Interview: Earthburner
We’re really more of a “deathgrind” band and I feel have a signature sound that embraces death metal with grindcore…plus a little punk, relentless all the way through.
Death metal/grindcore unit Earthburner were formed back in 2002 by guitarist Jeremy Wagner from death metal legends Broken Hope on the bands downtime but have only just released their debut album Permanent Dawn. The album has been worth the wait though and is a must listen for any death/grind fans. In celebration of the release of the new record, Gavin Brown caught up with both Jeremy Wagner and Earthburner bass player and Jeremy’s stepson, Tyler Affinito to get the lowdown on the history of Earthburner and Permanent Dawn as well as talking to them separately about their other bands Broken Hope and Gloryhole Guillotine and what else they have going on in a fascinating and informative interview.
E&D: The debut Earthburner album Permanent Dawn is coming out next month. How excited are you to be finally releasing it?
Jeremy: I’m super excited and super happy. This album was a long time coming and for it to be happening is both a feather in my hat and very cathartic…I’ve dreamed of this day happening forever it seems.
Tyler: I for one am extremely excited! This band has a lot of “firsts” for me, so to finally be releasing the album is within the top 3 most exciting things for me.
E&D: What was the biggest influences lyrically and musically on Permanent Dawn?
Jeremy: Musically, the early inspiration for Earthburner has always been Terrorizer – World Downfall – I make no excuses, I’ll tell you straight up THAT album is what made me want to do grind since 1989. It influenced some of my Broken Hope blast riffs, too—but I really wanted to do something that was a nod to World Downfall and early Napalm Death along with some death metal breakdown riffs in the mix. With that, the concept/formula/material was to embrace that old school pure grindcore blasting and super-heavy riffs with a punk attitude as well. That has remained consistent since I started Earthburner. Lyrically, According to our singer, Devin Swank—who wrote all the lyrics and had a solid vision for the overall album “vibe” if you will. He says that our Permanent Dawn album is essentially the nothingness and absolute bleak and darkness you experience right before your heart beats its last beat, there’s no light, no stairway it’s just dark forever. A couple tracks like ‘Necrodisiac’ and ‘Cadaveric Coprophagia’ are lyrically death metal-based lyrics, but overall, the lyrics are of an observation of society and whatnot.
Tyler: Musically for me at least it’s a lot of old school grind, specifically a lot of Assück and Discordance Axis.
E&D: Was the creation and recording of the album a smooth process?
Jeremy: The creation was easy as I had a ton of songs written for years and was ready to go and record them—I just needed the perfect lineup and I got that now! As soon as Devin Swank came on board with Tyler and Mike and me, I immediately booked studio time at Criteria Recording Studios in Miami…we did all the music there and all the vocals at Hypercube Studios in Chicago. The entire process went amazingly well and fast. My co-producer, Tommy McWilliams was a godsend…he made the whole process go quite painlessly and I’m very grateful to him for all that.
Tyler: The writing and recording went extremely well. Jeremy had a bunch of the songs demoed with already, so by the time I came in it was just a matter of fine tuning them. Recording took a weekend and was definitely the smoothest recording experience I ever had.
E&D: How has the music of Earthburner been received so far?
Tyler: I’ve been very pleasantly surprised with the reception the music has gotten so far! People come up to me at shows I’m attending telling me how good the songs we’ve released have been, which is something I’m really not used to and always super cool to me when it happens. A lot of my friends seem to really be digging the songs I’ve shown them too, a lot of them aren’t really into grind all that much, so we have to be doing something right!
E&D: Is it fun mixing death metal with grindcore for Earthburner?
Jeremy: Oh yeah, it really is. Grindcore and slamming death metal riffs are the Earthburner formula. Deathgrind. There’s special things that makes the band unique. Like, we have this band made up of different extreme metal bands—Broken Hope, Sanguisugabogg, Gloryhole Guillotine, and Napalm Death. Then you have me, the OSDM/OSGRIND guy who’s got maybe 24+ years on the other guys—but we all have the same tastes and drive and vision. Then the other thing is that formula I mentioned…we’re really more of a “deathgrind” band and I feel have a signature sound that embraces death metal with grindcore…plus a little punk, relentless all the way through…since the Earthburner singles we’ve gotten a lot of feedback that Earthburner doesn’t sound like any of the bands that our members are in (Broken Hope, Sanguisugabogg, Gloryhole Guillotine, and Napalm Death) or like any other bands. That is important to me…BUT, if someone said we sounded like 1989 Terrorizer, I’d be fine with that.
