When it comes to drummers and Nashville's acrobatic noise-metal band Today is the Day, nine seems to be the magic number.
The group, which has been putting out albums since 1992, recently hired its ninth, and, according to frontman Steve Austin, best drummer yet. Derek Roddy, who has played with Nile, Malevolent Creation and Hate Eternal, came aboard and his multidimensional playing has allowed the band to explore a new realm of sonic terrorism for the band's upcoming album, Axis of Eden, which comes out September 18.
"He does some of the most extreme and inventive extreme playing I've ever heard," Austin told MTVnews.com's Metal File. "His style is his own and you can't pin him down to one genre of music. He's so super-versatile it blows my mind."Finding Roddy wasn't simply a matter of putting out up a "drummer wanted" ad in the local Guitar Center after the departure of Mike Rossweg (ex-Circle of Dead Children), who played on 2004's Kiss the Pig, but quit because he didn't want to tour. First the band hired Jeff Lohrber, who played in the group for eight months before leaving in November 2005 because of "personal and music differences with Austin." His successor, Graham Leduc, lasted just long enough to record demos for Axis of Eden. And, other dudes were auditioned before Roddy offered his services.
"He's so dedicated it's amazing," Austin said. "When he first contacted me, I said, 'Do you want to hear a copy of the songs before you commit to doing it?' and he said, 'No, are you kidding me? We're doing this. I'm down. I'm not just gonna play in the studio. I love Today is the Day and I want to make it clear that I'm in this band and doing sh-- with you.' And I was like, 'Damn, that's exactly what I need.' "The writing process for Axis of Eden started three years ago and Austin, who produced the record, began tracking late last year. The album was mostly recorded by January, and Austin has spent the last seven months tweaking and finessing the cuts. Tracks include "No Lung Baby," "Free at Last," "If You Want Peace, Prepare for War" and "IED." Austin isn't quite gearing up to take on Al Jourgensen in the "anti-Bush sweepstakes," but he said he just couldn't keep quiet about the sorry state of the world.
"This album definitely has a military and militant feeling to it," he told Metal File. "I'm just trying to expose what's really going on right now with planet Earth. The title is obviously a play on the term 'axis of evil,' and it's a reference to the religious right in America and the power and control they have over things that are going on within government."
For the complete interview with Today is the Day and far more metal news than you'll get from CNN, check out this week's edition of Metal File.
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