EMANCIPATION ---> DESTRUCTION ---> INNOVATION

In August 2002 I had the privilege of conducting an interview with the highly talented Jared Anderson concerning his one-man musical venture Internecine for the Danish metal magazine Metalized. As most of you death-metal aficionados will most likely be aware of, Jared earned his fame in the extreme metal business as the bassist/vocalist on the crushing Hate Eternal records, “Conquering the Throne” and “King of All Kings”. Additionally, he teamed up with the mighty Morbid Angel during the concluding stages of their “Gateways to Annihilation” tour, subsequent to what would later turn out to be the short-term hiatus of frontman Steve Tucker.  




Keeping himself busy in the artistic universe, Jared chose to breathe new life into his one-time band project Internecine in order to fully bring to fruition the incontrovertible sparks of potential that were introduced with the “Hymns of Sanctity” demo in 1997. The concrete outcome was issued through the now-defunct Hammerheart Records in late summer 2002 under the deviously deceptive title “The Book of Lambs”, and can best be described as a cyclonic death metal synthesis of tradition and originality.

 

This interview was conducted shortly after Jared announced his decision to turn down an otherwise much-coveted chance of becoming the permanent frontman in Morbid Angel; all in order to concentrate his musical prowess on Hate Eternal and Internecine. As could be expected, this came to be the opening subject of our lengthy conversation, which however soon proved to become one of the most rewarding interviews in my pre-Evilution days. As most of the readers will also know about, Jared has since left Hate Eternal in order to battle a personal drug abuse, and it is still uncertain whether or not he will carry on with his promising musical career in the death metal industry. For now, here is an exclusive chance to become better acquainted with the man Jared Anderson himself, the strangely underrated Internecine album “The Book of Lambs” plus several other career-related issues. Please enjoy!

 

# So Jared, what is everybody up to at the moment?

 

“Well, Erik [Rutan] is mixing the new Hate Eternal album right now. We’re going on tour; I’m leaving in a couple of weeks. Start practicing, start rehearsing for tour and we’re going to leave on July 4th. We’ll be on tour until August 11th or something.”

 

# Sounds like a tough schedule?

 

“It’s tough. I’ve been doing it for the last couple of years. First Morbid Angel; then doing the Internecine album right after the tour; then doing another Morbid Angel tour and then coming home and doing the Hate Eternal album. Then yet another Morbid Angel tour and now we’re going to do the Hate Eternal tour, you know. It’s tough. It’s definitely mentally stressful.”

 

# Wow.

 

“It was really tough and that’s why I decided to leave Morbid Angel. Because trying to do three things was nearly impossible. I was doing it fine but mentally it was starting to catch up with me. Basically, I made the decision to leave Morbid Angel because I wanted to do Hate Eternal and Internecine full time. Otherwise, that would take up too much of my own time and the time for the other two bands, which I want to focus on. That’s pretty much what I based my decision on.”

 

# In other words, it was purely a professional decision with no personal issues involved?

 

“I chose Morbid Angel mostly because I started both Internecine and Hate Eternal. I pretty much consider them my thing. Really fresh. With those bands my musical input and capabilities are really put to the limit. It’s more what I want to do. A lot of people think I’m crazy because I chose to leave Morbid Angel, you know! But Hate Eternal is fresh and we’re going to do a lot with it. Internecine is fresh and I feel I want to do a lot with that. And I have faith in it, so if I pursue that 100% it could be as big as anything else. It takes a lot of work, and it will take a lot of work, but I’m willing to put that into it.”

 

# It must have been quite a challenge to become a part of Morbid Angel and having to continue on from where David Vincent and Steve Tucker had left their respective vocal imprints?

 

“I was not really worried about being compared to David and Steve. That didn’t really bother me at all, because anyone that joins Morbid Angel now will have to do that. It’s just a mind state you have to get yourself out of. You just have to jump in and do it. Whatever… Steve and David who?! [laughs] That’s how you’ve got to approach it as it would be impossible otherwise.”

