It’s been years since their last full length, but Fistula hasn’t kept quiet. They’ve pumped out an impressive number of splits and EPs over the past five years and in the process evolved in to one of the sickest, meanest bands out there. Their latest EP, Northern Aggression, is no exception, as it sees the […]

I’m a loser baby, so why don’t you kill me? It really does seem quite fitting in the context of another release by NE Ohio sludge merchants Fistula. Is it possible that this is a harsher Fistula? Eh, probably not, but it’s pretty damn harsh. Even better is that the Loser EP is available in […]

There is prolific and then there is what Fistula’s Corey Bing does. The man that has redefined the term. A veteran of the Northeastern Ohio sludge/doom battle zone, Bing has played in numerous heavy hitting acts – Accept Death, Sollubi, King Travolta, Ultralord, you name it. But Fistula has always been the area’s flagship act with a sound that is quintessential in its hatefulness and crushing weight, yet one that is also varied and always impeccably written and recorded. New album Burdened by your Existence owes as much to crust as it does Black Sabbath, driving listeners into the ground with crawling menace and ripping out throats with quick turns into speedier tempos, and everything in between.

Bing is a lifer in the truest definition of the term. Guys like Corey are the reason I continue to write about the world of metal, particularly the underground superheroes like Bing and the fertile community in which he resides. His work is created out of love, nothing more, nothing less, just like many of the scene veterans with which he has played. In the interview that follows, Corey and I discuss Fistula past and present, his former and current projects, record labels, and what this beloved thing call metal is supposed to be all about. As much as I hate to make self-important douche-bag claims, I’m inclined to call this Fistula interview a pretty damn definitive one. Soak it up and sweat it out.

Sometime after their 2004 split with noise-mongers Burmese on Crucial Blast, Ohio sludge-slingers Fistula parted ways with drummer Aaron Brittain and lay idle for a year or two. Discussions with -16-/Scumchrist drummer Jason Corley lead to his joining the group and recording this five-song EP in anticipation of their full-length album, due later this year. […]