We recently caught up with Kingdom of Sorrow/Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta to chat about the release of the band’s sophomore album, Behind the Blackest Tears, which comes out next Tuesday (8). One lucky commenter will win a Relapse prize pack containing the deluxe edition of the new album, as well as a T-shirt and a copy of the band’s self-titled debut. Simply leave a comment below or on Metal Insider’s Facebook page stating what your favorite Jamey Jasta-related song is and one winner will be chosen. Contest ends on Thursday, June 10 at 11:59pm. One entry per person. Multiple entries will be disqualified.
Kingdom of Sorrow will be headed out for Ozzfest in a couple of months, are you guys ready?
Definitely not, it’s been a while since we’ve jammed and we haven’t had a video shoot yet. Crowbar is also going over to Europe to tour, Hatebreed is going over to Europe to tour, so hopefully we can jam some time in between there.
Does that make you nervous at all about going on tour?
Not really, we have a day in between Mayhem Fest and Ozzfest, and we will find time to practice before then so we should be alright. By then everything will be tight and sound good. Any reservations will definitely subside.
What are the biggest differences between Behind the Blackest Tears and your self-titled release?
Since the last release we’ve really had chance to figure out who we are as a band and what we want to do. With [Behind the Blackest Tears] we were able to create a more dynamic, melodic record but still have heavy parts that grab you. With the first release, we wanted to please fans of Crowbar, Down, and Hatebreed, but since then we have matured a lot as a band and figured out what the sound is that defines us.
When you’re songwriting, how do you know what will be a Kingdom of Sorrow song and what will be a Hatebreed song?
Well, Kingdom of Sorrow is named after a fictional place we go to when we’re writing, When we write the lyrics and think of the art behind it, there is a different vibe than music being written for Hatebreed. Kingdom of Sorrow songs can be about different places and topics and even different people but the vibe needs to be right.
Any chance of sludge making its way into Hatebreed?
Probably not, when I’m writing I try and keep myself thinking positively, whatever I’m facing at the time. With Kingdom of Sorrow, the songs are sludgy and heavy. With Hatebreed they need to be more upbeat, so both bands are fundamentally different in terms of writing and style.
I saw the trailer for Lost Planet 2 and noticed the song in the background is yours, how did that come about?
Relapse hooked that up. We were afraid Lost Planet fans were going to hate it, but I think it came out sounding really well. I like the connection between video games and heavy metal and how video game programmers are open to using heavier bands for soundtracks. We haven’t played ‘Lost Planet 2’ yet, but the trailer looks great and I’m sure it’s going to be awesome. I definitely hope to do it more!
What is the biggest difficulty about having two successful bands?
The hard part is trying to do as much as possible, but with both bands there are conflicting schedules. As much as I want to do festivals, live appearances, and video shoots, but the hard part is not spreading yourself too thin. For me, Hatebreed is still my main focus, so being a part of Ozzfest is great because the tour is so short.
Is there anything you can’t do with Kingdom of Sorrow that you want to?
Again the biggest thing is having two conflicting schedules; I’m hoping Crowbar will get their record out soon. We looked at doing a Crowbar/Kingdom of Sorrow back to back tour, so we’ll see how that goes. But we can only do short tours because my focus is Hatebreed and Kirk’s is Crowbar. We were offered spots on tour with Black Label Society and but we couldn’t do it because scheduling is crazy.
What is next for Kingdom of Sorrow?
We’re going to shoot a video and hopefully before Ozzfest we’ll get to Europe, and because there has been a lot of interest in England, we’ll probably be headed there first. Not sure if this is possible, but we’re also looking at going to Australia for a few dates sometime later.
