The metal world is yet to see a paradigm shift with such impact as the one brought by Death in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Adding sophistication to their usual dose of straight ahead death metal, they helped reinventing a whole genre. Suddenly they showed it was Ok to mix Rush and Slayer, King Crimson and Venom, and all boundaries were off for bands who wanted to expand their musical palette. But sadly, their path came to a close when vocalist and mastermind Chuck Schuldiner passed away in 2001, losing a long and courageous battle against cancer.
With such a lasting influence in the genre, it’s no surprise that Death’s legacy is still widely acknowledged today. So much so that a band called Gruesome was created entirely on the premise of honouring Death’s heritage. But more than simply copying the work of Chuck Schuldiner, Gruesome expands on his output, and sounds like “a tribute band that writes their own songs”. Reverence in its truest and most honest form.
Gruesome has just released their second full length Twisted Prayers, which honours Death’s Spiritual Healing. The new album contains eight tracks that incorporate more cerebral, melodic instrumentation with elements of thrash and thought-provoking, socially conscious lyrics. The band has once again teamed up with the legendary artist Ed Repka (Death, Atheist, Massacre, etc,) for the album’s blasphemous cover art in addition to legendary Death guitarist James Murphy (Death, Obituary, Testament) for a pair of special guest guitar solos.
Sonic Perspectives author and interviewer Rodrigo Altaf had the chance to catch up with Gruesome’s frontman Matt Harvey as the band is gearing up for an European tour, and they discussed a few tracks off the new release and how their homage to Death comes from the heart, not from the search for commercial success. Check out their conversation in the video below, or subscribe to our Podcast in several platform to listen and be notified about new interviews and contents we publish on daily basis.
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