Interview with death metal band from Florida - PLASMODULATED.
Answered Myk Colby (Guitars, Vocals), thank you!
Recenze/review - PLASMODULATED - An Ocean ov Putrid, Stinky, Vile, Disgusting Hell (2025): https://www.deadlystormzine.com/2025/07/recenzereview-plasmodulated-ocean-ov.html
Ave PLASMODULATED! Hello, Florida. I hope everything is okay with you. I have to say right off the bat that I have never looked forward to an album as much as your new release "An Ocean ov Putrid, Stinky, Vile, Disgusting Hell". I had the album a long time in advance for review, and I was so annoyed that I couldn't share the joy with my friends. It is excellent. Death metal in exactly the form I like it best. How was the album made and with what feelings did you go into the studio?
Hails man, and hell yeah, glad you're stoked on it! We spent about a year writing, rehearsing, and playing the songs live before booking the studio time, so that when we went in to record, we knew exactly what we wanted to achieve sonically. We demoed everything out extensively, and brought all those tracks into the studio, so that we could focus and dial it in without wasting time. Pure disgusting death metal supremacy!
What was it like to create new material? If I understand correctly, the band was originally a one-man project of Myk Colby. How did you actually get together with the other members and talk the new members into recording?
Yes, I originally started the project as an outlet for some different ideas that I had from my main band at the time, Wharflurch. Once that project seemed to be on hold indefinitely, I started recruiting people that I had been talking to about playing this stuff.. First was Josh Goldner, the 2nd guitarist, and we started writing new stuff right away. Then joined by Jonathan Griffin on drums, who really brought his own unique approach into the fold, and expanded our rhythmic pallette exponentially. Once we got Carlos Salas on bass, we knew we were ready to start playing shows and moving forward seriously, writing and demoing with the goal ov a full length album in mind.
You alays had that musty, dusty sound that doesn't let anyone down. How and where did you record the album? The record has an old, musty feel to it, it's probably not analogue or is it? Who is responsible for the mixing and mastering?
I mean, I think it sounds modern but what do i know? Haha. We recorded it at Warhouse Studios with John Howard, who is a man that i have entrusted with recording many ov my projects at this point: Wharflurch, Hot Graves, Pyre, etc. He also mixed and mastered the record, to keep my vision cohesive, and he did an amazing job. Although i did record the vocals and synth and some lead guitar stuff in my home studio, almost everything else was tracked in his facility. He's a beast!!!
Without the artwork, the record wouldn't be complete. The one for "An Ocean ov Putrid, Stinky, Vile, Disgusting Hell" is like a cut out of an old VHS horror movie. I love it. I immediately ordered a T-shirt. Who's the author and how did you choose the theme?
The artist is the well-known kaiju enthusiast GruesomeGraphx, who has done nearly every piece ov art for our band so far, including the logo. He took my idea based on the title track lyrics and made it come to disgusting life! And how did you order a shirt?? We haven't made any for this. (This is a mistake, an error in translation – author's note, but as soon as the T-shirt is available, I'll order it :))
When I look at your line-up, you are a band that is made up of all experienced musicians. How do you actually create new music? What is the process of creating new material? Do you have no problem with getting along? After all, experience can be a hindrance sometimes. You know, ego and all that.
We usually demo stuff out in our home studio situations then bring it to the warehouse, although lately we have been workshopping stuff in the warehouse together, and that has been really interesting, producing some wildly different results. We don't have a problem getting along, although there has been times where certain members dedication to participation has faltered somewhat, and that's stressful. But we manage to get it together and make it happen no matter what is going on in our personal lives. Ego is irrelevant.
For me, the Florida school of death metal has always been associated with a certain darkness. Even when I was young I used to be fascinated by references to Satanism, the kind of filth, the rottenness that could be felt in the work of your bands. How did you get into that style? What were your musical beginnings? Who were your biggest influences?
I started playing guitar when I was about 10 or 11, fueled by my dad's record collection; specifically Led Zepplin, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Ten Years After etc. But also around that time is when I discovered the cooler side ov metal, the Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, Exodus, Testament era. From there it just got darker, deeper, heavier when I started buying tapes from bands like Napalm Death, Obituary, and Morbid Angel. From there on, it's just gotten weirder and heavier all around, and I am here for the whole ride! My biggest influences on guitar are definitely people like Ritchie Blackmore and Trey Azagthoth, but musical influence for me spreads heavily to people like Herbie Hancock and Sun Ra, jazz dudes who got super weird with it. Also groups like Return to Forever, Weather Report, and Mahavishnu Orchestra. Then also, the post-hardcore world influenced me a lot too, bands like Shudder to Think, Jawbox, Fugazi, Drive Like Jehu, etc. I like to bring that energy into Death Metal, because I feel that if you create a in genre and only are influenced by that genre, you will only repeat, rehash and stagnate the music. And I see A LOT ov bands doing that, and it's absolutely fucking boring as shit to me.
