Head Stabber Interview 2025

I stumbled upon Head Stabber one night on instagram and I was drawn in by the logo.  He has since updated the logo but I still love this one best!

Upon listening I was instantly drawn in by the music; a simplistic yet original, raw, brutal oldschool feel with great songwriting and vocals.  Get to know Head Stabber below, or fall behind.

CEREBRALREVIEWMENT - Hello!  Love what you got going on!  Head Stabber has been in our constant rotation over here!  Thanks for being down to chat!  Tell the people your name, age, some things about you, anything you'd like!

RALPH/HEADSTABBER - Hey what's up thanks for havin me! My name is Ralph, I'm from Washington state and I'm 19 years old. Music and art is basically my life and I do as much as I can to get my ideas out there and share my passion with other sickos such as yourselves! 

Can you tell us how long you have been into making music?  Were there projects before Head Stabber?

I mean I've been a metal head ever since I was born so I got my first guitar when I was in middle school, I've always taught myself and for that it made me write riffs of my own... even if they sucked. Throughout the years, there were failed bands conceived through conversations with friends until I graduated high school last year and really decided to utilize my passion and somewhat skill to the scene and released the first Head Stabber demo.

How did you land on the name Head Stabber?  What are the themes that you make music around?  who are some influences?

Coming up with the name "Head Stabber" was actually very fun, to come up with a band name, you have to channel your inner sickness and really dig deep for something that actually catches people's eye and fits your overall vibe. It also just comes from my massive love for horror movies and the macabre in general, brutal death metal is a genre where you can actually go deep into the heinous aspects of reality and I try my best to convey that in some of my lyrics.

"Separation of The Flesh"

Ravaged & torn, flesh becomes twined and stretched

Unsheathing from the skin, I feel every nerve

Throat ripped to shreds, screams become distorted

Cause my larynx is contorted, I feel the dead's fingers

AS THEY GNAW!!!!!

Blood starts to clog, chocking on gore

Bones start to break, limbs torn away

My main influences for my overall sound varies a lot because i try to keep it a bit of a mixing pot but definitely stuff like Eternal Suffering, Mortal Decay, Dehumanized, Shredded Corpse and Scattered Remnants. But for my other project "Orgasmic Rot" I like to bust out some Dying Fetus, Waco Jesus, Lividity. 

So you do all instruments and vocals and recording for this project correct?  What has been the hardest part?  What are some pros and cons of doing it all yourself??

Yes I do all guitars, vokills and drum programming! no bass yet but hopefully soon. I would honestly say the hardest part of doing it One-man style is just not having confidence. if you want to start getting your music out there and seen then no one is here to help you but yourself in the beginning. Sometimes you just gotta gun it cause you don't know who will like it or not, but at the same time you have to do it for yourself to really make the art shine. Some pros of doing it yourself do include being able to just do whatever the hell you want! Minor cons of recording I would say are just hardware issues and shit if you don't know what you're doing sometimes like me.  

Can you tell us about Strong Bong Productions?

Wow thank you so much for asking about that! Strong Bong is an independent film I make that's inspired by shit like the CKY movies, Pantera Vulgar Videos and old Trailer Park Boys. I can't sell these movies because of all the copyrighted music but I do it for the passion of expressing my art visually and audibly. Physical DVD copies will be available in the future when the film is done, the only way to get it though is to meet me in person. 

What about Corpse Eater?  How did you get connected and start working with them?

Well about a year or two ago, I was at a Devourment show and went to take a piss in between sets. As im taking this piss, a guy named Mike in a Cryptopsy shirt came up to me and started screaming Cryptopsy songs at me and it was hilarious! Me and him start talking and we decided to work on a split EP with his one man band Emaciated Amalgamation back in January of this year. Months after that, this new label pops up called Corpse Eater Recordings and it turns out that Mike and another guy is running it. He offered to put me on the label and help with some promotion and I can't thank Corpse Eater enough for that! 

What is some music you are into that is NOT metal?

Despite the extreme sick shit being the main music genre I listen to, I actually listen to tons of other music genres as well. Just some random stuff I'm really into is old school Memphis horror rap like Triple Six Mafia, DJ Sound, Tommy Wright III. I also really love ambient stuff like Aphex Twin and certain video game soundtracks like Borderlands and Devil May Cry. 

