“Bro, they were giving them away!” The atmosphere of exasperation from the three 30-something nerds was palpable around the topic of physical media. No, we’re not talking Weakling’s Dead As Dreams or a Bathory Yellow Goat—you know where you are. The co-nerds of Kill Screen are on the line with Vomit Forth vocalist Kane Gelaznik, and we’re lamenting the exploding value of survival horror games, specifically for home consoles’ fifth and sixth generations. The death metal frontman recounts years of bargain bins packed with titles that now fetch prices in the triple and quadruple digits. “A big reason I didn’t buy a lot of those games was because I was like, Oh, well, they’ll be at fucking GameStop or Game Exchange for, like, $2 anyway. I’ll get it at some point. Nobody liked those games. Nobody played them.”

Despite the detour regretting missed opportunities, Gelaznik arrives under our arcade’s neon lights with impeccable timing. Anyone paying attention to the band or their online presence understands that their gaming connections are visibly worn on their four-panel long sleeves. Tribute shirts to the likes of Silent Hill 2 and Elden Ring have been printed under the Vomit Forth banner. Quick video trailers splicing band logos over gameplay footage of Resident Evil 3 and Final Fantasy VII can be found on their social media while on tour, including their current run with former interviewees The Black Dahlia Murder and Dying Fetus. The band’s sophomore offering Terrified of God and their founding member’s fondness for survival horror—among many other things—is quite fitting for the scariest month of the year, and Gelaznik offered up nearly two hours of his time to face his fears. We promise our conversation is neither cruel nor violent, so be sure to read on.

Want some crucial DLC from this interview? Be sure to pick up the latest issue of Decibel to find out which game in particular had the greatest impact on the making of their new album, albeit unintentionally.

What was your first gaming experience?
First [The Legend of] Zelda game on regular, old-school, OG Nintendo. My big brother is Gen X, I think I’m OG millennial. I was born in ’87, I’m 37 years old. I was really young. I can’t remember exactly [how old I was], but it was life-changing.

Do you remember anything you thought at the time? Were you like, Oh my god, the world is so huge! This is amazing?
I don’t know how to explain it. It was the gold cartridge, right? Like, everything was crazy to me. My big brother was not in my life all the time. He was a stepbrother and he had a different mom, so he would come over and he was eight years older than me, so he knew all the cool stuff. [Laughs] And video games were one of the cool things. You had to have a magazine… I don’t remember what the magazine was called. It was a gaming magazine or it might even have been a comic that had that and he was using that guide to play it. He was using that guide and I remember just thinking, There’s a world in here, and it was so visceral. That’s all I can [say to] explain it. I was like, Anything can happen in that video game.

Was that a good way for the two of you to bond when you were growing up?
No, which made it cooler because it was such a special thing. He’d be gone—and he took Zelda [laughs]—but he inadvertently put me on, and sent me on, my own, different gaming path, if that makes sense.

Were games always important to you growing up? Did you keep up with them as you were growing up or were there any points in which you fell out?
Yeah, there was a point—PS3, Xbox 360, that era—because I was homeless for the entirety of it. I’m just now kind of going back. I’m like, Resonance of Fate! PS3 is not region exclusive, let’s go! I’m finding some cool stuff. I was let down. Honestly, I will say that is my least favorite era of gaming, though.

Any particular reason?
The games feel weird. They feel light and not as immersive, but I think maybe it’s just because of my age or something like that. A lot of those games don’t hit. There’s a few gems that are from that era that are amazing, but for the most part, if a game is from that era, I’m not a huge fan of it.

I [James] think it was kind of a transitionary period, too, where they were getting into some games that were starting to look really good and really get some big storytelling and a lot of great facial expression. But at the same time, sometimes they didn’t really hook on the gameplay that well. If you look at some of the franchises that people have been big fans of, sometimes people say, “Oh yeah, during that PS3 era, ehhh…”
Yeah. I mean, look at Resident Evil, man. Resident Evil 6? Woo!

I [James] stand by it. As a Resident Evil game though, I think your point is accurate, that they really lost the plot for a minute there. It turned into a big, dumb action game with sliding and jump kicks. I defend it because it’s a fun, dumb couch co-op experience. If you can talk somebody into playing this game with you, it’s fun.
Yeah, see, I think maybe I didn’t get it because I’m not a co-op guy in general.

