The Day Of The Beast #Interview

Since their self-titled debut in 2008, Virginia’s The Day of the Beast have been firing off regular, intense bursts of gruesome, horror themed extreme metal. The band’s latest Indisputably Carnivorous is their first since 2017’s The Ultimate Cremation Pyre and with track titles like On Top Many Layers of Horror and Judas in Hell be Proud you should have some idea what you’re getting yourself into. Guitarist Steve Redmond graciously took the time to answer some of my questions about the band.

Thanks for doing this interview for Blessed Altar Zine. First of all, who is The Day of the Beast and what does everyone contribute to the band?

Steve: Thanks for having us! We’re a death/thrash metal band from Virginia. We’ve had a few lineup changes over the years, but currently we are:

Bobby Phippins – Guitars
Steve Redmond – Guitars
Justin Shaw – Bass
Steve Harris – Vocals
Jeremy Bradley – Drums

We’ve been going strong with this lineup for a few years now and I think It’s the most solid lineup we’ve had!

Indisputably Carnivorous is the band’s fourth album. How do you think the band has evolved since your debut album back in 2008?

Steve: Well, as I mentioned before, we’ve had some lineup changes. Mostly guitarists. I’ve been playing with TDOTB since 2011, and I can say that with the addition of Bobby, I feel we’ve been able to push ourselves further musically and we’ve all also just become stronger at our instruments over the years.I think the band’s direction overall has stayed the same however.

What music has been the biggest influence on the band? I think I hear traces of Exodus and Slayer on the latest record. Are those bands that have inspired The Day of the Beast?

Steve: Absolutely! I don’t think you could be in a thrash band of any type and say that those bands didn’t have some sort of impact on your sound. They’re both huge influences, and I feel we all also draw influence from the more extreme sides of metal/death metal as well.

Throughout the band’s releases there’s a running theme of demons and monsters (as well as in the band’s name and artwork). What atmosphere or impression is the band out to create for the listener?

Steve: Steve Harris (vocals) loves to write about horror. We try to paint that landscape for him with music so he can build upon that with his lyrics. So basically, it’s brutal, dirty, and sometimes dark and chaotic.

Aside from musical influences, what else has inspired the band in terms of lyrics, music and visuals?

Steve: Books, and movies! Anything super evil, dark, obscure. Cosmic horror is awesome.

The band’s last album The Ultimate Cremation Pyre came out in 2017, what’s been happening for the band in the time between then and the release of the new album?

Steve: Our previous guitarist Zach Garvin left the band in 2018 and Bobby joined. We obviously had to spend some time working with Bobby to learn the older material. Other than that we mainly just played a bunch of shows and worked on Indisputably Carnivorous!

What impact has the pandemic had on the band and the making of the new album?

Steve: Other than not playing shows, which totally sucks, it really gave us a lot of time to refine the new material. It also gave us time to experiment with recording and drum production. We had a ton of time on our hands and I feel like we put it to good use.

Now that the album is out what plans are there for promoting the album and doing shows?

Steve: We’re working on booking some cool regional shows at the moment. We have our eyes on touring, but venues are still difficult to book at the moment. We really hope early next year we can do some touring though!

Finally, is there anything else you’d like to promote or mention?

Steve: Just to spread the word about The Day of the Beast. Check out our new album Indisputably Carnivorous! Also, keep an eye out for us on the road, and follow our social media and all of that jazz!

Interview by Tom Boatman

Band photo courtesy of Chris Joao

Thanks again to Steve for answering my questions. Indisputably Carnivorous is out now on Prosthetic Records on digital, CD and limited coloured vinyl. You can pick it up on bandcamp and follow the band on their social media pages below to stay up to date with what the band has going on.