Oncology Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

Hi there!! Firstly thanks for taking the time to review the album and of course this interview. Oncology was initially started as a side project to our main band at the time, when myself and Aaron (who has since left the band) wanted to play something a lot faster ,more technical and not be limited by speed. We were fed up being told by the drummer of our main band to "slow down". I had started learning to program drums in about 2011/2012 and it took me a while to get anywhere near half decent but when I did, I wrote 5 drum tracks and with those tracks, we wrote music to those. This was kinda different for us, as writing like this was back to front as normally it's the guitar that dictates where the track is going to go. To put a date on it, Oncology became properly active in 2014 and from 2014-2016 ,we spent time writing and rehearsing none stop and getting really tight. Bass players came and went in this period as did vocalists, none of which filling the role well. Until Geoff came along, who is from Weymouth, uk. Geoff is well seasoned having had his own project , Atonement and having featured with many other bands. Geoff blew us away with his vocals and still continues to do so to this day! I still listen to his vox on the album and think "fuckin right!!" We had one rehearsal with Geoff with no PA and practice amps then we pretty much went out and played 9 shows in Ireland, uk and Europe.

2.How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recordings?

A blend of the old school and the new school I guess! You can definitely hear influences from old Suffocation, Internal Bleeding and Pyrexia but you can also hear influence from Disavowed and Pyaemia but to name a few. We wear our influences on our sleeves!

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

We tread on territory to do with atheism, the apocalypse, Armageddon - revelations kinda stuff I guess.

4.I know that the band name comes from the study and treatment of tumors, how does this name fit in with the musical style that you play?

Do you know how hard it is to find a band name that isn't taken?!? Haha if I thought of a band name , I'd search the said word and add "band" to see if it came up. Nearly all of them did! We wanted a name that wasn't gory or offensive but I wanted a name that made you stop in your tracks but brutal at the same time. The majority of folk don't know what it is! The name definitely strikes fear into people. Let's face it- cancer strikes fear into people, the name plays on that. Pretty grim but fuck it :)

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

My personal favourite to date was the London date of the Internal Suffering/Omnipotent Hysteria/Oncology uk/Europe tour. The date also had Laceration on the bill which was really cool to see. The crowd was great, very energetic and seemed really into all the bands. I met loads of people I had spoken to online for along time that day too so that was excellent. Our stage show is fairly full throttle :)

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

Next booked show is Uk slam fest in September as we're undergoing some changes :)
We've a new guitarist, Ricky, who is learning the material at present. We've also got a new bass player jamming out material too who also plays in another fantastic band. At present I can't reveal the details on that as we've not announced it yet so shhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

Dare I say, we've another few things under wraps but more on that at another time.
As for shows, we'll see what comes our way as things develop with all the new additions.

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of brutal death metal?

Yeah it's been pretty good. New folk continue to discover our music which is cool and all feedback has been positive. We obviously hope it continues :) On the grand scheme of things, were still a very young band, having only been in existence for 3 years this year! So we're glad our music continues to be well received. The tour that we did was fantastic for us as it helped get our music out there, and our album came out the first day of it so that was cool too.


8.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?

Geoff has been playing a lot of shows with Chainsaw Castration on guitar and he's been trying to evolve Atonement too into a bigger band rather than just one man band. I, when I'm not doing Oncology, have a one man slam project called Debridement which I've just released a new Ep with. Ricky does a lot of session stuff by means of solos and shreddy guitar things.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

We're writing new material as we speak! It's pretty intense! Haha probably still trying to rip off Suffocation/internal bleeding/Pyrexia riffs. The band will always have these influences however people have commented saying we sound like a load of other cool bands. That's all awesome but for me when I'm playing guitar, I'm generally thinking those bands. But intensity will always be my general goal over all.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

I've probably hit the influences one up enough already but these days I'm listening to the new Desecrate the faith cd and Face of oblivion which are my latest purchases.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

I like to lift weights and kinda sorta try to look after myself. I'm 35 and not getting any younger lol



12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks for the interview and review of our cd once again. We really appreciate it. For more info go to www.facebook.com/oncologyband you'll be hearing from us soon enough. Thanks :)