Madrost are the immovable force that can’t and won’t be stopped. The aggression and brutality these SoCal metalheads dish out on their latest album, Charring The Rotting Earth, is deadly impressive on a wrecking ball scale. Founded in 2007 and fed a steady diet of classic thrash and death metal, Madrost are spitting hellfire and going scorched Earth with every riff they shred. New Noise Magazine recently caught up with Tanner Poppitt, guitarist and lead vocals for Madrost, and tapped into the metal heart that fuels the beast called, Madrost.
Tell me about the band’s name, “Madrost.”
I saw the word “Madrast” on Wikipedia, thought it looked cool, but hated it with the second “A,” so I changed it to “Madrost.” It’s actually Bulgarian for wisdom, and the definition alone was perfect because I wanted it to encapsulate everything I wanted the band to be, which was intelligent instead of just another gory extreme metal band. Thus, Madrost was born.
Let’s go way back. Do you remember the one defining moment that convinced you, “I need to be in a band doing extreme music?” Was it a record, a concert, etc.?
That is definitely taking me back! The record that brought me into extreme music in general was Leprosy by Death. I remember being, maybe 13 at the time? It is something that still sticks with me all these years later when I found the cassette in my Uncle Greg’s collection he left to me when he passed away.
I remember looking at the cover and saying to myself, “This has to be good,” and indeed it was. As I hit play on the player, the sound of the drop tuned guitars, the riff comes in, then the drums, and finally hearing Chuck’s monstrous roar at the beginning was life changing for me. It was before music became readily available and that literally was when I told myself, “I will be doing this style of music, for the rest of my life.”
And Madrost was formed. How did all the band members come together?
Originally, Madrost was formed out of the frustrations of what was happening around the Orange County, CA area around 2007, and that was metalcore. Not knocking anyone who likes that genre of music, but it didn’t represent what metal was to me personally. I wanted something that was aggressive while maintaining what gave me that adrenaline rush, which was “THE RIFF.”
Unfortunately, metalcore didn’t offer that, and Madrost was born. We started as myself and friends from around my high school jamming in my garage playing Slayer and Death songs. On the flip side of the coin, there was a small scene of extreme metal bands like Xanthochroid and Visceral Decay (RIP), but none who were playing the style of metal that Madrost was.
What about the musical direction of Madrost in the beginning? Did it develop naturally, or did you guys have a blueprint or vision as to how the band should sound?
When we first started, it was more of a standard, death-thrash style of playing. Very simplistic riffs and the blistering drum patterns that original member Zach Cohen was doing at the time. My initial goal was to make an album, and that goal has been achieved tenfold.
If I said I can hear influences from Death, Slayer, and Overkill, would those be three primary bands that have guided Madrost musically and lyrically, or does that influence come from some other place or other bands?
Our influences range from all different types of bands and genres, to be honest. It ranges from Jazz to progressive rock to grindcore and death metal. I think the three bands you mentioned influenced us more towards to beginning of Madrost’s career.
Three albums later, Madrost is hitting on all cylinders, and then COVID-19 shuts everything down. Did that stifle the momentum you had built up, or did it allow you guys to fall back, regroup, and better prepare for the direction and future of Madrost?
Not at all. Instead of just laying low like a lot of other bands did during the lockdown, we shifted our focus to more behind-the-scenes type of stuff. We got signed to No Life Til Metal Records in 2020, Charring The Rotting Earth was released. For me personally, my focus was doing as many interviews as I could to promote the album.
Regarding your latest record, Charring The Rotting Earth, it was released almost a year ago. Was it recorded prior to the pandemic or during it? What were the challenges all of you faced trying to get a new record out to the metal public?
Charring the Rotting Earth was recorded right before the pandemic started. I believe the last thing that needed to be done was the mixing and mastering which was already sent to Hannes Grossman (Obscura, Necrophagist) in March of 2020. I think for me, the biggest challenge was getting the drums tracked. It was very frustrating trying to schedule everything because Mark and myself were on two completely different schedules around that time.
You had the amazing Joel Grind produce your second record, The Essence Of Time Matches No Flesh. What did Joel Grind bring to those recording sessions or bring out of yourselves? It seemed like that album had a more refined sound versus 2014’s Into The Aquatic Sector, which was rawer, more primal.
Joel is a great mastering engineer. We originally went to Alan Douches to master The Essence Of Time Matches No Flesh, and he did an outstanding job. However, I was not completely satisfied with the original mix of that album and myself and Mark went back in to remix it. By that time, we wanted someone who was more down to our level and understood the direction of The Essence Of Time Matches No Flesh record.
Why the choice to not go back to Joel Grind and instead produce Charring The Rotting Earth yourselves?
Well, Mark and I originally recorded, produced and mixed The Essence Of Time Matches No Flesh record, so that part was essentially the same. Only difference was that Necro Nick and me produced and recorded Charring The Rotting Earth. To answer your question, we wanted to keep moving forward and when I heard Hannes’s mix and mastering job of Christian Muenzer’s, Path Of The Hero (2020) album, I knew Hannes was the right guy for the job. That was who Madrost needed at the time in order to get our sound to that next level. Hannes killed it on Charring The Rotting Earth
It seems like The Essence Of Time Matches No Flesh had a sci-fi, conceptual feel to it versus your latest record, Charring The Rotting Earth, which feels more apocalyptic. Is there a continuity between both records?
Our third album The Essence Of Time Matches No Flesh, was really when everything started to come together for the better for Madrost. We got the great Mark Rivas on drums to round out our sound, Necro Nick and myself started to write for the first time together, and the chemistry was there. Not gonna go into detail on the previous members, but I believe everything happens for a reason, and I am just thankful that we have that album to document what went on around 2017.
As far as the conceptual feel goes between The Essence Of Time Matches No Flesh and Charring The Rotting Earth, I let the listener decide for themselves what our music means to them. Nothing worse than hearing the artists’ interpretations of their own music. Let the listener decide what the music means to them.
Has the pandemic soured any of you on playing live or wanting to hit the road and tour? Any fears surrounding this?
I can’t speak for everyone in the band because we all have our own views with what is happening in the world right now. What I will say is, for me personally, until things settle down, I am just concentrating on writing another album and am not even worrying about touring. With Charring The Rotting Earth coming out last year during the pandemic, we feel we are on a roll right now, musically, as a band. With this thinking in mind, the more quality music that we can release right now, the better.
What does the rest of 2021 look like for Madrost?
Twenty-twenty-one looks promising, with new ideas brewing in new songs. I am looking forward to releasing new music that will hopefully help and inspire someone to get through a terrible day in their life. Thank you again for the opportunity in allowing us to get out there more and more. It is because of you guys that Madrost is still a band after 14 or 15 years. See you all real soon.
Purchase Charring The Rotting Earth here.
Visit Madrost at No Life Till Metal Records here.
