Interview with death metal band from United States - INOCULATION.
Answered Anthony Allen (guitars, vocals), thank you!
Recenze/review - INOCULATION - Actuality (2025):
Ave INOCULATION! Greetings to the dark underworld. I first listened to your new album "Actuality" on my way to work. I walk past an old cemetery and then an abandoned factory. At times I thought I was seeing ghosts! The album is really very good. You've come back after four years and you seem even stronger than before. How did the new record come about and why such a long gap between albums?
Hey ! First off thank you for chatting with me , appreciate the opportunity. And glad you like actuality ! It had been long process of writing actuality . It came about after our first big tour we did in 2021 . So we wrote the first song for actuality in early 2022. And it all came about inbetween us navigating the tour life that we dove into and writing music inbetween touring while also trying to stay ready for the tours . So this music really came out of a lot of new experiences touring for the first time and meeting so so so many new amazing musicians and having that influence our writing process.
I'm an old fan of yours, I have your demo "Elysium" from 2013 at home for example and I like that you have your own style while keeping your own signature. How did the idea to start a band come about back in 2011 and why did you decide to play death metal? I can feel a strong influence of old American bands in your music. Were they an inspiration for you?
That’s awesome that you have that! And yes the late 80s early 90s American death metal was pretty much the reason the band started , in fact the first couple shows we played in 2011 we covered zombie ritual by death and chopped in half by obituary! It really started in probably more like 2009 but we didn’t get a full lineup till probably late 2010 and then played our first show and released our first demo in 2011. This was a completely different lineup then . I (Anthony ) started it out of just my love for old school death metal and thrash and my love for playing music . I was a senior in high school when we played our first show in 2011.
From the original line-up only the guitarist and singer Anthony Allen is left in INOCULATION. A lot of great musicians have passed through the band. Why so many changes? At the same time, and this is very interesting for me, you still keep your face. How did you get together with the current line-up and was it difficult to find musicians who wanted to play death metal at that level? Maybe in the Czech Republic there are not so many people playing extreme metal.
That’s exactly the reason why so many musicians , it was really hard to find people that were wanting to do things the way and the level I wanted to play , not all some where very much in that level some not as much . Also I started the band like I said in high school so lots of growing up and learning . It just took a while to find the lineup that clicked and I was determined to find it . And Nick Charlie and I were all pretty familiar with eachother from all being in other bands . Charlie hit me up first when inoculation at the time was just me and I was considering stopping entirely but Charlie convinced me otherwise . And with Nick this was like the fourth time I had tried to recruit him in the band and it finally worked out.
Let's go to the new album. Do you know what I like the most about it? The atmosphere. Yes, the album is very dark, brutal, but sophisticated and the moods change throughout. Sometimes the brutality comes out, sometimes the coldness, sometimes the bad blood. Can you tell us how INOCULATION composed the new material? Who is the songwriter?
I think that atmosphere comes from how we wrote it , we wrote the entire thing all together the whole time . Normally I would come to practice with a song written or half a song and then go from there but this Album almost every single riff was came up with all together at practice and then developed into a song from there , together .
Sound is very important not only in death metal. I like how massive, majestic it is on the new album. It's signed by Noah Buchanan. How was the collaboration? Did you ever have a different opinion about the sound, did you have a say in the result? Or did you leave everything up to Noah?
It’s very much a collaborative effort with Noah. He is an amazing engineer and we have worked with him on all of our more recent work . We have developed a good relationship with him and he knows when to push us and the vibe we are going for with our music and we trust him a lot so if he has an opinion on something we usually listen.
Lucas Konte has also become my favorite cover artist thanks to you (I love his work for your previous album). The one for the new album is very dark and mysterious. It's chilling. Can you tell us how you got together with this excellent painter and why this particular motif?
Lucas is an absolutely amazing artist with this one we didn’t want to mess with his artist process to much and kinda just gave him a theme and let him run with it . We told him we wanted Simms sort of scape of ruins of all different reality all together and the cracking of those realities to actuality.
What are the lyrics on the new album about? Where did you draw inspiration from? I, probably like you, like old sci-fi movies and books. So I was wondering, do you believe in the existence of space aliens? Do you think they'll ever actually come?
