As with any genre, death metal boasts a select number of acts who helped to shape its foundations, as well as a select number of acts that inspired future generations within the genre. Florida boasted a wealth of such acts, though arguably few happen to be more influential than Tampa's Obituary (whose formative name happened to be Executioner). 1989's "Slowly We Rot" has long been considered a genre staple, an album that was the first of many to pair the outfit with iconic death metal producer Scott Burns. A lengthy hiatus spanning over half a decade almost signaled Obituary's permanent demise, but the group returned to active duty during the mid noughties.
In early February 2009,
Obituary disclosed the fact that they had entered the studio to cut a successor to 2007's "
Xecutioner's Return", with a tentative summer issue being pencilled in. By March, recording had been completed. Also, the album's artwork was unveiled. Once again, artwork duties were handled by
Andreas Marschall, who previously designed cover artwork for 1992's "
The End Complete", 2005's "
Frozen In Time", and "
Xecutioner's Return". Dubbed "
Full Of Hate", a European trek throughout March paired the group alongside
Legion Of The Damned,
Keep Of Kalessin,
Equilibrium,
Hail Of Bullets and
Secrets Of The Moon, the various acts supporting
Amon Amarth.
During mid April, it was revealed that Obituary's eighth studio album would be entitled "Darkest Day". Through Candlelight Records, a June 30th issue date was slated. In early May, an e-card in support of "Darkest Day" materialized via Candlelight's website, and featured audio clips of three tracks from the album; "List Of Dead", "Blood To Give" and "Payback". Late that month, "List Of Dead" was made available for streaming through Obituary's official MySpace page. A European tour during July will see Obituary performing in such countries as Estonia, Finland, Germany and Spain, whilst a lone date arranged to occur during August will see the act visiting Portugal. All throughout September and extending towards early October, meanwhile, Obituary will tour across North America.
On 24th June at 23:00 GMT, Hit The Lights' Robert Gray telephoned Obituary lead guitarist Ralph Santolla at his Tampa, Florida home to discuss "Darkest Days", as well as other Obituary related topics.
Ralph Santolla: Hello?
UG: Hello. This is Robert Gray of Ultimate-Guitar.com. How are you Ralph?
I'm great. How's it going?
It's going ok. Would it be alright if I began the interview?
Yeah.
Initially, how did you come to join Obituary?
I'm from Tampa, and all these members of various groups have known each other for twenty years. Obituary's members knew that Allen West was imprisoned, and that they would have to recruit a new guitarist. The Tardy brothers were working upon their own album (eventually released in April 2009 as 'Bloodline'), and they had asked me if I would help with some arrangements, play guitar, and so on. I said "Sure". I was working upon 'Bloodline' with them anyway, and Donald began talking to me about joining Obituary. I said "Of course, I'd like to do that". I wasn't a part of Deicide anymore, and we had been discussing the possibility of me joining. They had recorded a part of 'Bloodline', which I began playing solos upon. John Tardy liked the idea of me being a part of Obituary too, so him and Donald just had to convince Trevor and Frank. Frank liked the idea, since I'd been in Mexico while I was Deicide's lead guitarist. Deicide and Obituary performed at the Monterrey Metal Fest, and I hung out with Frank for two days. For that reason, he knew we would get along and everything. Whether I could join was then just Trevor's decision, and everything worked out perfect.
"I've played guitar since I was seven years old, and just want to perform the greatest work that I can possibly perform."
For one thing, no drama happens within Obituary, and that's one fucking thing that I get so sick of within groups. It's all just bullshit. People argue about so many stupid little things, and stab each other in the back about so many stupid little things. I'm just not into that - I'm not in high school anymore. I've played guitar since I was seven years old, and just want to perform the greatest work that I can possibly perform. I want to tour, make money, and get along with the people that I'm around. I'm one of those people who isn't disingenuous with others. If I don't like someone, then that someone immediately knows I don't like them, not that I don't like anyone that I've - well, there's one guy from a long time ago (laughs) - that I've worked with in the past few years, or anything. Some people make things harder than they have to be, and I just don't like things like that. With Obituary, no drama is involved, and we get along. That's important to me, since you spend much time with people when you're part of a group. I won't do something that I don't want to do just for money, but have to want to do it.
