Garza Podcast - 86 - DYING FETUS: New Album, South Park & Wrong One to Fuck With

Episode Date: July 10, 2023

Garza sits down with Maryland death metal band Dying Fetus. https://dyingfetus.komi.io SPONSORS: Click this link to purchase from Sweetwater & help support the podcast: imp.i114863.net/rnrmVB DYING FETUS is: John Gallagher - Guitar, Vocals Sean Beasley - Bass Trey Williams - Drums TIME STAMPS: 00:00 - Dying Fetus’ Impact on Heavy Music 03:19 - John Playing Drums on the 1st Demo/Alesis D4 08:16 - Early Musical Influences (Van Halen, Stryper & More) 11:33 - Guitar & Bass Tone, Double Drop Tuning 13:57 - …And Justice for All 16:20 - Mixing Groove & Shred Into Dying Fetus’ Sound (Sepultura, SOD) 21:22 - Napalm Death & the 1st Blast Beats Ever 23:05 - Playing as a Trio 31:41 - Trey & Sean Joining Dying Fetus, Being “Lifers” 35:54 - Self-Doubts & Commitment to the Music 38:30 - Keeping the Sound Throughout the Years 40:16 - Reign Supreme (2012) Writing Process & Sobriety 46:56 - South Park Appearance 51:26 - New Album, “Make Them Beg for Death” Exclusive Announcement! 54:00 - Being a Gateway Band, Playing Crossover Shows

No one told us. I was in Greece on vacation. I remember just like all of a sudden started receiving texts. Like, yo, you're on South Park. What I'm like, huh? No. No one told you guys? No one knows. Our manager Derek, he said, he said they're thinking about using you guys. There's a couple other bands in the mix. Oh, a bunch of bands they were thinking of. And he said, you'll know when it airs. Whenever I need music gear, I always go to sweetwater.com. If it's mics, headphones, or studio and recording gear, Sweet Water has you covered. Next time you need any music gear, support the podcast by using the link in the description and comment section below. Are you guys aware of the impact that Diane Fitas has made on the entire metal genre?

Especially a tour like this is perfect. You have like multi-generational bands. You have bands like Sangu Kuzugab. They're a younger band that's obviously influenced by you guys and you have a band like us. kind of like mid-tier age, I guess you could say. I think we notice it more when there's a lot of bands playing like that, like chaos and carnage. Are we on right now or no? Yeah.

Oh, we are? We are. We are flying. Okay. What's up, internet? We are flying before you're flying later, so. Okay. Sorry. I was just making sure.

There's a lot of bands and you talk on everybody backstage. Yeah. That's when you notice it more, I think. Yeah. Do you, I mean, are you aware of, like, the impact at all? No? You know, I try to stay a little distant from that. I don't want to know all this stuff.

I don't want to be conceded. I don't want anything to. I want to still think that, you know, we have ways to go. I never want to think that we've reached, you know, any point, you know, of like, we made it or something. Or we're doing well. I'm superstitious about that. Like, it's always, I'd just rather be oblivious to a lot of that and just think we still have, just worry about our own self and what we're doing. the next album, for example, and that kind of thing.

And that's great if we are making an impact and contributing to the scene and everything. So it's just awesome. But I don't like consume my thoughts personally with that kind of thing. Like, yeah, man, we're really doing it. It's awesome, you know, but that's just kind of like my philosophy. Yeah. You know, just be humble all the time. Yeah.

You know, that's, I don't know. So may you go, you take like, you know, being humble you have your own road right and that's pretty much it because there's always somebody that's better i mean i feel like i'm bored it or like there's bands that are a little more technical there's always somebody better than you so you should never really be too high on your horse or you know that's but yeah man we're just happy to be involved with the scene and everything and yeah man i guess i made it from like a self-reflective type of uh you know like you're still humble you're still on your own road but like kind of do like a soft reflect every once in a while

i'll do that every once in well you're like right what the hell you got me i was sitting someone's basement in the garage you know trying to play drums right on on a shitty demo did you play drums on that first demo i did i did it's not terrible it's not edited you know like if it was like now and i didn't they'd be perfect drums right we'd quantize the kicks and and all not to say the drummers can't do that stuff now. But yeah, it's very raw. It's just like at that stage, it was just trying to get on the map,

you know, get a band together. You know, Sean was in a band at that time. And basically back in Maryland, there were no good drummers back in the early 90s. No one could really play consistent double bass or, you know, this and that. It was just tough. So we're kind of out in the country,

of course, before the Internet. So it was just kind of like, all right, let me try this. I kind of sucked. You know, some people like it for some reason, you know. I mean, it's a good demo all around, you know, and has some of our songs that, you know, like grotesque impairment. It's one of our most successful songs that people still to the state.

That's one of the first songs I ever wrote for Dying Fetus was grotesque impalement. Really? There's some kind of energy with that song, you know, like that new, I don't know, when you're first excited and I don't know. But nonetheless, man, it was a good demo and, you know, got us on our way, you know, to, you know, it served as purpose, you know, but it's not the best. But, you know, I'm kind of embarrassed about those drums, to be honest, you know. It's so great. I mean, how long were you even playing drums at that, at that point before you even?

I was a guitarist. I wasn't even a drummer. It was just like, I bought a pad set, had a D4 brain and had acoustic symbols and just try to make it happen. And I just kind of built my own little fucking little stupid cage, like a little like pad set. And that was it, you know. Just to get it out of, just get it going. Yeah, just to get it going, man. You know, because I knew like, you know, if you, you know, the sampled sounds like for the D4 would sound better than a fucking miced up.

Because I had some industrial friends that had, you know, pad sets. And I was like, well, this sounds way better than a fucking acoustic set, you know. You can just plug it in and it sounds pretty good. And so that was the, you know, my way of thinking with that. Just, you know. Just start. Just start, make it happen, you know. You know, it's like, who's playing drums on this?

And then I did a little bit more research. I was like, what the fuck, John's playing? I sucked. I sucked. We got Trey now, so we're all good, you know. Trey's incredible. Trey's a far behind. Hey, John.

