PISSING RAZORS is one of the “if you know, you know” bands of the original American groove-metal scene. Their classic studio album Psycho Punko Metal Groove (1996) was a chaotic masterpiece that bridged the gap between hardcore, thrash, punk and even hair metal – showing a band that had a recklessly individualized take on an otherwise self important genre of music. In the years since, the band has released numerous albums and toured relentlessly, while drawing comparisons to (and praise from) acts like SKINLAB, EXHORDER, PANTERA and SEPULTURA.
The boys are back in town to start 2021 off the right way – aka, with a cover of the Nailbomb classic “Wasting Away” that features an extremely aggro guest performance from Skinlab vocalist Steev Esquivel. The song is accompanied by a pretty badass video [which you can watch below] and will appear on the bands forthcoming seventh studio album Eulogy Death March.
We sat down with Pissing Razors guitarist Mat Lynch to shoot the shit about the past, present and future of the band. Read more below!
You guys are legendary – it’s awesome to have you back in the game! What prompted you to (re)start the band again after so long, and what are you looking to do this time to keep the machine going?
Thank you for the kind words, we’re happy to be active once again and excited for what the future holds for us. Going back to roughly around the end of 2014, Eddy, Joe and I began discussing our schedules and reactivating the band to push a new release. After a considerable break, we felt as though we still had the drive to offer up a solid and worthy effort that properly represented the roots of the bands history. We initially hoped to get Rick Valles back into the fold but his personal and work obligations took priority. Geo Gomez is a long standing friend and colleague who became the immediate front runner for the bass position and he fit perfectly into the fold with us. As for keeping the machine going, We feel operating independent of any labels or outside business attachments gives us the freedom to carve the path we see fit for ourselves. Independence!
You’ve always been considered one of “the” groove metal bands, but seem to have a slightly more punk / hardcore influenced sound than some of your peers. What were some of the formative influences that pushed you in that direction, rather than a more standard “metal” path?
When we started, the goal of the band was very simple. We wanted to be loud and aggressive, that’s it. There was much less attention placed on being tight and technical and it worked very well back then. We borrowed more from the attitude and angst of bands like early AC/DC, GG Allin, Black Flag and Motörhead than we did steal from their sound. We weren’t that good, but people didn’t care. Our first singer, Dave ‘Loco Pelon’ McNutt, was a large burly guy with over the top stage presence, outrageous lyrics and a penchant for blowing things up on stage with gun powder. He was a truly great guy and sadly he passed a few years ago. The band was more a stage spectacle than anything back then. Then Dave departed in early ‘95 and Joe came into the fold where we really started to detail the next phase of our musical journey with a tighter, more technically groove laced approach and lots of attack…
Without incriminating yourselves….whats the shittiest thing you’ve ever done on tour? (don’t worry, we hate cops!)
That’s a tough one to talk about without getting other people in trouble who were there at the time!! And yes, cops were involved on a few of those occasions!! HA!! Let me just say, the band has always been about having fun and making friends. We’ve never done anything to intentionally hurt anyone and always just look to have a great time with fans and colleagues. We’ve made so many along the way we are still close with in the business, we look forward to meeting more once live shows happen again.
Your seventh studio album EULOGY DEATH MARCH is coming up this spring – what can old and new fans expect musically? The Nailbomb cover was a sick way to start…
Thank you for that!! We had such a blast cutting NAILBOMBS ‘Wasting Away’, and to have our long time friend, colleague and brother Steev Esquivel along for the ride is truly an honor to us!! The response has been great so far and we look forward to more in the future. As for EDM, we feel we have a solid body of work that properly represents the entirety of the roots of our musical history and we are confident fans of the band are going to really connect with it. We have more surprise guests appearances planned as well on this effort that we know will get everyone excited to see! Our friend Sterling Winfield from the mighty Texas juggernaut PANTERA camp will be mixing the latest effort so it’s sure to split some eardrums…
Any shoutouts?
Hell Yes!! Steev Esquivel and the SKINLAB crew, Gary and the PROPAIN crew, the OVERKILL fellas, George and the CANNIBAL CORPSE crew, Cesar and Al and the MINISTRY camp- Sterling Winfield, and last but not least, everyone in our own crew for kicking ass!!
Connect with Pissing Razors over at ffm.to/pissingrazors
