Landmine Marathon Interview: SXSW 2010

Five multi-talented members of the death metal band Landmine Marathon will take the stage at the SXSW festival this March 17, right after the release of their newest album, 'Sovereign Descent.' Staying true to their genre, Landmine Marathon offers a wicked twist to an already wicked sound with the beautiful and talented Grace Perry, death metal's best nightmare. Spinner recently got the inside scoop from writer, recorder and guitarist Ryan Butler about the band's first trip to SXSW and what makes them stand out in a tough market.


How would you describe you sound in your own words?

We're definitely a death metal band but we have a lot of old school and hardcore influences and punk influences. When the band started they all wanted to go towards an early Earache Records sound, like old UK death metal and grind core, etc. So, that's the sound that we're going for, like the sound of the late '80s and early '90s death metal and hardcore stuff. Just kind of dark, scary, heavy music.

How did your band form?

Originally, one of the guitarists, the drummer and the bassist played in a band called Financial Panther. That band was coming to an end. They had all played in metal bands before and they wanted to start something more metal, because the last band was more punk influenced. They started jamming together and Grace, our singer, she was in this joke band at the time, but she screamed in the band and just had a really great scream. Matt, our bassist, had put on some shows that they played and just really loved her vocals and he asked her to sing in the band and that's how it went from there. They got a second guitarist and it just moved on from there.

What are your musical influences?

All the early Earache Records releases, like Bolt Thrower and Carcass, Napalm Death and a lot of hardcore and punk, like UK Punk. Antisect, Anti Cimex, Discharge, all that type of stuff. So a really good mixture of punk and hardcore and death metal and a lot of grind.

How did your band come up with your name?

These days it's hard to come up with a real original band name. So they were kind of throwing words together. One that they had was Knife Dude and another one was Wolfgang Fuck and they were just coming up with silly stuff. And someone had said Landmine Marathon, and put the two words together and it kind of stuck, and they all just like that. I'm really glad that's the one that they chose. There are a couple of ways that I visualize it when I hear the name and I think that's a good thing. It's a visual term and it brings a brutality to mind, which is good, because that's how the music sounds.

Does having a girl vocalist set Landmine Marathon apart from other bands in the Death Metal genre?

Definitely. The fact that she's a really powerful vocalist too really helps and kind of blows a lot of people away. She comes out on stage, and for people who have never heard us, she's like 95 pounds and can really roar like a lion. I think it shocks people sometimes and takes them back when they see it. So, it definitely sets us apart. She has a great voice and I think she kills a lot of male death metal singers that are out there. The fact that she's good looking definitely helps for PR purposes, too! There are definitely other bands out there with female singers in the genre, but I think she's at the top of the heap and just really does a great job.

Who does the artwork for the album covers?

This newest one was done by Dan Seagrave, who is very famous in death metal. He's been doing death metal album covers since 1988 and has done some pretty popular ones for Entombed, Suffocation and Morbid Angel and the list just goes on and on. We were really really excited to get him to do something for us. For me, I've been staring at his art since I was 16, 17, when it started coming around and it's just kind of a lifelong dream to have him do something. A friend of ours, Ron Koupal, who's a tattoo artist here and in Denmark, did the inside art and did the art for the last album as well.

If you could meet one musician, who would it be and why?

I've always been a really big fan of Bill Steer from Carcass and Napalm Death and Firebird. He's the guitarist in those bands. I think I'd love to have lunch with him someday. He's definitely somebody that I've always looked up to guitar-wise and it would be cool to have a conversation with him.

What kind of guitars does the band use? Do you have endorsements with anyone?

We're endorsed by Jackson and I love Jackson to death. I got a Jackson Soloist for my high school graduation in 1995 and I still play that guitar on stage, 15 years later. We really, really love Jacksons. We just went out to the NAMM show a couple weeks ago and hung out at the Jackson booth for hours and it was a blast.

What do the band members like to eat after a show?

I'd say our favorite food would most likely be burritos. When we play here locally, there's a lot of Mexican food here, which is great, and we're all vegetarians, so the burrito is the perfect food and there's plenty of all night burrito places in Phoenix. So almost every show we play, we go and get burritos afterward and celebrate.

Tell me about your new album, 'Sovereign Descent.'

We're all kind of feeling that it is our most focused work. It has a lot to do with me writing all of it and recording all of it and Grace, lyrically, is on top of her game right now. She writes all the lyrics. We're really happy with it. It comes out March 16th on Prosthetic Records. We're actually having our CD release party here on March 6th, a couple of weeks before it comes out, in Phoenix.


Renee Holmes is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.