I'll give you credit, dude, actually. It wasn't that bad, what you did. Thank you. Oh, damn. You got the nod. No, dude, it wasn't that bad. I was trying, but whatever. What do you think about that trait?

You really think it's not that bad? No, not at all, dude. I remember listening to that and just being like, okay, it's electronic drums, but they were on time. So that was fine with me. I was like, okay, cool. Especially when it came out, you know. Oh, yeah. It was like 92, 93, something like that.

People just started using, like, triggers back then. Right. Oh, yeah. Everyone was still on acoustic bass drums, and they just started using triggers. around that time. Yeah, so people started using triggers around 93. Is that like a good? About, right?

Early 90s? I remember seeing D-A-Side live? Morbid Angel. Yeah, I guess so. It was in the early 90s. The D-4, I guess, was the brain at that time, right? So it wasn't a, you know, when it was sampled, it sounded, you know, just like everyone else started doing at the same time, you know, it seemed like.

Yeah. So with the first drum sample would be considered like the D-4 that was highly used? I think so Yeah hey Jake Can you type in D4C See when that thing came out Just I really never thought about that

Yeah Late 80s I believe But I But you know Everyone wasn't using it yet At that time I remember that You know

A lot of people were trying to tune their bass drums Together Is that? Oh yeah Oh yeah the D4 There you go Well if you don't If you don't know

Hot for teacher Has sampled drums I mean Electronic drums From Right That's a big band though That was done with like the Lynn Tech.

Lind drum, Lind drum. I just mean like metal and our style and trash to death metal, you know. Good point. Yeah, who, who? 5150 was all, was all, uh, band Hailing 5150 was all electronic, wasn't it? Yeah. I didn't know that.

Yeah, I think so. Yeah, yeah. I remember that I was like one of the first bands doing it, you know, which I didn't like the Van Halen sound. I was like, man, you know, it sounded kind of weird to me, but. I knew. Good memory, Sean. your memory.

It was going on. In the 92. Wow. Well. D4. I thought it came out earlier in that. Oh, shit. So, okay, so you have Morbred Angel and D's side, and obviously you guys were kind of dabbing with that.

Who was, who was like, was there like a first fan that you heard? Oh, wait. Like, what does that kick sound? Yeah. Industrial shit stuff for me. Base was an injustice for all, you know, like, to me was the, even though it wasn't death metal, but that was like the first clicky. And he's, and also, it's kind of funny, but Striper, to hell what the devil actually had a really clicky kick drum sound, you know.

But then I, yeah, that was it for me and Justice For All. I was like, what the fuck? Okay, that's... Well, he's fast. That's great. Right. If you see that cover, you know they're fucking sick. People make fun of Striper, but they're pretty badass, you know.

You know? What is that cover? Oh, my God. Amen. Are those angels? Hercules angels? They made themselves angels. That dude has good guitar tone.

Michael Sweet. I got the Michael Sweet pedal, by the way. Well, there's little pedal board. It's not bad, man. I've always liked their guitar tone, but, you know, hey. Honest, I never heard, I never really gave Striper. You know, Christian, Christian metal band. There you know.

Yeah. Yeah. Look. Isaiah. That's why they're all. Yeah. Oh, that's why they all. Oh, okay.

Yeah. They made themselves buff. That's fun. Yeah, they're made a war, but Christian. That should be our next promo. Like, you know what? I can't get a six-pack, I'm gonna sell a husband drawn on me. You know, and say it counts, right?

Gosh. Is that, oh, is that them? Yeah, yeah, that's them, man. For those you listen, I can't even describe what this is a lot of hairspray in that picture. You got two brothers, Michael Sweet, Robert Sweet, Oz Fox, and the other bass player, I don't know. Wow. Okay. But I used to listen to us, you know, what can I say?

man. I like everything. I like a lot of different shit, you know, not just death metal. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, what were you listening to when you were a kid? Ah, you know, like fucking radio rock. Shriver? Yeah, well, yeah, of course, some of that. I'm old Ted Nugent, fucking, you know, fucking ACDC, man. That was like my jam, you know, fucking most people loved it. You know, back and black and highway to hell, all that kind of stuff, you know, and, you know, whatever was on the radio rush and Zeppelin and all that kind of normal stuff back in the day, you know, nothing too outrageous, you know.

Did that maybe kind of, was that opinion like a precursor to you actually involve more, go towards more like the heavy groove or groove dominant and like that definitely wasn't done? It was just all about the power cord like Boston. They started doing power chords. Boston? Once, yeah, you know, once you learn the power cord from a rock band, and then you need to supply it into something heavy or a different context or whatever. But, you know, even own, yes, owner of a lonely heart, dun that, dun that.

It was a good bass band. Oh, it's a heavy riff. That was one of the first. Sean's horned up right now. Yeah, if you think about it, it's a heavy-ass riff. So, I don't know. You put distortion on that. It's going to have your riff.

You tune that down to B-flat or whatever people tune. True, true, true, true. It would be brutal, right? Now people are doing the... Have you heard of the double tunings? No. I just found out about this last month. It's like, let's say, like, you know, you guys are, what, in D?

We're doing C sharp standard. Okay, standard, right? But let's say bands will do it lower, like the whole octave lower. And they call that double. Okay. Double C. Yeah, you're just taking it down an octave and... We're A.

I heard people are doing double A. It's insane. It's insane. Then you don't really necessarily need the bass guitar. He's getting into his territory. Right, right. That's why we don't need a bass player. Yeah, you start getting into the bass frequencies.

When you start getting so low, you know, to play the bass at that, you know, that tuning or whatever, the strings flapping all around. Like, I don't know. I don't know how you're supposed to get it to sound good. You know, when it's that low, I mean. oversaturation of low-end frequency just becomes a rumble without like someone to bring the ass like a bass

you know yeah if it's all guitar it's like the tour we just did yeah yeah with only four bass players and eight bands I know there's only four bass players right right you know how does that make you feel I'm just curious pretty good pretty good

yeah as a shirt and you have a very as we as us in the Suu Kamp has explained you have a very very manly bass tone. Nice. Manly.

It's sick, dude. It fits to sound perfectly. Yeah. You need it for one guitar, you know? And Sean's using this different effect right now, which kind of makes it a little more dirty and it blends in with the guitar really well live. It does. And it just gives it more girth and fullness and all this.

