Nothing.

apsis - Only the Dead Came Home
Recorded at Soundworks in Decatur, AL
Mixed, Recorded and Engineered by Dave Pittman
Produced by apsis and Dave Pittman

Drawing their influences from prog and post-metal purveyors Tool and ISIS, these Birmingham natives create dark, ethereal atmospheres with their continuously evolving song structures.

Composition is really where apsis shines. The songs build slowly, establishing an ambient theme and repetition that progresses until reaching full thrash fervor. The majority of the songs blend seamlessly into one another producing an uninterrupted fabric on which the album is built. The only song that doesn't fit completely with the others is "Like Lovers" which also appeared on their previous release, Blood Hits the Bridle.

Guitarist Nick Mitchell and drummer Steve Kirkpatrick are incredibly talented and serve to really drive the songs on this album forward. Mitchell's break-neck noodling generally underscores the heavier chord progressions, but is no less impressive for its understated presentation. Kirkpatrick, who recently replaced by Matt Wilson in the current lineup, appears fully capable of all the tricky beats and time signatures required of any prog-metal band worth its salt.

The only small complaint with Only the Dead Came Home is that while lead vocalist Chip Hudson has a strong metal growl, his clean vocals on tracks like "Sirens" and "A Broken Melody" are occasionally nasally and a touch off-key on the upper-registers. This too could be said of "Like Lovers" on Blood Hits the Bridle, yet the version of that song found on this album has resolved all such issues. The rest of the tracks on this album are unaffected by this problem and, again, is only a small complaint that shouldn't deter you from this album. Metal-heads and music geeks who find pleasure in proggy time signature changes will find plenty to like about apsis. (Self-released)

www.apsistheband.com

-David Feltman

****************************************

apsis Interview from REBEL YELL(Promotions)
*( myspace.com/rebelyellpromotions )*

Interview: Chip (Apsis)

note:
"Interview" Filled out by apsis vocalist, (chip).

1) Can you give us some background on the band and it's members?
I know the other guys had played for something like, 3 years almost as another band before their singer left,...after that they began posting for a new vocalist.
One day i walked into a local music store and happened across one of their ads.
Called them up.
And from that first night, i mean, we all just really Felt Something in the music coming out ....
******************


2) What about the name?
def. "The point of greatest or least distance of the orbit of a celestial body from a center of attraction."
We started to realize early on that the music we were writing was almost a polar opposite to what a lot of other bands were playing in our area at the time....
So's we kinda felt like we would either Orbit Close to the Heart of our scene or Far, Far from it....hence the "apsis".
**************


3) What's been your best/favorite gig so far?
Wow,..that's a tough one.
(... i mean, if you had asked us which one was the Worst....no, hahaha)
I think All of our shows have stood out in some way or another, at least for me...
But i really think i'd have to say the show we did in Dothan, Alabama a few months back at a place called The Featured Players Theatre....
It was at an all ages venue and the kids that were there were so stoked,....i mean....they absolutely Went Off from the first note we played!
hahaha.
And after we finished they ALL rushed the stage and surrounded us.....we sold out of CD's, T's, and probably "autographed" everything in the place.
*****************


4) Anything funny/embarrassing ever happen on-stage or in the studio?
Wow.
One thing that really stands out is when we were recording our EP with Dave Pittman at Soundworks in Decatur, Al.
I don't know if we were nervous, had drank too much the night before, got some bad IHOP, or what....
But we all were hitting the Studio Bathroom REALLY hard,...ALL DAY....
And by about midday, Dave went and got some Scented Candles to light....(it was bad)...
And right then our (super-observant) Guitarist, Nick finished up his parts and walked out of his booth, and without hesitation said. "The fuck are the candles for?...now it just smells like someone Shit on a Birthday Cake!"
************


5) What about influences?
We honestly have the most varying influences...
I mean there are bands that we ALL really like....ISIS, Tool, Neurosis, Danzig....
And from there it goes through Faith No More, Megadeth, Nick Cave, All That Remains, Mastodon, Jeff Buckley, Testament, Between the Buried and Me, Guns 'n Roses, Pantera, Muse, Placebo, and on and on.....

We have a hard time finding music to play on the road that we ALL agree on...haha.
****************


6) What's your favorite song to play live? Which one seems to get the crowd into the show the best?
It's really weird,...when we walk off stage and people come up to us it seems like it's always "Never Catch a Falling Knife" that they mention or remember...
But from Onstage it LOOKS like our song "Like Lovers" gets the best crowd response....so,....
...one of those?
****************


7) Do you have a web-site outside of MySpace that fans can check out?
www.apsistheband.com
(we also have a little "graphics company" we're trying to get off the ground...we have done ALL of our own graphics, CD covers, Stickers, Website, Banners, etc.
at MySpace.com/fallingknife)
****************


8) Where can people pick up your cd(s)?
Our website:
www.apsistheband.com
or at a LIVE Show....
****************


9) Who are some of your fave local bands to play with or listen to?
Victim of Thought.
Those guys are Amazing Live and are absolutely the Coolest bunch of guys we know!
Man, i Always enjoy it when we play with Shattered Harvest, A Lower Deep, Mindtrip, Judas Goat....
Some of the bands i would really like to play with that we haven't yet would be... Promise the Ghost, The Bloodlet Signature, Lisiya Gori, Sciatica....man,..this list could go on and on....
****************


10) Outside of the band, what do you guys like to do for fun?
Oddly enough, and as Cliche' as it may sound,..there isn't really an "outside of the band" for us....i mean, if we are together in any way (and a lot of times even if we're Not) we are working on something "band related" whether designing new graphics, writing a song on an acoustic or just planning out our upcoming shows....we all Live, Breathe, (and if you ask Dave at Soundworks) Shit apsis.

That's it! Like I said, thanks for taking the time to fill this out and help people get to know you better!!