Affliction-IL
Affliction plays powerful heavy metal music fusing intricate riffs with diverse yet punishing vocals.
Tell me about your history? How did you get where you are now?
Affliction is a metal band based out of the suburbs of Chicago. The band originally started around 1999 when everyone met at work and discovered that they all like the same metal bands.
Tom, who also plays in the band Worwyk, had been working on some new riffs and Darren mentioned he had some riff ideas as well. So they started to write songs together and eventually recorded everything in Tom's basement studio (Schnozz Studios).
Lyle, who is also a drummer, heard the tunes and wanted to participate, but the songs were already recorded using drum samples and a drum machine. However, Lyle still wanted to contribute and since he possessed a strong voice, he became the Affliction vocalist.
On the first Affliction CD "My Rotting Place", some of the vocals were handled by Greg Babiak, another friend from work. Greg, who comes from a broad musical background, heard some rough mixes of the tunes and asked if he could possibly sing on some of the songs. Since two of the tracks were still without vocals, Greg was given the opportunity to sing. His vocals can be heard on Silent Torture, plus the bonus track.
Affliction's sound is based in traditional metal, which should come as no surprise since the entire band is heavily influenced by the 80's melodic, thrash and death metal styles. Although traditional metal is not very trendy these days, Affliction prefers to write tunes based on the music they love, not what is popular or "hot".
Have you performed live in front of an audience? Any special memories?
No, we do not play live. We are mainly into writing, recording, and packaging good music as a hobby. If we were to get a lot of interest maybe we could put a live band line-up together, but since it is just the three of us, we do not play live. We have always talked about playing a tune live as a “b-side” for an album, so maybe in the future we will do this.
Your musical influences
Megadeth, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Testament, Blue Murder