Blistering.com: Something like “Claws In So Deep” is new territory for you guys, especially with the ending.
Osegueda: It’s about detaching from people who were close to you, and how it’s not easy at all but is better for both parties involved. The acoustic outro was done by Rodrigo y Gabriela and Rob is a big fan of their music and they’re a phenomenal guitar duo from Mexico. We found out via Alex Skolnick that they’re in metal and they were huge Death Angel fans and Rob gave him a part of this song, so they did a bridge. It expands the variety of music on the record as well.
Blistering.com: “Absence of Light” is one of the better groove songs you’ve done in a while, don’t you think?
Osegueda: Yeah, that one was a throwback to the heavy, throwback, more mucky side of metal. Since it had that sludge feeling to it, I brought it back to old metal songs of the final days, basically. There’s always underlying thoughts of the “final days “ in dark music, but we tried to give it an evil undertone.
Blistering.com: “Opponents At Side” is easily the most melodic song on the album.
Osegueda: It’s an biography on us, about what we’ve been through the last couple of years. Anyone can relate to songs like that if you’ve been let down by people close to you. Rob wrote the lyrics and melodies and that’s me and Rob singing the verse together. It worked out well where we can do stuff like that vocally. We’ll always veer toward melody, when a lot of bands can’t or won’t want to do it.
Blistering.com: When you re-formed 10 years ago, did you think you’d still be going strong with three albums and multiple tours under your belt?
Osegueda: In 2001, I’d probably say “No!” We reformed for that one-off show for Chuck Billy. It just snowballed from there. Festivals in Europe, getting approached by record labels and here we are, back in the ballgame.
Blistering.com: Do you think some of that has to do with the fact you broke up when you were relatively young? So in essence, you’re considered a veteran band, but you’re not that old.
Osegueda: It works in our favor. We started when we were very young because it was odd to see kids that age playing technical metal. It works out for us now, because we can take over a decade off and still come back relatively young. Unfortunately a lot of bands take a decade off and they look like two or three decades have gone by [laughs].
Blistering.com: How do you think the band would have fared in the 90s should you have lasted past Act III?
Osegueda: To be honest, I don’t think we would have fared that well. I left the band, the band broke-up and if it wasn’t me, someone else would have within a year. I don’t think a new album would have played out very well either. It would have been a little too experimental after Act III, so I think we needed this time to appreciate the music again, and to appreciate each other.