John (guitars): Yeah, Psychobolia was founded by drummer Gogo about 5 years ago; after a few lineup changes, myself and Caroline (vocals) joined about 3 years ago, and our bass player fucked up his hand really bad before we went to record our album, so we've got a new bass player now, Jacky.

MH: How did the band name come about and does it have any particular meaning?

John: Gogo and the former guitarist came up with it, it means the exchanging of thoughts from one person to another, a sort of mental telepathy!

MH: What is the current line up of the band?

John: me (guitars), Caroline (vox), Gogo (skins), Jacky (bass).

MH: The new album is terrifically extreme with a good sense of melody. Was the aim to deliberately produce very varied yet accessible metal songs?

John: Well, I wouldn't call our music varied! But, we try to come up with riffs and songs that are catchy and pleasant to listen to and not just noise like a lot of the crap that's being released nowadays!

MH: How did the deal with Xtreem Music come about?

MH: Like most death metal albums influences can be quite obvious, but “Fisting You All” is a bit more difficult to pin down. What would you say are the bands main influences, especially the intensely fast riffing and guitar work?

John: For the album, myself and Gogo wrote all of the music, and our tastes and influences are practically the same: Deicide, Krisiun, Slayer, Vader, Angel Corpse...basically anything that's fast and has blaring energy and balls.

MH: The drumming is also insanely fast. How long has Gregory, if he is still with the band, been behind the kit and who does he admire in the extreme drumming world?

John: Gogo (aka Gregory) has been behind the kit since he started the band (which is when he began playing drums!). He admires (worships rather!) Tony Laureano, the dude from Krisiun (forgot his name), Paul Bostaph, Doc (r.i.p.) and Derek Roddy, to name the main ones.

MH: It took quite a long time for the album to come out since writing and recording, are there any reasons for this? Do you have any more material already written?

John: We dicked around with this Italian label that was supposed to release it…6 months later it became apparent that things weren't happening, so that explains most of the lost time. We've already got about 8 songs written for the next album.

MH: Who did the production for the album? I did find it lacking on the bass side of things, do you agree in retrospect?

John: What?! You're smoking crack! The guy that engineered and mixed (and produced) our record ended up playing bass on the album (and a few shows as well). He's a bass player, so obviously he made sure that you can hear it. Thing is, since I taught him the riffs on the spot, he ended up duplicating the guitar parts a lot, so that probably explains why you think you don't hear it, it's locked into the guitar parts more than it's locked in with the drum parts, which is the way it's usually done! We didn't pull an "And Justice For All" here!

MH: Where did you choose to record the album?

John: At Dark Wizard studios (50 miles outside of Paris-France), which is run by the bass player of Pitbulls in the Nursery. It's a relatively new studio that few people know about, but he has top notch equipment and definitely knows what he's doing. I think you're going to hear lots of quality metal coming out of that place within the next few years.

MH: Did you have a predetermined idea of the type of sound you wanted, especially with standards being so high these days?

John: Well, we all had sounds or ideas of sounds that we were striving for, but what it boils down to is your equipment and the quality of the studio equipment. We were lucky in the fact that we weren't rushed in the studio, we took the time to find the right levels and during mixing we were able to compare the output with other releases that we liked. The result is a function of everyone's input and the tools we had...and we're pretty stoked about it!

MH: With so many extreme metal outfits around, what do you consider Psychobolia to offer over other bands that will keep people interested?

John: The songwriting. A lot of extreme bands are so extreme you get a headache from listening to the music. You can play fast and be intense, but if at the end of listening to a record you can't remember any of the riffs you've heard then something's wrong. We prefer to make a blend of intensity and catchiness. Plus we have a hot chick singing, who the fuck can beat that?!

MH: The vocals vary from screams to a deep roar. Who was responsible for which type?

John: Caroline does all the vocals on the album. The rest of us couldn't sing if our lives depended on it.

MH: In my review of the album I deliberately omitted mentioning that you have Caroline on vocals despite her voice being one of the most extreme I’ve heard in death metal. Do you think people in metal find it difficult to take death metal bands seriously when using a female for vocals?

John: The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, especially live, where they can actually see it and hear it to believe it. Anyone who discredits us for having a female singer probably isn't getting laid much!

MH: What lyrical themes does the band have an interest in and how significant are they to the band overall?

John: All themes are game as long as they're related to life and reality. We're not into Satanism or any other goofy shit, that stuff is for kids. Caroline writes all the lyrics and we usually dig what she comes up with. When she came up with the title "Fisting You All" we were all like "fuck yeah! Brilliant! Perfect"

MH: What was the inspiration for the album cover and who created it?

John: The cover was Caroline's concept, her boyfriend created it (right before she dumped him!).

MH: Does the cover link with any ideas or concepts? It appears to have a slight religious angle.

John: The cover is just a sharp contrast to all the blatantly violent and shocking covers that are out there. But if you look real close, you can make out some fist-fucking in the background. Nothing really religious about it, unless of course you worship fist-fucking because it's heavenly and divine!!!

MH: What have been the reactions to the bands album since its release?

John: Reactions have been overwhelmingly positive. Predictably, they all seem to highlight the fact that our singer is a girl…but once our second album comes out, we think this will become less of an issue. The only negative comments we've heard revolve around the fact that our music is "linear", which is deliberate, as we've decided not to integrate slow or groovy or moshy parts into our music, Gogo is pretty much blasting all the way through and on the edge of a heart attack.

MH: What things inspire you to write such violent tracks such as “Severe Headfuck”?

John: It's a combination of the sick things that happen in real life, and the images you can conjure up in your head. This song came about pretty easily actually, we just channel our daily frustrations and anger into the songs!

MH: What are your hopes for the next album and when will you be recording it?

John: We don't plan on altering our formula just yet...the new songs could have easily been on the first album, but the playing will definitely be better. Better drums, better guitar solos, better everything. We'll record it sometime in the second half of 2009. We have yet to decide which studio we want to use, we're tempted to try somewhere new just to get something different.

MH: Do you have any live shows lined up and what have been the reactions to your shows in the past? Any plans to come over to the UK?

John: We just headlined a few shows in France, which were a great opportunity to introduce our new bass player and to get some merch out there. Reactions were great, despite the sometimes ridiculous conditions we've had to play in. We'd love nothing more than to come to the UK! Right now we've been looking mainly in France as there are lots of markets that we still have yet to play in. Hopefully I'll get a chance to start contacting some foreign promoters soon, as we'd love to play outside (UK, Belgium, Holland, Germany, etc…). If any UK promoters are reading this, get in touch man!

MH: What kind of scene is there in France at the moment, any bands I should be checking out?

John: Great scene here, lots of metalheads, especially in the north and east. Black metal is also very popular, the kids just love that shit! Aside from Gojira, another great band that just put out their first record is Hectic Patterns (jazzy death metal).

MH: Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions. Good luck and do you have any last thoughts or messages?

John: As Glen Benton said in the Live in London DVD: "big tits and fish 'n' chips!"…I fucking love England, flew over to Birmingham in May to drink for a few days, hit up the Burger King a few times too, fuck yeah, Whoppers give me a hard-on…your country makes more sense than France! Cheers, and thanks for providing me with a podium to rant on!

For more on the band check out http://psychobolia.free.fr/

Interviewed by Martin Harris

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