And it changes as strings every day and all this. Like some bassists never changed their strings and it's kind of like a poof kind of tone. but this is a bright kind of it's very it's very present very manly tone i like that discretion jang there you go the jangtastic yeah with the high end as well yeah and sean you obviously practice yeah yeah yeah you know i mean it's like are you i i love when when i can see and hear like the time and the hours you know you guys you guys have it's crazy you know what what were you listening to as a kid because I mean it's you're kind of in a different category when you're like we were talking like death metal bass players real bass players I mean when I was a kid like uh you know

Michael Jackson you know dire straits something like that when I was young you know so are you are you playing like along to these no I didn't even start playing yet until I was like 14 15 years old okay so I'll start it late you know compared to most people that are in bands you know Okay. So what made you like, you know, what made you like, okay, I'm playing that final bass? I mean, back then it would be Metallica probably and all that. Cliff Burton, you know, seeing stuff like that. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's a ripper, dude. Yeah, you know, he was one of the, you know, after that and then hearing something like in Justice for All where the base is non-existent. You know, it's kind of sad. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, right. Like, damn. Yeah.

Yeah, but what, they had that remix, right? I mean I mean I've heard people online like add bass to the song or the album or whatever but I didn't know they remixed it I mean I remember seeing a tab book where you see all these notes

like none of these notes exist on this album like it might but I don't hear it shit dude you know you can just hear like the mix fighting turning guitars up to do drums up right right oh wait what's bass But that's what gave that kick drum such a prominent, you know, just kicking the ass.

It was, yeah, no bass guitar to interfere with that kick drum, so it just really pounded it out, you know. Was that, is that a sample kick? You guys got, you guys just got me thinking early. No, I don't think it is. It's not. Because it's got, because it's got that, boom-ta, pop-ta, pop-ta, dot. There's every, like, you can kind of hear this, like, skip in it where, like, when he's doing the skank beats, like, there's this. One hit, it's a little harder than the others.

So, I mean, there's probably just like anything, some studio magic going on with compressors. But I don't think it, no, I don't think it was sampled. A question if he did it on Dyer's Eve, though. I don't know. Yeah. I always kind of wanted. Did he play it? I don't know.

I wasn't there to witness it, but. During, hey John, real quick, during, when you're doing like the first record in 96, Like there was obviously like I mean it's a big jump from those demos right? Yeah yeah yeah So you want you had like a You really like redefined the sound Like did you was it like a conscious move

Like okay like you know this is what we want to do We're combined death metal riffing And heavy slam was that like a conscious Like this is what like I want to do Yeah yeah I mean I started picking up on bands I started realizing the slower stuff Kind of had more impact you know, and I'm trying to think of exactly where, you know, I want to say maybe sepultura, man,

like, you know, some of that on a rise, and I was a heavy fan of them, you know, so, you know, they started kind of doing that stuff, really, if you think about it, arise, and especially, they had to da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-l. You know, just a couple parts where just everything stopped, the guitar, started doing its thing, and then the kick drum started, you know, building. and that. So I guess it was kind of them, man. You know, like, of course, I'm trying to think of hardcore.

Like, when I started listening to that, and when, you know, some of that 90s hardcore kind of inspired me. And the death metal bands that played in New York, like internal bleeding and fucking pyrexia. And if you think about SOD, they were a big influence. I always forget to mention that. S-O-D had a large impact on me. You know, that...

S-O-D? Just that... Yeah, fucking March at S-O-D. And Jan-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-T. They were doing my shrew. That was back in 85, so you had that, you know, and I was like, whoa, I love the S-O-D, you know? And it was them, right. You know, you know, you got to give it to those guys, you know, they really...

I think we both play that in sound sure. Paved the way. I'm checking. But, um... March of the SOT. Yeah, yeah. We both do it in soundtrack. So it's kind of that.

And then, you know, seeing stuff like Inveh Malmstein and all this, oh, people like shreds. So let's take that groove and that shred and kind of combine it. And there were bands like, say, Corner. They're kind of doing this. And, you know, all kinds of thrash bands that would have kind of like breakdown. Like this band called Death Row from Germany. This song called Scattered by the Wind had a, you know.

Or even like, you know, Mega Death. I love that riff. I love that riff. Whatever song that is, is that Wake Up Dead. Wake Up Dead. Yeah. So, you know, just like, oh, that works. These slower kind of riffs and crunch kind of style.

And then put it in a death metal. And that's just kind of how it came to be, I guess, you know. So really combine different elements of like heavy. Right. You're not going on. This is death metal metal. mentalness is it. I'll take, you know, S.O.D., negative, yeah, Separatura, groove.

Even King Diamond on, I think, it's sleepless nights, on conspiracy album. He actually has some breakdown parts in there. I kind of, yeah, if you listen to Sleepless Nights, you know, it breaks it down. There's a couple of those songs. So I think, you know, I think maybe some of the death metal bands got inspired from that, you know, so. But yeah. What were like some early 90s, late 80s, hardcore?

Because it really sounds like... I like the agnostic front. Of course. That was like the first band from hardcore. And then like Madball and 25 The Life, I have to say. They had some of the best riffs, you know, back then. Really? Yeah.

You know? And who else? Fucking... Yeah. But that whole New York hardcore scene was kind of doing that groove thing as well, you know? There was a band called Next Step Up there from Baltimore doing it, just kind of crunch riffs. And, you know, so I just picked up. You know, I was always watching, going, seeing bands.

Yeah. It's like, that works. You see the crowd moving. That's what it was. You know, you see, oh, they're going slow. And that's when the crowd would start really punishing each other. And that's, it's like, oh, Eureka, there it is. That's what you do.

