Old school death metal with gore imagery is a tried and tested formula, but there are very few bands that can pull it off like Exhumed. The band recently played on the Neurotic Deathfest and they’re about to release their latest album, entitled Necrocracy. Matt Harvey, Exhumed’s guitarist and vocalist, was more than happy to provide some insights on this, being a part of the Death To All package and putting Carcass’ booze supply to good use…
You’re currently on a European tour. How are things going so far?
So far so good! We’ve been having a great time hanging out with friends, drinking (usually) excellent beer and even fitting in some sightseeing. Now that we’re in Spain the weather is even good, so who could really ask for more?
The band played on the Neurotic Deathfest. How was the experience for you and what were your own personal highlights?
NDF is always a great time, it’s our third time playing that fest, and the vibe is killer. I didn’t see too many bands, since I had the Death To All show to do on Friday, then Exhumed on Sunday, plus there was a lot of jet lag and partying going on. The Saturday after-party was an epic at the Little Devil. Our bassist Rob got thrown out of the bar, there was all kinds of stupidity going on with tons of great people. We stole Repulsion‘s beer and Carcass‘ vodka and put it too good (?) use! The next day the audience was killer for our set and we had a great time.
In which way is Necrocracy a progression from your previous output?
I think it’s more song-oriented than anything we’ve ever done. It’s all about hooks and choruses, that kind of stuff. Also, it’s probably our slowest album overall, I mean there are still tons of blast beats and shit, but it’s not quite as “always on 11” as the last one, which I thought got a little monotonous after a while. Also, the playing is our best, and it’s the first to feature our “full-time” line-up with Mike Hamilton (Deeds of Flesh, ex-Vile) on drums, Rob “Body-bag” Babcock on bass and vocals, and our old bassist Bud Burke, now finally on guitar where he belongs, so that’s exciting for me. I think there’s always something different about every record we do and they each have their own thing, which is important. This one is kind of the South Of Heaven or something…
What I really like about the new album and Exhumed in general is your ability to write some really memorable songs. How important is it for you to write songs that actually stand out and stick
That’s the most important thing for me. I listen to all kinds of music and the common theme is that I like stuff that’s memorable. Our goal, aside from playing music that we would like to listen to, is really to make a record that people will want to put on again and again, and hopefully keep around for years. To me, there are a lot of records that kind of come on strong at first, but then get boring and a few years later just sit collecting dust in your collection.
How did the writing and recording process go? What were you guys aiming for this time?
Well, the songs were definitely a reaction to the all-out speediness of the last record. We were having a hard time coming up with a good, balanced live set, since everything was so fast all of the time. Also, I felt like we had established that we still have the speed and “go-for-the-throat” thing that we’ve always had, and that we hadn’t lost any of the aggression with All Guts… From there, I just wanted to take it someplace a little different, a little more distinct and more song-oriented. Some of the tunes, like ‘The Shape Of Deaths To Come’ and ‘The Ravening’ I was already working on towards the end of the writing for the last album, but I just didn’t have time to fully develop and arrange them. In fact, the chorus riff for ‘Ravening’ was something I wrote back in high school that I never got a chance to use. There were a few ideas I’d had kicking around for years that finally got used on this album. I was joking when we were writing it that I was “clearing out the riff warehouse.” But we were on the road so much that when I came home for a few weeks at a time, the last thing I wanted to sit around playing were riffs from ‘As Hammer To Anvil’ or something, so there was definitely an impetus to do something different. After something like 350 shows for All Guts… it’s easy to get tired of the same shit night after night after night, haha!
The lyrics are all about guts and gore and been going on for twenty years, if not more. How do you keep finding new angles to write lyrics without repeating yourself?
