Hello, My Name Is Corporate
Q&A with Macabre’s Corporate Death
IE: We want to give you a little grief, because you took eight years to put an album together, which conveniently landed you on your 25th anniversary.
Corporate Death: That’s just the way it worked out. We really wanted to put something out earlier. In the U.S., it’s actually the 26th, though in Europe we got it out last year.
IE: How long had you been working on Grim Scary Tales?
CD: We never stopped being a band; we always did shows, festivals, and some limited touring. But after Murder Metal, I took a break. I was just constantly reading books on these guys and wanted to come back with a fresh outlook. I sat down with my books, notepad, and my pen, went to my office — a Mexican restaurant by my house — and sat at the bar to write. Had margaritas and tequila for inspiration.
IE: You gave them good business.
CD: I wrote all of Grim Scary Tales and half of a part two. I had so many songs, I just decided to start with the earliest recorded killers and work my way up to modern times. The next album will probably start around World War I. I’m trying to record it to get it out by next year, because I don’t want a long break between the two parts.
IE: What were your research materials for murderers?
CD: Just books. I’d buy ones with a bunch of different killers in them because I didn’t want to have too much information on the guys; I have to fit them in songs. A lot of books have the same guys, but different facts.
IE: Did you get burnt out on it?
CD: No, I came back with a lot of zeal for it after the break. Once I get in that mode of reading about killers, I won’t read about anything else. This is more historical, and I tried to pick the most famous historical ones — even if other bands have done them. Though I started writing a Thomas Bathory song, but our bassist just said, “Let’s do Venom’s version.”
Macabre play Central Illinois Metalfest in Urbana on July 24th. Q&A by Steve Forstneger