Name 3 favorite albums

I have waay too many to just Name 3 so I'm gonna just list 3 albums from all of my favorites. Considered Dead by Gorguts is in my opinion the best old school death metal album ever made. Everything from the guitar tone, the solos and album art. Another just absolutely life changing album and band in general for me is Dead Again by Type O Negative. Every single song is this insanely cathartic and downright fun perfect vibe that I want in music and life in general. My last album would have to be Diarrhea of a Madman by Dave Brockie Experience. It's batshit silly as hell and I love it. Dave Brockie's humor is unchallenged and it really shines through the songs which are also just super fun and punkey. 

What is your family life like and are they supportive of your music?

I fortunately got lucky with cool ass parents! My dad is who I have to thank for getting me into metal music ever since I was basically born, I was introduced to shit like Cradle of Filth, Death, Pantera, Down and all that at a very young age. My Parents are extremely supportive of my music and overall art which I'm so grateful for... even if they don't want to hear their son sing about hacking bitches up and fucking the corpses hahahahaha.

Thanks so much!!!!!  Can’t wait for more music from you!  Anything you’d like to say?

Of course thank you so much for having me!!! I can't wait to unleash more Head Stabber this year and pummel everyone with some new music! Make sure to pick up a cassette tape of the new demo at Encephalic Productions and STAY SICK!!!!!  

--------------------------------LINKS--------------------------------

Head Stabber

Emaciated Amalgamation

Corpse Eater Recordings

Encephalic Productions

Terminal Punishment Interview 2025

Terminal Punishment are a lesser known, young band from The Basque Country in northern Spain.  I am impressed by their naturally occurring brutality and old school sound.  Enjoy a breif interview below:

 

Who are we speaking with and what is your role in Terminal Punishment?

I’m Gael and I do the vocals and help with songwriting.

How did Terminal Punishment start and who is all in the band?

Well terminal punishment is formed by Gael - Vocals , songwriting and Aitor - Guitars, Bass , Drum programming and some backing vocals, we’ve been friends for a while and we both have a very similar musical taste and we wanted to try something out so we started writing stuff in early 2024 , I had been practicing vocals for a while and Aitor is just a master in his craft with the guitar and bass so we connected really quickly..

 I first found "Pacify Through Retaliation" and fell in love with the production and sound of it.  Then "Shrine of Obliteration" came very soon after!  Was the material for the full length already written for some time?

Yeah the production in our demo is very raw we wanted it to sound old school and I think we did a good job , actually Pacify Through Retaliation was released back in the summer of 2024 on soundcloud with different artwork and we also had a different name we went as pacify, but later decided to make the change to terminal punishment , we didn't promote the demo or have an instagram account, we just kept it for ourselves and friends , then in late 2024 we began writing again and decided we wanted to go big with the album and release it on major platforms , so yeah by the time PTR was released on spotify our album was finished completely we just wanted to share the demo too and people seem to have actually enjoyed it we never thought people would dig our shit so for now its been amazing the reception we’ve had!!

Did the band name come from an obvious love of Dehumanized?  What other bands have influenced you guys?

Yes of course our name comes from my favorite Dehumanized song terminal punishment which is hell of a banger 

but I’d say Dehumanized ain’t as big of an influence as other bands , I could do an entire list of 50+ bands we’ve taken inspiration from but definitely our main ones are Dying Fetus, Soils of Fate and Cryptopsy and overall the old school nydm sound.

I do not hear of many bands from Basque Country, (Spain)

What is the local scene like there?  A lot of other bands?

There is no scene over here, literally no scene at all, we are the only band playing this style, there are some other bands but more on the grindcore side, not much on extreme metal in general.

With the great reception you guys are getting, what is next?!  Any plans for the future?

We are planning on writing more music soon maybe some singles and shit, right now we are just chilling working things out for our physicals and shit.

Thanks again for doing this little interview, anything you'd like to say to your fans?

Thanks to y'all for being interested in the first place man, thanks to all the people that enjoy our stuff and that have bought our shit and thanks to the bands that have shown nothing but support and respect, specially Anhedonia for helping us out with our new release! 

--------------------LINKS-------------------

TERMINAL PUNISHMENT INSTAGRAM

LISTEN TO DEMO

LISTEN TO ALBUM

Organectomy - Nail Below Nail - 2022 Unique Leader

 

Organectomy, a death metal band from New Zealand, are hopefully writing new material.

They currently have two singles that released this year (2024), with very similar and beautiful artwork.  I can only assume this is part of a larger body of work?  Fingers crossed.

While I impatiently wait, I revisit their third album.  

