{"id":4709,"date":"2012-03-26T00:00:02","date_gmt":"2012-03-26T00:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=4709"},"modified":"2012-04-02T11:54:06","modified_gmt":"2012-04-02T11:54:06","slug":"feature-god-forbid-03-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-god-forbid-03-12\/","title":{"rendered":"GOD FORBID &#8211; A Few Good Men (March 2012) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"title\"><strong>GOD FORBID &#8211; A Few Good Men<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"smalltitle\">Anthony Morgan<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: arial; font-size: 8pt\">March 2012<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedright\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/godforbid2012promophoto1.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><strong><em>God Forbid (l-r): Corey Pierce, Doc Coyle, Byron Davis, John Outcalt and Matt <br \/>Wicklund<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Studio full-length <em>Equilibrium<\/em> \u2013 the sixth to be issued by East Brunswick, New Jersey melodic thrash metal outfit God Forbid \u2013 marks the first not to feature the musical relationship of the brothers Coyle, the departure of Dallas having been officially confirmed on March 31st, 2009. From July 10th until August 16th God Forbid toured the United States as part of the Mayhem Festival line-up, performing on the J\u00e4germeister Stage. The live debut of rhythm guitarist Matt Wicklund (ex-Himsa) as a God Forbid member occurred on these dates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe just tried to keep things moving forward,\u201d explains Byron Davis, lead vocalist and co-founder of God Forbid. \u201cThe whole idea of the band just kept growing. It\u2019s an extension of where we left off with <em>Earthsblood<\/em>, keeping it melodic, thrashy, groovy, with singing parts, with heavy parts, and intense with something to say. It\u2019s just a growth between individuals, and the unit as a whole. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince the last album we got a new rhythm guitar player, Matt Wicklund. Matt was very enthusiastic about being in a new project, playing with us, writing music, and wanting to continue doing music. He wrote half of the material for the record. He brought excitement and youth&#8230; I guess not youth, but he brought back the feeling of why we started doing music in the beginning. He brought a more at peace vibe than what the vibe had later became, a vibe of having fun, enjoying each other\u2019s company, and playing live music together again. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe atmosphere recording <em>Equilibrium<\/em> was really laid-back, man. Every time you record a record it\u2019s a different vibe when you go in there, and fortunately for me each vibe when it comes to recording has gotten better. I was very comfortable in the studio working with the people I was working with; there wasn\u2019t really any negativity growing in the studio this time, as opposed to previous times where it would turn into arguments over certain things while we were recording. That didn\u2019t happen this time around, It was like a new day, a new vibe. A renewal of remembering why we do it, and loving why we\u2019re there.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMatt writes like Doc writes, and they both share the same types of influences. Matt writes a lot of catchy riffs, and knows how to assemble them in a manner that makes it possible for people to hear and understand so to speak. I just feel that the music that Matt wrote was progressive in the sense that it was forward thinking. He wrote some really great songs as well as Doc. He loves to write music, so he brought that passion to the table when he came and joined the band. Some of the stuff that he wrote you might think Doc wrote, but Tricky actually wrote them. That\u2019s what I call Matt: I call Matt Tricky. He\u2019s just infused with us though if you will. It\u2019s like an updated version of God Forbid, version 2.0 so to speak.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe album is amazing; I really can\u2019t say enough about this album because the album is by far the best album we\u2019ve written to date. We say that with every record, but it\u2019s always true. We always try to one-up ourselves, and we\u2019re fortunate enough to be able to do that. I\u2019m very proud of this record and the people involved in the making of this record. I also look forward to getting out and playing songs off of this record, having people hear it, and seeing what they think.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>February 2009\u2019s <em>Earthsblood<\/em> was the last of a quartet of God Forbid studio albums to be issued by Century Media, the others being <em>Determination<\/em> (April 2001), <em>Gone Forever<\/em> (February 2004), and  <em>IV: Constitution Of Treason<\/em> (September 2005). Victory Records was revealed to be the assortment\u2019s new label home on August 8th, 2011. \u201cOur contract ended with Century Media, and we were free agents,\u201d the frontman clarifies. \u201cWe had been with Century Media for over ten years. I don\u2019t really wanna talk about that because Century Media was a good label, but we just didn\u2019t progress forward with them in the sense that&#8230; I love Century Media, and the people at Century Media are great and they do what they can. We\u2019ll just leave it at that. <\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedleft\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/godforbid2012promophoto2.