our favorite band lists them as one of their biggest influences. If you feel like that is a blanket statement then do some research and I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Rising in the 90’s, Living Sacrifice is back to do it again. During preperation to drop a new album on us, lead man Bruce Fitzhugh took some time to talk to us about the past and present of Living Sacrifice, the new record and whether or not they are here to stay.
Talk to us about the reasons for your break up in 2002 and then your decision to return to it in 2008.
Bruce Fitzhugh: Initially, I talked to the guys about really not being able to go out on the road anymore just because we weren’t making a decent living at it and we all had families. We were basically all in the same position and also it was kind of starting to leave a bad taste in my mouth where I didn’t have the right attitude about touring or playing or whatever. So I talked to them about that and we had a new record coming out so I pretty much knew we were just going to do limited touring and festivals and that was going to be it. For a brief time Lance wanted to keep the band going and get a new singer. Cory from Norma Jean was going to sing for the band. That didn’t work out that well, not because of him, but mainly because of other issues within the band. There was family stuff that came up and it was one thing after another so it felt a little more reasonable for us to kind of lay everything down for awhile and call it quits. At the time I wasn’t really thinking I’d ever want to do it again. I had other ideas for music and things like that but then I got more involved in the business side of things over the last several years and I haven’t been playing music at all.
So what was the turning point where you all decided to rejoin?
BF: Because I was away from it for awhile it helped me clear my attitude about it and allow me to come at it with a different perspective. For awhile, that’s all we did to make a living-it was our job and we were dependent on playing shows and touring. If we didn’t go out on the road we didn’t make money and having two small children at home-that gets tough after awhile. I guess the change for me was that I had established myself in this other business so my income is not determined by the band anymore. Because of that, I feel like I can come at it out of the love and passion for the music rather than us having to go on the road to make money. That, and everyone was available. Rocky had joined Evanescence and then quit. Lance was available and so was Arthur. That’s really what made the most sense, we were available and we could devote time to it.
What did you do with your time off? What was it like going from being completely immersed in the band to just being at home?
BF: I was so busy starting this other business that I didn’t notice it as much. I have a merchandising company called Zambooie.com which I started with two other partners and I put a lot of time into that. I also moved from Little Rock to Nashville so I was just really busy. Since that is doing what it’s doing now, creatively, I just started feeling like I wanted to make music again. It made the most sense to do it with these guys because they’re amazing musicians. I couldn’t really see myself in another situation.
I caught you guys on tour with Demon Hunter and personally, I was blown away. What has the general reaction been so far?
BF: That whole tour was amazing and I think it was just the right fan base to go back out and also fans of our band were stoked to see both us and Demon Hunter. They were probably already fans of them. I think Demon Hunter fans are fans of our style and our sound. I felt like it was great. Pretty much every night we were being asked for an encore. There may have been one or two nights out of the tour where that wasn’t the case but just judging by that I feel like it went really well. A lot of people had never heard us and we had people come up to us on that tour that had becomes fans of our band since we’d broken up saying “Man, we just got into you guys a few years ago and I never thought I’d see you play live”. It was a lot of that kind of thing but people who did know who we are really liked the new stuff.
What do you see as the biggest change in the metal scene since you were last immersed in it?
BF: Oh golly, there’s a ton. There are so many big bands now. When we left the label we were the biggest band on Solid State, we were the main band. Since then, bands like Demon Hunter, Norma Jean and Underoath have just blown up way bigger than we ever were, sold way more records and created huge fan bases. I think metal in general really had a surge starting around 2003 because you have bands like Killswitch Engage going gold in that time period and things like that. That was unheard of. There were no huge metal bands at the time other than like Hatebreed or Metallica or Slayer or something like that but for mid level tier bands, there was nothing like that. There was no Unearth, they were around but nobody was selling records like they are now-As I Lay Dying completely blew up. We quit right around 2003 when there was no such thing as MySpace or iTunes so yeah everything has changed pretty crazily since that time. MySpace might have been around but it was very young but bands weren’t using it like they are now.
