Boston, Massachusetts murder grind metal terrorists Watchmaker have unleashed what is undoubtedly the most murderous sounding album of 2003. What else could I expect really, after wrapping my ears around their previous album, Kill.Crush.Destroy., and then learning that Watchmaker's new album will be entitled Kill.Fucking.Everyone.? I could only expect something of pure visceral, and honest madness.

And boy, have Watchmaker delivered! Saying that Kill.Fucking.Everyone. (on Willowtip) is as fucking intense and violent as anyone can get is probably the understatement of the year. Easily one of 2003's best albums, Watchmaker are once again ready to take no prisoners and forge on in raping and pillaging all in their path. Read on as vocal terrorist and utterly intense personality Brian Livoti enlightens readers as to what lies behind the insanity and brilliance that is Watchmaker.

"The band name was taken from Alan Moore's The Watchmen," replies Livoti to my initial question about where the band got their extremely cool moniker. "In the chapter entitled Watchmaker, the main character is destroyed in a self-created 'accident,' only to later reconstruct himself into the being he has always envisioned, indirectly becoming a god upon earth. When I first formed Watchmaker, I hated myself, and I desperately wanted to erase my hated past and become the person that I always wanted to be - not the person that others were trying to make me. I was completely into this concept of glorious rebirth through total destruction on a personal level, and thought that the same process could be applied to music, which I used as an outlet for my rage. So, it is partly our love of metal, but mostly our need for therapy, which has driven us towards making the music that we do. We honestly could give a fuck whether anybody else likes our music or not; we are in this for completely selfish reasons. It is quite simply something that we need to do."

Kill.Crush.Destroy. certainly made an impact when I first heard it, but with Kill.Fucking.Everyone., the new album is that much more intense! How did you approach K.F.E. and what goals did you want to set with this new album?

"Kill.Fucking.Everyone. was written in a stressful, whirlwind ride of a studio session, where the only thing we brought to the table was ourselves and our instruments. We only had two songs written before we started the session, while everything else was made up on the spot. But we never approach songwriting in a conscious way anyhow, so even if we were given two years to prepare for this album, things would have been done exactly the same. Not once since the outset of this band have we ever sat down and talked about the direction we want things to go in. We do not think, we act, and as I told you in the last question, we do this for our own fulfillment, so when we get together, it is to THRASH, and not to talk about what direction other shit-bag metal acts are going in, and should we follow them to the cut-out bin or not. Because we always write music spontaneously - and because the songs on Kill.Fucking.Everyone. were written that day - whatever anger, stress, or other emotions that are going on in our lives at the time are going to come out in our music, which I think is the most honest and exciting way to do things. So, had Kill.Fucking.Everyone. been recorded the next day or the next week, we would have ended up with an entirely different album, because we would have entirely different emotions and experiences to work from. We were four years younger when we recorded Kill.Crush.Destroy., and the pressures in our adult lives have risen tremendously since then. If we sound more crazed and stressed on this album than on the last album, it is because we are more crazed and stressed. I went into that session after spending the entire night with my wife in the hospital, who was giving birth to my first child. My baby was born on 11:00 that morning, and by 1:00 in the afternoon, I was in the studio screaming my fucking head off, all sleep-deprived, starving, and emotionally unhinged. All of the vocals are from this original session, because there was no way I could duplicate whatever was displayed in that performance again. Watchmaker and our music are just byproducts of our everyday lives."



How does your personality fit into the insane vision of Watchmaker? What headspace does the band put themselves into when creating such music or playing live? I take it Watchmaker serves as quite the outlet to unleash. I mean, if you can't actually kill someone, at least you've got your music!

"As I said before, the violence and terror in our music is a byproduct of our lives, and it is just as much a part of our personalities as the more friendly, accessible parts. When we play out live, the transition from our everyday personalities is effortless, because neither is a sham nor an act; it is simply who we are and what we do. We are too old to give a fuck about how people perceive us, and to consciously change who we are or what we do so that some scenester won't be offended by the fact that we don't look or act exactly like them would be absurd. In fact, I think that is why we are so totally hated around these parts. We make it very obvious how little we care about other people's petty issues and interests. Yeah, I'm old, balding, wear spiked gauntlets, and M.O.D. shirts - get the fuck over it. The sound of our own music is all that we need - so much so that from the second we start playing, I can physically feel it taking me somewhere that others cannot, or will not, go. I do think that anger was once the initial driving force behind our music, but this euphoric feeling that we achieve through that anger is what I am shooting for now. If I don't want to immediately start headbanging or thrashing to something that we have written, then I never want to hear it or play it again."

