So, you're a DIY metal band trying to create music that challenges you and is an expression of yourself, while trying to put your art in front of those who will actually enjoy it, on top of trying to fund releasing said material and keep the band on the road.  Suddenly, after a bit of a whim, your being flown out to record your follow-up EP, surrounded by PR reps, engineers, and producers and suddenly positive attention is being thrust upon the art you love on a national level, virtually overnight. Sound like a band's day dreams?  This is basically what happened to Minnesota metalers, Iron Thrones who, after pushing their we'll received and self released "Visions of Light" CD, worthily won Scion's "No Label Needed" contest. The band recently released their latest EP "The Wretched Sun" as part of winning the contest. Now, they're on tour with recent Relapse Records signees, Hero Destroyed.  The two will appear Sunday, Nov 14th at The Haunt with Engineer and Thirteen South. Ithaca Underground's Bubba Crumrine syncs up with Steve to get the skinny on what winning the contest meant, the new album, and the ashes the band rose from.

IU: What was the process of you guys winning the "No Label Needed" contest from Scion?

Steve: We originally heard about the contest through metalsucks.net, although we didn’t really look into it too hard until a few of our industry-savvy friends mentioned it to us and said it was pretty legit.  I went ahead and uploaded our longest song, “Cover of Smoke” from our first album "Visions of Light", because we all really dug that song and figured if we were going to submit our music for a contest like this, we wanted to win because of a song we really liked, regardless of length or supposed marketability.  Apparently it was a good choice!  From what we heard, the majority of the people involved in the contest really dug the tune, and were happy we won.  Obviously, we were as well!

IU: Was it a strange transition moving from doing everything yourselves to a full PR campaign, radio promo, new web layouts, merch, etc.?

Steve: It certainly took some getting used to.  We like to keep complete control over everything we do so, having teams of people working on PR, promotions, design, and everything else was really strange.  We didn’t really know what to do with ourselves.  It definitely opened up a lot of doors for us, and confirmed what so many have often said about the music business: it’s all about who you know.

IU: What do you feel was the beneficial aspect of winning the contest for the long term?

The core of Hero Destroyed came together in 1998 when Zach Moore and AJ Falcione formed a local Pittsburgh metal band. By 2005, after playing the local circuit for several years, the band reemerged as Hero Destroyed. New material, shows, and recording their debut followed.  In winter 2007, members of Don Caballero tipped Relapse to the band and forwarded along the self-titled CD, urging for a listen. Fast forward and its 2010 where their official Relapse debut "Thrones" (a metallic mechanistic, low-end crunch with plenty of head) and the steel city reps are hitting the road with Minnesota's Iron Thrones.  Zach More throws down the Q&A with Ithaca Underground's Bubba Crumrine

IU: How has the response been to the new album since it was released back in August?

ZM: The response to the album has been really great.  You never know how people are going to look at it, or even get what you are doing, but it seems people are digging it.  Most of the reviews have been very good, so that's pretty reassuring.

IU: What are your personal thoughts on the record?

ZM: I wish we would have had just a little more time to iron out a few things, but what musician doesn't say that?  We're very happy with the album and the work we put into it. 

IU: Any favorite tracks or riffs?

Favorite track?  That's like picking your favorite child (if you had kids, I sure don't!)  One of my favorite songs is one we don't play very often, 'Dom Wampus.'  It's about 2 minutes long, but it just doesn't let up.

IU: Any special techniques that were used during the recording or stories from the whole process you'd like to share?

ZM: Well one of the reasons we had a time crunch was due to that huge snow storm.  As many areas did, Pittsburgh got hit with almost 4 feet of snow in 2 days.  Dusty, our bass player, was stuck at his house for 4 days until the plows came.  We lost about 6 recording sessions due to the snow, so it was sometimes hard to pick up the continuity.  And there were definitely some sketchy drives home after recording sessions.

IU: Your bio mentioned members of the band first started collaborating in 1998 but took until 2005 until the band became Hero Destroyed. What was involved in the transition process and how did the band evolve?