Autopsy rule. That’s all you really need to know. From the astonishing Wes Benscoter artwork to the grimy atmosphere that prevails in their releases, they’re a band committed to the cause, and the glee with which they launch their sonic assaults is infectious in the extreme. A death metal institution, few bands have so effectively returned from a hiatus, and yet Autopsy re-emerged somehow better than ever, and their recent output has been nothing short of monumental, placing them atop the death metal throne and keeping them there.
With the feedback of the ecstatically received Morbidity Triumphant still ringing in our ears, the band have returned somewhat faster than expected with another potent slab of horror-infused death metal entitled Ashes, Organs, Blood And Crypts (set for release on October 27 via Peaceville), giving fans new cause to rejoice. In celebration, we caught up with the voice of doom – Chris Reifert – who filled in a little more detail about the making of the album.
Coming very close off the heels of the excellent Morbidity Triumphant, Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts seems to have come together really quickly – did you plan to get back into the studio so fast?
We never really plan too many things in advance. We rely solely on our inner clocks which are usually continuously stuck at 13:00. Maybe that helps? Or we just stare directly at the sun until inspiration strikes. Can’t go wrong doing that, right?
Previous to Morbidity, there was a substantial break, not least because of the pandemic – did you spend a lot of that enforced downtime writing?
During the thick of the pandemic and lockdown and all that fun stuff I personally thought I would turn into a writing machine and come up with at least a dozen earth shatteringly inspirational masterpieces of albums, but…the opposite happened. I ended up doing nothing but riding the hamster wheel day in and day out and not much else. So when things eased up, that’s when we got shit into gear and hit the ground running. It was a strange time as we all know, but cool shit ended up happening after all.
You have, once again, collaborated with the awesome Wes Benscoter on the artwork – it’s obviously important to you as a band that your albums look amazing, how much discussion do you have with Wes about the concept, or do you just let him do his thing?
Mostly he just does his own thing. I’ll often give him ideas that he ignores and it’s for the best. He doesn’t need silly musicians telling him what to do and we’re thankful for that. In short, Wes rules the school!
While digital formats have their convenience for travel, do you still see Autopsy music in physical terms? Certainly, it feels made for vinyl in terms of the artwork?
CD’s are great for travelling as far as I’m concerned. In a car, with proper volume, ya know? That shit is awesome. As for digital formats, that ain’t for me. I need to hold, see, smell and maybe even taste my music. But hey, if folks like to pollute their ears and brains with our racket digitally, I say go for it! And yeah, gazing at vinyl art while listening is an activity that is hard to beat.
Similarly – sequencing for vinyl is a very different thing to sequencing for a CD, because you have to try to make each side work in isolations, as well as for the album to have a flow across its runtime – is that something that you consider as a band when you’re putting it all together?
We do, yes. We actually make sure to sequence the songs so they balance out for both formats. That includes cassettes too if they’re an option. We just need an 8 track version in quad sound!
There’s always the sense, with Autopsy, that you guys are having an amazing time in the studio – are you recording more live-style, playing together at the same time? And how much overdubbing do you do to get the sound as you want it, while keeping it sounding suitably raw?
We do enjoy the studio, yeah. It’s the place where dreams, visions, hallucinations and nightmares all turn into reality, so what’s not to love? As for our methods and madness, it goes like this: we record drums, bass and rhythm guitars live while staring at each other like goons. Then if there’s any little fuck ups on guitars, the fellas fix them up. Then we sprinkle in guitar harmonies, solos and vocals to make the brew complete. Oh yeah, sometimes Greg likes to re-record his bass parts like a party pooper but we love Greg so he gets a pass. Overall we want an album to sound like it’s played by humans rather than robots for better or worse.
In terms of influence, when I listen to Autopsy, I always have in the back of my mind, a kind of mental exploitation movie running – do you guys have that kind of cinematic influence in mind in terms of developing atmosphere and/or lyrics?
I like that our filth does something to your brain. That’s the best thing I can hear, so thanks for that. Much better than in one ear, out the other. As for our part, we just do what we do, which is what we’ve always done. Old dogs, old tricks!
When writing the titles and lyrics, do you guys get together to ideas around over beers or something? It feels like they should be a lot of fun to create – they’ve got a kind of sonic comic book vibe – like Tales from the Crypt or something.
On the last few albums the guys have actually entrusted me to handle the titles and lyrics all by my lonesome. What were they thinking?! But yeah, I dig coming up with weird and insane little stories, tales and potential warnings. It’s probably healthy to scrape some of that stuff out of my skull once in a while.
Having Greg both on bass and behind the desk seems an ideal situation – does it take the pressure off pre-production having someone from the band able to just nail the sound without having too much discussion?
We don’t muck with pre-production, we just dive in the deep end without water wings, a raft or even a pool noodle. We’re crazy like that. But yeah, Greg is a talented dude, and a hella cool one at that. Long live Dr. Z! (that’s what his signature looks like, which we love)
You’ve said in previous interviews that a common question you get asked is about touring and, of course, you’ve not toured as such since the early 90s – is it very much the case that the band prefers to focus on one offs these days?
Pretty much, yeah. You won’t see us rolling down the highway in a bus for weeks on end, but don’t be shocked if we show up in your neighbourhood at some point, waltz into your house and raid your cupboards. Got anything good in there?
…If so, are there any plans to do more live recordings? Obviously, we had the awesome Live In Chicago album, but it’d be great to have another DVD along the lines of Born Undead – everything about that from the documentary to the live shows was outstanding, and it would be great to get an update on the band and some newer shows – is that something you would consider?
Thanks, glad ya dig. Cool idea, maybe we’ll take you up on it!
Do you have any definitive plans for what comes next, or is it a case of promoting the album and seeing what comes up?
No idea what’s next besides a handful of shows that are being solidified. Beyond that, another album, world domination, tasty snacks and maybe even joining the circus or an obscenely long residency in Las Vegas complete with dancers covered from head to toe in feathers and sequins. It’s nice to not know too much about the future.
Thank you for your time – every time a new release from Autopsy comes around, it’s such a pleasure to try to create a review that captures the sound and vibrancy of the records. The atmosphere and sense that you guys are having a blast doing this always comes across in the recordings making them a highlight of the year. Cheers.
Right on and thanks back at ya. If you keep listening, we’ll keep cranking ’em out until we fall apart, drop dead or just get distracted by random shiny objects. And yes, Cheers indeed!
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