From Miami, Florida comes an overwhelmingly massive wave of heavy, melodic, yet gritty wall of sound. Will you rise above and embrace the wave? Or will you fall under the captivating spell of PARALYSYS. I'm here with frontman/bassist Emilio Martinez, to reminisce back to the start, and what is to be coming up in the near future of this epic group.

Lizz: So let's start from the beginning in 2006 when the band was born. Share with us the story of where it all began.

Emilio Martinez:  In 2005, Chris Dravend (guitarist) started the band with a fellow guitarist and brought in another friend of his named Mike Aponte on bass. I met them at a Guitar Center in my area, where a friend of mine hooked up with them to play drums. Into 2006, Dravend and Mike would both go through different musicians until finally getting the Hayes brothers Chris on guitar and Justin on drums. They asked if I can join as their singer, so I went and tried out and they dug it but I was thinking they were gonna be a straight-up thrash band, which kinda left me disinterested until I heard more songs from them and noticed a little more diversity in their sound. After giving them another shot, I was far more interested enough to work with them. Since then, there has musical and individual growth, me stepping in as bassist while resuming lead vocal duties following Mike Aponte's departure in 2008, our debut EP, fantastic shows, and now our upcoming album we're working on.

Lizz: What an amazing cover for the EP. Who was the mastermind behind the artwork?

That was the fine work of Nina Saile of Gorgol Productions (www.gorgolproductions.com). She's also the lead vocalist of Fort Lauderdale death metal band, At Odds With God. I saw what she did with the album artwork for local bands such as Synapticide (Doctrine of Seven), Mendacity (2010 EP), as well as her own band's album Earning Damnation. So I thought about going to her, a choice ultimately well-made. I highly recommend her.

Lizz: Who writes the majority of the lyrics? What is the main source of inspiration?

Dravend wrote some lyrics before I joined PARALYSYS and became the main lyricist. Sometimes he throws some ideas my way to work with, especially with some new songs we're working on. I can't say there's one main source of inspiration for my lyrics because there's a lot to write about, whichever really grasps my heart and mind. It's too vague to say real life itself, and probably even intangible because I might not wanna stop there. I may even base my lyrics on fictional stories in some of my future songs. But I suppose I could say I prefer a more poetic approach although I try to balance it out with some accessible simplicity without sounding too simple. I'm keen on the use of certain words of higher vocabulary. Perhaps that's why I've always loved the lyrical styles of people like Roger Waters, Neil Peart, Warrel Dane, Chuck Schuldiner, and many others.

Lizz: Can you explain a little on what the song-writing process is like for PARALYSYS?

Chris Dravend and Chris Hayes would each write guitar riffs on their own and show them to each other or even write them together.  I put the bass lines underneath their guitar riffs. We use this computer program called TabIt to put ideas and keep them recorded for rehearsals or songwriting. Chris Hayes and I would also write out the drum parts on that program for Justin to review and interpret them in his own way on the kit before rewriting them to coincide with what he really plays. Sometimes Justin would just come up with drum parts on the spot. We would add vocal melodies, lyrics, and solos before recording them into our computer and determine what we keep, change, or discard. Although the guitarists do the vast majority of the music writing and arrangements, I would come up with riff and structural ideas as well. Lately my music writing ideas have been more commonplace in the new songs we plan on putting out on the next album. We really take our time with the songs because we usually have ideas that we either like one moment and dislike the next or vice-versa, and there are times when we find ourselves at odds with each other's ideas until we figure out how to work around the differences or even make them work other ways. It can be a pain sometimes, but it's all creative input, constructive criticism, and showing how some different minds can still find some commonality in a workable, or even astounding, way.

Lizz: Has the band been working on new material for a possible studio album?

Yes we have. It's been a long process, longer than expected because we've all been busy with school and work and crazy conflicting schedules. But we've been fleshing out our ideas and demo tracking the songs on our own to figure out how we want the songs to come out in the professional studio. Things may be really busy for us these days, but we believe that what we have in store is gonna be worth enduring it all, especially as the writing process gets closer and closer to completion. Hopefully we'll commence the album recording before the end of this year.

Lizz: What is the new material like? How is it different compared to the stuff on the EP?

Many of the songs are gonna be heavier and darker, but still melodic nevertheless. There will also be a few songs that we wanted to put on the previous release, Paralysis EP, but couldn't. With the time that has passed us, our musicianship has improved a lot, and I especially can't wait for the opportunity to outsing that EP with improved vocals.

Lizz: Killer vocals. What's your secret? And name some of your influences!

(laughs) Much obliged. I like to think that vocal ranges, both high and low are never unattainable, but mostly a matter of how you use your voice in whichever register. To be honest, I'm still working on improving my voice, especially with the professional vocal lessons I've been taking lately, which have especially humbled me profusely by showing me what I've been doing wrong with my voice and ways to improve my methods and use my voice more effectively and efficiently. Before I took lessons, which was sometime after the recording of the EP, I used to go crazy with worrying too much about what I'm not supposed to drink, and I would chase green teas before getting up there to sing at a show or even the recording, only to realize that it only has a rather minor bearing in the matter. My influences include Ronnie James Dio, Warrel Dane, Layne Staley, and especially Geddy Lee ever since I've been playing bass and singing. And I'm certainly not leaving out Matt Kramer (ex-Saigon Kick vocalist), who nowadays has been singing way beyond how he used to sound back in the days of his old band stylistically and sonically as well. He's also my vocal coach who has been teaching me a whole lot these days, and he teaches professionally. (www.kramervoicecompany.com)

Lizz: While we're on that topic... what does your equipment consist of?

I currently play out of an Ibanez SR 6-string bass with a Tech-21 Sansamp RBI bass preamp connected to a power amp with an Ampeg 8x10 bass cabinet. I'm looking to get an Ampeg SVT-II Pro bass amp head to replace the power amp when we're ready to play live again when we finish recording the album.

Lizz: Looking back now, what was the most memorable show for you? Both playing with PARALYSYS and a show that you've seen.

Playing in PARALYSYS, in early 2007 we played a show at the Homestead Speedway for the XM Speed Jam racing event where we had our set cut short but were allowed to resume our set later on after the pop-rock band Jet finished theirs, so we played to a massive crowd. Unforgettable. Another one was done earlier this year at a venue called Transit Lounge, where there was an unofficial pre-party for the 70,000 Tons of Metal Cruise taking place the night before the cruise began. We played to an immense amount of people from other parts of the world that packed the place up tightly that night. It was incredible! As for shows I've seen, the Time Machine Tour that Rush did last year as well as this year is one of my favorites, especially since Rush is one of my favorite bands as well. Another show still fresh in my mind is Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime I & II show they did back in 2006.

Lizz: What can we expect from PARALYSYS in the near future?

Our next album and a slew of shows through the year to follow. Hopefully we'll be able to take it other parts of the U.S. and beyond. Hopefully we'll be seeing you all soon enough!

Lizz: Emilio, I want to thank you a thousand times, it was awesome to have you on THE METAL PIT! We hope to see you again!