2017 brought us Domain Of The Wretched, followed up with 2019's Existential Disconnect, both of which boast beefy and brutal riffs and non-stop catchiness.  

Nail Below Nail was released in 2022 on Unique Leader Records.  Production is crispy and instrumentation super-tight.  Coming in at 45 minutes of Slammy, sometimes Techy, sometimes Old School Death Metal esque, Nail Below Nail is impressively creative and as brutal as always.  The songwriting, how it's all put together, and the vocals.  All of it seems to get better with each of Organectomy's albums.

One thing that cannot be denied, with songwriting and infectious grooves like this, you will be bobbing your head before you even realize it.

Organectomy can also serve as a trail-blazing band for those on a high horse when it comes to Slam.  They do a beautiful job of blending truly monstrous Slamming parts into rather Death Metal structures.  You may be enjoying the very stuff you hate on, and then hopefully falling in love with how fun this album is! 

I would say any of their albums are worth purchasing, but this one feels like the one that leads the band down the path of brutality that they have mastered.  Please check out Nail Below Nail.

ORGANECTOMY

YOUTUBE

INSTAGRAM

FACEBOOK

UNIQUE LEADER BANDCAMP

APPLE MUSIC

Interview with Italian Death Metal legends; Sickening - Allesandro Materassi

 

"The Death King" marks the 4th full length offering from this Brutal Death Metal merchant out of Florence, Italy.  We were lucky enough get a few questions answered by the band's guitarist Alessandro.

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview!  I have been a massive fan of the band since ignorance supremacy, and I am so happy to get to ask some questions!  Who am I speaking with today?  What is your role in the band?

Hi, Alessandro here, I'm the guitarist of the band, and founding member. Thank you for the opportunity to talk about our music, we really appreciate it and we are really pleased you like our music.

 

 

It has been 20 years since first promo, is that when the band started?  Tell us about how Sickening started!

 

Even if the first demo was released in 2005, the band was founded in 2003 by me along with the previous guitarist Marco and the singer Claudio. We were all crazy about brutal death metal and we decided to start writing music together, so we searched for a drummer a bass player and start the project.

 

 

What first got you into Brutal Death Metal?  it must have been a gradual transition to end up here?  What sort of music influenced you as a teenager?

 

I speak for myself, but “tomb of the mutilated” is probably the album that got me into this type of music, from that moment I started to listen to many brutal death metal bands, mainly from the usa, such as suffocation, deeds of flesh, gorgasm and so on.
Of course I started gradually and before that I was into heavy metal and thrash metal, I grew up as a kid with the classics (iron maiden, metallica, slayer) but I soon realized that I really liked a more extreme sound best, and so I started to listen to classic death metal until I found Cannibal Corpse, as I said before.

 

How has the writing process of "The Death King" been different from previous albums?  Everything gone smoothly?

 

The songwriting of the death king went different for the fact that we don’t have a resident drummer yet, so I wrote all the album by myself ahahah, even the drum parts (except for 2 songs where the drum was written by our old drummer), so it took a little more time to be finished. But I can say I'm really proud of how all the songs came out.

 

Is the band planning any live shows soon?

 

Yeah, for sure, the album was released on 2^nd of February, and now we are searching for gigs to promote it, and maybe a tour, who knows.

But we have various options that we will reveal in the coming months.

 

How to you think the current Death Metal scene is different from 20 years ago?

 

I think nowadays we have more bands but this doesn't mean more quality. 20 years ago every band tried to have its unique sound, while at the present moment it's difficult to find a band with a peculiar sound, and if you think about that you understand why many of the bands who played 20 years ago are still active and well known in the death metal scene today: because of their uniqueness.

I think having a clear style is fundamental in every type of music.

 

How has it been trying to keep the band active and writing all these years?  I'm assuming you all have families?  How is the support from your family and friends?

 

Well, our families always support us in playing music, and beyond that me and Claudio work in the music scene of our city, so is not difficult to keep playing in a band or more and working at the same time. Even Edoardo, our bass player, has a job that allows him to play in various bands. I think we are lucky for this, because otherwise growing up it's always harder to find time to dedicate to writing and playing gigs, with family and work  that can keep you busy all the time.

 

What up and coming Italian bands should we check out?

 

I will disappoint you but there aren't new good bands I can recommend you in Italy, just the old ones that continue to write good music, the scene is a little boring nowadays.

 

How do you guys go about writing lyrics?

