WRETCHED (Eng.)
– Hi, thanks for your time. What are you currently up to? How is everything doing right now with WRETCHED?
Right now Wretched is together practicing in our hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. We’re getting ready to tour Canada with HAVOK & tour the US & Canada with the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. Everything is going very well for us currently. We’re excited to see our new album Cannibal released next week!
– First off, where does the name of «Wretched» come from? Does it have anyting to do with CANNIBAL CORPSE?
The name Wretched was brought to the table by guitarist Joel Moore. We wanted something evil and aggressive without going all out on the gore and long band names.
– In just a few days your newest album, «Cannibal», will come out. What are your expectations on it? And what are your thoughts on the final outcome?
We are really excited to release Cannibal. We think our fans will really enjoy this as well as encourage new listeners to keep up with the band. Each album we get closer to achieving everything we want. I don’t have expectations for album sales since that really is unpredictable these days. I do think we expect to broaden our fan base and have a lot of fun on tour this next year.
– The album’s title, both the strength that gives being a one single word title, and the meaning of it, depicts perfectly the musical content on it: brutal Metal straight to your face. Could you say this is your more straigt-forward (in any way) album thus far?
I agree the title fits the album well. It does on some level match the straight forward grooves on many songs. I think that’s the only difference from other Wretched albums. The thrash and death metal grooves ride out longer and hit with more power. The melodic and technical side of the CD is very much on par with other albums.
– Digging into this opus; what do some of its lyrics deal with?
The lyrics are a mix of real life occurrences and my own odd imagination. Much of it relates to entering adulthood of a different level. I’m closing in on 30 years of age; in the last few years I’ve dealt with and accomplished a lot of new things. A new job for example really helped me shape a lifestyle for myself that allows me stability & a decent schedule. There’s much about day to day struggles and much larger human issues. Cannibal refers to the many different systems humans have set up to help ourselves thrive off of the well being of others. The United States has put in place a government that can be bought and paid for. The people who build and sustain the systems are never rewarded; only used for their hard work.
– Among the onslaught and fierce riffing on the album we can also find two instrumental tracks, something you haven’t done since your debut album, in fact is something quite singular for a band into your style. Why did you think the album needed these songs?
We’ve actually had long instrumental songs on all 4 albums. It’s something we all like for a bit of dynamic. The instrumentals are fan favorites and great for anybody who’d like a short break from my screaming and brutality.
– The overall instrumentation sounds better, more compact than on previous releases, with a more prominent bass I would say, even better drums and vocals. Do you think the band is now on is best shape and that has reached a higher degree of maturity? I guess after years of career and several albums it may be a natural evolution.
The sound of Cannibal is one of our best. We tracked ourselves and then had Jason Suecof mix it with Alan Douches mastering. We all had a much better picture of what we wanted the album to sound like. This the 2nd album with Andrew Grevey on the bass and myself on the vocals. This album also sees the return of the original guitarist Joel Moore. Joel left after the first album to pursue a career but maintained a close friendship with the band, often collaborating on songs behind the scenes. John Vail who recently left the band did a collaboration similarly on Cannibal. We are definitely fine tuning our sound to grow as we do.
– All this about «Cannibal» being said; how could you describe it in just 3 words?
Groove, melody, ejaculation.
– You have been around for almost a decade now so, what could you say have been both the best and worst moments with/for the band to date?
Worst moment in the band I would say was during the Death Angel support tour in the US; our van broke down on our way from Florida to a string of West coast dates. We broke down in a desolate part of Texas in the summer months. We sat stranded in extreme heat for most of a day. Late at night we were finally towed to the closest mechanic. The town consisted of the shop and an isolated Walmart across the street. We waited in Walmart/sleeping in our van at night for a week. We had some money problems and we missed the last leg of the tour. One of those shows was at the legendary Whiskey A Go Go venue in LA. Very disappointing few days for all of us. Best moment so far I think was playing the Metal Alliance tour with DevilDriver, Dying Fetus, The Faceless, 3 Inches Of Blood, and Job For A Cowboy. All bands we admire and respected. Every night we played early to great crowds – short energetic sets with amazing crowd reactions! We hope this summer’s Mayhem fest will prove to be a new high for us.
– And finally, what are your near-future plans?
June, July, and August the band will be touring North America. After that we plan to dominate any cities we’ve missed and then make our way overseas. Thank you so much for the questions; we look forward to playing Cannibal for crowds across the globe!
