A few questions - interview with death metal band from Sweden - UNDECAYED.
Answered Tony Richter (vocals), thank you!
Recenze/review - UNDECAYED - In Death's Image (2025):
Ave, can you introduce your band to our readers? – When was it founded and what style of music do you play etc.?
Tony Richter (vocals) – Undecayed is a death metal band mainly influenced by 90‘s US-death metal. It came together in 2008 when my old band 9th Plague fell apart approximately the same time as Mikael Bergman’s (guitars) old band Disromance had line-up problems. We had been in several bands together in the 90‘s and decided to work together again and play old school death metal. We are fully aware of that we are not reinventing the wheel, nor do we try to. I guess you could say that Undecayed is death metal by fans of death metal, for fans of death metal.
Where and under what conditions were you recording the new album? Who was in charge of sound, production and mastering?
Tony – We recorded drums and vocals at Studio Mangelrum, the studio of Kristofer Örstadius, who was the guitar player in my previous band 9th Plague. He also mixed and mastered the album. Guitars and bass was recorded in Mikael’s home studio. The conditions may not have been the best when we recorded drums and vocals because Studio Mangelrum was kind of closing down. So we were a bit rushed. So it was not as relaxed as one could have hoped for.
How many copies were released and which medium was used for this new edition (CD, digital, vinyl, cassette)?
Tony – So far, we have deals for digital and CD with Lethal Scissor Records. They also have something of an option to release it on cassette if they want to. If someone is interested in putting out a vinyl version, we are open to discuss it. The first edition of CDs are 250 copies, I think. With the digital release there is of course no limit.
Who is the author of the lyrics and how were they created and about what do the lyrics deal with?
Tony – I write all the lyrics. Even if „In Death’s image“ is not a concept album per se, there is still a loosely connected theme. „Death“ arrives to earth in physical form to kill, once and for all, everything that lives. Humans, animals, nature, every fucking thing. There is no hope for survival. The world shall be recreated in his image. Dead. There is also something of a religious angle. Most religions wait for their god to arrive to bring them his paradise. But instead of their god, Death arrives. And he is no god. He is something much more powerful. And he is not looking for followers. He has no creed for us to follow. He only wants us to die. As for how the lyrics were created… I usually get an idea. Maybe a line or a sentence. Then when there is new music, I see if one of my ideas fit and start to write. Sometimes I already have a lot, sometimes I have almost nothing. As a song takes form, I may have to change the lyrics several times. Sometimes I even have to scrap everything and start over. A finished song can have lines and sentences from several old ideas from many different years. Already in 2010, I got the idea to make an album where the word „death“ was included in every song’s title. So for approximately ten years, I only wrote lyrics with „death“ in the title (there was probably at least ten other songs that was scrapped during this time, and at least thirty variations of lyrics that did not make it either). This idea will not be continued in songs written after the album though.
Who created the logo of the band, and who took care of the graphics and the website? What about you and social networks? Do you consider these things important?
Tony – The logo was created by Mikael. He also handle most of the graphics for our social media. Jon Zig made the artwork for the album though. Social media seem to be very important today. As most of us are old farts, when we had our first bands there was no social media. We had to do everything through mail, writing letters. Then emails replaced that. Websites appeared. But there was not social media back then. It was all done in the deep underground. One has to change and adapt, I guess. We’ve seen it all come and go. We don’t have a traditional website. Only facebook, instagram, youtube and bandcamp.
Which label did you choose for releasing your album and why this label? Are you satisfied by how your label represents you and takés care about you?
Tony – Lethal Scissor Records from Italy. Their deal seemed the most favourable. They are not a big label (yet), and it is early. But they have impressed us in some areas and there have been some minor issues in other areas, but overall I’d say we are happy so far. The CDs was not ready in time for the release date though, and that was not a good thing, but it was not the labels fault. There was some problem at the pressing plant.
Which bands do you idolise and where do you get your inspiration?
Tony – I don’t think we idolize anyone, but I’d say that bands like Suffocation and Cannibal Corpse have probably been most important to our sound. I wouldn’t say that any particular band have been inspirational to me when it comes to writing lyrics. But I am probably influenced by death metal in general, whether I want to be or not. Death metal have been my love, my religion, my life ever since I first heard bands like Death, Morbid Angel and Obituary when they first appeared in the late 80‘s. And thrash metal before that, like Possessed, Slayer and Dark Angel. Bands that have been most important to me personally, and who have done albums that I like the most are Morbid Angel, Possessed, Immolation, Malevolent Creation, Monstrosity, Suffocation, Dark Angel and Cannibal Corpse. To name a few. There is SO much good music out there. I could go on forever.
Did you send your record to some Labels - which are the labels? How was the response?
Tony – Not the whole album, but a couple of songs. It was a bit harder to get a record deal this time than it has been with previous bands we’ve been in. It seems like a lot of labels, especially bigger ones, are a bit afraid to release debut albums nowadays. They want bands they already know will be successful. Plus, even if a lot of people into extreme metal don’t like to admit it, there are trends even in our genre. And old school death metal mainly influenced by 90‘s US-death metal is not the current trend. We had maybe five or six labels that were interested, but in the end it kind of boiled down to two that we chose between.
How many gigs have you played? Which type of gigs do you prefer, whether it's (clubs or festivals) and which of your performances would you consider as the best?
Tony – You may find this hard to believe, but Undecayed have not yet played live. Although we have been around for 17 years. I find it hard to believe myself actually. Something always came up or fell through. Line-up problems, health issues, cancellations, you name it! Our area don’t exactly have a good live scene either. Me, Mikael and Jesper Leidbring (drums) have all played live with previous bands, just not together as Undecayed. Christoffer Svensson (bass) is probably the least experienced when it comes to playing live. He is a bit younger than the rest of us (I could probably be his father actually) and we are kind of his first real band. Hopefully we will be able to change this soon.
What about your plans for the future? What do you want to achieve with the band?
Tony – Personally I like the creative process the best. To write good songs, record them and release albums. I mainly do what I do for my own personal satisfaction, but if other people like it as well, that is even more rewarding. And so far we have received mainly a good response. So that is kind of nice.
How and where can your fans contact you? Can you provide some contact information?
Tony – If they just want to check us out, there are our social media. Easy to find, but here are the links anyway:
bandcamp: https://undecayedband.bandcamp.com/
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/undecayed/
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/undecayedofficial/
youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Undecayed
In case they want to do an interview or something like that, they can use our email undecayedband@gmail.com
Thanx for the interview.
Tony – Thank YOU. And thanks also for the cool review. Death Metal is not dead yet! May it never die!
Recenze/review - UNDECAYED - In Death's Image (2025):
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