 

# Plus, considering the fact that Hate Eternal has been a three-piece ever since the departure of Doug Cerrito, it would be virtually impossible for you not to have gained some kind of experience as a frontman in that band prior to becoming a part of Morbid Angel.

 

“Exactly. We are all leaders in our own way – we all have our own thing. There are not two guitars [in Hate Eternal] so Erik has that on his own and there are two vocals. It’s a fresh thing and I feel excited about it. I feel it’s more exciting to pursue this than be in Morbid Angel. It was either leave Morbid Angel or leave Hate Eternal and Internecine. I couldn’t picture doing that.”

 

# What function does Internecine serve for you as a musician compared to Hate Eternal?

 

“With Internecine it’s more a personal thing. Originally, we wanted to have the band with two vocalists just as in Hate Eternal. My guitarist/vocalist [David Scalf] was supposed to do the record with me, but he’s in graduate school, college. The timing was wrong so he couldn’t get down to Florida to record it. So I kind of got forced into playing the guitar which I didn’t really want to. But I just got on to it and played it myself in that it would be the easiest thing to do. I didn’t have time to find a guitar player. As far as touring and recording go, it’s different from Hate Eternal. It’s something I started in 1996 and a lot of the material on the record was written between 1996 and 1998. It was way before Morbid Angel and Hate Eternal were even thought of in that respect. It’s more of a personal thing.”

 

# But how do you manage to distinguish between the two bands in the songwriting process?

 

“It’s basically adapting to the music. When I joined Hate Eternal there was a certain style, and after I played it for a while I knew what kind of style I was supposed to pursue as far as writing and as far as the picking, structuring and stuff like that go. In Hate Eternal I adapted to it really well, and it’s a totally different style of writing than Internecine would be. So for the stuff that I wrote for this album [“King of All Kings”], I pretty much got into a Hate Eternal mind set. Kind of listening a lot to the older riffs and reconfiguring a lot of the same patterns and a lot of the same structuring. You know, all the notes and technical stuff, which I’ve always been into. There are no real boundaries; it’s just what I feel is right, and that’s what I use just to get the intensity real high.”

 

# Tony Laureano from Nile recorded the drums on six of the tracks on “The Book of Lambs” while your Hate Eternal associate Derek Roddy took care of the remaining two cuts. Aside from that Derek and Tony are indisputably among the most talented extreme metal drummers in the world, it must have felt natural to collaborate with these two, more or less, closely related musicians?

 

“Sure, I guess so. For one they are pretty good friends of mine. I don’t just play in a band with them – I talk to them all the time. In the very beginning I was looking into Trym from Emperor. I had talked to him, but the expenses were going to be too high with him getting over here and then losing time. It wasn’t going to work out. I asked Tony to do it and he did the majority of the record. He’s in Nile and I’m in Hate Eternal, and I felt like it was not going to be in the same band. With Derek it was basically… You know, for the last two songs Tony had some business to do in Nile and there was a deadline, kind of like a cut-off date, and Derek wanted to do the songs and I wanted him to. There’s nobody else that I know here in the States that I could have called and they could have played on the record. There’s no one who could have done it on such a short notice. They just popped in and did it like they did. I can’t think of anyone.”

 

# Certainly, drummers of their stature do not come in great numbers.

 

“There’s a group of people – a group of a certain few that can do it and do it well. It kind of stays in the circle. I would have loved to find musicians. You know, totally different musicians that nobody has ever heard of. But I guess there’s just no one out there. It’s really hard to find. To complete your vision, you’re trying to reach out to somebody new but you’re going to end up in the same circle! [laughs] That’s pretty much what happened to me. My original drummer [Shannon Purdon] was excellent. He was a great drummer but he’s fed up on drugs and he’s just all screwed up – and he doesn’t even have a drum kit. So I kind of got cornered, but I will definitely be forming a band for touring. There are no announcements or anything, but I will definitely be finding someone.”