Talk to us a bit about how it was getting back into the studio with these guys after taking a break for a few years? Did things just automatically click back into place or did you have to work at it?
BF: Everything clicked totally. When we started pre-production we were kind of a bit limited by time as Rocky was still on the road but Lance and I had a lot of songs we had been working on together. He came in a week or two before we went into the studio and we wrote five or six more songs so we were really able to pick and choose what we liked. It’s interesting, we all have a certain style of things that we put together on our own but when we get in a room together things just come out a certain way and have a certain sound, it sounds like us. I thought it was great mainly because we were able to do so much in such a short amount of time. The ideas were there but when it came down to it there were still a lot of songs that had to be worked out before our studio time was to start. It came together well. Even in the studio we continue to change the songs and tweak what needs to be.
What do you feel you did differently on this new record? Did you try to follow some new trends or stick closely to your roots?
BF: We pretty much stuck to what we know. I don’t listen to a lot of newer stuff. If I listen to metal I listen to older metal like stuff I grew up on. It’s great that bands appreciate us but it’s not stuff I go out of my way to listen to. That’s not to say its not good, there a lot of great bands and great musicians out there. Everybody has a specific time period where they grew up and music really impacted them in a major way and for most of us that kind of wanes a little bit later on in life. You have other things that are important to you in life like family or whatever. I’ve kind of heard what’s out there so when a band comes a long that is doing something completely mind boggling and innovative, I can hear exactly where their influences are coming from and I just prefer the old stuff (laughs). All that to say that we really didn’t approach this with any preconceptions other than “Hey this is going to be a heavy album, this is going to be a brutal album”. We’re not worried about any type of audience; we just wanted to put out something that is devastatingly heavy within our style. We’re not going to jump on any kind of bandwagon or anything like that. It sounds like us but probably the heavier elements of Living Sacrifice. I will say this; there is definitely more a thrash feel to this record than the last two.
How do you feel when you hear people say that Living Sacrifice are pioneers? That you paved the way for huge acts like Underoath and As I Lay Dying?
BF: Just honored. I’ve known both of those bands for years when they were playing really small clubs and they’re all great dudes. For those guys to say those types of things is an honor and really kind. If that’s what we were there for, then that’s awesome.
That being said, what do you think of the idea of “Christian” bands crossing over into the secular realm? Or do you think that there is no need for that distinction?
BF: I think it’s really great. It’s really the only way a lot of these bands can do as well as they do. If you look at the album sales of some of these guys, its not all Christian metal people buying these records, its everybody that likes metal or heavy music like Underoath. Without that cross over I think a lot of these bands would be more limited like we were because our fan base then and probably now. We definitely had respect in the general market but the majority of our fans definitely identified with us, not only because of our music but because of our faith. As far as the distinction, every band is different and has their own label that they accept or don’t accept.
Upon the January release of your new album, The Infinite Order, what will the future hold for Living Sacrifice? Are you guys here to stay?
BF: Yeah we are! We plan to play some shows here and there as much as we can. There should be a short tour not long after the record comes out then we’ll be putting out another record sometime in 2011. After feeling like this record came out so well and really enjoying it, I want to keep writing songs and coming out with new things and hopefully what we did and what we do was missing in the market out there. People will either hear it for the first time with fresh ears because they’re young and they’ve never heard our style of metal before or they’ll hear it and remember when bands sounded like this. I’m not saying we’re super dated or anything but since 2002 when we left the scene metal or metal core, whatever you want to call is just very different.
For sure, and I know you guys have been so influential in this scene and I think we’ll see a resurgence of that after this release.
BF: That’d be awesome. There are some people out there doing something along these lines like Impending Doom.
The new Living Sacrifice album The Infinite Order is set to release on the 26th of January, so get set and be sure to get out and grab yourself a copy.
