Revere, Massachusetts own The Red Chord are back with their blistering new album, 'Through The Teeth Machine' and ahead of their European we shot the shit with founder and vocalist Guy Kozowyk.

The bands new album 'Through The Teeth Machine' has been out now since October. What can you tell us about the album, and for someone unfamiliar to the band how would describe what they can expect from the record?

The Red Chord is a hybrid of many sects of extreme metal. Death metal, hardcore, grind, tech and some experimental components. Chances are we will always be a mixture of these styles. I don't see us doing an aboutface anytime soon. Teeth Machine is a progression from our previous records in the respect that I think that we are getting better at just being The Red Chord and not a mish-mash comparison to a flock of other bands.

Stylistically where do you feel the new record best fits within your catalogue of releases?

It was taken from a quote in a TV show called How It's Made. The reference was to a teeth machine that had something to do with zippers. But it really flowed with our lyrical style where things have lots of possible meanings. So even though the line had very innocent origins, the teeth machine could be something very sinister or could mean something on a grander, more metaphoric scale.

I presume given the bands heavy touring schedule a great deal of the writing of the new album was written on the road. How is that, do you find the tour bus a creative place to produce new material?

Usually you'd be correct. This album was written almost entirely off the road for once.

What is the traditional writing process for the band is there a The Red Chord formula to creating a song? Did writing as a 4 piece change the dynamics of the process?

Not really. One person brings the bulk of a song to practice and then everyone jams on it to fill the holes. Some songs are closer to completion than others. Some songs undergone drastic metamorphosis once the group gets together. Usually we have an extra writer, but this time around Gunface really stepped up and filled the void, so things went smooth. In some ways it was a little less complicated.

The band has fused influences from both Hardcore and Death Metal to create a very explosive combination in previous albums. As the band grows and develops do you find your influences still come from the same sources as when you began or are you now finding inspiration elsewhere?

Lyrically, influences keep coming from more random places. But musically, I think most of us stopped paying attention to most heavy music years ago. So as far as our most extreme metal influences, it's pretty much the same as when we started. But there's lots of non-heavy stuff that we all enjoy that I'm sure are shaping the way we do things subconsciously.

The band chose to record the new record at your old guitarists (Jonny Fay) new studio Backyard Studios. What made Backyard the right choice for the recording of this album and what input did Jonny have as producer on the overall sound?

Jonny was the engineer for the record, not our producer. I only specify this because a producer gives insight to the writing and structuring of songs. All of our records have been 100% written and prepared prior to entering the studio. We have given production credit in the past as a courtesy, but we have never truly been produced. Jonny is a great friend and talented engineer. He has great ears and is probably the most detail oriented person I've ever met. As an ex member he had the most personalized view of exactly what we were looking for and knew how to improve on things we felt were mistakes in the past. The biggest benefit was being able to block out significantly more time with Fay as opposed to getting less time to do the exact same thing with some bigger name engineer. We are very pleased with the end result and extremely thankful to Jonny for affording us the opportunity.

We didn't think it was working out and chose to continue as a four piece. The vibe was much more appropriate. We are getting along better than ever before and the four piece seems to be a lot tighter than before in a live setting.

Over how long was the album recorded, do you enjoy life in the studio or is it just a means to an end to get your music out there and how did Mike find taking both guitar parts? Did he approach things any differently?

On most records you listen to whether there are one, two or more guitarists in the band, there is a very good chance one guitarist recorded the vast majority of what you are listening to. So in that respect not much has changed. I hate life in the studio, personally. I like to bang out my tracks and get the hell out of there as quickly as possible. Writing can be exciting and playing live is always exciting. I know some of the other guys really enjoy the studio process. It's the yin and yang of The Red Chord, I suppose.

The band have a few select US dates already scheduled, what plans have you to tour in support of ‘Through The Teeth Machine’ and any plans to return to Europe as part of the tour?

We are coming your way April and May with Rotten Sound and Aborted on a rotating 3-way headlining tour. Those Who Lie Beneath will be opening the whole run. It should be a blast.

The band has previously ventured into the world of video making, 'Antman' being the most memorable. Any plans to record a promo from the new album?

There is a video for Demoralizer that is being finished. My favorite Red Chord videos would be Dread Prevailed or Blue Line Cretin. I think both capture the essence of the Chord a little better than Antman.

Back in 2006 the band were on the bill of Ozzfest, which I can imagine exposed the band to a much wider audience than a traditional club tour. I hear however those tours are secured on the back pay to play deals which financially aren¹t too crash hot for the bands themselves. What is your take on this type of enterprise, doesn¹t seem a little against the grain?

Ozzfest afforded us certain opportunities and definitely put us in front of a much broader audience, but the behind the scenes shit makes you feel like you sold your soul somewhat. Mayhem and many other tours are equally as successful and don't have any of that attached. I think it is a testament to the fact that the pay to play is not only a thing of the past, but it is completely unnecessary. There are ethical ways to make everything work without putting bands and labels in the poor house and the folks behind Mayhem are the best example of that. I really hope we can be a part of that tour again someday.

How difficult is it to juggle your life in the band, touring, recording etc and life outside music? I presume the band doesn't yet totally financially support each of you, so what are the challenges you all face?

The band supports us when we are on the road. But it's always good to keep working as much as you can while you're young so everyone is involved in something else to offset downtime

The band hails from a hot bed of Hardcore and Punk, what do you think makes Massachusetts such a creative place for this particular style of music?

We were fortunate enough to have pioneers of our genre from here. It seems like any town that has a few strong bands from their region ends up with a stronger scene and thus a bigger pool of musicians who strive to follow in those footsteps.

Thanks for the time and any final words to The Red Chord fans out there is cyber world?