending MP3s back and forth to him, arranging songs the best we could. We did the drums back at home with a little drum machine. Then we got out to California and did the drum tracks with him. That's when we started jamming. It was really cool. Everything started coming together. The sounds and arrangements were perfect. The way he was coming up with drum ideas was...maniacal!
Blistering.com: How did Mancino hook up with you guys for this recording?
LA: Tim from As I Lay Dying produced the album and our previous record. He produced the album with Joey Z on this one. We had no drummer because our drummer had left the band to go to cooking school. We had gotten word from the label that we had to write a new record. We had no drummer, so Tim asked, “Why don't you ask Jordan if he could do it? What better drummer would I like to work with than the one I play in the band with?” We asked him, he was psyched as hell, and there it is.
Blistering.com: Who is going to be your full-time drummer?
LA: During the writing process in San Diego, Tim and Jordan had a friend, his name is Jared (Buckwalter), they said this guy would be the perfect fit for your band. While we were out there rehearsing for the new songs, we tried him out with the old songs. He nailed our entire set with one shot. This kid is an animal, just like Jordan. He was in a band that had just played a couple of shows. He never did any touring. I don't know if they were on a label or not, but they broke up shortly before he tried out. He gave us his all, and he is a member of the Sworn Enemy family. He's awesome!
Blistering.com: Another As I Lay Dying Member, Tim Lambesis (vocals) co-produced the album with Life of Agony guitarist Joey Z. What was it like working with these two?
LA: It was awesome! Tim did our last record. He made us sound so much better. His producing style is great, the way he arranges the music and comes up with ideas. After that, we said he would always be a part of producing our records, if he was willing. Joey Z lives in the same area of New York with us. He has been one of my favorite guitar players for a long time, and a favorite guitar player of many of my band members. He said he has a studio and is producing, so we tried him out. We started going to his studio and writing the pre-production with him before we went to California. Working with him was an honor, as well. We had a lot of good times. We had a lot of coffee, a lot of coffee and bagels.
Blistering.com: The Beginning of the End signified a new direction in style for Sworn Enemy. With this album, you added thrash elements. Stylistically, how do this album compare to Maniacal?
LA:We definitely wanted to go a different direction with The Beginning of the End. In the past, we always had a lot of metal riffs that weren't arranged properly. When we went to do The Beginning of the End we wanted more metal in there. We wanted old Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax type stuff. That's the stuff we grew up on as kids. We definitely wanted that element in our music. As we saw The Beginning of the End become what it was, it was easier to write Maniacal into more of a thrash sound.
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