First thing, as always, please introduce yourself to the readers. Your name, the bands name, what roll you play in the band.

What's goin on people? I am Anthony Sinacore, the singer of the Queens, NY based heavy metal band known as Severed.

Who are the others in Severed and what roles do they have in the band?

The other members are; Justin Whang on guitar, Carlos Gomez on bass, and Jorge Sosa on drums.

How long as Severed been around and where are you guys from?

Severed has been together since August 2001. We are all from Queens, NY. Mostly from Maspeth and Ridgewood.

Where did the band name come from?

The band name came from Jorge. One day Jorge came up to me and said "yo, how does the name Severed sound..." I was like "aight" and the others were down so here we are today.

What made you get into metal?

My sister got me into bands like NiN and Green Day around 1994, and as I got older I was expanding my horizons to new bands. When Severed started I was listening to a lot of Death Metal and Black Metal, but the more accessible bands that one would know about without digging too far like; Deicide, Marduk, Dark Funeral, Cradle of Filth,Vital Remains, Cannibal Corpse, Anathema and so on. My band wasn't really into such heavy shit but they got me into Fear Factory and some hardcore so now i just mix tastes and enjoy all forms of music. We swap music with each other and each of us blends our own personality and taste into our own songs.

In your area is the scene healthy?

The scene in NY is alive but its tough to keep it alive since so many clubs are closing and many people aren't dedicated to the scene like it used to be. In metal the shows are always $10 or more regardless and most of us metalheads don't have $10 to come out to some place in god knows where Brooklyn or Manhattan. I noticed that more punk and rock shows are like $6 or less most of the time. The scene has a shitload of people though, when the crowds are huge- they are full of sick fucks that usually spread the pits out and scream like maniacs. A lot of clubs in NY have closed in the past few years though... Castle Heights, The Wetlands, Coney Island High, Voodoo Lounge- just to name a few. The scene is there though, mostly alive at Lamour these days.

In the email you sent you listed a lot of impressive world-acts, which one(s) were you most excited about playing with?

Severed definitely gets some awesome shows. I book pretty much all of the shows, so I'm gonna pat myself on the back. Most of the national act shows are at Lamour in Brooklyn. I was really hyped to play with Arch Enemy and God Forbid but when we got there Arch Enemy was all cocky rock stars and not too chatty. God Forbid were cool people to talk to and Sworn Enemy was as well. I'm really happy that Sworn Enemy is getting their name out there and even made it to Ozzfest.
We played with Cannibal Corpse, Incantation, Pissing Razors and Dark Funeral for our second show ever. We were fucking hyped. Corpse wasn't too chatty but the guys from Pissing Razors were awesome to hang out with, even got a couple of cool pics. Dark Funeral was also one cool group of gigantic fellows. They were all way over 6 feet tall so we felt like little shits being around 5'10 myself.
I've got to say that playing with Mastodon was probably one of my favorite shows. We had a great showing of fans and made a shitload more. The guys from Mastodon gave us some great advice on how it is to be in the underground scene and what its like being on Relapse. Most of those people that showed up and heard us were at the show that we played with Kataklysm and Divine Empire as well, so it's definitely a memorable one.
I was happy to play with Scar Culture because we are all fans of them and enjoy supporting bands from our area. They are also great guys and I'm looking forward to see what John and Frank and Duke will put out with the new singer when they find one.

The Homicide demo on your site, is that a brand new demo? Old demo? First demo. Please give us the story on that.

We recorded the Homicide Sampler disc around late summer. We were very eager to get it out because we wanted to leave something with people after we played so they would remember us and hopefully come back. It is actually our second demo but the first one ended up being a flop so we pretty much junked it and not many has heard it (thankfully). We are going to use the demo until we have enough cash to record, produce, and press the full-length that we plan on getting signed with. The demo is for the cult scene out there and whoever is down to listen to it. Our full length will sound even better because we are going to put more money into it. The demo is pretty good considering the 4 songs were recorded in one day and it only cost about $600 to record.

How as the reaction been to the demo? Has it been getting a lot of buzz?

Our demo has been pushed to around 350-400 people based on who got one at a show and who is swapping it around on the internet. We are not looking to make cash on the demo, its more used to get the music heard and so people can know it when they come back to the shows. We totally self-promote it and I personally make all the copies. Its an underground demo for the underground scene. We're looking into pressing a couple of hundred to mail around to promoters in NJ, Pa, and Ct or as far as we can push the sucker. At shows I ask for a donation to the band. If someone gives me $1 i'm happy, anything more...fuck yea. I've seen people singing along to the other two songs on the demo that do not have lyrics posted anywhere, so that makes me know that its getting heard and played. I've also seen people throwing our songs on mix cds that they put in their cars. I think its pretty cool to hear some Testament then Slayer, then Pantera and then one of our songs before a Soilwork song. A lot of people ask for them and i sell out or end up with none left whenever i have them on me, which is always a plus.