What’s the hang up with co-op?
It’s not even that I have a hang up, it’s because I grew up in Western Mass, but it’s basically Eastern New York and the Berkshires. Coming up in the late ’90s, early 2000s, the term that that people in school had for me was “vidiot,” because I liked games. And the internet, too, was not super accessible to me. I feel like if maybe I had more access to the internet…

I was also not into first-person shooters really, so Quake was not my thing, or Half-Life and stuff like that. People were playing [Counter-Strike: Global Offensive] or whatever and I just wasn’t. I was playing Final Fantasy, I was playing Resident Evil. The first co-op game I ever played was Gears of War for the 360 and then literally, like, a couple months later I didn’t have a home, so it just wasn’t a big part of my life. Maybe if it was, I would have been more into it. I’m not anti-it.

What are you playing lately and what are the games that you typically prefer?
So, before I was Souls-pilled, the games that I preferred, I’m a huge Final Fantasy guy. I love the romance of it and this extremely emotional, nostalgic feel. Before I got into Souls games, that was my go-to, JRPGs like that and survival horror. I always loved Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Parasite Eve.

But right now, [Elden Ring’s Promised Consort] Radahn, [laughs] he’s ruined me—emotionally, intellectually. I just can’t beat him. There’s a band out there called Mugshot. They’re an amazing band. We toured with them and we all found out we were Souls heads, so, you know, it was over. [Laughs] Mike [Demko] the guitarist, they’re great, they’re cracked. Whenever I’m in trouble, I’m like, “Yo… are you around?” We fought Radahn a couple times and I had to give up. I haven’t beat him.

What’s crazy though is I kind of don’t want it to end because I thought the Elden Ring DLC was that amazing. Elden Ring is a game that I was playing and then—this may be telling about me, maybe it makes me a bad person—but in order to calm down, I started playing Bloodborne again, even though I’ve already platinumed it. I just did my fourth or fifth playthrough of Bloodborne and I’m also playing the [Resident Evil 2] remake again because I never beat it in under four hours, so I’m trying to do that. It’s tough. But I want the infinite ammo, so… [Laughs] I do feel like a reason I love the Resident Evil remakes specifically is because they have that replayability factor. If you just go in and beat them, even just beating all the story mode, you’re missing out on such a huge aspect of the game, which I think is so cool because it’s infinite dopeness. I don’t really get bored with those games.

Are you playing exclusively console?
Yeah. I don’t have brand loyalty to anything in my life except for Sony. I’m a PlayStation guy. Everybody was like, “Oh, 30 frames per second!” I’m like, “You know what? You’re right. I’m not saying you’re wrong, but there’s just something.” It goes back to that experience with my brother. I know that was Nintendo, but I hope we can all agree Nintendo, it’s like synesthesia—you can feel Nintendo, you can smell Nintendo, everything about it. The controller, the way it looks. And I feel that way about PlayStation as well. It’s a whole other experience to me. I love PC gaming for certain games, but it’s just not really my go-to.

And this started with PS1?
Oh, dude, that Bushido Blade demo? Once I got that Bushido Blade demo, it was over. I was like, Why would I get another system? You know what was crazy, is my mom like balled out on one Christmas and got us TVs and N64 and a PS1. We’ll be honest, that Christmas kind of carried for a long time because she balled out super hard. It wasn’t as cool after, but I was like, “Respect.” I do love the N64, but the PlayStation games? I got Final Fantasy VII, [Metal Gear Solid] 1—those were the games that shaped me. Parasite Eve like we were talking about before, and Resident Evil. They all shaped me on the PS1.

That time was such a bump up for video game storytelling. Metal Gear Solid, you played that game and it was just mind-blowing. It was so complex and intricate, you know?
It was like a Dave Lynch movie. I mean, it wasn’t really Lynch-ian, but I watched Mulholland Drive a million times and found a bunch of different things, and it was the same thing with MGS1. Dude, what is cooler than that Psycho Mantis fight when you’re like, Oh, plug the controller into the other port?! What are you talking about? [Laughs] Because he’s psychic! That’s god-tier. Still has yet to be topped, in my opinion.

