Interview prepared by Cämille, translated by Quentin, and published in its French version in the second issue of the fanzine Maledictions (May 2024) in which also Lea (author of an interview with Tom G. Warrior, available somewhere on this website) took part.
Let’s start with the chauvinistic question haha! NUNSLAUGHTER played in Toulouse in September 2000 (a show that ended on the 7” “Hell On France”, published by Drakkar Productions), was it your first French show? What do you remember about it? Do you have a little anecdote to bluntly share with us?
“Yes, I believe it was our first ever show in France. That was so long ago I remember very little, but I do remember receiving pie as hospitality food.”
Let’s go back to the sources of Evil! I know you already answered that question, but there are still many Hellbangers that haven’t listened to NUNSLAUGHTER yet and don’t know you, so… Can you go back to the first Rock / Metal record you bought that perverted your soul to the core? In addition, what was your first scenic black mass as a spectator? And finally, how did you get into the Underground scene of your city?
“The first record I ever purchased with my own money was KISS “Double Platinum”. It was the record that started me down this path I am still on today. I have been invited to a few black masses, but I have yet to attend one. It is always happening at a time I am busy. I look forward to another invite to one I can attend. Long story, but it goes a bit like this… I met a person in my high school that went to a record shop in our city. I was 14 or 15 years old and he would make me mix tapes of bands I never heard before. I started to go into the city to the record store and at the store, bands hung flyers of upcoming shows. I had my mom take me and drop me off. From there I began to meet people and it became my life.”
Where does your stage name Don Of The Dead come from? It reminds me of a well-known horror film, haha!
“Correct. It comes directly from the horror film. The movie “Dawn Of The Dead” was filmed in my hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. DECEASED used to perform in Pittsburgh and when they would come up, I would take them to the mall where the movie was shot. One day I received a package from Kingy addressed to Don Of The Dead and it just stuck.”
You were young when you took your first steps in Pittsburgh’s Underground scene, you started as a bassist, and in fact your first instrument was given to you by a renowned musician in the scene. This same instrument that you later passed on, can you tell us the amazing story of this Bass of Death?
“Ted Williams from DREAM DEATH gifted me my first bass and that was what qualified me to become the bassist of NUNSLAUGHTER. Just about six years ago I did a big move and decided that I wanted to give the bass to a close friend. It now resides with Athenar from MIDNIGHT. It has a good home.”
NUNSLAUGHTER is known for its short songs, which rarely exceed three minutes. Which is not so common in Death Metal, but is standard in Grindcore. Have the pioneer bands of this style been an influence?
“Not at all. First generation Death Metal songs were mostly under three minutes. It was not really until the shitty ’90s that Death Metal bands began to wank off to 5+ minute songs. If anything we were more influenced by Punk music. The songs were all short and most did not contain any Cock Rock guitar solos.”
The first years of NUNSLAUGHTER were chaotic, with many changes in its midst. It wasn’t until you met Jim Sadist that the band really took off. How did you meet? Were you already living in Hawaii?
“Jim and I met at a MORBID ANGEL / ACHERON show in Pittsburgh on Friday, May 18th 1990. He and some friends came down for the show and since I did not know them I began introducing myself and Jim was the only one who asked if I knew anyone from NUNSLAUGHTER. I told him that was me and our friendship grew from that meeting. In 1995 I asked Jim to come to Pittsburgh to record our “Face Of Evil” demo. After that he was in the band and we went on to co-write or first song titled ‘INRI’ from the split 7” with BLOODSICK.”
Before Jim arrived, you weren’t considering releasing an album, let alone performing live. Through what witchcraft did Jim convince you to record the album “Hells Unholy Fire”? It was recorded when the two of you were living more than 4000 miles apart! Can you go back over the process of creating this album?
“Jim was persistent and persuasive to say the least. I had no intention to do a full-length album or perform live, but Jim wanted that so I capitulated. He recorded the music in Cleveland, Ohio at Prime Time studios and sent me the reels to record the vocals in Honolulu, Hawaii at Rendezvous studios. We then joined up back in Cleveland to mix the album.”
