Staying Alive With DONALD TARDY From OBITUARY

Interview by Kris Peters
Obituary are deservedly known as one of the pioneering forces
behind death metal. In a career spanning almost four decades, the
band have redefined the term heavy metal and consistently led
through actions, leaving words to go down in history amongst their
brutal lyrics. With the band set to invade Australia once more in
early 2024, HEAVY had the pleasure of spending some time with
drummer Donald Tardy to gauge just what to expect. "We're down here
in Florida," he began. "We've been home now for two or three
months, so the band's ready to get things going and get on an
airplane and get down there and rock some Australian shows." The
tour starts here on January 5 in Auckland, bringing in the New Year
in scintillating fashion. "We're excited about it," he smiled. "We
know that we don't get to Australia often enough. It's so damn far
away from us that it's only so many times we can get there, but
we're excited. We're excited about the tour, but we're also excited
about these pre-sales and these venues and the fans. They really
seem to be as excited as we are to get this thing going." We point
out the name of the tour - the Barely Alive Tour - and ask if that
is in reference to the band or their fans. "I think that's the band
after that flight trying to get to you," he laughed. "I think this
time it's a 26-hour journey just for us to make it because we head
to New Zealand first. It's just brutal. From Florida to your side
of the world, there's no easy way around it. So the band's gonna
definitely be barely alive by the time we make it there (laughs)."
In the full interview, Donald talks more about the tour and what to
expect, what has changed with Obituary since they were last out
here in 2020, writing a setlist to please everyone, having
Psycroptic and Black Lava as supports, the early days of Obituary
and where they fit in, changing with the times musically, their
latest album and how it was received and more.