Death Angel – Rob Cavestany

With their seventh studio album ‘The Dream Calls for Blood’ (which was a best album of 2013 on Metal Obsession) under their belt, Bay Area thrash titans Death Angel are stronger than ever. And for the first time since 2009, the band is gearing up for an Australian tour, this time co-headlining with teutonic thrash giants Kreator.

Excited about the tour, lead guitarist Rob Cavestany checked in with Metal Obsession recently, which turned into a lengthy conversation about touring, their latest album and writing/recording music.

Metal Obsession: Hey Rob, how are you going?

Rob Cavestany: Very good man, how about you?

Metal Obsession: Also going well thankyou. What’s been happening – just taking it easy before the Australian tour starts?

Rob: Trying to. Today is kind of like, the only day where I’m some-what taking it easy, and even at that I’m doing half a day of press. We just wrapped up a two month North American tour just a week ago, so I kind of just got home, and do shit you gotta deal with when you’re not home for two months, and now we’re getting ready to get rehearsals up for going down there!

Metal Obsession: Sounds good! Kreator and Death Angel co-headlining tour in Australia; you don’t get much bigger than that when it comes to thrash metal here. How are you feeling about the tour?

Rob: I’m feeling that it’s gonna be epic! I’m fuckin’ so stoked, man. Our whole band is fuckin’ pumped for this.

Metal Obsession: If I’m correct, this is your second time being in Australia, your first being in 2009. Tell me about the last time you were here.

Rob: Well, that seems like a lifetime ago by now, of all things. 2009 – I was just trying to remember what year it was, just in that last interview, but I was thinking it was 2009, and yes it was! So yeah, five years, it’s a pretty long gap of time inbetween. We’ve gone through quite a change since then, and just to compare the two, I’d have to say that the first time we came out here, we had all the fucking killer excitement of going there for the first time. As well as a cool bill with Armoured Saint, they’re good friends of ours from back in the day. It was a lot of fun, and a cool old school bill. But, on the other side of things, what I didn’t know then which I know now is that we were kind of at the end of an era of Death Angel’s line-up. Right after that tour, our drummer Andy [Galeon] left the band. And right before that tour, we had a bass player line-up change.

So we were in a slightly unhealthy band state at the time of our first Australian tour, you know. We weren’t loving each other 100%, there was fighting, arguing and bickering going on, so our vibe as a band wasn’t up to par. But now, the band that we’ve been for the past five years is like, way top form, solid and playing on fire, with everyone going off. So I just think – not to discount the first time we were there – that this time is gonna fucking blow it away!

And to top it off, it’s gonna be with Kreator as well! That’s on a whole new level, c’mon dude. Kreator and us in Australia seems pretty fucking exciting to me!

Metal Obsession: You’ve been friends with Kreator since the 80’s. Do you have any memories with them from back in the day, or since Death Angel re-united nearly 15 years ago?

Rob: I don’t have too many memories period from back in the day [laughs]. No, I’m just kidding, but you know what I mean. From back in the day we just crossed paths, and at that point of time I didn’t know – like I was kind of running around not paying much attention to that night when we did cross paths. But I know we played together on a couple of occasions, but I never got to hang with those dudes back at that point of time.

But in 2011, we toured with Kreator and Exodus in Europe for five weeks, with Suicidal Angels from Greece opening for us. That tour was called Thrash Fest and it was fucking insane! So over that month, I got to hang out with Kreator and get to know those guys much, much better, and we hit it off great. So it’s gonna be cool, man. We ended that tour wondering when we were gonna do another one, and three years later, here we go! It couldn’t be better than to take it down there too, which is even rarer of an occasion for us.

Metal Obsession: I’ve read some requests from fans and interviewers for Kreator and Death Angel to jam on stage together during this tour, which Mille has actually given a “maybe” answer to. How would you feel about doing this?

Rob: I feel that I’m glad you brought it up right now, because I wasn’t really thinking about that. And we only have like, 5 shows? We fly in next week and the first show in Melbourne kicks it off. So, we won’t see each other until that first show right there, so if we’re gonna do something like that, we better start planning ahead of time! So, I think that would be fucking brilliant! I better start thinking about it and think quickly, we can coordinate.

Metal Obsession: What would you like to jam with them if you get the chance? Just a cover or something?

Rob: Probably, but who knows? I guess that’s up to the others as well, when we start figuring something out. It’s one of those things, but probably. It’d only make sense that we’d have to go to a common denominator of some song. But you know, we’ll have to see! There’s logistics man, logistics! [laughs] It’s gonna have to be in their set, cause we don’t want to cut out any time of ours, and the songs we have prepared.

Metal Obsession: That’s right. It’d have to be at the end of the night, perhaps an encore.

Rob: That’s more like it. Plus, by that point we can already be drunk, so we can be having more fun fucking around with that!

