IMPALED Bassist On Split With CENTURY MEDIA: 'We Got Our Asses Dropped'

Metal Maniacs' Justin M. Norton recently conducted an interview with members of IMPALED (bassist/vocalist Ross Sewage, guitarist/vocalist Sean McGrath, guitarist/vocalist Jason Kocol) about the band's latest album, "The Last Gasp", their split with Century Media, signing to Willowtip, and their affection for medical terminology. The feature can be found in the February issue. Excerpts follow:

Metal Maniacs: Tell me about the switch from Century Media to Willowtip and how it affected the new album.

Ross Sewage: We got our asses dropped. It kind of happened to a lot of Century Media bands. They were cleaning house. We never really had that good of a relationship on either side. Just the one record…

Sean McGrath: We had like a three-album contract…

Ross Sewage: And of course some kids thought that meant we could force them to put out three albums but that's not how the music industry works. We were never even supposed to be on Century Media; we were supposed to be on Olympic. So we probably would have been dropped about a year earlier had that happened.

Sean McGrath: Olympic went out of business a year after we signed the contract and a couple of bands stayed on Century Media.

Metal Maniacs: Did you actively go looking for a new label or did Willowtip come to you?

Ross Sewage: The man who had gotten us signed at Century Media and who subsequently left two weeks after we got signed recommended us to Willowtip and let them know we were in the market for a label. There was talk with some different labels but Willowtip definitely came out on top as someone who was willing to put up with us which is important. In fairness to Century Media we're not an easy band to work with…we micromanage.

Sean McGrath: We tend to do a lot of stuff ourselves which some labels don't like.

Metal Maniacs: Did Century Media not like your cover art?

Ross Sewage: They didn't like a lot of our interviews. They said we were too dry because we never laugh and have a good time.

Metal Maniacs: For better or worse you get saddled with the CARCASS comparison.

Ross Sewage: We like our medical terminology. We're attracted to that kind of expression because we were all kids when [CARCASS] came out and were like, "This is fucking cool." I like looking through books about forensics, too. We owe them a great debt of gratitude for imagery and making death metal that actually rocked a lot of time. They were tongue-in-cheek and we are tongue-sticking-right-out-of-the-mouth-making-a-raspberry.

Metal Maniacs: Are you happy with the new album?

Sean McGrath: Nope.

Ross Sewage: No, it's terrible. Awful. It's the worst thing ever recorded in history. If fans see it at a record store, steal it. Steal from the record store and then pay us what you would have spent. If you send the money to us you aren't going to Hell.

The February issue of Metal Maniacs is on sale now.