Rockezine.com interview with Into The Moat on Apr 29, 2005

with Matthew Gossman on Apr 29, 2005

Last month, Into The Moat`s `The Design` fell on my doorstep. After a few spins, I saw the greatness of the madness of `The Design`. Half an hour of chaotic death slaughter, with incredible instrumental precision and some real anger. Matthew Gossman, the drummer and founder of the band found some time (they play every day) during the bands` `Bring Your Calculator` tour through the USA.
		Can you introduce yourself as a band, and/or person? My name is Matthew and I play the drums for a technical metal band called Into the Moat. We recently released our first full-length album entitled “The Design” on Metal Blade records.
		What have you, as a band been up to lately, after releasing ‘The Design’ and what is coming up? Basically our only plan as of right now is to tour until the end of the year. We would also like to make it to Europe and Japan to do some shows in the near future so be on the lookout for that.
		How would you describe your style of music? I would describe the music on our new record to be "chaotic, technical death-metal with some hardcore elements," but that`s a rather long description. I`d say it`s maybe a mix of the Dillinger Escape Plan and Suffocation.
		What are your biggest influences, and what are your favorite bands? I don’t really listen to metal that often, but there are a few of those bands that I love: Origin, Hate Eternal, Deeds of Flesh, Necrophagist, Decapitated. But lately I’ve been listening to a lot of bands such as ISIS, Cult of Luna, and The Mercury Program. There is so much emotion behind their music without coming off as cheesy or trite.
"I do not agree with war, and especially the one that America is in now"		What bands, and what kind of music do you hate the most? To be honest I hate any style of music that has no thought behind it whatsoever. Many popular bands today are just that. I basically hate bands that wear makeup and dress up a certain way to fulfill an image, with no regard to their music at all.
		Being signed to Metal Blade and all, when is Into The Moat going to get their own private jet? Haha, I don’t think that will ever happen. I would be content though with just being able to survive between tours without having to keep a job.
		What’s an Into The Moat concert like? When we perform live we want to have the perfect medium between the playing of the music, and the actual performance. I think if someone wants to see a band completely still, but play absolutely flawlessly they might as well just listen to the CD.
		I think ‘The Design’ is really awesome, how has the album been received overall? We have been seeing almost nothing but great reviews on it so we’re really excited about that. The sales are doing pretty well also so I suppose it is being well received for the most part.
		What do you plan to do for the second record and what is `The Design` about? The Design is a concept album regarding the strategy and preparation for war and most of the lyrics are about that. More specifically the courage required by a soldier. Many of our lyrics are actually written by our ex-bassist Johanned Naranjo whom is now a US marine and is overseas. I believe that fact gives our lyrics a bit more insight on battle than some other bands that may have similar subject matter. Our next release is going to be a concept album as well, and it is going to be called “The Campaign.” It’s imagery and subject matter will be about the actual war. That is why the last song on this album is called “Prologue To The Campaign.”
		How do you guys create a song, is it like all of you drink 5 gallons of coffee and Red Bull, and you start to play, or something Haha, typically Kit will create most of the riffs and the basic structure of a song. Next he will bring it to me and I will write my drum parts. Many times I will have a direction in my head of where I want the song to go so I will either add or move parts around. Finally everyone else will add their input and a song is created.
		You’re from Florida, where the weather is always nice, how is it possible to make the blistering music that you do? Ah, if you had ever been to Florida during the summer you would know our weather is far from nice haha. During the summer months, Florida is either rainy all day, or extremely hot and humid. I still like our weather better than anywhere else in the US though because I cannot deal with the cold winter weather. I suppose our music is “blistering” just like the blisters you get from an extreme sunburn in the Florida heat haha.
"I hate any style of music that has no thought behind it"		What do you think is the best and worst about Florida, and/or America? I honestly love Florida compared to anywhere else we have toured, and it’s funny because we used to be the opposite until we had actually been everywhere else and had a real basis for comparison. As far as America, I’m not happy about our politics. Although much of our imagery is war related, I do not agree with war, and especially the one that America is in now. I hate that we would go to war for an energy source that is slowly killing us all anyway. I hate the fact that Americans are so wasteful and care about nothing other than making money. Everyone is afraid to make sacrifices for any worthy reason because no one cares about the big picture, just instant gratification.
		What are the plans for the future, global domination and such? As I said, we are going to be touring pretty much non stop for the year. Global domination would be nice, but we’ll settle for anyone that would be willing to sit in a room and watch us play haha.
		Thanks for the interview and your time. Anything you’d like to add or anything you feel I’ve forgotten? Thanks very much for the interview, we really appreciate it. Check out our website at www.intothemoat.com. Take care!
(Frank M. Horsthuis)