 

The last two albums were concept albums so the lyrics are based on the plot of the original two movies. Our second album doesn't have any lyric while the first has generic theme like: death, suicide, hunger, classic death metal cliché ahahah.

Anyway our singer Claudio wrote all of them.

 

The Seventh Day-

We lose our life with joy This is a chain-letter And it is a message And it is the final word To end a very long struggle When you get this letter We are dead And we want you After you have sent As much copies As possible To the “not-yet-dead” To take your own life Without hesitation According to our realization: I die, therefore I am! Life is an illusion And become ridiculous Meaningless once we face it The one security Life has to offer is death We aim towards him We are promised to him And before there’s just Agony and absurdity Man comes alone And remains alone His life is an endless fight Put upon him A struggle against this Ancient desire The sweetest urge That holds all of us In its hands: Thanatos The longing for death All we demand of you Is to follow this longing It’s about time Life is an anachronism In six days God created heaven and earth On the seventh day He killed himself Let us die The gospel according to The Brotherhood of The Seventh Day

Are you all pleased with how "The Death King" turned out?

 

Yeah, definitely. We are stoked both by the artwork Armaada Art did and with the sound: we recorded the drums at MK2 Studio of Davide Billia (ex-drummer of Putridity, Hour of penance, Beheaded) and the drums were played by Marco Coghe (Devangelic, Posthuman Abomination) who did a really great work.

We recorded guitar, bass and vocals at our studio), while the mix was done by Jonathan Mazzeo at The Grid Studio and the master was done by Chris Donaldson of Cryptopsy.

The album sounds massive and powerful, is our darkest and fastest album for sure.

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this!  Anything else you'd like to say to your fans?

 

Thanks again for the opportunity, i hope you will enjoy our new album. You can listen to it on our youtube channel and bandcamp page, where you will find all the merch also. We also have a facebook page and instagram where you can follow us for all the latest new and updates.

Stay brutal

 Thanks again Alessandro for taking the time to do this!  Check out Sickening with the below links!

BANDCAMP

FACEBOOK

YOUTUBE

Foul Deformity - Disgust - 2024 - Inspired by a series of horrific real life events.

It was so refreshing to stumble onto this Brutal Death Metal group out of Las Vegas!  A three piece who describe their sound as a sonic force with elements from Old School Death Metal, Grindcore, Slamming Brutal Death Metal, Black Metal, Groove, and a hint of Jazz!  What a mouthful!  After multiple listens, I do think "Disgust" proves them correct!  

"Disgust" is only an EP, and is already guaranteed to end up in my best-of-the-year list for 2024. This will be hard to top.

The production on this, first of all, is just perfect.  Everything perfectly sitting in its own pocket in the mix.  Every instrument it still raw yet feels in your face with its own patterns and intricacies.  The vocals are some of my favorite I've ever heard; a blend of styles and techniques that may be hard to pick up on at first, but the subtlety IS master precision. The songwriting throughout is incredible, with many catchy parts and tempo changes.  The instruments, vocals included, seem to play off of each other for an amazing onslaught of creative brutality that keeps you guessing.

Alex Udar is in charge of percussion, and goes crazy with so many fills and techniques.  He grew up in Romania and started playing drums in 2009.  He has banged the drums for Sinful Serpent, Abominable Putridity, Submerged, to name a few.

On Guitar and Bass we have Bruno Macias, playing guitar since 2004 in bands like Guttural Secrete, Cerebral Incubation, and Abominable Putridity.  Also must be a fan of a lot of different styles to be writing and playing like this!

Last but not least we have these crazy fucking vocals!  Grunts and gurgles and predators all sound amazing on each track!  Nick Papageorgio has almost 20 years at working on his craft, and it shows.  The delicate enunciation while still keeping it so guttural can be witnessed when following along with the lyrics.  Check out lyric video for "(Null) Ubiquitous" below.  It features Jeremiah Jensen (Guttural Secrete).  I can't tell if the whole track is him or not, but it is still a prime example of the quality of talent on this release.

Speaking of lyrics, holy shit.  I love how dark yet beautifully written these are.  Feels like a radio-active spawning of a disgusting new life.  Extremely descriptive and gross and actually enunciated rather well throughout.  The cover art, which seems to be a hideous collage, compliments the music and the soundscapes/samples nicely.

I also have to give it up to the producer and mixer/masterer working behind the board here.  I can't find much about them, but damn this is nice.

Recorded by Randall James Thompson

Mastered by Rylie Ellen Wechta

With just 2 demos coming before this, I cannot wait for more from this 4 year old beast of a band!!!!

