In a time when metal is characterized by apocalyptic doom and crust, avant-garde black metal, and technically layered death metal, a band like Humungus, who don’t take themselves too seriously and aren’t afraid if others don’t either, is truly a rare thing to come across. It’s easy to write them off at first glance as another throwback-thrash Municipal Waste clone, but if you glance for even a second longer, you will notice that the typical ascending thrash riff and simplistic drumming is absent in their music. Instead, Humungus rely on complex yet thoroughly catchy 80s metal riffs, and their rhythm section offers far more than a simple backbeat. You will also notice that they place fans on stage that are perfectly positioned to aid in their headbanging epicness--an addition that is obviously and self-consciously humorous, but also one that adds a lot to their lively stage presence. In short, Humungus--or The Humungus, as they are sometimes called now due to legal complications with a Verbal Abuse spinoff laying claim to the same name--are not a band who will fight with you for hours about how to properly classify their music, or whether they should be compared with a certain band or associated with a certain genre. But they are also not a band to blindly follow trends and churn out meaningless music.
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“People absolutely lump us together with Municipal Waste because we drink beer, we're from Richmond, and it’s metal,” says guitarist Peyton Gregory. “If people actually listened to the music, they would notice a ton of major differences. Municipal Waste is more of a crossover, or thrash, band. I would consider Humungus to be more of an 80s metal band.” And while Humungus may be a throwback in some ways, as evidenced by one of their best-known songs, “Drinkin’ A Beer,” it seems that their mission is more to play pure, unadulterated metal than to evoke specific feelings of decades past. “I've always liked the sound of classic heavy metal over all the new stuff out today,” says bassist Zach O’Carroll. “I try to incorporate elements other than just heavy metal, such as blues, classic rock, etc. My musical taste has been branching out from just diehard metal to all sorts of other stuff, which usually makes it’s way into the writing process one way or another.” “We're all just really big fans of classic heavy metal, and it's what we all relate to the most musically,” adds the band’s other guitarist, Ian Dishman. “As far as a formula goes, I don't know if we really have one. We just really like super-duper crunchy riffs that make you want to lose all control.”
Humungus was born in early 2011, when Zach met some of the other members at a show. “Ian was roommates with the girl I was dating at the time, and I met Robby [Scarce] and Jack [Bauer] at their other band, Craptain Jack [and The Shmees]'s, show at Plaza Bowl,” says Zach. “At that show, Ian was filling in on guitar since our original guitarist was M.I.A.,” says drummer Robby Scarce. “I was surprised that [Zach] liked it, because I knew Zach was in a death metal band, Antietam 1862. Zach and Ian started playing together in what would become Humungus. They asked me to play drums and I accepted and suggested that Jack be the singer. Zach found Peyton on the internet somehow or another and Peyton came to try out in my bedroom, which is where Humungus practice was for a little while.” Eventually Zach left Antietam 1862 to devote more time to the band, and the rest of the guys became more invested as well. It only took a little under a year for them to start recording, playing around Richmond frequently, and going on small tours. “I think the main reason we formed Humungus was because we all hung out and went to metal shows and saw nobody moshing or headbanging,” adds Ian. “We had to put an end to that immediately.”
When it comes to the songwriting process, Humungus are very democratic, although Zach comes up with a lot of the initial ideas for songs. “Its a fairly equal split,” he says.“I write a lot of the riffs and then jam to them with Robby. Then Peyton and Ian add dynamics and stuff like that. The songs usually change a lot as they are jammed on. Jack writes almost all the lyrics, although occasionally someone else might write a line or two.”
Humungus have been on the road quite frequently since their formation, and have some ridiculous stories to show for it. “We've done several East Coast tours, from Miami up to Boston, and this past summer we did a two-week tour to Texas and back up the coast,” says Zach. “This summer, we drove from South Carolina to Miami with a Liberty Tax trailer on the back of our van. In Columbia, we witnessed a guy drink a whole 40oz of piss. He was warned of the contents, but alcohol turns you into a badass, right? I think we may have been on Storage Wars: Austin too. I need to see if I can find the episode.” They have even more gut-curdling stories than these, from meeting a meth-crazed wannabe groupie wearing a bathing suit in Fort Worth, to exploring the cave where the movie Teeth was filmed in Austin, as well as some that are lost completely to the obscurity of beer-fogged memory, such as their entire stay in New Orleans. But clearly it is all in good fun. No charges have been filed--at least, not yet.
“We just released a 7" vinyl EP on Forcefield Records, and we are planning on a full length sometime in the spring or summer, hopefully,” says Zach. “We are currently working on finishing up some new songs for it. We have joked around with the name Mega-Hevy.” The 7” featured the songs “Shark Castle” and “Drinkin’ A Beer,” which will both appear on the full-length album, and they filmed a video for “Drinkin’ A Beer” in Peyton’s basement, with cameos from lots of fans. They are thrilled to have hooked up with favorite local metal label Forcefield, who approached them late last year about releasing a record. “[Forcefield founder] Tim Harwich has really hooked us up and looked out for us, and it's awesome to be a part of the Forcefield family,” says Zach. They are also planning a tour this summer that will hopefully venture farther north or out to the West Coast.
Overall, although Humungus make it a point to have a lighthearted attitude about metal and the music they make, they strongly appreciate the local scene and all the support they have received since their inception. “I thought everyone would hate us when we first started,” admits Ian, who was afraid local fans that lean more towards doom and blackened death metal would scoff at their antics. Luckily, that wasn’t the case. Not only were they received well at shows, they have been given multiple opportunities to tour, and now have a local record deal. “I just want to take the time to state how thankful we are for everyone in Richmond's support for us ever since we started in 2011,” he adds. “It really is a privilege to be a part of this community and play for the all of the awesome people in it (you know who you are) and we thank you.” Look out for much more beer-drinking, hair-swinging debauchery in the coming year!