Embryonic Devourment Paid Off Mexican Cops

Techy Californian grindcorists Embryonic Devourment have announced dates for a spring tour in support of their second album, 'Vivid Interpretations of the Void,' which they expect to be released at the end of March. The initial touring bout takes them through the U.S. -- including Las Vegas Death Fest on July 16-17 and Central Illinois Metal Fest, July 24 -- and into Mexico. It was during a trip to Mexico in 2006 that Embryonic Devourment played one of their best shows ever, singer/bassist Austin Spence tells Noisecreep. But they also found out that the true price of fame is about $200.

"Last time we went down there, our guitar player almost got arrested, so we're actually a little scared of going there," says Spence. "We can't speak the language, and we were going to the venue and all we had was a flyer with the address on it." They enlisted the help of a cab driver, and drummer Luke Boutiette hopped in the cab. Then the rest of the band, which also numbers co-guitarists Lauren Pike and Adam Weber, followed in the van.

"As soon as we pulled up at the venue, three cops pulled up and started searching us. They found a tiny pocketknife on our guitarist and pulled him aside. They came up to me and said, 'Okay you're friend is going to jail for a really long time'. We were like, 'What? You're crazy!'"

Boutiette, however, called it for the shakedown it was and pulled out $200 from his shoe, giving it to the cop. He said, "They were like, 'Oh, OK. Have a nice day.' I think the taxi driver was in on it, too. Then, after all was said and done, the cop tried to give us back the pocketknife. We were like, 'No way!'"

But all's well that ends well: "The show was great. There was a big billboard outside the venue with our logo on it. The crowd was wild, the mosh pit was like a hill with people crawling over each other. Crazy."