Tyler: I listen to both death metal and grind more than most other genres, so mixing the two has been an absolute pleasure.
E&D: What are your favourite grindcore albums of all time?
Jeremy: Terrorizer – World Downfall, then all the Napalm Death albums from 1987 to 1992 (Scum, From Enslavement to Obliteration, Harmony Corruption, Utopia Banished), Carcass – Symphonies Of Sickness, Nasum – Helvete, Repulsion – Horrified.
Tyler: Napalm Death (From Enslavement to Obliteration), Pig Destroyer- Prowler in the Yard, Discordance Axis – The Inalienable Dreamless, Assück – Anticapital, Nasum – Helvete
E&D: Who are your favourite underrated grind bands?
Jeremy: Cripple Bastards, Wormrot, and Gloryhole Guillotine.
Tyler: Dahmer, Deterioration, Chepang
E&D: How has the Earthburner sound evolved from your original 3 song EP that you made back in 2012?
Jeremy: The sound overall has actually gotten a bit heavier and dynamic thanks to Devin Swank and Mitch Harris on vocals. And it’s also heavier due to my newest EB guitar tone, having a real bassist now and Tyler’s bass tone (we didn’t have a real bassist on the 3-song EP, I played bass on that) also made it heavier. The overall sound is still consistently extreme—just more extreme and heavier than before.
Tyler: It is much more “full” sounding now I think.
E&D: How did Earthburner start as a band in the first place?
Jeremy: It all started when Broken Hope came off the final tour for our Grotesque Blessings album in 2001. At that time in BH, I just wasn’t feeling it anymore…OG lineup was gone and it didn’t feel like Broken Hope to me anymore—so I put the brakes on BH until we could get a solid lineup, make it sick and meaningful again. At that time, I had already started writing material for Earthburner. I wanted to do grindcore or deathgrind. In case you haven’t noticed, since 1989, is that I’m passionate about, and worship Terrorizer’s World Downfall (and Napalm Death in general). So, I’d been writing these grind songs and then I took the name EARTHBURNER from the song, ‘Earth Burner’, the Broken Hope song, because I’ve always liked that song. Technically, Earthburner started in 2000— that’s when I started writing the material. I did a Broken Hope interview with Metal Maniacs back then, and I told a journalist that I was starting a grindcore band called Earthburner, and after that issue of the magazine came out, people started asking me about Earthburner all the time. In 2002, I stopped doing Broken Hope and started doing Earthburner. But it kept getting pushed to the side. I did a band called Lupara, and that record came out in 2006. We did one record and one video and that was it. After that, I started to focus more on writing. I wrote my first novel, had a lot to learn about writing and editing, but eventually got short stories published and kept playing guitar. Between 2007 and 2009, more and more promoters and fans started begging for Broken Hope to come back. Around that time, I reconnected with all the original Broken Hope guys—Joe Ptacek, Shaun Glass and Ryan Stanek and Brian Griffin—and we started talking about getting back together for real. But then Joe ended up dying in 2010, so I figured Broken Hope wasn’t meant to be. So, again, I returned my focus to Earthburner. It was then I was introduced to Mike Miczek—drummer for Earthburner and Broken Hope. This was 2011, and Mike was literally a teenager at the time. I met Mike, and we were instantly doing Earthburner. I had a logo, a singer and a drummer. As I mentioned, we didn’t have a bass player, but we recorded a three-song EP, so I played the bass and guitars on that. Then Broken Hope came back into my life in 2012 and Mike and I have been doing BH ever since and put Earthburner to the side—but as of 2023, Earthburner came back in a big way and we have this amazing lineup and album coming out.
E&D: How has the experience of working together in Earthburner been?
