Autona.com recently spoke to THE AGONIST vocalist Alissa White-Gluz . An excerpt appears below:

Q: Your music is extreme and even the song titles are an indicator for also extreme and honest lyrics: 'Born Dead, Buried Alive' or 'Business Suits And Combat Boots'. What are your political stands towards the international crisis, for example in the Middle East?

Alissa: "I have talks and discussions with one of my co-workers about this all the time, since he is Muslim and I was raised Jewish. I think this may be one of the oldest ongoing conflicts in history. It is such a shame that we can't acknowledge each other's worth and value without looking at race and religion and the need for power and domination and land. I can't say that I agree with the war or American presence there, however I do think the land is self-destructing. There are so many different plots and reasons behind America's invasion, yet I rarely hear anyone speak of the real reason the conflict exists. It is easy to say the US is invading a country who's defences are already exhausted to exploit oil resources or to gain control over their weapons manufacturing and administration, but shouldn't the UN's goal be to resolve the conflict and implicate new law? I guess that is easier said than done and that they have been attempting to administer new law to a certain extent. I can say 'should, should, should' all day but that doesn't mean 'will do.'

I think that war has just become too quick an option... that countries are giving up on more human resolutions too easily. I mean, war means a huge percentage of the National budget, so many soldiers' lives and the effect on their families, civilian casualties, it is not something to be taken lightly. War should never be considered, unless ALL other options are 100000% ruled out. I know that doesn't totally answer your question in a direct sense but it is definitely an emotional response! You would think we would learn from our mistakes ... I lost most of my family in the Holocaust and I can't even fathom how such a genocide came to exist. Either the powers that be know exactly what is going on and allow it to for certain reasons (international relations, financial gain etc.) or they are simply just as powerless as we feel we are in the face of the masses. People have to start thinking with their brains and their hearts instead of their social conditioning."

Go to this location for th ecomplete interview.