questions by Haavard Holm ___    

interview shared with Metal Norge

TO BE COMPARED TO CARCASS IS AN HONOUR

Speaking  about the  album, gory lyrical and visual, Exhumed  and Carcass, Jason Kocol, Trey Spruance, studio and touring, Oakland, Morbosidad, Evil Morgue Productions, projects.

If you plan on checking out some new Death Metal bands this year, it should include American IMPALED, who with their third album "Death After Life" knocks you to the ground with some real oldschool goods... Now they've also moved over to Century Media, so don't be surprised if this band suddenly becomes a everyday Metal-term, as they have the qualities for it, no matter how unserious they may seem in their regular interviews.

I had some questions for their drummer Raul, and he's obviously speaking straight from the gutter and with a certain sense of self irony...

Haavard:- So, just a few weeks until the "Death After Life" album is out, are you excited for its release ?

Raul: Very excited, it’s our first album on Century Media and I’m wondering how people will react to “Death After Life”

I find your new album maybe slightly more accessible than your previous, a bit cleaner and with some more catchy hooks in it, eh, I am not saying melodic here... How would you compare your new album to the previous two ?

Don’t worry about saying melodic; I think it’s a good thing. At least for me it is. There’s always something different from album to album. And in this case we had something that was really comfortable to work with. We didn’t worry about how fast we can be, how brutal we sound or how gory our image was going to be, we let the music take over and basically say fuck you!! To what we thought we had to deliver next.

The gory lyrical (and visual!) side of the band has always been there as almost a fifth member of the band, do you always keep that in mind both when writing the music and writing the lyrics for Impaled ?

We don’t keep that in mind when we are writing the music, once we start to get a few songs structure the way they are going to be. Then either Ross or Sean will start coming up with the lyrics and we’ll start putting the whole Impaled package together.

I suppose you've been compared quite a lot with maybe the most infamous US gore/death band, Exhumed, maybe more for the visual aspect, but I guess here in Europe you're always put in the same box as Carcass, for some reason. Well, can't say I disagree, there IS a lot of Carcass in your sound. Comments ?

What Metal band hasn’t been compared to a million other bands in their lifetime? We are confident in what we do; we know we are the best. And to be compared to Carcass is an honor.

You also changed guitarist before this album, and Jason Kocol is the new guy. Why did you pick him ?

Because he’s an asshole, a prick and a fucker. But he can play guitar like a motherfucker!!!

It's been a 8 year ride for Impaled now, is the new album the absolute highlight that has happened this far ?

I think the absolute high light for the band was the first tour we were on and we got our very first case of beer. That day we knew we had hit rock bottom!! Or was it rock stardom? Either way we hit some kind of rock.

"Death After Life" was produced by Trey Spruance, not very known for the metal genre as far as I know him, how was it to work with him, and how did you feel the recording session to turn out ?

Working with Trey was great, the best recording experience we had so far. From my personal story I can tell you that I have not seen any one care as much for drums as Billy Anderson, Trey and Randall did. The motherfuckers build a tent in front of my kick drum, I had a total of 22 mic’s in my drum set and after that I had a percussion set build to add some heavy toms to a couple of parts in the songs. I think it’ll be safe to tell that We’ll definitely love to work with Trey, Billy and Randall in our next album.

After the recording, are there things that you now feel could have been done differently to make it a better work ?

Of course, but know it’s to late to change them. So I’ll take what I learn in this session and use it for the next one.

Now you're moved over to a new label territory with Century Media. Do you already feel the difference to now be on a huge label which is able to work better for the band both in Europe and North-America ?

O! fuck yes I do!! You are sending me an interview. That’s all I have to say!

You've been touring with some rather great bands during these years, for example with Nile and Incantation. Is Impaled to be reckoned with as a touring unit, or is the band more a studioband ? What do you prefer ?

I hate being in the studio, I truly hate it, I think it’s the most boring time I can spend in a room with another 5 or 6 motherfuckers. Then all pays off when you get on stage and play for all this people that throw tomatoes at you. And after you get to hang out with them.

What's your greatest tour memory ?

Thinking I was snorting ants from the floor when in reality was Nikki Six’s pee, Or something like that.

Oakland, California, probably not the place most people would connect with some crunching Death Metal. How is the metalscene in Oakland ?

The metal scene here it’s ok, if Lucifer’s Hammer didn’t exist then it’ll be shit!

You also used to be the skinsman in the band Morbosidad, why did that come to an end ?

Because Impaled has always been my #1 priority, and when Morbosidad was demanding more of my time I had to step off and don’t stop the band from achieving their goals. Also if you send an interview to Morbosidad and they tell you they kick me out. That’s a true story too.

And busy as you are, you're also the guy behind the label Evil Morgue Productions, what's your intentions there ?

My intentions with Evil Morgue are to make it my full time job. This is something that I been working on for the past 2 1/5 years, basically I want to be my own boss and give myself a 12 week vacation plan a year. I also want to release music from bands that I like and think deserve to be heard all around the globe.

What do you look mostly forward to in  2005 ?

My girl Monique, Impaled on the road, and Evil Morgue

What will the future bring for Impaled after "Death After Life" ? Do you have it all planned out ?

Lot’s of touring, friend, record sales, free trips to the Panama Canal and Cuba..

Allright, I'm done with my dissecting of Impaled for now. Good luck with the future, the band really deserve some attention for your new album! Please end it with whatever you'd like to say!

Thank you very much for the attention and for your time to send this interview. Now you are free to run to your local store and sell your promo copy of “Death After Life” for no less then $1.99

Feel free to visit www.impaled.info and www.evilmorgue.com for more info on beer and tequila!!!!

presentation|news|editorials|reviews|interviews|movies and DVD's|live reports|specials|

f**king bollox|tours|dates|suggestions|in store|upcoming releases|underground|

artwork|videoclips|MP3's|venues|cd's archive|links|contacts|gryphonbook

[I Despair]

© GryphonMetal.ch   2001-2005Niederrohrdorf - Switzerland