CYCLE OF PAIN

CYCLE OF PAIN – What You Sow Is What You Reap




By Aaron Small

“It all started back on the wagon train heading east,” jokes Black Label Society bassist John JD DeServio when asked about the origins of his other band, Cycle Of Pain. “No, we were 14 years old. Joe (Taylor - guitarist), Gregg (Locascio – vocalist/guitarist) and I were in a band together. We’ve been jamming, on and off, ever since then; we’re 41 now. So, 27 years later… we even played some shows in 2003 as a trio – Gregg was playing drums and singing. I was playing bass, Joe was playing guitar – as Cycle Of Pain.” Drummer Rich Monica completes the current lineup. “I got a record deal in ’07. I played the guys at Reform Records a whole bunch of my music. I have a bunch of jazz/funk shit on bass and a bunch of rock stuff – they loved it all and said, ‘whatever you want to do.’ I wanted to do a rock band with my buddies. So I called the guys up, I’m putting the band back together! After all this time, it’s pretty awesome. What better people to do it with than my brothers who I grew up with? They’re all great musicians. I’m really excited about it. And we’re getting to open up for Black Label.”

Cycle Of Pain’s self-titled debut is “a never-ending cycle. It’s just a life lesson,” explains JD. “Basically that’s what the whole record’s about – enduring life and kicking the shit out of whatever comes your way.” Although it’s more bass-focused, Cycle Of Pain will undoubtedly appeal to BLS fans, especially because the boss man himself, Zakk Wylde, appears on ‘I See Heaven’. “Of course. Zakk’s my brother. We’ve been best friends since we met. We’ve known each other for about 23 years now. It’s been a long time. Before Ozzy and all that shit, we got together cause we were both just jamming musicians.”



Zakk Wylde is but the first of a myriad of guest musicians who contribute to Cycle Of Pain. Next on the list is Brian Tichy (Billy Idol, Pride & Glory). “I went to Berklee with Brian,” recalls JD. “That’s where we met. So we’ve been friends, almost as long as Zakk and I have been friends. He played drums and guitar on a track called ‘Reign Down’. We did it at his house. It’s funny ‘cause I lived with him for a year. I rented a room there and after I moved out, they turned it into the drum room. He has two twin girls; they’re like my goddaughters. I’m Uncle JD. So they named the drum room, Uncle JD’s Drum Room. Brian’s smokin’ dude. He’s amazing.”

The song ‘Cycle Of Pain’ features several notable names including Fear Factory frontman Burton C. Bell. “That was the label’s doing. I’ve never even met him,” admits JD. “He does the screams. I hear he’s a nice dude. One day we’ll get to hang.” Furthering the all-star lineup on that same tune is vocalist Russell Allen from Symphony X. “I just met him after he played on my record. We did this benefit in Jersey. We did a bunch of Rainbow and Maiden tunes. Nice guy, great singer. And Hugo (Ferreira) from Tantric is on that track as well, plus my singer (Gregg) and myself. So there’s five people singing on that motherfucker. It’s insane.”

Shaking things up even further is Sen Dog from Cypress Hill on ‘Do My Work’. After seven songs of rock and blues, this hip-hop number comes out of left field. “Yeah, it’s more rock than hip-hop though. But it’s got that flavour to it. We have so many influences. We love funk music, jazz and soul as well as metal and rock. Gregg, my singer, actually wrote that song in ’03. He plays drums on that track too. He came over to my house with it and I thought it was fucking awesome. I said one day I’m going to get Cypress Hill on this track and years later, I fucking did it. I’m friends with Sen Dog, so he did the rap in the middle.” The thought of disgruntled or adverse reaction from Doom Troopers the world over didn’t even enter JD’s mind. “I don’t give a fuck. I don’t really care because it’s a great song. It’s fun. It’s about getting high. If you don’t like it, then don’t listen to it. But like I said, we have a lot of influences. I can’t just put out a Black Label record. We definitely have similar influences: we love Sabbath and we love Zeppelin, it’s all in there. We like funk and jazz, but like I said, my singer wrote that one, so there you go.”



