Kenny Higgins/drums;Kyle K Williams/vocals; Ian Rogers/bass; Nick Lehman/guitarFast. Brutal, Violent . . . Entertaining. That is how Otoe-Missouria tribal member Kyle K. Williams describes the music he creates with his heavy metal/thrash band With Smoke They Gave Their Offering. Their latest album is set to drop in January.



Williams (vocals) and his band mates Kenny Higgins (drums), Nick Lehman (guitars) and Ian “Fitzy” Rogers (bass) have been performing in Oklahoma and surrounding states since 2002. He says that while today he has focused his talent on performing death metal, as a child he was exposed to a variety of musical genres.

“I have been singing since I was a kid,” Williams says. “I have been listening to this type of music ever since I can remember. My sister and brothers always had some kind of music going whether it was R&B, hip hop, glam metal, metal, thrash just whatever was playing. I listened to all of it slam dancing in my room all alone.”

Williams says that what he does with the band isn’t really “singing”.

“I don’t sing in this band,” Williams says. “I am a SCREAMER. I do what fits. I don’t want to try and force anything.”

In addition to being the band’s “singer,” Williams is also a lyricist.

“I write lyrics for the songs,” Williams says. “I do write music, but not for this band. I leave that up to Kenny, Nick and Fitzy.”

Williams says that thrash metal appeals to him on a personal level.

“The attitude of the music has so much conviction,” Williams says. “I relate to a lot of what is being said.  I understand where they are coming from--the determination to throw yourself and put your mind in that 30mintue set...feels good.”

The band’s unusual moniker was a second choice after the band discovered their original name, EightyProof, was already being used by another band.

“We had to change our name because there was another artist with that name,” Williams says. “I mean, the guy had it tatted on his arms—that’s copyrighted better than us. So Kenny just called me up the next day and said ‘what about this long huge name?’ I was like alright, we can do it.”

The band has toured with a number of death metal/thrash prominent bands.

“A lot of bands come through Oklahoma on their tours and we get a chance to play with them,” Williams says. “It’s amazing. We have gotten to kick it with a lot of great people from around the world. We recently did a show with Triptycon (switzerland) and 1349 (norway). They are great people—can’t understand a lot of what’s being said, but that’s the kinda show we get to play. We have had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Goatwhore, Static X, Otep, Despised Icon, Emmure, A Life Once Lost, Misery Index and Cthonic (Phillipines).”

The band’s as yet untitled, new album will be dropping in January. Visit the official MySpace page for the band for more performance dates and info http://www.myspace.com/eightyproofmetal.