LIFE OF AGONY Guitarist: 'METALLICA Will Always Have It; They Always Did And They Always Will'

Metal Israel has posted the second part of its interview with LIFE OF AGONY/CARNIVORE guitarist Joey Z. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

On why he still loves METALLICA:

"Everyone can complain about it, that they don't like the snare drum, or they don't like the way James [Hetfield] is singing now, everyone can have their complaints, but you know what? Those guys are still putting a lot of heart into what they do and I hear it. As a musician, as a listener and as a fan, I still hear their heart. 'Bleeding Me', OK? I don't care who hears this, that I said this. I'll make a statement right now. And people can write back whatever they want. But 'Bleeding Me' is one of my favorite METALLICA songs of all time. It just grabs me. It does something to my insides, it grabs my soul, it grabs my heart, I can relate to what James is singing about, what he is saying, I understand him, I understand where he was coming from. And it's just — two songs: 'Master of Puppets' and 'Bleeding Me'. That's what I'm talking about. METALLICA will always have it; they always did and they always will, I don't care if you like their style now, if you don't like it, whatever. They got it, they will always have it, because they put heart into what they do. They believe in themselves and they love what they do. Bottom line."

On owning a recording studio:

"Well it's kind of really simple, actually. I always had a passion for being in the studio. I've probably been recording since I was a kid, I mean, we were recording in Josh Silver's basement, in his house when I was like 18 years old — I just started going out with my girlfriend at the time, who is now my wife, Michelle, and we have a baby together — anyway, so I always had a passion for being in the studio, for being in the studio environment. I loved it. I loved the whole idea that you had to work on the sound, y'know, it was very cool and it was always intriguing to me. And I always knew that some day I would want my own studio. . . Basically, after, when we were on tour with 'Broken Valley', we were on Gigantour and things weren't going the way we planned and the label wasn't really behind the album, so we were kind of like stuck between a rock and a hard place. We didn't really know what was going to happen. And my whole life, I've always like, put all my cokies into one thing. And I've always ended up getting screwed. Like, 'The album didn't do good? Oh no, now I gotta go move boxes.' Like, 'I gotta go to work for three months before we do another record.' . . . I was tired of having that feeling inside, and this time it was really scary because I'm married, I'm older now, and it's not like I'm gonna go and hole up with a moving company and move some boxes. It just really didn't seem like that's what I should be doing. So basically I decided I was going to put myself through school when I got off that tour, and I committed myself to learning the ProTools program in and out, so I ended up purchasing a bunch of gear and bringing some of it on the road with me when LOA was on tour, and I went to school between tours and that album. I learned more about recording, about recording with ProTools and I just kind of amped myself up. And I found myself a spot. Luckily it worked out, y'know, I put the energy out there and it worked out that I got a really nice spot. I'm very happy. I'm grateful for it. I put it together myself. All by myself. With my hands. It took me seven weeks to put the whole thing together. I wired the whole thing together myself. Funny, My wife told Kirk Hammett, we were eating dinner together, and my wife said, 'Y'know, Joey, he put the whole thing together himself.' And Kirk said 'Wow, I can't believe Joey. He's such a crazy bastard.' Or something like that, he said. 'I can't believe he put it together himself.' And that was really nice. I love that guy. He's like a brother. He inspires me and yet he gives me so much advice. I look up to him. Not only is he a great friend but he's like a brother." . . . The place kicks ass. It fucking sounds great. I already did BRAND NEW SIN's record here, I'm about to do in just three weeks from now, SWORN ENEMY's record, which I'm really excited about. I'm co-producing it with Tim from AS I LAY DYING. And I'm getting a lot, a lot, a lot of, Thank God, knock on wood again, I'm getting a lot of business from local bands that not just want to make a demo, but want to make a great recording. Forget the word demo. We're not making demos here, we're making recordings. I don't like saying I make demos here. I make records here. Even if it's four songs, I treat it the same as if it were (a full-length). You know what I mean? The budget doesn't figure for a record but I do my best for what the band has to work with. And I make it sound fuckin' pretty phat. It's been really working out. The people have been great. Again, thank God (knocks on wood) I haven't had any bad experiences. There were some bumps in the road here and there but so far, so good. I'm very happy. I love it."

On the possibility of a new CARNIVORE album:

"We've dabbled. You know, we jammed on a couple of riffs here and there. We talked about it. I think when the time will come. If we get more serious about it, we'll know we're more serious about it. For now, Pete's [Steele] concentrating on TYPE O [NEGATIVE]. He has a great new album, and nice things are starting to simmer there with the new album. It's already starting to catch fire, and that's going to be really good. So he needs to go through that whole cycle, and if there's some life and time left for CARNIVORE, that will be great. And I'm into it. I'm ready. I'm fucking ready to go. 'Cause I love heavy stuff. I love all kinds of music, but I really, it's about the heavy stuff."

Read the entire interview at www.metalisrael.com.