Hi Terence, please introduce yourself and tell us about the band?
Well, my name is Terence Herrera, and I play guitar and sing for
Ascendancy, we are intense blasting death metal, from Boston, Ma.,USA.
Can you explain how did ASCENDANCY "born" ? and why did you formed
Me and Seth had just split from our previous band, Vengeance in
Blood, due to lack of interest, and we started writing new material by
ourselves and soon formed Ascendancy. We wanted to create something
totally original, fast and unrelenting.
Is there any special reasons, missions or messages ?
Our mission is to really leave our mark in the world of the
Underground, to make music that is total hatred yet compelling at the
same time, something that will be remembered.
How'd you choose the name ASCENDANCY ? Who came with the idea ?
I always thought of the word as something that is looked up to, the
word means to dominate, to take control, so I discussed the idea
around to the guys, and after a while we all agreed on it.
Please tell us who write the music and the lyrics for the band ? and
what is the lyrical inspirations ?
I am the main writer of the music, my inspirations for music and
lyrics are basically the daily frustrations and anger that we have to
live through, and deal with.
Inform us about your "Punish The Blind" cd?
We recorded it professionally at Solstice Studios, the quality is
beautiful, we have 4 solid songs of total blasting and technicality,
the title of the demo is about the people of this world that cannot
see anything past their noses.
In your website, I see the band members are 4 persons including 1
female. But in "punish the blind" cd, I see only 3 members. Can you
explain ? Does she new ? or Did she quit the band ?
While we recorded that demo, Charlene had just joined the band, and
didnt know any of the material yet, so we recorded with just the 3
members, me, Seth and Michael. Charlene is still in the band and doing
an exceptional job on bass guitar.
I think most of your songs are very UNCOMPROMISED and brutally
grinding and yet very technical and fast. I think its combination
between grind, brutal death, black death. Can you tell us your
influences?and also what are you뭨e fav. Old school metal bands ? and
what have you been listening to currently ?
We all listen to extreme metal, Seth comes from the old school of
metal, his main influences were Slayer, Bathory, Venom, and the such,
but his style is total blasting. We look up to such bands as Napalm
Death, Yattering, Borknagar, Myrkskog, Darkane, and the like.
How뭩 the scene in your local area ? is it big ? do you play often at
The scene here in Massachusetts is pretty weak, there isnt
many "true" metal bands, there are a few that we play with, and we try
to get on as many local shows as we can. We have quite a few lined up
In your opinion, what do you think about the Nu metal genre these
days ? Do you consider bands like SLIPKNOT, KORN, Mushroom Head, POD,
In my opinion, yes they are metal bands, but of course they are
commericial, we dont think that they play anything original, really,
and nothing that we would consider seeing live or purchasing.
If you have the change to put up a show, what bands will you invited
to share your stage with ?
Oh man...so many, hah...probably us to open, along with Dark Funeral,
Decapitated, Hypocrisy, Napalm Death...these are some of the best
bands we've seen live, so many to choose from though.
Can you tell us what songs that you뭨e really like to do the covers
Right now we havent discussed any cover songs, but if we did do a
cover, it probably wouldnt be a metal song, haha...keep it secret...
What do the band members do beside the band ?
We all have jobs, Seth is a master control for Comcast, Charlene
works at Starbucks Coffee, Mike is actually resting with a broken
ankle right now and I deliver pizza...we havent any side projects.
What do you guys into (or good at) beside the interest in brutal
Hmm...good question,...I love to play games on the computer, as does
Michael, work out, movies, advertising our band, going to shows,
hanging out at clubs, being with friends, but music is a big part of
By your own words, please explain what should a death metal band have
inside their music and attitude to be considered good death metal
The correct mindset. Anyone can claim that they are metal, but it
takes the right state of mind to write good material that people will
remember. An open mind is always good at all, to have a one track mind
will probably lead to ruin.
Do you into porn, horror, gore, mythology, or what ?
I used to work at a porn store actually, but thats about it, as far
as horror movies and the like we all arent really into it, except for
maybe a few here and there, like the Omen, Blade Runner, some anime,
and yes we love porn, hah.
Do you know something about the Indonesian death metal/extreme music
Ive checked out a few Indonesian bands before, there was some pretty
good death/grind, but that was about it.
Got any plans with ASCENDANCY for near future ?
To write some new material, hopefullye get signed, release an album,
tour with bands like us, just to sit back and stay hopeful and see
Do you have any merchandise ? how the people can buy뭙m ?
We have 2 demos for sale, we have our first from 2002,"Storms of
Decimation", and our most recent,"Punish the Blind". They are both
available off of the website, but we have to mail them out ourselves,
so we can only take cash or check for now, in the near future, we will
hopefully have some sort of ordering service.
Anything else you wanna say / adds ? Last words ?
We would like to thank you for giving us exposure and the interview,
if people would like to know more about us, our website is
to listen to, check it out, and hopefully we will get to tour
Indonesia someday! Good luck with your webzine!
