Chris Zomerfeld
This week, we had the chance to chat with From Hell’s frontman Chris Zomerfeld, whose gravelly, guttural vocals would remind you of a young Dan Weyandt.
From Hell started two years ago before taking a brief break — which ended officially about six months ago, according to Zomerfeld.
From Hell is now a priority, the frontman says, for its members, who’re riding high on the praise for their new album, Heresy.
“We’re still nervously awaiting that first bad review,” says Zomerfeld, of the reaction to Heresy.
From Hell’s eclectic, unique sound fits well with both metal and hardcore audiences, as the band’s played with the likes of Converge and Weedeater since reforming.
“We’ve just been kind of going at it pretty hard since the album’s official release date was announced, hitting all of our sources for anything we can be doing when the record comes out,” says the singer.
From Hell’s working on a tour with Harm’s Way, and this summer, will play shows with Weekend Nachos before heading to Costa Rica for a month of gigs.
The band is also plotting a tour of Asia that’ll hit Japan, China, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore.
The release of Heresy, according to Zomerfeld, was temporarily impeded by an uncleared sample of an admitted hit man, taken from an HBO documentary, that opens the record.
“The plant wouldn’t press the album with that sample, which still exists on the digital download,” says Zomerfeld. “We had to go to the guy who mixed it and have him pull the quote out before the pressing plant would accept it.”
For the long-playing version of Heresy, From Hell literally bled for their art.
The band’s own blood was laced into the ink used to print the album’s cover, sleeve, and in the vinyl itself.
“That was another complication — the pressing plant was giving us some trouble with doing weird stuff with the record, and didn’t want to mess with blood,” he says. “But we know people in Detroit that will do this stuff.”
So, a paramedic buddy of the band’s used needles to draw each members blood.
“Each color used in making the album will have a different member’s blood in it,” the singer says proudly; he’s not a fan of needles, kind of like the guy writing this post.
While Heresy‘s still fresh as a release, the band’s not resting on its laurels. They’re writing riffs all the time, says Zomerfeld.
“We will be going in to re-record our first demo and we’re releasing it as an EP,” he says; the original was tracked in two days.
The band will hit a recording studio this month to re-track the demo.
“We just want to give it a proper recording,” he says. “It’s a little more technical than the Heresy stuff. We want a pressing off it so we can play it out and sell it on the road when people hear the songs. And hopefully, we will have a new full-length out before the end of the year.”