Jeremy: It’s been a wonderful experience. Tyler is a sick bassist and he’s always got this old soul thing…like, he’s young but he’s into all the bands that I grew up with and inspired me. Tyler also turns me on to extreme metal bands I never heard of before. Like, I first heard of Sanguisugabogg and 200 Stab Wounds and others before they even had albums out— thanks to Tyler. Other than that, it’s been an awesome experience being in a band with him…its really freaking cool for me to jam with his stepson like this.
Tyler: Genuinely, working with Jeremy in Earthburner has been one of the easiest and most positive band experiences I’ve ever had! Can’t say enough good things about how smooth and fun it’s been!
E&D: Devin Swank from Sanguisugabogg provides vocals for Earthburner on Permanent Dawn, how was it working with him on the album?
Jeremy: It was pure fun and an honour. Devin’s a workhorse…he’s a professional…take all that plus the fact he’s a kind and awesome human and a sick vocalist, so it made the experience of writing and recording with him an absolute pleasure. Being in a band with him is the best.
Tyler: Devin’s an amazing guy and a very hard worker, along with being a great friend! Devin came in to track vocals and had everything ready to go and just absolutely killed it!
E&D: Mitch Harris from Napalm Death is a member of Eartburner too and Ross Dolan from Immolation and Jake Cannavale from Vixen Maw guest on Permanent Dawn as well. Can you tell us about their contributions to the album?
Jeremy: When I wrote all the music for the Permanent Dawn album, I reached out to a number of guest vocalists like Ross Dolan of Immolation who I’ve been friends with since we were teenagers and he’s on a song called ‘Necrodisiac’. Then I hit up my pal, Jake Cannavale of Vixen Maw, and also my longtime pal and hero—Mitch Harris of Napalm Death and Righteous Pigs. Ross’s style is what you get—pure and unique death metal vox. I was very happy Ross contributed. Then Jake Cannavale is on the COC cover for ‘Positive Outlook’—and Jake’s also a really great actor like his father, Bobby Cannavale—and Jake on our album is awesome and different and he came on board, and that made me very happy. And I always liked Mitch Harris’s high-pitched screams and vocals and thought it would be cool to have him guest appear on a song. Well, when Mitch showed up to contribute in the studio vocal session, he had ideas for EVERY song! So, we just let him roll with it. His contributions and ideas were so good that we kept it. Since he’s on every song, we were like, “Mitch! You’re an honorary member of Earthburner now!” In the liner notes, I put Mitch down as an honorary member of Earthburner because he contributed so much. So, we want Mitch to be on every Earthburner album. Mitch unfortunately has limited availability to play with us live, but sometimes he will if he can. No matter what, we want Mitch with us any way possible. He really helped “level up” our album! We did the vocals at Hypercube Studios in Chicago with Sanford Parker. Ross and Jake did their vocals at studios in New York, but Mitch came in when Devin came in. So, Devin’s freaking out because he’s a huge Napalm Death fan. And again, we thought Mitch was gonna sing on one song, but he said he had ideas for every song. So, we’ve got Devin and Mitch on every song and thanks to that, Mitch added a whole new dimension to the album that I didn’t see coming. He actually played with us live at our first Earthburner show last year, and he’ll be onstage with us in Denver at the Decibel Metal & Beer Festival this December.
Tyler: Mitch is all over the album, initially he was only going to be on one or two songs but came in with ideas for everything. It sounded so great we decided to have him in there as much as possible. Ross guests on ‘Necrodisiac’, and Jake on ‘Positive Outlook’ which is a Corrosion Of Conformity cover.
E&D: Who would you love to feature on an Earthburner track in the future?
Jeremy: I’ve thought about this already! I want some people who you wouldn’t imagine, like Iggy Pop for starters. And then maybe Scott from Repulsion or Tom Araya.
Tyler: Anyone and everyone willing to jump on a track!
E&D: Are you looking forward to your upcoming live shows at Decibel’s Metal & Beer fest and Heavy Chicago?
Tyler: Absolutely! I’ve gone to a couple of the Decibel fests already, so it’s really surreal for me to be playing one.
E&D: How have the songs from Permanent Dawn been going down in a live setting?
