IMPALED Interview

It's been a little bit of a wait since Impaled has unleashed a new slab of grinding medical gore metal, but their latest, 'Death After Life', drops on Century Media records March 8th. The band hooked up with producer Trey Spruence on the project, a deadly combination of raw grinding riffs and a gruesome story of four doctors looking to bring the dead back to life. Of course, the doctors have to ante up some corpses, so expect a horrifying, blood drenched album of violent death. Sean McGrath speaks to Erin Fox about the new album, re-animation and the anticipation leading to the release of 'Death After Life'


The Gauntlet: You have a new record that will be released this March entitled 'Death After Life'�Tell us about the record, is it a departure from your previous material?

Sean McGrath: The production is different; we actually went to a proper studio. It's got a little more depth and instruments we've never used before, cello, violin, stuff like that. It's not that it pops out, but it's there. This album was done a long time ago. It's coming out in March, nearly a year after it was finished�

TG: Did the band members play the accompanying instruments or did you bring some people in?

SM: Trey the producer, he knew two guys�then we had, like, piano. I would play or Troy would play or Jason would play this piano or keyboards. On a couple tracks, we did a little bit of that stuff. I guess you could say it was more experimental for us.

TG: So how did the band hook up with Trey? He seems to be a pretty eclectic producer for this type of music�

SM: We wanted to get somebody who wasn't totally into the death metal scene and wasn't known for doing death metal albums. Trey was someone I had admired when I was a kid; I had the Mr. Bungle demo, '0U818', when I was around eleven years old. That was one of the first shows that I ever went to see. So, I knew from his past stuff and current stuff too, he likes metal and he knows how to do it. The first Mr. Bungle demo was totally death metal and their first record had metal parts. I thought he would be a good choice. We talked about it for a really long time. We wanted to wait until we had all the stuff before we asked him. Luckily he was pretty easy to get a hold of. He was easier to get a hold of then than he is now. He won't return our e-mails (jokingly). We just e mailed him and then a couple days later he got back with us, came down to the jam space, listened to our songs and he was into it.

TG: What kinds of things did you encounter when you were in the studio with Trey? That must have been a pretty interesting experience�

SM: Yeah, it was really great. It was definitely the most fun I've ever had recording. He's a real interesting guy. Really cool to have an opportunity to work with him. Someone like that, especially someone that you have looked up to for a long time that really likes your stuff, it's pretty cool!

TG: Was he the type of producer that tried to change you or did he pretty much let you guys do your own thing? Did he really push the band?

SM: It's more like the latter. He never said, like, "That part doesn't fit there" or anything like that. His criticism would be more like, "It seems like your drums or this part is slowing down. It wasn't like this isn't right or you have to change this, it was more like, "You're not performing up to your best" or whatever and so he did push us in that way.

TG: So for metal fans that aren't that familiar with the band, tell us what they can expect from the new record�

SM: Ross has more guttural vocals, he can go really, really low, but on this album, he decided not to. So, it's a little more mid-range now. I have a little higher vocal, sort of like Jeff Walker from Carcass. A lot of people think that Carcass is the only band we like�I'm more into, I don't know, like, Megadeth, Pestilence, and Grave. But the melodic side of the band is heavily influenced by Megadeth. No one would probably ever say that, but there are straight up Megadeth riffs on all of our albums.

TG: How do you describe the album, obviously its death metal�

SM: We have technical parts, but it's pretty straight-forward. This is probably our least technical album.

TG: Is the group looking to push the barriers of the genre a little bit?

SM: Well, our tiny little sub-genre. If we're going to be stuck in the gore/grind category, I think we should do things the other bands haven't done and that's what people think we are. I would call us a death metal band.

TG: So this is a concept album?

SM: Yeah, it's got a pretty involved story.

TG: Tell us about it, man�

SM: Four doctors are scientists that are trying to re-animate dead bodies. They have to resort to killing people and they're trying to re-animate them and they're failing. They can't do it. By the end they're distraught, they kill themselves. But, before they kill themselves, they inject themselves with their own serum and it turns out that they can only re-animate the brains�

TG: So the album has been in the can for almost a year now, what has the band been doing since this was recorded?

SM: Waiting for it to come out, that's about it. Jason's been writing material and I've been working on other stuff, other music stuff. Ross is in another band, they play shows all the time around here and just day to day crap. Working and stuff like that.

TG: So what are the touring plans of Impaled?

SM: I hope we'll do it a little bit after it comes out, so people will have a chance to get it. I think a lot of people who liked our other stuff are going to like it, but there is somewhat of a departure. It's going to take time to get used to it.

TG: Tell us a little about what the group is like live�

SM: We make fun of the audience a lot and throw stuff at them and stuff. Mostly, it's us trying to be funny and people yelling at us�its pretty fun actually�

TG: Do you carry the theme over onto the stage?

SM: We wear doctor's lab coats, we have medicinal humor. I'm sure some people don't find it that funny.

TG: So, do you think that overall 'Life After Death' is more accessible than the band's Necropolis Records recordings?

SM: No, actually, I think 'Mondo' was our most commercial. This one is a lot dirtier sounding, more abrasive than that one. It has a lot less melodies and pretty parts.

TG: Do you think part of the charm of having this type of band is that things are really similar to a horror movie?

SM: Yeah.

TG: So what would you most like to tell all of the Impaled fans about the upcoming record and tour?

SM: It's very important to go out and buy it instead of just downloading it. Otherwise, Century Media is going to drop us and we'll be living in the street!




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Tags:  Impaled  , Sean McGrath, interviews

Erin Fox    January 29, 2005