"Love what you do, stay true to what you do, and stay true to yourself." In the mind of Opus, drummer for Connecticut based Dead By Wednesday, this is the very simple, and only recipe for success and longevity in the music business. Sure, combining the term "longevity" with Dead By Wednesday may not have the same mystique as with The Rolling Stones or KISS, but throughout the heavier genres of music today, longevity means relevance, and to remain relevant means success - not necessarily commercial success, but for Opus, personal success. "Success," he says, "is a commitment and it is a strain. To achieve it, music must be your passion."

"You have to write music with emotion and care about what you do," he continues. "Your directions must come from inside yourself. To stay relevant you need to tour and play as much as possible and never forget the grass roots you've planted. You have to play from the heart, and then, it doesn't matter so much if you're relevant. If you're always worried about being relevant, you will fail and your passion for music will be left unfulfilled."

It's a vicious cycle for any musician today and the only way to break it is to recognize that it exists and embrace it. Whether you're on the road, stuck in the middle of nowhere and not eating properly, driving all night and barely sleeping, or struggling to make a living, the only thing that matters is "whether it's all in your blood or not," remarks Opus. And for Dead By Wednesday, music is the only thing pumping through their veins.

Two years ago, Dead by Wednesday entered the studio with the hope of pushing their creativity to the limits, defying every pigeonhole critics and audiences alike tried to squeeze them into. The result was 2008's The Killing Project, a fresh sound by Dead By Wednesday, and an album that would dually appease fans garnered while touring on Democracy is Dead (2005), and expose DBW to a broader fan base.

Opus touts two drastic changes in the writing and recording process that differentiates the sounds of The Killing Project and Democracy is Dead. "The first difference was the use of a click track on The Killing Project, rather than simply playing live in the studio." The results "were grittier tones and a tighter feel, something we definitely captured on the record and continually recapture when we play the songs live."

Second, and slightly less technical, was that unlike Democracy is Dead, which was written almost solely by Opus, The Killing Project was truly a combined effort by the entire band. "We approached the production of The Killing Project with a much higher standard set for ourselves. We had no intentions going in, but we all knew we wanted the record to be heavier, tighter, and just plain ole good, solid shit. We felt that we needed to release material that stood up to killer metal bands that are currently out now," states Opus, naming bands such as Lamb of God, Goatwhore, and Hatebreed as examples. And he didn't mean the mere imitation of the mainstream and underground metal scenes of the time; it was about writing a record that cemented Dead By Wednesday within the genre. It was about writing a record that was more than just a product of its musical time.

Moving forward two years, Dead By Wednesday is at it again, having completed the writing of their third full length, and follow-up to The Killing Project. With more than twenty collaboratively written songs, Dead By Wednesday has once again entered East Lake Recording Studio, teaming with Enoch Jensen to produce the record. The result, if all goes as planned, will be what Opus calls the band's Master of Puppets - the songs are strong, and while they stick to the DBW roots that have brought them this far, in the end the album will be considered "a very metal album."

With this record, one can expect the same tightness from Dead By Wednesday, but there promises to be even crunchier tones and more thickness than found on The Killing Project. Speaking of his drumming parts as an exemplum, Opus comments, "I try to write creative drum parts for the songs to challenge my ability. Sometimes I ask myself why I make it harder on myself when playing live, but for this album, I want to try to capture takes that are on fire; I want fans to get a sense that I'm about to fall off at any second, whether watching me play live or listening to the album."

But this release is not just about Opus' drumming. It's their third release, and having already staved off the sophomore slump most bands experience, DBW must trudge forward in all areas, setting their focus on a late 2010, or early 2011 release.

"No matter how good you are in this business, you still have to have your business structure together. It's crucial to write a great record, but it still comes down to the promotion and marketing of that record; and sadly enough, money and luck," laments Opus. "It's still a matter of who you know in this business; but like anything else, the bigger the bang you make, the more people take notice."

At times, the bang that needs to be made doesn't have to be on the drum kit. "This time around we are focusing on tightening up all aspects of Dead By Wednesday, not just the music. We'd like to have things like the single picked, the video made, and all marketing plans and people coordinated and in place prior to the album's release." Dead By Wednesday has benefited from their ability to play in front of fans of many different genres of music. And when they do, they often win a large percentage of them over.

Their passion for music has started to pay dividends. Recently, Dead By Wednesday embarked on the nationwide "Make It or Break It" tour, and "Pawns," the first single from The Killing Project, was made into a video and directed by Grammy nominated David Brodsky of My Good Eye, NYC. The video debuted on Headbanger's Ball, Music Choice, Havok TV On Demand, and MySpace Metal, and the song is in regular rotation on Sirius' Liquid Metal. Having a video aired on MTV can be checked off the lifelong accomplishments checklist, but Dead By Wednesday's work is not over yet.