A Conversation with Unearth Guitarist Ken Susi

If you grew up in New England and you listen to metal at all, this man needs no introduction. Ken Susi plays guitar in Mass Metal legends Unearth, and he and his band will be bringing their brand of bruising metalcore to Wally's Pub in Hampton Beach on the 19^th of this month. Ken took time out from prepping for his upcoming  tour (Which also features Chimaira, Skeletonwitch and Molotov Solution) to dish the dirt on the band's new record Darkness In the Light, his side projects, production endeavors and of course, Jimmy Eat World. A big thanks is due to Ken for taking the time out to chat with The Clock, and if you're worth your weight in 40 oz. beers you better grab their new album and catch a show on this awesome tour!

BK: So I'm just jump right in man, congratulations on Darkness In the Light, It's fantastic.

KS: Thank you very much.

It debuted very high on the charts for a metal band.

Yeah, it did really well. We were very happy with the results of that.

There some clean singing on this one, is that you?

Yeah, I did the clean singing. I've done it in the past and we kind of rekindled it and brought it back for this record.

You ever get any shit for that?

Yeah, totally.  My band always gives me shit. My own band, you know? The fans really seem to like it. But it was four or three records between this and The Oncoming Storm where I didn't sing, and that was mainly because, I don't know, there was some stuff going on with my band where they didn't want it.

I think people make too big of a deal about whether or not there's clean singing on a record. I mean, if it fits, it fits.

Well that's the thing, I've always written music part for part. And it's not like I've always written clean, bright choruses like every other single band in the world, because it seems like other bands are way more formulaic. If you listen to a song like watch it burn, it's more melodic singing versus adding just a stupid chorus.

And you can definitely sing dude, I was a big fan of the few Burn Your Wishes (Ken's side project with Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam D – Ed.) songs that came out.

Oh cool! Thank you very much man. I'm still working on that record and I'm gonna be doing an acoustic record myself, hopefully I'll be releasing that sometime around Valentine's Day. But yeah man, I appreciate that.

I was bummed that never really saw the light of day. You and Adam D. are kind of the big, signature Mass metal guitarists and you're both pretty goofy guys, I was excited to see you two in the same band.

Yeah, well, you know, Adam is doing his own thing with his band and his other side project and all the other stuff he's doing. So, you know, some times things happen.

Speaking of Adam's band, who's going to be playing drums for you on this tour (Killswitch drummer Justin Foley has recently been filling in for Unearth and played on Darkness – Ed.)?

A gentleman named Dick Pierce from Seattle. He's a really good drummer and probably the shoo-in to be a full time member.

What else has he been in?

To be honest with you, I don't know anything about what bands he's been in in the past. I know he's been in bands, I just don't know what bands.

I know personally, as a kid from New England growing up going to see metal and hardcore bands, Unearth was my gateway drug to everything. I saw you guys on an Ozzfest off date when I was a little kid and it really opened my eyes to a lot of cool stuff.

That's great, man! That was an exciting time in music for us, when everything was prosperous and even all the bands were way more, like, real, more influential bands than a lot of the stuff that's out now. I just think that there's a lot of run of the mill stuff. Everybody's doing the same thing as every other band. But back then, like, it seemed like everything was so original and so fresh.

Yeah, back when you guys and Shadows Fall and Killswitch and All That Remains and all those "Masscore" bands came out, that's my favorite time in metal in the last 15 years.

Yeah, just the bands that you named along with Lamb of God and Every Time I Die. I think we brought metal music back on the map.

And all those bands are still standing!

Yeah!

Is there anything out in western mass that youre excited about right now?

No, not really. Keep your eyes out for a side project I'm doing somewhere down the line that, uh, is sure to raise a few eyebrows.

I don't suppose you'd care to elaborate on that?

Not at this time. But I'm closing in on finishing a record that is probably the heaviest thing I've ever done, with some characters who people wouldn't expect me to play with.

I'll keep my eyes open.

Yeah, when it comes out, you'll know about it.

One of my favorite questions to ask people that I always get really cool answers from is: What is an album that you were into in high school, or growing up that Unearth fans wouldn't expect you to be into?

In high school, I was deeply rooted in metal. Early metal, like Iron Maiden and Crowbar. All these really cool local bands like Dive and Overcast that were kind of running the scene at the time. But as far as guilty pleasures, I was super into Jimmy Eat World. They were one band that blew my mind and they're still one of my favorite bands of all time. Nirvana was a huge influence on me too.