IMPALED
– Hi, thanks for your time. What are you currently up to? How is everything doing right now with IMPALED?
Ross: Currently, I’m watching people die in movies. Because those are the best movies of all. Everything in Impaled is just fine… we still practice and we still get wasted.
– You recently released «The Dead Still Dead Remain», a re-issue of your debut album «The Dead Shall Dead Remain». How did everything arise?
Ross: We don’t have the rights to the original recording of the Dead Shall Dead Remain. Those belong to Necropolis Records. Though they are essentially defunct as a label, they are still a legal organization and retain those rights. We do own the publishing rights to the music, though, so we figured we could just re-record the album and put it back in print. It was also fun to redo all the songs and actually play them well, this time.
– «The Dead Shall Dead Remain» has been unavailable on CD for over a decade now, so I guess this rerelease is a good way to let more people get it. In fact this album was released now 13 years ago, when tools as the Internet didn’t have much impact. With tools as social networks, have you noticed an increasing interest towards IMPALED?
Ross: Not really. Some things are easier, but 13 years ago we were bigger fish in a small pond. Now that pond is enormous and full of fucking fish. We haven’t maintained a huge profile, what with not touring and not releasing anything for years. What with all the label problems we’ve had over the years coupled with the difficulties of a day to day life living in one of the most expensive places to live in the U.S., we haven’t had much luck expanding to a big audience. At the same time, having been around since the pre-social media days has given us some cachet as an «old school» band. We don’t feel old, though. But my grey hair says differently.
– As I said, it has now been 13 years since your debut album came out so, what are now your feeling son the final outcome and your memories of those early days?
Ross: I have a hard time listening to the first record because I see it as a bunch of idiots not ready to record. Of course, there is an exuberance there that is hard to re-create. I get why some people like it. I’m proud of our early days, though, because we always stood our ground and did what we wanted. We pissed off a lot of folks on the way, but fuck ‘em if they can’t take a joke.
– The album has been re-recorded, and this time has a cleaner production. Was that your intention behind re-recording the whole album?
Ross: That was a side effect of not being drunk while recording. Of course we know a lot more know about how we want to sound, so it was easier to get the album to sound like what we always wanted in the first place. We didn’t want a muddy album, we wanted a Colin Richardson quality recording. We got Vinnie Wojno and I think he did an amazing job.
– There are also some other differences compared to the original version, as a new cover artwork and a different title. Would you mind to elaborate a bit on why did you decide to do that and how did you come up with both the cover as well as the small change on the album’s title?
Ross: I thought the title change was funny, and the new cover idea grew out of that. Leon del Muerte came up with the original title which we thought was
hilarious because it’s terribly redundant but brutal sounding. It’s a dumb thing to say. The new title is similar, but plays off the age of the material. I thought, hey, what if no one had cleaned up that mess 13 years ago? The original was conceived by Sean McGrath, I guess as his worst nightmare after eating too many jalopyños.
– This new version also omits the lengthy hidden track on the original version, anyway the length of some of the tunes on the album have changed, being the whole album a little bit longer. Were there any main reasons behind doing so?
Ross: It wasn’t meant to be longer, per se. We did some tempo mapping of the original and tried to even out the song tempos so it made sense. We also repeated a riff or two a bit longer than the original, added some noise here and there, but largely the songs remain the same. The hidden track on the original was my idea and it was BAD ONE.
– This re-recording also sees the return of Leon del Muerte. How has been working with him again after a decade?
Ross: Leon is a swell dude and a great friend. But we hated each other towards the end of his time in Impaled. I’m glad that all ended and now we can beat old ladies up together again.
– For all those consdering getting this «The Dead Still Dead Remain»; how could you define it in just 3 words?
Ross: Same but better.
– After this release you are working on your new studio album. After a 7 year gap, how are you feeling about having almost finished your new studio opus?
Ross: We’re not almost done, unfortunately. Impaled is a bunch of lazy old guys now, I guess.
– And is there anything you could already tell us about it? What are we going to find on it?
Ross: It will always be gross. G.O.R.E. Corps for life! And loud, fast, and hard. Death metal for death!
– And finally, what are your nearest future plans? What does 2014 have in store for IMPALED?
Ross: We will have some shows coming up, many with Leon del Muerte. No big tours planned, but a trip to Mexico and our first ever (and probably last ever) show with Carcass. I’m hoping they don’t ask for royalties on the riffs we stole.
– That’s all, thank you once more for answering our questions. If you want to add some final words; feel free to do it.
Ross: Let’s party like it’s 1999.
