Dying Fetus has endured numerous lineup changes and now consists of founding member and vocalist/guitarist John Gallagher, bassist and backup vocalist Sean Beasley and drummer Trey Williams. About.com caught up with Beasley for a few minutes to discuss the new album, how the band has persevered through lineup changes and where he thinks the new album stands in terms of their past releases, included the often lauded Destroy the Opposition.
Justin M. Norton: With all of the lineup changes through the years how has the band managed to keep their trademark sound?
Sean Beasley: John (guitarist Gallagher) still does most of the writing like he’s done from the beginning. So it’s going to stay the same when he writes the riffs. Everyone else just kind of jumps in and takes their spots. Everyone knows we have a certain formula, we can drift away from it but we still need to keep some of the same elements. The production will change from album to album so that will be different every time.
The new album seems to shift between pummeling death metal and more technical passages – were you trying to mix it up on a lot of these songs?
We were trying to have songs be a little more balanced … not doing too many slow songs or blast songs. That was the only thing we tried to do – keep a balance between the strong riffs and the speedy parts. You always realize what you have halfway through a song. When we bring songs to practice they are about 70 percent done in terms of riffs and tempo. If there’s too much blast or technical stuff you realize it when you play it together.
Can you walk me through the recording process of this album?
We hooked up with producer Steve Wright and gave him some reference CDs. John really wanted to show him what we thought were strong albums. We recorded the drums right off the bat and took turns from there. Before we even started with drums we went to a studio to make tempo maps and quick tracks. We went to Australia right in the middle of recording. The guitars were already done so that didn’t change much.
When people refer to Destroy the Opposition as the classic Dying Fetus album how does that affect how you write and approach new material?
It is what it is. We don’t want to reproduce the same stuff. We just try to write good songs, and if you don’t like what you have you scrap riffs and keep going until you get what you like. We are trying to write good new songs and not focus on the old-school stuff. We don’t ever want to copy something that’s old and re-do it. You want to evolve. If a new album becomes classic it won’t be because we do the same thing as an album everyone loved.
Your bass playing seems to take a more prominent role on this album and you seem to get more of a chance to shine.
It’s always fun if I get to do some technical stuff with John. It’s nice to have something to show for the work you put into an album. But I don't know if it’s more prominent; there are some bass breaks we don’t have in the last album. But I just think (the album) sounds better so it stands out more.
What motivates the band to keep going after being involved with death metal for almost two decades?
All of us still love what we’re doing. We were fans before we even started playing. When you have lineup changes a lot of people get sick of it, or they get sick or touring or traveling or get a really good job. But if you love what you are doing and have fun touring and recording it’s easy to want to keep doing it.
How do you keep going with the touring?
I’ve just done it for a while. If you can strike a balance it’s good to keep going out. But it can get old if you are out too long. But being at home can feel the same way (laughs).
What are the main political or social messages you are trying to get across with Descend Into Depravity?
T he album doesn’t have a theme. We wanted every song to have its own identity. The only thing we kept uniform was the artwork. But the lyrics are all different.
Can you tell me more about the album cover and why the band liked it?
We like the dark and the rain and the glossy cover, all the stuff has a kind of gloss over it. The cover is kind of about the way things are headed…there are a lot of killings in city streets.
So was it to suggest we are getting close to anarchy?
Closely, not quite anarchy. But when tempers flare stuff happens
Where do you think the album stands in your catalog?
Who knows? That’s for time to tell. But I think it’s right up there with Destroy the Opposition. It’s pretty busy so it’s definitely fun for us to play it.
