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Growing up between Long Island, NY, and North Carolina, In-Conquered\u2019s journey is one marked by sharp turns, hard lessons, and deep gratitude. From early years marked by hustle, missteps, and an unsupervised search for identity, to a disciplined upbringing that instilled blue-collar values and relentless drive, the foundation for his future was being laid. Music was always there \u2014 a constant companion from the moment he could walk, with heavy metal providing both escape and purpose. Though faith wasn\u2019t a major part of his early life, key relationships and life-changing moments eventually led him to fully align his music and life with Jesus Christ. Now, as the creative force behind In-Conquered, he channels a lifetime of experiences, hard-won faith, and pure metal passion into every note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where are you currently based?<\/strong> What was your childhood like growing up?<\/strong> Basically, my stepmother and father lived in North Carolina. When I was visiting on summer break, I got the news that I was staying and NY was no more. I was upset\u2014it was so abrupt and out of my comfort zone. Plus, my drumming really started to take off as a young child with potential, and my music teachers wanted me to start training with a pro drummer. I really wanted that. BUT, God’s plans were so much better. I’m grateful. Who knows\u2014if I\u2019d stayed there, I might have gotten arrested, gone to juvie, or worse\u2014jail for doing something really bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I moved here, I had 24\/7 supervision, discipline, and structure. My father was a scary dude and didn’t play. Needless to say, I had a reverent fear of him and came correct pretty much all the time. My stepmother didn’t play either! She’s an amazing woman and took me in like her own. I’m grateful. I pretty much did 6th grade all the way through college with them and moved out when I was 23 to buy my first house. I’m grateful I had a disciplined and tough (at times) environment. I’m a 100-miles-an-hour, \u201call in\u201d kind of guy. So, for example, if I had been “all in” with doing the wrong things, it would have been catastrophic. My parents in NC made sure I learned blue-collar roots, accountability, ownership, and a level of work ethic that couldn\u2019t be paralleled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did you grow up in a religious environment?<\/strong> When I was in junior high, my neighbor from around the block\u2014his mother was a wonderful Christian woman. Mrs. Singer\u2014I\u2019ll never forget her, and I\u2019m still friendly with her today. She and her son would take me to a church around the corner and I started Sunday school there. But obviously, there wasn’t any structure to my walk of faith that young, and I didn\u2019t see it at home, so nothing came of it until I was in 11th grade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My mother and her former husband had a very volatile marriage and all of a sudden, one summer I came to visit and it was night and day. There was peace and love in their house for the first time with no arguments or hostility. It was a 360-degree turn. I found out they found salvation in Christ\u2014as I did when I was there as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now granted, again, there was no structure and I didn\u2019t really understand what that meant until I started really taking it upon myself around age 20\u201321 to start going to church myself. Fast forward to around 28\u201329 years old, that\u2019s when I wanted to be fully aligned with Jesus Christ and really started having a study, prayer, and servant life for Him. I had a very up-and-down walk from youth to adulthood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Was music a big part of your home life as a kid?<\/strong> I loved all the \u201880s hair bands like Cinderella, Winger, KIX, Kingdom Come. I was head over heels for Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. I must have worn those cassettes out in my Walkman ad nauseam<\/em> (LOL). Something about Judas Priest had me going\u2014especially when I heard Sin After Sin<\/em> and Stained Class<\/em>. Man, just wow. I\u2019d always be air drumming and whatnot. My mother 100% fully supported my musical endeavors and got me what I needed for school band.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No matter what, I was always blasting metal on my Walkman or whatever MTV would play. Again, metal started for me when I was 1\u20132 years of age, so yes, I\u2019m a lifer in metal. I couldn\u2019t see myself not listening to it, even when I’m 80 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What instruments do you play, and how did you get started with them?<\/strong> Drumming truly started around 8 years of age, which is when I could start school band in elementary\u2014and it never stopped. It\u2019s crazy how guitar came to me as well as bass. I have no formal training whatsoever. I literally do everything by ear. One day in junior high, I picked up my buddy\u2019s guitar and just started strumming and playing riffs that were actually in tune. After that, it was off to the races. Any time I could try something and just use the ears God has given me, I took total advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What bands or artists did you gravitate toward as a teenager?<\/strong> I didn\u2019t know anything about an “underground” scene. To me, the bands I listed were the heaviest things out there (heck, they still are to some degree). Then in mid-high school, I discovered the Century Media mail-order catalog and voila<\/em>\u2014Grave, Unleashed, Mercyless, and so many others were getting delivered to my house. I tried Emperor but hated it (at first). I didn\u2019t understand black metal\u2014it was a totally different niche and world. Black metal is actually some of my favorite metal now, which helped me mold In-Conquered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you listen to any non-metal music? If so, what do you enjoy?<\/strong> Who are some of your favorite Christian metal bands?