 

# So that would be after the forthcoming Hate Eternal tour or something?

 

“Sure, after the Hate Eternal tour I will have a lot of time off because I won’t be writing for a new record or anything like that. I will have a lot of time off now when I’m not with Morbid Angel anymore, and then I’ll be trying to do tours with Internecine. That’s the main plan behind everything and I have already been talking to quite a few people who I have in mind, and when the time comes I will just start rehearsing with people.”

 

# Speaking of Trym... It was recently announced (spring 2002) that he would be the elected notability to step in and fill the drummer slot in connection with the reformation of the classic Florida band Ceremony, already counting Steve Tucker, Pat O’Brien and Greg Reed (Disastronaut). Maybe that could provide the contact basis for another ‘transatlantic constellation’ between Trym and Internecine?

 

“As a matter of fact, Pat O’Brien is not in Ceremony; it’s actually Steve and Greg Reed, the other guitarist. Anyway, I’ve been talking to Trym before that was ever thought of, and it was actually Steve who was telling me: ‘Maybe you should talk to Trym?’ Then I joined Morbid Angel and we toured Europe with Zyklon. I talked to him there, saw his talent and I was like: ‘Wow, he’s great!’ So I wanted him to do it, but as I said before it just couldn’t happen due to time and expenses. He’s an awesome drummer and I wished that I could work with him, but it just couldn’t happen. Maybe for touring or something it could work. I would love to do that, and I think it would be great for the fans to see people from the US and Europe mixing it into the same band. Just to show that no matter what it can happen, and it can be just as brutal no matter where you come from. I think it could be very interesting. A drummer from Norway, me from the States and maybe another guitar player/vocalist from... wherever!”

 

# Do you think this entire ‘reunion movement’, which seems to be more prevalent than ever before, reflects a kind of broader transformation on the death metal scene?

 

“I see death metal getting to a point where it’s actually – as far as brutality goes – in such high demand that death metal bands have to be very brutal. And in the past, in the last, say eight years, there have been so many death metal bands that weren’t really good, and they have just been flooding the scene whatever. Now I think it’s getting to a point where all the good bands are starting to flood the bands that are not really good and I think it’s starting to put it out. You know, people want to hear bands like Hate Eternal, Morbid Angel; they don’t want to hear crap anymore. They want to hear the brutal stuff. So you have X amount of bands, whether it be five or ten bands, that people really like and that people are going to be into. As far as the melodic kind of stuff like In Flames and stuff – it’s just a totally different genre and there’s going to happen the same thing there. You have certain bands that do it well and do it really good, and those bands are going to do something. The others will start to fade out, I think... Bands popping up here and there, doing one record and then you never hear of them again. I think that will start to fade out, and the main bands will get back in high demand. I hope so. That’s how I see it.”

 

# A band that suggest itself in this connection is Brutality that likewise reformed just recently. Regrettably, it appears that nothing really came out of it this time around.

 

“Yeah, it’s just kind of faded out... You know, a band like Cancer was really huge back then, but they never really had that conviction to grab a big audience. Bands that have a high conviction like Diabolic, Hate Eternal and Immolation – and hopefully Internecine – will start to reap the attention of the death metal genre and not fade out with the rest that never really did anything, you know. At their concerts you will see like 30-40 people and they will just disappear. I’m not saying any band in particular, but certain bands in general. I’m definitely not pointing my finger at anything.”

 

# Diabolic and Hate Eternal, although comparatively speaking ‘latecomers’ to the death metal scene, both seem to sustain a lot of the characteristic impulses from the early 90’s. Is that also the case with Internecine?

 

“I think Internecine has got a lot of old-school in it. I think that’s why death metal actually shrank in size and got smaller because a lot of bands lost the old-school thing. You know, old Deicide and Morbid Angel and the bands that came out with a new impact. People just started to overlook these and instead look at this new breed of death metal which kind of lacked the old-school feel and demand. I’m thinking of bands like Immolation, Internecine and Hate Eternal; those bands have still got the old-school elements. It’s how death metal is supposed to be played in my eyes: with conviction. If you want that you have to have the old-school in it. That way you can get fans.”

 

# When I wrote the first few notes for my review of “The Book of Lambs”, I was able to come up with numerous references to other death metal bands, classic and contemporary. Is it sensible to consider Internecine to be a sort of creative concoction of every little influence that you’ve ever had?

