Overcast

New England metalcore pioneers Overcast, who spawned members of wildly popular outfits like Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage and Seemless, have reunited to release a compilation of re-recorded favorites (and a few new tracks to boot). Guitarist Scott Mcooe gave The Gauntlet the scoop on what's going down with the reunion.

The Gauntlet: So why did you guys decide to reunite, how did it all come together?

Scott Mcooe: Basically we've all been friends from the start, and I was jamming with Brian [Fair, vocalist] in another band called Transient. We've always kept in touch. With the whole scene turning around and, you know, metalcore, or "hardcore-tinged metal" - whatever you want to call it - pretty much coming into the forefront again, we just decided to take a stab at it again. We had toured with the idea of doing a "Greatest Hits" or a box set type thing with our old releases, and I guess it just turned from that into "Alright, lets just re-record and make it sound better than ever, and try to release it properly through a decent label." Took some time to make it happen, but it's finally good a couple years later after we re-recorded it.

The Gauntlet: How did you get Metal Blade's interest?

Scott: They just kinda came into the picture at one point. They weren't even in the picture initially and different offers that we had turned out to not be as good as they seemed and once Metal Blade came in they were serious about it and came up with the best deal that we had.

The Gauntlet: Were any of the members of the band hard to convince to do the re-recordings?

Scott: We were pretty much all into it. It all kinda started back in 2002 when we did the Metal and Hardcore Festival in New England and I guess we were all just ready for it.

The Gauntlet: So the magic was still there on stage?

Scott: Oh yea, definitely. Some of us, we've been playing different things. I was actually playing bass pretty much exclusively and I still pretty much am with Brian in Transient. He plays guitar, I play bass. It's more of a space rock kind of outfit, so it's kind of our way to channel our more mellow tastes in music. Everyone else has kept pretty busy with their respective instruments and all that. It wasn't too bad getting back into it for everybody. We're all different people now, and I guess it shows in the playing.

The Gauntlet: What have you been up to all these years, did you move into the real world after Overcast broke up?

Scott: Yea, I've been working a real job. Got married, have a kid now. I know Pete [Cortese, guitar] has got a couple boys, and the rest of the guys are obviously still doing the rock n' roll thing. So it's all making it a little tough to do it full time, but we're gonna do the best we can to promote it, and when we're all around to play some shows.

The Gauntlet: Are you guys waiting to see how successful "Reborn To Kill Again" is before you decide on making a new album?

Scott: I can't say yes or no for sure, but we've already speculated that we might give it a shot. From one day to the next you never know, but as of right now it sounds like we might as well give it a whirl, especially if this goes well. I guess it would definitely come down to if there is label interest still.

The Gauntlet: How about a national tour?

Scott: As of right now, probably not. We're just doing these shows we're doing [in New England], something else may creep up, but it's hard to say at this point.

The Gauntlet: Are you resentful at all of some of the other members success in music following the original breakup of Overcast?

Scott: I was always very proud of what they did. It was very cool for them. I don't have any regrets with what I've done.

The Gauntlet: Vincent [Bennett, vocalist] from The Acacia Strain says you were responsible for him finding Satan. How does that feel?

Scott: (Laughs) Well, we just did what we did back in the day. I guess there's a lot of people that are still psyched about it, and hopefully there will be a lot of new people that will come on board due to either researching Shadows Fall or Killswitch Engage's past, or just being ambitious metalheads that want to seek out new music. But yea that's definitely cool.

The Gauntlet: Do you think there might be an Aftershock reunion as well?

Scott: I think I possible heard through the grapevine that there might be, but I don't know if that was a confirmed source or not, so I'd say it was a possibility.

The Gauntlet: Do you still keeps tabs on the Boston metal scene?

Scott: I guess that depends on who. I still keep tabs on the worldwide scene. There's a band from Massachusetts called Frozen, they're a technical metal band and that's who comes to mind first and foremost.

The Gauntlet: Do you have a favorite record of 2008 so far?

Scott: Speaking in non-metal terms there's a band called M83 and they came out with a new album [Saturdays=Youth] and that's really good. In terms of metal I've got plenty of this year's releases. The new Opeth is pretty decent. They're always pretty good. I don't know if the new Municipal Waste album [The Art of Partying] came out this year or last year, but they're always a good time.

The Gauntlet: Tell me a little about the new songs on "Reborn To Kill Again."

Scott: The first song we're releasing is "Root Bound Apollo" and that's the more aggressive of the two. We decided to release that one right out of the gates to get something fresh out there, but very heavy and aggressive at the same time. The other one, "Reborn to Kill Again," is the more rock n' roll based track. It's kinda short and very different for us.

The Gauntlet: Do you think if you made a new album a lot of new things would find their way into Overcast's sound (i.e. more melody)?

Scott: I would hope so. I would hate to make predictions. A lot of bands do that and kind of fall flat on their face. Like with Metallica saying that they're gonna be back to their roots and, you know, it'll never happen. Are we capable of writing like we did a few years ago? I'm not real sure, but I guess we'll just go and do what feels good to us and try to write some heavy shit.

The Gauntlet: Thanks for the interview and good luck!

Scott: Thanks a lot!

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Tags:  Overcast, Scott Mcooe , Scott Mcooe, interviews

Quentin Haigh    August 05, 2008