You referred to past drama. Are you referencing any specific periods?
No. For whatever reason, Obituary's members just get along, and it's just fun being a part of that group. I don't bad mouth people in the press, ever. For one, things like that which happen aren't anyone's business. If some kid buys a CD, concert ticket, or T-shirt, that doesn't mean that that kid is then owed an explanation for every single thing about a certain musicians' actual lives, as well as the inner workings of everything. I don't bad mouth anyone in the press, or anything of that nature. It just isn't cool, and isn't what I'm about.
So you like to keep such things private, and move on?
I don't like seeing other groups fucking gossiping like a bunch of Italian widows at the village well. That's like attending high school, and I'm not in high school.
How would you describe recording 'Xecutioner's Return', your first album as part of Obituary?
Recording 'Xecutioner's Return' was cool, though was time consuming since I was new, and since Obituary had never had that type of guitarist before. I'd played tons of different solos for them, as we could then select what we felt were appropriate aspects of my guitar style, as well as what would suit their material. I play very technical guitar parts, though Obituary isn't a very technical group. We just had to find the part of my guitar playing which suited their group, but some fans didn't think my guitar playing suited Obituary. Allen West isn't a very technical guitarist, but fans grew up listening to Obituary with Allen West as the group's guitarist. Whenever I play upon a group's album, my playing just changes the sound of that specific group. It just does, and just makes an impact. I play little things in the background where you can't tell who's playing, or this or that. That was inevitable, though some of Obituary's fans don't like my playing. Obituary's members like my playing though, and it's their group (laughs).
Having said that though, do you feel that some Obituary fans hold a different viewpoint?
Yeah. I've received tons of emails, and fans have approached me at concerts and so on, fans who are really happy I'm a member of Obituary. When fans piss and moan, that receives more attention than when fans are positive. If someone really likes something, they're less likely to log onto Blabbermouth or somewhere, and make a big deal out of it. That's as opposed to someone who's pissed off due to the fact that the musician they wish was a member isn't, or due to the fact that a group's music doesn't sound the way they wish it could. Those are the type of people who log onto their mother's computer in their mom's basement, logging online every day and complaining about things (laughs). It's funny. That made me laugh, sorry.
What are your thoughts regarding Blabbermouth? You've occasionally commented on Blabbermouth's news items.
Blabbermouth is great, I think, and is a good way to keep with what happens in the world of hard rock, and metal. When fans access Blabbermouth and so on, and talk bad about musicians, I know that it really, really pisses off a lot of musicians. It's fucking hilarious, I think. In all likelihood, my best friend is Jack Owen, who's Deicide's guitarist, and was once Cannibal Corpse's guitarist. When one of us sees someone saying something really, really nasty about one of us upon Blabbermouth, we'll instantly send the link to the other, and say "You've got to check this out". It's just hilarious, I think. It's just music, and isn't important to get so worked up about. People who are starving, or are being murdered - that's important. If someone can become so fucking worked up since some album didn't have the drum sound they wanted, or something like that, then that's obviously someone who's likely fifteen to sixteen years old, and has no idea of what's important in life yet. They become so worked up about such things, which is hysterical. Also, none of those fans know you as a person, anyway. It's just ridiculous, so I love it.
Does it annoy when those who post comments upon these websites speak about you as though they know you on a personal level?
Sometimes that grates on my nerve somewhat. People will say the most outlandish things as if they were true, yet they have no idea of who you really are as a person. If someone approaches you following a gig, then you might be tired, and might not just feel like having a two-hour long conversation, though other people are around you too. Where your son attends school, and things like that, are absolutely none of their business. If you don't answer every single question they want an answer to though, and try to maintain any privacy at all, then they'll log onto the internet the following day, saying "Man, that guy's a fucking rock star. He hates the group". It's absurd.