Musically, one can nitpick the influences that find their way into Watchmaker, from traditional grind to even black metal! What are the essential Watchmaker listening tools and musical inspirations?

"While we were recording the new album, I had been listening to a lot of Japanese metal like Sabbat, Metalucifer, and Abigail/Barbatos; Morbosidad from Oakland was getting a lot of play on my CD player as well. But as far as the whole band is concerned, Kreator's Terrible Certainty is all you need to understand where we are coming from. All of us are hugely influenced by that album. From the drumming to the vocals to the artwork, it is the perfect album as far as we are concerned. Fuck man, 'Blind Faith' just kills me every time I hear it. Crazy drumming that sounds like it is going to come apart at the seams any minute; shrill, tortured vocals; complete guitar savagery. Perfect. But besides the obvious old thrash metal heroes from the Combat era (such as Overkill, Dark Angel, Possessed, Voivod, Nuclear Assault, etc.), I also enjoy old grind such as Prophecy Of Doom and Hellbastard. I think that Napalm Death The Peel Sessions is one of the greatest releases ever. Even old hardcore and youth crew stuff like Wrecking Crew, Jerry's Kids, Chain Of Strength and Youth Of Today have their share of our attention. If you play Youth of Today's "We Just Might" you will hear my vocals clear as day. I just saw Twisted Sister the other night and completely lost my mind. 'DESTROYER!' And speaking of old heavy metal: Maiden, Priest and Accept are absolute gods. Nobody does it better than Udo. All of the other guys are pretty varied in musical tastes as well. Pretty much, no matter the genre, if it rocks hard, we will be listening to it."

Kill.Fucking.Everyone. comes across as a straightforward album title, but one of the most extreme album titles ever, almost like a continuation from Kill.Crush.Destroy. What kind of statement are you trying to make with Kill.Fucking.Everyone. and how personal is such an album title to you? Is this a statement towards a specific group, or something more universal?

"Kill.Fucking.Everyone. was just taking the album title Kill.Crush.Destroy. and its music one step further. So, you are correct in that it is a continuation of the first title, which links these two albums together. However, like Kill.Crush.Destroy., it is simply a statement that describes what we do. Whether you're totally into us, or you cannot stand us, we are going to steamroll right over you! So it is not a statement towards any specific group at all. Fuck everyone. I don't care about you or your shitty band. Keep playing piss-poor death metal to meathead hardcore kids to mosh to, you Magic-playing pussies, because we sure as hell aren't going to pander to those retards!"



"I write about everyday events in my life. I sing about things that I know. How can your songs have any type of meaning or conviction when what you are saying is total bullshit fantasy? Young, suburban metalcore kids who sing about brutal murders and being bad asses are full of shit, and so is their music. I am from the suburbs, and I have no idea what they are talking about. Anyway, Watchmaker songs are about my concerns and my fears, or about things that I observe. 'Conference Call Immolation' is about the fear of losing your job in public disgrace - a paranoia I sometimes face. 'Multitask Suicide' is about juggling tremendous amounts of financial responsibilities - totally killing yourself - just so that your family has a place to live and food to eat. 'Trial By Barrage' also touches on this subject of overtaxing yourself just to get by. 'Mildewed Death Trap' is about falling into the same stale trap - whether it be in a personal relationship, or business transaction - over and over again, even though you've been fooled by this same ruse before. 'Civic Bloodlust' is about how our society loves the witch hunt and needs someone to burn - how our elected leaders pick the victim - and how you could be that victim for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Everything I've written for the new album is about the fear of that which could affect me or the people I love in some completely devastating way."

How has the word been getting out with Watchmaker? I take it you have collected a following of sorts. Explain how the notoriety of the band came to be and how it will continue to forge onwards.