Condition Critical is a Thrash Metal band from New Jersey – USA who recently released a demo in September 2011 to positive and encouraging reviews. With influences ranging from bands like Slayer, Exodus and Testament, the band digs deep into Old School Thrash Metal with memorable songs like “Time Wave Zero” and “Bred To Kill” which recall the days of early Kreator. The band also adds a Death Metal touch on songs like “S.M.R (Self Mutilation Ritual)” with non-stop riffing attack and aggressive drum beats.
- Band Members
Alonso Maguino – Vocals/Guitars
Sam Agnew – Guitars
Ryan Donato – Drums
Mike Dreher – Bass
- Interview with Condition Critical’s guitarist Alonso Maguino
- Knowing that you guys formed in 2010, were you somehow affected by the revival of Thrash Metal in the last few years with bands like UK’s Evile?
Yes and no. We were very excited with everything that was going on at the time. All the new thrash bands emerging out of nowhere and inspiring other bands/musicians to keep the movement going. Although bands like Evile, Warbringer, Lazarus A.D., Havok, etc. helped the scene a lot, we had a different mindset when we first put the band together. We were honestly sick and tired of the scene in Jersey.
There was a small scene for thrash metal but nothing like there is today.. back in ’05-’09 all you would ever hear around the local spots were deathcore/emo shit so that’s what really inspired us to do what we’re doing today… aside from loving the music of course.
- What are your influences? Do you feel you add something new to that mix?
I think it’s safe to say that our main influences now are Demolition Hammer, Vio-lence, Kreator, Testament and Slayer. We’ve always looked up to those bands specifically. We’re not really trying to sound like anyone else. I mean some people even say that we’re more of a mix of death and thrash metal which is also cool, I think. But in the end we’re just playing what we want to hear.
- Tell us a bit about your recently-released demo. How was the demo received by the media? Is a full length album underway?
We named the demo “Bred to Kill” after the song “Bred to Kill” which is also the very first song we wrote as a band. The demo has been a success for us so far. We all had a vision before the demo was made and I think we definitely brought that vision to life. We didn’t want to follow the trend that unfortunately, many local bands fall into by putting out any type of recording of their songs. It needed to be big.
The media has responded great to it, and we’re also fortunate enough to have hooked up with the right people that helped us push the demo out there. The full length album will be recorded this summer. We still haven’t picked a studio yet but we’re very close to it. The album will consist of 8 tracks and none of the demo songs will be on it.
- So far, you toured in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and shared the stage with bands like D.R.I and Obituary. What’s next for the band? Do you think you have a chance to make it in both Europe and the U.S?
I think that’s the big question right there haha. We’re just focused on finishing writing the album and making it as fast and aggressive as we possibly can. That’s the main goal right now. As far as the future goes, we definitely want to go on tour sometime after the album is released. I think that’s every band’s dream, to make it in Europe and the U.S. To me, it’s just one of those things that only time will tell.
Like I said, we’re just focusing on our music right now and we’re having a lot of fun along the way meeting new people, killer fans and playing with some of the bands that we’ve looked up to for years. It’s been great so far, and we’re going to take this as far as we can while hanging with some great people and making a positive difference in the scene in any way we can.
Thanks man for the interview and stay tuned for the album’s release!
- Links
