[Website] [MySpace] [LastFM] [Wikipedia] - [BandsOnFire Coverage]

 

 

Tim Lambesis: "This is obviously a much different side of me lyrically and was a fun outlet giving me a chance to play all instruments. Everything I write for As I Lay Dying is very heartfelt and full of conviction, so Austrian Death Machine is for those times when I’m feeling a little more light hearted."

All Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonations on the album - as heard in the many interludes on the disc - were done by Destroy The Runner vocalist Chad Ackermann, who not only is a good friend of Tim but also played guitar in As I Lay Dying for a short while years ago.

 

 

"Total Brutal" - [Interview] ["Get To The Choppa" Music Video | Video Trailer] [View Physical CD]

 

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Austrian Death Machine - "Total Brutal"
(Metal Blade Records - 2008)

 

1. Hello California (1:24)

2. Get to the Choppa (2:47)
 featuring a guitar solo by Jason Suecof

3. Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers (2:23)
 featuring a guitar solo by Mark MacDonald

4. All of the Songs Sound the Same (0:12)

5. I am a Cybernetic Organism, Living Tissue Over (Metal) Endoskeleton (3:33)
 featuring a guitar solo by Dan Fitzgerald

6. Come With Me if You Want to Live (3:47)
 featuring a guitar solo by Adam Dutkiewicz

7. What it’s like to be a Singer at Band Practice (1:18)

8. Who is Your Daddy, and What Does He Do? (3:11)
 featuring a guitar solo by Nick Hipa

9. You Have Just Been Erased (2:21)
 featuring a guitar solo by Mark MacDonald

10. Broo-Tall Song Idea (0:38)

11. Here is Subzero, Now Plain Zero (3:09)
 featuring a guitar solo by Eyal Levi & Emil Werstler

12. So Far, So Good, So Let’s Talk About It (0:42)

13. Screw You (Benny) (2:49)
 featuring a guitar solo by Jason Suecof

14. Why? (0:25)

15. If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It (3:43)
 featuring a guitar solo by Jason Barnes

16. It’s Not A Tumor (3:16)
 featuring a guitar solo by Mark MacDonald

17. Not So Hidden Track (2:49)

 

 

Austrian Death Machine is:
Ahhnold: 6’2" / 240 lbs - Vox
Tim Lambesis: 6’3" / 201 lbs - Guitars
Tim Lambesis: 6’3" / 201 lbs - Bass
Tim Lambesis: 6’3" / 201 lbs Drums
TOTAL = 2 MEMBERS & 843 lbs

 

 

AUSTRIAN DEATH MACHINE - Biography 2008

 

A note from Tim Lambesis:
Ahhnold is the embodiment of everything brutal and stereotypically metal, so he is the perfect front-man for each of these songs that I wrote in less than an hour. If you think that shows any sort of disrespect or makes me less of a fan than you are, then I’d like to hear the entire CD you wrote in tribute to the governator. Plus, let’s be honest, it came out a lot better than a lot of bands who are totally serious and practice all the time. Everything I put into my other band (As I Lay Dying) is heartfelt and full of passion. This, on the other hand, is an outlet of pure testosterone and stupidity. I hope you’re ready... chances are you already know the words to every chorus, so sing along!

Whenever a new band comes out I often hear it said, "That’s exactly what you’d expect from a heavy band." I beg to differ. Austrian Death Machine is exactly what you should hear from a heavy band.

– a continuously fast paced tempo you can always circle pit to
– the obvious build up to a breakdown you’ll know how to mosh to
– classic sing alongs to pile up and sing along with
– a guitar solo in every song

And yes... I would never leave out the obvious key component. Cliché vocals that sound really angry! None of this scary screaming with makeup or goofy lows that we can all make under our breath.

Lastly, let’s move onto lyrical content. I’ve heard plenty of metal bands steal lyrics from angry fourth graders that hate going to church or don’t want to clean their rooms. Now it’s time to steal lyrics from the great minds of Hollywood screen writers that at least made it to sixth grade. Don’t miss listening to the hit track "Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers."

Bottom line, Austrian Death Machine is fast, pissed, brutal and every song has a guitar solo. You won’t find fantasy lyrics or overly poetic personal jargon. There are only forcefully chanted, testosterone drive phrases that our sweet governor Arnold would approve of.

FAQ: Yes, these are answers to Frequently Asked Questions

If you have more questions, then comment here and I’ll answer them. Thanks, - tim

 

What the heck is Austrian Death Machine?
Austrian Death Machine is my solo/side project where I get a chance to play all instruments and be the band supporting all-brutal Ahhnold as a singer. All of the lyrics are based on the great Schwarzenegger one-liners from movies and the choruses are always a classic phrase that every action movie fan should know.

