Ex-OVERKILL Guitarist BOBBY GUSTAFSON On Name Of His New Band SATANS TAINT: 'It's Hard To Be Original'

September 9, 2019

"Bods Mayhem Hour" recently conducted an interview with former OVERKILL guitarist Bobby Gustafson about his new band, SATANS TAINT. You can listen to the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On SATANS TAINT's second studio album, "Destruction Ritual":

Bobby: "I just think that it had to be just my determination to get this done in a short time because we kind of used a lot of the songs up on the first album [2017's 'Axe To The Head Of My Enemies']. I had some laying around, then I wrote a couple of new ones. I only needed to have a few, like five and put it out. So, once that was out, we saw how well that sold and I'm like, 'We got to write stuff. I don't have anything together.' Any spare moment I had, I mean, I took a guitar with me in my work truck, a little mini-guitar and I was working on stuff during my lunch hour, putting riffs together, listening to the tapes from the riffs I had put down, and working on solos. I crammed in the front with this tiny little flying V [guitar] trying to write stuff. I just knocked them out. I think having all those hours of putting it all together, between that and the lyrics and going to the Power Station here in Florida; there's a great studio. We didn't do the whole 'record-at-home' thing this time around. We actually went into the studio and knocked it out. Jim [McCourt] did all of his drums in two days. I did all of my rhythm guitar tracks, like 48 tracks of rhythm in two days. We were just like a machine. We did a little pre-production and we just knocked it out. I'm just surprised, totally surprised how being determined to get that done, how it came out."

On what he hopes people will get out of listening to SATANS TAINT:

Bobby: "They will definitely recognize the playing and the sound because I've heard that from people that they recognize me instantly from the sound and the riffs and just the style, which I think is great. I think the song itself [first single/video 'Desecration'] is a good indication of what the rest of the album is like. There's a lot of varying songs, like tempos and stuff like that, they're all different and individual, but they all have a common thread. And this song just seemed to be one that would be a perfect example if you do like this, then you're 99 percent going to like the rest of the album."

On what SATANS TAINT "brings to the table":

Bobby: "I can only rely on myself. That's all I can bring. The songs that I write, the style that I like, that I have. People have asked me for years to put music out again. They miss the old-school, they miss the thrash. I said, 'Okay, I'll write songs and we'll see where it goes.' That's the hard part. Even when it comes to the band's name, so much stuff has been done and taken, it's hard to be original. There's a lot of new bands that are out now. Now bands that are 30 years old are coming back out. There's a lot of competition out there. It's hard to be original and not do something that's kind of goofy."

"Destruction Ritual" was released August 2 via Megaforce Records.

In addition to Gustafson's signature sound and razor-sharp riffs, "Destruction Ritual" features various friends and musicians with whom Gustafson has worked and whose work he has admired. The new release includes contributions from longtime drummer Jim McCourt and singers Dan Ortega and Paolo Velazquez.

SATANS TAINT was formed in 2014 in South Florida by Gustafson, who was also a featured player and performer with CYCLE SLUTS FROM HELL and SKREW.

SATANS TAINT's debut, "Axe To The Head Of My Enemies", was released independently in 2017.

Gustafson joined OVERKILL in 1982 and played on the group's first four albums — "Feel The Fire" (1985),"Taking Over" (1987),"Under The Influence" (1988) and "The Years Of Decay" (1989) — before departing in 1990 amid growing tension between him and OVERKILL bassist D.D. Verni.

Find more on
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).