1.Putrefy are currently gearing up to record their third full length, can you tell us a little about how the album’s progressing, what we can expect from it and indeed when you expect it to see the light of day?
First of all I’ll say thanks for the interview, thanks man, right we’re still writing the next album which is titled “Knelt before the Sarcophagus of Humanity”,5 songs completed and another being worked on, the overall vibe is different than the last CD with influences coming back from the bands early days with a more 90,s death metal vibe but with our own slant on it, much stronger songs, better musicianship, I’m hoping it’ll come out in mid-2012,we’re still on the search for a suitable label that promotes their bands.....................we’re writing the strongest album possible, it’ll be a few years since the last CD but the wait will be worth it.
2.You have released two albums to date, Putrefy (2006) & One nation under Gore (2008). What is your opinion of those records in hindsight? Is there anything you are going to deliberately do differently this time around?
The debut album myself and Connor can’t stand really. At the time we thought it was good enough but looking back it was all over the place, but we recorded it, got it released and people liked it but myself- I don’t like it. The next album was a big improvement. I think we got better as musicians and song writing got better.
This time we demoed songs, recorded videos of rehearsals so we could properly fine tune the songs for the new album, like pre-production you could say. The thought for the new album was to write a straight to the point brutal death metal album, but with more preparation than previous releases, better being prepared than debating later how things should have been, lessons been learned with previous recordings, our goal is simple on the new record to just release the best bunch of songs possible, so far its working out great.
3.Just to continue from the above question, I found myself that the first record was a little disjointed, some of that material had been kicking around for years so for me there was an element of inconsistency with that one, whereas the second record was the one where I clicked with Putrefy – One nation under gore was definitely a more focused effort. Would you agree with that statement?
Yeah the first album was a bit disjointed, like I say in the other question I don’t like the debut CD, if recorded now it’d sound awesome I reckon, we play a couple live from the debut in the live set, we’ve re-written them and tightened them up, Pigfucker and Lust so vile, we’ll be re-writing the track Putrefy next, it’s been started on in recent weeks.
I’d totally agree that one nation under gore was a much more focused affair, since the debut we agreed that every release has to be improved on every aspect being song writing and playing, the band has improved a hell of a lot since the last CD, it’s all good.
4.Can I just ask, why did it take so long for the first album to come out?
Ah right where do I start? A Ha! Basically since 1995 i had problems finding suitable musicians to play this type of music, finding death metallers was impossible to say the least and musicians like that even harder, In 1996 i came down with a medical condition which is on-going but I won’t go into that, so I was unable to play drums for a few years, I started playing drums in a couple hard-core bands and got liking drumming again and after a while I reformed Putrefy with a few friends, people came and went and in 2000 I met Connor and got a mate called Beaver to pay bass, who would be the bands longest ever serving bass player for 8 years, and things went from there, various band changes happened and between 2003/2005 we had a stable line up, then a change of vocalist (Jason Barriskill R.I.P/He passed away in recent years) happened and we had enough songs to record a full length with this line up, we had material back in 1995 for a full length but them songs didn’t get recorded, some riffs appeared in songs on “One Nation under Gore”, was a long time to get a debut album out but I’m very glad it finally happened, I always wanted to make sure the band recorded an album, and we’re on the 3rd album now, so I’m very thankful that people support the band enough so we can keep doing albums ,I’ll keep doing this as long as the people want to hear the band.
5.This may seem a bit of a trivial question, but there have been several line-up changes in the band over the years, am I correct in saying that you have always been a core member? Who’s in the line-up for the next album?
Yeah your correct in saying I’ve been a core member, I helped form the band back in 1992,i was in a thrash band with Jeff on guitar for a couple years, original singer Charlie joined and his mate Mark joined on bass, we then decided to play Death Metal and thought of a name change, took a while but one day I mentioned the name Putrefy as I saw it in a mag somewhere and the name just clicked with us all, In 1995 the others in the band couldn’t be arsed doing it anymore so the band parted ways but I always wanted to bring it back as I always thought we had unfinished business in the underground scene, ex singer Charlie said I was always more serious about it than the rest, but this band has always been a passion of mine, I was determined to bring it back and try and continue spreading the band’s name, I still got a few letters over the years from people asking if I was going to bring it back, was always a thing I wanted to do but took some years to do it but it did and no regrets, played some cool shows and fests, made some good friends in the business, cool bands, nice people.
The current line up is Connor on Guitars and vocals,Aaron R on Guitar and Aaron S on Bass and myself of course,yep theres too Aarons in the band,lol,joking aside this is easily the strongest line up i,ve had to date and long may it continue,great musicians and great guys.
The current line up is Connor on Guitars and vocals,Aaron R on Guitar and Aaron S on Bass and myself of course,yep theres too Aarons in the band,lol,joking aside this is easily the strongest line up i,ve had to date and long may it continue,great musicians and great guys.
6.What are your plans on the touring front for the next record? I personally think with a bit more push on the international circuit you guys could catch something of a break. Can you tell us what the scene is like in Ireland too and how has the reaction been towards Putrefy at home? From the clips I’ve seen on you tube it seems like you have a dedicated following there.
We,d like to play as many places as possible,we always try and secure fests and gigs but in recent years its been drying up,things have been looked into but shat on to be honest,but we,ll keep trying,we like to play live and if people want us we will try our best to play there,the scene in Ireland is OK,there's some well known bands like Primordial,Morphosis,Abaddon Incarnate,and Warpath is making good waves,done European dates,then theres newer bands like Zealot Cult,Zombified,Guttrench,Skewered who all deserve some exposure,great bands.
In the north of Ireland there isn't much of a scene,some good bands in different genres but a lot of crap as well,bands like Zombified and Overoth do well in the north,we play more in the south as that's where our fan base is.
