Fresh Meat

Carnifex vocalist Scott Lewis says America's leading death-metal band has become stale.

"Cannibal Corpse is part of the old regime. The whole satanic image with corpse paint and long hair and gauntlets like Slayer is not what you need anymore. Old death metal all sounds the same. We want to have a fun, sing-along version of grind-core...death metal that can groove."

Carnifex is one of Fallbrook's biggest-drawing bands.

"Once Fallbrook kids get ahold of a band, they become serious, loyal fans," says Lewis. "We have a tight-knit support group of 60 to 100 kids that will show up to every one of our shows. They will drive all the way to Soma or up to Fullerton.... We go against the direction of everything, especially in California. Everything's getting more liberal. People are losing their gender definition. Tree-hugging liberal Birkenstock-wearing hippie parents are letting their [male] kids go out to shows dressed up like girls."

Although Lewis says Carnifex is not a political band, they wrote and perform "Blood for Tyrants," a song in support of the war effort.

"Because people have a dislike of one person [George Bush], it seems that it was a pretty poor attitude to discredit our military and their families," says Lewis.

Carnifex has self-booked both of their upcoming winter tours (one in the Northwest, the other in the Southwest). What about playing in San Diego?

"We don't have a problem with Soma," says Lewis, "but it seems like bands with no talent get to play [Soma's] main stage. It's all about who you know. It makes it difficult for bands that are actually going out and getting their own shows."

Carnifex appears September 23 at the Jumping Turtle in San Marcos.