My Interview With Death Metal Superfan Adam Conrad

Adam Conrad is the epitome of death metal fandom. I first met him 6 or 7 years ago on Myspace, and if anyone lives or dies for the art, it is Adam. His passion for the auditory macabre is unrivaled. Hidden in the depths of Kentucky, he is safe from civilation, unleashing this guy in a big city would mean havoc of the highest order. Here’s my quick interview with him:

Universe Number Five:It’s understandable that high school kids could listen to death metal, but what is it that makes some of us in our 30′s, 40′s, and 50′s continue to appreciate loud noise with growled vocals?

Adam Conrad: Well the blunt and factual answer is because we’re mature enough to understand it’s the greatest music on earth! But if we want a little more inside thought, for many of us we didn’t get into this music because its what “everybody else was doing” just like we didn’t stop listening to it because it’s what “everyone else ISN’T doing”. We loved it in the first place for our own enjoyment, we weren’t addicts because someone else gave us the pipe or rolled it up for us! We’re the ones that planted it, grew it, harvested it, indulge in it…sell it…buy it… Hell i think WE are the pushers HAHA! For me, its the proverbial dragon to chase, I will never get enough, there is no possible way I will be 100% satisfied, always gotta get the next album, go to the next show, get the new shirt, find the new bands etc., etc.

UNF: What was the first death metal album you bought? What was the first death metal album that totally hooked you?

Adam: While it wasn’t the first album I heard, the first I bought and the first that totally hooked me was Cannibal Corpse “Butchered at Birth.” Its 100000% everything I ever wanted to hear. It wasn’t Night of the Living Chainsaw Massacre and it wasn’t Slayerdeth, it was both, times 400 fucking million, gore soaked, brain splattering carnage! The vocals sounded like the monster in the closet of the most emotionally tormented child in the known universe. The guitars literally sounded like the grinding of brains and bone. it was dark, morbid, haunting, EVIL fucking music. I played it for EVERYONE i knew and from there on i didn’t have too many friends… (true story!). Almost every song mentioned killing children, the cover art was the most insane thing on the planet (still is HAHA!)… The solos sounded like cats in a blender, everything is soaked in blood, vomit, pus, horror, fear, …DEATH. Goddamn that album is so DEATH-Metal, its the most fucking DEATH thing in the world! The Metal Blade logo on the tape was so tiny but yet the “DEATH RECORDS” logo was bold and bright for all pre-teen eyes to see. This wasn’t Judas Priest “subtly” referring to oral sex. This was a decapitated body, searching for its…. heeeeaaad. Brains seep through cracks, my axe continues to hack! That album is one of the most beautiful things to ever exist. Anyone who doesn’t like it is a MEGAWIMP!

UNF: What was the first death metal concert you saw?

Adam: I was banned from going to shows when i was younger so I had to sneak to what I could, how I could… Cannibal Corpse-The Bleeding 1994 tour, caught about 4 songs HAHA!

UNF: Who in the death metal scene could you actually beat in an arm wrestling match?

Adam: My arms are the size of those miniature Louisville sluggers man………. you’re gonna have to find like, a 14 year old girl who just finished her emo faze and heard Cannibal Corpse yesterday.

UNF: Clearly the ’90s were the heyday for death metal, but what, would you say, is the best death metal album released since 2000?

Adam: Repugnant-Epitome of Darkness – another very fantastic one is Deathevokation-The Chalice of Ages
those 2 stand out as being not just good, or great-but monumental milestones of EXCELLENCE within the near 30 years of DeathMetal’s existence!

UNF: What are 10 death metal albums everyone should own (I know you’ll probably wanna list 100, but keep it to ten, hahahahaha)

Adam: Nice try Shawn, but you and I both know I’m going to cheat

REPULSION-HORRIFIED!!! (greatest achievement in the history of recorded audio! YES! even better than Butchered’!!!)

And the following “10″ that hold a candle to it (in no order) ARE:

Cannibal Corpse-Butchered at Birth
DismembeR-Like An Everflowing Stream (& Pieces)
EntombeD-Left Hand Path (, & everything else they did under Earache)
SinisteR-Cross The Styx (, Diabolical Summoning & Hate)
Monstrosity-Imperial Fuckin’ Doom
Possessed-Seven Churches (, Beyond the Gates & The Eyes Of Horror)
Pungent Stench-Been Caught Buttering
Brutality-Screams Of Anguish
Demilich-Nespithe
MorbidAngelDeathNapalmDeathObituaryPestilenceBoltThrowerMalevolentCreation-You Know The Albums Already

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