You mentioned being out on tour with Mugshot and realizing that all of you are big Souls fans. Whenever you’re on tour, do you often find other bands that are into games?
Yeah, it’s how I gauge people, kind of. It’s not necessarily like “I will like you or not like you,” but I will know how far you’ll get into shit and how far you won’t get into shit, you feel me? If you’re just a [Call of Duty] head or something, no disrespect, but I probably won’t be able to get down with you on some artsy, weirdo shit. And you probably like Baja Blast a lot—which I like it, too, no disrespect. I’m just saying there’s more to life. But for sure, it’s one of my feelers that I use.

So everybody’s loading into the venue on first day of the tour and you’re asking, “So, Silent Hill…?”
[Laughs] Yeah. On the Fetus tour, I’m probably gonna be like, “So, the remake’s coming. We’re gone though, right?” And if nobody knows what I’m talking about, then I’ll be like, I’m alone here. [Laughs]

Do you get a chance to play games much while out?
We’re kind of leveling up as a band, personnel changes, so I was handling a lot of TM stuff, merch stuff. Del, my [partner] who would also help me with it, would bring her Switch and she would bring Tormented Souls and Resident Evil 0 for me, and then she would play Animal Crossing and she had another… It was a Shin Megami [Tensei] game, but it was not Persona. It was a cool game. But every once in a while on some long drives, I would play Resident Evil 0 or Tormented Souls, but honestly, not really. Right before we went on our tour with Gates to Hell, I didn’t get the DLC for Elden Ring because I was like, Well, I’m gonna be gone and I cannot get invested. My heartbreak will be too intense. So no, not really. I wish.

That’s a common sentiment, though. People often mention that they bring the Switch with the intention of using it—or a laptop or a Steam Deck or something—and it doesn’t come out of the backpack nearly as much as people hope for, it seems.
No, especially a band at our level. We’re not super big, but we’re also not super small. Sometimes we’re dealing with things that are outside of our comfort zone. We come from DIY hardcore punk. When I have to talk to somebody about taxes or something, it really does fry my brain. When you’re young and you’re excited about being in a band—and I still am excited—you don’t realize it’s 20 minutes of fun and then 23 hours of psychosis. Never mind getting sick and whatever.

You end up becoming friends with bands that are a lot bigger than you and they have more of a crew and they actually game a lot more. I remember going to see a band at a bigger venue in Connecticut here, The Space. They’re my friends, they’re on a bigger tour and I pulled up and they let me in the green room. They’re all fighting game people, Street Fighter people, so they had the real the joystick stuff. They’re all posted up, I was like, Man, I’ve gotta get to this level. [Laughs] It’ll happen, just gotta keep it moving. Terrified of God—it’s really gotta do something for us.

You brought up Tormented Souls. Do you have a preference between the old-school fixed-camera survival horror or the modern over-the-shoulder perspective?
This is the question! It’s weird, man. I do feel like it’s contextual. Ask me before the RE2 remake and I would have been like, “Dude, the fixed-camera angles and the tank controls make it scary.” Now… I don’t know. I think I like the over-the-shoulder more, which is a new jack opinion, but I’ve played both. I came up on the OG. Evil Within, I think that’s a good example. That one has this over-the-shoulder thing, but the controls still suck really bad. I think that just might be bad game design or something like that, but that game didn’t really scare me. But this Gears of War, over-the-shoulder RE2 remake scared the shit out of me. That was still a very scary game. I did have that fear that I had back in 1998 when I was playing the second one. The RE4 remake, for example, I know RE4 didn’t have a lot of horror even to begin with. But I didn’t have that fear really, and that just straight-up made it more action to me. So I do think it is contextual.

Personally, I’m more of a fan of the over-the-shoulder, but I completely understand any argument against it because playing Tormented Souls, man, it brings you back. Part of the scariness is that I can’t move and that my brain gets scrambled because I think the tank controls make it scarier. An undeniable amount of love went into that RE2 remake. All of them, in my opinion. So if you put a lot of love into it, I think that the over-the-shoulder, Gears of War-style shit will not diminish the experience.

Are there any OSTs that you could point to as inspiration?
The Silent Hill 2 original soundtrack is just inadvertently always inspiration for me. Final Fantasy XV—dude, I love that game.