Oh we all 100000% believe in aliens , they are out there and they’ve been here before and will be back . That’s the biggest inspiration lyrically on the album . And just anything that can follow under the sci fi umbrella . From structure of secrecy about government cover up about aliens and UFOs to star devil predator which is about a giant predator monster hired by a universal council to kill and star devil that was going around and destroying stars.
How's INOCULATION doing with gigs? Do you play a lot and often? How about some touring for the new album? Are you planning? Do you prefer smaller clubs or big festivals?
We are doing great with shows currently we have a couple tours in the works that I can’t announce yet but we will be hitting the road in 2025 and 2026
I've been listening to death metal since the 90's and Ohio has always been a land of good bands for me. But how is it nowadays? I've been following your scene, writing about new bands, trying to get interviews as well, and everyone agrees that it's still very much alive in Cleveland. What's your opinion of your scene? What about labels, fans, promoters?
Cleveland is great for metal , but of an underground crowd pleaser . I think it’s probably about the best it’s been since I got into the scene in 2011 as far as metal goes there are so many awesome bands , venues and labels all in the northeast Ohio area . And Ohio in general has a huge scene of sick new death metal bands, Mutilatred, Noxis, 200 Stab wounds , Bogg, Aatomic witch, and way way more
How did you get started with extreme music? What was the first band you heard that got you into music? What about your beginnings as a musician? What instrument did you start out on? Who was your role model? What about your first gig, your first stage performance? Please reminisce for us.
I started playing guitar when I was 12 years old , and I started my first band the next day knowing absolutely nothing but knowing I was obsessed with classic rock , kiss , Guns N’ Roses , Hendrix , AC/DC etc . I dove all the way into guitar and was obsessed playing any chance I could get . I ended up playing my first show later that year at 12 years old , we were like a ramones style punk band. But the more I played the more classic rock didn’t cut it and I need things faster and heavier which led to Megadeth, Iron Maiden , slayer , Metallica , exodus . Was a thrasher at first and when I was coming up the new wave of thrash was pretty popular so bands like Warbringer, Bonded by blood , Toxic holocaust a Municipal Waste were a huge influence . But I continued to need heavier and faster music and that’s when I got into death metal especially the early 90s American death metal really got me.
I'm an old dog who still remembers copying tapes, changing them. Writing letters to bands. It was a beautiful time, you were young. You're a lot younger than I am, but I'm going to ask you... do you still remember how INOCULATION started? For example, most of the bands in our country started in a pub. Can you take us through the history of your band please?
Yeah we started the same way playing shitty bars that we weren’t even old enough to buy a beer at . I remeber the first show we played in was a dollar steak night and I ate like 5 steaks it was a weird place . Also have always been a uh DIY guy so we were playing peoples houses , backyards , skatepark . Whatever we could play . We then got onto opening on tours coming through Cleveland and we would just get on any death metal show we could for years . We eventually got to start touring and that’s when we really felll in love with inoculation , traveling around the country playing to different people is easily the best thing I’ve done with Inoculation.
How would you define death metal? What does music mean to you? Is it a lifestyle, a hobby, relaxation? For example, I'm still fascinated by the darkness, I'm attracted by the energy. How do you feel about it?
Music means everything to me , like I said I played my first show when I was 12 years old and I’m going on 32 so it has quite literally been my entire life nonstop . It’s always been there for me and it will always be there for me . I’d say I’m attracted to how music can move you and change your mood or change the vibe.
Classic question at the end. What is INOCULATION going to do in the next few months? If you have something to say to fans, labels, promoters, here's the space.
We are working on getting tours together so we can hit the road and play „Actuality“ live for every one out there !
I'm already looking forward to putting my headphones back on tomorrow morning and cramming "Actuality" into my head under pressure. The album was very good. Thank you for the interview, I really appreciate it. I wish the band to do well, that you have full shows and that the record sells well. May your private life be good too! INOCULATION RULES!
Thanks for talking man !! Appreciate it !
Recenze/review - INOCULATION - Actuality (2025):
Recenze/review - INOCULATION - Celestial Putridity (2021):
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