Mike IX Williams (born Michael D. Williams) is an American vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

-based

sludge metal Sludge metal (also known as sludge or sludge doom) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated through combining elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. It is typically harsh and abrasive, often featuring shouted vocals, heavi ...

band

Eyehategod Eyehategod (also abbreviated and referred to as EHG) is an American sludge metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana who formed in 1988. They have become one of the better known bands to emerge from the NOLA metal scene. Their core lineup has re ...

. He is the former associate editor of heavy metal magazine ''

Metal Maniacs ''Metal Maniacs'' was an American magazine that was based around heavy metal music. History Founded in 1989 by Mike 'G' Greenblatt and Katherine Ludwig of Metal Shop. Where its sister publication ''Metal Edge'' largely covered glam metal, ''Meta ...

'' and has also worked on other projects.

Early life

Williams was born in

High Point, North Carolina High Point is a city in the Piedmont Triad region of the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina. Most of the city is in Guilford County, North Carolina, Guilford County, with parts extending into Randolph County, North Carolina, Randolph, ...

. His parents died when he was a child. At the age of 15, he left home. During most part of his life he has lived in New Orleans, Louisiana but he also lived some time in New York City.

Eyehategod

Williams performing with Eyehategod at Hellfest 2018 Williams was invited to join Eyehategod by Jimmy Bower in 1988. Since then, all of the band's albums

. '' Dopesick''.

Century Media Records Century Media Records is a heavy metal record label with offices in the United States, Germany and London. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by Robert Kampf and Oli ...

. Album credits. have featured his vocals which have been described as "tortured laryngitis screams", an "indecipherable ranting", and "the utmost sickening,

puke Vomiting (also known as emesis and throwing up) is the involuntary, forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the Human nose, nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like Food-poisoning, foo ...

-ridden audio atrocities that could actually prove deadly if taken in large doses". For the recording of '' Dopesick'', Eyehategod's third album, Williams went through several issues. At the time, he was living in

Clinton Hill, Brooklyn Clinton Hill is a neighborhood in north-central Brooklyn, a borough of New York City. It is bordered by the Brooklyn Navy Yard and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to the north, Williamsburg to the northeast, Classon Avenue and Bedford–Stuyves ...

in New York City so he had to travel between there and New Orleans, Louisiana frequently for the recording sessions,Williams, Mike. '' Dopesick''. Recording notes on the 2007 European reedition.

. which took place at Side One Studios. He attempted to record the sound of smashing glass for the introduction to the album, by smashing a bottle on the floor of the studio. In the process, Williams slashed his hand open badly and bled all over the studio floor. One of the band members then apparently smeared the words "

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

" and "Death to Pigs" in his blood. The studio owner reportedly called

Century Media A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

to ask if the band were insane, and threatened to kick them out because of this.

Role in the band

The band's lyrics and themes are completely conceived by Williams. He always has lyrics written by him ready so when the other members of the band send him songs he just decides which lyrics he wants for each song. His lyrics never try to portray anything, they never have a story attached to them. Sometimes he works with the musical atmosphere created by his partners in Eyehategod.

Other projects

During his first years as an Eyehategod member, Williams was in two other bands: Drip, a sludge metal band, which also featured fellow Eyehategod band members Jimmy Bower and Brian Patton, and Crawlspace. In 2006, he began a

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

band along with

Phil Anselmo Philip Hansen Anselmo (born June 30, 1968) is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal vocalist best known as the lead singer for Pantera, Down (band), Down, and Superjoint, amongst other musical projects. He is the owner of Housecore Records ...

named

Arson Anthem Arson Anthem was an American hardcore punk band formed in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 2006. The lineup comprised singer Mike Williams of Eyehategod, guitarist Phil Anselmo (best known as the vocalist for Pantera and Down), country musician, p ...

. He's the band's singer. Williams stated in 2008 that his desire with this band is that it makes people explore early hardcore punk, what he listened to when he had no responsibility and used to ride on his

skateboard A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. They are usually made of a specially designed 7-8 ply maple plywood deck and polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks. The skateboarde ...

. Along with all Eyehategod members except Jimmy Bower, Williams formed

Outlaw Order Eyehategod (also abbreviated and referred to as EHG) is an American sludge metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana who formed in 1988. They have become one of the better known bands to emerge from the NOLA metal scene. Their core lineup has r ...

, another sludge metal band, where he provides vocals for the band. In 2005, Williams' first book, ''Cancer as a Social Activity'', was released. The book includes old lyrics and portions of collages that Williams assembled for Eyehategod which date back as far as 1988 as well as unreleased stuff, written during the period of two or three years before the release of the book. The book also shows Eyehategod's history. It was mostly written in New Orleans and New York City but there are also part which were written while he was traveling. Early 2013 saw the emergence of Corrections House, an

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

project involving Williams plus members of

Neurosis Neurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving chronic distress, but neither delusions nor hallucinations. The term is no longer used by the professional psychiatric community in the United States, having been eliminated from th ...