We’re both supporters of FFXV. You’re among friends.
OK, cool. It’s just such an emotional game. A lot of people kind of dogged on the whole Stand By Me thing and I was like, “Yeah, you dogged on it… ’til it came back in the end of the game and you were crying!” On your second playthrough, you’re like, Oh my god! [Puts fist on heart]

Even the segment where you have no weapons and you’re just getting hunted by ghosts? I [Michael] beat that before they patched that to be easier and I was like, That’s some survival horror shit right there!
It really was. I loved it so much. I beat it also before they patched it and I didn’t realize with that patch, they changed the entire game, and I still haven’t played it since then. And I kind of want to.

It’s pretty substantial, some of the changes they made. I [James] picked up the Royal Edition and I haven’t gone through it again yet, but I put… God, I think I was at, like, 200 hours. I just couldn’t get enough. I did all of the hunts. I just loved it!
Dude, I’ll be honest—I waited for that game for a long time. I’m 37, so I was in high school when they were rolling that out as Versus XIII.

And the trailers looked so amazing back then.
I was like, This is gonna be the best game of all time. And when it did come out, I can’t front—I was disappointed at first because I just didn’t get it. I was like, What? You’re just hanging out with your friends? Then once I got it though, I was like, …Oh. It’s like Souls—it’s not for the faint of heart. You’ve got to put time into it. You got to put love into it to get love out. That’s how I feel about that game.

So, Final Fantasy XV soundtrack is always a huge inspiration for everything I do. Not on purpose. [Laughs] It just is. I love that game so much.

Horror games are seeing an uptick in the mainstream with a number of remakes and sequels seeing praise or success over the past year. Do you see this interest holding within the gaming community or will horror always have more of a niche appeal?
I do see it, because look at what happened. With [2005’s] RE4, that was our first uptick. That was our first “oh, the guy who plays Madden is playing Resident Evil?” Society was in a different place at that point, right? Social media was real, but it wasn’t essential. A big part of those games that made them so niche and so elusive is that they weren’t easy to play, where I feel—especially with the RE engine and everyone ripping that off in survival horror—they’re way easier to play, way more accessible. But there is still that depth for nerds like us. I think they really hit a sweet spot. I don’t see it going anywhere. I see it maybe evolving and changing, but I can definitely see our first-person shooter/Fortnite people being into survival horror games now.

What to you makes a game scary and are there any games that you consider to be still scary to this day?
Oh yeah. Silent Hill 2, that game is still scary to me. Games are much more immersive now, but what makes it scary is the time they put into stuff [like] sound design, stuff like that, where you can hear those sounds in your room. You can hear them anywhere. It’s a trigger. It just is always scary. It’s scary when you’re done playing the game. Even games that try and be scary, not a lot of games do that. That’s what makes the game scary.

I’m trying to think of the one that really fucked me up. Like, the scariest ones. Fatal Frame. Even now with the graphics not being that great or whatever, there’s just something about it where I’m like, Dude! The first two scared the shit out of me. I couldn’t beat them. I haven’t gone back to them as a 37-year old man. I have not gone back to Fatal Frame. I own them, but I’m too scared to play them.

Vomit Forth has been using game footage to create effectively a modern take on xerox flyers for shows. How did this come about and what went into making those?
We don’t have a crazy social media. I feel like we have a good presence, but we don’t have a crazy following. I want to see a band and I’ll see they’re on tour, but sometimes they just don’t do a good job of being like, “Hey, we’re playing here today.” So I was like, I’m gonna start doing that and this is something that I really like. Realistically, it was like, What do I do when I’m home? I game. I be gaming. I be DoorDashing to make money. I’m not going to use footage of people DoorDashing—that might be a good idea, maybe I’ll try it—but I was like, If I saw some gameplay footage then the Ingested logo over Leon or Jill smoking a zombie, I would think that was cool. I’m gonna do that. I was using iMovie for a lot of those older ones, now I’m using CapCut, which is way easier. I do get a reaction from the actual gaming community who don’t like death metal—which is good and bad—but I thought it was just gonna hit harder than it did. But I don’t know. Maybe I’m posting it at the wrong time or whatever.

