NUNSLAUGHTER Continues Its March As Death Metal's Prolific Band With 'Satanic Chaos Legions'

By David E. Gehlke

Here's a good stat: Cleveland, Ohio death metal mongers NUNSLAUGHTER have over 200 releases to their name since their 1987 formation. Most of them are in the form of splits, EPs and live albums, with a "paltry" six studio albums nestled in between. The quartet's often instantaneous execution has made the band an underground bellwether; perhaps one of the strongest embodiments of death metal's original core principles of being uncomplicated, uncompromising and unforgiving. And while death metal's evolution and willingness to tread new paths have enabled the style to survive for more than 40 years, NUNSLAUGHTER has largely kept their heads down and continued to crank out new material that extols the virtue of Satan.

The band caused a mild stir in death metal circles when they jumped to BLKIIBLK, the new all-metal imprint from long-running Italian rock label Frontiers Records. Frontiers, of course, is best known for its ceaseless release schedule of either veteran 1980s rock acts or its fledgling supergroups, not vicious, satanic death metal. Even though NUNSLAUGHTER is now alongside hardened and proven heavies like BIOHAZARD, FORBIDDEN, HATEBREED and MEGADETH on BLKIIBLK, the move represents a notable step up for a band that has been as entrenched in underground death metal as anyone.

In late June, BLKIIBLK released the band's new "Satanic Chaos Legions" full-length studio platter, a brisk 14 songs in 34 minutes of immediately savage, top-of-the-line death metal. So it was only fitting that BLABBERMOUTH.NET got founding member and vocalist Donald "Don Of The Dead" Crotsley on the line to talk about how a band of such cult status now finds itself on a bigger label, with more promotional tools than ever before.

Blabbermouth: NUNSLAUGHTER signed with BLKIIBLK for the release of "Satanic Chaos Legions". What made it time for you to give being on a larger label a shot?

Don: "It was really the other three members of the band who wanted to explore opportunities that [previous label] Hell's Headbangers wasn't able to give us. Personally, I was content with Hell's Headbangers. It's a great label, and they're good friends of mine. We never had any money issues, and we never fell out. None of that happened. One of the guys from the label lives about four blocks from me. We've been friends for years. But the guys in the band said, 'Let's see what else is out there for us.' Our bass player [Mike Jochum, a.k.a. 'Malum'] had been in touch with [BLKIIBLK A&R man] Mike Gitter for years, so he knew who we were. He sent Mike the new record. At the time, Mike was working for Century Media, but it wasn't something Century Media wanted to release. He told us, 'Here's my contact information. I wish I could put it out, but I can't.' Other labels were interested, but none of them really excited us. Then Mike called me while we were on tour in Germany. He asked, 'Have you signed with anyone yet?' I said no. He had just moved over to a newer label, BLKIIBLK. I looked into it. They were associated with Frontiers, and a lot of my favorite '80s hard rock bands were on that label, like BLUE ÖYSTER CULT and others. I thought, 'Great.' So we went ahead and made a deal with BLKIIBLK. By then, they had already signed bands like BIOHAZARD. I figured if they could attract bands of that stature, they clearly had momentum behind them. They were interested in NUNSLAUGHTER, and here we are."

Blabbermouth: You are a cult death metal band. How does it feel being on a larger label with more reach, alongside a lot of legendary metal and hard rock bands?

Don: "I'm a little weirded out by it. [Laughs] I guess we'll have to see what happens after the record comes out and the dust settles. History will decide how this move is viewed. A lot of younger bands sign to bigger labels because they're trying to establish themselves. In our case, NUNSLAUGHTER has been around for 40 years. Personally, I'm definitely in the twilight of my career. The sun is starting to go down. So we'll see how much more I can put into it. For now, we're putting our best foot forward and going full throttle with this new partnership. It's invigorating."

Blabbermouth: The band doesn't release a lot of full-length albums when you consider the volume of EPs and splits to your credit. Who was the primary driver behind the material on "Satanic Chaos Legions"?

Don: "The guitarist who actually composed the majority of the songs is Noah [Buchanan, a.k.a. 'Tormentor']. He's been in the band for about 14 years now. Before he officially joined the band, he was our touring guitarist. Back when our previous drummer Jim [Konya, a.k.a. 'Jim Sadist'] was still alive, Noah was in the studio with us. We were talking about a European tour and how we didn't have a guitarist lined up. Noah said, 'So you're telling me if I learn these songs, I can go to Europe?' We said yes. He gave himself a few weeks and started learning song after song. Every week he came back knowing another five to ten songs, and not just the basic parts, either. He knew everything. It really surprised me. He ended up doing the tour. When we got back, we asked if he wanted to join the band permanently. He's been with us ever since and has a strong punk rock background. He wrote most of the material on the new album, so it was very easy to hand a lot of the songwriting responsibilities over to him. He would bring in songs, and we'd shape them into what became the record."

Blabbermouth: There's definitely a punk influence in NUNSLAUGHTER even though you're obviously not a punk band. Is that part of the formula? I mean, your songs usually get to the point right away.

Don: "Absolutely. I'm a huge fan of punk music, especially early and mid-'80s punk. That's really my wheelhouse. I love bands from that era and, of course, earlier bands like the RAMONES. I've always liked how simple the songs were. When NUNSLAUGHTER started in the late '80s, we weren't exactly known for complexity. So we took that simplicity, mixed it with rock and roll, added a little VENOM, a little SLAYER and some thrash influences, and that became our formula. That's basically what we've been doing for decades."

Blabbermouth: Where do you stand on the idea of death metal bands progressing and evolving? Should old-school death metal bands stay in their lane?

