EVANESCENCE Drummer Says New Songs Are 'Amazing'

Radio Metal recently conducted an interview with EVANESCENCE/BLACK LABEL SOCIETY drummer Will Hunt. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Radio Metal: You may have followed attentively the tensions between [EVANESCENCE singer] Amy Lee and [former EVANESCENCE and current WE ARE THE FALLEN guitarist] Ben Moody. I imagine you've read Ben Moody's recent press release explaining his feelings about the creation of WE ARE THE FALLEN and his departure from EVANESCENCE. What do you think of it?

Hunt: I try not to get involved with that stuff. A very good friend of mine I played with in Tommy Lee's band, Marty O'Brien, plays in WE ARE THE FALLEN. When we talk to each other, we don't even talk about EVANESCENCE or WE ARE THE FALLEN. We talk about other things. On one hand, I have to agree with the fact that EVANESCENCE is EVANESCENCE, Amy Lee is Amy Lee, and it's always gonna be that way. The other thing that I agree with is that Ben was a huge part in creating that sound with Amy. He said something in this statement that I agree with: people can accuse him of ripping EVANESCENCE off, but when they do that, they're accusing him of ripping himself off, because he was a huge part of that. I don't know if I fully agree with him saying that he didn't put WE ARE THE FALLEN together to be in direct competition with EVANESCENCE. If he didn't, I don't think he would've ended up with a singer that looks and sounds like Amy Lee. But I'm not here to judge either camp. I love Amy to death, she's a great person, and I only know about that. I don't pass judgment on anybody.

Radio Metal: What is your actual role in EVANESCENCE? At the beginning, you only played drums during gigs. What's your role in the band now?

Hunt: I'm the drummer, and I can write songs as well. We've been in the studio, and I've brought in a couple of guitar riffs that have become songs. Lately, in the last few months, there's been a real band dynamics. It's kind of a band situation right now.

Radio Metal: Do you have any new information about the release of the album?

Hunt: All I can say is that Amy's a very hard worker. She's very critical of herself. It's important to her that the album is up to her expectations first and foremost. She's gonna take as long as she wants to take doing it. As a fan and a bandmember, I wish things were a little quicker, but at the end of the day, I totally respect how she wants to do this. And I understand, because it's a very important and critical album for EVANESCENCE, so it has to be exactly right. I know why she's taking her time on it. It will be ready when it's ready.

Radio Metal: Do you share Amy's extreme enthusiasm for the new compositions? She describes them as "the best EVANESCENCE compositions since the beginning of the band." What do you think of the new songs?

Hunt: Honestly, I think it's amazing. I think she's taken some real big risks. As artists, I think it's important that we challenge ourselves to find new ground. If you look at any band in history who's done really well, they continue to reinvent themselves and be relevant. It's always going to sound like EVANESCENCE, 'cause it's Amy Lee singing, but the vehicle for that voice can be different and still be EVANESCENCE. I think people are gonna be pleasantly surprised, because all the really cool elements, the things people love about the EVANESCENCE of the past are still there. But there are new colors in the pattern. There's a lot of cool new things going on, both electronically and futuristically. I think she's doing something that's very special and hasn't been done before. I'm a supporter, I think it's killer. It's really good.

Read the entire interview from Radio Metal.