Shortly before playing a half hour set that had them literally swinging from the rafters at the GWAR-B-Q, we caught up with 2/5ths of Baltimore death metal quintet Noisem. Vocalist Tyler Carnes and guitarist Sebastian Phillips spoke about how they discovered GWAR, the metal scene in Baltimore, and what they were looking forward to doing after they played (swimming), and their new album, which they say has been entirely written already.
So you’re at GWAR-B-Q. How does it feel?
Sebastian: It’s a great day. We’re looking forward to swimming. We’re just counting down the minutes to get our set over with so we can go swimming.
Do you have any GWAR memories? I know you’re a relatively young band.
Tyler: I saw them twice. The first time was with Cannibal Corpse. Municipal Waste opened. It was the Sounds of the Underground tour in 2005.
That must have been one of your first concerts?
T: It was my first extreme metal concert.
What was your actual first concert? No judgment.
T: It was Powerman 5000 at the 98 Rock Festival in Baltimore. It was so sick.
What about you, Sebastian? Did you ever get to see GWAR?
S: I never got to see GWAR [with Dave]. When I was in middle school, a friend of mine was supposed to pick me up and he ditched me. He took another friend of mine instead. When I was a kid, a guy down the street from me was like “you like heavy music, right?” I said, ‘Yeah, I guess. I like Metallica,’ and he hands me this CD/DVD set, and it was like a Metal Blade anniversary thing, and it had the video for “Sick of You” on it. I was a huge KISS fan, so seeing another band that had that crazy aesthetic, I was like ‘holy shit, this band is next level.’
You’re from Baltimore. What’s the metal scene like in Baltimore?
S: Relatively nonexistent.
Right, so three days a year, it’s the most metal city ever, but just then?
S: Right.
T: I guess it isn’t like a metal scene, but it’s metal bands that do the punk scene.
S: There’s definitely a strong DIY and punk scene there.
T: We all grew up in that.
Have you played Richmond much before?
T: A couple of times, and every time we played here , it’s been awesome.
Other than seeing GWAR, what bands are you looking most forward to seeing?
T: Body Count. (laughing). Iron Reagan
S: Occultist. Occultist always kills it.
T: I want to see the Misfits again. Iv’e seen them twice already with this lineup, and it’s pretty good. I want to see it again. See what they pull out of the hat.
What’s next for Noisem?
S: More touring. Then we’ll put out a second album and more touring.
Do you have new stuff written?
T: We have all of the new album written. We have the demos that we’ve recorded, and we’re going into some studio in November. I guess it will be out next year.