Metal Obsession: That’s it, nothing to take seriously, just a random cover to do for fun, you don’t have to be sober for it!

Rob: That’s the strategy. If it works out, it works out. But you know, sometimes this is a thing that also happens on the last night of the tour, after you’ve gotten together after a few shows. But who knows, we’ll see! It’s a great idea.

Metal Obsession: Well I know I might sound biased here, but Melbourne is the most metal city in Australia, and you’re playing there first…

Rob: Alright, well we’ll see what we’ve got! It’ll be hard to do something spontaneous and out-of-the-box on the first night of the tour. Because that’s the night where you’re trying to make sure everything goes according to plan. So, we’ll see! I don’t want to ruin anything, you know. Just being honest! First night of the tour people are going to be concentrating, concentrating! Hard on the first night.

“The Dream Calls For Blood” from Death Angel’s new album ‘The Dream Calls For Blood’, out now through Nuclear Blast Records.

Metal Obsession: Even as the opening band on this tour, you still get a full-length set. Both bands get the exact same set time. What can your fans expect from your set – are there any albums you might focus on aside from the new one, ‘The Dream Calls For Blood’?

Rob: I think that the set will be fairly well-rounded, and that’s made possible by the fact that we get a long set, and that’s fucking awesome man. I’m so happy to see that we’re getting a long set. So that will enable us to bring in more old songs, really. Because we definitely know the new songs that we’re going to play no matter what. It’s just a point of however long a set we have, so we can expand deeper and deeper into the catalogue. With that long of a set, we’re definitely gonna be able to touch most of our catalogue, and spread it out nice across the whole discography. But we’re gonna lean heavy on the new album, that’s for sure.

Metal Obsession: I can definitely expect a heavy focus on the new album. But what are your favourite classics to play – stuff that you’ve been playing for years and just never get sick of?

Rob: Well I don’t want to give it away so, if people want to know, they can search for it. They’ll find setlists of sets we’ve been doing recently or whatever. But I don’t wanna give it away, cause if I say those favourite old songs to play, you’ll know what we’re gonna play. Those will be the ones! That’s the way shows are meant to be anyway, the songs hit you as they come. I’m not going to ruin the experience, man!

However, I am confident that the setlist will be a good fucking setlist. It’s something we take a lot of care for, and spend a lot of time and energy focusing on what the setlist will be for specific tours or shows. It means a lot to us the way the sequence of songs comes out, and which songs we play. So you can bet that it will have been well thought out by the time you’re hearing what you’re hearing, and seeing what you’re seeing!

Metal Obsession: I believe you. I’m very excited to hear it!

Rob: We aim to please!

Metal Obsession: I can tell that. And as we mentioned before, five consecutive days of playing gigs, and no days off inbetween. Do you believe you’ll have any time to check out the country or do stuff besides playing shows?

Rob: No, I don’t believe we’ll have any time what-so-ever, which is definitely unfortunate being that we’re in such an amazing place, and it’s the second time that this is happening really, because that’s what happened last time we toured here, we just went straight through! There were two cool things I was able to do in the entire time that I was there last time. One was go to the zoo, the zoo that the Irwin’s owned or you know, that name?

Metal Obsession: Yep, in memory of Steve Irwin the Crocodile Hunter.

Rob: Yeah, that’s the one! That was fucking awesome, we got to spend the early part of the day there. And then, all the way on the other side of Australia, in Perth, we got to visit Bon Scott’s grave.

Metal Obsession: How did that go? I know almost every band stops there when they go to Perth, and I’m sure it’s very emotional.

Rob: Fuck yeah man. It’s just to pay tribute and experience one of the legendary greats. A huge influence to everyone, especially for our band, that’s for sure. But yeah, other than those two things, the entire time in Australia was just… the gig. And the airport, and the hotel, cause it’s like that. You just gotta fly every night. But I’m alright, I’m not sweating it, I’m looking forward to the shows, and we take what we can get on our tours. If you get lucky and you have some time in a place that’s interesting and you get to see something, you just get lucky. Cause we’re on tour to play shows and work, and not for the purposes of vacationing and sight-seeing. So I don’t get bummed, I’m used to it by now!

As I said earlier, we just did two months straight in North America. We did 47 shows in 53 days. No sight-seeing! We’d do 14 days of gigs in a row, day off which is a travel day, 18 in a row, and just show after show, relentless show-doing.

Metal Obsession: That’s the touring life, I guess. It’d be a lot heavier where you’re from as well, since there are a lot more places to go to. As for Australia, there’s 5 main cities most international bands go to and they’re done. But when you’ve toured the US a lot over the years, and you live there and you’ve seen everything you need to see, it must be a little upsetting coming all the way down to Australia and not getting much of a chance to see anything new.

