Like good-time beats? Then stay the fuck away – Misery Signals is back in black, and with the mad genius of Devin Townsend behind the decks, the Wisconsin quartet is about to unleash its most brutal beast of a record to date: Controller.
Following the release of their self-titled EP in 2003, it was Townsend in 2004 who helped the band release their debut album, Of Malice And The Magnum Heart… Now, four years on and another album [Mirrors, 2006] later, July will see Controller catapult Misery Signals back out onto the road and quite possibly even as far as Australia towards the end of the year, tells bassist Kyle Johnson.
“Each record we do is a step forward from the last… At least in our minds,” he laughs. “We are constantly trying new things as a band in order to give each record its own unique sound, so I would definitely say that this album represents an evolution for the band.”
With Townsend yet again in their corner, Johnson claims the recording process had been strangely familiar and new all at once. “We did the record with Devin Townsend who also actually did our album Of Malice And The Magnum Heart some years back,” Johnson explains. “But the thing is that the recording process this time was the best we have experienced to date. We had two weeks of pre-production before we actually started tracking, which really helped when it came to shaping the songs. It was something we definitely haven’t had in the past. And from there on, it just all came together. We got the exact sound that we were looking for and working with Devin was an amazing experience.”
Describing Townsend as nothing short of a “genius,” Johnson says Controller not only shows Misery Signals at its best, but also proves that nobody has the ear for a bulldozer of a tune quite like Townsend.
“To sum it up, I would have to say the record has reintroduced aspects of older material but it has also offered a sound that hasn’t been on any of the other records. Devin is truly a genius and it really shows in the new album. It’s a heavy kind of mix between what …Malice was and what Mirrors was, but with a whole new sound thrown in together as well. And I would also say the new record is a bit more upbeat than Mirrors, yet just as melodic,” Johnson explains.
Although most fans are getting their knickers in a knot over the release of the band’s brand new blasterpiece, how does Johnson feel about those who have been quick to write Misery Signals off into the metalcore scrapheap?
“I don’t really care anymore,” he confesses. “The fact is that we are a band that has metal parts. And we have hardcore parts. And we have rock parts. And we have tech parts. And we have mosh parts. And we have melody parts… and the list goes on. So, you know, if you can really place all of that into this one genre called ‘metalcore,' then so be it. As far as this new record goes, though, we just wrote it as something that we all enjoy and we can just hope that kids will feel the same way. It’s just the Misery Signals sound.”
On a more personal note, Johnson cites The Deftones, Shai Hulud, Meshuggah and Metallica as musical influences.
“Well, those are just some of the bands that that we can all agree on as a band though,” he corrects himself. And usually, the band does just that, according to Johnson. “Everyone has equal input when it comes to putting songs together. Each member writes the majority of his own stuff to go along with the certain song, even though the guitarists write most of the riffs, for sure.”
Given that vocalist/barker Karl Schubach is something of a Jack of all trades – one of those being a guitarist – Johnson states that these days the singer prefers to leave the riffs at home.
“He often offers feedback on guitar riffs we’re writing but he hasn’t technically brought any riffs to the table,” the bassist confirms. “I think people know by now that, yes, Karl was a guitarist before he was a vocalist, so he is still able to offer some suggestions along the way when it comes to the riffage. He also records bands at home when we have some time off, so when it came to recording our demos we were really already set up for that because of him. And Karl has also designed a few t-shirts for us too – really, he is a man of many talents,” Johnson chuckles.
Indeed, though when it came to his vocal stylings, the man was a hands-down winner during an online search posted on Misery Signals’ Myspace following the departure of former frontman Jesse Zaraska in 2005.
“Karl was the best by far,” Johnson says of Schubach’s entry. “In a nutshell, we didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of things with our old vocalist so we parted ways. Putting the search online was an idea that we all agreed upon and the feedback to it was really good. A lot of people actually sent in demos for this position. Karl stood out. There were a few others that were pretty good but nothing was comparable to what Karl had done.”
Ditto – anyone who has witnessed the sonic punch that is a Misery Signals live show would confirm that Schubach is a hurricane of a frontman with a voice that could level buildings.
“With the live shows, we are doing a run of dates around the record with Darkest Hour, Parkway Drive, As Blood Runs Black and others that are still to be announced,” Johnson states. “It’s a smaller scale festival tour called ‘Thrash And Burn,’ so that will continue into Canada afterwards with a different line-up. From there we plan to head to Australia which we all absolutely love. It’s one of our favourite places to tour, actually. We’ve had great shows, there are great people there and the weather is great, you know, I could go on all day. After that we will hit the stages again in the fall and early winter, though beyond that I am not sure.”