<\/strong> I’m a huge fan of Grave Declaration. They remind me of Christian Dimmu Borgir and have such great song structure, ambience, and emotion. Shadows of Paragon freaking rules (those boys are bad). My former label mate Sorrowstorm was insane. I had mad respect\u2014because like me, he was a one-man show and wrote uber-intricate black metal songs. I also love Rarmagom, which is another amazing black metal project devoted to Christ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What other bands or projects have you been a part of before In-Conquered?<\/strong> I’m probably missing a few\u2014as remember, I\u2019ve been putting out music since my mid-late teens and I\u2019m turning 46 next month (May).<\/p>\n\n\n\n When did In-Conquered officially form?<\/strong> I was very young and immature\u2014worried about what others would think of me if I mentioned \u201cJesus\u201d in my music. Obviously, that changed as I turned it into In-Conquered<\/strong>, which started around 2018\/19, I believe. I actually had a second Symphony In Acrimony<\/em> album 100% complete and recorded professionally, but it never saw the light of day. So I took all of that and divided, hashed, and redid the material into the first In-Conquered album. I was grateful the music didn\u2019t go to waste\u2014that first In-Conquered is VERY significant to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Who has had the biggest impact on your musical style?<\/strong> Tammi Guillen<\/strong>, also known for her amazing metal photography (T.R. Guillen Photography<\/em>), was a pen pal of mine in the late \u201990s. We\u2019d write and she\u2019d send me metal compilations of bands like Jungle Rot, Fleshgrind, Gorgasm, Arctic Symphony, Asmodeus, and more. I was a pig in a mud puddle with this stuff. She really opened my eyes to true underground music I had no idea existed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trent McCall<\/strong>, who I was introduced to in the late \u201990s, opened my eyes to hundreds of underground bands\u2014especially grindcore and black metal. He was also an amazing guitarist who played in Dark Moon and Envenom Thy Winds. He made me so many compilation tapes of bands like Cryptopsy. I was blown away by the level of European bands I\u2019d never been exposed to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Michael Clevenger<\/strong>, my old bandmate and the man who recorded the first two In-Conquered albums, is the third. He and I were inseparable in high school. All we did was write and record music. He also showed me so many underground death metal bands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you could tour with any band, who would it be and why?<\/strong> Have you faced any criticism or pushback because of the style of music you play?<\/strong> Yes, from time to time, I might have a person mock Jesus or what have you\u2014but that\u2019s expected. Jesus Christ did say, \u201cThey will hate you because they hated me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n All I know is that I have so many people who don\u2019t believe in Jesus who still support my endeavors and respect me for all I have done in the scene. I’m there to love them and speak about Jesus with them if they’d like to have the conversation. What they choose is their decision. I’m not here to judge them. Yes, I’m concerned about the salvation of non-believers\u2014but if they allow me the floor, I\u2019ll profess the love of Christ and the truth of redemption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s your take on the current state of Christian metal?<\/strong> It\u2019s disheartening that they\u2019ve calloused their hearts to Christ or decided to walk away from the faith\u2014essentially stopping the mission of spreading the Gospel through music. But again, Jesus did say these things would happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s something most people don\u2019t know about you?<\/strong> Are you currently working on any new music or projects?<\/strong> I\u2019m also working on a new Christian death metal project coming out on another label this year or early next. It hasn\u2019t been announced yet\u2014but very soon. I\u2019m very excited about it, and the drum tracks were just finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What does being a Christian mean to you personally?<\/strong> It\u2019s knowing that everything else is sinking sand. It\u2019s knowing there is no eternity nor reaching the Father unless you go through Him. It\u2019s knowing that eternity is\u2014and always will only be\u2014through Christ Jesus. He is the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and the Alpha and Omega. The beginning and the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How can the Christian metal community best support you and your band?<\/strong> Instead of griping on social media about opinions, how about saying, \u201cI love you, brother\/sister,\u201d and praying for them? Pray that Satan doesn\u2019t harm them and that they are protected and guided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I do believe many people in the Christian scene have been terrible to each other, and it\u2019s despicable. You know what\u2019s really sad? Non-believers see this and say with laughter, \u201cI\u2019d never be a Christian if this is what it looks like. They mock each other, disagree, curse, ridicule, and don\u2019t support. How is this representing God?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We need to become unified as one Christ-loving team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What has it been like working with Duane at Vision of God Records?<\/strong> I’m grateful for his support and the fact he truly treats Vision of God<\/strong> and CMU<\/strong> as a real ministry and not just a label. His story is amazing, and how his obedience to God led him to create this label. We have much work to do together. I love Vision of God Records.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Growing up between Long Island, NY, and North Carolina, In-Conquered\u2019s journey is one marked by…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":14586,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1021],"tags":[2982],"class_list":["post-14584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features-d97","tag-in-conquered"],"yoast_head":"\n
