"When we wrote this album we wanted to get back to the way we used to be when we first started, and that's just write the heaviest music possible and not care about anything else."

A conversation with Mark Hunter, vocalist of the American metalcore beasts Chimaira, about their new album "Resurrection", the revival of the metal scene in the States... and some chlamidia.

Vassil Varbanov: Hey, Mark, how are you?

Mark Hunter: Doing very well. How are you?

V. V.: Very well, thank you very much! Basically, the idea to put you live on the radio is this forthcoming album of yours, "Resurrection" (out via Ferret Music on March 6, 2007), so please give us all the bloody details.

M. H.: Well, it marks the return of our original drummer Andols Herrick, who had left for an album, and now we're very happy to have him back. When we wrote this album we wanted to get back to the way we used to be when we first started, and that's just write the heaviest music possible and not care about anything else, ever. That was kind of the mentality going through this one, we just had a great time doing it and we're really proud of it. We can't wait to get out and start touring.

V. V.: Please give us more details about the album, like how many tracks and everything?

M. H.: There are 11 songs on it, and a special edition is coming with a DVD that's a documentary of us making the album. I just watched it recently and it's really awesome. I think the fans are gonna be excited to watch this and listen to "Resurrection".

V. V.: Obviously, metal is getting really strong again in the US, especially the so-called metalcore. What's your explanation for this?

M. H.: You know, when we started, "metal" used to be something like a bad word. I'm glad to see that fans are accepting it again, and I think it's just because the bands that are coming out right now are doing some really cool things musically. You can tell that it's not just putting together some boy-band type of stuff, and that people are ready to be aggressive.

V. V.: You said you can't wait to go on tour. Where?

M. H.: We're going to start in the United States with Killswitch Engage and Dragonforce, then we plan to hit some places like Australia and Mexico, and in June we'll do festivals in Europe. We're really excited to get back to them, as we haven't done festivals since 2004.

V. V.: Do you think the Ozzfest is basically one of the big things we've got to hold responsible for this new wave of metal in the States?

M. H.: Yeah, definitely. That festival started ten years ago, and - although I don't think it's as cool as the European ones, as in Europe you can see cooler bands - it's the biggest reason for metal to become so popular again in the US.

V. V.: You mentioned Killswitch Engage and Dragonforce. Which of these two you prefer?

M. H.: I prefer Killswitch Engage, but I really respect Dragonforce's musicianship... I don't even think they're musicians - they are aliens from another planet, they're sooo good!

V. V.: For a couple of years you used to play with a Swedish drummer, right?

M. H.: Yeah, for a temporary time. When our drummer Andols left the band, Ricky from Soilwork joined us, but it didn't work out because of these visa issues and stuff, he couldn't even get a cell phone, nor a car here in the USA...

V. V.: I see, but I asked you about that because Killswitch Engage have now replaced their guitarist Adam by Peter from the same band - Soilwork. Does this mean that from all the bands we have here in Europe, the best accepted ones in America are Soilwork and In Flames?

M. H.: Yes. They're very popular in the USA and they're friends of ours.

V. V.: You know, we had some discussion in Bulgaria: How the hell do you pronounce your name!? Obviously, it's [kaimi'ra], but I also heard [tchimaira] and bla-bla-bla... What's the most wicked way of pronouncing the name of your band that you've heard so far?

M. H.: Ha-ha, they were two - one was [sharmin], which is toilet paper, and the other was [chlamidia], ha-ha-ha!

V. V.: Ok, Mr. Hunter, thank you very much for being with us!

M. H.: Thank you, bye!

Copyright: Tangra Mega Rock