 

“That’s what it’s all about. I’ve listened to a lot of old-school bands that people have somehow forgot. You know a lot of the stuff that Atrocity used to do. Bands like that, which people don’t do anymore. I do! I worship it and I try to blend it in with the newer stuff that I’m writing. Where you can hear so much old-school but still so much new as well – kind of like fresh old-school. I just try to blend it and use all these elements, because that’s what got me into death metal. Those early elements which a lot of new bands tend to overlook. I think you have to have these elements in your music, and in my opinion that is what distinguishes bands that release one album and bands that continue to put out albums.”

 

# Those influences are sort of fundamental, in other words?

 

“You have to have these certain elements from Morbid Angel, yeah. Or Suffocation, Atrocity or Atheist, but to use the elements or to rip it off is completely different. Use the elements and try to form them into your own. That’s what it’s about for me.”

 

# Suffocation is in fact one of the bands that come to my mind when I listen to “The Book of Lambs”.

 

“There’s some Suffocation on the Internecine album. They are one of the best death metal bands of all time. All the old bands that people were really into and who did something that meant something, which people really had a passion for. Even if Suffocation fades out, their elements have to stay because they’re pioneers pretty much. To go to this new phase of death metal... It can never really happen! In my eyes you have to have that link in order to write a brutal album that people will really like and be into. I try to give people a lot of different reasons for loving the new Internecine record. The songs are very different in their own way and they are not written in the same style. There are different structures, and they are just pretty much out on their own thing. I try just to use different elements for each song and just give a wide variety. Instead of being condemned to one certain area, I try to get into a lot of different areas. Just try to get to so many places as I can without sounding like a certain band. That’s pretty much what I try to do with that. I feel total freedom with Internecine. I can take all the influences that I have been listening to for the last fifteen years and turn it into my own and write just what I want.”

 

# Let us turn our attention to more album-specific matters. There is a pretty passionate statement in the booklet which reads as follows: ‘This record is dedicated to the time of the destruction. I anxiously await the day of cleansing of this disgusting earth which the masses have created, for I am one, for I am war!’ Could that be put in relation to your aspirations as a musician?

 

“Exactly. That’s pretty much what I meant with it. The cleansing of all that is fake. I didn’t really mean anything that would blow up, but all the bullshit and filth that just do not need to be out there. The cleansing of it is mainly just the separation of what is pure and what is not. All that is flooding and just lingering needs to go. That’s basically the kind of message that I’m trying to get out. Not only music but life in general, and that’s why I put that statement on the record. It’s not meant as something that is going to blow up or anything, and the people that read it like that are obviously not looking deep enough into it. It’s my statement and people can take it how they want, but that’s basically what I meant by it.”

 

# ‘In order to create you must destroy’?

 

“Sure, exactly. That’s exactly right. I’m impressed!”

Jared Anderson




# That specific line was actually cited from a Satyricon song, but I recognise a similar principle in the lyrical concepts for the latest two Morbid Angel albums as well, particularly “Gateways to Annihilation”.

 

“I guess that’s where the person writing it is more personal (in relation to lyrics.) With “Gateways to Annihilation” – even though it’s in the same realm, different people write the lyrics with different personal views on life. “Formulas Fatal to the Flesh”... that was Trey and his beliefs. Both “Gateways to Annihilation” and Internecine are about cleansing. Destroying anything mundane. The lyrical concepts are in the same realm, but it’s all on a more personal level. With Internecine I never really wrote a song about anything in particular, a place of history. What happened at this time and what happened at that time. It was more about what was inside of me; about me and my beliefs. The Hate Eternal song “Catacombs” was for instance based on the Aztecs, and even on the new record there is some stuff written about history, and I didn’t do that on Internecine. And the lyrics that I write for Hate Eternal are pretty much in the same vein as for Internecine. All basically about the same thing, but then again in different dimensions. It’s basically all the same thing, but broken up into different pieces. It’s really hard to explain.”