I’m currently based out of Concord, North Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My parents divorced when I was two years old. I was born in Charleston, SC, on the Air Force base as my father was a sergeant. Once they divorced, my mother and I moved to Long Island. My father was never too far away and always tried to make time to spend with me on the weekends. I can honestly say it was a pretty normal childhood. I had parents that loved me and did the best they could as single parents. Granted, my mother had to hustle and work different jobs to keep the lights on, so I was unsupervised a bunch and started hanging out with the wrong group of people. In 5th grade, I started stealing and doing dumb stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No, I did not grow up in a religious environment at all. God was never spoken about. My mother’s side was 100% Jewish. My father had a Lutheran background, but nothing ever came of it\u2014at least it wasn’t displayed to me. My mother showed me some Jewish traditions and celebrated some of the holidays, but nothing was structured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
YES! From the moment I could walk, I was listening and rocking back and forth in the chair to music. When MTV started in 1980, I’d be on the floor blasting Ozzy, Judas Priest, or any heavy-style bands I could hear. I was infatuated with music. Truly, God created me to be a musician. This is 100% undeniable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My main passion is drumming, obviously. However, I also play guitar, bass, keyboard, and vocals. I also engineer and record all my music. For me, I love being a renaissance man. I do everything for myself. It’s such an empowering feeling. I have total control of the vision God has given me and I can display my talents all the way across the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ahh! This is when metal really ramped up for me\u2014Carcass, Deicide, Cannibal Corpse, Napalm Death, Fear Factory, Monstrosity, or any legit death metal band I could get at the local tape store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Honestly, I really don’t, BUT when I\u2019m in the mood to hear something totally off the grid, it will be like smooth ambient tracks or worship music from Christy and Nathan Nockels. In my opinion, they are some of the best Christian worship music artists ever put on this Earth. Their earlier “Watermark” project was something that really opened my eyes to the beauty of worship music and just being present before the Lord in music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is a tough one for me because I struggle with some of the sounds out there. But I do love the obvious\u2014Impending Doom’s earlier stuff, Extol, 7 Horns 7 Eyes (LOVE these guys\u2014wish they still made music), Living Sacrifice (Inhabit<\/em> era), Pantokrator, Shamash, and so forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oh man, I think after this year I’ve released over 20+ albums. I had to go back and count (I included what will be coming out this year).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve been in Carcinogenic<\/strong> (which became Epic of Empyrea<\/strong>), Cesspool of Vermin<\/strong>,Debodified<\/strong>, Lividity<\/strong>, Domination Through Impurity<\/strong>, Lust of Decay<\/strong>, Shuriken Cadaveric Entwinement<\/strong>, Symphony In Acrimony<\/strong>, and Lord of Armies<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, In-Conquered really started back in 2007\u20132008. It originally was my first solo project called Symphony In Acrimony<\/strong>. This album was put out on Epitomite Records<\/strong>, which was run by a dear friend of mine named Von Young (Deaden, Lividity). That was my first crack at a Christian concept album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Honestly, I have to give three people credit for this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ooooh, this is a tough one. I\u2019d have to say Impending Doom<\/strong>\u2014because of the crowds they draw\u2014as well as Grave Declaration<\/strong>, because I\u2019m just in love with their music and would love to see the European response and draw to their sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Surprisingly, no\u2014I haven\u2019t really gotten any backlash. But again, nor do I care. God called me out of metal drum retirement and led me back to metal. In-Conquered<\/strong> is a ministry, a passion project, and God instructed me to do it. I won\u2019t let that ever go to waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think it\u2019s really good\u2014and also really bad. What I mean is, there have been multitudes of acts that were \u201cChristian\u201d artists who now profess false doctrine or have become secular bands\/projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m a huge fitness buff. I work out six days a week (addicted to fitness), take supplements, and eat only one meal a day. I was very overweight in the late \u201990s and finally lost almost 80+ lbs and never looked back. I\u2019m the guy that will work out even when on vacation (LOL). I\u2019ve been known to be neurotic when it comes to my fitness and music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, I not too long ago finished recording In-Conquered album #6<\/strong>. I literally have three full-lengths done, and I just released the third album. For me, progress and hard work never stop. If I’m not doing something new, I get bored and things get mundane. I want to be challenged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being a Christian is everything<\/strong>. Being a Christ follower is that\u2014picking up and carrying your cross daily. It\u2019s remembering who you were before you met Him and accepted Him as Lord and Savior. It\u2019s knowing that without Him, nothing else is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We need to remember we are not on an island! We need to act as one giant mega church and be a team. We need to love each other, raise each other up in prayer, and minister to one another. We need to press forward together the Great Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I love Duane deeply. Have we seen eye to eye on everything? No\u2014and that\u2019s OK. But I\u2019ll tell you this: he loves me, prays for me, and anytime I bring something I need help with on a new album, he 100% does it. There are no questions asked\u2014he shows up for me every time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n