Nachtmystium Nachtmystium was an American psychedelic black metal band formed by Blake Judd, formerly known as Azentrius, and Pat McCormick. The band's name is derived from the German word '' Nacht'' meaning "night", and the made-up term ''mystium'' which re ...

, and

Yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ...

. In 2004, Williams and longtime friend

Seth Putnam Seth Edward Putnam (May 15, 1968 – June 11, 2011) was an American musician who was the founder, vocalist and occasional guitarist of grindcore band Anal Cunt. He was known for his high-pitched screamed vocals and lyrics that either shock, off ...

of the band

Anal Cunt Anal Cunt, also known as AxCx and A.C., was an American grindcore band that formed in Newton, Massachusetts, in 1988. From its inception, the band underwent a number of line-up changes and never had a bass player. The band, known for its flippan ...

had plans to start a band and write a record consisting of all anti-cop songs. It is currently unknown if any material was written or recorded.

Hurricane Katrina and jail

When

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

hit New Orleans on August 29, 2005, Williams was at his home in the

Lower Garden District Lower Garden District is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Central City/Garden District Area, its boundaries as defined by the New Orleans City Planning Commission are: St. Charles Avenue, Felicity, Prytania, Thalia, ...

with his then-girlfriend. About eight hours after the beginning of the storm, the power went out. By listening to battery powered radio announcements they were able to find out that the situation in New Orleans was quite bad. After the hurricane passed, the water in Williams' neighborhood subsided. At this time, violence and crime in the area became rampant and the police were not in a position to help the residents. In the 2020 book ''Raising Hell: Backstage Tales from the Lives of Metal Legends'', Williams stated he looted a pharmacy after the hurricane and "didn't get busted until three days later". Inside the house they could hear gunshots and at one time, upon leaving the apartment, Williams' partner was confronted by a person who attempted to rob her. Williams intervened on her behalf. In order to escape the violence, Williams and his partner slept at the apartment of a friend. The following morning they borrowed a car and traveled to

Morgan City, Louisiana Morgan City is a small city in St. Mary and lower St. Martin parishes in the U.S. State of Louisiana. The population was 12,404 at the 2010 census. Known for being “right in the middle of everywhere”, Morgan City is located 68 miles (109&nb ...

, where Williams received word that his house had burned down. They booked a hotel room in Morgan City. Apparently, the person who attended them could see they were from New Orleans because they had to show their

identity document An identity document (also called ID or colloquially as papers) is any documentation, document that may be used to prove a person's identity. If issued in a small, standard credit card size form, it is usually called an identity card (IC, ID c ...

; for unknown reasons this person contacted the police. Members of the police entered Williams's room and arrested him. Williams was convicted of drug possession and jailed. Bail was set at $150,000; an amount Williams was unable to afford. With help from his lawyer, Williams filed for a bond reduction which was rejected by the court on the grounds that Williams was a threat to society. Williams was anxious at this time as his friends and associates were unaware that he was in jail. A fund to help to free Williams was created and his bandmates encouraged fans to send letters to him while he was in jail. Later,

paid the bail money to have Williams released. Upon his release, Williams spent several months staying at Anselmo's home.

Personal life

Williams suffers from chronic

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...

. He used to be the associate editor of ''

''.

Drug addiction

Williams struggled with drug addiction before

. By the time the hurricane hit, he had stopped using

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

and was in a

methadone Methadone, sold under the brand names Dolophine and Methadose among others, is a synthetic opioid agonist used for chronic pain and also for opioid dependence. It is used to treat chronic pain, and it is also used to treat addiction to heroin ...

program. During his stay in jail he did not receive the substance so he couldn't sleep for about seven days. He hardly ate for six days; he just soaked the bread from lunch in water and swallowed it because he knew he needed to keep something down. After this, he was able to break his addiction to

opiate An opiate, in classical pharmacology, is a substance derived from opium. In more modern usage, the term ''opioid'' is used to designate all substances, both natural and synthetic, that bind to opioid receptors in the brain (including antagonis ...

s. Jimmy Bower stated in an interview that Williams inspired him to also kick opiates. Although he no longer uses opiates, he has a long history of

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

that still persists to this day–his excess drinking eventually led to health problems which resulted in him requiring a

liver transplant Liver transplantation or hepatic transplantation is the replacement of a Liver disease, diseased liver with the healthy liver from another person (allograft). Liver transplantation is a treatment option for Cirrhosis, end-stage liver disease and ...

. In 2016 Williams' wife set up a crowdfund so fans could help pay for the transplant expenses. In late 2016 the funding goal was reached and Williams successfully underwent the surgery in December.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Mike IX American heavy metal singers American male singers Living people Musicians from New Orleans People from High Point, North Carolina 1968 births American male poets Singers from Louisiana 21st-century American poets People from Clinton Hill, Brooklyn American people convicted of drug offenses 21st-century American male writers