Interview Tony Lazaro Vital Remains

Band Members: Tony Lazaro - Guitars Dave Suzuki - Guitar, Bass, Drums Glen Benton - Vocals

8/10/06 Interviewer: Josh Thorne

"There's been a lot of expectations for this album, and we want to please the fans, but before that, we want to please ourselves". 

Vital Remains is one of those bands that have put out quality album after quality album over the years, and yet, due to circumstances with labels and shady businessmen, the band has been relatively unknown to the metal masses until recently. After the release of the band's Dechristianize album, the fury of Vital Remains was finally heard by the masses and the masses ate it up. For someone like myself who's enjoyed the band since even before the release of Dechristianize, it was a true pleasure to speak with founder/guitarist, Tony Lazaro. Tony gave me a call from his home in Pawtucket, Rhode Island and even though a few glitches occurred doing, the interview (due mainly to terrible phone service on both ends) it's one I will truly mark as one of my all-time favorites.

Josh: Tony, how are you man?

Tony: I'm good bro! I'm just sitting here watching all of this nonsense about the terrorists trying to hijack those planes in London.

Josh: Oh yeah, I saw that as well.

Tony: I mean, fuck bro, this shit is getting out of hand.  This is religion at it's finest. You've got these guys who think that by killing themselves they're going to heaven or some shit like that, and then you've got our lunatic President who thinks he's doing God's work.  It's all just fucked up, man.

Josh: Isn't there also some new rule about bringing liquids on the planes, since all of this happened?

Tony: Yeah!  Just today, they said that you can't bring anything on the planes with liquid. Not even Mother's Milk, man!

Josh: And I'm sure this is going to be especially fun for a touring band like yourselves.

Tony: Fuck, you have no idea.

Josh: While we're talking about touring, by the way, how are you feeling about this tour coming up with Grave, Dismember, and yourselves?

Tony: I think it's a pretty killer tour, because it's two very respected old school Death Metal bands that all of us like, especially Dismember. We're totally looking forward to it, because both of these bands have been around as long as we have and I just think it's gonna knock the shit out of the fans in North America. I wish it was a longer tour!

Josh: Ola had actually mentioned something about a West Coast leg of the tour when he and I spoke, a few weeks ago.

Tony: Well, I'd love to get on it!  I'd heard some mention of that, but I'd love for the whole package to do it.

Josh: It's really good to see you guys back on the road, man.  I mean, Vital Remains hasn't toured that often and aside from the Godkillers tour and the Maryland Deathfest earlier this year, you guys haven't been out on the road a lot.

Tony: Yeah, we did the short run with Deicide on the West Coast too but we never did the East Coast. I've talked to Glen about doing another one of those because so many other cities wanted to see us and didn't get to the first time around. The Godkillers Tour was almost the exact opposite because we did nothing but East Coast dates for that one. We're trying to make a change and we're really busy right now, but we want to get out as much as possible. Those are the plans right now. We want to tour more all over the world, and as soon as we finish the new record, we will.

Tony: Oh, thank you very much! I really appreciate that, bro.

Josh: That brings me to my question about the new album.  For such a massive record like "Dechristianize", how hard was it to follow something like that up?

Tony: It's been very hard, definitely. After "Dechristianize" came out, I honestly DIDN'T know if I could top it.  I just said, "If I can fucking MATCH it, I'll be happy!"

Josh and Tony: Laughter

Tony: We've been going over everything with a fine-toothed comb and I'm really excited because people are gonna shit when they hear it. There's been a lot of expectations for this album, and we want to please the fans, but before that, we want to please ourselves. That's not being selfish at all, but we have to love the album before we'll let anyone else hear it. We'll be recording in October, but Century wanted us to do it in September. We couldn't do it that way because it would have been rushing the album and we just don't want to do that.  We want to take our time with it, and just let it happen naturally, so we're going to be doing it in October.

It took me a year to write "Dechristianize" and that was a daily process writing that album. I spent the same amount of time writing this one, but where our schedule has been more hectic, it's been harder to do. We did over 60 shows in Europe, and we'd work on our songs whenever we could. At this point, I think people are going to love it. It's just as brutal as "Dechristianize" but there's more hooks in it and a lot more melodic stuff. Dave really went for it with his lead work! I think people are gonna shit themselves again, and we've even got a few songs that aren't quite as long as before.  It's going to be a very sick roller coaster ride and some very evil shit. I like it a lot.

