DECEASED are true metal to the bone. From their earlier records like "Luck of the Corpse" to their latest "Supernatural Addiction", the band has grown in leaps and bounds...changing their style from a death metal band into a death metal band with old school influences shining through in every riff and solo. Mike Smith was gracious enough to answer my questions about the bands history and evolution throughout their career,as well as what the band has been up to as of late (A new EP is expected soon, hopefully late this year/ early next year). Read on and check out their new "Supernatural Addiction" album...you won't regret it. Chris O'Brien-Unstoppable Force Website/Zine

U.F.-How did you join DECEASED? Were you in any bands prior to DECEASED?

M.S.-I joined Deceased in January of 91, although I had been friends with the guys since 84, before there was a Deceased. I was more of a bedroom guitar in the early and mid 80's, mainly because it was impossible to find people my age into the underground Metal that I was into. I met King(Fowley-Vocals and Drums) and Mark(Adams aka "Chainsaw"-Guitar) at a Mercyful Fate/Exciter show in 84, and from there I would meet up with them at shows and we would talk about Metal. When Deceased first started playing, Mark would borrow my amp because I was the only one with a Marshall at the time. I ended up joining a band called Recalcitrance in 88, recorded a demo with them, and then left the band in 89. The style was very technical Thrash, and I wasn't into the style too much so I left to concentrate on finishing up my degree in college. Out of the blue I got a call one night from a friend who said that the old Deceased guitar player was leaving and that I should call Mark. I did, and joined the band before we even had a chance to practice! We were such old friends that we knew it would work between us. Since then its been the four of us against the world!

U.F.-As a guitarist,who were your influences?

M.S.-My influences are many, not just for solo's, but for song writing as well. My favorite players of all time are Randy Rhodes, Uli Roth, Ritchie Blackmore and Vivian Campbell in his Sweet Savage days. Of course Dave and Adrian from Maiden are up there too, along with Mantas, especially for riffs. I worship the first three Venom albums, but after that they sucked. I'll give you one more, Michael Denner fuckin' rules and Fate has never been close to the band they were with him.

U.F.-How has the music progressed from the days of "Gut Wrench" and "Luck of the Corpse"? Would you like to re-record any of the older songs for a better sound or to suit the way your newer material sounds?

M.S.-Well obviously its changed a lot. We've all improved as players, and as I write most of the music, we settled into a Deceased style. We actually did re-record some old stuff for a Deceased compilation coming out soon called "More Death Metal from the Grave", and it was weird hearing the new versions. Not only was the sloppy playing improved on, but we got a much better sound than those old recordings.

U.F.-I read someplace (forgot the name of the mag) that you were the first band signed to Relapse Records. Doy you feel loyal to the label? Have you had offers from any other labels?

M.S.-Yes, Relapse was actually created so Matt(Jacobson-Co-founder of Relapse Records) could release a Deceased album, and it grew from there. We do feel a loyalty to Relapse, as they have always strongly supported us. We may not care for most of the music they release, but at least they don't jump on trends like most bigger labels. We will never be huge sellers like Amorphis and Neurosis, but they still let us do our own thing.

U.F.-"The Blueprints of Madness" is an ok album. I heard that you guys weren't happy with the way it came out. Why not?

M.S.-I fuckin' hate it! It's a combination of things for me, although King's main problem is strictly the production aspect. We were still defining our roles in the band in the early 90's, and I thought I had to write songs in a Deceased style. At that point we would all throw riffs out, and they would all clash with each other, so the songs to me sound disjointed. Another reason I hate it is the production just blows. We spent a lot of money on that record, which means a lot of money was wasted. There are a couple of songs that I like, but I honestly haven't even listened to the album for about five years. Oh well, I think we made up for it with the albums that followed!

U.F.-What the hell happened between "Blueprints" and "Fearless Undead Machines"? It didn't sound like a DECEASED album the first time I heard it. It sounded more like power metal than death metal.

M.S.-Many have asked the same question! There's a pretty simple answer, I started writing the kind of riffs I wanted to, instead of trying to write what I thought was the Deceased style. I've said this in other interviews, but since it was a major turning point for us, I'll repeat it. The first song I wrote after the Blueprints album was "The Silent Creature." Since it was pretty different from anything we had done before, I was nervous to even present it to the band. I remember it was just me and King at practice, we were waiting for Mark and Les(Snyder-Bass) to show up, and we were just jamming. I started playing the beginning of the song, King liked it, and I showed him the rest. From then on, I went through a very prolific period where I wrote tons of riffs, and pretty soon we had the Fearless... album written. The album did really well for us, a lot of people were really impressed with the songs and the production, and we were as well. I really love that album, it might be my favorite...

U.F.-"Fearless" was a concept album. For those who don't know...what is the story behind it? Why zombies and not something like Vampires or Mummies?

M.S.-Because Zombies are cooler! Actually, the concept followed what was started back on the "Birth by Radiation" demo back in 88. We had wanted to do the concept for along time, and King took inspiration from all the classic Zombie movies, and mixed in his own story into it. The Zombie movies are our favorite genre of Horror.

U.F.-What was the deal between Jeremy of Broken Hope and King? I heard about it and laughed. Any insight?