That's, you know. So you would drive, you know. Slow it down, make it heavy. you know wow so so you'll like drive for 49 minutes an hour up to what more see some you know local hardcore bands maybe and see like oh wait people are moving towards this kind of yeah you know yeah yeah yeah so that was just it you know when bands were doing it like i said internal bleeding you know i can't say we invented anything we just kind of emulated things and did it our own way that's that's all you know and then then you guys that

covered this napalm death song which aren't they uh the song called scum aren't they credited i mean tray you probably you probably want to know this are they as the first blast feet am i speaking repulsion probably the band repulsion right oh yeah yeah they were known to be one of the first blasting nuclear assault, I guess. Yeah. Hang the Pope. Yes. I would say that's... Hang the Pope. What a pain. Hang the Pope. Well, that's...

Holy. Nuclear assault had the song. Hang the Pope. Hang the Pope. Hang the Pope. It's real fast. I want to say... I say that's blasting. And then also, S-O-D again. Milk. Yeah. Really? But Napalm, I think, had more notoriety, I guess, than any of those other bands.

I see. They had the most attention, I guess. Yeah. So repulsion is obviously mid-80s. Late, right? Yeah. I think late. I'm not sure. Late 80s.

Yeah. They were one of the first. They were on relapse, right? I think. Well, they are now. Oh, they are now, right, right. So there's not like a set, you know, this is like kind of like the first band that you, like a blast beat known. It's kind of like, oh, it's kind of made me this band, maybe that song.

Is it kind of like that? Yeah. I think so. But most people say napalm, scum. right yeah yeah because they have like that that notoriety right yeah you know yeah interesting you know what i didn't know about your uh dying fetus your band until literally like i did like research i thought you're you're you're always a three piece yeah i didn't know i i didn't know there's like a four piece and because i mean because i mean i mean sean you've been in in the band for

22 years since 2001 i mean trey you're you're going on six 16 years. So it's kind of like just, oh, you know, I mean, you kind of, think about that, like, 16 years. Like, it seems like you, you were like a solid, like, you like built like this image and sound of like this fucking powerhouse of like a trifecta, you know, metal band. So kind of always, oh, I mean, maybe it might be my age as well, but being kind of ignorant. I was like, you know, oh, there always been three piece. And I did a reason. Oh, shit, there was like another guitar player. but like it kind of seems like you guys kind of found the three piece on accident more or less basically yeah we went through a lot of different um lineups i guess you'd say and people and it was just tough you know like when you're in the beginning stages there's not a lot of money involved there's you know the touring you know you're in a band and just like

living in a van and all this and had that commitment lifelong commitment to this it's it's It's tough for some people to have that. They're going to do it a little bit. They're like, ah, I want to go get a real job or what it. Or they get a girlfriend or, you know, there's always something, you know. It's hard to find a band. Everyone on the same page, like-minded, all working towards the same goal. It's kind of hard to do that.

So, I mean, some bands look out and find that in the beginning, but sometimes it takes a while to, you know, get that. But, yeah, yeah. you know, basically we had this lineup and we had Mike Kimball on guitar. We were a four piece when Trey joined and I was like, everything's solid. You know, Mike was a great guitarist and this and that, but he kind of decided to go his own way. This wasn't feeling it anymore.

We wanted to get his IT job. Yeah, the career. So he just left and we were going to like replace him with someone. And I think we tried out a few guys and it just didn't quite work out. we had gigs. We had, it's like, all right, we had to go play some gigs, and we did it as a three-piece. And I don't know, we were like, fucking a couple other people were like, yo, you should stick with this. This gives you an identity, you know, something different, you know.

It's kind of in a way a bit more impressive with less guys, you know, right now. I'm six guys up there fucking, you know, you know, just like, you know, it's like, whoa, all this noise is coming out of three people. And so it's kind of giving us a bit of an identity. the rush of death metal, if you will. Yeah. But, yeah, man. But, yeah, we've been, you know, for me, it's cool to have a solid lineup for so many years

because that was a bummer, you know, constantly doing interviews or whatever, like, oh, what, it made me look like a big asshole, you know. Yeah, you know, and there was rumors that I stole money, which I never did for the band and this and that and all this. But it was a few bumps. in a road and hurdles, but now, you know, everything's smooth. You know, we're loving life, you know, doing tours with you guys and everything's going

well. So, you know, you just have to stick through things sometimes, you know, persevere. And usually things will, good things will come, you know. Yeah, you're right. I mean, you guys have like, like multiple stages in your career. Because, I mean, you're, so, I mean, the first, the first record, with you, Trey, is Descend, correct? Yes. Okay, was that like, yeah, it's kind of a big, like, move where it's like, okay, now, okay, we're a four piece,

now we're going to get, like, now we have, like, the new drummer, and we're going to be three piece. Was there, like, like, a writing pressure there? I mean, how was that new, like, dynamic with you guys? I mean, I think it was pretty easy because we were already playing live as three. Oh, yeah, yeah. It's not as many solos as certain bands.

So it wasn't, you know, It wasn't the same thing as someone that has a million solos in every song. And a lot of the technical stuff we were doing together. And then when he does a solo, I just try to fill the space with like chords or something. And live, it's obvious. There's not another guitar. So there's no tracks playing live. But then that was the only talk, I think, was talking about how much should we add another guitar in recordings that you wouldn't hear live.

Oh. You know what I mean? That's a serious, yeah. That's like the biggest talks like we had about being a. three piece, you know, that type of stuff. Like, you know, are people going to hear this other guitar and they're not going to like it live because it's not there?

Or then what parts does he choose to play type of thing? Yeah. You know what I mean? Like some, there's like a melody part over top of something else. Yeah. And I think we've done that less and less, I think, as time has gone, it's gone by. Yeah.

It's more you hear bass and the guitar, you know, compared to like, that was just a thing at first because, you know, like, we felt like we were limiting ourselves if not, if he couldn't have a second guitar track, like, in a recording. Yeah. So that was, like, the biggest thing, you know, to be coming three, I think. Yeah. Yeah.

