OBITUARY Singer: New Songs Are 'Very Heavy'

OBITUARY frontman John Tardy has provided BLABBERMOUTH.NET with an exclusive update on the songwriting sessions for the group's first collection of new material since 1997's "Back From the Dead", tentatively due in early 2005 through an as-yet-undetermined label (most likely Roadrunner). Read on:

On the new songs:

John Tardy: "We are busy writing new material right now and it is going great. We have several songs done or at least almost done. It is kinda of hard for me to tell you what they sound like compared to our older stuff but I think it is very 'OBITUARY' sounding. It is very heavy. We do have some song titles in mind but until we are done completely I hate to say much because we are always changing things as we go and we still have a while before it would be released."

On recording the new album:

John Tardy: "We have been in the studio doing some test work but have not yet decided on where and with whom the album will be done. I will say it was nice being back in the studio. We would like to start recording for real near the end of the year and have a release early next year. I think are biggest hold-up right now is with our attorneys. Trying to get everything re-organized and re-negotiate is a lot of work and takes a lot of time and patience. "

On the band's current label situation:

John Tardy: "I am not sure if the new record will be with Roadrunner or not. I have not heard a lot from them, however, giving our past history I hope it is something they want to do. We have had other record companies showing interest."

On the group's touring plans:

John Tardy: "We do plan on playing some shows in Europe (limited number, maybe 15 or so) to kind of get back 'into the light' and let everyone know that we are doing a new record. Last month we played the Fuck the Commerce Festival in Germany and it was awesome. I would imagine that we would do a limited number of shows in the U.S. and well. After the album comes out next year we should be doing a lot more shows."

On the group's web presence (or lack thereof):

"We are very busy on our two official web sites: Slowlywerot.net and Obituary.cc. In the past we were not very good about keeping these updated a much as we should, but this time around it is going to be a lot different. Slowlywerot.net is up and still under construction and Obituary.cc will be up soon. I am working personally on the Obituary.cc site and plan to have a lot of fan interactive stuff as well as lots of classic OBITUARY photos."

Click here to check out recent OBITUARY live photos taken at the Sun 'N' Steel (March 7 in Pinellas Park, Florida) and Fuck The Commerce (May 22 in Berlin, Germany) festivals.