Following the release of 'Xecutioner's Return', where did things venture from there?
We just began touring, just like every other group does - groups cut an album, tour, write songs, cut an album, and subsequently tour. We toured, and then issued 'Left to Die'. We then toured yet again, performing at all these festivals during 2008 and so on. Now, we just recorded another album ('Darkest Day'), which will be issued upon June 30th. We're due to begin touring once more. It's a pretty simple pattern which every group follows, pretty much.
"With Obituary, no drama is involved, and we get along."
For me, re-recording "Slowly We Rot" was what it's like to do any other thing. It's just music, like I said. Nobody will live or die if you fuck it up, or if someone doesn't like it, or whatever. I forget whose idea it was to do that, though whenever it was decided that that was what we were going to do, that's what we did. We didn't sit around, and agonize over re-recording the song, or anything like that.
Did you wish to personally place your own stamp upon that track?
I did. Everything that I played upon "Slowly We Rot"'s re-recording was completely my own. I didn't have any inkling to recreate Allen West's solos, or anything like that, and I don't recreate his solos live either. Obituary's members would never ask me to do that. They hired me since they want the way I sound.
How did 'Darkest Day' come to fruition?
Trevor has a huge backlog of riffs, and all of a sudden, he then presented this little verse. He then wrote a bunch more riffs, and presented some to me. Some of them are just classic, amazing Obituary riffs, I think. Trevor and Donald got together, and put the arrangements together. We then just recorded 'Darkest Day'. I used the new EVH Amp head which Fender makes, and it likely produces the greatest lead guitar sound I ever had. It was very, very quick too. I recorded all of my solos during a two-day period, and many solos feature upon 'Darkest Day''s songs. Since I've played guitar so much and so often, and since that amp sounded so good, I just entered the studio, and the process was like "Bang, bang, bang". It was so easy.
In recording future albums, you intend to use the EVH Amp then?
Oh yeah. I love the EVH Amplifier - it's fucking awesome. Fender owns Jackson, and I have an endorsement with Jackson Guitars, so I was able to have them send me one. As soon as I plugged my guitar into the amplifier, my reaction was "wow". The sound is just incredible.
What do you particularly like about the EVH Amp?
Like many Amps nowadays, the EVH Amp has three channels; a clean channel, an in-between channel, and a really heavy channel. All of those channels just sound good, even the clean channel. If you just plug your guitar into the clean channel and turn it up, then what that produces is so resonant and ringing that it's fucking awesome. If you turn up the master volume as well as the gain for the middle channel though, then the amplitude is so loud that it'll shape the overall sound. However, it achieves that early Van Halen, old Judas Priest, old UFO, power amp distortion sound. I've always wanted that sound, but have never achieved it. I love that. The crunchy channel can be played so heavily, but has so much low end, and is clear at the same time. In terms of the lead solos, you can hold a note, and it just sustains so much. The sound is just so rich, and complex. I just love it.
How does 'Darkest Day' build upon 'Xecutioner's Return'?
It's difficult to quantify something like that. 'Darkest Day' sounds much different, and its production is better than 'Xecutioner's Return''s production. Musically even, 'Darkest Day' sounds much different. However, it's difficult to say in what respect. 'Darkest Day''s tracks were obviously recorded by Obituary, but have different feelings. Some of the album's songs have different feelings than 'Xecutioner's Return''s songs had, and the same can be said of 'Frozen in Time' (2005). Obituary's music is pretty simple, but then again, Obituary's music isn't comparable to AC/DC's music. Every Obituary album sounds different, definitely.
Considering the fact that you had to discover an appropriate sound upon 'Xecutioner's Return', were you much more comfortable writing your lead guitar parts for 'Darkest Day''s songs?
