CANNIBAL CORPSE - Alex Webster

Greetings maggot lovers!! This is Efkarpos from Greece. Let’s skip all these typical introductions and go to the interview.
\r\nMetalzone: Your new album is great!! And i think a new CC album is always more brutal than the last release. You’re always pushing the levels to higher limits. Do you try a lot for this during the recording of an album? Or does it just happen?
\r\nAlex Webster:We have always worked very hard on our albums and this new one was no exception. I think  we are able to progress because we try to learn from our past mistakes and constantly improve our band.
\r\n
\r\nMetalzone: What Feedback have you gotten so far for your work and what are your expectations?
\r\nAlex Webster:So far the reaction to the new album has been very positive. I think people can hear that we have made some improvements since our last album. We expected some people to like the album, but things have been even better than we had hoped.
\r\n
\r\nMetalzone: I can see that you have made a lot of songs in the new album that are short, fast and they make very happy every brutal fan of yours. Do you think about what the fans want to hear? Or CC just writes and plays what they feel?
\r\nAlex Webster: We want our fans to love our music, but we also must make sure that we love our music too. This is not difficult as we are fans of fast brutal metal and so are our fans. We are fans of death metal and if we make music we enjoy, other death metal fans should enjoy it too.
\r\n
\r\nMetalzone: Your style is unique and it easy to understand if a song is from CC or not. Have you discovered any bands that you can say that they are true and worthy followers to your cannibalistic way of music?
\r\nAlex Webster:I think there are quite a few bands out there that enjoy our music, but none of them sound like us (maybe they sound better, haha). I think that we might have influenced some bands but none of those bands sound like a Cannibal clone, in my opinion.
\r\n
\r\nMetalzone: When we learned that Jack Owen left the band we were thinking about a great loss for CC that might change things in the band. Although every step you’ve done without Jack is totally progressive and successful. Have you noticed big differences since Jack left the band? Are you still in touch with him and what is Jack’s opinion about the new CC stuff?
\r\nAlex Webster: We are still very good friends with Jack and see him several times a month. The big difference since Jack left is that everyone in the band is more motivated and excited. When Jack left Cannibal Corpse he really was feeling uninspired and that may have had an effect on the rest of us. With Rob back in the band we are now all equally excited so things are going really great.
\r\n
\r\nMetalzone: Whats your opinion about Jack’s work in Deicide and the progress that the band had after Jack joined them?
\r\nAlex Webster: I think Jack did a great job in Deicide. They have a more darkly melodic and high speed sound now, as opposed to the older stuff which was a little slower and had more chunky rhythm guitar parts. I think both versions of Deicide are excellent.
\r\n
\r\nMetalzone: For me CC and Horror are together. Majority loves Horror movies and the theatres are always full if theres a good horror film. However people, out of the metal scene, are not having the same opinion about your music. Why does this happen? I mean the subject may be the same and only the type of art is different. Why people enjoy slash and splatter films but don’t like a slash-splatter type of music in your opinion?
\r\nAlex Webster:I think it’s because they don’t like the music. Death metal music is not something that will every be truly mainstream, it’s just too intense for most people. Also, I think that people find a horror band more offensive than a horror movie because they mistakenly believe that a band must be "singing from the heart" and promoting the lyrics they are singing about. That is not really how it is with gore death metal, bands like us sing about violence but we do not support violence. It is just an interesting and appropriate subject for a violent sounding song.
\r\n
\r\nMetalzone: Can you name 3 horror films that a CC fan must see?
\r\nAlex Webster: The Shining, Night of the Living Dead, Zombie. All horror fans should have seen those.
\r\n
\r\nMetalzone: Many bands are doing remakes of their first album and the fans love it!! Have you ever thought about doing an EATEN BACK TO LIFE remake with George on vocals?
\r\nAlex Webster: We already did the song "The Undead Will Feast" as a bonus track for Vile. We probably will not do anything like that again though. We would rather leave our old albums as they are.
\r\n
\r\nMetalzone: What are your advices to new musicians that are starting a brutal death band? Do you have any advices about the music industry and what must a new musician watch out?
\r\nAlex Webster:First of all, practice a lot. And learn to get along with other people, be they in your band, another band, a fan, a promoter, or whoever. Good personal connections fostered by a positive attitude will take you a long way. Beyond that general advice I would recommend playing lots of shows anytime you can, spreading the word online via the various outlets, and learning about home recording (this will save you a lot of money that normally would be spent on a big studio). Oh, and make sure to play only music you really love, because people can always hear if you are sincere or not. Besides that, there’s really not much money in death metal so the only reason to play it is because you love it.
\r\n
\r\nMetalzone: The last months we had riots in Greece because a cop killed a 15 years old kid without any reason. Whats your opinion about police and their brutal way of life?
\r\nAlex Webster:I am against police brutality and any abuse of power by the authorities.
\r\n
\r\nMetalzone:Whats your memories and opinion about Greece and our metal scene after your visits? Are you planning to come again soon?
\r\nAlex Webster: We love to play in Greece, there are great fans there and we always get great food! We are hoping to play in Greece later in 2009...stay tuned!
\r\n
\r\nMetalzone: Finally I would like to thank you for all this music you gave us through the years. Thanks for your time; I hope we’ll see you soon.
\r\nAlex Webster: Thank you for the interview and thank you to all of our Greek fans, hope to see you all soon! Alex Webster, bassist, Cannibal Corpse
\r\n
\r\nInterview By Efkarpos\r\n