Creeping Death: Beyond The Boundless
There’s something in the water in Texas; it’s been there for a while actually, from the work of bands like IRON AGE, POWER TRIP and BITTER END, all the way back to a certain controversial group of groove metallers. Even so, the Lone Star State has had some particularly fine representation this year from the likes of JUDICIARY, FROZEN SOUL, SKOURGE, and of course the reason we’re here today: CREEPING DEATH. We catch up with guitarist Trey Pemberton on the eve of the release of their sophomore full-length Boundless Domain – a record that bears all the effortless groove and power that is so often associated with the death metallers’ home state.
“All of us have been playing and going to the same shows for so long you just sort of draw influence from what you see,” explains Pemberton of the rich and diverse scene in Texas today. “Texas is huge. It’s a massive state, so it’s more financially viable for bands here to play amongst the state because it’s about three to five hours depending on the major city that you’re driving to in between each city, so that’s a tour in and of itself… people just kind of circle the wagons and rally around themselves really. I think it’s a cool energy.”
In CREEPING DEATH’s case, inspiration for Boundless Domain in particular came from some of the bands named above, notably in light of the tragic passing of luminaries Riley Gale and Wade Allison within just weeks of each other back in 2020. The band’s hardcore influences are perhaps more pronounced than they ever have been, in turn lending the record an urgency and ferocity that elevates them to the very highest tier of today’s thriving death metal scene. “We take each release as its own individual thing, so it’s just like ‘what are we feeling this round?’,” suggests Pemberton. “We try to always build or try to take a little bit more of a different influence here and there without making it sound like a different band on each song.”
It’s a proper group effort too, a product of collaboration and trust in which every member’s opinion receives equal value regardless of who may have provided the initial idea (often a riff from Pemberton or fellow guitarist A.J. Ross III). “We always ask for input on what everyone thinks because I always just trust their judgement as musicians and their tastes,” elaborates Pemberton. “We have different tastes, but a lot of the things we agree on, we really agree on. I trust their judgement on stuff and they trust my judgement on stuff.”
“Respect to all those people who can just write every single thing, but I would just second guess myself to hell,” he continues. “Personally, collaboration breeds a little bit more creativity. It might take a little bit longer if you don’t have people on the same wavelength, but I feel like I got pretty lucky and I found people who are pretty much on the same wavelength and we can just all be in a room and have ideas and nobody gets angry or anything like that and we just try to write the best music possible – that’s always the goal.”
Also part of the process this time around was producer Adam Dutkiewicz – best known of course as the guitarist for KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, but also the perfect match for a band like CREEPING DEATH’s finely-struck balance between having fun and pursuing musical excellence. “It was good energy but also he’s very meticulous and he knows what he can get out of someone,” offers Pemberton. “He will push for the absolute most precise humanly possible take that you can do, and then he’ll say do it again… He’s got a really good ear and a lot of people don’t realise that he actually really fucks with death metal, like a lot.”
Dutkiewicz isn’t the only big name the band have made friends with in recent years either; the album’s second track Intestinal Wrap houses a vicious feature from none other than the mighty Corpsegrinder, for example, while one need only glance at the list of bands CREEPING DEATH have shared stages with at this point to get an idea of the high regard in which they are held. Particularly noteworthy among them however is CARCASS – a favourite of Pemberton’s own mother back when he was growing up, and now a group he is proud to call friends of his own.
In fact, it’s actually the wisdom of the UK legends’ Jeff Walker that Pemberton draws on as our conversation comes to a close. “We were just hanging out on the bus and [Walker] just looked at one of us and he was like ‘death metal is supposed to be fun’,” he smiles. “And I’m just like dude that’s just so fucking simple, and you would think that you’d be like, ‘oh, yeah, duh’, but sometimes you need it to be spelled out for you. So we just wanted this to be fun. Metal doesn’t have to be super self-serious, it can be fun and heavy and all the stuff you want at the same time.”
“I just want to play in as many places and go to as many places as possible,” he continues as we conclude with a look to the future. “I moved around a lot as a kid and I feel like that was probably imprinted on me very young, just like travelling and meeting people and different cultures, different places. I just want to see as many places and as many corners of this earth and perform for as many of those people as possible.”
Boundless Domain is out now via MNRK Heavy.
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