Who are we talking with? How are you doing?
Hey! This is Chris, things are well!
Who are the members of Morgue Defilement?
Chris Griffin - Guitar
Cayden Correia - Bass
Tim Bee - Vocals
Andy Vincent - Drums
How long has the band existed? Can you tell the origin story?
The very beginning was when our original guitarist (Martin Arguelles) and original drummer (Jonathan Guevara) started jamming together around August of 2022. Cayden got together with them in November 2022. They tried out some vocalists at this stage but no one ended up sticking, and then I joined in April 2023. All four of us actually met through Craigslist ads. I happened to see a listing for members that mentioned Cephalotripsy and Disgorge, so yeah, I had to reach out! When I came on, there were four songs already written and in rotation. There was a pronounced Old School vibe on them with the riffs and solos, but there were also heavy slams and Suffocation-worship riffs as well.
Lineup 1.0 - We met Dylan Drach (Impalement) through Craigslist early Summer of 2023, and this finalized the first lineup. At this point, we landed on the name, commissioned a logo, and began work on recording the tracks from the Rites of Misery ep. With a complete lineup, I kind of consider this the “beginning” of the band, as it had evolved into a group effort.
We released the two tracks on Rites of Misery with the 1.0 lineup in October 2023. Martin ended up stepping down from the band about a month after its release. We had our first show at the end of December 2023 at Tower Bar in San Diego, where we played as a four piece.
Lineup 2.0 - A month or so later we started jamming with Connor Clair (ex-guitar) to fill out the lineup. We started playing more shows and working on new material. Summer 2024 we started recording the single version of Burst Into Pieces. Unfortunately things came to a head in late July 2024, and we had to part ways with Jonathan. Dylan and Connor both stepped down as well right before we were set to release Burst. We ended up scrapping Jonathan’s tracks for the song and I programmed drums for it.
Lineup 3.0 - This FINALLY gets us to the state of the band today. We were prepared to finish the album with programmed drums if it came down to it, but we continued looking for a drummer. When we started looking, Andy was one of the first people I reached out to, as I am a big fan of his drumming style and he is local to SD. He was not able to do it at that time, but around the end of 2024 we got in touch again and he had availability to work with us. We got to it, and a couple months later we were able to debut the new lineup with the single-version of Frenzied Consumption of Genitalia.
The name comes from an Avulsed song on the Dead Flesh 5-way-split. It was later included on the Seven Years of Decay comp. The name was floating around as an option when I joined on, Martin (ex-guitar) had brought it to the table.
Thanks for the kind words on the riffage! From day one, yeah we wanted to be extreme but I have always wanted to have a focus on song writing. To me that means creating dynamics and including sections that have some groove.
We all live in San Diego, but when it comes down to it SD county is the size of some New England states. So we are kind of spread out, that's just how it goes out here. Half of us live in North County and the other half in SD city proper. I get together with Cayden every week to work on new material and stay on top of our songs. Tim comes over for that as much as he can as well and contributes ideas and feedback on riffs and song structure, and obviously to work out his vocal approach. With Andy we work primarily remotely. Once the songs are written, we send over everything to record drums on his end. While I do provide a midi-drum-programmed demo to give an idea of the arrangement, when Andy is done the feel of the songs completely changes. He will change transitions and come up with ideas we never could have imagined.
So the most recent promo was through Eminent Sounds, and you have a full-length on its way with Show No Mercy records? Is that already written? Recorded? How did working with SNM come about?
After all of our changes, we really wanted to get something out as a statement of where the band is going compared to the early material. Logistically this was challenging with SNM for a smaller release, but Darren was cool with us working with another label or to DIY it. We reached out to Eminent to gauge interest because we have a lot of respect for what he does, and he was kind enough to want to release Impetus of Decay.
We decided against designating Impetus of Decay as an EP and chose to label it as a Promo because these songs will be included on the full album, but the production and mixes will be updated on the final version.
We have 7 songs written for the full length so far. Aside from Burst Into Pieces, we scrapped all of our songs from before Andy joined on, picking out our favorite riffs to keep. The 8th song is in progress, and once that is ready the album is written!
We have five songs recorded for the album at this point, with song 6 being actively worked on right now.
The art for the promo (christiansick) is nasty and gross and beautiful and wonderful! Is that a preview of the full length theme/art?
Chris, Can you tell us about your experience recording and producing? What can you say about Mirror Universe?
I started messing with music production really as a way to facilitate my own projects, but I eventually got roped into working with my friend’s projects, as you do. It’s a hobby, I’m not really trying to hustle it into a career. I got sick of projects falling apart and not having anything recorded to show for it.
I think the first DAW I ever put my hands on was Cubase SX 2.0. Back when Mogwai’s “Happy Songs for Happy People” CD came out (2003), a demo of Cubase was included as a bonus. Around the same time (2003) I was doing a drum machine grind project with a demo version of a drum program on PC. The limitation was that you could not save patterns, so for each part I would hit play on the PC while a friend hit record on a tape player to record drum patterns, piece by piece.
Mirror Universe Studios is the name I currently use for anything that I work on from a production standpoint. The plural in Studios is intentional as I always end up recording and working in different locations, but I do have a studio set up at home that is home base.
The name happened organically. One time I was playing with a laser pointer with one of my old cats (RIP). My studio space at home has mirrors on the closets, from the floor to the top of the door. While we were playing at some point the laser pointed into the mirror and reflected back onto the floor. I don’t know how else to say it other than that it broke my cat’s brain lol. For about a year, she would go into that room, stand in front of the mirror, and SCREAM into it. Almost daily. When we heard it we would be worried, but she would just be yelling at the mirror. When this happened we would say “Oh she is just stuck in the mirror universe.”
I liked the name because it kind of plays into the fact that “my studio” can be any place I happen to be working. Like when you hold two mirrors to each other and they reflect infinitely. It is also the name of a Magic: The Gathering card from the Legends set, I never had one but I always loved the art, that is definitely how the term cemented in my brain.
Favorite track on "Impetus of Decay"?
That is a really hard question, but I think I am going to land on Intestinal Gnashing.
3 Albums that you love?
These are not ranked or a definitive Top 3 or anything, just a few albums I love that I think more people need to check out!! These are some all time favorites that absolutely blew me away and stuck with me.
Alienation Mental - Ball Spouter
Reinfection - They Die for Nothing
Signs of Dying - Desire is Suffering
3 guitarists that inspire or influence your playing?
Terrance Hobbs
Paul Ryan
John Gallagher
And because I don’t feel comfortable giving him a rank or number, Tony Iommi!
Anything else you can tell us about what the future may hold for Morgue Defilement?
I think the main focus is to record and release more music!! To keep pushing our boundaries and limitations to get to the next level of songwriting and musicianship. One thing that has been really inspiring in this band is that everyone is very talented. Personally, it has really pushed me to become a better musician and I am forever grateful for everyone’s work and dedication.
Thanks for your time! Any last words?
THANK YOU for taking the time and effort to put this together! Keep supporting the underground!
Impetus of Decay CDs are now available through the Eminent Sounds shop. While you are there make sure to check out the other artists and releases! The full length album will be coming sometime within the next year.
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