Social media doesn’t make sense.
Yeah, I don’t understand it. I was kind of bummed at first, but then I was like, Oh well. It’s really fun and cool to make, and there’s a Vomit Forth logo on Final Fantasy VII remake or Sekiro or whatever, and I’m just like, That’s cool. I’m just gonna do that even if it doesn’t get new people to the show.

I will say, it has gotten people who maybe are already into us and they realize—like you’re saying, it’s happened multiple times in the interview—we’re like, “Final Fantasy XV, you’re among friends.” I’ve kind of had that moment at the merch table where they’re like, “Oh, Sekiro! Bro!” And I’ll be like, “Let’s go!” I do think it’s a cool way to bridge gaps sometimes. With music, there is this sense of elitism. I do my best to shed myself of that, but there is a cool guy mentality at shows and I think when you can bridge that gap of like, “Hey man, I’m an internet weirdo, too. I did that dumb shit where I was watching the YouTube video and I was like, I gotta talk to this guy? I gotta exhaust their dialogue?” Once you realize that you’ve all done those things, you can connect with people on a deeper level. So that’s, I think, one of the reasons why I did that, too—other than I just thought it was cool.

Having something else to talk about at a show is nice as well. Obviously you like heavy music. Rather than just like, “Cannibal Corpse is good, right? Yeah, they sure are…”
It’s cool when you can get down on some shit. Video games are, in a lot of ways, deeply personal. You have a deeply personal connection with these things, so it is cool to share that, especially as both heavy music and video games are reaching the mainstream more and more. I can definitely see how, before they were super mainstream, it is a cool way to connect at a show and be like, “OK, cool, we can get down on this.” The cool guy who I am not like is listening to Sanguisugabogg now, but he is not gaming on Final Fantasy or whatever.

So, you’re right—it is cool to have something else to talk about. Like we were saying, too, with gauges. It’s another gauge, you know what I mean? Now you can talk about gaming, but then when somebody comes at you with Haunting Ground, you’re like, “Oh!”

“Video games are, in a lot of ways, deeply personal. You have a deeply personal connection with these things, so it is cool to share that, especially as both heavy music and video games are reaching the mainstream more and more.”

Now we need to divulge in the other half of your gaming preferences, which is RPGs. What are some good examples of RPGs that you’ve been playing lately?
Right now I’m doing [Final Fantasy VII:] Rebirth. Final Fantasy VII, maybe it’s just because of my age, was huge for me. I understand within Final Fantasy that is where it started to become this like weird mall goth thing, but it was just huge for me. I’m playing Rebirth now and I love it. I think it’s amazing. I’ve heard a lot of mixed things. I liked the remake. I could have done without some of the new characters, like “guy on the motorcycle” [Roche].

The biggest thing for me is obviously it’s nostalgia bait, but it was so nostalgic for me. Watching Advent Children is one thing. Being able to interact with Cloud and Tifa in that way was so cool to me and that was a huge part of it. But I’m not gonna front, there was just so much time spent with me being like, [unconvincingly] This is good. I like it! The first remake was fine. I didn’t at first, but I do like the alternate timeline thing and Zach is there. Right now, I really love the game. I have XVI. I started playing it and I liked it, but it is very easy. It was even easier than XV, which is good and bad. I do like the story though. It’s Game of Thrones meets Final Fantasy, which is cool to me. I like both of those things.

Would NieR: Automata count? I always am playing NieR on and off. I actually haven’t finished a 9S playthrough, though, because I play it so sporadically. I’ve beaten it once and then I haven’t beaten it with 9S yet.My save got corrupted somehow, so I had to beat it again and I was so pissed. That was a big reason I didn’t go back to it.

Speaking of NieR, I also am always playing Drakengard for PS2. That was a game that I bought. It was a really cool find because they didn’t know what they had—got it for real cheap. I played Drakengard a lot. I love Breath of Fire III, I played that game a lot. I haven’t in a while, but when I do go back to that, I love that game. Final Fantasy Tactics, Wild Arms was a big one for me. It’s a later edition, but Dragon Quest VIII. It’s really like that.

What about VIII in particular?
I think the OG one was for Nintendo. It was just called [Dragon Warrior], but that was one of the first games I played. So to play that Dragon Quest VIII, just it being immersive was kind of like playing the Final Fantasy VII remake, where it was like I got to experience this in a whole new way. I never beat it though, but I did like VIII a lot. And Valkyrie Profile was a big one for me. It’s awesome. It’s a PS1 game. Really cool.

