New York’s Suffocation stopped in Pittsburgh to bring their brand of aggressive death metal to the Crafthouse, with fellow tourmates Belphegor, Abiotic, and Necronomicon. The band has been churning out heavy fast songs for almost 30 years. The band is gearing up for an early 2020 Eastern European tour and is currently working on follow up material to 2017’s Of the Dark Light… I was able to sit down and speak with guitarists Terrance Hobbs, and Charlie Errigo and drummer Eric Morotti, to learn more about what is to come for this death metal staple of a band.
GA: Suffocation’s last album was 2017 release ‘Of the Dark Light…” Is the band currently working on follow up material?
TH: Yes, we are, we are in the midst of writing some new songs. We have some touring coming up which is a little bit of a setback, but we are well on the way.
GA: The band is known for having former/retired vocalist Frank Mullen rejoin the group for shows and for vocal duties on albums, will he be a part of the new album process?
TH: No, in the middle of next year we are going to be doing a few shows in Europe so he can say goodbye to the rest of the world. He’s done North America and other parts of the world, so this is his last area to hit. Once we can get him over there to say goodbye and do a few festivals, that will really be it for him. We are going to have Ricky Myers do the record with us. It is going to be a whole new thing. Another era of Suffocation coming, it will be the same evil shit you are used to though.
GA: Can you tell me a little about how the band’s writing process when developing new material?
TH: There are many ways we go about this: we will do some stuff on the computers independently. These guys will pair together in a room and try to make riffs. Sometimes we will be on video chat fucking around. We try to use as many different techniques as possible. Then we will compile our material together to form songs.
GA: The band is nearly thirty years old and got to pay witness to the evolution of death metal. In your opinion in what ways has the music gotten better or even worse over the years?
TH: I think solo players, especially in the guitar world have a great advantage now because of YouTube and things like that. We are so interconnected with technology, that people can now learn things quicker than what it was back in the day. It’s easier than going out and seeking lessons and physically having to be somewhere to learn. I think the musicians have gotten better, since they are in the era where you can learn things so easily and quickly. I do think though some of it is lacking originality, because of these tools that are available, people are sometimesusing them as a crutch than grinding it out to make something new. It’s like they are copying things that they are seeing from someone else. I do think the caliber of musicians have gotten better, however. The new generation is just doing it a little bit more.
GA: Are there any trends you are seeing in metal now that you like or dislike?
EM: I dislike the amount of backtracks that there are in metal these days. It is taking away the realness of a live show. I’m not a fan of the digital additions to a live show, it is taking away from the nostalgia of live amps and grinding it out. It feels like the music is being taken as more of a professional business than just being fun and jamming out. I think the kids these days are approaching music from such a technical aspect, that is taking out the pure reason of why we do this, which is to have fun. They all sound very tight, but I don’t like the massive robotic interference in music these days.
GA: So, are you thinking music is just over produced and over polished these days?
TH: It’s not sounding real.
EM: It’s something to have a digital pad and playing manual bass drops live, but if you have full backing tracks, with backing vocals and guitars; that’s not live to me.
TH: It sounds like a catfish band. There’s no room for being human, and it kinda sucks.
GA: The band is currently out on the road with Belphegor, Abiotic, and Necronomicon, how has the tour been going and are the any stops you are anticipating?
TH: There is always ups and downs of touring. Necronomicon just wrecked their whole vehicle by hitting a deer on this tour. They lost a bunch of shows from the tour, luckily no one was hurt. We had a few cancellations on this tour as well. Things like that bring the moral of the tour down, but we have all been sticking together. I think it is commendable that everyone checks their attitudes at the door, and just want to do the same things, since we are all in the same boat. Everyone has been courteous throughout the tour. Obviously, we all run into stress and these problems on tour, when you are away from home it wears on you. Everyone has had a healthy outlook on this tour however; the shows and the fans have been good and treating us nice.
GA: What is next for the band after this tour?
TH: Right now, we are waiting for 70,000 Tons of Metal, then we will have off for the holidays. Once the new year comes, we have quite a bit on the plate. We are gearing up for 70,000 Tons from December 7th to the 11th. Then from the 14th to 24th we will be in Mexico doing a tour down there. Then from there, home till middle of February, when we will be going to Russia and Eastern Europe till sometime in the middle of March. Then from there we going to buckle down and try to write a lot of music and head into the studio, so we can get this new record down that we have been working on. We got our hands full.
GA: The band is originally from New York, some of the angriest and heaviest bands are from this region, and many take the down time between the holidays to work on new material. As a heavy band from the northeast do you think the change in seasons effects a band’s mood when they are writing?
TH: I do think when the seasons change, you kind of fall into that framework for writing. When winter hits we do buckle down. We do stay busy however touring throughout winter. There are months that we have off, and we try to do as much as we can with that off time.
GA: What gear does the band currently use for its live set up? Any endorsements please mention.
EM: For drums: I use DDrum, Paiste cymbals, Vratim shoes, Footblaster triggers, Evans heads, Los Cabos drumsticks, and Higher Life superfoods and supplements.
CE: Peavey is endorsing this tour, so our entire backline, full stacks and amps are all Peavey. We are using Peavey 6505 heads, Maxon overdrive pedals, and D’addario cables and strings.
TH: I am rocking the same thing, Peavey 6505 heads, Maxon overdrive pedals, D’addario strings and cables, Esp guitars and BC Rich guitars. I also use Eventide pedals, thank you very much to Eventide you guys rule, as well as Maxon both are great companies. Believe it or not D’addario strings, the best company in the world; I am 24 shows with the same set of strings on this tour and they are holding strong. Big ups to D’addario, I don’t care what you say those strings hold up forever. Thank you D’addario for everything.
GA: If someone wanted to follow the band online, where could they go and if they wanted to purchase merchandise where is your store located?
EM: They can go to Indiemerch.com for all merchandise. There is a link on all our social media platforms and the Suffocation website. We are on Facebook, and Instagram, we tend to do weekly tour update videos, and behind the stage videos.
GA: Anything else you would like to add?
TH: Thank you to all the fans, to everybody that has Suffocation throughout the years, and all our lineup changes. We are working on new material so look out for it sometime at the end of next year. Its going to be brutal as fuck. Everyone that has come out to our shows we really appreciate you and love you for your support. Thank you for sticking it out with us all these years, we couldn’t have done it without you.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/suffocation/
Instagram: @suffocationofficial
Indiemerch: https://www.indiemerchstore.com/b/suffocation
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