One of the forefathers of Gore metal, Exhumed has been terrorizing the world with their own brand of extreme metal. Having started with their debut album Gore Metal, Exhumed’sreign of terror has spanned close to thirty years.  This band has seen several line up changes over the years but founding member and Lord of Gore Matt Harvey, continues to march this path of destruction. I was fortunate to speak with Harvey as Exhumed is currently touring with Revocation and Rivers of Nihil.

GA: When I think of Gore metal, I look to Exhumed as one of the forefathers of putting that Tag out there. Where do you see Exhumed sitting amongst the metal scene, I know Carcass was a huge influence on the band in the beginning with their own blend of grind and death metal, but I feel that you guys turned that up to another level?

MH: Back when we did the first record it was a very conscious decision of what people now call branding; because obviouslywhen you put out a record; they are going to review it, and try to put you into a box, and categorize you. We figured we would get out in front of that. We also wanted to make a record that was a statement, because at that time there was a European grind scene that was still active but, in the states, there wasn’t hardly anyone doing death metal to the style that we do. Carcass was an influence; Immolation, Death, Napalm Death, Sodom, Kreator, and Exodus were all big influences on us as well. Razor was a big influence with the chainsaw and everything. So, we synthesized the old school death metal with the tempo and aggression of thrash, because a lot of the death metal would start to drag and that’s not what we were interested in doing. I don’t know in the terms of where we sit, but we are just doing our thing. Staying true to ourselves, and hoping people want to stay there with us.

GA: Is the band currently working on any newer music currently?

MH: Yes, we always have stuff waiting in the works. We are looking to get into the studio early next year. Once we get home, we will start rehearsing and working on those new song. I think we have close to eighteen minutes of material currently.

GA: I look back to your last album Death Revenge and it has the distinct Exhumed sound. What I mean by this is, it’s a bit gritty while still clear, almost like a home studio feel but polished without feeling over produced. When Exhumed goes into the studio is there a distinct direction the band has for its sound out of the gates or do you kind of tweak things to your liking during the recording process?

MH: We always have a sort of vibe we are looking for when going to the studio. I felt when we did Necrocacy, it sounded great and I was really happy with it. I felt if we kept going in this direction we would end up sounding like a Jason Suecof or a Mark Lewis thing, and that’s a little too nice for us. I talked to Jared Pritchard who recorded the record and did a great job, and I was like you know, “we want the album clear and powerful, but we don’t want it so cleaned up and so nice that it sounds safe.” I hear a lot of newer metal records and there is like no mistakes, it’s so perfect that it doesn’t feel like I am listening to people play. It’s not organic anymore. It’s great and cool, and I understand why people want to make records like that, and I kind of get like that as well when making an album. Of course, you want to make it perfect, but I’m kind of fighting against that; like the sixteenth notes don’t always line up but that’s fine, that’s how Reigning Blood is, along with many of my favorite records. They are not perfect, they didn’t have the time to sit there and scrutinize each note. So, during our recording process we try to cut things off around that point, so we don’t go down the rabbit hole of chasing perfection.

GA: When writing, what do you look to for inspiration? You have been quoted that even though Exhumed has gore themes,the song topics span out further than that.

MH: The last record was a concept album, so that was a little different, it was historically based. It was a neat different way to do it. I did a lot of research and took notes, it was like preparing a term paper. I never went to college, so I wouldn’t know, but it is what I’d imagine preparing a term paper would be like. We have been doing this for a long time, so it was a new and different way to keep my own interest in the music. Its kind of hard to stay excited writing stuff like, rotting corpse, dead person rips your limb off, yeah. It’s still cool and I enjoy it, but at the same time it is hard to get super fired up about it, because it’s now repeating a lot of that stuff. It gets redundant, but at the same time we try to stay fresh with it. It’s a weird thing because we set ourselves up to be in a box, and we want to be, but at the same time we strain against the box and with our options with each album, so we try to bring in elements from outside that box to keep things going.

