So Andy, Sorrow was formed originally back in 1988 under the name of Apparition (for a short time Cyanic Death), with you and Brett Clarin on the guitars, Mike Hymson on the drums, Rob Hernandez on the vocals and Rich Figlia on the bass, do you still remember, how did you get together exactly?
Andy – Actually it was Brett & Mike, then Rich. I used to hang out with Rich a lot. Rich and I were wannabe weekend auto mechanics. Rich used to hang out with Bill also. But when Cyanic death was looking for a guitarist, Rich happened to be hanging out with me that day and i went with him to watch these guys jam. Its kind of funny because he could have been hanging out with Bill that day and Sorrow history might have been totally different…
By the way, was Apparition the first experience for all of you as musicians or were you maybe involved in any other outfits prior to it?
Andy – I believe it was the first band for Mike & Brett. As for myself, i had been in 2 other bands previously. Nothing that ever became anything. We mostly played Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motley Crue & Ratt covers, with a few originals thrown in. Maybe played a total of 2 shows with those bands, but we were really young and the “shows” consisted of jamming in a garage or in a backyard in front of friends and neighbors. I only have cassette recordings of those bands. I listen back now and its really interesting to hear where i was musically back then, pre-Apparition/Sorrow.
What do you recall of your local underground scene of those times?
Andy – On Long Island/NY, i recall people only checking your band out if they knew you, were friends with you or coworkers, or if you were already popular and had releases out. Or if your band got lucky enough to open for a bigger band. But even if you were opening for a bigger band, people would be at the bar chatting with each other, getting drunk and not paying any attention to you or they were out in the parking lot waiting for the main act to come on stage.
You released your first demo Demo I in 1988, can you give us any details regarding this material?
Andy – demo 1 was basically a thrash demo. Rob screaming his vocals. At the time, for what we were trying to achieve, it was good. Our guitars sounded angry and we were trying to show that we could play. Listening back, I still think its a good demo tape with great songs. We tdid our best. It was our first recording experience so we were all kind of nervous and werent sure exactly how to do things. We were taking advice from the engineer who knew nothing about that style of music. We also had a manager, who basically just took our money and told us lies and lots of bullshit promises. I remember Brett had purchased a new guitar mid recordings and there is a different tone from it. I can hear it. I dont think the casual listener would hear it. But he originally started the recordings using a Gibson flying V and then finished recording with his Yamaha. I used a Charvel model 6. That guitar was great but got stolen from our van after a show in Boston. And if i ever find the muthatfucka who stole it… You will be killed.. Bastard…. because when it got stolen, Charvel no longer manufactured that model guitar anymore. I ended up replacing it with the BC Rich Gunslinger. Which i currently still own since 1998 by the way. Its a beautiful guitar.
After the releasing of the demo Rob left the band and you took over the vocal duties, what were the reasons of it?
Andy – The band wanted to change the style of music we were playing from thrash, which Rob’s voice was great for, to more of a death/doom style. So Rich and I both tried singing on the 2nd demo. I guess my vocals sounded better than Rich’s vocals to Mike & Brett because they kept me as the vocalist. What is funny about that is, i was never really a fan of the growly vocal style in bands. And here i am singing like that for Sorrow. So i made it a point to made the growly vocal as clear and understandable as possible. Chuck Schuldiner, Spiritual Healing era, was a huge influence on my vocals.
Your second effort was the Human Fear demo, do you think that Apparition throw more rampage into their previous slightly above-generic sound by brawling past thrash’s border and smack dab into the collision of death and doom metal?
Brett – Absolutely. We wanted to leave the thrash behind us and be a death doom band. We dropped all our old songs and wrote all new ones.
Was it a better representation of the band?
Andy – yes, aside from the production on Human Fear demo, the songs were definitely more of a representation of the direction the band was going in.
At this point you had some compilation appearances, such as with Vicious Kill on Metal Disorder (Disorder, 1989, Tape) with Hidden Fear on Released Psychos Vol. 1 (Psychoslaughter, 1990) and on A Date with Death Vol. 1, did they help a lot to increase/expand your fanbase?
Andy – Honestly, i am not even aware that Apparition was on any compiliation releases. Unless i forgot, which is probably more the case. But i dont really think it helped expand our fanbase by much. But any extra exposure to reach more ears had to have been helpful. But the universe has always hated Apparition/Sorrow… hahahaa
A year later, in 1990, came out the Eternally Forgotten / Curse the Sunrise 7” Ep, but it was recorded as a three-piece wasn’t it?
Andy – Yes, I played guitar, bass and sang on that. I dont recall if we were actively looking for a bassist at that time. Chris Richards may have already been in the band by that point.
