"Brutal American Deathcore" is their slogan while
New York is their home. This Divided World takes Mark Young (vocals) and Micah
Brill (guitar, instrumentation) together was one when it comes to their
brutality that is "When Darkness Reigns" a debut release that steps
away and defines its own reality. These guys invade our reality welcoming to
the scene a unique way to dominate the metalcore scene in a whole another
fashion. Guitarist and instrumentalist Micah Brill discusses the band's current situation.
1. What type of band are you?
Micah: We are a deathcore band. One of our slogans is "Brutal American
Deathcore." Basically that means
that we take elements of death metal and metalcore/hardcore and mixing them
together. It's an intentionally brutal
genre of extreme metal with very fast and
very slow parts mixed together.
2. Tell us the brief history of your band.
Micah: What started as a solo studio project turned into a
two man studio band. It was definitely
started with a simple desire to make really heavy music but to have it be from
a Christian perspective/message and not the common metal message of
atheism/agnosticism/self-indulgence. That is still what it is but now Mark and I (Micah) do it together.
3. What’s the origin of the band’s name?
Micah: Our song "Falling Stars" from our album
"When Darkness Reigns" has a quote in it that says "If God is
not your Father then Satan is."
That's kind of what the name This Divided World is supposed to be
getting at. There are lots of divisions
in this world; Democrat/Republican, Communist/Capitalist, Mainstream/Counter-Culture etc. Honestly
there's so many but the most important division is whether or not your name is
written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
4. Who are your musical influences?
Micah: For me as a guitarist, I've been influenced by so
many different people over the years.
Musically I started with Acoustic then progressed into Emo,
Post-Hardcore, Screamo, Metalcore and then into Deathcore. It's been a downward
spiral into heaviness and I've never looked back. I love good songs more than I honestly love
guitar shred. I like bands like Suicide
Silence, Oceano, Impending Doom, Suffokate, King Conquer, The Red Shore, Boris
The Blade, Betraying The Martyrs and Rose Funeral. Mark has a lot more old school Death Metal
influences than me.
5. What are your dreams and goals?
Micah: As far as for the band we would like to take this as
far as it goes and as far as God is willing to take us. We are very DIY but aren't totally opposed to
a record label. If it seemed like it
would be beneficial and we could still feel like we had our musical souls, we
would consider a label. Personally, both
Mark and I want to be working family men that seek God on a daily basis. Music will always be a part of our lives but
not the focus.
6. Who writes the songs, what are they about?
Micah: I (Micah) write the guitar parts and the music and
then Mark is the vocalist/lyricist. We
want to write everything very together. We have different mind sets and musical approaches but both want to
write great deathcore music. Lyrically
our songs focus around God and the spiritual aspects of life. Some themes from our most recent album are
God's forgiveness, Satan's damnation to Hell, the frailty of this world and
living as a sold-out Christian.
7. What was the inspiration for the album name When Darkness
Reigns?
Micah: It comes from a passage in the book of Luke from the
Bible when Jesus is being betrayed by Judas into the hands of the people that
would eventually lead Him to His bodily death. He describes the moment as being a time "...when darkness
reigns." That moment in human
history seemed so dark and that evil was triumphant but it turned out to be
God's plan for the redemption of humanity and the eternal forgiveness of sin.
8. Why did you want to go and release it for FREE?
Micah: There are so many bands out nowadays. I find new bands all the time that I had no
clue about and they're actually really good.
To be successful you have to set yourself apart. Sometimes you have to do something out of the
box like putting out an album for free to get noticed. We think the music speaks for itself. At this point in the bands career, we just
want as many people as possible listening to our music. It helps create loyal fans that want to share
your music with their friends when they have something as cool as getting a
free album download to brag about.
9. What's your favorite song off it?
Micah: Personally I love "The East and The
West." I know Mark's favorite song
is "Falling Stars." It's been
a process and it's kind of come full circle.
It changed a bunch of times but now that it's out, I just love the
guitar riffs and the breakdowns on the first track "The East and The
West." It's the shortest song on
the album but I feel like it's the most concise, heavy and to the point song we
have.
10. Do you guys have any new music in the works?
Micah: I record riffs on a weekly basis. I have about 2 hours worth of riffs for the
future already recorded. But honestly
we're taking a break from writing. We've
been working super hard on this album for the past year and are finally glad to
sit back for a minute and just enjoy the moment. We are planning on following up our album
with a standalone single and then eventually an EP or another full length. Money is definitely part of our thought
process. Also we live 75 miles apart so
that comes into play. Our next track is
going to be a step up from our previous album though because we are going to be
more cohesive as a writing team.
11. How do you promote your band and shows?
Micah: We promote anywhere and everywhere; Youtube,
Facebook, Blogsites, Webzines, Twitter, ReverbNation, Purevolume, Bandcamp,
Last.fm, Online Radio Stations and anywhere else we can. We are a studio band
so our online presence is basically our identity. I think we go about our
promotion in the right way. We're not
pushy and really appreciate any opportunities we get but we also aren't afraid
to ask, even if it means being told no. We think we have a good product (us as
a band) and want to "sell" it to anyone that's willing to buy. Our
album is free, we're nice dudes and we want promotion so lots of people have
been willing to help us.
12. Describe your show, visual and musically.
Micah: Since we are a studio band we do not play out
live. But our album is definitely
written with live shows in mind. We want
the intensity of a live show to shine through on the album. Writing technical death grind shred riffs and
epic progressive metal music is cool, but a lot of those bands don't translate
well live. If a bands music is so
insanely good then their show doesn't have to be that good. But if a band's music is simple and intense
and the show is crazy then that's a band worth paying attention to. That's our mindset. We have riffs but nothing insane. If we ever played out live it would be all
about the head bang and moshing/throwing down in the pit...and maybe a circle
pit or two!
13. What advice would you give to fellow bands?
Micah: Don't be cheap. Get legit artwork, legit promos and
legit recording. Give stuff away for free.
Promote everywhere and anywhere. Do something to go viral and set yourself apart and get noticed. Don't do 12 genres, do 1 and do it really
well.
14. How does music affect you and the world around you?
Micah: For the sake of a concise answer, it really helps
make the world a better place. It brings
people together. It helps people deal
with emotional problems. It sets the
tone of situations and changes the atmosphere. Watch a Disney movie without volume and you'll understand the importance
of music. I go to bed listening to music
most nights. It's my lullaby.
15. Anything else you want to say or add?
Micah: Thank you for the interview and the opportunity to
hopefully spread our music and find new fans. Be on the lookout for us in the future. We plan to be making brutal music in the name of our King, Jesus the
Christ, for many years to come. God bless!
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