GA: What gear is the band currently using live on tour?

MH: I am working with ESP Guitars who have been very, very,kind to me. I am using an ESP standard Aero, that was made in Japan for me. I didn’t mean to order a custom guitar, I just asked them for a white one, and they said sure. I thought they were going to take one-off the factory line and paint it white for me, but they were like, “oh, no we are custom making one for you in Japan.” I was like, oh shit. I use Seymour Duncan Blackouts, which I love for Exhumed because they have a nice bright mid response. They also have a high output, but it is not as noisy or dark. I am very happy with that. I also use a Maxon Super Distortion pedal in front of my Peavey 6505. I use a lower gain setting on the amp and get more gain from the pedal. I do this because the 6505 is kind of the standard walk into Guitar Center buy the amp kind of thing, and it sounds good right out of the box. So, I wanted to keep that kind of power, but I wanted to color the tone a bit differently, so it doesn’t sound like I got the amp and plugged into it right out of the box.

GA: Any vocal routines or rituals do you perform prior to going onstage?

MH: Not really, after a couple of days of being on tour my voice is pretty much going to be there. I’ll do a couple screams to loosen my voice up, and a couple of beers to numb the throat. I also have a zinc spray that I will use. There is nothing to scientific, after doing it for a long time it is becomes natural.

GA: What is next for Exhumed after this tour?

MH: We are going to go home and figure out the next record. We are also going to get some stuff set up for next spring, and start thinking about next year. I think getting the new record done will be the priority.

GA: Having been the music business for close to thirty years, what are your thoughts on the newer styles of metal or extreme metal scene, with newer genres like deathcore, slam, down tempo metal on the rise in popularity?

MH: To me, I sort of have that old guy disease where every time I hear something new, I am like this just sounds like two other styles of things smooshed together, or it sounds like something I have already heard but they put a computer noise on top of it. I also recognize as much as I am still into the same stuff that I was when I was a teenager, it is important that the genre keeps evolving; because without that evolution it’s just going to be a bunch of middle-aged old guys like me. Sitting around talking, like “I just got the new Incantation demo.”

GA: That’s like one step from being the old guy saying get the fuck off my lawn.

MH: Yea, and that’s a bummer. The way I look at it with the way we do music, we kind of fit in the middle. We’re not retro, but we are all from that old school of metal, but we are not so retro or elitist that we can fit in on a bill like tonight. We can go out and tour with say The Black Dahlia Murder or Obituary, or we can float around and do different things which is the nice thing to me. I don’t begrudge anyone on what they grew up on or anything, I hate Slipknot, but I recognize that for the younger kids it could be the first metal band they ever heard, and it’s totally fine. Our hope is that we are exposing those younger kids to some of this older style, but not in a sort of elitist way. A lot of revival bands kind of get snotty about it, like many of the bands I like, its like its ok they haven’t heard of Demigod yet. They are not a poser, they just haven’t heard of you yet, maybe they will hear it and they will like it. Overall it is good to see the genre keeps changing and thriving and finding new ways to get people interested. Without that it would have died out a long time ago, like I thought it was going to do. I never would have imagined that death metal would still be a thing in 2018, and Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse would still be out touring.

GA: Where can people keep up to date with the band and if they want to purchase merchandise online where is your online store located?

MH: We have the usual Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We also have a Big Cartel store. We also have our own store, and we are trying to, like our whole thing is called vertical integration. We are starting to print our own shirts, we own our van and our trailer. We try not to rent anything, we try to keep everything in house. If you want to keep doing this at this level, its different when you are playing in front of a thousand people every night you have a little more freedom to outsource stuff versus being in an underground band. We do this because we love it but also you can’t go out and keep touring unless it is cost effective. We still would make records and play a few festivals, but if we can’t do it in a way that allows us to make money than its going to be more of play a festival and then sit around.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExhumedOfficial/

Instagram: @exhumed_official

Twitter: @exhumedofficial

Big Cartel: https://exhumed.bigcartel.com/

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George Archibald

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