What does virulent mean in medical terms? Virulent (VEER-uh-lent) refers to the ability of a virus or a bacterium to cause damage to its host. Virulence can be defined as the quality of being poisonous or injurious to life (i.e., virulent). For an organism to be virulent, it must be able to infect its human host, reproduce, and/or cause a disease. Well, I definitely got infected by their ability to play kick-ass death metal and being a bunch of awesome dudes. Tampa, Florida band Virulence was formed in 2020 and released an EP called "Necrosis" in 2022. According to their own info, they'll pummel you with relentless death metal with technical precision and dark atmosphere. (For fans of Decapitated, Vital Remains, Edge of Sanity, Deicide, and more). After watching them live a few times, I figured it's time to ask a few questions. Chris Defaut (vocals/guitars) was kind enough to answer my call.

Tomek

Hey Chris!! How's it going? What's the weirdest thing ever that you witnessed at the show?

Oh man, that's tough… We all see weird things at metal shows, and it typically doesn't faze us. I'd have to say, while seeing Morbid Angel in Tampa at the Orpheum in 2023 and seeing Trey fall over while he was playing… No one knew what was happening or if he was OK, so it definitely struck me and the audience as weird. There was genuine concern from everyone, and I'm glad Trey is doing well now.

Virulence is a rising star on the Florida death metal scene, and you are pretty well known around here, but not much is out there about the band to be found. Please introduce the band to our readers and tell us about the band's beginnings.

I appreciate the kind words and thank you. We're proud of what we do and how we represent real, authentic Florida death metal in a place that is so rich with death metal history. We look to those Florida death metal icons in our history and understand we'll never touch them and their contributions, but we consider many of them friends and do everything we can to do our Florida death metal history proud. Virulence was started in late 2020, in the middle of the world being shut down during the pandemic. I hadn't played in a band for a number of years, and I reconnected with Kevin Gibbons after I moved to Tampa, since he was in St. Pete. We used to play in a band called Infernaeon all the way back in 2004 or 2005, and we always worked great together. While catching up, we talked about jamming together and writing some music, as we hadn't played together for over 10 years by that time. He was getting musical ideas together with a friend of his who also used to be a former member of Infernaeon, but at a different time than me, so we never crossed paths in that band. His name is Steve Harger, and the 3 of us naturally started comparing notes and writing some stuff. The only missing piece was the drummer, and my friend Mike Petrak was the perfect person for it, as we had also talked about jamming together separately since we already worked together. From there, we took time to jam, write, and perfect what we could about our sound during a time in the pandemic when all we had was time. Instead of being buried in our phones with our eyes glazed over by TikTok and other bullshit, Virulence was created. We made our live debut in 2022 and released our first EP entitled "Necrosis" in November of that year. In 2024, we welcomed our new guitarist, Vince Dibona, into the band, and he was a perfect fit to continue to round out our sound. He's a gifted lead guitarist and an even better guy. Since then, we've been supporting some great tours in Florida while playing all over the state and growing our home fan base. We're also working on our full-length album, which we anticipate a 2026 release probably during the summer.

I watched Virulence play a couple of times already, and every time, you looked and sounded better than the last. How often do you meet up and practice?

When we started the band, we were getting together probably twice a week as a band. More recently, it's more sporadic as we work hard to meet up when we can, but also take care of our families and day jobs. Good news is we all write and practice individually and collaborate our ideas in-person where we can to make sure something new we're putting together has everyone's touch in some way.

Are you being strict and professional, or are you messing around and seeing what happens when amplifiers are on?

Typically, rehearsal is our time to tighten up our set and do what we can to be as accurate as possible when we play live. That doesn't mean we're not having fun and telling jokes or messing with each other. It's a brotherhood, and we get together to do this and have fun while playing some fucking death metal. What more can you ask for? Haha…

The last two shows you played new music. How advanced are the works on new music? Can you tell us about the new songs?

I would say we're evolving in our sound, but we definitely still sound like Virulence. Musicality and technicality are going up, but still being memorable and making sure we're still our brand of Florida death metal. We've gotten some great feedback from fans who have heard some of the new tunes and appreciate that so much.

Is there a primary composer in the band, or do all members contribute ideas?

I would say we all contribute our ideas to make a cohesive idea. I contribute a lot of riffs, and we'll get together and piece them together with what our instruments are. I may have an idea of what drums sound like in my head, but ultimately, Mike decides what works for him and the best thing for the band. Kevin is a very articulate bass player and tries not to just match the guitars all the time. There are times when it's needed, but there are many times he adventures around the fretboard and writes his own music and flair into the piece we're working on. Vince has contributed quite a bit to the new record with many riffs, all his solos, and helping with music arrangement. We all arrange the songs together, typically to come up with something we're happy with.

What is the absolute priority while composing new material?

Make music that we like and hope that also translates to the listener out there. Virulence is a collection of musical works we're proud of and enjoy performing. It's not for everyone, and that's OK. But we think any fan of metal can get into it and enjoy it.

Virulence is your main band, but you also play in Malignancy, Bludgeoned, and Dripping. Is music from those other bands sipping into new stuff being created in any way, or do you shut out and keep anything and everything away while composing?

I don't have a lot to say about Dripping. Bludgeoned was very fun stuff to play on bass, and Sean is a killer guitarist. Some of the most technical stuff I've played, and it was certainly fun to jam with those guys. Malignancy is a band I have loved since high school, so having the opportunity to jam with those dudes was a dream that I got to live. "Intrauterine Cannibalism" is one of my favorite albums! I can confidently say you can hear some Malig vibes on the new album, even though Virulence and Malignancy are very different musically. Much love to Ron, Danny, and Nikhil.

2026 is here. How was 2025 for the band? What do you consider to be the biggest achievement?

2025 honestly was a tough year for the band. We played some great shows, but our writing process severely slowed down. My girlfriend and I welcomed our daughter into the world in November, and we couldn't be happier. But that meant sacrifice for my family and less time to play/write music. But overall, I can't complain as I have the best bandmates I could ask for, and we'll release this record when it's truly ready.

Best of 2025 lists are popping everywhere nowadays. What's your best 5 of last year?

That's tough to say because people are releasing singles a lot nowadays and fewer full albums, but I'd probably have to say these 5…
Unmerciful - "Devouring Darkness", Ominous Ruin - "Requiem", Primitive Man - "Observance", Testament - "Para Bellum", Wrath Of Logarius - "Crown Of Mortis"

Well. That is all I got. End credits belong to you.

Check out our upcoming album "Epidemic Unleashed" coming this year, and thank you to the fans, new and old. Give Virulence a follow on our IG and other socials for updates and new news.

Follow Virulence here:

https://www.facebook.com/virulence.official
https://www.instagram.com/virulence.official/
https://virulence.bandcamp.com/