Was there, like, a back and forth of, like, maybe, like, some creative, like, tension? Because that's kind of, like, like, a big, like, like, discussion, hey, she should be guitarier or no. Right. I got, I got, I'm, my biggest chord part, you fuck. You know, I don't recall anything. Just put more pressure. on me I felt like for me

just was like oh fuck now I don't have another guitar so every you're just sticking out like you do a solo there's nothing no one to really hide behind you know so that kind of made me improve it's like sink or swim you know it's like you know kind of help me become a better

player just having more focus you know on myself or whatever and but um so so were you so you're focusing more so you had to you have to practice more okay I don't have someone else kind of yeah because i have because i had marked so i could be like i'm i'm gonna sloppy as fine yeah you know what i mean you you can only do that it's like mike kennel was a pretty good guitarist as well so you know

you do some of the leads and i could lay back sometimes and just chill and do the rhythm or whatever but when you're yeah one guitarist it's just more attention on you if you flub up you know it's more noticeable and it kind of really like honed in on like like the dying feet of sound where it's like i mean you You're already doing like, you know, obviously sweeps and solos and like, so, you know, some like, you know, SOD, you know, slams. But, like, it really kind of, you really expanded that, like, dynamic. I mean, this is like a fucking, you know, Sean's doing like the core trades blasting. And then, like, you're doing like this crazy solo. And then, you know, I don't know where, like, like, this fucking old school hardcore slam.

It really kind of made me forced you to do that. I might, I might be wrong. But it kind of, like, really honed in on your sound, you know. Yeah. Yeah. It makes sense, yeah. Yeah. And also, like, Trey's kick drums, he's, you know, has a lot of kicks.

It's a lot of kicks. It fills the low end, the ass up, you know. He's always, he's always, I know, right? I kind of kind of, got that booty. Yeah. Yeah, I just remember, like, it was the Descend album was the first with Trey, and it was Steve Wright, who we recorded with, always giving me the speech about, here's the bass drum,

and you have to be in a different slot. So you're audible. If you're in the same slot, you're just fighting each other and becomes a little rumble saturation where people's ear don't know what they're hearing, really. It's just a rumble because we're fighting over the same little slot type of thing. So that's like I'm a separate slot, you know. But then if you're fighting for the slot, how do you do that with like... Well, I'm in a different slot.

Well, it's EQ, you know, EQU, but then also with, depending on the BPM of the kick drum, that can actually change the pitch of the kick drum too. because the faster you go, it kind of pitches up. If you take a deep listen on some bands that have really rapid changes or like, well, they'll be right here to here, you'll kind of slightly hear this weird little pitch change

in the low end because you just have a sample rate that's going so much faster. And yeah, that can happen too. And then you're invading another frequency where bass can be really filling in the bottom and you got to, you know, hopefully you have an engineer that knows where to place those kick drums and knows where to place the bass on the EQ. Yeah.

They really got to know what, like, what they're doing, right? Yeah. Trey, how did you end up joining, like, the band? Just was just a dude in the local Baltimore scene. I was actually about to hang it up. Really? I had a good career working in an AV install, and I gave it one last shot. got with some friends in a band called Covenants,

which had an extra member of Dying Fetus in it. And my friend Eric Little got me involved in that. And I opened for fetus across Canada. And at the end of that tour, they asked me to come and try out. And 16-something years later, here we are. Right. You know? How do you go from wanting to hang it up to like now you're full-time?

Like, you have a career in death metal? That's crazy. Same for me. Yeah. That is nuts. You get a chance. You take the step out. You leave the people behind that are holding you back.

Sorry, I'm not dissing on my friends back home. I get it. I get it. But you got to surround yourself with people that want to go over there. And these guys and the people that in Covenants wanted to go over there, wherever over there is. We want to go from point A to point B together, and we're not fighting. You know, it's like, and you're leaving, you make sacrifices. You make sacrifices.

That's what you do. Yeah. And was that similar for you, Sean? I needed, you know, me, I had money problems and I had to start working a lot more, you know, over time. I got two jobs for a while there and, you know, I had to work and, you know, make some money, basically. And then I was kind of out of it for a year probably. I just practicing way more than I ever did probably when I was out of it, you know. Whoa.

Yeah, just because I knew I won it back in, but, you know, I had to deal with money and I did that. So then I went back to it. But, you know, there was a local band before I, you know, jumped in the fetus, you know, before John called me. To the band Garden Shadows for a couple months before, before joining a fetus, you know. That's wild. Yeah, yeah. Before you got the phone call. Yeah.

When he said, why is this asshole John Gallagher calling me? Oh, no. He wants me. He wants me to join the band. God. Well, I remember, like, my old band tortured, like, way back in the day. We would play at Fantasmagoria all the time. I remember we would like we were looking for bass players too

we'd see Sean play with Gardner Shadows were like this dude's head banging like hard yeah yeah yeah we're sick but we were younger and we just we we weren't gonna approach him man he's accord right he's too timidate he's too tall yeah I'm on talking I got you know

it's crazy it's John it's really hard man like it takes years sometimes you're right like to find committed that's uh yeah lifers people that i truly love it that you know have the sound of this band like you know they're like their bones you know it's like it's like a part it's like a part of you guys it is it is it is you guys it takes a year so fine you know those like relationships yeah you know yeah man it's it's luck it's a bit of luck too you know a lot of luck my my my god my goodness it's a lot of how how we still alive

fucking playing blast beats and slams yeah yeah yeah man happy to be here you know just happy if all worked down you know I'm just this you know I wanted to stay out of the real world and the real job you know yeah of course there's benefits of having a real job but I don't know man this this this this road is just more interesting because I was in the government too and kind of had to make a decision should I go this way or just stay in the government you know how I have my retirement you know blah blah blah wow but I was like nah but it's like now because basically I'll just be sleeping half the time, you know, in some room, waiting for something to do, literally, you know, back then, you know,

it was just so boring, it was getting fat and fucking, you know, I don't know, it's like, sometimes the easy road in life is not the best way, you know? Like, you know, you got to like, like, take chances and stuff, I feel like, you know. So. After doing it, like, for so long, you talk about, you know, persevering, like, you finally, you know, you finally find, like, the fucking foundation, you. You know, did you ever like before, I mean, maybe even before Sean joined, but definitely before Trey. Like, you ever like, hey, this is too much.

I got to like step or step out or step out. Oh, just the band? Yeah. Not really. I mean, no. I mean, I did take, what was it, after War of Atrition or something, we did take like a bit of a hiatus or something. Right before it. Was that what it was?

