Massacre's Kam Lee - The Godfather of Growl and champion of TRUE OSDM has returned! You've gotta be an old head to really understand an artist like Kam, or at least one who genuinely appreciates the art of death metal done the old-school way. Kam has been involved with death metal since its humble early '80s inception - the days of denim, leather and of destroying posers! People tend to forget the '80s way of doing things, as it's been overshadowed by pervasive early '90s revelry. Kam stands firm in his stance and in his belief that death metal is an art form beholden to tradition, as it should be! What's become of the genre over the past couple of decades is laughable in my opinion, and you will soon see that I'm not alone.

Massacre are set to unleash their fifth studio LP, "Necrolution", via Agonia, and if it's AI cover art, sanitized production, and uber-technical mumbo-jumbo you're accustomed to then prepare for some serious fucking disappointment. During my latest interview, Kam Lee of Massacre discusses the glory days of death metal, Chuck Schuldiner, Scott Burns, Lovecraft, horror films and of course the new album. Put on some real OSDM, rip a bong load, and down a couple shots of Jack to this one! Here we go…

Jeger

Greetings, Kam. It's an honor! Shit, man, you've been at it since the beginning - the Mantas (later known as the legendary Death) era. Death metal was but a whisper in those days and it was guys like yourself, the late Chuck Schuldiner, Rick Rozz, Allen West, and Terry Butler who ushered in death metal as we would come to know it following the formation of Jeff Becerra's Possessed. I've always been curious as to how it all started and who actually influenced you guys. How would you describe the OSDM scene and who were some of your early influences?

Well, considering I really wasn't a metalhead in the beginning back in 1983 and 1984, I was more into punk music. Two of my biggest influences were the Misfits and the Plasmatics. Honestly, that's the realm from where I came. Later on, it was much more for all demo material stuff like the  Hellhammer demo and the first Venom album. For me personally, I was really digging the early thrash coming out of Germany such as Kreator (Back then called Tormentor), Destruction, and Sodom.

Gotta talk Chuck! The guy went on to revolutionize the genre through some very well-respected and groundbreaking albums as the legendary Death mastermind. What was it like working with him and can you tell us something about him that really impacted you?

He was a stubborn kid with obvious guitar skills and a bit of an attitude of entitlement. However, that's not me ragging on him. It's just me telling the truth - unfortunately, most fans don't want to hear that part of the truth, because they have a particular opinion about what they want to believe. So, although it's not my intention, it's hard to tell the truth because it sort of knocks certain people's idols off the pedestal that they put them on. So, no matter what I say, it will always be taken in a negative way, because all these years it's been set up that way. I am the villain to his hero.

You had the opportunity to work with Scott Burns who is a Tampa legend himself; having engineered a slew of records for the likes of Deicide, Obituary, and Cannibal Corpse to name a few at Morrisound Recording. The very best in my opinion. How would you compare his work to other engineers you've worked with?

To be honest, I don't really have anything to say. Scott was just an engineer. He did what most Engineers do: He made suggestions, he pushed knobs, turned buttons and that was about it. The majority of what was happening was basically Colin Richardson. So, even though Scott Burns was there, Scott was just a guy pushing buttons and changing levels from what I saw. Colin Richardson was doing most of the work.

How do you feel about modern recording technology such as Auto-Tune and Pro Tools? Personally, I see the creation of technology like this as a catalyst to a very undignified future for music in general.

Technology is inevitable, but it's not the technology itself that is ever the issue, but how those who wield it that need to be taken into consideration. If one becomes too reliant on technology, then are they truly using technology, or is technology using them? I wouldn't blame technology and modern advances in recording for killing music any more than I would blame the manufacturing of guns for killing people. The gun didn't kill the person. The person using the gun is responsible for killing, and in the same way, the person using technology could be responsible for killing music. However, it's all just a matter of perspective and what side of the fence you stand on.  It's not just the individuals using the technology or making music, but it also has to do with how much the fanbase is willing to accept. From what I've seen, especially in the past decade is the fans are definitely divided, so you're gonna have fans who are going to adhere to old-school aesthetics and ideals, and then you're gonna have more modern fans who could care less about old-school ways and only care about what technology can easily bring them.

Alright, let's jump into your new album, "Necrolution", scheduled for a November 8 release via Agonia. This one also delves into the realm of Lovecraft. From which of his stories did you draw inspiration for this one?

I take influence from a lot of Lovecraft stories; some direct, some indirect. It's not necessarily something that's meant to be a synopsis of one of his stories. I'll take ideas and small parts of a story in hopes that it encapsulates an atmosphere rather than trying to tell the entire story in a song. Sometimes I've done that and I've just taken small parts of it, and everything like I said is literally based on Lovecraft directly. There's a lot of indirect influences as well. I use a lot of Lovecraft as a metaphor for my personal misanthropy. I personally don't like mankind - I think human beings are a virus and disease. I use Lovecraftian aesthetics as a way to express my disappointment and disgust for humanity. While a lot of death metal bands and black metal bands use satanic imagery as a way to express nihilism, I instead use cosmic horror to express a deeper existentialism about man's place in a ruthless universe.

There are also some 80's film references mixed into the lyrics. Which films in particular inspired some of the lyrics for "Necrolution"?

I base three songs off of three of Stuart Gordon's films that he based on Lovecraft. He was the horror movie director who was basically responsible for bringing Lovecraft to the forefront of horror movies in the 80s.

Films like: THE REANIMATOR, FROM BEYOND, and CASTLE FREAK. These are the three films that I based songs off of directly.

Favorite horror film? I really dig the old-school '80s flicks. They had to actually create out of physical material back then. The Fly (1986) is one in particular that stands out for me.

It's actually hard for me to pick a favorite because I like so many films. But for me, my all-time favorite films are the original EVIL DEAD along with the original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. Those two films resonate with me and really are the root films to my preferred style.

You seem to have an affinity with Swedish DM artists. You've chosen to work with Rogga Johansson (Paganizer) and Jonny Pettersson (Wombbath). The Swedish style is a lot different than ours. What were you expecting out of our Sverige brothers that you may not have gotten from an American artist?

An understanding and respect for true old-school aesthetics and traditions.

What does your touring cycle in support of the new album look like so far?

Hahaha! That's actually hilarious, as we have been trying to find a talent agency to book us, but so far it's been difficult. Truth is, I'm not one to bullshit, lie and try to say that we have a huge touring schedule all planned out - blah blah blah - that's far from the truth. Like I said, it's incredibly hard to get any touring, especially in the US because MASSACRE is not a band that's really that popular in the US. So, we basically have to go back to where we are most welcomed and that's in Europe. Europe seems to be the only place where we can thrive, but that's not a problem, because I prefer touring in Europe as opposed to the US, because you wanna go where we are appreciated. The US just doesn't really show us much support.

What's your overall opinion on contemporary death metal? The real bread and butter these days seems to be found underground.

Well, if by contemporary death metal you mean the popular crap that can be bought in a mall store like Hot Topic or Spencer's Gifts then yeah, well, I don't consider that to be true death metal. And I'm sure a bunch of your readers reading that will find that offensive, but it's just a matter of opinion. Like you said, it seems the bread and butter these days is to be found in the underground. I've always considered MASSACRE an underground band and never one that should ever be popular… Being popular isn't true death metal sensibility - that's rockstar poser bullshit, and I'm all against rockstar poser bullshit! I'll leave that up to the cash cow cover bands and poser elite fans who support that kind of shit.

Do you have a message for your fans?

Well, thanks for the interview and I hope the fans find the band and the new album to be something that is a retro-nostalgic look back to the old days and the era gone by of the true underground death metal scene!