 

# As far as the lyrics and overall concept are concerned, “Formulas Fatal to the Flesh” is in my opinion the most inspiring Morbid Angel album to date. It sort of manages to combine self-realisation with a set of maxims that can still be applied on a universal scale. If you know what I mean! [laughs]

 

“Hey, I like what you say about “Formulas Fatal to the Flesh”. It’s kind of like taking yourself to a higher level. I’m not a Christian and I’m not a Satanist, and that is what the cross symbolism [on the album cover] represents. You’ve got good and evil and the meaning of Internecine is the destruction of both sides. Anything organised to me. Don’t wear or listen to something because everybody else does. Don’t base your beliefs on someone else’s beliefs. Listen to yourself because that is what you represent. Even if there is not one person in the world that doesn’t believe in what you’re doing – it doesn’t matter. Finding what you truly believe in; and the hard thing is to actually find that. That’s basically what I’m trying to say. Stay away from organisations and stay away from what can corrupt your mind, your personal feelings and thoughts. Find your own level and your own place of existence. When you find that, then that is when you can achieve bliss. That’s when you can take it to other levels most other people won’t understand, because you are on your own level. Basically, you are separating yourself from everyone until you find what you truly believe in and what you truly want to accomplish or state or write or whatever. That’s what all the lyrics are based on: my personal beliefs and their clash with other people’s beliefs. What I feel I need to change concerning that. Like in the song “Divinity”, which is basically just about being divine in everything without anything to, I guess you can say, ‘block it’. Like being on top without anything being able to touch you. It’s like a chance, a prayer to scorch the ones that I despise. Everyone who disagrees or doesn’t like what I do or anything that’s mundane about what everybody else does. It’s the cleansing of that. That’s just what it means – “Divinity” is just about being divine, and to be that you have to put yourself on another level than the masses, which is what I call them: the millions of people that are just lost.”

 

# You mentioned the cross/inverted-cross symbolism depicted on the album cover, and it was my intention to ask specifically about its relation to the concept of the band and the album itself. Since both ‘fractions’ so to speak are represented on the cover artwork, this appears to be more than just a blunt condemnation of Christianity.

 

“That is what Internecine is all about: the destruction of both. You can’t have good without evil and you can’t have evil without good. Most people overlook that. They’re Satanists but they don’t believe in God. It just doesn’t make sense. It clashes; it’s nonsense; it’s foolishness. People just don’t look deep enough, and they just try to show that Satanic message. I’d rather just destroy anything that’s organised, whether it be Christianity, Satanism or whatever. Destroy it and make your own. You can have your own religion. Whether it be God, ancient gods, Satan or whatever, you know. Everybody should have their own God instead of saying that this is wrong and this is right, this is it and this is not. It’s absurd. Basically, the crosses just symbolise destruction, because behind everything good there is evil and behind everything evil there is good. You can’t work with one without having the other around.”

 

# So in essence, the concept is about detachment from established religions and ideologies?

 

“Well, I guess with me I never really had to go back and detach myself, because I have always been detached. So I guess to go back and detach yourself would be kind of tough. I was always sort of detached from what people believed or what people thought. Never once was I actually a Satanist. You know, people get into death metal and say ‘Hail Satan’ and blah, blah, blah...! I was never one of those people. I was always trying to look and see how things were progressing as far as evil and as far as good are concerned. Looking back even hundreds of years ago and seeing how things have progressed to what it is now. I try to look back at humanity in general. Just to look at each different angle of humanity, whether it be spirituality, anger, feelings or whatever. I watch how that progresses and how it changes. I look back on my life and see how things have changed, and how small evils have just become worse and worse as far as the evil side goes. No one ever discussed Satan back in the sixties and it just kind of progressed through rock’n’roll. In the days of rock’n’roll they would refer to different things portraying Satan, but they never mentioned the word, and it just finally progressed into the thing where it just kind of snuck out and just kind of crawled out, and it’s the same thing with good: it took a long time before people would actually state it. To really say what they meant instead of beating around the bush and just using different things to refer to this and that. It took so many years for that to happen, and I just look at everything in general. From when I was a kid I just look at how everything has changed and continues to change. That separates me from everything else, because I can see how things change in my eyes. That kind of separates me from coming out with my own conclusion of what I believe in. It just took a lot of years of watching and just seeing stuff, being stuff and living things. It took at lot of years before I finally got to a point where I can see what I believe in. And I could use it in a way to attack other people that try to attack me. It’s a very deep thing that’s been going on since I was a little kid. So as an advice to someone to actually go back and separate yourself from everything to find out who you really are... That would be really tough! It would be something that you would already kind of know. Most people have it in them to be able to define that; to know what it is to truly believe in what they are. Most people have that but there are some who don’t, and I don’t think they will ever find out. They won’t get it. They will never understand what it’s all about.”