 

I didn’t know you played guitar and bass. How long have you been playing?
I started playing guitar before I started As I Lay Dying and since then I’ve always been a contributor to song writing for AILD. When AILD first started I wrote a majority of the guitar parts for everything until Shadows are Security. Now I don’t get to play guitar as often as I would like so I started Austrian Death Machine to give me a chance to focus more on guitar once again.

 

Can you really play drums that well? You sound almost as good as Jordan!
The drums on Austrian Death Machine are a combination of real drums and stuff that I programmed. I understand drumming well but can’t really play everything that I want, so the solution for me was to fill in parts that are too difficult. Modern recording techniques are great for a solo artist like me! Interestingly enough, the drums sound pretty similar to any modern metal recording because most drummers and engineers replace their real drums with samples now-a-days. The major different with Jordan is that he can actually nail all of his parts live and I’m just a dude who knows a lot of studio tricks to make things sound good.

 

Is Ahhnold really singing parts on all of the songs?
When I originally recorded the album I used clips from Schwarzenegger movies, but when it came down to the final mix I started to get worried that I might get sued for using stuff without permission. So, last minute I decided to have my friend Chad Ackerman redo the Ahhnold parts because he does an excellent impersonation. Now the two of us have created a character called "Ahhnold" who is the actual front man for the band. Ahhnold is the one who should be feared and respected and not me. You can see a picture of him on the cover of the CD and when we play live it will be Ahhnold who is actually the one singing.

 

What kind of equipment do you use?
All of the As I Lay Dying albums except for one and the Austrian Death Machine album was recorded using a Les Paul studio with an EMG 81 pickup in it. The bass guitars change depending on the song. Drums change all of the time due to what stays in tune and how we’re mic’ing the kit. Amps vary from album to album, but Total Brutal was recording using a Krankenstein through a Mesa Boogie guitar cabinet with Vintage 30 speakers.

 

What is your favorite Arnold movie?
Total Recall is my favorite because it is surprisingly philosophical. It’s way cooler than the Matrix, even though the Matrix part one was a decent movie. In addition to challenging reality, the movie is unintentionally hilarious at times. This is all on top of the fact that the plot line sets the stage for a brutal action film.

Where are you from?
I’m from the great state of California where Arnold is the governator.

 

 

 

FAQ-2: Responses to comments from last time

 

In the last FAQ I received responses with some more questions. So, here is FAQ-2 and if there are more questions yet, then just let me know.


CORRECTION: Where are you from?
I was born in Phoenix (actually Scottsdale, AZ) where all three of my brothers still live. For the past 20 years I’ve been living in the great state of California where Arnold is the governator.

Is ADM just a one time thing, or do you plan on making multiple album?
There will definitely be more Austrian Death Machine CD’s to follow since I view this like a real band even though it’s just me. There are so many great Arnold moments that I still haven’t had the chance to write about. For instance, I haven’t written any songs about one of my favorite Arnie movies which is Commando because I’m saving material for the next album.

Are you aware of the band ArnoCorps?
I was definitely made aware of the band ArnoCorps by one a few of their fans (who took things way too seriously) once I put the first song online from the Austrian Death Machine album. In a way, we’re both ripping off Arnold lines but we definitely are not influenced by each other since I didn’t even know about them until my album was done. Having had a chance to hear both bands now, I still wouldn’t have changed anything because I still love Arnie one-liners and want to represent Ahhnold as BRUTAL rather than the singer of a punk band. I have much respect for ArnoCorps spreading the fun through their own genre of music.

Conceptually, there are MAJOR differences though besides the obvious fact that the sounds are rooted in two different genres. They actually don’t want to be involved at all with Arnold Schwarzenegger or the great Hollywood classics because they say he ruined the original stories. I, on the other hand, think that Ahhnold was the one who made the stories great and am proud to have him as the front man for Austrian Death Machine. Their singer is a regular good dude supposedly from Austria, but he is not the ever-brutal Ahhnold that is the greatest actor in the world and supposedly the singer of Austrian Death Machine. The AC guy doesn’t even try to impersonate Arnie because he’s happy being himself.

I hope ArnoCorps the best. They do their thing collectively and I do my thing as a solo project. If people like one band and not the other, then I don’t mind. I just want to have fun... with considerable amounts of double bass and Ahhnold brutality.

