For over a decade, Providence, RI duo THE BODY have been clawing past the false and leaving releases of utterly bleak heaviness in their wake.  Turn the page to 2010 and the band drops "All The Waters of the Earth Turn To Blood" - 2xLP of stunning creativity, originality, and pure heaviness - on the unexpected masses.  An additional 30 musicians joined the duo on this epic, including the entire Assembly of Light Choir into the record - an accomplishment in itself and an outright success in their ability to still sound like themselves. Doom, noise, drone, throat singing, and more collided into something freshly evil. The album adorned many year-end "Best of" lists and set a new bar in the avant leanings in doom metal. Ithaca Underground's Bubba Crumrine catches up with the band during a brief break between recording and hitting the road for their next tour which includes a stop on the Scion Rock fest with the likes of Morbid Angel, Agalloch, Floor, Bastard Noise and more. The trek also boasts their first performance in Ithaca, NY at CMSA with locals Hiroshima Vacation, Iwo Jima Medkit, and Genital Holograms on Saturday, Feb 26th - 8PM $5.

IU: "All The Waters of the Earth Turn To Blood" was one of the most ambitious, creative, (and best in my own humble opinion) heavy LPs of 2010 - how did the idea for such an immense collaboration spawn?

We just have really talented friends, it came together pretty organically, someone would happen to be in town and we’d be heading into the studio so they’d come lay something down.

IU: Did you two have a general idea of which musicians you wanted involved and the final result or was it simply a product of all of those people getting together?

We knew we were using the choir and we wanted WORK/DEATH to do some noise parts but  mostly it just kinda came together naturally.

IU: What's the story of syncing up with Assembly of Light Choir for their involvement with the album?

Our friend Chrissy Wolpert started the choir and she’s like our musical soulmate so, it made perfect sense.  Everything she does is so great and we were honored she agreed to record with us.

IU: How have you two been adapting the album for a live setting?

Ithaca's sludgiest, Iwo Jima Medkit have had their share of band changes since we last spoke with them here on FREE!. They picked up why+the+wires skinsman behind their kit, found a vocalist, lost a vocalist, recorded an EP and toured with guest vocalist Andrew Hernandez of Tombs... many a lesser act have derailed under far less constant winds of change, but (as anyone who caught any of their dates on tour would know) these three find themselves at the core of a perpetual motion machine of impenetrable heaviness.  Ithaca Underground's Vii Caso (also of Hiroshima Vacation) catches up with guitarist Dan Howard and bassist Alex Riberio for what's current. Catch them live with Providence, RI's The Body, the aforementioned HxVx, and Genital Holograms this Saturday at CSMA.

IU: You guys recently did a short tour with Painted Rust and Ready Aim Fired, how did that go?

Dan: Yeah, we did a five day mini-tour through New York and Massachusetts. It was totally awesome. The shows were rad and we actually made enough cash to pay for it. One of the best things about the tour was hearing the other two bands play live five days in a row. It was almost like when you buy a new record and obsess over it. I still have Painted Rust riffs stuck in my head!

Alex: In my opinion the tour was great. Playing outside of the Ithaca area was a breath of fresh air. Every place we went to the crowd was all about an original sound, and that is what we are all about. Hanging out with PR & RAF was a BLAST... great artists with a pro attitude, I was kind of expecting a "click" situation but after the show in Ithaca, when we met in Albany it became obvious that we where all in for a good time, becoming friends and playing together.

IU: Any shows in particular stand out?

Dan: Being that the tour was short, I feel like all the shows stand out for some reason or another but playing with the one-man band insanity that is Irradiated Beef in Albany and partying down at J-Kraks house afterward was the shit.

Alex: The show in NY was the best for me. A packed house, good sound system and the perfect vibe.

IU: Which show on the tour would you say had the best audience?

Alex: The best audience I believe was NY. Also Albany as the second, but pretty close.

Dan: Surprisingly, the audience at the Lit Lounge in Manhattan seemed to be the most into it. Surprising because it was a Monday and also because, as the stereotype goes, NYC audiences are usually nonplussed. I guess they just really wanted to hear some metal.

IU: I also understand that Andrew from Tombs did guest vocals for you on that tour? How did that come about?

Band Name: Painted Rust (all positive and negative comments about the band name can be addressed to Rich the guitarist, but be warned, he will probably take you down and submit if you are below a purple belt)

Location: The hard streets of Flatbush, Brooklyn (BURN WILLIAMSBURGH! BURN!) and the non-shores of New Jersey.

Formed: Painted Rust started when Andrew and Rich started jamming together in the beginning of 2008. Sometimes we were fortunate enough to jam with this guitarist by the name of John Mansfield, but that ended up not working out. Things started coming together in February of 2010 when Charlie Forsyth joined and Pete in May. We were ready to audition vocalists in October and that is when Mike Goncalves auditioned and joined to solidify the lineup of PAINTED RUST.

Members: Richard Michael Emory: Guitar/leads/Arm rendering ju-jitsu and arm bar dive bombs, Charlie Forsyth: Bass and taco domination, Peter Llyod: Guitar and shredtastic aerial support, Mike Goncalves: Brutal vocal assault, Andrew Hernandez IInd: Drums and lack of respect for winter fashion Accouterments.

Releases: We recorded a 4 song demo that we will have with us at the show and on the 5 day mini-tour. I don't know when we'll get around to recording a proper release, we haven't discussed if we will move towards that and record an EP or hold out and record an LP, but I'd assume we would record in 2011 with late release in 2011 or total Mayan calendar meltdown in 2012.

Band history: It has been a long road to where we are today and I applaud my band members for sticking it out, thankfully we all have busy lives and side projects, I am probably away from home at least 3 months and up to 6 months out of the year, that is a lot of practices missed.

Well, summer is official over but fear not! You can relive some of the amazing IU shows that went down over the last days of summer right here...























Huge thanks to Christian DeBrigard for the fantastic video.