It's no secret that CKY frontman Deron Miller is a longtime, diehard death metal fan. He used to pen impassioned letters to Roadrunner A&R guru Monte Conner, regarding the label's death metal acts, which were printed in Metal Maniacs. While CKY certainly aren't outwardly influenced by Miller's personal faves, the singer is tapping into those deadly roots with his side project, World Under Blood, which also features Divine Heresy drummer Tim Yeung, ex-Decrepit Birth member Risha Eryavec on bass and former Sleep Terror'ist Luke Jaeger on guitar. The band's debut, 'Tactical,' is due to drop this summer via Nucler Blast.

Miller tracked vocals at the home studio of James Murphy, of Disincarnate fame. In a statement, Miller gushed, "I was in total awe of his vinyl collection and his cat Sasha, but most of all, I was enamored by the professionalism and discipline he instilled during these sessions that really put me in my place. James really brought out the best in me and having only had two producers in my entire career, I can say that I'm lucky to be continually working with James Murphy and [CKY's] Chad Ginsburg. I've realized the only way to have a top-notch producer with an amazing ear is to be working with someone who has a musical history and a musical ability themselves. Not just some overpaid name/reputation dude that leaves Post-It notes on Pro-Tools monitors. Those days are over."

Miller also claimed the album's eight tracks are "brutal and harsh, catch, melodic and occasionally offensive and disturbing." Those are all crucial hallmarks of quality death metal, so horns up to Miller for retaining and nurturing his love for death metal with this project. He also said, "It's probably the first album I've worked on where I truly don't care what anyone else thinks."

And in honor of Miller's crush on the genre, we asked him to provide Noisecreep with his top three death metal records of all time. No, it wasn't just to show off his knowledge. Dude has real passion for this style.

Death, 'Spiritual Healing': "It has awesome solos, killer vocals and an attempt to break out of the underground with a more digestible sound. And it worked. It is the highest selling death metal record of the pre-Soundscan era."



Gorguts
, 'The Erosion of Sanity': "Brilliantly melodic and technical at the time for a Roadrunner 'baby' band that no one gave a s--- about. They killed the competition but slipped through the cracks because they were a couple months too late."

Pestilence, 'Spheres': "A bizarre, quirky album that displayed a band desperate to break out of death metal and into a new sub-genre that never materialized. Later on, bands like Obscura explored it but made it too technical. It's all about breaking out into something new without sounding like Slipknot or Limp Bizkit."

A double horn salute and metal fist for Mr. Miller.

The tentative track list for 'Tactical' is as follows:

'Tactical' trac list

1. 'Dead and Still in Pain'

2. 'Under the Autumn Low'

3. 'A God Among the Waste'

4. 'Pyro-Compulsive'

5. 'I Can't Stand His Name'

6. 'Into the Arms of Cruelty'

7. 'Revere's Tears'

8. 'Purgatory Dormitory'

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