Was that what it was? Oh, it was. Okay, again, the drummer situation. Wrote the whole album on my computer. That's right. We were sitting around and we had, man, real primitive software drum program PC drummer, I think it was called. But anyway, so yeah, we were writing stuff, you know,

and it was like, man, the same old song of dance. We can't find a drummer, blah, blah. And at that point, and I was being real with myself, like necrophagis was on fire, the face solicitor on fire, Like all these, like, tech bands, tech death metal was more popular. And I was like, man, I mean, I don't know. I can't play as well as these guys. I don't think that there's even a chance.

So I think for a minute there, I was thinking, eh, may have to put it aside and get a regular job. That was about 2005 or something, six, yeah, right before the album came out, yeah. And actually, got to give credit to this dude, Bruce Gregg, who's no longer with us. But he... Rest in peace. He, um...

kind of like brought Dwayne on board. You know, he was like, yo, man, fucking, he kind of like pushed me, you know. I was like, no, man, this guy's good. He wants to do it, blah, blah. And he came up from Texas, Dwayne Timlin, who helped us out, did a war of attrition. And got the ball rolling again. And then it was like, all right, let's just kind of carry from there. But there was a time where I was like, I don't know, man.

Maybe I'm not going to be able to be a lifer in this, you know. I thought all the technical bands were going to take over. Whoa. And now I feel like now it's back to the old school. We've got these younger retro bands, you know, kind of doing the incantation thing or whatever you want to say, the early 90s death metal vibe or whatever. The thrash revival.

Thrash revival and all this. So now for us, we blend in better, you know. Yeah, we have a few tech parts, but I feel like we're more of a groove band, more of a slam band and technical, you know. So I think we fit in in today's metal, you know, genre or whatever, a little bit better now, you know. You never, ever straight away from, like, the sound, like, you never follow trends ever. Not really, not really, no, no, just. And a lot of it, you know, I got to give credit to Cannibal Corpse, you know, like, you know, just follow their philosophy, keep,

kind of doing the same thing, you know, or the same style. Don't change it, you know, because as a musician, you always think, I mean, I got to do something better. I've got to broaden the horizons. Maybe I'll bring in keyboards. Maybe do something else, you know, because you want to kind of grow as a musician, but I don't think that works in death metal. You know, it's been proven not to, you know, you stick with the, you know, your formula,

you know, and. Just try to make it better. Just try to make it better. Thank you. Yeah. Don't alienate the fan base. Right. Don't bring in keyboard. Some bands have tried.

We know the bands that have tried. And you've got to give them respect for trying. I admire that, you know. But it's risky. It's risky. At the end of the day, people want that, you know, what they grew up with, what they expect from you. They don't want some oddball shit. Yeah.

It's like, should trade you a blast people while playing keyboard? I mean, we did. I mean, next record. you know right yeah yeah right i mean how to grow at your limb that's that's what side projects are for you know right that's when you do something else that you know just to have some some fun or you know whatever yeah it keeps your fucking foundation you know yeah i just follow what cannibal do you know honestly it's sick i mean it's sick it's crazy i mean to think about like we have like this, I mean, at this point, I mean, I want to talk about your record, Reign Supreme.

That's like, that's, set in the record, second with Trey. I mean, Sean, you've been in the band for, for, like, a minute. There was, like, was there, like, a discussion? Because it really felt sounded like you guys flipped the switch and really, okay, this is dionepetus. Like, was there, like, a, like, a talk about it, or he's naturally, he's, all right, let's get in the room, start jamming. Well, that was kind of an interesting part of my life.

And I had gotten, not proud to say it, but I got a DUI. I started fucking up too hard on drinking and other things. And I got caught, you know. So I had, you know, I went sober for like a year. And that's when that album was written. And I was so hyper-focused on that record. It was like, because, you know, I wanted the drink. I wanted to fuck up, I wanted to do things,

but I really channeled everything into that album and really was focused on it, man. I was just, yeah, so, yeah, that was, that's why it's a little bit better than some of the other ones, you know, just like really put a lot of time and thought into it and just, I was facing my demons, you know, with all that, you know, and music was my outlet, so, so, So the album came out really well, I think, because of that.

Wow. I was stone sober, you know, right, Matt. I was drinking a lot of the monster stuff. I remember that. That's what happens. You know what? All of a sudden are, I got a monster and coffee now. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I was so wired. And this dude, I was doing pre-pro with Darren Morris. You know, we would just, like, constantly just be at it. I would spend a night at his house, you know, be jamming on shit. To wake up the next day and fucking back at it. and just he helped a lot with with me with a lot of his ideas as well but yeah that was like a you know now I'm back to smoking weed again and things like that but drink a little bit but I'm not out of hand I'm not I had to put myself in check out of hand I'll be honest I was doing

a little bit of the fucking pills and all that stupid shit man because it was easy I was doing Xanax on the road oh no down you know downtime and you know sort of falling into that trap a little bit and then I got busted and it was kind of good I got busted because it could have saved my life you know who knows you know but uh and it went a weird way that that record kind of did save

like save your life you know it did man that's yeah so that the record came out in 2012 so what year did you get sober yeah around that time it was so it was about 2010 2011 you know something like that

you know so Yeah. What, what changed did you guys see? Wait, I mean, shit, I mean,

John has got a DUI. Like, we're, now he's sober, and we're riding sick tunes now. You know, did like, did like the songs feel like,

oh, this is a little bit different? I kind of felt like a continuation, but a more focused continuation of Descend. Yeah, that's me too. To me, like,

like, Descend was a bit of a change in the sound, a little bit. There were elements that were, were not present in previous albums. I think it was the studio also. And studio stuff, but, you know, at least from me and Sean's perspective, like, I considered it more.

And John laid it out, you know, he was definitely more focused. He was sequestered with Darren constantly. And, like, they were just churming out demo. I think it was Steve Wright's studio. We went to Descend was the first album with him. Oh. And then Rain is the second album with him. Interesting.

And it got a lot better. He knew exactly what we wanted now. He knew the three of us, our personalities, what, you know, how to push each one of us. And, you know, we like something totally different. It's pretty funny. You know, he calls me names. Of course. It pisses me off.