Josh: Does it have a tentative title yet?

Tony: It does, but I'm afraid I can't say what it is at this time. They told me to keep it under wraps, but you'll know soon. The artwork is being worked out right now and it's looking really evil.

Josh: Who will be handling lyrics this time around?

Tony: Dave's going to be doing them again, just because of the phenomenal job he did with "Dechristianize". Glen offered, but we're gonna stick with what Dave did. I wrote all of the lyrics for that album and he wrote the lyrics and filled in the leads and harmonies. I still don't know that we're gonna beat "Dechristianize" but we're trying to gather the same vibe from that album. We're not changing anything, even down to the lyrics.

Josh: Where will you guys be recording this?

Tony: As of right now, we're trying to work with Neil Kernon. I spoke to the label about it and they talked to Neil and he's really excited about it. However, when I spoke to Glen last week, he'd mentioned rethinking this and going to Morrisound and working with Jim Morris. The thing is, we weren't happy working down there last time but we'll be working with Jim Morris this time. The last time we just worked with an apprentice of his, so of course I'm sure it will be much different working with Jim Morris himself. We want this to be the best produced album to date.  Even if the music doesn't surpass "Dechristianize" we want to make sure the production does. Either way, we're really looking forward to it and so is Glen.

Josh: You know, on the subject of Glen, I've just gotta say that I really have a lot of respect for him after the Godkillers tour.  How did he handle doing two sets every night, one with you guys and one with Deicide?

Tony: Man, there were a lot of people saying Glen wasn't going to be able to do it but I'll tell you right now, he showed every single one of them that he could. It went over very well and we got a killer response from the fans.  The attendance levels were great with sell-out shows, and Glen just proved that there's a reason he's an icon in Death Metal. The guy is a total professional and he's been doing it for such a long time, so I knew he could pull it off.  He didn't have a sore throat or anything like that. He'd floor people with us and then he'd go play an hour with Deicide and not miss a beat. I respect the guy a lot and once again, I know it's tough for him. He's really busy with Deicide, but we do have a session singer who helps us when Glen's not there. He knows he's not Glen Benton but he gives it his all and he wins people over every night. Glen believes in this band, and we work really hard to do what we do.

(At this point, Tony's phone reception dies and momentarily, he calls back)

Tony: What the hell was that?

Josh: I think we're seeing the Patriot Act in action.  Perhaps you shouldn't have said Bush was a lunatic...

Tony: What?!  I mean...I love George!  Yeah, he's the best president ever!

Josh and Tony: (Hysterical Laughter)

Josh: Now, you guys are on Century Media these days.  I'm just curious as to how you're feeling about Century, as opposed to your old label Osmose, especially considering Osmose's reputation for treating their bands...rather badly.

Tony: Fuck, you're telling me! Wait...did I just say that?

Josh and Tony: (Laughter)

Tony: It's like night and day! The way Osmose does things is something I'm not happy with, even to this day. I don't want to get into it, but Herve (label head) is very shady and I don't believe a word he says when it comes to his accounting practices and financial dealings concerning this band. Again, it's not something I want to get into but with Century, it's so much better for us. Those people are truly professional and they treat us with so much respect. They've got their shit together, and they will get your product out there. Osmose didn't have finances to push bands, they had shitty distribution and that's the reason I wanted to sign with a label that had the resources to push us in our own country!  In the U.S., people were having to pay top dollar just to get our records!

I wanted to be on a label that could put our stuff out in the States and give us tour support, because we want to tour as much as possible. Century has given us everything we could possibly want out of a label and I can't say enough about those people. All the top bands on Osmose left Osmose, so it's not just me and my opinion! They lost the majority of their top roster and the reason for that was all of us were being treated like shit. (Note from Josh: Tony is telling the truth, here. Did you know that Marduk, Enslaved, AND Immortal all used to be on Osmose?  Food for thought)

Josh: And the thing is, Vital Remains released several amazing death metal albums while on Osmose that no one in the U.S. was able to hear!

Tony: Exactly! We put a lot of heart and soul into those albums!  Take, "Forever Underground", for example. In Europe, people love that album but in the States, no one could find it! We had such a ridiculous budget for that album, and people say "Wow, that was good production!" and I just look at them because we only had $2,000 to record that whole album!

Josh: Jesus Christ!

