It's all work and some play for Kitchen Knife Conspiracy

The band is releasing its fourth album next month.
By JOHN BENSON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- After a busy week slaving at work, some guys play paintball, others slow-pitch softball.
For Kitchen Knife Conspiracy, the quintet -- John Prosenjak (vocals), Jeremy Cibella (guitar), Kevin Lewis (guitar), Johnny Kihm (bass) and Fred Whitacre Jr. (drums) -- plays the role of weekend rock stars, traveling around the region performing death-metal-meets-hardcore music wherever it's welcome.
"We can't really do tours because we're all in day jobs, but we do a lot of weekend stuff," said Kihm, calling from his home in Girard. "Last weekend we played in Buffalo, and things went over really well there. We get to do the weekend warrior kind of thing where we go as far as we can and come back home to our daily lives."
Throughout its travels, KKC has shared the stage with such notable acts as Crowbar, Six Feet Under, King Diamond, Mushroomhead, Dog Fashion Disco and more. While easily fitting into any metal bill, Kihm believes the band has its own unique sound that stands out among the din commonly associated with today's scene.
"We like to call it stompcore," said the 1995 Girard High School graduate. "It's angry. It's not quite as fast as like death metal, but it is at times. It's hard to describe. We just like to be heavy and make people dig what we're doing."
Albums
For eight years, this has been the band's philosophy, with three albums -- 1999's "Sin Pathetic," 2001's "Handicapitated" and 2003's "Worst Case in Stereo" -- to its credit. KKC is preparing its fourth release "A Friend in Need is a Friend to Kill," which was recorded at Mushroomhead's Filthy Hands studio in Cleveland.
"It's still Kitchen Knife Conspiracy, maybe a tad bit heavier, a tad bit angrier," Kihm said. "The new album has a lot to do with being angry and back-stabbing just everywhere in everyday life. Like different bands, you play with them and they get what they want out of you and that's it, you never hear from them. And record labels, too. We were on a label out of Toledo who took our music, and we never got any money from them."
The band is celebrating its new album with a CD release party March 3 at Nyabinghi in Youngstown. Whereas some bands dream of making it big and leaving behind their hometowns and jobs, the members of KKC aren't holding their breath for a one-in-a-million shot as much as just feeling grateful they're able to play music for hungry metal fans.
"We'd love to see it turn into something else, but we're still going to keep doing it," Kihm said. "It's like we're in it for the love of music. It's a great outlet for us to be able to write an album and touch as many people as we can."