Don: "I'm more of a purist. I realize that's just my opinion: everybody has one. The music that got me into death metal was very primitive. It was often poorly played, had little or no guitar solos and featured relatively short songs. Most NUNSLAUGHTER songs are between two and three minutes, but I understand why musicians want to progress. [Laughs] You get better at your instrument, and naturally you want to push yourself. But personally, I wasn't always a fan of where some bands went. A lot of the bands from the '80s changed their styles over time, and that's fine. They earned the right to do whatever they wanted. But often they moved away from what originally attracted me to them. I always gravitated toward themes involving the devil, Satan, hell and the downfall of Christianity. Those were the elements that drew me to the music. For me, it's like loving horror books or horror movies. There are great science fiction books too, but if you're a horror fan, you're usually looking for horror. That's the genre you connect with. It's the same for me. Some of the more progressive death metal bands became bigger and more successful than NUNSLAUGHTER ever did, but I wanted to stay true to that original style."

Blabbermouth: NUNSLAUGHTER existed for years before playing live. Could the band have continued without ever becoming a live act?

Don: "I thought it could have. We eventually started performing live because when I asked Jim Sadist to join the band, he was enthusiastic about keeping NUNSLAUGHTER going and playing live. Honestly, the band probably could have died after the original lineup split up. We started in high school, and by the time the first demos came out, everybody's lives were moving in different directions. People started college, joined the military, moved away, things like that. NUNSLAUGHTER could have ended up like thousands of other demo bands. But for some reason I wanted to keep it alive. Eventually the original guitarist contacted me and asked, 'Why don't we get together and write some songs?' So we did. Fast forward to 1995, when Jim joined. He was really interested in performing live. We talked about it, but then I moved away. I lived in Florida and later Hawaii. While I was in Hawaii, Jim kept saying he wanted to tour and perform. Around the time our first full-length, 'Hell's Unholy Fire', was coming out, I finally agreed. That's when I moved from Honolulu back to Cleveland."

Blabbermouth: That's a big change in scenery.

Don: "Oh yeah. I don't want to say I was forced into performing, but I was definitely pushed into it. At the time, I didn't really want to do it. I love performing now, but I didn't then. There used to be an old saying from the guys in ACHERON. Like, Bob [Orr] from ACHERON used to joke that 'Posers have bass players.' Later I started joking that 'Only posers play live.' It became a running joke because we weren't doing shows. Eventually everyone wore me down, and we started playing out."

Blabbermouth: Looking back, it seems like playing live was a good decision considering the number of times you've toured Europe.

Don: "Absolutely. I think our first European trip was around 2000. Since then we've gone back many times. For a while we were returning almost every year. Sometimes health issues, finances, or festival opportunities affected those plans, but we've probably been back at least eight or nine times. We get a fantastic reception there."

Blabbermouth: When Jim Sadist passed away in 2015, did you ever consider ending NUNSLAUGHTER?

Don: "If I did, it was only for a very brief moment. It was probably just a natural reaction. Knowing Jim, he never would have wanted any of his bands to stop. He was incredibly prolific. He'd never be content to record a few songs and then disappear for five or ten years. He always wanted to keep moving forward. Looking back, stopping the band wasn't really a good option.

Jim was important not only to NUNSLAUGHTER but to me personally. We'd become close friends. When he passed away in 2015, I think we already had seven releases scheduled for that year. Less than a year later, we recorded 'Wrath Unleashed', which was basically a demo to help our new drummer [Joe Lowrie, a.k.a. 'Wrath'] learn the songs and earn his place in the band. He learned the material, came in, and we recorded it. That gave me confidence that we could continue. People were watching very closely to see what the new drummer would do. To his credit, I love what he brought to the band. He did a great job capturing some of Jim's spirit while still being himself. On 'Red Is The Color Of Ripping Death', he was still operating just a little bit under Jim's shadow, but on 'Satanic Chaos Legions', we basically told him, 'Go for it.' We let him loose, and I think he really excelled here."

Blabbermouth: You're a lifer. What do you think has kept death metal going for so long? And let's be clear: Few had the expectation that it would last this long when guys like you were coming up in the mid-1980s.

Don: "This might sound contradictory considering everything I said earlier about being a purist, but I think death metal stays relevant because it keeps changing. While I'm personally rooted in a more primitive style, other bands keep expanding the boundaries of what death metal can be. Every five or six years, a band comes along and pushes things further. A good example is CRYPTOPSY. When that first CRYPTOPSY album came out [1994's 'Blasphemy Made Flesh'], Flo Mounier's drumming completely changed expectations. Before that, people thought Pete Sandoval [MORBID ANGEL, TERRORIZER] was already untouchable. Pete was incredible. Then Flo came along, and everyone was asking, 'What the hell is this guy doing?' The same thing happened with bands like ARCHSPIRE. You hear that kind of playing, and you're just blown away. I think those moments, when musicians redefine what's possible within the genre, are what keep death metal alive and relevant.

Blabbermouth: When death metal was first emerging, did you ever imagine players would reach the technical level of someone like Flo Mounier or ARCHSPIRE?

Don: "No. Not at all! [Laughs] I remember hearing MEGADETH's 'Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good!' back in '85 and thinking it was unbelievably fast. Around that same time, bands like NECRODEATH seemed incredibly extreme and aggressive. You could already hear music getting faster and faster. The groundwork was there. Then Pete Sandoval showed up and brought in even more speed and a grinding influence.

Blabbermouth: Pete definitely pushed the envelope in TERRORIZER and the early days of MORBID ANGEL.

Don: "But Pete was really part of a progression that was already underway. The music kept evolving, and every few years somebody pushed it further, but at the time, though, I never imagined it would reach the levels we're hearing today."

Photo credit: @necroshorns