Californian-based progressive death metal band WITH PASSION have completed work on their sophomore Earache release, What We See When We Shut Our Eyes and are thick in the fray of planning a supporting 2007 US tour. Earache recently conducted a comprehensive interview with the band which includes Fidel Campos – lead vocals, Gregory Donnelly - guitar, Jeffrey Morgan – drums, Michael Nordeen – bass and John Abernathy - guitar. A few excerpts follow:

Earache: How would you describe your sound? What sets you apart from other bands in the genre?

Fidel: "Technical melodic metal. We try to come across as original as possible and try not to be as off the wall as most bands are trying to do these days."

Jeff: "I guess I would call it fairly technical, melodic death metal-core-ish. You can definitely hear influence from other bands in our music, but I can’t think of any other band that puts it all together in quite the same style that we do."

Mike: "I would definitely say technical melodic metal. I believe what sets us apart is that we don’t try to go for just any one thing as far as our sound or crowd. We love music, and we love to play music. I think that translates well from how we write our music to how we perform live."

John: "We basically write what we want to write, with a focus on technicality and high energy in every song. I think part of what sets us apart from other bands in the genre is we put a bit of video game music influence in our songs."

Earache: The music is continuously tight! What is the band’s musical background?

Fidel: "It really varies from all spectrums of music."

Jeff: "I think pretty much every member comes from a completely different musical background. We all share some similar musical interests, but I think the diversity helps add more dynamics to our sound."

Mike: "Everyone listens to everything. And we really mean it. I’m not even going to attempt to list the bands and artists that we all listen to. On the road the tour van is like a listening station at a record store."

John: "Well as far as our musical taste, yes we all listen to a variety of music. If you are asking about the background of our music training, we are all self taught musicians pretty much. I personally just grew up learning PANTERA, SLAYER and METALLICA riffs and solos on my own, then just kind of progressed from there to learning sweeps and other more technical shredding skills."

Earache: What do you think the current state of music is? How do you plan to bring your sophomore album to the masses in such an oversaturated market?

Fidel: "The state of music is more image than the satisfaction of making good music. We plan on touring and promoting are asses off with the help of you fine people. Make people listen."

Jeff: "I think there is definitely a trend in metal and hardcore right now and I think we teeter on the edge of it. I just hope that our music has a unique enough angle to it to make it stand out. As far as getting our album to the masses, I guess we just plan to tour as much as possible and get our music out to anyone and everyone who will give us a chance."

Mike: "The current state of music is the same as it always is. It moves in cycles and waves. Right now, the type of music we play is marketable. I believe that this good timing for our music to be getting out there. We plan on being on the road in support of this album as much as we can. I think that the owner of Relapse Records said it best in regards to Mastodon. I don’t remember the exact phrase, but something along the lines of there is a direct correlation between bands that tour the most and successful bands. Saturated market or not - we are going to tour often, and we are going to get your attention."

John: "Yeah, basically what the other guys said, we are just going to tour as much as humanly possible. We love touring. It’s like hanging out with your best friends and partying 24/7, and playing music, so fuck it, why not stay on the road forever especially with a new album to promote."