Hate Burns Brightest: (L to R) Vince Williams, Rory Hacker, Mark Talley, Ashton Blythe, Taylor Clifford.

When Blood Of Wecz finally elected to hang up their collective plectrum almost two years ago, many of the members were of the mind that a "break" was the most pressing matter on the agenda for everyone concerned. With Scott H faking the theft of his own life, on the back of the infamous firing of Alex P from the band, members who were less than "confrontational" would find it harder than anyone else to adjust to the stress caused and welcomed the - almost - amicable split with open arms.

Enter Mark Talley. The only American ever to grace a Blood Of Wecz line up in any of its many of forms over the years, Talley was the "noob" of the death metal titans, having spent only the last three years, and only two albums as a fully fledged member. His induction had taken place merely weeks before the explosive showdown between Alex P, and Scott H, and almost caused the guitarist to sling his trademark Gibson to the floor on the spot.

"Imagine, if you will, that you had never had a fight in your life, and then your sat in the cramped conditions of a tour bus, looking at one of the biggest dudes you've ever seen in your life threatening to rip the head off of a guy who's like half his size but, to his immense credit, was not backing down," Talley remembers.

"It was the single most frightening moment of my life, and I think, even after Alex had gone, life in BoW was never quite the same for me. I mean sure, we had some successful records, and we won a battle of the bands contest, but dammit, I was fucking stressed for most of the three years that followed. I could barely eat without keeping one eye on everyone all around.

"I just hate confrontation, and trying to keep calm and serenity on the bus stressed me out. So when Wecz split, getting back into the music business right away was not an option for me. I retired to Portland, Oregon for the last two years, and I took up painting. I also went to college and learned practical music theory, which I think has made me into a much better songwriter as well. I feel so much more prepared now. I'm like a builder with a full belt of tools. And I feel like its time."

For Mark Talley, time to refresh and recharge has patiently turned him into a writing machine. He claims to have written "around 50 or 60 pretty fully fledged songs" in the last few months, and with something like that behind him, and the itch to get back to what he wants to do, nothing was going to get in his way. But something just wasn't right.

"I just had to reform a band, you know? I miss it. People were all around me in college, and I formed a few bands there. But everything felt sterile. I mean, we had all these guys who were amazing musicians, but they just...lacked a spark. Creative as hell, and so technically gifted. It's like...have you ever heard Obscura? It sounds...just too perfectly formed if you catch me? Nothing feels quite organic about, it's almost "machine made" because it's so correct technically."

To inject a "spark" to proceedings, Mark Talley knew of only one man with the rawness and desire to make an impact like he required. Over the years, he had worked with people who had learned patterns, timing, real methods of double kick and all sorts of proper theory. But none of them worked. Only one man could deliver the energy and attitude Talley so badly needed.

"I just like to hit stuff fucking hard and often," admits Ashton Blythe, as he puffs, bleary eyed, on a bong, sitting nonchalantly on a sofa as if he were partaking in an innocent Earl Gray.

Although their time in Blood Of Wecz had overlapped only by a few weeks, Mark Talley, a long time fan of the band before he joined, had long been in admiration of the drumming prowess of Ashton Blythe. Blythe was a founding member of the band, but departed "to go and get fucked up by myself" just after the departure of Alex P. He has long held the opinion that his leaving was not a consequence of the fight, and it was merely a coincidence that he had decided to go on a haze filled journey of discovery and green coloured clouds at the same time. However, when the time was right, he knew he had to come back.

"I still don't know why Mark called me," the percussionist muses through a wave of smoke, "I mean, he worked with Santi [Ashton's replacement in Blood Of Wecz] for a few years. Fuck knows why he chose me.

"Genuinely, I feel like I have no real talent on the drums. I know nothing about any sort of technical stuff. I just thump my feet down and hit shit with the sticks. I mean that, for real."

Despite his modest attempts at making himself seem blase and cool, Blythe was often lauded as one of metal's greatest percussionists in the early Blood Of Wecz days. The thunderous double kick and pounding floor toms which rumbled through "Price to Pay", the BoW debut album which is still held in such high esteem so many years later, is widely acknowledged as one of the most sensational metal drumming performances ever witnessed.

"I much prefer playing live," Blythe says, "There's a connection with a crowd when I play live. That's what I missed. I can stand up, I can scream, I can throw my sticks. If I do that in a studio they just hit the glass and bounce back. It's not as much fun."

"Miss" appears to be the key word of the day for these former legends of metal. Almost the forgotten men of the death metal era, left by the wayside by the emergence of Scott H as the owner of all things Chaos, and his subsequent media limelight, it would be easy to forgive Blythe and Talley for being bitter, twisted, and so spiteful that they'd never want to set foot on stage again. But the truth is a lot simpler. They miss the game so much. They miss the blood, sweat and tears of metal, and the desire to create music has engulfed the pair once more.

Now, backed by American trio Vince Williams, Rory Hacker,and Taylor Clifford, the pair are looking to reignite metal with a stunning array of progressive metalcore that thumps the ears and assaults the mind, a mix of screaming, screeching guitars, and weird tempo changes to give your arse a sore head, Hate Burns Brightest are planning to be here for a long time.

"This is just pure metal," says Talley, "there's nothing more to it. We're here to make music, and make it well."

The wide grin on the shy frontman's face says it all.