Are/Were the songs composed here in a way not unlike Autopsy? Would you say, that even the vocals share similarities with Chris Reifert’s hoarse grunts, with a hint of Nocturno Culto of the Soulside Journey (Dark Throne) era?
Andy – All i can honestly say about this is, again, i was never really a fan of growly vocals. The guys in the band can definitely confirm this and without wishing to put any other vocalist down or anything like that, the only real influence i ever had was Chuck from Death. And maybe Chuck Billy from Testament. I personally never really listened to much death or doom metal. So anything you hear that sounds similar to someone other than Chuck is purely coincidental and/or is just me.
Albeit not as dark and grimy as Autopsy, Apparition does evoke some menacing imagery, implementing slow crawling riffs and tortured, moaning guitar solos among thrashier lumps of noise…
Andy – Thanks. Yes, We strive to create a miserable musical experience for the listeners. Hahahaa. The point of music is to make the listener feel something. If it doesnt give you chills or goose bumps on your arms at times or make you feel a certain way, then the music is not acheiving its goal.
Later on these songs appeared on the Relapse Singles Series Vol.1, right?
Andy – I am not sure which song ended up on a Relapse compilation.
Around this period was bassist Chris Richards also the member of the band, wasn’t he?
Andy – Yes, Chris was a great guy/friend and had joined after the recording of the songs found on the Relapse 7”. The pictures had already been taken for the 7”, so we drew in a stick figure and with an arrow pointing to the stick figure, we wrote CHRIS… hahahaa. We remained friends with Chris after he left for Suffocation. We still chat with him every so often. We are still in contact with many of the guys from different bands. I would say Mike and Brett have the most contact with others. But we were always the jokesters. I guess people dont really expect that from a death/doom band. All they want to see are skulls, blood and guts… I guess thats why Sorrow didnt last. Do death metal fans have a sense of humor? I dont know….
After the Eternally Forgotten / Curse the Sunrise in 1990 (for Relapse Records), you changed the moniker for Sorrow, was it because there were around a lot of groups with the same name?
Andy – No, that pretty much happened because when we were geting signed to R/C Roadrunner records, they suggested changing the name to something different. I remember complaining to the guys that i really didnt care for the name Sorrow because it kind of reminded me of Metallica a bit. Although I dont really know why now. Maybe because of the song harvester of sorrow? I dont know. I do like the name now though and im glad we changed it from Apparition. Brett – It had NOTHING to do with Metallica, I always hated them. LOL
At which point were you signed by Roadrunner? Were there perhaps other label’s interests in signing the band?
Brett – Roadrunner was having a chistmas party and we were friends with some of the people that worked there, Sophie and Mark, and also Suffocation had just gotten signed so we went with them to the party. Mike popped our demo into the stereo and Monte, the A&R at RR, in his drunk glory, said ‘who is this?’ and the next week we got a contract. No one else was interested.
How do you judge your co-operation with them in retrospect?
Brett – It was a pretty bad relationship from the start. They were putting out a ton of bands at once and seeing which ones did well and ignoring the others. They had no interest in building a following. I admit though, that our cover for the Fogotten Sunrise EP probably helped kill our chances. They basically ignored us from the get-go and we never got any support from them.
You entered the Sunset Studio, East Meadow, New York, to record your new material titled Forgotten Sunrise, how did the recording sessions go?
Andy – I remember it was a bit challenging because the engineer there had no clue about the style music we were playing. And it made me personally feel very uncomfortable doing the vocal tracks. Im a very quiet and shy guy to begin with so i remember feeling really weird about the experience.
Do you agree with, that Sorrow with Forgotten Sunrise is/was a decent sounding underground band, which one can/could place in the same box with US bands like Accidental Suicide, Gutted, Morgue, Cianide, and Paralysis? Or even Winter…
Andy – oh boy… uhm, I know i was told by Mike that ive heard Winter and i know Winter songs because we played shows with them, but honestly, Ive never even heard of or listened to any of the bands you listed. Im sorry. Haha people are going to hate me now.. Isnt it funny that a death metal vocalist from a band you might like has never heard of these death metal bands? That is weird. It is strange, even to me….
Did it have a gloomy, sort of mournful aura of your music?
Brett – Yes, we wanted the gloomy mournful sound, inclduing the lyrics.
But, at the same time sounds really heavy and brutal…
Brett – and yes again! We wanted the doomy sound but we also wanted to be heavy and still death metal.
Is it correct, that you were involved in an unfortunate accident which prevented him from entering the studio to record additional tracks for this release, which was originally meant to be a full-length album?
