Oh no, it has evolved leaps and bounds, I think. It's incredible what has transpired since we last made a record, and it's exciting in a way it has never been for us. Our hope was always to hear this extreme metal genre grow musically, and to see some of today's young talent is gratifying. Any time you can help move a realm of art in a forward direction, that is a good thing. So we are grateful to be in the position we are in, and humbled by it as well.

Sorry.. That is just truly not our motivation, we feel like there are many great new bands that are complex, and interesting, and forward thinking, but really swim within our own ocean in terms of how we make music. We really were influenced by our past more than anything, the roots that led us to the sound we created some 20 years ago are still firmly in place, so truthfully, what's going on in music today was only a factor in the sense that we knew that our weirdness would be tolerated far more these days, than it would have in 1990.

I think it's safe to say that Atheist, like us or not, have a very unique approach to our technicality, it involves more of an orchestrated approach, and a layered technicality, that gives your ears 4 to 5 layers to peel away and discover. This is the main reason why people do not always understand our musical statements until after they have lived with the record for a period of time. There really is no way someone can listen to any of our record once or twice and even begin to hear everything that is before them. Each time you listen, you peek behind another layer that you did not notice before... and thus this creates music that should last on your playlist for a long while. But I do appreciate your conclusion!

Never a question, we LOVE METAL. And frankly, if I have a beast of a drummer at my disposal to write with, I want to take full advantage of that, and Steve's playing on Jupiter is staggering! To not make crazy music with him and the boys would be like having a race car at a go kart track. So we always knew, no matter what, it was going to intelligently rip your eyes out, and go through the sockets to enrich your brains musically. That's fucking METAL! 100% death metal is a bit off I would say, but we always put HEAVY first, technical second.

I think it will continue to push to boundaries of what is possible, but as we tried to do, I think it's important to move past the barrage of notes, and chaos, and carve it down to creating complexities in a more memorable way. That to me is the current challenge in the future of Technical metal. To be able to make something very confusing, somehow more understandable and listenable, and inevitably better. That is our goal in the future, that is what we are striving to do, and I think in many ways have accomplished on Jupiter. It's easily the the most evolved record we have ever made.

It has not actually, with the exception of the fact that we were in different states while gathering the wood to build the house so to speak. I wrote here in Florida, and recorded composites and took them with me to Atlanta to piece together along with Jonathan and Chris's stuff they had written, and allowed Steve to do his magic, and together after we have the material we need to start building, myself and Flynn start hammering away, and we build a frame, and then I would go back to Florida, and they would hash it out in the rehearsal spot for 5 or 6 weeks until I returned. And towards the end we just sat in front of one another and wrote old school... Fictitious Glide was written in one day, exactly the way we used to write when we were kids, and I think that authenticity is obvious on this album. That's why it sounds like Atheist, we did our best to allow ourselves to pursue things the way they always had been, and the results were the same, but in 2010. We recorded all the tracks in 6 days which is something you can only do if well rehearsed, so the band really worked their asses off to get that tight before hitting the studio, and what you are hearing is real, not pasted so when you see this band live, it's gonna sound like it should. That is quite often not the case with a lot of today's music.

Drinking Jager and Red bull, throw in Mountain Dew(my blood) a pack of smokes, high quality botanicals, and excessive talking, and your ready to roll... If you are out of your fucking mind... and perhaps I might be :) I am the worst person to ask about shit like that, I am lucky I can even talk. I must say, When in Europe in '09 I got a throat infection at the begining of the tour in the Czech Republic..and I had to take Antibiotics so I was not able to drink the entire tour, and I didn't, and it really did wonders for my voice...on the american tour I was hammering shots everynight and talking till I was blue in the face.. until I lost my voice towards the end. So this time out, I shall recognize I am not 19 any longer and have a bit of a better chance at longevity! But I really like to enjoy myself, I must say.

I'm not sure I would try, believe me I find myself in that situation often... even back in the day within metal circles! We are a weird bunch, and our music is hard to really describe, but let's say it's intellectualy bludgonning, and an all encompasing assault of articulate musical CRIMES! We have broken the musical LAW.... we shall be on the run in a town near you in 2011. Jupiter November 9th! Season of Mist Records. Thank you for your time! And thank you all for such a warm welcome home to metal! Cheers!