Interview and Photos by: George Archibald

                Extreme metal act Bermuda has been hamming out their brand of music since 2010, over the years the line-up has changed but the music has continued to grow in intensity. The band fronted by vocalist Corey Bennett, guitarist Noah Sias, bassist JT Tickner, and drummer Kevin Daniels;  is about to drop their new album Nepenthe on June 30th. Currently Bermuda is out on the Are You Afraid of the Djent? Tour with A Wake in Providence, and Fallen Captive till June 30th, when they are then joined by Armed for Apocalypse and Filth. I was fortunate to catch the band on the official first date of the tour, and sit down with Noah, JT, and Kevin to learn more about the new album.

GA: The band has a new album Nepenthe coming out on June 30th, what can we expect as listeners on this album, what makes it stand out for the last album Use Your Burdens?

Noah: I would say that this new album is a lot darker, but we are all still about having that groove. The band tried a few new things as well, there is some almost operatic singing in the background. This is prevalent on the titled track. I also feel like there are more wilder parts on this album as compared to Use Your Burdens.

GA: Nepenthe is also the first album for the new label, Urban Yeti Records. How did you hook up with them?

Noah: Our vocalist Corey had been talking with Mike from Urban Yeti Records for a while, and he came on out to our Van Nuys show last year. He listened to our set and was stoked about the music, and there were talks from there.

Noah: This album wasn’t as tight as a time table as with a conventional studio setup. It was a lot more relaxed. It gave us time to develop the album more, and work on ideas.

GA: What is your process on how the band creates a song, every band is unique in this aspect. I think it is interesting to hear how you guys do it.

Noah: I will write a majority of the song then kick it out to these guys to get their input.

JT: We are all thousands of miles apart so we tend to use a lot of Dropbox and YouTube videos back and forth. There are a lot of group texting, communication is huge when it comes to writing.

JT: I am using a 6 string Spector bass, that has been customized so I can use a 210-gauge string so I am hitting an octave below Noah’s lowest string. So, it hits hard for a bass.

GA: What are some of your hobbies?

Noah: Video games, and pinball.

Kevin: It’s a lot of music for me, I work in other projects as well.

JT: I would say watching hockey, but the season just ended. So, I don’t know what to do for the rest of summer. I know my hockey, and love the sport.

GA: When you are in Michigan do you guys fish or hunt?

Noah: No, it is a nice quiet town where I live. We can be really loud and noisy, but at least I am not living in loud and noisy.

JT: They have tons of great breweries out there so that’s fun to hit up.

Noah: Also, we are so close to lake up there, so there is that to go and do.

GA: What is your favorite thing about playing live to you?

Noah: Crowd reactions.

JT: Getting to act like a kid on stage. It’s a good spot to get a lot of frustration out.

GA: If you could work on music with anyone outside of the band who would it be?

Noah: Mike Patton, or John Zorn.

GA: What is next for Bermuda?

Noah: After this tour, the record would have been out for a few weeks, so we will see how that goes. We have pre-orders up for the Nepenthe right now. We are hoping for strong first week sales. We also have a music video coming out for the track, Gnashing Teeth. This is kind of Corey’s thing, because he was the one in the video, since this was a quick let’s get you down to LA to film a video. Urban Yeti wanted to get some media put together to go with the release of Nepenthe. Outside of that, we have a few things in the wraps, but nothing we know right off hand.

GA: Anything else you would like to add?

Noah: Please pick up the album, urbanyetirecords.com, we have several pre-order bundles available. You can get the album and some t-shirts. Come out to one of our shows as well.

I’d like to thank Noah, JT, and Kevin for sitting down with me. I wish you guys well on tour and looking forward to hearing the new album once it drops. You can now pre-order Nepenthe through Urban Yeti Records, go get your orders in. This album is going to be a face-melter for sure.