7.I had a chat with American brutal death metallers Gortuary there recently, I put it to them that the Brutal Death Metal genre is one of the most saturated around and simply littered with rubbish bands and even worse front covers. As a fan, it can be difficult to weed out the better bands, I’d like to put the same question to you Jason, do you find it to be the case yourself as a fan, and more importantly what do you think separates Putrefy from the pack?
Indeed a lot of crap is released now,bands or 1 man projects releasing albums instead of testing the waters with demos and improving their skills,some stuff nowadays is just shit,and going for retarded artwork,i listen to more old death metal now as bands nowadays just wanna be either all about being fast with no memorable riffs or a Devourment clone,i,ll always say the best death metal is early 90,s,all about good songs.
What separates us from the rest is we,re writing whats personal to us and not following whats new anymore,we've done that in the past with the debut album,but just write for ourselves in what we want to hear and just hope the listeners dig it,but we write for the fans as well,just don't follow trends anymore.
8.Can you tell us about your best and worst touring experiences to date? Also, from your Bio I have seen that you guys have opened up for a few renowned names in the death metal scene, Suffocation and Entombed are surely worth a mention here, any good anecdotes/memories from those shows? It must have been awesome to share the stage with bands that influenced you?
Supporting Suffocation twice is the all time one for me,we,ve played great fests but playing with them was the best for me,legendary band,both times was great but the last one was insane,kids was rocking the drum kit back and forward when i was playing,stage diving,we sold 900 euro in merch that night,a successful night for sure,the Entombed gig was OK,played OK and sold a few things,but still a great thing to share the stage with a band like Entombed and i,ll always be thankful for the promoter for offering these slots.
Worst experience was playing Central Illinois Metal fest in the U.S.A. And our train being delayed by some kids firing ball bearings at the train and stopping it,we had to wait 3 hours till it moved and the guys in the band jumped off and tried to get taxis for us and then the train started again and had to run back on,we then got the train to the airport,having a hour to get there to check in,ran up the airport,somehow got the luggage through and then all searched as we looked dodgy,lol,so we get on the flight and when we arrive in Dublin i get informed that my luggage with £600 worth of drum gear is missing and on another plane,but luckily got it back 4 days later,we was very lucky we got home.
9.Speaking of influences, who do you consider to be Putrefy’s biggest influences musically? And if you had the choice, who would you like to ideally take out on tour with you?
My influences are mostly American Death Metal bands,esp the New York bands,the others are the same in the band,heavy death metal,cant be arsed with this melodic death metal,heavy and straight to the point for me,if we had the chance to tour with anyone it would be with Suffocation,Mortician,Internal Bleeding,Pyrexia.................that would be killer.
10.You guys had the pleasure of working with Will from Mortician on your first album (Released on Will’s Redrum label), how did that work out for you? It must have been a massive boost to have Will’s approval for the band? Do you have much contact with him these days? He seems to keep a very low profile; hopefully a new Mortician record will be on the cards.
Working with Redrum was good for the band,Will Rahmer is a legend in the scene and liked what he heard when Connor sent him a track of the new album just to check us out,and he was interested in releasing it,was a easy decision to release the CD with wills label,we,re still in contact with will,me and Connor have our own NYDM chapter in northern Ireland,we do events for charities,and will still checks on the bands progress,hes a busy man and i,d say there could be a new Mortician release coming soon,cant wait myself,i did hear of a DVD coming so keep your eyes out for that.
11.As a death metal fan you must be aware of several pure death metal labels that are on the go now, two I want to mention are Sevared and Brutal bands as they seem to be gaining a great deal of attention, what is your opinion of each and do you think it would be good for Putrefy to work with either?
Both great labels and it would be a honour working with either of them,good band rosters and promote their bands,exactly what we're looking for.
12.Are there any other good metal bands Death or otherwise back home that you could recommend to our readers?
Check out the bands i listed previously from Ireland,other bands i listen to are the oldies like Suffs,Mortician,Dehumanized,Internal Bleeding,old Gorguts,Massacre,Deicide,new bands i like are Vomit the Soul,Disma,Sufferage,Infernal Revulsion,Bone Gnawer..................so many good bands out there,just cant think of many at the moment.
13.On the touring front, do Putrefy limit themselves to only playing on pure death metal bills or are you open to diverse bills?
We prefer to play with bands similar to us as then you,ll have a crowd that should want to check out all the bands,we,ve played diverse gigs before and notice each band having their own following and pissing off after they see that band,with a death metal bill you,ll have the chance that they,ll watch all the bands.
14.I seen that you have played quite a few death fests, can you give your overall opinion on these including pros and cons?
The pros are good exposure and the cons is affording the travel,some promoters pay,most don't,so the only con is money for bands as people have their own personal stuff to deal with outside the band so sorting a $1500 dollar flight for a fest someone wants you to play for free isn't a option really,just sucks with us living in Northern Ireland where to go to some cities in Europe you have to get a connection in England and double baggage to pay,last time we played London it cost £350 just to get the gear on the plane,and that was mostly for drum gear,you just have to do it if the right gig is offered.
15.You’ve been at this game a long time now any advice for anyone out there thinking of starting a brutal death metal band? And indeed is there anything you would change about your career to date??
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm,the only thing i would of changed was practising my own drumming more back when we started,lol,but youth and knowing it all at the time prevented that,i,ve learned a lot over the last 5 years when i started taking my playing serious like i should have back then,everything we,ve done since the start has been a learning situation so i wouldn't know what i know now without going through it all,its been a hard ride but learned a lot from mistakes and when i can i try and advice younger bands how to not make the same mistakes,
Thanks again to Jason for his time, please check out the following links
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#%21/pages/PUTREFY/117333211610033
http://www.myspace.com/putrefy05