Andy – Yes, we had originally recorded 4 songs and then got signed to R/C Roadrunner and then we were planning to go into the studio to record more songs. I was out on a date with my girlfriend and while we were sitting in the car in a parking lot listening to music, deciding where to go next, carbon monoxide fumes leaked into the car while the engine was running and unfortunately, the windows were closed. We both passed out from the fumes. People found us 2 days later in the car. She (Lisa) was dead and i was in coma for 2 weeks. The ignition key was still on, but the car was out of gas. I went through physical and cognitive rehabilitaion for about a year after that. The carbon monoxide affected my brain, numbing my hand and foot on the right side of my body. My body is still affected to this day. Anyway, the guys in Sorrow stuck by me and decided to release the 4 songs as an EP and all i was really able to do for that album was the photos for it. It was not a very good time for me or the band, even though we had just gotten signed…
Did Forgotten Sunrise showcase a promising outfit?
Andy – i believe it did. But at the time Roadrunner had scooped up a ton of death metal bands and signed them all and there were a lot of releases happening at the same time. I think we were good but got lost in the shuffle.
Then during 1992 you entered the Speed of Sound Recording, Franklin Square, New York to record your first full length Hatred and Disgust, how long did it take to come up with new material?
Andy – i think we already had all the songs written. We were always writing new songs. I dont know how long it actually took us to write the songs, but everything was already written by the time we went into the studio. We video taped some of the sessions in the studio. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the engineer from the sessions, Steve Koslowski, Has recently passed away. He was the guitarist from a band called Kronin. He was a great guy with a great sense of humor and lots of patience. I remember sweating my ass off in the studio during the vocal sessions because we couldnt have the air conditioner on. While i was recording vocals because it was making too much noise. What is funny about that is, i was wearing a t-shirt that changed color when it got wet. It was called a hypercolor t-shirt. As i was sweating, it was turning different colors.. On a break during the vocal sessions, i was looking out the window of the studio down on the street and i witnessed a car accident. I grabbed the camera and we were filming the people and cars. Me being the idiot that i am, i went outside to give them my info and tell them i had witnessed the accident. All the while, Bill was upstairs videotaping the scene. In the video, you can hear Bill say to the engineer Steve, should i turn off the camera, what am i filming here.. And Steve says to Bill, no, keep it rolling in case Andy gets hit by a car while he crosses the street. HAHAHA it is the funniest thing ever on video.. Great times.. we all had a lot of fun..
Compared to Forgotten Sunrise, Sorrow added a second guitarist to their line up Billy Rogan, how did he come into the picture exactly? What about his musical past?
Andy – As i said earlier, it is totally by random chance that I ended up being the guitarist in this band and not Bill. But we have always been friends with Bill before we were all involved with Apparition/Sorrow so he was always around. He was one of the guys in our small circle of friends. So naturally, when the opportunity arose for Bill to join the band because we needed a 2nd guitarist, Bill was the natural choice. Not sure what bands he played with before Sorrow.
Was he the first choice of the band?
Andy – yes, he was the first and only choice.
Did he also take part in the songwriting process?
Andy – Not so much for the writing on Hatred & Disgust, but we were always writing songs and everybody contributes to the writing process. Bill wrote songs and they would eventually end up on Death of Sorrow, released in 2023.
Did Hatred and Disgust come out at a time when slowly played music was becoming mixed with extreme metal as a justifiable mode and not just at an experimental standpoint?
Brett – I guess this was the start of it happening. With bands like Winter, Paradise Lost and Autopsy putting in slower stuff too, it was slowly starting to happen. But it was far from normal, and we still had a big hurdle to get over for people to accept what we were doing.
Is the music on the record quite simplistic, not overly technical death metal, with a strong doomy vibe, which dominates throughout every song?
Brett – I wouldn’t say simplistic!! There’s a lot going on, especially with odd rhythms and all, but it defintely is not techincal death metal. At the time, there really wasn’t technical death metal as it exists today, just hyper fast stuff. We opted for the doomy sound for sure.
How do you view, that faster section appear in every song, sometimes can even be dominating (like in Forced Repression), but generally can be heard/listened to how diversity between the tempo changes and riff style has been done here?
Brett – Mike, Bill and I loved hardcore, and we loved the fast stuff too. So, we made sure that there was still that side of it in our music. The tempo changes make the music more intersting, and the slower parts stick out more.
Andy – I was more of a tempo change guy. I always tried to make things just a bit more “interesting” to throw in some odd tempos rather than a straight forward 4/4 thrash beat. I always loved how Mike came up with these odd sounding drum parts to the songs. Because I would write a song on my own and hear it one way in my head. Then I would bring it to the band during rehearsal and after Mike would add his drums, the song would sound totally different. It was always very cool.
