Frontmen explain why deathcore is the best-core on the Carry The Flame Tour

Roll up your sleeves and ball up your fists: The Carry The Flame tour begins Feb. 22 in AP’s hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, and ends exactly one month later in Tampa, with a steel-melting lineup of Emmure, Fit For A King, Fit For An Autopsy, After The Burial and Invent, Animate. To celebrate this travelling hell-fire roadshow, we asked all of the throat-shearers from these bands about the particular brand of craziness they cultivate on the road. From their choices in road food to what horrors occur in the privacy of their bunks, these dudes on this tour are fearless, fun and fuk’n insane. But don’t take our word for it…

We're excited to announce that @aftertheburial is headlining the #CarryTheFlame tour!
Tix go on sale this Friday at: https://t.co/5IaQ4OtP4F pic.twitter.com/BL5A0tCC3L

— Sumerian Records (@SumerianRecords) December 13, 2016

If you could be sponsored by three food chains across the U.S., who would they be?

FRANKIE PALMERI, EMMURE: Taco Bell, Taco Bell and Taco Bell.

PAT SHERIDAN, FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY: That's easy: Starbucks, Whole Foods and Nando’s.

RYAN KIRBY, FIT FOR A KING: Zaxby's, Whataburger, and Pei Wei.

BEN ENGLISH, INVENT, ANIMATE: Chipotle, Chick-Fil-A and Whole Foods. (Does that count?)

ANTHONY NOTARMASO, AFTER THE BURIAL: In-N-Out, Buffalo Wild Wings and Sheetz. And no, Wawa is not better than Sheetz, you old-ass, porridge-eating grandpa.

Worst state to play? Country you never want to set foot in again?

PALMERI: Alabama and Australia.

SHERIDAN: I think “worst state” is debatable, because there is usually a good place in every state. I can tell you the worst show I have ever played was in West Virginia. The venue looked like it was blown up and then put back together, half the rooms had dirt floors—crazy. A country I never want to set foot in? I love traveling, so I honestly don't have an answer for that.

KIRBY: Montana. The state is gorgeous, but when you are driving down icy mountains, it’s awful. And a country I wouldn't mind avoiding would have to be North Korea, because…yeah.

ENGLISH: Hmm, I don't really want to speak ill of any state. However, as far as I'm concerned, we could never play another show in Montana again and I would be fine with that. Beautiful state though, with no sales tax! As a band, we've only been to Canada thus far, and I love that place, so I'll have to pass on this one.

NOTARMASO: Califor…SIKE! West side! Country you never want to set foot in again? So far every place has been cool to us; as long as people want to see us, I'm happy to be there.

PALMERI: She don't.

SHERIDAN: Well, that has been a long road. She doesn't really get it, but the more we have grown and gotten to do as a band, the more she sees what we are trying to do. She’s coming around. Love you, Mom.

KIRBY: She likes when we sing.

ENGLISH: Believe it or not, my sweet mother isn't really a heavy music connoisseur, but what she's heard, she’s said it “sounds like we really know what we are doing,” so she's a fan.

Fanboy out for a minute: Who would be your dream band to tour with?

PALMERI: Limp Bizkit is the only band I want to tour with.

SHERIDAN: Well, I'm gonna make this answer a two-parter. Meshuggah is for sure a band I need to tour with. They sound insane live and the music really moves me personally. It would be a lot of pressure to play as well as we could. Sometimes that is what you need to take the next step.

The second part is that there is not a band we won't tour with. You gain a lot from touring with different bands, and if there is a bigger band that is willing to give us a shot to do what we do, and learn what we can from being on the road with them, we’re down.

KIRBY: Linkin Park!

ENGLISH: I feel like a broken record, but my answer in the heavy music realm will always stay the same: I would absolutely be beside myself to tour with Underoath and I'll keep grinding toward that dream. Anything could happen.

NOTARMASO: Thrice, doesn't make sense but they are my favorite band so eat my farts.

Is life as crazy offstage as it is onstage?

PALMERI: Absolutely not.

SHERIDAN: I guess it depends on what your definition of crazy is. I'm a dad and a husband. When I'm not touring, I'm tattooing and trying to grow as a player. Joe [Badolato, vocals] is a barber, is working on his own business and has a girlfriend. Josean [Orta, drums] is a body piercer and also has a lady at home. Tim [Howley, guitar] has a small company he is trying to grow (tombstone hardware), Blue [Spinazola, bass] drives trucks and has a girl. Will [Putney, guitar] is a producer/engineer, owns a studio, has a record label, management company and is also married. So yeah, it's crazy, but a different kind of crazy. Trying to have a band, and be successful is not what it used to be. As a touring metal guy, the pay grade is less than workable for real life, so it’s a hustle. Gotta work the angles. It’s not as cool as the world thinks it is.

KIRBY: My life is as crazy as eating a sandwich for lunch when I am offstage.