Rob: Yeah, it’s painful man. It truly is painful, so I just already expect it so when I go there, I’ll see what I can see. And if I have a chance, once in a while you get a little slither of time where you see something. But yeah, it would be great to have an entire day off where you can just take your time and take it in better. But when touring, you just learn to take shit in in like, 10 minutes! You take in everything and take a snap shot in your mind and take it with you.

Sometimes we’ve had the chance where we have an hour, and you just pack it in to one quick thing like “oh, go there and back over here and that place and ya-da-da! Ok, you’ve just been to Rome!” Like, you’re in Rome, and you see all of Rome in 40 minutes, and it’s over. But, atleast you see that!

Metal Obsession: Yeah, that’s right. Most people don’t get to see that at all with their job.

Rob: Totally, dude. No complaints here, but it is a tease sometimes! When we were there last time in Sydney, I didn’t get to see anything man. It was just a thing about the time. We were right there and, just knowing what’s there; the main areas, the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and all of the shit you’ve seen pictures of since you were a little kid. And you’re literally around the corner from these things, but you just can’t see it, you just gotta go!

Metal Obsession: Or you get to see it for 10 seconds and it’s like “ah yeah, that’s cool” and keep moving on, as you mentioned before.

Rob: I know! It’s like going to San Francisco and you don’t even get to see the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s like, you can live without it, but it was right there and you wanna see it, you know, just because!

Metal Obsession: Yep, it’s disappointing. But hey, if you can hit up some good pubs while you’re down here, maybe after the shows, then that’s good enough, right?

Rob: That I’m sure we shall be enjoying! So, you will find nothing but smiles on our faces anyway.

“Left for Dead” from Death Angel’s new album ‘The Dream Calls For Blood’, out now through Nuclear Blast Records.

Metal Obsession: Anyway, on to the new album ‘The Dream Calls for Blood’ that was unleashed upon us late last year. It was actually the #1 album on my best of 2013 list on Metal Obsession. But, how do you feel about its reception?

Rob: Really? Really?! Well then, quite obviously I feel very good about the reception, when hearing things such as that! Seriously, I do though. So far it has been well received, and shit, I can’t complain. That’s what you hope for, and pretty much most things I’ve heard/read about or anything, were quite positive! So yeah, it’s a very gratifying and fulfilling feeling, and just fucking feels good, man. You work really hard and put everything you’ve got into it and hope for the best! So when you get a positive reaction that way, especially from the fans at the shows, that’s the real test. We’ve been playing a lot of our new album live. We’re very confident in the new songs, and we have fun playing them, so we just bust it out and play a lot of new songs in our live set, and the crowd goes crazy. So it’s killer!

Metal Obsession: How do you feel it compares to the last album, ‘Relentless Retribution’? You did say that you wrote the new album as an “evil twin sister” to the last one, which I can hear. But do you feel as if the new one is stronger?

Rob: I did say that, and that’s exactly what it is. It’s like the nastier version of Relentless. But the turbocharged, supped-up… just everything more of the direction that that album was going in, but taking it all the way there. So with that being said, I like it a lot better than ‘Relentless Retribution’. No disrespect to my other child, but this child is just… enhanced!

Metal Obsession: Every album has to be special to you in some way though, right?

Rob: It should be, right?! You know, atleast this close to when you first put it out. That’d suck if you’re not liking the thing and you just did it, so usually yes, you’re stoked about it. If you did your best work, then that’s the best you can do I guess. But definitely after you see results being the reaction that shows, reviews and stuff like that. It kind of at least makes you think you’re not going crazy, you’re just thinking that you like what it is. So yeah, I’m totally stoked.

But truthfully, the way that we created this album and just the consciousness we had, and for a band that had been together after touring for three years straight on Relentless, it made a difference on this album. It had to be that much better, it had to be taken to another level. Because we, as a band, we’re functioning at another level. So I’m glad it transpired into the recording.

Metal Obsession: How often do you get the chance to write music for Death Angel? Do you do it on the road with the other guys, or wait til you get home and have a bit of spare time?

Rob: Usually it’s written mostly at home or in our studio – basically at home. Not really in spare time because that’s something I haven’t had for god-knows-when, I don’t even know the definition of “spare time” these days. But, you just make time to write. It’s like, time to work, its writing time, and practicing time. Then you go in, and you go at it. But the huge difference with The Dream Calls For Blood is that that album was mainly written on the road. So as a result of being on tour for so long with Relentless Retribution, I just started writing maniacally on the road, and in different spots; in the back of the bus, backstage or just always in a different place with my portable recording stuff, and getting different kinds of inspiration, like live and on the road inspirations. So it’s a total different headspace for writing, than writing at home when you’ve kind of come down from the tour, and overall not having the high pace of being on the road. That definitely lends itself to the aggressive nature of the album.

