DIVINE HERESY - Drink The Fifth! Page 2
by Martin Popoff

And what is Tommy's background, and how did you get him into the band?

"Tommy came from a metal band in New York; nothing really big. But how he discovered him was the owner from Century Media, a guy named Robert Kampf, told me about him, and Melissa Cross, who is a very well-known vocal coach among a lot of extreme metal dudes, like Corey Taylor and Randy from Lamb Of God, also sent me an email recommending this guy. So I decided to give him a chance. I sent him over some music on a disc, he went into a studio and sung on it and sent it back, and it was amazing. It made me want to work with this guy. I wanted someone who was hungry, I wanted someone who had that drive, compassion, anger, and that's how it came out. And we feel that we're making a big statement with this record."

And according to Dino, that statement is upheld by the name of the band and the name of the album... "Well, Divine Heresy, that's obviously a contradiction in itself. Divine is something godlike and beautiful, and heresy is something that goes against all that. It's just about the good and evil that is in all of us. And as far as Bleed The Fifth; it's a play on words, obviously. Here in the United States, we have a thing where you could plead the fifth, where you have the right to keep your mouth shut. Well, Bleed The Fifth, we used bleed because we put a lot into this record, and it's a play on words again, and it's a contradiction also, because we feel we have a lot to say on this album."

Pointing out a highlight, Dino offers that, "I think 'False Gospel' is one of my favourite tracks, just because it's so straightforward, metal, catchy, and it just deals with liars - that's basically what it's about. 'Rise Of The Scorned' also, because it really highlights the different sides of the band. Starting with the acoustic intro, then it goes from extreme blasting, then it goes into a thrash verse, and then a metal breakdown where it's a beautiful melodic chorus, and then it's back to the extremity again, and then it ends with the acoustic. It's just a great song that kind of showcases all the stuff we have."

After being taken aback by my suggestion that some of the drumming and axe work on this record is so fast that playing it live might verge on the impossible (Dino offers a point plank "No" on that one, stating "We'll play it all live."), Cazares does cop to some interesting and challenging guitar passages.

DIVINE HERESY - Drink The Fifth! Page 3