Demolish Fanzine Interviews J. Bennett (and Lives!)

Photo by Sera Timms

Some crazy fool over at Demolish Fanzine had enough formidable fuzz on his beanbag to turn the tables on Decibel‘s very own J. Bennett and make our guy the subject of an interview. Naturally, Brother Bennett delivered intelligent and inimitable answers that—to borrow a phrase he coined—made milk shoot from our tits with the force of an elephant enema (okay, that last part is my contribution). Some choice responses after the jump.

On writing about movies:
Writing about movies (after writing about metal most of the week) is like jumping naked into Boston Harbor in January after jogging barefoot across a mile of hot coals. It stings a lot and you’ll probably get an infection from all the sewage, but your pores will be less clogged in the long run.

On his first assignment (for a local Boston rag called The Noise):
I reviewed a live show at the Middle East Club in Cambridge. I think the lineup was Big Wig (a rock band with a rapper), Cast Iron Hike (featuring future members of ISIS and Doomriders) and Orange 9mm. Then again, it could have been something else entirely.

On the popularity of shorter reviews/articles in magazines versus longer pieces.
If you ask me—and I’m pretty sure you just did—quality trumps quantity every time. I’ve read 75-word blurbs that are more compelling than full-length novels. It all depends on who’s doing the writing and how much of a shit they happen to give on that particular day.

On the wave of 80s metal bands (Overkill, Accept, Testament) experiencing a comeback with critically praised albums.
I’m gonna be an asshole here and say that I don’t think any of those bands have put out some of their best material even sort of recently. I will say that the new albums from Burzum (Belus) and Atheist (Jupiter) were about a million times better than I expected them to be. I also thought Obituary’s comeback album, Frozen In Time, was highly satisfying.

Read the rest of the Bennett exposé over at Demolish.