 

# That is when I think people often turn towards music to make it function as a sort of mediator for individualism and self-realisation.

 

“Yeah, they look into the depths of something. That’s definitely a problem. They will rather hear what they want to hear in straight words, and that’s really why commercial music sells as much as it does, because one song on this record tells them what they want to hear. That’s why it does so well. Whereas writing like I do, there is a deep, hidden message and you’ve got to search for it. And if you do find it, it creates a much better feeling than when you just go out and buy a record that throws everything at you that you want to hear. When you find it you find the meaning, and it definitely means a lot to you.”

 

# Metal music has definitely taken on an entirely new commercial visage in the 21st century, most noticeably in the shape of hyper-profitable bands such as Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park. Do you think that will ever have a genuinely positive effect on extreme metal music?

 

“I don’t think it helps death metal at all. I wouldn’t even use bands like Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park as examples. The only band that I could really think of on top of my head is Slipknot. The only thing they really did was to use the heavy kind of music with like a lot of double bass and stuff like that. It’s like: they’ve sold millions of record and whatever. So now when a kid hears flying double bass, it doesn’t surprise him! If anything, that’s about all it has done. I don’t think it helps out bands like Morbid Angel, Deicide, Hate Eternal or anything. I don’t see that in any way... That’s all radio stuff. MTV is basically just a channel that has these trends going on. Everyone that watches it just goes: ‘That’s cool; that’s the way to be.’ That’s why everyone does it. They go out and buy the record and listen to the music, and they all go out and do the same thing – and that’s mundane. There’s no depth to it. It’s just stupid. That’s the way I look at it: it’s just straight stupid.”

 

# You think it could even strip the extreme metal scene of its trademark features?

 

“Yeah, I guess it could! Because they are not hearing Morbid Angel, Hate Eternal or whatever for what it is. They are hearing all the bullshit first, and then they hear this and they think: ‘Hey, they are not doing it right!’ It could be totally negative when in fact we were the ones who created it. Basically, a band like Slipknot is using those kinds of drum beats, and they love a band like Morbid Angel. I guess you can say that they are in it for the money, because they are not playing what they truly want to play. They are just playing the music that can give them money, and they don’t really give a fuck.”

 




Jared Anderson




# Then again, with a band like Slipknot there is always a flirt with extremity, even in their commercially most capable moments.

 

“Well, it’s like: ‘Okay, now we are going to be brutal... But okay, now we are going to sell records! We’ll start off brutal and all of a sudden we will sing for you so you will like it. Maybe then, you will start to like all the brutal stuff because we also sing.’ [laughs]”

 

# And so you have all these people going into raptures over that Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison. People who have never even heard of icons like Pete Sandoval, Derek Roddy, Tony Laureano, John Longstreth and so on...

 

“Of course, mostly it’s the first time they have actually heard this kind of drumming in Slipknot. They didn’t hear where it started from. So to hear it in that and then hear a death metal band do it would be almost like a disguise. Basically, it will be like: ‘They didn’t do that first; Slipknot did that first.’ In the end they will be comparing everything to that. It ruins everything. You know, you go back to the earliest in... 1986, I think it was. There was extreme drumming like that. These people don’t recognise that, and I don’t think they will ever understand. That’s why I think death metal is not the kind of music that is meant for everyone. Because if it was, just think of all the chaos that would be going on. You know, eight, nine, ten millions kids listening to fucking Hate Eternal. It would be pretty out of control! Life in general would be totally different and I don’t even like to think about it to tell you the truth!”

