Ahead of the bands long awaited new album "Unraveled", Metal Chaos caught up with Confessor bassist Cary Rowells to be one of the first to welcome the Doom Metal masters back!!!
How are things with you guys?
Things are going well, thanks.
I suppose the first question has to be, how did the reunion come about and how does it feel to be back together?
The reunion came about as a result of a tragedy, unfortunately. Ivan, Confessor’s guitar player, passed away. We’ve all known each other for so long and had been through so much together, it was like losing a brother. Well, in his final struggle, there were a lot of medical bills incurred for his wife of 7 months. A good friend of ours contacted me with the idea of putting together a benefit show together for her and asked if I thought Confessor would be into reuniting and play this show. So I called all of the guys, including our original guitarist, Graham and everyone agreed without hesitation. The show was incredible! Everyone who was there was smiling from ear to ear. We ended up raising enough money to cover all of her bills and then some! It was truly a great night. Well, Steve and I were in a band called Fly Machine at that time, and about 6 months after that show or so, we disbanded, so we called up the guys and told them the news and we were all like, well, let’s get together and write some stuff and see what happens. So, here we are, putting out a new record.
	How tough a decision was it to reform without Ivan being in the ranks?
	It wasn’t tough at all, the whole thing happened because of Ivan!
	What were you guys been doing in the intervening years between you group disbanding and the recent reunion?
	Since Confessor disbanded, Steve and I have never stopped playing music together. We were in Fly Machine and are still in an instrumental band called Loincloth. Brian was in Fly Machine for a while, but then put his guitar down for a few years. Scott was in a band called Drench for a little while and then went back to school. Ivan also went back to school.
	“Blueprint Soul” was the first Confessor release in over ten years. Has the writing / recording process within the band changed at all in that time?
	Well, I think it’s a little more collaborative now than it was before,
especially with the overall structure of the songs.
What is the writing process for a typical Confessor song, if there is such a thing as a typical Confessor song?
Someone will bring in a riff or 2 they have been working on, typically either Brian or Shawn and we will take it and put with some other riff we have laying around or maybe something that’s spawned from playing the original riff and then work through an overall structure, and just continue to play it and play it, throwing in a bridge here or whatever. Then once we have a pretty solid outline, Steve and I start ironing out our drum and bass rhythms and Shawn will start getting his leads in there. Once it’s finished, we give to Scott to put his vocals on. We are pretty conscious of the vocals when we are writing the music, but he’ll occasionally ask us to make some changes to work with what he’s written.
What has been the reaction from fans to the news of the reunion and the subsequent “Blueprint Soul” CD?
We have gotten a ton of email from people all over the world saying how excited they are about us getting back together. I had no idea how we would be received after being gone so long, but I have been pleasantly surprised.
“Blueprint Soul” marks the debut of new guitarist Shawn McCoy. How did Shawn come into the Confessor fold?
I’ve known Shawn for a long time, and when Fly Machine was looking for a new guitarist, he got the job. So, when Fly Machine ended and Confessor started back up, we knew he would be a good fit.
Onto more recent news. The band has just announced that a deal has been signed with Seasons of Mist Records. How did the deal come about and why choose Seasons of Mist?
We shopped our demo around and got a few offers, including one from Season of Mist, so then we did some checking around and found that Season of Mist had a good reputation with the people we talked to. So, we ironed out a good, fair contract and I got to say they have been awesome.
The first release through your new label is to be a 4 track EP. What can you tell us about this release?
Well, Season of Mist wanted to put something out prior to the record being released as a promo. The EP is mainly for press and radio, which would explain the ‘radio edit’ version of Sour Times, but there are copies available for fans. It also has some live video footage from Ivan’s last show with Confessor on there.
If my information is correct the new Confessor album is due in September / October time. Are there any details you can share with us at this time?
The album is called Unraveled and is going to be released mid October.
Has the writing process begun for the album? Are the songs in a particular vein?
The songs are finished and recorded and they are pretty damn heavy.
Will you guys be using Osceola Studios again for the recording of the album? Have you any producers in mind?
We did record at Osceola Studios with Dick Hodgin, who did our demo.
What plans do the band have to tour in support of either the EP and or the album?
Well, what we have planned right now is a CD release show in Raleigh, our hometown, then we are playing the Sonic Solstice festival in Oslo, Norway which we will be filming for a DVD. After that we just have one other show in Richmond, Va. to finish out 2005. We will see what opportunities lie out there for us next year.
To launch the release of “Blueprint Soul”, you guys played a hometown show. How was it to be back on stage? Any nerves, particularly being in front of friends and family?
It felt great playing Confessor songs live again, and to be playing it to our friends and family was just icing on the cake.
Are there any plans to re-issue either “Condemned” or “Confessor”?
No, none that we’re aware of.
Confessor has always been impossible to pigeonhole into a particular style of music. Where do you draw your influences from that give you such a unique sound? And what do you describe your sound as?
Black Sabbath and Trouble were our main influences as far our initial direction. But its so much more than that because you have everyone's individual style that they’ve developed that plays in there. Where does that come from? Hell, I don’t know. But, once we had our sound down as a band, I guess we started influencing ourselves.
With the exception COC and you guys, what is the scene in Carolina like? Are there any up and coming bands we should be keeping an eye on?
The metal scene here is very supportive each other. While its not a huge scene by any means, it definitely looks after its own. There a few good venues to play and most bands try to help each other out with shows. Some of the bands I enjoy from the area are Slugnut, Soulpreacher, Age of Despair, Jonin, Daylight Dies…..it goes on. There are some good bands here.
What is your viewpoint on the music scene as a whole at the moment? What are you listening to at the moment?
It seems like some of the ‘underground’ bands like Opeth and Lamb of God are doing well. They seem to be getting a lot of support and they are taking it by the reigns. So, it seems like things are pretty good in heavy music right now and that’s encouraging. Here’s whats in my cd player right now…..Godflesh-Hymns, Strapping Young Lad-SYL, Black Sabbath-Past Lives, Opeth-My Arms Your Hearse, and The Black Crowes-Three Snakes and One Charm
Is there a message for all the Confessor fans out there?
Thanks for all of your support, it’s really been mind-blowing. We are very excited about the new stuff and I hope you check it out. Keep it Heavy!
All images used with the kind permission of Confessor.

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