Most of the tracks on the album are re-recorded versions of songs from the band’s first three demos. Only ‘Impale The Soul Of Christ On The Inverted Cross Of Death’ and ‘Alive But Dead’ are missing in fact, why not include them?
“’Impale The Soul…’ is on the “Hells Unholy Fire” LP and ‘Alive But Dead’ is re-titled as ‘Buried Alive’. That later having been reworked a bit. “Hells Unholy Fire” also includes ‘Blood For Blood’, ‘The Dead Plague’ and ‘Satanic’, all new songs that Jim and I wrote.”
With Jim at your side, NUNSLAUGHTER became an undead entity destined to advance relentlessly among the living. I guess that re-recording these songs with Jim allowed you to re-appropriate the songs with his touch. Could we say that it is like a picture of the band’s first era, engraving the old tracks for posterity and start fresh?
“Correct. I think art can change and the songs originally did not have much of a production to them. Adding in Jim’s unique style also helped solidify that music.”
The next two albums are a mix of tracks from demos made before the integration of Jim (“The Guts Of Christ” demo included in “Goat” (2003) and the “Face Of Evil” demo included on “Hex” (2007)) as well as songs you had both written. Jim has taken an important part in writing the music, but who was the main composer before that?
“Before Jim joined the band I was the main song writer. Jim and I butted heads many a time over who was going to write the majority of the music. In the end Jim won. It was for the best too because he had a good sense of how to write a catchy riff.”
In 2014 your fourth studio album “Angelic Dread” was released, and then Jim suddenly passed away in 2015. It’s a hard blow because you’ve lost a close friend in addition to a talented musician. Some people thought you wouldn’t be able to carry on, but you once said that you’d discussed this possibility with Jim, and that he wanted the band to continue without him. Do you have an anecdote that illustrates who he was as a person?
“Jim was a Metalhead down to his core. He was infuriating at times and one of the most thoughtful people I have ever known. We were performing in Chicago and we parked. We got out of the car and there was a random stranger upset that he got a parking ticket that he could not afford. Jim reached in his own pocket and handed the guy $10 (it’s all he had). The stranger was confused and asked why Jim was giving him $10. Jim’s reply was something like “because it sounds like you need it more than me”.”
Your fifth album “Red Is The Color Of The Ripping Death” came out in 2021, and I must say that it’s my favourite! First of all, I think the sound is excellent, with just the right amount of filth and stains on the walls. I read, by the way, in an interview, that you thought it was the best sound production NUNSLAUGHTER has ever had, why is this? Does this motivate you further to create future albums?
“Thank you. After all these years we finally found a person and studio that we worked well with and I think that is a big reason the sound is excellent. I just let the audio engineer do his thing and it turned out heavy. The studio is owned and engineered by our guitarist, too so that helps.”
Another thing that struck me about this latest release is that there are more tracks around the 3-minute mark. Is this the result of the contribution of the new members to the songwriting?
“This is mainly due to us as a band having time to develop the songs and expand on ideas and riffs. We have the ability to work and reword the songs witch is something NUNSLAUGHTER was unable to do in the past. Having all the band members contributing to the writing and arranging process does help too.”
Peter from VADER is not ashamed to say that he pays someone to write the lyrics. You’ve already handed over to Jeff from POSSESSED for a track, is it because you’re not that comfortable with writing? Isn’t it difficult to not do the same thing twice, since your favourite subjects haven’t changed in more than 30 years?
“’Thou Art In The Kingdom Of Hell’ is the track that Jeff wrote the lyrics for. They turned out perfect and I am forever grateful from Jeff’s contribution. That song in particular has a strange riff in it and I did not know how to approach the lyrics but it worked out. I still like writing most of the lyrics, although I am leaning more and more on Tormentor as he is very good in all aspects of creativity.”
Last February / March, you toured with PROFANATICA. You used to correspond with Paul Ledney in the ’80s and ended up meeting him in Cleveland when they toured with PANZERFAUST in 2013. What was it like to meet him after all this time? And what was it like sharing the stage with this veteran of Blasphemous Black Metal?
