Interview for DEATHTHRASHER MAGAZINE by ARMANDO MUTILATOR : 

Hi man, sorry it took so long, but finally here are the answers to your interview. I've been so fucking busy I couldn't finish them till now, sorry!

Hope everything's cool!
Dave.

DT: Which one do you think is the best BENEDICTION album with DAVE INGRAM?.
Dave Hunt : Personally, "Transcend the Rubicon" because that was the first BENEDICTION album I heard. I'm not sure the rest of the band would agree with me, but that's the one I'll always remember hearing.

DT: What do you think of DAVE INGRAM's work with BENEDICTION?.
Dave Hunt : Again, personally, I think the earlier stuff was better. That's not because the later stuff wasn't good - "Grind Bastard" is some of the band's finest work if you ask me, but it's just that the vocal style from "The Dreams You Dread" on wasn't really my thing.

DT: Is DAVE INGRAM a friend of yours?.
Dave Hunt : DAVE Moved to Denmark and left the band, so it's pretty hard to be friends with someone who's not in the band and lives in a different country! I wouldn't say there were any hard feelings though.

DT: Nowadays, are you friends with the guys of BOLT THROWER?.
Dave Hunt : We did a tour in 2002 with BOLT THROWER and it was great. There's been a relationship between the two bands for a long, long time. They're not people we bump into in the pub every week, but they're good guys who know what they're doing. I think we'd certainly go for the chance to go away with them again - and if you can stand to get along with someone on a tour bus for a month you must get on with them pretty well!

DT: Do you like STAR WARS?.
Dave Hunt : Not really. There's a lot of imagination there and the idea of political intrigue on a grand scale coupled with personal tragedy is interesting, but as a whole it's a bit facile. Seems a bit like a kids' version of something good.

DT: Which one do you think is your best work with BENEDICTION?.
Dave Hunt : My best work is "Organised Chaos" - it's the only album I've done with BENEDICTION!

DT: "The Dreams you dread" (Demo '89) is a classic gem?. 
Dave Hunt : It's very old! I don't think anyone in BENEDICTION still has a copy of it, so if anyone out there has one... If you think about it rationally it probably sounds like a muffled bag of nails, but I know at the time that the band were dead proud, and people on the underground certainly seemed to like it. Tape trading, that was what it was all about.

DT: What were the reasons for MARK "BARNEY" GREENWAY and DAVE INGRAM to leave BENEDICTION?.
Dave Hunt : BARNEY wanted to concentrate on the blast beat grind thing he had going on with NAPALM. Good luck to him, he's done well with it and NAPALM are a great band. BOLT THROWER are also a great band. DAVE INGRAM left BENEDICTION saying he wasn't interested in working with another band, but he was. He already had plans to work with BOLT THROWER and I think he figured he would get on better with the people in that band. It's probably like it for a lot of bands, but I know for a fact that being in BENEDICTION, especially out on tour, can be a bit intense. If you're the right sort of guy for the job you'll be ok, but it's a bad place to be if you're not into it. And I can understand someone eventually deciding that another group of people might suit them better.

DT: Do you like the old Heavy Metal?.
Dave Hunt : Of course!

DT: What can you tell me about Punks & Skinheads?.
Dave Hunt : Punks tend to have strange coloured spiky hair while Skinheads tend to be bald. What else do you want to know?

DT: Do you like bands like SEX PISTOLS, THE EXPLOITED, CHAOS UK and VARUKERS?.
Dave Hunt : Yes. There's a bit of a punk influence in BENEDICTION. It's obviously a Metal band, but we've always been around Punk and Punks, and MICKEY who we've got playing bass now is a Punk - his favourite music is the RAMONES. I think where the influence comes from musically is Hardcore Punk like DISCHARGE etc.

DT: PC or MACINTOSH?.
Dave Hunt : PC. People who use Macs go on about how wonderful they are, but I'm used to PCs and I'm sticking with them!

DT: What do you think about KELLY OSBOURNE?.
Dave Hunt : Seems like she can occasionally be reasonably normal, but the rest of the time there's a bit too much or the attention grabbing brat about her for my tastes.

DT: The Birmingham is the most powerful Grind / Death Underground Scene in the world?.
Dave Hunt : Really? Why? There are some pretty great bands who've come from round here.

DT: What do you know about Peruvian Scene? (Magazines, Bands).
Dave Hunt : Absolutely nothing. It's bad I know, but we don't get to hear much about what's going on in Peru over here. It'd be great if there was more international information. Your part of the world is well known over here for how crazy the fans are and how passionate the people are about music, but we still don't get to hear very much about the scene there. Same with Asia, I occasionally get email from Indonesia and places like that and it sounds like there's a lot happening that we in Europe often don't know about! We need more!

DT: What can you tell me about "Organized Chaos""?.
Dave Hunt : Well personally it was my first recording with the band so I'm proud to have been on it. We were all really pleased with how it turned out, there are some really great tracks on there that we love playing live. Some fans would prefer it if we re-released Subconscious Terror every year but with the newer stuff I like it because it's 100% BENEDICTION but has some interesting things thrown in there too.

DT: Your fave english food?.
Dave Hunt : Probably curry. Curry might be Indian food, but here in Birmingham we have some of the best Indian restaurants around. Plus I've got a cold at the moment so I need something spicy so that I can taste it! Either that or a full English breakfast - sausages, bacon, eggs, tomatoes, beans, black pudding, fried bread, mushrooms, bread and butter, mug of tea. Can't beat that!

DT: Do you know about "MACHU PICCHU" ruins & "NAZCA´S lines"?.
Dave Hunt : Machu Picchu looks incredible from the pictures, it would be amazing to be able to visit. Don't know too much about Nazca's lines but the whole of the cultural history of that part of the world is fascinating. It's a shame the we often only see it in the occasional documentary on TV. Living over there must be very interesting.

DT: Do you like the Norwegian Black Metal?.
Dave Hunt : Personally yes. I don't think the rest of BENEDICTION do very much, they think it's silly. 'Panda Metal' they call it, because of the face paint some bands wear. But I've got ANAAL NATHRAKH, which started out like Black Metal, so I have a link to that music. Maybe it's an age thing...

DT: Are you friends with KARL WILLETS?.
Dave Hunt : Nope, never met the guy. Great stuff he did with BOLT THROWER though. I think after he left BOLT THROWER he went to university to study archaeology or something like that.

DT: Your future plans?.
Dave Hunt : We have just done a small tour and a couple of festivals in Europe with DIVINE EMPIRE and MASTER plus a few others, and now - or at least after With Full Force in July - we're looking to write some new material for a new album early next year and then get out on tour. First of all into eastern Europe, then hopefully we'd like to get to play in South America and Japan.

DT: Any last comments to the readers of DEATHTHRASHER MAGAZINE?.
Dave Hunt : Thanks. 16-odd years and BENEDICTION is still alive. The band has been alive so long for one reason - the fans. So if we can still have a blast making this music because there are people out there having a blast listening to it then there's only 1 thing we can say - cheers! Hope to see you on the road soon!