How do you start writing/recording a song? How does it work? Do you start with guitar and then bass? Can you give me a lead how to scream or how to learn screaming?
In As I Lay Dying I just start riffing around on my guitar. Then we all get together and make songs out of the riffs we each bring. In Austrian Death Machine I start with the only true form of inspiration, which is Arnold’s one liner of choice. Once I have a sweet one-liner in mind, then I write riffs that are conducive to the phrasing and overall feel of what needs to be said. Lastly, I didn’t sound very good when I first started screaming, I just went for it though and got better with time. I guess it’s kinda like any other instrument in that regard. Some technique can help you, but just doing it is ultimately what makes those muscles stronger.

Will you tour? If you tour, how will this all work live? I mean you can’t play all these instruments at once, can you?
I will most definitely be playing some Austrian Death Machine shows at some point when things with the As I Lay Dying schedule chill out. AILD is still my priority because although I love the Austrian Death Machine concept, As I Lay Dying is a chance for me to write about some other serious topics that I am very passionate about.
HOWEVER, when there are Austrian Death Machine shows they will be INSANE! I plan on having as many people on stage as possible. There will be Ahhnold and myself singing, then a couple of my friends who did guest appearances on the album will play guitar, then I’ll get some huge body builder type to play bass, and Matt from August Burns Red committed to playing drums. This is in addition to the various Ahhnold stunt doubles that will randomly on stage lifting weights while we play because I want the stage atmosphere to be like 25 Hour Fitness. I think that vibe will help keep everybody pumped.

Oh, and what program did you use to do some of the drum parts?
The parts that are too difficult to play I program directly in ProTools and combine them with the parts that are played for real.

Is there anything christian based about this project like in your As I Lay Dying lyrics or is this just a not so serious project?
This answer fits in with the one two questions up. ADM is a concept band and As I Lay Dying is about everything in life that is important to me, which obviously includes my beliefs. I wouldn’t want to be in two bands that are basically the same thing, so Austrian Death Machine will remain a outlet for the crazier side of my personality. Plus, I’m convinced God has an awesome sense of humor and can appreciate us acting like idiots from time to time.

In which tunings do you play, and which strings and sizes do you use?
Some songs are in Eb/D, others are in drop D, and others are in C. When we do this stuff live we’ll probably just do it all in drop D with Tite-Fit DR Strings 56, 44, 32, 18, 15, 11.

Dude the solos are awesome any way we can get tabs for them?
No, that would take me forever. Sorry.

Do you work out as well ? And was that a gibson grabber you used for the recordings?
I should work out, but I lack discipline. I used that bass for the photo but on the recording I used a few different basses depending on the tuning. The three were an Ibanez EDB550, a Fender Jazz, and a Gibson Thunderbird.

 

What’s it like to have a band and a solo project, and which do you enjoy doing more?
The idea of the solo/side project is to remain something on the side for whenever I have extra time. As I Lay Dying is what I do full time. For that reason, it’s sometimes more fun to have a change of pace of work on Austrian Death Machine, but overall I’d say that I enjoy As I Lay Dying the most because I’ve put my heart into it for so many years giving it a depth that I really appreciate.

 

 

LINER NOTES:

 

Tim Lambesis wrote and performed the first version of all of the drums & guitars, but he sucks at getting things tight. So, here’s the truth... I asked the following people to come in and help me redo parts of these instruments tighter:

JP Gericke - guitars
Mike Catalano - cymbals

Track 6 features Tim Lambesis on trumpet / keys and the fine cymbal playing of Jerad Buckwalter
Chad Ackerman & Ahhnold appear courtesy of Destroy The Runner & Solid State Records
Gang vocals & fun times had by Joey St. Lucas, Meggan Lambesis, Duane Reed & Marc Kohlbry

Tracks 3, 9, & 16 feature a shred-errific guitar solo by Mark MacDonald
Mark appears courtesy of his fine self & Mercury Switch

Track 2 & 13 feature a shred-alicious guitar solo by Jason Suecof
Jason is a talented record producer at Audio Hammer and engineered the Daath solos

Track 11 features shred-tastic guitars solo by Eyal Levi & Emil Werstler
Eyal & Emil appear courtesy of Roadrunner Records & Daath

Track 5 features a shred-uctuous guitar solo by Dan Fitzgerald
Dan works at Metal Blade holding down the shred, making sure this record is in stores,
and marketing with powers that will control the minds of every Ahhnold loving metalhead!

Track 6 features a shred-azing guitar solo by Adam Dutkiewicz
Adam appears courtesy of Road Runner & Killswitch Engage

Track 8 features a shreddy mcshreddersin guitar solo by Nick Hipa
Nick Hipa appears courtesy of Metal Blade Records & As I Lay Dying

Track 15 features a shred-tageous guitar solo by Jason Barnes
It was tracked by Joel Lauver with Burning Bridge Recordings