 

# In other words, it is most definitely vital to trace the history of death metal specifically and metal music in general?

 

“Sure, I think you have to. Not that you always have to go back. But mainly, when I wrote my lyrics I didn’t really have to go back. I just wrote them now, but they are so influenced by stuff that is always going to be there. I could not listen to bands like Black Sabbath, Rush, Iron Maiden, Slayer or like that for ten years – or listen to them forever. But it is so drilled into me that automatically when I write music or lyrics it’s always there. It is like a seed that is always present and is not going to go away. No matter what I write in the future I think it is always going to happen, because I have those influences in me from when I was a kid. So I don’t think I would really have to go back and look back farther for something that is already there. It’s kind of inherited already. It’s basically just taking some influences that I have into something new and different that represents me. So I think it’s already there.”

 

# Speaking about metal history, I have always wondered who really invented the blast beat...

 

“Terrorizer! That’s definitely Pete Sandoval. He basically just took the skank beat, you know: ‘bu-da bu-da bu-da’. He is the one who went extreme with it in terms of playing it really fast. It never really was a blast beat but just a regular thrash beat. He just played it really, really fast and that’s what became a real blast beat later on. But I think it’s definitely Pete who invented that beat. I mean, he invented the speed of the beat because people had been doing the actual thrash beat since the 1980s, you know. That’s been around forever so to really say who invented that... Shit, even AC/DC pops up with that sometimes! But as far as actually turning into a blast beat that would definitely be Pete. For sure.”

 

# And to this day he remains one of the most talented purveyors of that signature beat.

 

“Yeah, and he does it one foot, you know. It’s not a two foot thing – it’s a one foot thing! Just like Derek. All his blast beats are one-footed with the kick drum. A lot of drummers are playing that blast beat but they are using two kick drums. So their feet are only going like ‘du-du du-du du-du’, but they are using two feet instead of one, which is how it was invented. To me, it even sounds different. The attack is different and the sound of the beat is actually different. You know, to listen to Pete or Derek doing a blast beat and then to listen to a guy who uses two feet like Doc from Vader. He is a great, great drummer. I think he is one of the best. But when he does the blast he does it with two drums, and if you listen to his blast and then when Pete or Derek does it, you can hear the difference. There is a slight difference as far as the timing goes.”

 

# I have some research to do after this interview then. [laughs] Somehow I thought everybody was using two feet for the blast beat.

 

“Pete was the man who invented the beat, and back in the day he would joke around when he saw drummers that were doing it with two feet. He would say that they were cheating. That is what he would always say: that they were cheaters, but not that they were bad drummers because they are using two feet. And Derek calls the beat lazy. If you can play double bass at the speed they are playing then you can also blast one foot.

 

# Plus, it evidently allows for more subtle and clean varieties with the other kick drum – and the high-hat as well.

 

“Yeah, and that opens up for all kinds of different beats. And the attack of the beat is different too when you use one kick drum. The power level when you hit with each kick drum is different. When you use one foot the consistency is there. I think it is way more attacking, and that is the way the beat was invented to play anyway.”

 

# Maybe I should make up my mind and order a copy of that drum instructional video which Derek Roddy put together some time ago?

 

“I’m sure he will make you a copy. I talked to him the other day about that video, and he’s got a lot of exercises; a lot of different exercises to make you play a lot faster and play a lot more consistent. There are a lot of killer exercises which a lot of drummers don’t know and can’t get a hold of. These exercises will benefit you tremendously. They might take one year, two years... They might take years of playing, but if you are using these exercises all of a sudden, before you know it, you will just be destroying. It’s perfect for any drummer. Derek has played drums since he was a kid and he is still practicing to this day 3-4 hours per day. It’s amazing to watch him play. He is almost retarded sometimes!”

