It’s been a long time since a band has come along that has this level of raw brutality, technical virtuosity and heaviness, yet the same mass-appeal melodics that landed bands such as Killswitch Engage as the new age modern icons.

Ex-Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares started working on Divine Heresy back in 2002, at which point he set out to find the best musicians around to join him. With his other bands, Brujería and Asesino, demanding much of his attention, the guitarist said he’d come up with riffs here and there and stockpile them for Divine Heresy’s eventual LP. Things went into full swing in 2003, when Cazares met Tim Yeung, who was on tour with Nile at the time.

“We exchanged numbers and kept in touch, but he was busy, and I kept writing songs with a drum machine and with other drummers,” Cazares explained. “It wasn’t until around 2005 when Tim moved to L.A. that I was like, ‘OK — I need to buckle down and take this seriously and really do it.’ So, me and Tim started jamming together in 2005, and whenever we had time, we’d get together and write songs.”

With a little help from Century Media founder Robert Kampf, Cazares eventually found the perfect singer for Divine Heresy: Tommy Vext. “We sent him over some CDs of the music, and he went to the studio and recorded vocals and sent it back. I heard it and knew he was the guy — I needed to work with this guy. I wanted a drummer that could take the music to the next level and be diversified. I wanted the singer to be the same way — scream, sing, everything. And these guys are exactly what I was looking for.”

Cazares played the bass tracks on the recently released album, but he brought in former Nile bassist Joe Payne to tour with the band and collaborate on future recordings. Cazares said working on the disc — an incredibly brutal exercise in death-metal aggression.

“I’ve been trying to work on this project for four years or so, and I just didn’t have the time. I was doing Brujeria, Asesino, and the Roadrunner All-Stars, and I wanted to come back and do a world-wide band.” explains Cazares” “Whereas other bands I was doing like Brujeria and Asesino were somewhat world-wide bands, but really were more successful in other countries. Also, these are bands with lyrics all sung in Spanish, which makes it harder to reach out to everybody. I wanted to do something that would reach to everybody and be a world-wide touring band.”

Dino is quick to point out the rock and roll lifestyle is not as it seems – in particular – making music videos isn’t always as glamorous as you might imagine. In fact, sometimes it can be downright nauseating.

Failed Creation — the first single from Divine Heresy’s inaugural LP, Bleed the Fifth — then you no doubt recognized Cazares. But what you didn’t see was drummer Tim Yeung and bassist Joe Payne losing their lunches — that footage was left out of the clip for obvious reasons.

“We’d filmed it out in the Salton Sea,” Cazares explained, referring to the inland saline lake located in California’s Colorado Desert. The band partnered with director Christoffer “Salzy” Salzgeber (*Damageplan,* Soulfly) for the clip. “Back in the ‘30s, the Colorado River overflowed … into this basin, creating this huge gigantic lake in California. During the ‘50s, it used to be a tourist spot — you’d go there, park your camper and go swimming in the lake.”

Not anymore, though. Over the years, sewage and industrial waste have contaminated the Salton Sea, killing thousands upon thousands of fish. The sand around the lake is actually composed of crushed fish skeletons — very metal. Linkin Park shot their Minutes to Midnight LP cover there too.

“Everyone was throwing up and sick, because the smell in this place is horrible,” Cazares said. The area around the lake is populated by abandoned hotels and houses, but some still call the place home — “Weird people,” the guitarist said, “like The Hills Have Eyes -weird.”
The smell was so powerful that, on at least a few occasions, filming had to be stopped so members of the band and crew could excuse themselves.

“At one point, you see Joe walking off-camera, and the camera follows him, and he just starts throwing up,” Cazares said. “And then Tim, he’s playing, and you see him stand up from the drum kit, and he starts throwing up.” Cazares said he wanted to keep the cookie-tossing in the video and hopes Divine Heresy will one day include it as a DVD bonus feature.

“I really enjoy doing metal music, and that’s what in my heart, so that’s what I’m going to do,” he said. “I can’t really write pop songs with a drummer like Tim Yeung. I have learned from working with these guys, and my playing’s gotten more technical, more musical. ... I have chosen the right musicians, to explore more styles, if I wanted to. The main thing when I write songs is, I try to make them as catchy and memorable as possible.”

The band has only played a few live shows together but plans to kick off its first tour this month in Mexico. After that, Divine Heresy will head out with Static-X and Shadows Fall for a tour that runs through much of the fall and early winter. Then they’ll join Chimaira on the road for a trek that will keep them busy until Christmas. In early 2008, the band will head back out on the road, but the guitarist didn’t reveal with whom. Cazares said the band does plan on playing some Fear Factory material during its sets — even though he has no love for his former band.

“In the long run, I believe I came out the winner, and I feel that they have bastardized the name, and it’s a completely different band, different style,” he said of the group, which is carrying on despite Cazares’ departure in 2002. “I definitely carried the passion in that band, and my riffs, my style, they were very distinctive. I don’t regret anything I created in Fear Factory whatsoever. It will be part of my memory for the rest of my life. I believe I am continuing the legacy and keeping this metal torch alive and bringing it back with Divine Heresy. You can feel the hunger and passion in Divine Heresy, which I believe Fear Factory has been missing, and is still missing to this day.”

“Divine Heresy will be a band that will develop into something even greater, the more input these guys have and the more we all start playing together, and the more we get out on the road, living it, breathing for it,” he continued. “I think the sophomore LP will be something massive.”

Divine Heresy’s debut offering Bleed the Fifth is out now on RoadRunner Records.