E: To introduce the band: Mark Duca on guitar and vocals, Carlos Alvarez on lead guitar, Chewy on drums, and E on the bass. This is the BLUDGEON line up that performs on the debut release Crucify the Priest.

E: I would describe the band Bludgeon as a melting pot of pure anger-driven metal that constantly twists and turns. We try to combine each of our member's influences to create something as original as we possibly can.

E: Bludgeon, being the first band to be signed to Magic Circle, it's a huge fucking honor. We are very proud to represent ourselves as Magic Circle recording artists. The whole thing got started when Joey DeMaio, the bassist of Manowar, called me up and said I heard your demo and I fucking love it. He also told that he was starting his own label and wanted us to sign on with him. Within a couple of weeks he flew into Chicago to check us out live. Shortly after, we had a contract in our hands!

E: Joey DeMaio is a great producer for a lot of reasons. He has quite a few years of experience in the music business, he is also very good at creating a positive vibe and getting people motivated. Joey can get people to play to their full potential and sometimes even beyond that! As far as the production is concerned I think it came out great for being recorded live in our living room. Most people who have heard the album can't believe we played that shit live with no punching in or out.

E: My basic influences are: Slayer, Iron Maiden, Venom, Judas Priest, OLD Metallica, Cannibal Corpse, D.R.I., Suicidal Tendencies, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, System of a Down, Testament, Deicide, Led Zeppelin, and Death just to name a few. I can easily keep going!

E: Our producer Joey DeMaio insisted that we record this album live. For that very reason we didn't go to a recording studio because we weren't tracking the album. As far as saying we turned our house into a state of the art studio is kind of an over statement because we only used a very limited amount of gear.

E: As of now, I am not really sure how the sales are going.

E: Musically we all write the songs but the lyrics on this album were written by Mark Duca. The first song is Smokescreen- It is a medium tempo song with a lot of harmonies and break downs. We tried to combine a lot of different riffing styles and picking charges. Second, Idle Distinction - This song has kind of an eerie haunted sound to it. It has a mix of clean and dirty guitar tones that compliment each other nicely. This is probably as close as we will come to writing a ballad. Third, Tortured Through Lies - This one starts off with a chuggy, choppy, groovy feel to it but quickly changes to an old school mix of black and thrash metal. Fourth, Zero Tolerance - This song is drum and bass driven with dueling guitar finger tapping parts in the beginning and end. The middle parts are pretty strait forward and has a certain mosh kind of feel to it. Fifth, Last Rites - This song is also on Metal's Blade's 20th anniversary compilation. It was chosen for its in your face feel! Sixth, Bound - A dark industrial vibe. Some parts almost sound like a jackhammer. Seventh, Inner Hell - This song flows nicely. The riffs fit together very smoothly and the end result is aggression. Eighth, Voluntary Manslaughter - This is my favorite song on the record. The guitar solo's are scorching, everything is very tight and well paced. I am proud to say that we recorded it live. Ninth, Turmoil - Probably the fastest song on the record. A lot of grinding and pounding. Tenth, Abandoned - Old school speed metal with some modern elements incorporated into it. This one keeps you going from start to finish. Eleventh, Stained in Blood - A heavy ass hard hittin' mother fucker. A demonic vibe thoughout. Last but DEFINITELY not least, Crucify the Priest - The title track of the album. A relentless assault of music. Read the lyrics and see what its about!

Chewy: My favorite song is Voluntary Manslaughter. We recorded the songs live (except Voc. And Leads) and I'm impressed at how tight we were able to play that one. For me, it was a bitch! The song is a little longer than 3 minutes, and the last few riffs are straight grind. I love it, but I was nervous like a mother fucker. Joey DeMaio was very inspirational at times like that.

Chewy: I've wanted to make music my whole life. As far back as I can remember. I first wanted to be Batman, and when I grew out of that, I was running around playing air guitar and cutting holes in my jeans. After seeing a local band (the plague) open for D.R.I., I said that's what I want to do! As far as naming it Crucify the Priest that was mainly to grab people's attention. We are by no means Priest killers. We're potheads, NOT serial killers!

Chewy: When we decided to name the disk C. T. P. we started putting together ideas and Joey said I have a great artist. After talking to Ken Kelly,the artsist, he fixed over a rough sketch one hour after our call and we were like fuck yeah!

Chewy: Since we recorded in our house, as far as playing goes, we felt pretty good. As far as sound goes, I'm pretty happy but I'm very anxious to know what the critics and public in general think. Visit www.bludgeon.tv on the web and feel free to send us an e-mail, we would love to hear it.

Chewy: We have been together since 1991. So I can't say it was easy. Joey introduced us to Brian Slagel, CEO of Metal Blade. After seeing us jam, he was like you boys need to be heard and here we are!

Chewy: I paint guitars for a U.S. based guitar custom shop. When it comes to work ethics, the company and I don't see eye to eye, so I'm not mentioning names. I have done a few custom pieces for Paul Stanley of KISS and Dimebag Darrell of PANTERA!

Chewy: I like tattoo's a lot! I only have a few, but I don't plan on getting ridiculous. I've also done a few tattoo's myself on a few of my close friends. Pretty simple ones, no back pieces or anything. Art seems to come natural to me. I never had any art lessons or schooling. Its just there.

Chewy: I'm 27, as well as E. Carlos is 25, and the senior citizen is 32.

Chewy: We are like a family. We live together, eat together, and have fought like brothers for the last 6 years, with the exception of Carlos who joined 2 years ago. He moved in right away and was like the missing piece to our puzzle.

Chewy: All four of us have the same ambition. To make the music we believe in and to be a success. We don't have any intention of changing what we do for popularity or money. If we can't play this music and be a success, then we won't play music. We've all got talent besides our instruments,...I think.

Chewy: Mark was a little bit sick when the time came around to record his vocal tracks, but his rasp kind of worked to our advantage. Besides that, things went pretty smooth. But PLEASE, let your listeners be the real judge!

Chewy: Right now there is all kinds of talk about touring here and there but nothing confirmed. Hopefully we'll be able to hit the states and overseas with Joey and the boys. He told me stories I would love to see with my own eye's!

Chewy: Right now we have a video for the song Crucify the Priest on our web-site and Metal Blade sent it to a few T.V. stations and hopefully their playing it. If you want to see it, go to www.bludgeon.tv or write your music television station and say I want BLUDGEON! We also have some cool ideas for future video's.

Chewy: We promise, you make it to a Bludgeon show, we'll blow your mind! We don't have any make-up or costumes but we are tight like a mother fucker. But again, PLEASE you be the judge.

Chewy: We aren't to hip on computer stuff, but we believe the internet is good for fans to keep up on their favorite bands. As far as mp3's goes, to bands like Metallica and Nsync(!!!), they sell so many records who the fuck cares, but to small underground bands, we could really use the sale to make getting another record deal much easier.

Chewy: If you're a music fan, your going to buy something, so buy BLUDGEON and burn everything else you have. Ha, ha......

Chewy: Watch out for us this year in your town and feel free to bring lots of doobies. We love doob's and we're willing to match if we got it. See ya soon!