Tyler: People seem to be loving them!
E&D: What have been the most memorable live shows that Earthburner have played so far?
Tyler: We’ve only played two so far, so both are pretty memorable for me!
E&D: Have you had any thoughts about any new Earthburner music?
Tyler: We may or may not be starting on new music already…
E&D: Jeremy, Can you tell us if Broken Hope are working on any new music at all and when we could expect it?
Jeremy: We have indeed wrote some new songs, but I’m not sure when we’ll have an album out yet. It’s been a bit of a process. That said, we will have the first five Broken Hope albums re-released in 2025 via Metal Blade Records. I’m working now on having each album remastered, and when they come out, they’ll all have bonus tracks and will be available in every format and some other surprises.
E&D: Jeremy, What have been some of the greatest moments from being in Broken Hope over the years?
Jeremy: There’s been a number of them…things like putting out our first album, going on our first tour, touring the Europe and Japan, playing the Mecca Arena at Milwaukee Metalfest VI, playing festivals with some of my favourite bands…stuff like that come to mind.
E&D: As a massive horror fan, what are your favourite movies of all time?
Jeremy: Definitely movies like John Carpenter’s The Thing, Jaws, Halloween, The Howling, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Friday the 13th Part III, Piranha… those come immediately to mind.
E&D: What have been some of the newer horror movies that you’ve loved?
Jeremy: Most recent movies would be The Substance, Oddity, Longlegs.
E&D: As a collector, what are some of your favourite pieces of horror memorabilia?
Jeremy: I’d say the original screen-used “Quint machete” from Jaws, the original “Final Draft screenplay” from Jaws, the screen-used “rotor” from the Norwegian helicopter that explodes in the beginning of The Thing, and a screen-used “piranha” from Piranha.
E&D: How will you be celebrating Halloween this year?
Jeremy: I’m going to a Halloween party in Chicago and I’m gonna be one of the flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz and my wife is gonna the Wicked Witch of the West.
E&D: As a massive Jaws fan, what is it about the movie that still resonates today?
Jeremy: It’s numerous things for me, like the brilliant cast (Quint played by Robert Shaw is my favourite character) and Spielberg’s directing, the brilliant editing by Verna Fields that gives the movie such incredible suspense, the music score by John Williams, and of course that giant freaking shark that just scares the shit outta me!
E&D: What is your favourite Jaws sequel or is it only the original?
Jeremy: I’m afraid it’s only the first movie for me. Jaws 2 was a kinda cool attempt at a sequel, but it can’t touch the first one in any way—thought I love Roy Scheider.
E&D: You are working on a book about Chef Curtis Duffy. Can you tell us about this and how it came about?
Jeremy: The memoir basically came about a few years back when Curtis Duffy and I became close friends. He really liked my first two novels and asked me if I wanted to write his memoir. Now, I’m always up for spreading my wings as a writer, but I only write what interests me…but after Curtis started telling me about his life, I was like “Holy fuck. This is incredible!” So I signed on right away. In the memoir, Chef Curtis Duffy shares his journey with his trademark intensity and candor. We follow his path from his grim and brutal childhood, his growing devotion to his culinary craft, and his tenacity in clinging to the idea that he could make something of himself despite the self-doubt that has dogged him from his earliest years. Through Curtis’s eyes, we see what it took to survive being raised under the roof of his savage biker father, how he coped with the tragic deaths of his parents who still haunt him, how he became a world-class chef—and the toll that dedication took on marriage and family life—and how he navigates all of the dramas that play out behind the swinging door to the kitchen, and all of the elation experienced from achieving monumental goals, making dreams come true, and the joy of learning from people at the very top of their profession. We meet the greats, from Anthony Bourdain to Grant Achatz, and the not-so-greats—those young chefs who just want to be on TV and fall to pieces when asked to break down a chicken or bake a simple pie. By turns raw and heartfelt, hilarious and defiant, Curtis takes on the cult of celebrity, shares his deep joy in creating remarkable dishes, and walks us down his path of survival against terrible odds, redemption, and success—and herein, we learn what makes him FIREPROOF (that’s the title of the memoir). FIREPROOF should be out next summer 2025.