Do you think, that Hatred and Disgust is rather like a doomified Slayer or the sound that Sorrow go for on Hatred and Disgust as a particularly doomy example of the old-school death metal model with the production possessing that classic graveyard feel?
Brett – I’d say yes to all that, and add that the Slayer influence stops at Reign In Blood LOL We wanted to play death metal, but doomy death metal, and that’s what we wrote.
Were you focusing much more on the doom aspect than some of their peers?
Andy – Yes absolutely. We made it a point to go in the opposite direction than what was currently happening at the time. All the bands that were coming out at the time were playing faster and faster and that was just something we did not want to do. We felt we could be just as heavy, but in the other direction.
How do you explain, that most of the strengths of the album lie in when it reaches a suitable groove and tempo which isn’t too slow?
Andy – Im a believer of beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So, what may sound great to one person, sucks to another listener. Its all perspective.
Did the extremely evil atmosphere and varied tempos of this album help to keep it in league with its similarly excellent brethren?
Andy– I dont know. I think that our lyrics kept it from reaching that „evil” classification. It is probably what also led to the bands demise. That we werent sick and evil enough for the listeners, as well as Roadrunner. Maybe if we had a different approach, we would have been liked more by the label. Maybe we would have sold more copies. I dont know. Its easy to look back now and point at things. The unfortunate part is, you cant go back and change it.
It would seem that Sorrow had everything within their reach to become popular and big death metal band, correct?
Andy – I would slightly agree with that. Although again, looking back, its easy to see that the universe was against us right from the start.
Was there a lot of potential in Sorrow?
Andy – Of course. We had great songwriting and musicianship was there. We were a great band and the best part is/was that the 4 of us got along so good. That is very important in a band.
Were there any shows/tours in support of the record?
Andy – Yes we played a bunch of shows to support the album. We played shows whenever we could. I personally loved playing live. I still would if i was healthy enough. But we are just kind of old and tired nowadays…
In 1993 you recorded six songs , that featured Sorrow’s very last rehearsal ever before disbanding in 1993 and they were written for your second album, which never came to be, what happened?
Andy – We got dropped by Roadrunner. That is pretty much the story. We shopped those songs around to a few other labels and it seemed for some reason, nobody wanted us or wanted to release it. I guess either it sucked or the music just was not what was in anymore. Or, we werent sick and evil looking enough. But the guys in the band became discouraged and that was it. Mike was already jamming with a side project and we just decided to call it quits.
You returned for two years withthe excellent Death of Sorrow album, what made you to reform the band and was it easy getting together again?
Andy – I think this all happened because a label originally wanted to release the 6 song rehearsal recording we had. And i thought the recording didnt do the songs justice. Also, i saw that Brett was releasing his Journey into Darkness albums and i thought to myself that if we could get the boys of Sorrow together to jam these songs out again, i could record everything. We wouldnt have to get together to go into a studio to do it. We could all do it from home. We were going to record just 1 or 2 songs and see how it sounded. Because obviously, we hadnt played together in years and i hadnt sung a death metal vocal line since 1993. But that 1 or 2 song idea turned into more and more songs and finally it became the Death of Sorrow album. Which i think it turned out sounding great. I love the album.
What did all of you do in between, by the way? I mean, in which bands were all of you involved in that 30 years period, were you constatntly in contact with each other, did you follow what’s going on in the metal scene these days etc.?
Andy – All of our names can be googled and you will find what we are doing nowadays. Brett is doing his Journey into Darkness thing, nowadays he is also creating music soundtracks and composing. Pretty amazing stuff actually. Mike is doing something called Victor Vulva, i am doing solo guitar work using my last name only. I did something called Spacedive. I was in my brothers band called Zero by None. We were always in contact with each other. Emailing jokes back and forth. We have always been close. We all grew up together so, we have always maintained a friendship.
How about the Death of Sorrow album as a whole?
Andy – Yes we all conrtributed our parts from home. Only Bill & I got together on a few occasions at my place to record some of his tracks. It was fun and easy to record. Id say its been my favorite recording experience to date.
Do you think, that Sorrow leave its mark on the scene and did you early materials stand the test of time?
Andy – Of course. It depends on what you are judging it by. If its sales, then no. But if its by listeners or by guitarists/drummers/vocalists, anybody that releases something gets listened to by a listener. If that person likes it and gets influenced by it, great. Im happy about that. Even if 1 listener contacts us to say they loved our music, thats good enough for me. Im just happy to have had the opportunity to record and release the music to the world and i wish it is something i could do forever.
Andy, thanks a lot for your answers, anything to add to the end of this feature?Andy – Thank you so much for the interview. I am happy people are still listening to Sorrow and death metal as a whole. Dont forget to google search us individually and listen to what we are doing nowadays.
