Mike IX Williams - EYEHATEGOD 'Three Decades of Chaos, Resilience, and Great F**king Punk Rock'
A lot has changed since EYEHATEGOD last ventured to Aussie shores in 2019. The pre-eminent NOLA extreme act released their sixth full-length album - 2021’s A History of Nomadic Behaviour - arguably their most audacious and polarising work to date. Fast forward to 2023, and the band commemorated three decades of their seminal record, Take As Needed for Pain. And amidst these career milestones, the world was thrust into an unprecedented global lockdown.As EYEHATEGOD readies to decimate venues again this July for the Turn Troubled Tables tour, the perennial question looms: in what headspace do we find frontman Mike IX Williams? "We need to get something new out. In fact, I’ve been on their case lately," he reveals. The "their" in question are his bandmates, collectively a creative engine whose gears are perpetually in motion. Whether it's during rehearsals or even soundchecks, guitarist Jimmy Bower, bassist Gary Mader, and drummer Aaron Hill are relentlessly crafting and turning out new material. "They mess around and come up with riffs and whatever. I just can’t wait for enough songs to be written so that we can head back into the studio. It definitely feels like the right time for us". The anticipation is palpable; the studio beckons.We at WoS HQ couldn’t agree more. Across an indomitable 35-year career, EYEHATEGOD’s music and influence persists, resolute and unyielding. Having endured his own share of personal trials - drug addiction, Hurricane Katrina, and more recently a liver transplant - Mike IX remains equally steadfast “I can’t imagine doing anything else - this is my life. There are other things I could do, for sure. But the band is part of me now, as it’s part of all of us. You can’t separate it anymore - we’re all part of the EYEHATEGODuniverse.” Their ascent to becoming one of extreme music’s most revered acts is as astounding as it is improbable. The legend was first etched with 1990s, In the Name of Suffering. Distinct from the clamour generated by the nascent death metal scene, what emanated from this debut was a revelation - raw, misanthropic, and unapologetically abrasive. While peers riffed on death's themes, EYEHATEGOD delved deeper, sampling chilling audio from real-life serial killers (as heard on 'Godsong').
“Yeah, that was the Manson stuff - I used to speak to him often, called him for Father’s Day and whatnot,” Mike IX jokingly plays off, before digressing: “When I listen to that first album now, it just sounds wild to me. We had no idea what we were doing in the studio. Up to that point, we had put out a demo, but that album was something else. Of course, there are things I would change about it in hindsight, but that’s what an album is I guess; it’s a snapshot in time. Whatever we achieved, people still seem to love that record; but it still sounds crazy.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnDnTTCNB8c&list=OLAK5uy_n54tKyb_Wv_yaZdDBassIi_vUNvYll-rc&index=25In the studio, EYEHATEGOD quickly found their groove. Take As Needed for Pain retained that base, primal essence - singular to EYEHATEGOD’s music - but it boasted a sharper, more hook-oriented sound in comparison to its predecessor. Decades later, its visceral impact remains undiminished. It’s a landmark in extreme music and has rightfully earned its place among the genre's most influential albums. Reflecting on that time, Mike IX shared the following insights:
“When making Take as Needed for Pain, this is when we actually learned how to write songs. On the first album, you can kind of tell that it was all just individual parts that were stuck together. It goes slow, and then fast, and then does something else interesting. But on the second record, we were learning to write songs that actually flowed.”
“There was definitely a focus on cleaning up the mix a bit as well. But we still wanted it to sound like EYEHATEGOD. Take our most recent album for instance, A History of Nomadic Behaviour - it’s our cleanest record sonically to date, yet it still sounds like us. It’s just that this time around, you can actually decipher what lyrics I’m singing, and the guitars are a little more polished.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APu100Oboe4&list=OLAK5uy_n54tKyb_Wv_yaZdDBassIi_vUNvYll-rc&index=13Intriguingly, EYEHATEGOD's follow-up to Take as Needed for Pain - titled Dopesick - proved to be their most harrowing release yet. With a barrage of down-tuned guitars, anguished vocal wails, and a sludgy tempo, the album reflected the band's deteriorated mental state at the time, burdened by the weight of addiction. For many fans, Dopesick stands as the quintessential embodiment of the EYEHATEGOD experience.For their fourth album however, EYEHATEGOD toned back the grittiness. Confederacy of Ruined Lives introduced fans to a somewhat more slick, refined distillation of their sound. It showcased elaborate rhythmic patterns, shifting time signatures, intricate song structures and dynamic vocal cadences, all blending into bluesy, Southern rock-inspired arrangements. “I think that transition came about naturally,” Mike IX explained. “EYEHATEGOD started as a side project to our other bands, so we never really took it seriously to begin with. Everything that has evolved and developed in this band has been organic. We’re not the sort of band to sit down and make plans to do something different. It is just the way it comes out; we are so weird as individuals anyway, there is really no need to force it.”That experimental trajectory continued on the band’s long-anticipated, self-titled album, dropping 14 years later. Moreso than ever, EYEHATEGOD leaned into their hardcore punk roots; returning to the music of their youth, and the scene that Mike IX best identifies with (despite being credited as a progenitor of ‘sludge’ - but it's best not to bring that up).