It makes you pitch. You're like, oh, fuck. Yeah. Yeah. That helps me for some reason. Yeah. Right. It's just funny where.

And then the set, everything got better as far as like tones for everything all the way across the board, I think, with him. Because he knew what we wanted. and it got better, I think. So that's the main thing I always notice, you know, from one album to the next. Wow. Yeah. So, wait, I mean, yeah, let's just see what happens

when we do this again, you know? Right, yeah. It's crazy with a different mindset. You could do the same thing and have a totally different outcome, just by a switch or doing something, like, slightly different. And he was not a death metal guy either. You know, it's not like he had a bunch of death metal bands

recording with him, no. What a... What's he, like, gospel, rock. does everything does everything right everything yeah yeah that makes a lot of sense a lot of bands don't do that like you know you track track your record with someone that doesn't necessarily do metal all the time yeah and it's how you kind of get like that unexplainable something that's like different that would like set your record apart you know it's crazy i didn't know it was the same guy yeah and then uh you know they got better and better so like the last album we just did the newest one

that's not out yet he he we record it with him but uh we had Mark Lewis was mixing it or whatever. We added something different on the newest album, but the three before were all with Steve at his studio. Sick. Well, three and a half, we did the EP. Oh, yeah, the EP also. Right, right.

Wait, who mixed rain? Steve Wright. Steve, right. So, produce, mix, okay, sick. It's pretty special when they kind of do all of it, and it's kind of still have that, like, the fresh year. It's hard to hit. You know, I still have a fresh.

pressure out there hanging out with dying Piaz for about me two months being right right yeah it's crazy it's good special man yeah and what and what a crazy time in your in your career because i mean that that shit comes out mean what was it like like like received well like right right right out of the gates yeah those those two albums were the first times we like got what the heat seekers yeah on like started tracking on at least i don't know i mean you guys tell me yeah like we started tracking on billboards but I also think that had to do a lot with the way the industry had changed at the time. You know, the internet was a little bit more.

Downloading was a little bit more popular. Yeah. You know, so you can sell fewer CDs and track on track, you know. Damn, that's fucking sick. And we got to talk about it. How did you guys get on South Park? What the? That is so fucking sick.

No, we just, yeah, they did it all in their own. nobody no one told us i was on in uh greece on vacation i remember just like and all of a sudden started receiving texts like yo you're on south park what i'm like huh no so no one told you guys well well derrick Derek did say our manager derrick he said he said they're thinking about using you guys there's a couple other bands in the mix oh a bunch of bands they were thinking of and he said you'll know when it airs whether they picked us or not right yeah okay so it was kind of like okay We don't know, but you'll know when it's fucking out in the world. Slightly discounted it.

Because like, yeah, right. That's not going to happen. You know. I mean, you can't imagine like, oh, wait. It's not, it's not going to play it. But that's not us there. That's us there on that one when they're practicing in the shed. Yeah, there they go.

Practicing in the shed. And that's second skin. I hate this farm. So. So fucking sick, dude. That is. So you found out with the whole world. Yep.

Yeah, yeah. That is fucking crazy. Yeah, that was, that's like our highlight of our career so far, I guess. That's, you know what I mean? Like, wow. Prince and Don. Truly an honor. Truly an honor to be part of South Park, I would say, you know.

From one tray to another. Thanks, Trey. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Tray Parker. Yeah. Trey Parker, shout out, man. So you guys said, so it was a rumor, didn't think of any of it.

and then you get the park get the phone calls and texts saying hey you're on South Park yeah this is crazy this is freaking nuts yeah and also a shout out to also death decline

they were the first band too they got they got on there pretty sick yeah I never heard of them until that either they sound at all yeah I was like oh shit them that's fucking sick today up

if you're curious it's on the the abandoned China episode pretty sick have any of you watched that whole EP or no with that episode?

Yeah Oh yeah I was watching I was watching the day it came out I was like Is it gonna happen? Oh really?

Yeah, and it's the first 30 seconds of the episode I'm like... Is it? Yeah, that's the opening of the episode is us playing basically

What did you think? Dude, I was so freaking stoked I was so stoked I was so stoked I can't imagine like the feeling of that They're playing my band, a deaf and a band on national television. Wow.

Yeah. We made it, man. We made it. It is pretty funny. You actually hear people say that, though, you know, nowadays, like a couple of kids that come up, I heard you heard you on South Park. Really? Wow. Wow.

It's helped. Yeah, I've heard that a lot, you know. It's more recently, you know. Yeah, I mean, it's South Park. It's what I mean, it's a massive show and that's going to, like, live on forever. they're going to keep on, keep out, you know, keep finding out about you guys. Yeah, that's awesome.

And what a random song to pick? Yeah. It's not like a single or anything. It's like, you know, no, just, you know, second skin.

All right, put that on. Yeah, it's funny. How they just, I wonder, yeah. What is a video song?

It's a video song. Is it? Oh, it is? Okay. What a trip. Do crimson, Don, shout out,

dude. You guys, you guys, you should do a collab with them. You have, like, you're fucking sick, dude. Right. Then we just put us in the background of that.

That'd be cool. That'd be badass. That'd be neat. Isn't it like a crazy road that, you know, John, you playing, I'm not trying to be an asshole, but you playing shitty drums at one point. Right. And then to on South Park. I mean, what a journey.

Yeah, I know, man. I'm blessed, man. My grandfather always said, you have a horseshoe up your ass, you know, or something. He used to say that as a kid. It always seemed to have pretty good luck. So, you know, I don't know, man. It's been a nice ride, man. It's been a lot of fun, man.

You know, so it's, yeah, we're just ready for the next thing, you know, whatever it is. There's always like a next thing. Yeah, yeah. And that also reminds me. So you guys put out two singles the past few months. Is there, is, I mean, are these separate? Or are these going to be a part of a,

A record. Yeah, part of the new record. Okay, sick. Yeah, which is going to be called, Make Them Big for Death. That's the title of the new record. We haven't released that yet, so here we are. Yeah, two more coming. Sick.