Check out all releases from Foul Deformity HERE

Desecation - Left To The Trogs - 2024

 Desecation first caught my attention for being so young while still pumping out such a mature sounding brutal death EP two years ago with self-titled "Desecation", which I briefly talked about HERE.

Since then, just following them on social media and their youtube presence, it is clear that they are young but taking this very serious and being themselves, not trying to change anything about what they bring to the table.  Being original with their sound.  

Also, they are surrounded by and playing shows with legends like Cephalotripsy, Disgorge, Vulnificus, Condemned and many more.

When they started to give previews and glimpses of this new album, I was beyond pumped, and now I get to sit down and listen.

Album artwork by legendary Jon Zig

"Left To The Trogs" opens with a disturbing sample that I recognized from a long time ago.  From a scene that definitely stays with you if you ever saw it.  It is from a Kurt Russell movie about 10 years ago, called "Bone Tomahawk."  A scene in which a man is help down and scalped and then held upside down and hawked in two.  It's just lovely! Check the scene out HERE.

The audio from this scene perfectly sets the tone for the next 20 minutes.  An unforgiving onslaught of raw, original BDM with each element of the music getting its proper showcase.  Production is clear yet perfectly raw. 

Guitars are a delightful mix of fuzzy and crunchy, musicianship is tight and steadily marching to and from heavy slams and catchy riffs.  The riffs seem slightly more technical here than on "Desecation".  Excited to watch how this young band keeps growing and progressing.    

Vocals throughout this album are diverse.  Nasty gargling gutturals with the occasional pig squealing and sometimes your basic death growl.  Every method done with confidence and a gravely delivery that sounds well-honed.   Drummer is crazy, detailed fills with a lot going on under the surface.

I have been paying attention to Desecation since I first found them.  A decent amount of live footage is already on youtube and they have that "thing."  They just feel like the complete package.  Hoping to catch them live soon.  Check out a video of the band performing at Angel Ochoa's (Cephalotripsy) Birthday party:

Most of their live videos show three members, and they are listed as a 3-piece band, but I believe this video is their full band line-up:

Todd Novoa - Guitars

Marc Novoa - Guitars, Vocals

Alex Sisko - Vocals

Nate Gonzalez - Drums, Vocals

Sam Little - Bass

Overall, I am LOVING this new offering from this young, still up-and-coming California band!

Will be spinning this allllll day!!

"Left To The Trogs" will be released January 23rd, 2024 via BrutalMind.

Check out "Inducing Cognitive Paralysis" from the album HERE

Orgiastic Rebirth- Corridors of Repugnant Suffering - 2013 Ungodly Ruins

Artwork by MOTTLA

New Zealand's Orgiastic Rebirth are out to impress with their debut, Corridors of Repugnant Suffering, and impress they shall. Though not an instant classic, it is a wonderful slab of originality, providing outstanding diversity in song writing and structure. The band takes elements of old school death metal, brutal death metal, and throws in a dash of doom, creating a rather engrossing listening experience.
When I first saw the name and album cover, I expected another slam clone.  I was staidly mistaken.
Take the vocal stylings of Hooded Menace and mix them with a guttural monster and you'll start to hear something similar to what these two vocalists have created.   Yes, two vocalists, Mastie who also plays bass, and Yarn, who also plays guitar.  After a few listens, you'll be addicted to these old school horror death/brutal death vocals.  Corridors of Repugnant Suffering has a very old school death vibe.
The drums are programmed and have a simplistic, sort of Mortician feeling to them.
The song Substance Induced Psychosis Envoking Mass Perverse Cannibalistic Execution Rituals not only has a long name, but it is the longest track and is basically a doom ballad, employing slow, catchy repeated riffs over dialogue. It actually sounds a lot like Japanese doom outfit Church of Misery.

Some other sections on the album feature writing that boasts straight forward slam, old Devourment style.   Mastie does a really awesome job keeping the loud, shaky bass out in equal reverence to the guitars.  The programmed drumming seems simple, but it really fits what they are doing here, which I guess is blackened death doom slam.  The band has given me their word that the next album with feature real drums.

As much as I really dig these low slow raw gutturals, sadly, Orgiastic Rebirth have since announced they are now searching for a new full time vocalist.
If you are into Old School Death Metal, Death Metal, or Brutal Death Metal, please check this out! It also features covers of classic Death and Mortician songs.




Order Corridors of Repugnant Suffering HERE