Well, no. It wasn't that I had to discover an appropriate sound upon 'Xecutioner's Return'. For every song, I just showed Obituary's members that I could play something like this, as well as something like that. I would cut ten completely different lead solos, and let them select their favourites. I began to notice that they selected the lead solos where I play more in the Michael Schenker vein, which is somewhat ripping, yet bluesy. They love such solos, which are more in the vein of my natural guitar style anyway. It was time consuming recording 'Xecutioner's Return' since once the group's members figured out that I could cut ten to fifteen completely different solos for each respective song, they would like all of them, and were like kids in a toy store. The members would say "do another one", and just enjoyed the process. I had no problem doing that at all. With 'Darkest Day''s songs, I just banged out my lead parts, though I don't really write almost any leads. I improvise almost everything I play, even when performing live. I never play the same thing twice, almost.
So you really enjoy the jamming ethic?
I just like to fucking go for it. Sometimes though, that doesn't work, though when it works, it's magic. I just like to fucking attack it. I could write leads, and make them super shredding, as well as melodic and so on. I could play leads in exactly the same way every night, and not make a lot of mistakes, though I don't think it's difficult to do that. When I go onstage, or am in the studio, in my mind I have a battle with the giants in the sky and so on (laughs). I just want to attack it, and express feeling, so that's what I do. When it works, it's great.
Do you feel that there isn't much point in performing the same solos every night then? If fans want to hear a certain solo, they can just listen to that respective song at home.
Exactly - that's exactly what it is. For me, that just isn't why I play music. I would get so bored playing the same solos every night, but that's just me. I'm not saying that everyone should play different solos every night. Some musicians play the same parts every night, since the parts they played prior are classic, and that's what people want to hear. I'm not one to judge what anyone else wishes to do. Music belongs to everyone, and people can do whatever they want. It isn't my place to say whether they should or shouldn't improvise when performing. I'm only saying that what I personally like to do is that.
"I'm one of those people who isn't disingenuous with others."
Since we issued 'Xecutioner's Return', I've played so many concerts as a part of Obituary that we now have our own dynamic when we perform together. I know how my parts for Obituary are meant to sound, and that's just what I do.
As a result of live performances then, Obituary's chemistry has constantly developed?
Oh yeah, and the chemistry's great. Anyone that's ever seen us perform live knows that we just walk onstage, and put it to the people. They have so much fun, and we laugh onstage, and just get into our performance. You can definitely tell that Obituary has chemistry.
To promote 'Darkest Days', will a music video be recorded?
I think so, though we haven't decided yet, so I'm not really sure.
At present, what are Obituary's touring plans?
We're touring during July, and we'll perform at some festivals throughout Europe. In August, we'll then perform at one festival in Portugal. In September and October, we'll tour across the US and Canada. Later in the year, I think we're then touring Japan, Australia, and South America.
You also have some dates scheduled as part of Deicide. How do you juggle commitments between Obituary and Deicide?
Deicide doesn't really perform as much as Obituary. I'm a part of Obituary, and am committed to what we're doing. It isn't that difficult though, since Deicide doesn't tour very much.
For the readers of Ultimate-Guitar.com, do you have a message?
The greatest piece of advice that I ever read, I read a long time ago. Yngwie (Malmsteen) spoke about when he grew up, and mentioned that when he practiced, he would record himself all the time, and listen back to the recording every night. I then began doing that when I was a young teenager a long time ago, and that did more for me to improve than anything else I've ever done. Really hearing what you actually sound like is almost a self-correcting mechanism. Most guitarists who are in groups, cutting albums and so on, aren't actually aware of how they sound. While practicing and constantly learning, they're concerned with where they're putting their fingers, as opposed to what their playing actually sounds like. Music is about sound. Sometimes, they're very unpleasantly surprised the first time they record themselves. You should start doing that immediately, and then listen to that recording every night. When you practice, record the whole thing, and that will really help you hone and shape what you're playing.
Ok. Thanks for the interview Ralph.
No problem, man. Thank you very much.
All the best, and take care.
Alright. I'll see you in the United Kingdom sometime. Bye.
Bye.
Interview by Robert Gray
Ultimate-Guitar.Com © 2009
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