ENGLISH: Yes, for sure. Sometimes it feels as if being onstage is a break from all the ruckus that life brings. Even though onstage life is loud, crazy and sometimes violent, I can forget about everything for that half hour and that's peaceful to me in a lot of ways.

NOTARMASO: I'm pretty mellow, honestly. Onstage, I turn into someone else for a bit: Anthony from After The Burial. Offstage, I'm just Anthony.

Anybody already confused about FFAK and FFAA billed back to back?

PALMERI: Did we just become best friends?

SHERIDAN: Honestly, it was only a matter of time. The FFAK guys are great dudes. I got a chance to chat with them while they were on tour with Every Time I Die. We met before that, but it was the first time we all had a chance to talk. Turns out they are into what we do, and we are into what they do. So far, we have had some people make a few jokes, but nothing major. I think it’s gonna be a great time and a good tour for all of us. Plus the jokes will be awesome!

KIRBY: I have had some people ask if there is going to be some beef between us, but I love their music too much for that.

ENGLISH: It was bound to happen eventually, so I'm sure some people will get confused. I'm personally just excited to get to watch those two insane bands back-to-back each night.

NOTARMASO: Shit, I was confused. People starting calling the tour “Fit For A Tour.”

Who's going to be your right-hand man/best buddy on this tour?

PALMERI: The only person that has my back in this fucked-up world is me.

SHERIDAN: You trying to get me in trouble with this question? Dudes get jelly, man!  

KIRBY: Probably one of the guys from Invent, Animate.

ENGLISH: It's gotta be one of the fellow Texas boys in Fit For A King. While we haven't toured with them yet, we're all friends already and have played a few shows together, so I'm excited to do some hoodrat things with those boys. Jared [Easterling, drums] and Tuck [O’Leary, clean vocals/bass] are definitely the ones you gotta keep your eye on.

NOTARMASO: We're all pretty close; probably whoever wants to get their ass whooped in NHL 17 every night on our rig.

What do you do in your bunk that you definitely wouldn't want to be caught dead doing?

PALMERI: You mean, besides getting caught sifting through Pornhub with a handful of Sicilian pepperoni between my knuckles? Shit, I don't know. All there is to do in there is sleep.

SHERIDAN: There isn't much I do that everyone else in the world doesn't do, and I'm not very shy.

KIRBY: Having a dance party to “Friday” by Rebecca Black.

ENGLISH: We're a pretty open band, so it would probably be taking an unironic selfie. I would get called out, for sure.

NOTARMASO: Well, I'm sure some dirty-minded people will go straight to the obvious, but that's not me. I sleep in my bunk and that's about it unless my fiancé is out with me on the road, then I would die a happy man!

When you start to feel sick on tour, how do you combat it ASAP?

PALMERI: Well, I guess that all depends on your symptoms. In general, the best thing you can do when you are sick on the road as a performer is to get onstage and sweat that shit out.

SHERIDAN: Truthfully, most times when you get sick on tour there is zero stopping it. Drink water, take meds, eat well, sleep a lot. That’s it.

KIRBY: Lots and lots of sleep, minimal talking and lots of water.

ENGLISH: Throat Kote tea with honey, vitamin C, stop eating like an idiot and pop some NyQuil to try and sleep it off. It hasn't failed me yet.

NOTARMASO: Vitamin C, water. Water is key: I make sure right after a set, I drink about two or three bottles. Otherwise the next day, you can feel your brain rattle around when you headbang.

Favorite way to spend a day off that doesn't involve driving 12 hours?

PALMERI: Stoned, next to a waterfall, surrounded by kittens.

SHERIDAN: Sleep, a good home-cooked meal and going to a movie.

KIRBY: Laying on a bed in a hotel or going out to a movie with the boys.

ENGLISH: Invent loves to hike. Sometimes we even hike on days that we don't have off and completely wear ourselves before a show. We really like to push our bodies to the physical limit and see how tired and miserable we can become before we perform.

NOTARMASO: Going to the movies! Give me some popcorn and an Icee!

Weirdest thing a fan has ever said to you?

PALMERI: Shit, I don't know. People say dumb shit when they are nervous, but I tend not to really download any of it.

SHERIDAN: Man, that’s a hard one to answer, so many crazy things have been said in my presence. I can tell you the weirdest thing that has ever been done to me while playing: A couple tours back, a dude kissed my right hand while I was playing the solo in “Still We Destroy.” There is a little legato run, and my right hand just hangs for a sec. Dude reached up and kissed me on the hand. Still not sure about that but hey, I appreciate you too, bud. Thanks for the support!

KIRBY: “Can we switch lives?”

ENGLISH: I've heard some weird things in just two years of touring, but I think “You have to have the most beautiful mouth” takes the cake. Of course, that was in Florida…

NOTARMASO: “Sign my tits!” It was a dude.