Two more singles. Okay, cool. Yeah, we love that title. I think it's a brutal, make them big for death. That's just a pretty... Was it one in July, one in August, right, the next two? Yeah, we got a couple more coming up before. the release which is going to be the fall we're going to have an album release and was it july is it

the uh the announcement the next single yeah in july it's the announcement and the single come out yeah announcement in july so yeah we took some of the footage from the last uh couple nights ago la or whatever some of that footage is going in the video oh great with some a lot of brutal kind of like um violent kind of um you know acting or whatever so it's it's pretty it's going to be me a sick video man for sure and the song really happy happy with i mean the whole album i'm happy with you know it's going to be a good one you know one of our best i mean for sure it sounds really really full and thick and everything so we spent a lot of time with it and you know now we just been sitting on it for a while because this vinyl thing right isn't the vinyl production is kind

of holding us up setting us back and it's terrible but But yeah, it's eventually going to come out. So, you know, we're just excited for that. And, yeah, man. These past few songs have been sick. Thank you, man. We've been playing it live. They seem to be going over pretty well.

The dive bomb part and all this, you know. The dive bomb grip is sick, dude. At first I thought maybe it was a little cheesy, but it's been very effective. It's been, you know, people, they like it. So, you know, we're happy with that, of course, you know. fucking unbridled fury and compulsion for cruelty yeah yeah so no it's a dine theis is very effective so yeah yeah you guys yeah you guys are very trying man you guys not trying you guys you guys trying fetus oh my god trying fetus that is what's up dude you know i had a i this uh sometimes you get like

reminded of what you're doing and I just like an old sometimes you that there's this fans you kind of talk to and like like a like a personal basis either on on Instagram or something so I'm talking to like a friend and he massive suave fan obviously is why he's over talking but he showed up to the Vegas show wearing like a like a Dyna Feta shirt and you know he has he has seen you and like man like dynapidas is why I even know your band and it's just crazy like it's this crazy like it's this like no matter like your band is always like introducing someone else's a band to like to them you know it's crazy and that you guys are still doing that so you still like you're still like you're still you guys had your own sound and just created this whole other genre of a music and then for bands like us you know we you know we we we reap the like the benefits of that you know like you have there's no dion fetus there's no us there's no death core and like you know it's like hey they they hear dion fetus and then they find us it's it's it's just it's It's still happening. It's crazy, man.

Or vice versa. I'm about to say, yeah, vice versa also. Right, right. Especially, you know, younger people. That's why we've been doing, you know, we've been doing a lot of crossover tours. I put the same way. It's weird. I put the same way. Like going on what you're saying. That's why we've been playing with other bands that are not just strictly brutal death metal or whatever. We've been doing Chelsea Grin. We're doing, you know, sort of metalcore bands. because, you know, to bring the, you know, all the crowds together, man, just, you know,

and to increase our fan base to get out in front of different people. A lot of our, you know, brutal fans or old school fans, whatever you want to say, they don't really like that sometimes. Like, why the fuck are you going out with knock loose? Sure. And it's like, well, you know, you kind of have to. You kind of have to go out with other bands, you know, to gain exposure and stuff. Like if we were going to sustain a career, you can't just always, you know, stay with the same pocket of bands.

You know, you got to get out there. But yeah, and then people, you know, it works, man. They hear a few. That's the career line. I'm not glues, dion, de facto, tear. There you go. Wow. But people are like, why the fuck, you're torn with them?

Well, you know. Some good shows. You should have seen how many people are in those rooms. Right, exactly. Of course, they're not all going to like you, but a certain percentage. advantage will or they're going to check you out and like you said and you know and care on with it terror was playing before us so that's huge right right that was hardcore mixed and we've toured with them before too we love those guys and

yeah man it just you know it's good to cross over you know yeah what what what is it I'm oh I'll end it soon here but what what what is it about dying Fita is that really this kind of has that like I guess you'd say cross over appeal to it. You could kind of play with a hardcore band. You can play with a band. You can play with, you know. Maybe because we don't have any gimmicks or anything. We're just like a bare-bones kind of thing, just doing what we do and just kind of works with other bands, you know. Sure.

You know, maybe that's part of it. I don't know, but. A hardcore DIY ethic? Yeah. The old remnants of that. We're not wearing costumes. We're not trying to be pretty boys. We're just doing what we do, you know. but there's some kind of integrity with that.

I think people realize that, you know, like they're not relying on. They're just putting their music forward. No props. Yeah, no props. No, no bass tracks. No backing tracks. And no offense to anyone that does that.

That's cool. But, you know, we want to keep it pure, simple, unadulterated. And, yeah. so I find that integrity and being authentic does have this crossover it's weird I try to get spiritual

and talk about kind of stuff but like there's this is some conscious thing where if you're true if you're true of itself and your music has that integrity have deep rooted integrity in your fucking bones and all you guys love it it kind of has that you kind of play whatever show you want yeah yeah

it's crazy there's an honesty there or something you know I don't know. Hard to describe. It's kind of spiritual, you know. Like some of these things are just hard to pinpoint, you know, why it happens or why it works this way, you know. Totally.

You know. Yeah. So, well, I know you guys got to get to the airport. You're probably going to not like me when you guys leave because you're going into rush hour traffic. Yeah. What did we do this? Day off.

That is a killer, ma'am. Thank you for that opportunity. You know, we need to be out here more doing this kind of stuff, you know. I think this is the first podcast we've done together as a band Yeah, well it is Adult swim thing right? Yeah that and I did a podcast up in Baltimore But like as a band this is the first you got the first one Wow you guys appreciate that you got the first one

Thank you for having us I mean I appreciate it and I just want to personally thank you I mean for everything that You guys Diana Piaz have done for For heavy music and and continue to do so you know there's I mean there's so many bands that have been inspired by you guys and it still it still continues so so thank you guys for for being here and where can people find you on internet yeah just more or less that phoodybird.com yeah like i don't have a personal account man or anything but yeah it's the bands facebook and and what have you instagram and all that twitter you know and sick all right well dion fetus appreciate it I love you guys and thank you for a great month of my life.

Thanks for having. Great time. Thanks for being cool, dude. It was awesome to get to meet and understand your guys, man. It was super cool. Likewise, man. Thank you. All right, guys.

Everyone, later.