E&D: Are you a big fan of The Bear?
Jeremy: I liked it…I think it’s a great story and of course I’m proud to see Chicago as the main setting and love seeing them Curtis Duffy’s actual restaurant—EVER restaurant—in the series. Season 3 of The Bear was really good.
E&D: What are your favourite spots in Chicago for music, food and drink?
Jeremy: Music venues I like are The Metro, Radius, Aragon Ballroom, Avondale Music Hall, Cobra Lounge, and Reggies. Food and drink for me would be Ever restaurant (duh! haha!), After cocktail lounge, Miru, Bella Via (in the suburbs), Tacos El Norte, Maple and Ash, and Shaw’s Crab House (also in the burbs).
E&D: Are you working on any other books that you can tell us about?
Jeremy: Aside from Fireproof, I have another novel coming out in Fall 2025 that’s a dark crime/splatterpunk tale that takes place in Chicago. Other than that, I’m working on what will be my most “epic” novel in terms of size…it spans decades from World War II to now…then there’s a couple more memoirs I’m doing. I’d also like to release a short-story collection in the next year or so… I have ideas for 100 more books, just not enough time!
E&D: What are your favourite ever horror novels?
Jeremy: Gosh…that’s tough, I like so many…I guess the ones that really got me over the years have been, “The Lost” and “Ladies Night” by Jack Ketchum, “The Rats” by James Herbert, “The Stand” by Stephen King (and all his short stories and other novels work from the 70’s and 80’s, “Ghost Story” by Peter Straub, and both “Hannibal” and “Hannibal Rising” by Thomas Harris. Oh! And I have to add Cormac McCarthy to this list as though he’s often considered “literary,” his fiction is SO FUCKING DARK! I absolutely worship and love Cormac McCarthy…he has had a profound affect on me…just read “Outer Dark,” or “Suttree” or “The Road”—THOSE are horror.
E&D: Have you ever considered writing your own memoir about your life in death metal, horror and beyond?
Jeremy: I’ve played that idea in my mind, but I don’t think I’m interesting enough yet. Let’s give it another 20 years and maybe I’ll have a real story to tell—I sure know what it takes to make a great memoir from my writing a few for others, and because of that, I reflect on my own life and just think the best is to come…then I can tell my own tale.
E&D: Tyler, What were the highlights of being in Gloryhole Guillotine?
Tyler: Two of the members of Gloryhole (Jeffrey and Carlos) are childhood friends of mine, so it’s always a highlight to get together and jam or play a show! We always manage to have a lot of fun together, so as far as I’m concerned it’s all highlights!
E&D: Will that band ever do anything in the future?
Tyler: We will definitely be releasing new music and playing more shows, it’s less a matter of “if” and more a matter of “when”. Everyone’s got pretty busy schedules (whether it’s work or Jeffrey who’s almost always on tour with Blind Equation) but we’ll find some time relatively soon.
E&D: Do you have good memories of playing on the Hell On Earth tour with Cattle Decapitation, Broken Hope and Hideous Divinity?
Tyler: Tons of them, including some inside jokes we still repeat ad nauseam to this day.
E&D: Who are your biggest influences as a bass player?
Tyler: Lemmy mostly. I think hearing ‘Ace of Spades’ was the first time I ever actually paid attention to how a bass sounded specifically.
E&D: What are some of your favourite horror movies of all time?
Tyler: The Thing (1982), Videodrome, Eraserhead, Tetsuo: the Iron Man, Alien, The Witch.
E&D: What is your favourite Broken Hope album?
Tyler: I’ve always had a huge soft spot for Loathing. Something about that album always has me coming back.
E&D: What have been some of the biggest highlights of your music career so far?
Tyler: Definitely Earthburner, and everything that comes with it.
E&D: What are your favourite metal albums of all time?
Tyler: Outside of albums I’ve already named, Iron Maiden – Powerslave, Celtic Frost – To Mega Therion, Eyehategod – Take as Needed for Pain, Dragged Into Sunlight – Hatred for Mankind, Mastodon – Leviathan.
