T'X: Extreme Maggot Infestation have been gigging relentlessly over the past few years establishing a loyal fan base in these, not to mention other, parts of the UK. With the new cd 'Blood, Gore & Cannibal Whores' finally surfacing would you say the new material truly has been received in the way you intended?

S: The feedback we have had so far from the new material has been awesome. That said, we aint done an aweful lot of promoting yet, due to recent lineup changes and out of band commitments.

T'X: The album was recorded in Jonny Maudling (Bal-Sagoth keyboard player’s studio ‘Waylands Forge’. Did this make the whole process easier & more relaxed than your previous release ‘Demo(lition)’?

S: Did you really have to mention that old peice of sh*t demo! Seriously though, working with Jonny was absolutely awesome, it was great working with someone who really understands metal and who really worked with us to get a sound that we were happy with. Our first demo was really rushed and the producers didn’t really know f*ck all about death metal.

We had a great laugh with Jonny and Chris during recording, the last day of recording vocals was one of the funniest days ever! P*ssed on whiskey and writing lyrics as they were recorded. Hopefully we'll have the chance to work with Jonny again when we have some more stuff to record.

T'X: Shortly after the release of 'Blood, Gore & Cannibal Whores' long-time bassist Bona Pjarren departed from the bands line-up & has now been replaced by Paul "Warlock" Brown, if I’m not mistaken. How, if at all, will this effect future 'Maggot Infestation material? Will the jazz influence still be apparent in the bass parts?

S: Well, don’t for one second imagine that we are going to turn into another generic gore grind band! All the band likes to push the boundaries, any changes in sound will just be a progression in the way that has been seen from our old stuff, to the stuff we have written recently. On top of that, Warlock is a long time fan of the band and was one of the first people to hear EMI, when it was just two of us sat in T's bedroom with a drum machine. I don’t think we are gonna change our sound too drastically now since we've found the sound we want. Saying that though, we are all looking forward to working on new stuff with Warlock and incorporating some of his influences into our sound. We have always written songs as a band, so you'll definitely hear it coming through.

T'X: "Both you & Tarkan (E.M.I Guitarist) are involved in putting extreme metal gigs on in & around Sheffield under the name of Steel City Metal (The forums of which can be found at http://www.steelcitymetal.co.uk). As I said a while back, it’s good to see bands getting off their a*s*s & organising their own gigs for themselves & dragging other local bands out of their respective garages/practise rooms & bedrooms to where other local metallers can hear the material. Also due to contacts in the past you’ve been able to bring some quite prestigious acts into Sheffield who otherwise may not have played here. Any future plans for gigs under the SCM name you’d like to promote?"

S: Well, there’s nothing planned for definite at the moment, but I’m thinking of doing something else with SCM after the summer. As far as summer is concerned, that’s gonna be spent trying to get EMI promoted as much as possible and getting as many gigs as we can. As far as SCM goes, I’ve spoke to Endless Torment and Nailed and they are both up for gigging in Sheffield, so the next gig will hopefully include those two. As long as people keep coming down and enjoying the shows we put on, Steel City Metal will keep marching on.

T'X: What are your thoughts regarding the current 'extreme metal scene' in the UK? What does being an underground extreme local act mean, if anything, to you?

S: The extreme metal scene in the UK is awesome at the moment, we have, in my opinion, some of the best bands in the world right now. There’s Desecration, Man Must Die, Gorerotted & Amputated to name just a few.
Saying that, being a local extreme metal band in Sheffield is difficult in many ways, the scene here isn’t as strong as many cities in the UK.

Everyone here seems to be into f*ck*ng indie music! The scene has been improving though, there’s a few strong local bands now, Opinicus and Bring Out Your Dead are probably my pick of the bunch and there seems to be a new thrash metal band forming every week at the moment, so hopefully we'll see something good from one or two of these too. Just waiting for Psalm to get their *rs*s in gear and reform now, those guys were f*ck*ng amazing.

T'X: So whats next for EMI? More gigging in promotion of the new release? Retreating back into the rehearsal space to create more material?

S: Taking a break from gigging at the moment to get Warlock sorted out with all the material and writing some new stuff. Reckon we will start some heavy gigging around June/July, give the new demo the promotion it deserves. We are also toying with the idea of adding a second guitarist, but only if we can find someone who fits the band properly. Next gig we got planned at the moment is the Black Eclipse Fest 2006 in Wakefield, should be killer!

T'X: Right then, that's the questions done. Any final words to the fans of Extreme Maggot Infestation's guts-f*ck*ng material or in general to those reading this ere interview?

S: Stay f*cking s*ck and keep drinking!