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><b><em>God Forbid (l-r): Corey Pierce, John Outcalt, Matt Wicklund, Byron Davis and <br \/>Doc Coyle<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI think the vision that Victory has is what we need as far as being willing to go forward and try to break ground. They like what they heard, and they want other people to hear it and give people a chance to take it all in. I really don\u2019t like talking about labels man because you say something, it\u2019s taken out of context, and then the whole shit gets totally fucked up. There are some good labels out there, and there are some bad labels. The fact that Victory has a vast assortment of bands, bands that do well, and the genres that they may or may not be in speak volumes about the label itself. It speaks volumes about the work ethic, and the ideal of bringing new music from new bands as well as older bands back into the forefront of the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark Lewis produced much of <em>Equilibrium<\/em>, Jason Suecof overseeing the tracking of vocals. Audiohammer Studios in Sanford, Florida played host. \u201cAudiohammer is a great studio \u2013 we recorded <em>IV: Constitution Of Treason<\/em> there,\u201d Byron notes. \u201cMark Lewis is an insane engineer \/ producer; he\u2019s very meticulous, and he\u2019s one of the best out there right now. You\u2019ve seen his catalogue; he\u2019s done The Black Dahlia Murder, and DevilDriver. The list goes on and on, and that\u2019s why Doc wanted to work with Mark. The same with Jason Suecof; he\u2019s worked with All That Remains, he\u2019s worked with us, he\u2019s worked with Trivium.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMark and Jason are both fully efficient engineers and producers, but I personally wanted to work with Jason on my vocals because I knew we could be in a situation together where we were in a room and I could explain what I was trying to get. I knew that he would understand completely. It\u2019s like having the right part for the right thing; if you\u2019re working on a car let\u2019s say, you need a certain sized wrench to loosen this bolt over here and another wrench for this bolt over there. It\u2019s having the best tools for the job, and from past experiences I knew that Jason and I could work well together and be productive. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWorking with him was pretty cool. Me and Jason had worked together on <em>IV: Constitution Of Treason<\/em> like I said, so we\u2019ve been in a situation where we\u2019ve worked together. It\u2019s just like working with a friend who necessarily just wanted to get the best out of us. It\u2019s all about honesty; especially in this business, if you can\u2019t have honest people around you then you really don\u2019t know where you stand. Him being the person that he is and me being who I am, that brutal honesty worked out very well. The one thing you want when you get a producer is someone who is involved in the sense that even though they\u2019re your songs, they take pride in your songs and they want to help make the songs the best they can be. There was really never any feeling that he didn\u2019t care. Jason is a really good guy; he\u2019s a really talented producer \/ engineer and a musician, so he understands the whole spectrum of the whole thing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese dudes are top notch though, and that\u2019s what they do man. They don\u2019t do it for money; they do it because they love what they do, so that makes it even better. Those cats at Audiohammer we\u2019ve known for a long time, so to be able to get back in a room with them was like magic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In selecting Audiohammer for hosting duties, God Forbid sought a certain sound. \u201cWe just wanted a proper representation of who we are as people and the music that we write, and what we love to do,\u201d the singer relates. \u201cGod Forbid is a representation of the working class of America, the ones who grind it out no matter whether success comes or not. We follow our dreams, and we stick to our morals and beliefs insofar as what we want to accomplish with ourselves independently as well as a unit. We\u2019re the unheard, the unspoken, the ones in the background that people seem to forget about and don\u2019t realise that overall the bigger picture wouldn\u2019t be possible without the worker bees. God Forbid are basically the worker bees, that\u2019s what we are. That\u2019s what God Forbid is; that drive, that determination, that focus. That ability to move forward, and not let things get in your way or people get in your way.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedright\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/godforbidbyrondavis2012promophoto.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><strong><em>Byron Davis<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cGod Forbid is a groundbreaking band. Visually when you look at us you wouldn\u2019t think that we all share common interests, but we do and I think that\u2019s the best thing about our band. We each bring our different flavours to the table, and are able and willing to work together and make it mould together in a form that is viable for anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Members of the aforementioned American working class have participated in the Occupy Wall Street protest movement which began on September 17th, 2011 in Zuccotti Park, New York, highlighting the growing income inequality in the United States between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the country\u2019s population. \u201cI think those activities are what made our country,\u201d Byron reckons. \u201cThat\u2019s what made America, the fight against tyranny. I think that illustrates what is important to Americans as a whole, what the values or lack of values have become to the extent that when people see something that they\u2019re not really feeling they\u2019re not willing to sit back and take it on the chin. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re willing to stand up for what they believe in and fight for what they think is right, certainly in this day and age where there are so many people that are empowered that make decisions for people. To judge a country as a whole by its leaders isn\u2019t right, but it\u2019s done anyway because there is just a lack of understanding about what\u2019s really going on. A lot of people have been glazed over in the sense that they\u2019re immune to the reality of what is really happening around them, and they\u2019re just content with their day-to-day life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The global population in general arguably read newspapers and listen to televised news without asking questions of said coverage, taking what is being said at face value. \u201cI think a lot of people do that,\u201d the co-founder agrees. \u201cAmerica is so vast, and there\u2019s so much that you can have at a whim that people have just become desensitised. I mean, certain things take precedent over really pressing issues as far as the news goes. You hear about a kid on the news whose mother abandons them and puts them in a dumpster, but Lindsay Lohan going back into rehab might be the top story. I think people\u2019s idea of importance has drifted away from what\u2019s really important.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Swedish producer Jens Bogren mixed <em>Equilibrium<\/em>, having previously worked with such acts as Opeth, Amon Amarth, Paradise Lost, and Katatonia. \u201cJens is great,\u201d Byron exclaims. \u201cHe\u2019s worked with Katatonia, Opeth, and Paradise Lost in the past, and those are some of the bands that we like and listen to. We heard what he did with them and we were like \u2018Let\u2019s give it a shot and see what he comes up with,\u2019 and that was Earthsblood. His mix was amazing. He is definitely very good at his craft as well, so it made sense. The machine ain\u2019t broke, you know what I\u2019m saying? Don\u2019t fiddle with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fellow musicians would benefit from listening to such advice. \u201cThe music business I have to say is one of the most confusing yet interesting businesses in the whole world,\u201d the vocalist comments. \u201cOn the one hand it\u2019s full of creative people, but on the other hand it\u2019s full of a bunch of number crunchers. It\u2019s the only industry that I\u2019ve seen throughout my life where if you fuck up, you can still retain your job. There\u2019s not a lot of places where if you fuck up you can still keep your job, and the music industry just seems to be one of those places. It\u2019s a catch-22. You have to really, really mess up in order to lose your job, and even if you do mess up like that and you lose your job there\u2019s always someone to pick you up and put you in another position. It\u2019s very contradictory to real life in that manner.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The music industry is arguably less patient nowadays than it used to be. Artists were seemingly allowed more time to grow in the past, whereas nowadays certain quarters in the music industry want immediate results. \u201cRight now in this day and age, music just seems to be&#8230;,\u201d Byron begins. \u201cI don\u2019t really wanna say that there\u2019s not a thought process behind people writing music. Each time you take nothing and make something out of it you\u2019re being creative, but I just think that because of video games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero and things like that it just makes it more viable for people to try to explore, especially with the ability to have home studios. Now it\u2019s so easy to have a home studio; you can get a home studio for like $200 and just work with it until you\u2019re happy with something, as opposed to back when having a home studio you had to be well off to have one. <\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedleft\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/godforbid2012promophoto3.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><b><em>God Forbid (l-r): Matt Wicklund, Doc Coyle, Byron Davis, John Outcalt and <br \/>Corey Pierce<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI think just with the availability of technology, people are able to abuse technology in any form or fashion that they deem in terms of what\u2019s best for them. You\u2019re here today, gone tomorrow. Artists nowadays are basically like throwaways. It\u2019s just like how back in the day everyone had a fountain pen; the fountain pen went away, and then they started making disposable pens. You write and use it until it\u2019s dead, and then you throw it away and get a new one. I think that\u2019s part of what the industry has become along with the downloading aspect of it. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s not so much that the record companies can make now because of downloading. Whether you\u2019re for it or against it, the fact of the matter is that at the end of the day the person who really suffers from the downloading is the actual artist. Like most things, that always trickles down. The artist is always the last one to get paid, so it\u2019s \u2018We\u2019ll invest X amount of dollars in you and if you make this back in full you\u2019ll get this, but if you don\u2019t then fuck it. We\u2019ve got four other bands who are young and willing to replace you, and they won\u2019t cost us a cent.