When writing songs what is the normal process?

We write our songs on the spot at practice. Justin pretty much pulls some awesome riffs out of his ass most of the time. Jorge and Justin have great chemistry playing together. We are all friends as well and were before the band so I guess we know how each other is and what we want to hear so its easier for us to play together. Justin usually comes up with a riff and I'll give a comment if it sounds like a verse, breakdown, pre-chorus, or chorus. He'll play it to Jorge about 5-100 times depending on Jorge's reaction and once they play together it usually comes together with the next part. Carlos listens to them once they play together and makes up his bass parts. He likes doing fill-ins and really filling up where a rhythm guitar would be. Once the songs parts are arranged with each of us giving our opinion, I'll listen to the music and start thinking up a story or thinking of words that will go with the notes and accents in the song. I write lyrics that relate to my thought most of the time. I try to have a meaning that one can get off of reading the song and a totally hidden metaphor behind the song that only I know and sometimes Jorge because he asks what the lyrics are about.

How would you describe your sound?

We combine a shitload of styles into our music. People have called us everything under the sun from Death Metal, Deathcore, Hardcore, Nu-Metal but in essence we are Extreme Heavy Metal. We play with a lot of death metal bands and some hardcore bands but we can't classify ourselves as one. My vocals have been compared to the old school death metal vocals but that's not where my influences are from. I give respect to everyone who belts out into a mic but I sing from myself. When we started, I didn't know how I was gonna sing but i couldn't play guitar good enough to stay in after we decided I was gonna sing. Eventually I picked up the mic and started throwing some gutturals in with screams and it worked out. I dig the way Shagrath from Dimmu and Pheroze formerly of Scar Culture sing a lot. Them and Burton i guess were my early influences. Justin has his own style when he plays. Many bands play music that 1000 other bands could make up. I think we are different from that. Justin has some insane picking techniques in our songs that makes them different from the typical metal out there. Carlos is really fast on his bass and uses his fingers only. Other bassists that I know have asked me if he uses a pick and they are surprised at some of the shit he does. Jorge is a fucking demon. Every single person that I've spoken to - the first thing they tell me is "dude, ur drummer is fucking nuts". Jorge is fucking nuts on drums. He uses a lot of cymbals mixed in with fast rolls and double bass that's so on time and holds the music together. I'm happy to be in a band with those guys, they always have something new that amazes me about them when they play.

Has the band ever written a song that thought it totally sucked when it was finished?

Once a song is finished we won't let there be any parts that suck in it. We wont play it live or consider it finished unless its near perfect. There have been songs that we've gone back to and made better, mostly the earlier songs because we have grown as musicians since we started. No one has told us that one of our songs sucked to make us drop one, and we enjoy all of them from our experiences writing them. So in a nutshell, no.

What's your goal as a band? World domination? Impress the ladies? Make next weeks rent? What is it?

I personally want to get the music heard wherever there is an ear to listen to it. I want to get signed and make enough money that I'm not out of a job and poor when our three week tour supporting someone that most people don't know is over. We wanna make it and change the music that the masses listen to. There is a problem with some of the music out there today. That problem is that it has no substance to it anymore. Most of it is popcorn shot out of the cooker that looks and tastes like the one before and after it. Its a shame that everything has to sound the same to be considered good. There are shitloads of other bands out there that have made it in the eyes of many but can't live off of it. I think that people in bands that go out there and tour their asses off deserve a fair shot of making it, but the society we live in holds us back from that because the media is flooded with what the government wants us to hear and all that bullshit.

Any reason why you just put up 2 songs from your demo?

There would be more songs on the site but we are pretty poor and it would cost more to put more songs on the site. It sucks but it leaves people with something to e-mail me with. I'm down to ship demos to people, I just ask for some money to ship the sucker out. I'd rather e-mail the person the mp3s though, i got no problem with that at the stage of the game we are in. My webmaster does the site for us and he tries to keep the costs down so we can still afford gear and practice and that stuff. If anyone wants to hear the other two songs i encourage them to e-mail SEVEREDmusic@aol.com

Are there any other local bands that you enjoy playing with?

We've made a lot of friends in the scene. I've enjoyed playing with Copremesis and From The Ashes the most. We are friends with each other and always have fun and support each other at our shows. I'm closer to Copremesis than FTA but Jorge and Carlos hang out with those guys. When we are all at shows together we have fun and someone leaves bleeding or something stupid goes on. Its always fun hanging out with Undermine X, Urban Sikness, and whoever is down to chill and tear shit up with.

This past part you can say whatever it is you want. Feel free to plug anything you want. Anything you can think of.

Get your asses to a Severed show and kill yourself or someone in the pit. We frequent Lamour (www.lamourrocks.com) in Brooklyn so if anyone could make it down E-mail Severed for some tickets. I just want people to listen to more music and keep an open mind to the shit that's out there.