Well, I use a lot of metaphorical stuff on the new record, there’s a heavy political slant to a lot of the stuff. I was writing all the lyrics in the middle of the presidential election last year and watching all of that horror show definitely influenced me to tackle some different stuff. But, it’s all very tongue in cheek and still couched in the gore imagery we’ve always used. I don’t ever want to be that band that “used to sing about death, but now sings about feelings” or whatever. To me, a Death Metal band should sing about death. Pure and simple. Or else it would be called “emotion metal” if you were supposed to be singing about emotions, ha-ha! I don’t know, for my band I’ve always felt that was important anyway. I enjoy writing and I always put little inside jokes in the lyrics that keep me amused. I have no idea if anyone gets them too or really cares, but it helps me have fun.
Extreme metal fans tend to be tad conservative at times. How do you keep your music interesting for yourself without alienating your core fanbase?
Well, when it comes to metal, I’m pretty conservative as well, to be honest. Especially with Death Metal. I’m really only into stuff that came out before ’93/’94, as far as our influences. I was always the guy that would get angry when my favorite bands would change their logos and shit like that. That said, I listen to all kinds of different music, and most of what I listen to isn’t metal at all. As far as heavier stuff, I just find that I keep going backwards in time. I’m much more likely to listen to NWOBHM or Thin Lizzy than I am to goregrind, although I still dig loads of goregrind stuff. Also, I have other outlets. Hopefully we’re going to get my thrash band Dekapitator going again this fall, and I’m also working on stuff that isn’t metal at all, it’s more shoegaze-ish or something. Exhumed has been around a long time and has a sound, I think it’s important to respect that and not drastically alter it. I mean if I want to play country or whatever, I’ll do it, just not in Exhumed.
Making a living playing in an extreme metal band was never easy, but it’s almost next to impossible to break even. How do you guys get by?
The main thing is that we just keep really busy. We did almost 200 shows in each of the last two years, playing everyplace from glorified house parties to Hellfest, so we just keep putting in work. I think we try to take a very blue-collar kind of approach to doing this. We all rely on this band as our primary (not necessarily only) source of income, so we’re all invested in keeping busy and staying on the road. Also, I think that playing shows and going on tour is just what a rock and roll band does – if you never play live, you’re a project – not a band. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but when I was 12 years old and picked up a guitar to learn ‘Seek And Destroy’ I never thought “gee, I want to be in a studio project” – I thought, I want to be in a band and go on tour and see the world.
The touring lifestyle isn’t exactly the most healthy one around. How do you keep yourself in shape both physically and mentally?
Well, mentally, I read and write a lot. Thanks to the digital age, I have hundreds of books on my laptop (and a few regular books in my backpack as well) and a massive music collection, so I just kind of zone out in my own brain. Rob and Bud watch movies all the time, Mike is always busy fucking around on the internet and stuff. Dr. Philthy, our mascot, is usually driving the van which obviously keeps him pretty occupied. Physically… We were getting pretty good about getting a little bit of regular exercise for a while, but I’ve really slacked off this year – and I have the beer gut to prove it. We tend to drink and indulge a lot, without a lot of let-up and when you’re traveling for 6-8 hours a day it’s tough to recover. And by the time you’ve recovered, you don’t feel like doing 100 sit-ups, that’s for sure. So it’s been a little rough. I was really sick on the US tour we did with Suffocation in April so that kind of threw me off track. But normally we at least do some stretches and push-ups and shit before we hit the stage, as well as loading and unloading gear, sweating profusely on stage, etc. so that keeps us from being complete wasteoids. And for me personally, I’ve cut way back on eating meat and dairy. I still eat everything, but instead of eating meat every meal like I used to, I try to eat it three days a week or so. It’s definitely helped me feel a little better, and it’s more sustainable, etc. etc.
What does the future hold for Exhumed?
Thousands and thousands of beers, hopefully. We’ll be in Europe through the end of July, then pop back over to Denmark for a festival in September before we hit the road in the states in October for some more high-octane brain-cell destruction. After that, who knows. I’m sure it’ll involve playing live, partying, and more replacement parts for our van engine.
Raymond Westland