 

# Derek Roddy never fails to make a tremendous impact on me, whether I listen to his work with Malevolent Creation, Nile, Divine Empire or on the Internecine record. That man is pure talent!

 

“Yeah, but he practices and that’s why he’s so good. He works on it and drummers that really work on it deserve that. That’s the credibility they get when they work their ass off, and I’m sure that you will see that on tour later on this year or early next year with Hate Eternal when we are going to see some Scandinavian countries. So you can check it out and see how he plays. It’s pretty amazing.”

 

# How much do you practice yourself?

 

“I used to practice more than I do now. Since I tour so much that pretty much gives me a lot of practice. There’s at least over an hour each day. When I don’t tour I don’t practice all that much because you take a break off from it all. I try to practice as much as I can. You know, I practice my songs but I also try to practice a lot of scales. Mainly just to keep my chops up on my picking hand and my left hand. Keep them up and even so you can play practically anything. That’s what I did in Hate Eternal and that’s also why I learned 15 songs in six days for that Morbid Angel tour. Then we went to rehearsal and did it, and that was only because I kept my chops up. Playing it was not that hard at all when it was more just about memorising it all. I was ready; I had practiced my scales and my chops and that is how I stay ready.”

 

# Oh well, we better return to Internecine before this interview takes off completely! How has “The Book of Lambs” been received by the press and the fans?

 

“It has not been released in America yet. It is not going to be released until the end of August. But as far as all the reviews go: the lowest review I got was 7.5 out of 10 and that was only one. RockHard gave me 8.5 out of 10 and shit. I had a few that were like 10 out of 10 or 5 out of 5. I mean, I have had a lot of perfect reviews. I haven’t read any bad reviews yet; at least I haven’t received a bad review. In this one 7.5 review they said that the music was excellent and all, but that it reminded them of Morbid Angel and Hate Eternal, and that’s why they gave it 7.5. But hey, I have been having these songs since 1996 and 1998! [laughs] Of course, I have those references, but the really distinctive features on the album are neither really Morbid Angel nor Hate Eternal. That’s why they gave me 7.5 out of ten, but apart from that all the reviews have been great.”

 

# Congratulations, my review of “The Book of Lambs” is a huge 8 out of 10!

 

“[laughs] Cool, I didn’t know! I don’t know if I’ve read it or not; do you have it posted on the internet?”

 

# Unfortunately no, but I can send it to you via e-mail?

 

“Sure, it’s just anderson@hateeternal.com. I really appreciate the review – that’s awesome. I’m glad you liked the record. 8 out of 10 is great! I still have plenty of material for the next record and it’s going to be different. Just like the new Hate Eternal album; it’s Hate Eternal but just on a totally different level. The new Internecine is going to be just as brutal and just as technical but on a different level. Just more mature. Every band matures with each record. That’s what you can look forward to.”

 

# Have you put anything down on tape yet or has the writing process pretty much only started?

 

“For the new Internecine record, I’ve probably already got three songs. I haven’t really structured them or anything like that, because I haven’t really had the time. Right now I’m just focusing on the new Hate Eternal and not really thinking about it at all. When I have done the two tours I will come home with a fresh head and just really start banging on it, you know. I’m sure the ideas will still be really incredible, because I’ve been working on them for so long. So when they finally come out I will be able to add to them. It’s definitely going to be a good one.”

 

# There are no real boundaries as to how far Internecine can possibly go in the future, I assume?

 

“Right, especially with the Internecine record I feel that I can collaborate on a lot more and give a lot more of my background instead of just Hate Eternal or Morbid Angel. They’ll see much more of my musical background, because they are all so very different in their own way. I want to pretty much make a point and show everyone that I have a lot of influences and a lot of range. That’s why I’m so excited about it. I’m also really excited about the idea of making a kind of a festival tour and do a new record for it and release something that is really strong.”

 

# So we will most likely see Internecine devastate a local venue sometime in the nearest future?

 

“Yeah, there’s some stuff that’s being talked about so I’m sure you will. Either later this year or early next year. There is going to be some stuff, that’s for sure.”

 

-->> Conducted and written by Misereion.

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