After the album apparently comes to an end, be sure to stick around for the hidden bonus track. “Funny story! I’m at Black Label rehearsal and I do a good impersonation of Rocky (as played by Sylvester Stallone) and Zakk loves when I do it. Zakk has this leather fucking brimmed Rocky hat. I’m playing piano and Zakk says, ‘Dude, sing like Rocky.’ So I just started making up this gay fucking song. I’m thinking about the scene (in the movie), ‘I ain’t got no locker Mick, do I?’ So I started singing it. And the next line, ‘Do you wanna move in with me Mick?’ I made a little blues thing out of it. So fucking gay, but we’ve got it on video. It was so funny dude. When I put my whole DVD together, I will put that on there for sure! It’s fucking hysterical man. I hope people actually hear it. Who knows? That might be the fucking hit of the record. Whatever it takes.”

Expect cameras to be rolling, capturing live footage for the upcoming DVD, when Cycle Of Pain takes the stage as openers for BLS. “What a great opportunity,” exclaims JD. “Zakk has given me so much. He’s given me more than anybody – including a lot of shit pains. He’s given it all to me. Herpes - you know we share – it’s a Black Label love story.”

Looking at the tracklisting on Cycle Of Pain, ‘Pungle’ certainly stands out as a unique title. “It’s like punk jungle. I just combined the two,” explains JD. “It was originally a drum and bass beat. Like I said, it’s different than Black Label. I like some electronic shit. I like the sounds. I can’t listen to fucking techno; it just drives me crazy. However, I dig synthesizers. I tried to bring all that shit in there. It’s pretty cool. It’s an aggressive song. It’s funny ‘cause when I wrote that song, Tichy was listening to it and he says, ‘Dude, it’s Earth, Wind And Fire – Shining Star. It’s the same melody.’ I didn’t even think about it. I tell this to people all the time – you are what you listen to. That shit just comes out.”



In Cycle Of Pain, JD is the primary lyric writer. As such he discusses ‘14 Devils’, which contains the line, “God is only your light.” “Actually, when we wrote the tune, Gregg was just singing melodies, but he did say ‘14 Devils, I’ve seen their face.’ We thought that was cool so we kept it. But what is 14 Devils? Is it two weeks of hell? Then I saw a special on this dude in jail, this fucking white supremacist. He’s talking about all this fucking shit that he did to get into this organization. They have The 14 Commandments. I was like, oh shit! They have 14 rules, there it is, the 14 Devils. So then I went back and wrote the lyrics: Lonesome freak, I’m that gone. God is only your light. I’m the worst, you know me, 14 Devils I’ve seen their face. It’s all metaphors. I’m glad I saw that special cause that gave me something to really write about with ‘14 Devils’. That was a tough one. You know what sucks? On the record, I don’t have my lyrics (printed). I think I’m going to have to post them, ’cause they’re fucking deep man.”

Two of the more obscure titles on Cycle Of Pain are ‘5’ and ‘M’. “Well ‘5’ is because the song is in 5/4 time. My guitarist wrote the riff. So I just sang one, two, three, four, five, fingers turn to fist to fight… and I went off from there. But it’s funny ‘cause I played it for my buddy Barry (Kerch) who plays drums in Shinedown. He started laughing and said, ‘Dude, you just sang the fucking time for the people.’ Then the second verse is one, two, three, four, five, and there’s five senses. ‘M’ was a working title but I thought that was badass ‘cause it means 1,000 in Roman Numerals. John Lennon said it best, ‘my lyrics don’t really mean anything. What do they mean to you?’ That’s what it comes down to. But that song is about enduring life and fucking dealing with it: Now you know you can’t save me and you don’t really know who I am, let me suffer, I’ll show you things that you thought could only be dreams. It’s a Black Label thing – SDMF – Strength, Determination, Merciless, Forever. That’s basically what ‘M’ is. It’s like, you can’t stop me.”

Looking ahead, “the next record I’m going to do for this label is going to be the JD bass record. I’m going to sing some songs and play piano on it as well. I want to get some special guest bass players like Victor Wooten, Steve Harris (Iron Maiden), Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath), all the bass players that I fucking love.”