Misery Index
- Story by Adrien Begrand
Baltimore death-grind kings Misery Index blast off against the military-industrial complex
"The opportunity to travel, make new friends and see old ones, check out bands you would never see otherwise, and, in general, ‘live’ life is an irreplaceable experience,” says slightly hung-over guitarist Sparky Voyles from somewhere along the stretch of I-70 between St. Louis and Indianapolis. Misery Index have just begun a three-month US tour, a 55-date itinerary that would make weaker folk cringe, but it’s a workload that these Maryland natives are well used to. “No cringing here, other than the occasional groan when you see the hole in the floor you have to pretend is a toilet in some European countries.”
Hell, if you’d just released an album as imaginative as Misery Index’s Discordia, you’d want to get the word out as much as possible, too. An enthralling 10-track, 33-minute hybrid of death metal and grindcore, Misery Index’s second full-length is one of the finer American metal releases of early 2006, living up to the lofty expectations generated by 2003’s hyperkinetic Retaliate, not to mention the fact that two members previously played in death stalwarts Dying Fetus. Produced by Eyal Levi (guitarist for rising stars Daath), the new album has a sharper tone than Retaliate, and hints of both thrash and groove now enhance the songs, as epitomized three minutes into the mammoth “Unmarked Graves.” A quick, loose, jazzy interlude bridges the gap between the pure death fury of the song’s first half and the pit-pleasing breakdown that follows.
“I really don’t see it as being a contrived effort to add in new concepts, but rather natural progression,” Voyles says of the band’s increased musical diversity. “Touring with a lot of different bands in between those releases had an impact.” Perhaps the most significant factor behind the band’s evolution is that they’ve finally managed to keep the same unit of musicians intact for the last year. “Anytime you can keep a group of musicians together for awhile, it helps the creative process tremendously,” he notes. “Not only do you become more familiar with each other’s styles, and how to meld them into a whole, you grow as friends. Having Adam [Jarvis, drums] and Mark [Kloeppel, guitar] in the band has allowed us to get where we thought we could be, and with the influences and input they have brought to the table, we feel the future is bright.”
In fact, the circumstances surrounding the three-week recording of Discordia and the band’s switch from Nuclear Blast to Relapse turned out to be as turbulent as the music itself. “We were in the process of working out the deal with Relapse, and were going to pay for the recording out of our own pocket if the contract hadn’t gotten done, so we had to limit the time we had. We also wanted to have the album out in May, so, assuming the deal got done, we needed to get the finished product to Relapse with enough lead time to let them get the promo and production of the CDs rolling. On top of that, we already had shows scheduled for Puerto Rico and Japan in March, so everything was on a really tight schedule. All that said, we’re reasonably happy with the way things turned out.”
As on Retaliate, bassist/vocalist Jason Netherton again provides some of the wittiest, most eloquent social commentary this side of Barney Greenway. “Breathing Pestilence,” “Conquistadores” and “Outsourcing Jehovah” seethe with rage and drip with irony (“Would Jesus shop at Wal-Mart if crosses were on sale?”), taking on urban pollution, the Presidency, corporate America, and consumerism run amok. “Anything that might stimulate some discussion on the state of the world and the things that impact us on an everyday basis is a good thing,” says Voyles, adding that the blame goes far deeper than the President. “I believe it’s an oversimplification to blame or credit one guy. Let’s talk to the corporations that outsource American jobs to countries overseas, or to the people who have been shopping at Wal-Mart for years in order to save 10 cents on a pair of shoes. There’s plenty of blame to go around on this one.”
Populist through and through, the band is perfectly happy avoiding the ubiquitous Ozzfest route in favor of playing more intimate shows. And Misery Index’s reputation as a superb live act continues to cultivate a perpetually increasing fanbase.
“Some guys might say, ‘I sacrifice so much to play in a touring band,’ while I would submit that you are sacrificing your life in music if you let the ‘home life’ interfere with what you are trying to accomplish,” Voyles asserts. “People go to college and trade schools to gain educations and spend several years doing so. Why wouldn’t you do the same thing for your love, your passion, which is your music? There is no middle ground if you want to get anywhere playing music, as there’s always someone else who is willing to work harder than you. In that sense, it’s kinda like the ‘rat race,’ but at least we can see and enjoy the fruits of our efforts, and while we are still [financially] poor dudes, it’s better than lining someone else’s pocket with our labor.”