M.S.-I don't want to get to into it as we've patched things up with Broken Hope. It was a lot of shit talking on both bands part for many years, and it ended with Jeremy meeting King's fist in his face. It was all stupid and blown out of proportion, but it's over.

U.F.-Looking back at "Fearless" is there anything about that album you don't like when you listen back to it? (Personally...I felt a few songs went on too long towards the end. Not that I am complaining...I love that album)

M.S.-I would agree with you, some went on a bit too long. It's my fault, I was writing so many riffs back then! I think we learned from it though, as we tried to be more concise with Supernatural. As I stated before, I love the album. I think the music really fit the lyrics, giving it a strong Horror atmosphere, and we had a great time recording it.

U.F.-"Supernatural Addiction" is a great album. How were the songs written for the album(as well as your others)? How many times did King watch those movies to write those lyrics(they are great)?

M.S.-We approached the song writing the same way as Fearless, except we made a real effort to keep them shorter. What usually happens is I write the riffs at home, bring them to practice where we arrange it. Everyone adds their style to the song, and that makes it even better, and then it becomes a Deceased track rather than a bunch of cool riffs. King takes care of all the lyrics himself, and he does a lot of work to make them killer. Usually we don't get to hear or read the lyrics until we're in the studio recording so it's always fun to get the whole picture at that point.

U.F.-What happened with Ellys Dillema? Being based on the Blair Witch Project.I thought there would have been sound clips from the film in the song.

M.S.-It did have samples, and I have the first mix of the album with the samples in it. At the last minute, Relapse was contacted by the movie company and told to take them out of the song. We also had a "stick man" from the movie drawn into the album cover which they also made us remove. We were pretty disappointed as we were just trying to pay tribute to a classic movie.

U.F.-What has the band released so far this year alone?

M.S.-Hmm, I might forget something here, but here goes: Supernatural Addiction album, Up the Tombstones live album, The Premonition 7 inch, and More Death Metal from the Grave double cd should be out soon.

U.F.-What is the deal with Dwell Records? How come all the bands on their tribute albums are pretty much the same? What tributes have you done so far? What your plans for the future on these tribute records?

M.S.-I know, it's pretty ridiculous isn't it. There is a good reason we do them though! Despite the fact that we really do love the bands we're paying tribute to, we also get enough money to record the track, plus we can record a couple of demo versions of any new songs we've written. We couldn't afford to demo all of our new stuff otherwise, so it's a good deal for us.

U.F.-I read on your site that you are shooting a video for "Ellys Dillema"? Is this for a home video you plan on doing, or are you going to hold MTV hostage until they play it?

M.S.-I don't know what we'll do with it. We're getting it done for free, so why not shoot it! Mark went out and found the Blair Witch house last weekend, so the only problem will be getting it done before the cops show up!

U.F.-What new songs have you written for the new EP you guys are recording? I can't wait to hear the D.R.I. cover.

M.S.-We haven't written anything yet! We've been so busy after the release of Supernatural that we haven't had any time to think about new songs. We just took a month off after we finished our tour, so we're going to start writing new stuff now. The covers will be easy, we usually get those down real quick. I imagine we'll get the DRI one done in a few minutes!

U.F.-Being a fan of old school metal, what bands did you think were overrated/underrated?

M.S.-As far as overrated, well, I was never a big fan of the "Bay Area" Thrash stuff. So when everyone was freaking out over Testament, Death Angel etc., I was sticking with the Euro Thrash. I do worship the first Exodus album, and all the Possessed stuff, but that was pretty much it. There are so many underrated bands, although with all the re-issues coming out these days, a lot of the more obscure bands are getting heard. An example of a killer album that is underrated is Iron Angel's "Hellish Crossfire." That record is so classic!

U.F.-Which bands have you been listening to recently? What bands have you been avoiding like the plague?

M.S.-I'm not just stuck in the 80's, even though that is my favorite era of Metal, I do listen to a lot of current releases too. I really love Sabbat from Japan, Destroyer 666, Gospel of the Horns, The Crown, Impiety and tons more! I also avoid a ton of shit as well. I can't even name any bands because I do my best to just ignore the crap stuff. I will single out Hammerfall though, just because they're so damn wimpy and people think they're the saviors of Metal. They're my pet band that I love to hate!

U.F.-Why beer mugs? I don't wan to think of my mortallity when I pop a brew.

M.S.-Ha ha! That was Mark's deal. He just always wanted a Deceased beer mug for himself, so he got a bunch made. Drink with the Dead!!

U.F.-Any last words?

M.S.-Why, am I about to die?? I just want to thank you and all the freaks who support us and our fight for Metal. Deceased honestly don't care about popularity and getting "big". We're just four Metal brothers who love playing music together, and make Metal our purpose in life. Show No Mercy!!

Ok Chris, hope this is cool! Thanks again man, we appreciate the support!

Mike

Check out DECEASED's new album "Supernatural Addiction", as well as viewing their site which I have listed below. You can find out the history of the band, MP3's/sound clips, and other things such as tour dates and a complete discography.

Discography(Check out their website for comps, live,and 7

DECEASED-Official Website
RELAPSE RECORDS-Order DECEASED's albums from their label