“We all love hardcore punk and came up in that scene. To me, I like to refer to our sound as rock n’ roll, or slow punk. I’m a punk rocker from way back, and I always will be. The term ‘metal’ makes me cringe sometimes. I like listening to metal music, but often the attitudes, and some of the things that go along with it, it’s just a little cringey to me.”
Point taken!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjKpB7hdjXkThese comments certainly reflect the artists Mike IX has cited as influences, which include Black Flag, Melvins and Bad Brains. And if not necessarily overt through the music, then they’re undoubtedly felt via the chaotic live performances that EYEHATEGOD are renowned for cultivating. “I mean, I love Black Sabbath, they are one of my all-time favourite bands. But I come from the punk scene, I got into it right back in the 70s and 80s. I’m no spring chicken here! All that old punk stuff is what I grew up with, and I never stopped. I’m still that same punk kid that went to see Minor Threat as a youth. I saw the Misfits before they packed out Madison Square Garden - there were like 50 people in the room, and the band were completely out of tune for the whole set. I’m pretty nostalgic about that whole scene, and I do try to bring that energy to my own shows.” His other musical influences are less conspicuous. Who knew that Mike IX was a fan of SPK - an Aussie underground noise act from the 80s? So much in fact, that he’s previously credited three SPK albums as formative to his artistic development. “That’s the thing with SPK - listen to their early records. It’s just pure death, industrial noise. Those first three albums are the ones that I enjoy the most. They are seriously sick and disturbing, and I love that.”Following our brief detour into obscure Aussie music, Mike IX was quick to reaffirm his contention for EYEHATEGOD: “At the end of the day, we’re a live band. All of these albums we do, they’re cool and all, but we sound like EYEHATEGOD live. That’s where we sound like who we are.”
“We’ve been compared to The Stooges live before. I guess we’re not similar musically, but definitely in respect of the chaos. Like those great rock and roll bands, I always try to give 1,000% energy whenever I go out on stage and play for people. That is so important to us - we just want to make the live shows ‘us’; that is what we are.”
For their upcoming Aussie shows, EYEHATEGOD will be joined by Goatwhore, a blackened death metal group with close ties to the NOLA extreme music scene. Goatwhore also accompanied EYEHATEGOD on the 30th anniversary Take As Needed for Pain shows in North America. For Mike IX, the collaboration holds special significance: “There are so many bands in New Orleans; some make it and others don’t, but the ones that do, there is always that link there. For instance, I’ve known the guys from Crowbar for the same amount of time. The vocalist for Goatwhore (Louis Benjamin Falgoust II) was in a band called Soilent Green, and so was our other guitar player Brian Patton. We’re all friends and grew up together in the scene. We went to the same shows and watched each other play as well.”“When we were trying to figure out who we could tour with in Australia, it was a no brainer. We were just like “Let’s bring Goatwhore, it would be great!" We just toured with them in America, and they are so fun to travel with; really good guys, it’s going to be crazy, I’m sure.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u8rVrUDgRUThe lineage of NOLA extreme music continues strong to this day, with a new wave of acts emerging from the spark EYEHATEGOD ignited all those years ago. One notable artist, WoS chatted to recently - Thou, who released their newest record, Umbilical in May 2024. And you couldn’t script it - they will also be touring Australia later this August.“Thou are actually from Baton Rouge, which is about an hour out of New Orleans, but I think they live here now. We meet these bands on tours, and they also write to us occasionally. It’s cool to have come so far as a band where people are now citing us as an influence. It’s a cool thing to be in a band and to have that happen, it definitely makes me proud of what we’ve done over the years.”Amen to that!Words by AlexanderBurgess@alexburgessmusic
Tickets on sale now via Soundworks Direct Presents
Eyehategod ‘Turn Troubled Tables’ Australia/New Zealand Tourwith Special Guests Goatwhore
Tuesday July 23rd PERTH – Amplifier Bar, w/ Flesh Prison
Thursday July 25th ADELAIDE – Lions Arts Factory, w/ Sundowner
Friday July 26th MELBOURNE – Max Watts, w/ Choof
Saturday July 27th SYDNEY – Crowbar, w/ Aglo
Sunday July 28th BRISBANE – The Triffid w/ Defiant Ground
Tuesday July 30th WELLINGTON* – Valhalla w/ Caldera & Celtic Death
Wednesday July 31st AUCKLAND* – Mothership w/ Caldera & Slumbug
*Goatwhore not appearing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGVhYSniWwE&list=OLAK5uy_n54tKyb_Wv_yaZdDBassIi_vUNvYll-rc&index=17
