I don't, but the rest of the band do. It's fairly useful insofar as one need no longer be signed to get one's product out into the marketplace (here I'm thinking of the great many online electronica projects that are out there, many if not most of them being single-musician projects).

A lot of people have had some constructive criticism to voice vis-à-vis the production, specifically in the drums-versus-guitars aspect of the thing. Truth be told, the same thing should not happen with the next album. Other than that, we're generally pleased with the songs themselves (we'd better be: almost four years' worth of work and rework went into them).

Who wrote the lyrics for the songs and is there a concept behind it? If not a concept, what do the songs speak about and how exactly were you inspired to write the lyrics?

I wrote all the lyrics, of course; lyrics should always be the singer's job, unless he (or she) has nothing to say. Once Was Not is a concept album that follows the history of human fear throughout the ages, from primitive man around his campfire at night to modern man with his space-age terrors.

It's a hoot, I guess. It's a voting process at the moment from our fans. So please vote for us at http://entertainment1.sympatico.msn.ca/Music/indies!! I suppose we go up there and thank the Academy, or what? We are honored that Canada is recognizing us. Whatever happens, I'm sure we'll tag some party-style drinking onto it.

Ah, the Suffocation-Cryptopsy-Aborted-Despised Icon tour... That was okay, it's always good to tour with pros like those guys (and I mean all of them). It was great to be reunited with Suffocation after a dozen-or-so years, and great to get back together with our buddies in Aborted. Despised Icon were a pleasant surprise, and they kick epic amounts of ass.

It's a 30-date tour that will take us all over Germany, Holland, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Belgium, Scotland, Ireland and England. It looks like an interesting lineup, what with there being various styles of extreme music being represented (Black Metal, death-grind, hardcore metal, etc).

Flo Mounier (drums) released a DVD last year, titled Extreme Metal Drumming 101. How can someone purchase that and under which label did it come out?

Flo released the DVD independently. He is highly recognized for his drumming style. You can get a hold of it via www.flomounier.com.

Yep, we've kept Chris on as a permanent member (or he's decided to stay with us, whichever). So, we've slowly begun writing new song parts for future material.

I'll admire any band that does what they do out of a genuine love for whatever it is they do (and don't sell out or hop onto some flavor-of-the-minute bandwagon for popularity's sake). Art for art's sake is admirable; art for a living is insane (though lucrative, if you're lucky). If you want names, though, I'll say Martyr, Despised Icon, Shadow Division, Voivod, Ghoulunatics, Bloodshoteye and Neuraxis (in no particular order).

I think that would be to either appear in a major Hollywood release (as Cannibal Corpse did in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective) or to at least make it to a soundtrack of a film or a major video game.

Real Death Metal, the violent-aggressive-brutal stuff, is okay. It's that user-friendly other stuff that gets me down: that scheisse has no soul.

Thanks for all the years of support thus far, and we'll see you on the road!