Obituary
Obituary
Relapse Records
Release March 17th
Interview with Don Tardy by hutch
“It’s that band member cliché, when people say, ‘what’s your
favorite album?’, the fans that read that are hoping we say, Cause of Death or Slowly We Rot.” Don Tardy replies, “you’re only as good as your
last album. I could not be more excited and proud of this album.” This is no
token response from Don Tardy, drummer and founding member of Obituary. Thirty
years ago, Tardy and his brother, vocalist, John, and, guitarist, Trevor Peres,
transformed their band, Xcutioner, into the forefathers of death metal.
Possessed, Death, and Morbid Angel had started the sound, and Obituary defined
USDM vocals when they released 1989’s Slowly
We Rot. Thirty years and nine albums later, Obituary now
preps to drop
their tenth, Obituary, on Relapse
Records, on March 17th. “It shreds,” Tardy proclaims.
Shred it does. Obituary crushes with a down-tuned, sludge
drenched energy. The album is heavy, menacingly heavy. Angry riffs push fast
drums, writhing in blast beats. Track four, “End It Now”, is a fierce ripper.
While most of the track lies within mid-tempo, headbangers will relish the
pounding rhythms. Obviously, fans cherish the early work that defined a global
genre which thrives today. Part of the Morris Sound Tampa scene, Tardy and
company, now joined by death metal’s legendary bassist, Terry Butler (Gruesome,
Death, Massacre, etc) and guitarist Kenny Andrews, whose been on board since
2014’s Inked in Blood, represented
their version of horror, blood, and vengeance. Inked in Blood alerted fans that the band’s new line up was focused
and vicious. For the tenth installment of studio ferocity, Obituary wanted to
get back to simplicity.
Obituary is booked for a solid year, through February 2018;
and talking more touring after that. Tardy turned 47 years old the prior
Saturday. As his body ages, Tardy rises to the demand. “Guitar players can get
away with drinking whiskey or a few drinks before show time. They’re just hands,
finger, and wrists that need to function properly. Me? It’s all four limbs. It
is about being in shape. It’s a physical challenge to play 18, 19 songs each
night. I keep myself in check. As much as I love burgers and fries, I do fruits
and vegetables as much as I possibly can. I stay active. I play drums nearly
every day. I still love practicing and learning. When we get on the road, it’s
all business.”
Tardy relays the health factor to be important, but sees his
familial bond as the essential aspect of Obituary’s fortitude. “We’re
fortunate. We’re very lucky. The band has been together for 30 years. My
brother and Trevor and I are best friends, true brothers. Other bands, even
extremely popular ones, the thing that breaks up bands – it’s not the physical stature
of their bodies- it is relationships. It’s being in a band together, the
politics of being around other human beings.” Obituary not only tours the world
together, or just plays together, these three run the company, Obituary,
together. “We are three great partners.” Obituary has lasted this long, in a
post label paradigm, because they embrace the DIY ethos. “We are super self-sufficient.
We do all the recording, the producing, managing the band, building the
website, organizing the merchandise, dealing with booking agents; we do it all.
We are very happy with who we are and what we have going on this day in age.”
Being a band since the 1980’s, Tardy has remained steadfast
and determined. The band has adjusted with the changes which time brings. But
he has gotten to maintain his habits and work traditions. Handing off an
Obituary album to someone else to mix was new. Cincotto was Obituary’s live
engineer and dear friend, so the transition made sense. Necessity breeds
change. Obituary was headed to Europe with Exodus. And the new album had to be
mixed. Another new experience for Tardy and crew was the use of technology.
They have always produced in house. But, this time, they needed technology to
bridge the continents and provide constant feedback. “We trusted (Cincotto). We
were on the phone with him, skyping him, WhatsApping, telling him our opinions
and what tweaks to make. We knew we had a deadline. We were down to the wire.
We knew what the release date needed to be. What date we had to submit to the
record label so that they have their four months to get the album to be
pressed, printed, distributed and marketed.” The experience with this digital
approach was intimidating but salvation for the band.
Obituary starts
with “Brave”, a blazing fast joint with a melee of sounds; piercing riffs,
venomous vocals, and full drumming. This killer sets the tone for an impressive
nine new tracks (the final, tenth track is last fall’s single “Ten Thousand
Ways to Die”). Obituary built their own Redneck Studio a decade ago. Their last
four albums have been recorded and produced there. “Obituary is old school. We
get in the same room, burn down, drink some beers, and you know, brotherhood.
We write music together and record right there. If you mess up, do it again.”
Tardy quickly adapted to the process, with excitement. While most of the record
was finished, Andrews had not recorded all his solos before the tour. “Ken was doing
some solos right from his laptop and sent that to Joe (Cincotta). Joe re-amped them
in his session. I know probably many bands do sessions like that these days,
but this was the first time to us. It was cool to see Ken bring his guitar into
his laptop. He got to get the solos that he was hoping for. It was a cool
experience. I could not be more excited about the release of this record.”
March 17th is not only the release date for the
album but the initial night of this year’s Decibel Magazine tour; which is
Kreator, Obituary, Horrendous, and Cleveland’s Midnight. Obituary is
anticipating nothing short of an epic journey. Tardy is a big Kreator fan. “Mille
(Petrozza) is just awesome. Kreator are the kings, good songwriting executed
right.” The bands play 29 shows in five weeks. “Then, the madness begins. We’ll
be busy for two years touring off this album and hit every corner of the
planet. 2017 is a done deal. We go back and forth three times over the summer.
We hit all the fests, Bloodstock, Summer Breeze, Hellfest.” Then, the band does
another tour across America again in the fall. Tardy also hopes to bring last
year’s Battle of the Bays stateside, where Obituary and Obituary battle song
for song.
The cover art, a dragon creature blended into the Obituary logo
was done by Andreas Marschall. Compared to albums like Frozen in Time, Back From the
Dead, Cause of Death, which were intricate
and ornate, soaked in ghoulish scenery and blood, this album is refined. Inked in Blood had a limbless,
decapitated torso with the title slashed into the bloody chest. “We are not
trying to top Inked. In fact, we want
to do the opposite. Andreas created a logo that is classic and basic; where the
fan sits and holds the big vinyl and just stares at it. It’s classic and clean,
not a bunch of color; exactly what we needed. We didn’t need to try to top Inked. We needed to go to a different
realm.” The boys did that. Here is a black logo with a piece, independent and
strong. The image is stripped down, simple. The logo is all impact. It appears
glowing, as if freshly forged. Tardy continues, “It’s perfect. The logo is cool,
but the game plan for Relapse is to have the logo embossed, the little skulls
and faces raised.” Tardy roils with excitement, explaining further details. Tardy
thinks of the practical applications of the image, reminding the loss of Frozen
tin Time when it was scaled down. He considers the image as it will appear on the
larger vinyl, the smaller CD, what transfers to a t-shirt well. “The gold and
metal are rich, like a piece of pewter being pulled out of molten. This is
exactly what we need. People will be proud to walk around with this on a shirt.
For the tenth album, we needed clean, classic, plain, but rich looking cover. After
being in a band for 30 years, we’ve learned that you’ll never please everybody.
And this band is totally okay with that. People that don’t love it, you’ve got
your opinion and were not mad at you. This bands not going away anytime soon. Next
album, look out.”
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