You can get a version of it on the PSP for really cheap as well.
Oh, really?

Yeah, I [James] got that and Breath of Fire III on the PSP, and it’s fantastic. When I’m stuck on a train or something? It’s great!
Breath of Fire III is awesome, Valkyrie Profile is one of those games… Well, both of those games are expensive, but Valkyrie Profile 1 I think is extremely expensive. Dude, Lunar: [Silver Star Story]? I had that. It was one of those things where I moved out and I don’t know what my mom did with it. It’s just gone. It’s, like, $300 now. And it’s an incredible game! That was a tough one to lose. My dad got rid of all of our Sega games—Mega Turracin, Comix Zone. I don’t know if that’s an expensive game, but I love that game. Kid Chameleon. He just gave them to Goodwill.

Mainstream RPGs these days have been pushing live-action combat much more, but there’s been some growing interest in turn-based combat with things like Persona 5, Metaphor: [ReFantazio] and Sea of Stars, all of which have turn-based combat. Do you have a preference between the two?
I think it’s contextual. I think that Final Fantasy XV—I mean, debatably XIII, really—where it was a mix between turn-based and live-action. I think the Final Fantasy VII remake has the coolest implementation of both that I’ve ever seen. That is my favorite combat system for RPGs, is the Final Fantasy VII remake. I love how it is kind of turn-based. You can go character-to-character, but it is also live-action. The beat-’em-up style is cool. I love it. I liked it in Kingdom Hearts, but that is a game that did not stick with me. In my youth, I thought it was great. Now I look at it and I’m like, I liked it because Final Fantasy was in it. I have zero desire to fucking play a game as Mickey Mouse. I’m like, What is with the Balenciaga Goofy S&M gear? I don’t like this. The story, it was kind of cool because it was so emotional and nostalgic and I loved that about Square games. Like the game or not, when Sora and Kairi are separated and Utada Hiakru comes on? You’re in your feels. But I don’t like the game as much.

So, my preference is where they’re both together like that. That is my absolute favorite battle system. Resonance of Fate I think had a lot to do with that, too. PS3 was really dabbling with that. I played XIII for the first time very recently and I don’t like the game, I’ll be honest. But I was like, Whoa, holy shit! They were trying so much shit here. It’s kind of like Final Fantasy X, it’s kind of like Final Fantasy XV. It did give me a greater appreciation for the games in general because I was like, This is where they were really trying to level up. Really ambitious game.

What caused you to play that now?
I would hear all these comparisons [of] Lightning to Cloud, who is one of my favorite characters ever. He’s so tragic and complex and cool. When you’re trying to catch a vibe, I was like, I feel like I should try this. It was cheap and I could get both of them for very little money. We started playing it—Del was watching me play it—and it was like, God, I want to like this. I’m gonna try some more. Personally, I like Final Fantasy X—I do think it’s overrated. They were really trying to push that aesthetic and vibe even further, which is not the vibe that I want them to push, really.

When they started doing crossovers with Louis Vuitton, it kind of lost me [Michael].
I agree. And also in an era where fashion was not my favorite all the way. It was the tail-end of Y2K fashion. I love Y2K fashion, I love see-through school. Remember when every console was see-through and bubbly, like the first Xbox vibes? That looked pretty sick. But this was a pale version of that. I was like, Ugh… I don’t like this. [Laughs] I’m trying, though. I’m gonna beat it someday.

I [James] think it does get better later in the game. There’s a certain part, a watershed moment where things open up a lot more and once you get to that, I enjoyed it a lot more.
Yeah, that’s what everyone says. They’re like, “Yo, there’s a point where the game opens up and you kind of have free-reign roaming,” and I was like, “That’s what I miss.” Doing that in Final Fantasy VII—in all the Final Fantasys—was a huge thing.

Yeah, not knowing where you’re going, stumbling onto some new area, especially back then they would have entirely optional areas and secret stuff? So fun.
Dude, having all those areas. Vincent Valentine was optional in VII. That’s so cool!