\u2019 That\u2019s basically what the world is in a nutshell. You try not to think about those things, but that is the reality of the situation. You have to be very diligent with your beliefs and what you find important to make what you want a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vocally speaking, the frontman feels he \u201cjust went for it on this record. I always go for it, but there was just the feeling of wanting to grow. Like I said, we never try to write the same record twice. We don\u2019t do that, but always keep growing and expanding. I think that\u2019s what kind of sets this band apart, that it\u2019s so unpredictable. You never know what to expect when we get together because we don\u2019t set any limitations or boundaries on ourselves \u2013 we just go for it. We can do it, and it makes sense. We feel comfortable with it, it works for us, and we do it. As long as the five of us are happy first, that\u2019s all that really matters. I can honestly say that out of all the records, everyone is completely and 100% happy with what they did on this record and look forward to continuing this path onto the next one in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>God Forbid\u2019s writing methods have inevitably evolved with technological advances. \u201cIn the earlier days we\u2019d use a four-track,\u201d Byron remembers. \u201cSince technology has progressed though it\u2019s made it possible for us to be wherever we are, write, be able to send it to each other, take this or take that, rearrange it so to speak, and hear what it will sound like beforehand if it was rearranged. I just think that with time, the more tools available to you the better you can proceed to move forward. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs far as the writing process it\u2019s still the same; we\u2019ll have demos, and then we\u2019ll get in a space. We\u2019ll play them together, and if they don\u2019t feel right we\u2019ll sit there, tweak it, and change it until it feels right. From there we\u2019ll practice it for a little while, and then we\u2019ll sit on it and see how it feels two or three weeks later after the changes were made. We then decide whether or not we still like the changes. or wanna move forward and change it to something else. It\u2019s a 100% creative environment though and I think that\u2019s very important, that it stays creative throughout the whole process. Once it becomes predictable, there\u2019s no real creativity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Equilibrium<\/em>\u2019s title is naturally lifted from the album track of the same name. \u201cI heard the song a few times, and I would listen to the song constantly every day back and forth to work,\u201d the singer recalls. \u201cThen it just hit me. I came up with this line \u2018We lose equilibrium \/ Why must I feel this way?\u2019 which is basically losing yourself within yourself, like trying to retain balance and understand that you\u2019re a part of something bigger. You\u2019re not necessarily the thing itself but a part of the machinery, so it\u2019s just trying to find out how you fit into this huge picture as opposed to being a team player instead of an individual. It\u2019s cool to have individuals, but things work better when it\u2019s a group effort as opposed to one person trying to dictate or control all avenues of everything around you. It\u2019s just trying to find balance, and be happy living in the skin that you\u2019re in.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedright\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/godforbid2012promophoto4.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><strong><em>God Forbid (l-r): John Outcalt, Byron Davis, Matt Wicklund, Doc Coyle and Corey <br \/>Pierce<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Penning lyrics can be a collaborative effort for God Forbid. \u201cIn the past there have been some collaborations,\u201d Byron confirms. \u201cDoc and I would write together, Doc would write some lyrics, I would write some lyrics, and Dallas when he was in the band would write some lyrics. We all write; even Corey (Pierce, drums) has written lyrics in the past, so it\u2019s a group effort. One guy might have an idea and he\u2019ll run with it, and then another guy might have an idea and he\u2019ll run with it. Sometimes we feed off of each other; God Forbid is not one person, but five people. On certain things we handle it together. I\u2019m not gonna sit here and say I wrote all of the lyrics because I didn\u2019t write all of the lyrics. Doc wrote some, and I wrote some. I think a lot of that depends on the song when we\u2019re writing it and on how each person feels about the song as to lyrical direction and where it goes from there.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s so many lyrics on <em>Equililbrium<\/em> though \u2013 I don\u2019t want to sit here and recite lyrics to you. There\u2019s other lyrics like in \u2018Where We Come From\u2019 for example which refers to things like seeing the world how I see it, and living life instead of viewing life. The frame you could say is the TV and the lyric is about viewing it that way as opposed to actually living life with no frame around you, and just being there in the moment and trying to exist in this moment right now. This time, this place. I find it difficult to explain my lyrics because it\u2019s like trying to explain how I think, and that\u2019s almost impossible because everyone thinks their own way. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI express myself through my lyrics, and what I say. Now how you interpret my lyrics is based on your own life experiences and what you\u2019ve been through, so for me to sit here and try to explain to you what they mean totally invalidates that. Music is the art, and art is like a picture; when you see it, you interpret it through your eyes. It\u2019s the same thing with music; when you hear it, you interpret it through your ears. I think it\u2019s unfair of me to try to explain to you exactly what I said when I wrote it because it was written out of passion and from a spot deep down that I felt was important to be voiced.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Performance footage for the music video \u2018Where We Come From\u2019 was filmed on February 24th at Dingbatz in Clifton, New Jersey with director Tommy Jones (All Shall Perish \/ Kataklysm). \u201cWe were on the phone with Victory,\u201d the co-founder discloses. \u201cThey were like \u2018We wanna do a video.\u2019 We were like \u2018Alright, that sounds cool,\u2019 so they basically flew out two dudes to film us the next day literally. We had an idea showing the reality of the passion of the band and the music. \u2018Where We Come From\u2019 basically shows five individuals in their daily lives coming together and playing a show at the end of it all. It\u2019s all based off of actual facts \u2013 there\u2019s no glitz and glamour. I\u2019m not gonna sit here and say that I\u2019m living off of music because I\u2019m not. I need to support myself with having a job and there\u2019s nothing wrong with that, but by the same token I feel that I should be able to make a living off of my music. It doesn\u2019t need to be extensive, but moderate enough so that I can do this and live off of it. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cLike I said, the way the industry is it\u2019s nearly impossible unless you already have money or you grow to be able to do what you do for a living and enjoy it. We\u2019ve been doing this for 16 years and still work jobs when we have to, so it\u2019s obviously not about the money for us. We still love writing music and we still love playing and entertaining, so that\u2019s what we do no matter what it takes. There\u2019s not a lot of bands that can say that. We\u2019ve been around a long time; we\u2019ve seen a lot of bands come, we\u2019ve seen a lot of bands go, and we\u2019ve seen a lot of bands grow. It is what it is man. We\u2019re not upset about it. We deal with it, but we just want people to see the reality of the situation and either help us or hurt us. Some people might be offended by the fact that we\u2019re doing these things but then there\u2019s other people that see yeah that yeah, they\u2019re just like us. They follow their passions and their heart, and they do what they do because they love it. That\u2019s I think the crowning jewel of that video. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve seen the video a few times and I love that video, but at the same time I have seen how certain people view you and think that it\u2019s all rosy and it\u2019s not all rosy. Getting back to reality TV, it paints this image that everything is glamorous. Real life is not glamorous. You can\u2019t walk around with a camera 24 hours a day, and portray reality. That is not real for everyone. Some people are in a position where they can live luxuriously, and some people aren\u2019t. It\u2019s not about that; it\u2019s about doing what you feel is good for you, and enjoying what you do. I think that is why I say God Forbid is a working man\u2019s band. We represent middle America who just want to pursue their dreams. Everything that is promised to you in the declaration of independence \u2013 in the constitution \u2013 those are the ideals that we shoot for along with other Americans who just get lumped in with the powers that be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brazilian artist Gustavo Sazes (Arch Enemy \/ Firewind \/ Manowar) designed the artwork for <em>Equilibrium<\/em>, having done the same for <em>Earthsblood<\/em>. \u201cOnce again, if the machine ain\u2019t broke don\u2019t fix it,\u201d Byron reminds. \u201cHe\u2019s a great artist, and painted an excellent vision as far as artwork goes. He did the <em>Earthsblood<\/em> album; we love what he did, and we wanted to recruit him for <em>Equilibrium<\/em>. I basically told him \u2018We want you to go with your vision.\u2019 I sent him a couple of demo tracks and then I sent him the lyrics to the songs, and his artwork is just basically based off of the running themes of the music. He took what he heard and read, and he put it into artform.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Equilibrium<\/em> was released on March 26th, 2012 through Victory Records.<\/p>\n<p><em>Interview published in March 2012. All photographs by Clay Patrick McBride.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GOD FORBID &#8211; A Few Good Men Anthony Morgan March 2012 God Forbid (l-r): Corey Pierce, Doc Coyle, Byron Davis, John Outcalt and Matt Wicklund Studio full-length Equilibrium \u2013 the sixth to be issued by East Brunswick, New Jersey melodic thrash metal outfit God Forbid \u2013 marks the first not to feature the musical relationship [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,254],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-god-forbid"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4709"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5523,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4709\/revisions\/5523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}