“It was the first time we met in person and we got along great. The tour went very well and it turns out we share many of the same ideas about Black Metal and Death Metal. He is also an avid listener of Punk music and we connected on that. The tour was received very well and we were able to reach some new metallists.”
In fact, a split project was planned but never materialized. Is it still on the table?
“I think we solidified our split and discussed what we are going to do. Neither of us have the music written but we are committed to make it happen. It is something I have been looking forward to for many years.”
Besides, you were saying not so long ago that: “There are a couple of bands that I still want to do split seven inches with that I’ve been hounding for decades”. So far, what are the planned projects? And which bands have you not yet managed to convince or tracked down?
“To date none of the other bands have stepped up to the plate. We are still looking to do splits with IMMOLATION and INCANTATION. We did have plans for a DECEASED split, but life happened and I think that will happen it’s just a matter of time.”
NUNSLAUGHTER has visited / destroyed over thirty countries to this day, which ones have been your favourites? Where are the craziest Metalheads? A little anecdote to illustrate that?
“I think Brazil has some of the craziest Metal freaks. Some of my favorite shows where in Colombia, Australia and of corpse Germany. We always seem to find great people and bands in Germany.”
In an interview you gave at the Steelfest in 2023, you said that in Europe people like different styles of music. Do you feel that it’s different in the US? However, Paul Ledney told us, for example, that the Metal and Punk scenes were porous over there, even in the ’80s.
“In the USA it seems a bit more hardlined as to what kind of music people listen to. Frankly I’m old and over taking sides or standing in one camp. People can like or dislike whatever they want. For me I’ll gladly clutch my ’80s Metal and Punk records along with ’80s Death Metal records till I’m dead.”
The term “Black Metal”, created by VENOM, described in the ’80s bands with satanic visuals and concepts, like MERCYFUL FATE, WITCHFYNDE… Later, the genre separated itself from its parents to become mature. Some consider the real Black Metal to be SARCÓFAGO, HELLHAMMER, VENOM, BATHORY… while for others it’s MAYHEM, BURZUM, IMMORTAL, DARKTHRONE… Paul said that, back then, Black Metal was actually a satanic and very obscure Thrash / Death like NECROVORE, MORBID ANGEL… But how to distinguish Death from Black Metal in the end, since the theme of Satanism is present in both styles? Today, you can’t just put DEICIDE in the same basket as GORGOROTH for example?
“I agree with Paul. But let’s not put those other bands in the same sentence as SARCÓFAGO, BATHORY, HELLHAMMER or VENOM. They are their own thing and it’s music I know very little about. The early Black / Death bands drew lots from Punk bands.”
This might be a bit of a stupid question, but you write “NunSlaughter” instead of “Nunslaughter”, why is this? I hope it’s not to toy with the acronym “NS”, which can refer to a foul political movement, haha?
“Absolutely not. Frankly that is stupid. It’s because people do not know how to separate the two words.”
What is your opinion on politicized bands in Metal scenes? You did a split with GRAND BELIAL’S KEY, a controversial band…
“Not all music is for everyone. Politics in Death Metal is stupid. Only death and Satan are real.”
I really liked the split between your old band TÖNDRA, and NORDIC MIST, a nice tribute to HELLHAMMER / CELTIC FROST. What is your opinion on the band TRIUMPH OF DEATH, the band intended to revive HELLHAMMER’s repertoire?
“I did have the chance to see them at Maryland Deathfest and I was impressed, but it’s a bit too late. Tom G has already denounced HELLHAMMER as some of the worst music ever written. His reformation does not seem to be heartfelt but rather a different motivation. Good for him.”
The last words are for you Don! Thank you for your time and we can’t wait for the follow-up to “Red Is The Color Of The Ripping Death”!
“Metal is Death, Death is Metal, NUNSLAUGHTER Death Metal.”
Pics: Unknown (NUNSLAUGHTER Facebook)
Interview: Cämille Clerc