The idea of secret characters nowadays with how much effort and time is put into that, they just can’t do it. Back in the day when you could go unlock optional characters and you suddenly found somebody, or for Final Fantasy VI, when your friend’s telling you, “You’ve got to go to this island, you get sucked up by this giant enemy, then you’ve got to go through this dungeon and then there’s this dude at the bottom,” and you’re like, “I don’t believe you.” And then you go home and you do it, you’re like, What?!
Dude, back then navigating video game lie guys was kind of cool, because there’s always a video game lie guy at school. It’s like, “You know you can play as Sephiroth, right? No, for the whole game!” I was like, “OK, man. I know the debug room. I know that stuff, but that’s not what you’re saying. That’s not real.” I had a crazy Mario 64 lie guy, like, “You can get Yoshi and have Yoshi like you did in the old games.” Navigating the video game lie guys and then finding secret characters is dope. Actually, you know what? Are you guys Fear & Hunger guys?

I [Michael] haven’t played. I appreciate the insanity of it, how incredibly messed up it is.
I want to play it because it gives me that vibe of like you’re saying where you get killed by this enemy, but then you have to do it at a certain point and then you go to the secret place and there’s, like, a whole other game. Allegedly! I would need a Steam Deck or something. I’m definitely not playing that game on tour. [Laughs]

Speaking of games that you’re looking to play, are there any other titles coming up that you’re looking forward to picking up?
Obviously the Silent Hill 2 remake. A lot of people were like, “Yo, this is gonna suck”—even me—and then that latest trailer, I was like, No, they nailed it. I think it’s gonna be great. I was very much against it, but I can’t front—that new trailer won me over. And that’s one of my favorites. That’s a game that’s, oddly enough, kind of a comfort game. I will play it and do a playthrough and then not touch it. If they fuck it up, I’m gonna be pissed. But I’m also gonna get it no matter what. That’s my biggest one that I’m looking forward to the most.

Other than that, there was a Metroidvania game that looked cool. I think it’s already out, though—The Last Faith. Everyone says it’s like Bloodborne, but a Metroidvania. I want to play it. It looks cool. I played Blasphemous. I haven’t beat it. I gotta play Blasphemous II. I don’t even really like Metroidvania games that much, but I really like that game. Other than that, I’m not really looking forward to much. I want to see what From is gonna put out. I want to see if they’re gonna do a new IP. I want to see if maybe they’ll touch Sekiro or Bloodborne again. I doubt it’ll be Bloodborne—I wish it would be. I love Sekiro as well. If they do something like that again, that would be dope. I’m not an Armored Core guy though, so I hope they don’t do that again.

I want to see what they’re going to do next because Elden Ring brought them to such new levels. I look at it like what Iowa to Slipknot was, where everyone thought they were going to come out with a super melodic, kind of radio-friendly record, and they doubled down and made it crazier and scarier. I feel like that’s what From did with the DLC. They’re like, “Oh, actually, no—we’re just gonna make it harder and less accessible and the lore is going to be even more convoluted and crazy.” Which made me really excited for whatever they’re gonna do next.

Is there any game that you’re really excited about that you missed in yesteryear? Or one that you did play in yesteryear and you want to play again?
I have Stranger of Paradise. I haven’t played it, but I have it. [The Legend of Zelda:] Ocarina of Time, I do have it again, I just need an upscaler because I want to play it on my N64. I really can’t wait to hit that heavy again and get back in there. Also, the second Valkyrie Profile game. It’s PS2. I’m pretty Souls-ed out, because I went so hard. I just finished my Bloodborne playthrough. I’m probably gonna go back to Final Fantasy, but those are the games I really want to go back to and hit hard. Also XV, I need to do another playthrough. It’s been calling me. At the end of every tour, you know the cutscene of everybody at the bonfire? If you go on my Instagram, there’s multiple things where it’s end of tour and it’s like, “You guys are the best!” [Laughs]

Terrified of God is out now via Century Media and can be ordered here.
Tickets for the Beg to Serve Tour featuring the Black Dahlia Murder, Dying Fetus, Spite, Angelmaker and Vomit Forth can be purchased here.
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The post KILL SCREEN 048: Kane Gelaznik of VOMIT FORTH Gushes About Survival Horror and RPGs appeared first on Decibel Magazine.