Although returning to the scene after a six-year absence
with the solid 'Souls To Deny' in 2004, it was their 2006 self-titled
effort that really heralded the real return of the long running and
hugely influential death metal legends Suffocation.
With the release of their fifth full-length effort, Suffocation
(who are vocalist Frank Mullen, guitarist Terrance Hobbs, ex-Pyrexia/Internal
Bleeding guitarist Guy Marchais, ex-Decrepit Birth/Criminal Element
bassist Derek Boyer and drummer Mike Smith) once again set a new benchmark
in terms of brutality and technical precision within the death metal
scene, and in turn produced another classic that easily ranks alongside
their highly revered efforts 'Effigy Of The Forgotten' (1991) and 'Pierced
From Within' (1995).
Since the release of 'Suffocation' in September 2006,
the band have already completed a gruelling six-week North American/Canadian
tour alongside Fear Factory, Hypocrisy and Decapitated, with plans to
spend 2007 with an international touring assault (including Australia
in the middle of February).
Relaxing at home in Long Island (New York), I caught up
with drummer Mike Smith to chat about their upcoming Australian tour,
their recently completed North American/Canadian tour and the overwhelmingly
positive response to 'Suffocation'.
"It's all been really good response wise so far.
We have been getting some really good reviews for 'Suffocation' and
the fans seem to be enjoying the album too. I would even go as far as
to say that I haven't heard any really negative reviews yet so we're
really happy with the album."
Although Smith is surprised by the reaction to 'Suffocation',
he freely admits that he was aware of how strong the album sounded soon
after recording was complete.
"As far as recording time goes, we definitely spent more time on
this album in the studio than we had ever done with any of our other
albums in the past. We were in the studio for around a month and a half
just ensuring that things were right. We would spend a week in the studio,
and then take a week off to spend the time listening to what we had,
and really work out the bugs in everything. We also had most of the
material ready before we entered the studio too. I personally had a
really strong feeling about the album just after we finished recording
it. For me, 'Suffocation' is as much up there as 'Pierced From Within'.
I felt really strongly about it. And thankfully, the fans seemed to
agree as well. We're all very happy with the album."
As mentioned earlier, Suffocation actually marked their
return to the scene with 2004's 'Souls To Deny'. But while it was a
solid effort, it was marred by a lacklustre production.
"I think everyone in the band felt that 'Souls To
Deny' was perhaps a little rushed from what it would normally take time
wise for us to make an album. We normally take something close to two
years to put an album together for release. It takes that long to really
fine tune an album. When we got back together, I think the fans were
looking for something as soon as possible. So I think we kind of rushed
into it. I still feel really good about 'Souls To Deny', but I think
it sounds a little too rushed. On the new album, we just took our time
to ensure that everything was right, and it came out sounding ten times
better, both song writing and sound wise. Especially the production!
(Laughs) We pretty much went back to the same studio where we recorded
'Souls To Deny' (Full Force Studio), but Joe (Cincotta, 'Suffocation'
mixer and engineer) has since upgraded the studio with a lot of new
equipment, so it helped make us sound better. Apart from that, we just
took our time with this album."
While still on the subject of production, Smith points
out the exact reasons why the band decided to re-record 'Prelude To
Repulsion' from 1993's 'Breeding The Spawn' for their latest effort.
"What we've been trying to do is gradually add a
song or two from 'Breeding The Spawn'. The reason behind that is because
'Breeding The Spawn' has such a bad production sound from back when
we first recorded it. We just kind of messed around on the new album
by adding 'Prelude To Repulsion' from 'Breeding The Spawn' to give the
song an updated sound. Redoing that song allows people the chance to
really hear what it was supposed to sound like. We're going to try and
do that on every album. We'll eventually try to incorporate the entire
'Breeding The Spawn' album over time. When we've re-recorded all of
the songs, you'll be able to hear and understand the way that it was
supposed to be done in the first place."
Although 'Suffocation' is commonly regarded as the follow
up to 'Souls To Deny', what isn't widely known by most is that Suffocation
actually independently released a live album in early 2006 under the
name of 'The Close Of A Chapter'.
"Since we got back together (in 2003), we've done
a lot of extensive touring within those first three years. So we had
a lot of really good material out there and a lot of stuff for a live
album. So we decided to put together a live album by ourselves. I mean
fans had been asking for a live album for a long time and we thought
it was the right time to do it. There's not a lot to do when you're
putting together a live album. We went to Full Force Studio and touched
up a few things that didn't quite come out and it was finished. Having
said that, we really didn't have to do that much to it. After it was
all finished, we approached Relapse Records and asked if they were interested
in releasing the album, but eventually decided to put it out ourselves.
The deal we signed with Relapse Records means that for every batch that
we have of 'The Close Of A Chapter' printed up, they'll receive a certain
amount of that stock to sell for themselves for their online catalogue.
We kind of wanted to do the album ourselves. We felt that we pretty
much could, and we just decided to go with it."
As talk turns towards touring, I couldn't help but wonder
how Suffocation went down alongside Fear Factory, Hypocrisy and Decapitated
on their last North American/Canadian tour.
"That tour went really well and was incredibly successful.
Most of the shows were either sold out or close to selling out. What
we've been trying to do in recent years is try and diversify in regards
to who we tour with and that's been bringing in a larger fan base for
us. There were definitely some different people out there that were
Fear Factory fans and they had probably never seen Suffocation before.
Now that they had the chance to see us, I think we definitely won over
some new fans there. So the shows were really sick, and as always, we
went really crazy for them. We made the best of it and totally destroyed
it every night. It was great and we had a really good time."
As Suffocation set aside the first quarter of 2007 for
international touring, it comes as no surprise to find Suffocation finally
making their way down to Australia for the first time mid way through
February.
"We're really looking forward to that tour. It will
be our first time down there and we've heard a lot of really good things
about the place. I just can't wait to get there and finally be able
to play for you guys. I really want to check out the scenery down there
too. You can tell anyone who's coming to the shows to expect them to
be completely brutal and very tight! (Laughs) The shows will definitely
sound like the album and I think you guys will enjoy it. We pretty much
play a little bit of everything so we don't plan to just focus on the
one album or anything like that. We pretty much try and cover every
album by playing a few songs from them all. Having said that, you can
expect to hear 'Liege Of Inveracity', which definitely seems to be one
of the favourites among fans, and 'Pierced From Within'. Those songs
are ones that we definitely try and play all the time. Usually it's
the title tracks that we try and play all the time. You guys will definitely
get a large chunk of Suffocation music from our catalogue."
As for plans beyond their Australian dates, Suffocation's
only plans are to be busy, and around for a while yet.
"After the tour of Australia, I believe we have one
show in New Zealand and one show in Indonesia on this run before we
come home for some time off. At the end of March, or the beginning of
April, we have a two-week run over in Europe, and then we'll come back
home again to figure out what we're going to do for the summer months.
We'll probably play some festivals or things like that. But either way,
we'll try and keep as busy as we can. We'll definitely try and keep
going and take things as far as we possibly can. I think that a new
album will definitely be in the works towards the end of 2007. So we'll
be here for a while yet! (Laughs)"
For more information on Suffocation, check out - http://www.suffocation.us
© Justin Donnelly - justindonnelly@ozemail.com.au
