Deceased is a band that plays “death metal from the grave” and has been at it since the 1980s. They were one of the early bands to work with Relapse Records, and had one of their albums inducted into Decibel Magazine’s Hall of Fame.
Shane Fuegel has been playing guitar in the band since 2006 (along with longstanding guitarist Mike Smith, who transitioned to a studio-only position), and the last time we spoke with him, it was about his band Biovore, and that conversation was a long time ago. These days, Shane and Deceased are “just playing shows when we can. King [Fowley, drums], Mike and I are supposed to start writing some time in late Spring, early Summer,” he reports via email.
Explaining how the process works, Shane continues, “Songwriting is basically Mike. He brings the riffs, and most of the time he has the rhythms figured out. He shows me basic ideas, then I color them to fit around him. It’s pretty cool. It’s not the dictatorship you would expect from a guy who has all the great ideas he does.”
The new album for which they’re writing will be titled Ghostly White, to be released on Hell’s Headbangers, which has also reissued one of the band’s classic albums, Supernatural Addiction, originally released in 2000. “Hell’s Headbangers is doing a great job with getting the old records out,” Shane says. “I like Supernatural. It’s not my favorite Deceased record, but I know it’s a lot of people’s. My favorite is probably The Blueprints for Madness [released in 1995]. I do think it is one of the best put together and produced.”
While we’re talking to Shane, we have to ask him about his guitars. “I mainly play my white Peavey Wolfgang. It stays in tune and feels good to play. I also use my Gibson Flying V. I would play that more, but it doesn’t stay in tune. All my guitars are players, meaning they’re basically cheap so they can be beat up. I have an amazing Luthier who fixes them up so they look and play like $5000 guitars.”
Death metal fans will be able to see Shane tear it up with his axes on the West Coast on Deceased’s “March of the Cadavers” tour, which is a very Deceased name for something. Shane promises the tour is “going to be pedal to the metal, west bound and down.”
Right on. If you need more Deceased, there’s plenty of old-school coverage in the Disposable Underground archive, so dig in.
Tour dates:
3/8 @ Ziggys, Chattanooga, TN
3/9 @ Hooligans, Albuquerque, NM
3/10 @ Rocky Point Cantina, Tempe, AZ
3/11 @ Slidebar, Fullerton, CA
3/12 @ The Joint, Los Angeles, CA
3/13 @ Elbo Room, San Francisco, CA
3/14 @ Burt’s Tiki Lounge, Salt Lake City, UT
3/15 @ Aqualung, Denver, CO
3/16 @ Fubar, St. Louis, MI
