Slam. The skank. The dank. The skanky danky dank. Call it whatever you want. All we do is report it. Anyway, this shit has truly become legend. So much so, that those outside the realm of slam are getting in on the coprophagic action (for those with the IQ of the Cheeto-dust clustered in the mouldy, fetid folds of their scrotum, 'coprophagic' means 'shit-eating'). As an example of this, Raleigh, North Carolina one-man death metal legend, Peter Hasselbrack, of the decidedly old-school sounding Bloodsoaked, has entered the piss and vomit-soaked ring of slam with the forthcoming album, Disgorging The Wretched.
For those with their pulse on the world of brutal, old-school death metal, you'll likely be well familiar with Peter and Bloodsoaked. The dude is incredibly talented. He lives and breathes death metal – with a passion and gusto unparalleled. One only has to look at Bloodsoaked's formidable catalogue over the last thirteen years, which includes five studio releases (comprised of three full-length albums and two EPs). Each and every release is chock-full of high-calibre death metal riffing on par with the biggest boys in the league.
Now, Peter has entered the realm of the big boys of slam. Check out the latest single, "Adorned In Demise" for a taste of what to expect on Disgorging The Wretched…
So, as you just heard, it shouldn't come as any surprise that Disgorging The Wretched is easily going to be one of the most brutal slam offerings since Analepy's brilliant Atrocities From Beyond. In fact, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Peter's take on slam ups the ante – delivering one of the best productions ever heard on a slam album while never compromising the brutality contained within.
Anyway, we at the old skanky dank were lucky enough to score some time with Peter to pick his brain on Disgorging The Wretched and all things slam…
On the storied career of Bloodsoaked…
I started Bloodsoaked back in 2006. Prior to this, I played in a thrash band (Deslok) back in the late 80s in Boston where I grew up. I always wanted to play in a death metal band, so I decided to start my own. All of my previous five albums have been straight forward death metal and gained a solid fan base playing all over the world. For the most part, I was a one-man band, like Putrid Pile and Insidious Discrepancy. I've added a couple of other guitarists here and there over the years and currently have David Sanchez on second guitar and vocals.
On the appeal of slam…
Slam just has a different feel to it. Lots of death metal bands have had that slam or mosh-pit riff in a particular song. Even old-school thrash bands have a riff that gets the crowd moshing and heads banging. So, with slam, I feel it’s about taking that single riff feeling to the whole song or album. The appeal I think is to get the crowd or listener to mosh or headbang to the whole album and not just a few riffs. Slam just has a different vibe to it overall.
On the originators of slam…
A lot of people cite Internal Bleeding from New York as the originators. You can also say a lot of the hardcore bands have originating factors as well. The heavy/fat/slow/chugging riffs where if you added the vocal style of slam could be called slam. Going back to the differences, the vocal style is a huge, and maybe the biggest difference, between slam and death metal. The ultra-guttural, pig squeals and so forth. That style has been gaining more and more popularity and it's a departure from straight-up death metal.
On the reasons behind creating a slam-inspired Bloodsoaked album…
I've been getting more and more into the slam style over the past few years and really giving it a chance. I've grown to love it and wanted to challenge myself to write an album's worth of slam. I've written slam-y riffs and sections of songs before but never a true slam song. I wanted to see if I had it in me.
On the challenges of writing slam…
The song and riff writing has been completely different as was the drum programming. The drums are a big part of slam so I had to relearn how to write drum parts and re-think how I write guitar riffs. Also, the guitar tuning is very different. My first four albums are in D Standard, the fifth album in C#, and now with Disgorging The Wretched I'm tuned to Drop B. It's so very different as far as tuning and playing and writing. I also can't do the ultra-low or pig squeal vocals so I have a local Raleigh, NC area guy (Zach Senicola) on vocals for the slam. His vocals are insane and a perfect fit for the album. I couldn't be happier.
On influences…
Analepsy has been the biggest influence when writing the album. Their albums are so sick and catchy from start to finish. I also love Pathology and Abominable Putridity. They have some awesome albums that influenced my songwriting. Overall, once I started listening to Analepsy I knew I wanted to write music like that.
On whether or not we'll see more slam from Bloodsoaked…
More than likely Disgorging The Wretched will be my only slam album. I really like the direction the album is taking but straight-forward death metal is what Bloodsoaked is all about. Pure death metal, nothing more, nothing less.
Go download both new tracks here, and stay tuned to the official Bloodsoaked Facebook page for updates on Disgorging The Wretched.
