Exclusive Interview: Akimbria talk “All That I Am, Laid Out in Front of Me”!

It pays to expect the unexpected and when an opportunity arises, if it feels right, sometimes you have to run with it. That’s what we did when the debut EP from Pittsburgh Deathcore trio Akimbria landed on our ear drums and now that the dust has settled we don’t regret it one bit. Its a powerhouse offering of three razor sharp pummelling cuts that blurs genre lines, it also has an unforgettable special guest appearance. We spoke to vocalist and rhythm guitarist Joey Phillips about it and the conversation went something like this…

How have you found the reaction to “All That I Am, Laid Out in Front of Me” so far? “The reaction so far has been great. We’ve only seen a few negative comments from elitists who cite 2010s obscure deathcore as “real music”, so I’d say we’ve been pulling good reviews”

The EP has a lot going on within its confines and we noted some KoRn like lead moments and some Whitechapel like vocal stylings when we reviewed it; but going into the record, who would you say were your influences as a band? “Our biggest influence is definitely Trivium, they broke us out of our mold and eventually led us to death metal and deathcore as genres. Their album Shogun is, to me, the greatest metal record of all time. As for purely deathcore and hardcore influence, it’s mostly Shadow of Intent, Lorna Shore, Fit for an Autopsy, The Acacia Strain, etc. It’s funny, Korn didn’t really cross my mind as I was writing that lead part, and I wouldn’t put them down as a major influence either. As for Whitechapel’s influence, the Valley was a great album, and I would cite them more for riff-writing than I would for vocals. Phil is an amazing vocalist, don’t get me wrong, but I had already formed my style before hearing him.”

We love how you haven’t conformed to genre standards with little moments of Melodic Death Metal and even Black Metal within your Deathcore offering and the cover artwork echoes that; when you were writing did you ever strip anything back because you felt it took things too far in a certain direction or if it sounded cool, was it used regardless of that? “We’re never afraid to push into subgenres we’re not that familiar with and to experiment. We make music we think sounds cool, and that’s about it. Recently we’ve been getting more into hardcore and post-hardcore. Knocked Loose’s new EP is one the most earth-shattering pieces of music I’ve ever heard and we’ll definitely be looking to them for influence in the future, as well as Hazing Over, a hardcore band from our city that we’ve recently come to love”

How did you manage to persuade Ben Duerr, vocalist of Deathcore titans of the moment Shadow of Intent to lend this throat to “I Wept“? It must have been a great feeling to have him on board? “Reaching out to Ben was pretty simple, he posted on his Instagram story that he would be accepting features and within about 20 mins of that post, we had sent him our music and asked for a price. He was great to work with and we’re forever grateful that he decided to feature. His lows are some of the best and most unique vocals in metal, and he deserves every bit of respect he gets and more”

If Terrorizer, Metal Hammer or Revolver Magazine got on the phone and asked you to record a cover for a compilation they were putting together, what would you like to sink your teeth into and why? “Honestly, there are so many songs that we’d love to cover from many different genres. Personally, I’ve always wanted to make a cover of anything off of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge by My Chemical Romance. I can hear you screaming at me through your screen, but Three Cheers, along with the Black Parade, are two of my favorite albums”

What’s next for Akimbria? “It depends on what the promotion of this current EP gets us. Mostly likely: another 3-4 song EP and then maybe an album if the demand is there”