Destroy Magazine Issue 3
Magazine Arrival May 13th, 2024
Published June 1st, 2024
Destroy Magazine Socials
(Official Website, & Instagram, Patreon)
Congradualtions to our very own photographer & journailst Christopher Hazel who has one of his photos of Undeath from the Anaheim HOBs show November 24th, 2023 featured in Destroy Magazine Issue 3.
Page 38
UNDEATH
Undeath is a crushing death metal band from Rochester, New York. They unforgivingly boast brutal lyrical themes, slamming riffs, tremelo picking and an exuberant amount of hits to the ride cymbal. You know the sound we speak of. We got a chance to ask their vocalist,
Alexander Jones, some questions between their busy show schedule in this exclusive interview!
Bridge Rat Collective (BRC): What has been the best tour you've played so far and what made it so memorable
Alexander: The co-headliner we did last winter with 200 Stab Wounds was amazing. Just about every show was packed out, a bunch of them were sold out and the responses to our set each night were just outrageously good. The inter-band camaraderie was at an all time high too between all four bands on the tour. I'll remember that one forever.
BRC: We saw you guys on that 200 Stab Wounds, Phobiophiliac and Enforced tour last winter in Baltimore-it was one of the best shows we've been to yet! Was there any city that outdid the rest or anything that stood out that was great about that tour?
Alexander: Thanks! That was a great one. That whole tour was fantastic. Just great reception and vibes across the board. Off the top of my head I remember the Toronto, Rochester, Philly, Portland and Seattle shows all being badass but just about every show on that one was stellar. Sometimes you go on tour with bands and nobody is really trying to hang out, which I understand, but on that tour everyone was chilling hard as fuck th
whole time. We even had a little tour group chat going and everything. Very wholesome.
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BRC: If you guys could play with any band that is no longer around who would it be?
Alexander: Bolt Thrower or GISM
BRC: What got you into death metal?
Alexander: Was sort of a long and bizarre path to get there. I was into punk and hardcore primarily growing up but one day back in high school my buddy burned me a CD that had Opeth's "Blackwater Park" on it and that was the album that finally made death metal/growled vocals finally click for me. It was all downhill from there.
BRC: What is the music scene like in Rochester and how does it differ in areas you play?
Alexander: Rochester is a very small city so basically everyone involved in metal/punk/hardcore knows each other and does their best to lift one another up. You definitely don't see that same sense of unity in larger cities.
BRC: Where do you draw inspiration for the themes of your songs?
Alexander: Blood and guts.
BRC: What does "Undeath" mean to you and how did the name and band come to be about?
Alexander: We had a shortlist of potential names going and Undeath was just the catchiest, most memorable one on there Some of the other potential names were pretty wordy and something about the snappiness and immediacy of Undeath was something we kept going back to, so eventually we decided that had to be the one! As far as where that name actually comes from, I believe it's the name of a Skyrim mod haha. We're dorks through and through.
BRC: We saw you guys got given a plastic skeleton guy in Bournemouth England last year. How is he holding up? We had a skeleton of our own that we took on tour last August with Constituents and all that remains is his head.
Alexander: Oh, he's doing great. He's sort of our little merch table mascot now. We took him out on the Exodus/Fit For An Autopsy tour that we just did and he sat proudly in the tip jar the entire time. I'm amazed he came out of that tour in one piece.
(Photos by Chris Hazel at Anaheim HOBs. Click here to see full photo gallery of Undeath )
BRC: How do you guys go about getting artwork for the band and your merchandise?
Alexander: Maybe I shouldn't be admitting this, but whenever I see bands post merch that I really like I do my best to track down the artist on Instagram or Twitter or something and ask if they'd be interested in doing something for us too haha. I guess you could probably call that "poaching, but it is what it is!
BRC: What is the bands favorite restaurant to grab grub from after playing a show?
Alexander: Whatever's closest, cheapest and still open, and that is almost always Taco Bell or McDonalds.
BRC: What has been the hardest song to write and or finish and what made it hard?
Alexander: I honestly couldn't tell you as I don't write shit haha. It's all been pretty easy for me!
BRC: What inspired you guys to make live resin sugar instead of flower for your new Necropolis release and how did that collaboration with Blotter Concentrates come to be?
Alexander: Convenience, mostly haha, Nah but for real, my fiance works for a few different cannabis companies and I jokingly asked her one day if any of them would be interested in doing something with Undeath. She ended up taking that idea to her boss at Blotter, who loved it, and the next thing I knew we were testing strains to see which would be the best fit. Personally, I dab way more often at home than smoking flower just because I don't
really like filling my living room up with smoke so I was all about doing a concentrate from the very beginning. I'm really excited with how it turned out!
BRC: What other bands are the members of Undeath in cahoots with that people should know and check out?
Alexander: Our bassist Tommy plays in a zillion bands in the DC area like Low Flesh and Tomb Warden. I also do vocals in a war metal inspired band called Sulfuric Hatred. I've also been fucking around making some house music in my spare time so maybe that'll see the light of day somewhere down the line!
BRC: What are Undeath's plans for 2024 and can we exspect any new music or releases?
Alexander: We're going to be somewhat quiet for the first half of the year but we're hitting it hard toward the end.
Plenty of touring in the fall/winter, and who knows - maybe a new album? Wait and see.
( Photo provided by: Christopher Hazel of Broadcast To The World @hazelnut49)
YO! TURN TO PAGE 75 FOR A
BONUS QUESTION!
( Painting by Destroy Magazine's editor, illustrator, & artist @grim_cat_art)
For More Kick Ass Reads, Please Go Purchase Your Copy Of Destroy Magazine Issue 3!
Issue 3 Features: interviews with multi-skilled visual artist Skinner & members of Undeath, Fulci, Concrete Caveman, Verminoth, Corrupt Vision, JUDGEXJUDY a giant-sized article written about our East Coast Madness tour with Baltimore-based band Constituents, Buenos Nachos, Noogy, Anti-Sapien , Artificial Scarcity, Harbor Discussions, Cheer Up, Pull The Plug Patches, Heavy and Fast Records, Ripping Headaches Promotions, art feature by Cody Coffman, content from Saturn Werde & Mother Mantis, reviews & interviews hosted by Damaged Specter, Photos by McShmeely, Cooking With Chef Riff, guitar tabs from Constituents & Intimidation Display, a visit to the Frederick Community Fridge, art, comics, funny stuff, photography and SO MUCH MORE!
THE FIRST 100 COPIES COME WITH A FREE POSTER! DON'T MISS OUT!
Undeath Socials
(Offical Website, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, & Twitter)
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