Tony: Dave and I had to produce that album! That was the first album we did together, and we put a lot of work into it.  We tried to get a reasonable amount and there was no way they'd give it to us. We had to make a miracle happen in this small studio, and I tell bands to this day "If your label doesn't give you a budget, how will you make a quality album?" It's the same thing with "Dawn of The Apocalypse"! We did the best job we could, and if the quality was raw, I think the fans would take it into consideration. We always put our performance first, but we still want our albums to sound good!

Josh: That's understandable.

Tony: That's why we want the new album to have a killer production!  I've tried to buy the rights back from those two albums, and before "Dechristianize" came out, they were going to sell them to me!  When they heard "Dechristianize" they refused.

Josh: Oh, you have to be kidding me!

Tony: I'm not!  The same thing happened with Peaceville. We wanted to buy back the rights to "Into Cold Darkness" and they were ready to sell them to us, but once "Dechristianize" came out, they refused as well. 

Josh: I smell something here...

Tony: (Laughing) Yeah! I've never seen a royalty from either of those labels for any of those records, bro. Not a thing.

Josh: That's terrible, bro.

Tony: I think it sucks, because the fans should have a right to have the best quality possible with those albums.  Those labels are ripping off us and our fans and that's very shitty.  I wrote the music to all of those albums, and I haven't seen one single dime from any of those albums.

Josh: That's one of the reasons I was so happy you guys put out "The Horrors of Hell" release on Century.  When "Dechristianize" came out, there were people telling me that it was the best debut release they'd ever heard.

Tony: I believe it.

Josh: And I would have to say "No, Vital Remains has been doing this for years but this is their first release for a good label."

Tony: They'd also think we were the Glen Benton side project!

Josh: I heard that one as well, yeah.

Tony: You know, I don't think they mean it in an insulting way. There's a new generation getting into us, and the older death metal fans have heard of us but these younger kids have not. I actually get e-mails sometimes from the younger kids who are just now discovering our older albums. That IS the reason I put out "Horrors of Hell" because these kids were only like eight or nine years old when this stuff came out. That's why I wanted Century to release it, so people could see where we came from and see how far we've come as a band. I made sure it wouldn't be exploited, so they're only releasing about 5,000 of those. I'm just glad those kids are going to have a chance to own this stuff and see our progression. I did all the liner notes and told a few stories, so people seem to really like it.

Josh: Switching gears for just a minute, I wanted to ask you about the dissolving of the company that makes your guitars, Yavcon.

Tony: Ok, bro.

Josh: One of our other writers wanted to know why the company is closing?

Tony: I've heard a few things, but I've known the owner for years. He built me my dream guitar, The Crucifier, and gave me a signature guitar that is a reflection of who I am. I'm always going to be grateful for that.  He had to sell his tools recently, which really made it impossible for him to build guitars and I don't know if he's going to get back into it. It's a shame, because he's really talented. I hope we hear from him again. I need more guitars! I've got more ideas!

Josh: It seems like Vital Remains is finally getting the respect that I've felt like you guys deserved since I first heard the band in '99.  Would you say this is an accurate statement, on my part?

Tony: It's definitely paid off, man. We're on a level now where more people respect us and it's better for us now than it's ever been. We've worked for seventeen years to get where we are and a lot of people are putting us in the same category with some of the elite death metal bands that influences us! To be among those guys is more of an honor than you could ever imagine, bro. I was there when the Floridian scene broke and I was the first one in Rhode Island to have those albums! I booked Morbid Angel on the Altars of Madness Tour and we ended up opening for them! That album, to me, is what kicked death metal in the ass! I saw them a few years back when they played with Pantera, and I was onstage with Phil Anselmo watching them. 

It's been a long, hard road for us and the fact that we're on this level makes me proud. We've kept our integrity, and you can't buy that.

Josh: What hopes do you have for this band, Tony?

Tony: We want to keep this going. We want to tour more, record more albums, and play countries we've never played. There's a lot of goals we still want to achieve, and the main one is exposing more people to our music.

Josh: Any last words for our readers, brother?

Tony: I want to thank everyone that has supported us throughout the years and for the encouragement, they've given us. I'd also like to thank you for the interview, Josh. Best of luck to you, and I hope to see you on the road!  I think we're going to be where you're at in Virginia, so if you can, come out and see us!

Josh: I'll do my best.

I would like to thank Tony Lazaro for sticking with it all of these years and for being a metal warrior in every sense of the word. Vital Remains is one of the sickest bands the underground has ever seen and they've never once lost their integrity...never. For more, check them out at www.vitalremains.com