Metal Obsession: So even with new technology, you can record music onto your laptop, iPad or whatever and email it to your other band mates, and they can just add to it if they have a program like that. Have you guys caught onto that, or do you all just like to do it the old school way?

Rob: It’s a combination, really. I try to use some of this modern technology that’s come upon my life, I try to figure some of it out to use as tools for writing, basically. But not to use as a crutch for writing, which I think people probably do in some weird way, and they lose the sight, or just the feel of the band, the live feel like how it used to be done. I’ll use these methods to record ideas, like structures at home, but I pretty much just go as far as recording multiple tracks of guitar. I don’t even program a drum machine or anything, I don’t want to hear a programmed drum machine, I just use a click track for the tempo. Then I just make copies of that and give it to the rest of the guys so they can familiarise themselves with it, listen to it for a while, get ideas at home and stuff. Then we go down to the rehearsal studio and just jam it out, figure it out actually playing and hear what it sounds like. That’s where things evolve, one ideas bounces off another, and it takes a livelier feel rather than feeling too sterile if the whole thing gets constructed just through file sharing.

Death Angel performing the classic “Mistress of Pain” live at Scion Rock Festival. Song taken from their debut album ‘The Ultra-Violence’. Footage taken from the unfinished ‘Thrashumentary’ DVD.

Metal Obsession: Awesome. Last question, and I always ask this to everyone I interview: What are some new bands that you’ve been listening to lately? Any younger ones that you want to give a plug?

Rob: Some of the younger bands that have been touring with us lately, have impressed me and most importantly stand out… there’s a band called Havok, those dudes tear it up. These guys called Battlecross, they’re good at what they do, and Revocation is also good at what they do. I’ll just stop it there, because unfortunately, it’s kind of a short list. I’m not freaking out over every single new band, but here and there, there’s potential!

Metal Obsession: I agree with all of your choices there, great bands. And what I also like to do in my interviews is to recommend an Australian band to any international band I get to interview, so would you like me to recommend a new band to you?

Rob: Please do!

Metal Obsession: Alright, from the top of my head, there’s a thrash band from Melbourne, Australia called Harlott. They released their debut album ‘Origin’ last year, and it was my other favourite album of the year. So Death Angel and Harlott together released the best albums last year.

Rob: Really?! Ahhh, ok. I’ll definitely look into that, thanks for the tip! Good name too, I can remember that easily.

Metal Obsession: No worries mate, I believe you’ll like it.

Rob: I’m hoping to. I could really use something to like! It’s hard these days. I just think that a lot of the bands I discover are good, they’re good and they’re fucking shredding, I’m not saying anything to discount people’s musical abilities, these kids are ridiculous musicians. Awesome fucking musicians, shredding, good bands, tight and all this stuff, but you know… I’m from the old school and I’ve been around listening to music longer than most of these kids have been alive. Almost double as long. So I’m sure I’m not alone in the old school batch of being hard to impress with originality. So, that’s what I’m looking for, and it’s hard to find sometimes.

Not just originality, but to be original and make it sound good. I don’t mean to be original and being so weird that it doesn’t make sense. It’s just gotta have a lot of elements in there. Takes a while sometimes though, you just gotta hang in there, discover yourself and evolve a little bit to get to the core of who you really are. I think that’s why I say there’s potential, here and there and everywhere.

Metal Obsession: I know what you mean. I know it’s hard to find originality, especially in newer thrash metal, so it’s really just about making it sound good and memorable. And when it comes to that sub-genre, this is the most exciting new band I’ve heard.

Rob: Killer man. A lot of it also has to do with the attitude, and how real you’re able to let your shit out. So if you’re just being you and it’s coming out naturally, if it has that chemistry then you’ll have something there too! So yeah, I’ll definitely check that out, Harlott with two t’s!

Metal Obsession: Good stuff! Anyway, we have gone way overtime with this interview, but it’s been an absolute pleasure speaking to you. Do you have a message you’d like to give your Australian fans?

Rob: I’d like to shout out to our fans out there, express our thanks for your support, and we really fuckin’ appreciate it man. Without you guys, we couldn’t exist. And we’re fucking stoked to be coming back to Australia, hope to fucking see you at some of these shows! Check it out. Check out our new album The Dream Calls For Blood, I think you’ll like it. And thankyou, thankyou, we love you!

Catch Death Angel on their ‘United Thrash Nations’ Australian tour with Kreator!
(click photo below for more info/buy tickets)

Wednesday 16TH April – MELBOURNE, BILLBOARD
Thursday 17TH April – ADELAIDE, HQ
Friday 18TH April (Good Friday) – SYDNEY,
MANNING BAR***early 5.30pm start due to 10pm curfew
Saturday 19th April – Brisbane, HI FI
Sunday 20TH April (Easter Long Weekend) – PERTH, CAPITOL *upgraded from Ampllifier*

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