You're also very dark, horror-y in your lyrics. Of course it belongs to death metal and I like it, but I would be interested in the origin and the origin of the lyrics. How did the lyrics for the new album come about? What are they about and where did you get the inspiration?
There's songs on this album about rotting away in a ditch, a song about a disgusting health violation at a restaurant our drummer works at, a song about the album cover, all kinda stuff. There's a two-part science fiction horror story thing in two songs, firstly about getting infested with an intestinal parasite from outer space that takes over your mind and makes you kill, then the second part is about your friends shrinking down in a vessel to go into your butthole to go battle this alien parasite (spoiler alert: they lose). The song "Trapped in the Plasmovoid" is really about a very intense mushroom trip. So it's kinda all over the place, but I don't like things to be boring so that's why. Being the sole lyric-writer and main vocalist, I try to keep things fresh and exciting for myself.
For me, Florida as a place is one of those unfulfilled dreams. I wonder how the death metal scene works in your country? There are a lot of great bands coming from you. When I interviewed DIABOLIC, they were very complimentary about Florida. Do you have a very active scene, clubs, fans? Is it still alive as it was in your early days? Has the attitude of the fans changed in that respect?
It was definitely crazier in the 90's, but there are still a lot ov diehard death metal folks all over the state, although it seems to me that they only come out for big ticket tours ov bands they should probably be tired ov, and they tend to somewhat ignore the underground bands who actually NEED their support. The scene for death metal in our town (Gainesville, FL) is pretty mellow, but I try to book as many cool touring bands here as I can to make death metal shows happen. Punk and hardcore have always sorted ruled this town's underground scene, but metal is alive and well also. Again, some people only come out when it's some well established band package tour, so it always feels like we're fighting to get a foothold in the larger scene. I always thought the cool thing about death metal was that people were taking it their own way and doing different stuff, but people just wanna see Obituary doing the same thing they've been doing for 30+ years seemingly (no disrespect to them, but it's true).
I'm still a firm believer in seeing you live. Are you planning a tour for the new album? I could quite imagine you, together with DEICIDE and INCANTATION on a tour of Europe. Please don't forget Prague! We have good beer and nice girls, definitely come! What is your relationship with live playing? Do you like big festivals or smaller, more personal clubs?
I wouldn't really want to tour with Deicide.. I don't even care for that band very much, and it doesn't seem like they're very cool people to be around. Talk about ego, hahaha. Incantation rules, I would tour with them, but I would rather tour with a more underground package, like with bands like Corpus Offal or Molder or something like that. Good beer and nice girls will lure me anywhere, so yeah. We don't have any plans for touring right now, as we're dealing with some lineup changes, but playing shows is definitely what we love. I prefer more personal clubs, especially for being a crowd member, but I love playing festivals also, just as long as I don't have to hang out longer than two days haha. I just went to Hell's Heroes, and by the third day i was like FUCK ALL THESE BANDS.
What are PLASMODULATED planning in the near future? What can we look forward to? If you have a message for fans, labels, promoters, here's the space...
Near future plans are to solidify the lineup change, write new material, start booking more shows and potentially a tour. Finding members who can play the stuff is one thing, finding members who can leave their lives and tour around without making a lot ov money is quite another! Mostly, I want to say this: being in a death metal band and finding "success" is mostly about throwing your life away and making it devoted to the band. Most people aren't willing to do that. I am. So that's how I proceed, single mindedly focused on PURE DEATH METAL MAGICK. As far as what to look forward to with the band, the new material we are already writing is taking a different direction, and we talked about making a concept EP to shake things up a bit, so you will see a different incarnation ov PLASMODULATED soon enough!
Thank you very much for the interview. It means a lot to me. I'm an old death metal fan and I wish not only the success of the new album, that you have sold out shows and that you are doing well in your private life! PLASMODULATED rules!
Thank you my brother! We appreciate the thoughtful interview, and the well wishes! Stay CADAVER, stay YUCKY, and we will do the same!
Recenze/review - PLASMODULATED - An Ocean ov Putrid, Stinky, Vile, Disgusting Hell (2025): https://www.deadlystormzine.com/2025/07/recenzereview-plasmodulated-ocean-ov.html
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