A GRAVE ACCOMPLISHMENT
Graphic sadistic lyrics and postmortem cannibalistic artwork: a long anticipated album
San Antonio brutal slam / gore-grind artists Flesh Hoarder discuss the bloody path to their debut full length release “Homicidal Necrophile.”
by Ryan A Vasquez
ratedrv79@gmail.com
The underground metal scene in San Antonio, Texas has proven yet again to be alive and well, or in this case un-dead and incredibly sick. For the last six years, this five-piece brotherhood of musicians have weathered the merciless Texas underground circuit and everything that comes with this territory–and like only so many, persevered to stay banded till this day. This well-known “metal” city has a long history of arguably some of the most dynamically diverse and mesh-influenced writing applied to metal music driven by forward-thinking and progressive study. If that sounds like your kind of jam, this band is not for you.
The listener will quickly realize there are no “nu” influences. There is no “progressive” sound. There aren’t any harmonized melodies, happy guitar riffs, and make no mistake, this is not radio friendly. Some parents will even discourage their kids from ever listening to such a genre or prevent them from even gaining access to this material on their smart devices. And why? Because this is Flesh Hoarder (FH), a Texas-born, beer-drinkin,’ extreme and obscene, brutal slam / gore-grind powerhouse whom have just released their debut full length album “Homicidal Necrophile,” and guitarist “Metal” Mike De Leon gave RoM – TUJ some insight on their ravenous hunger to this long anticipated album.
RoM: When did FH officially form?
Mike: First off wanna say thanks a bunch for having me and FH onboard for this interview man! The band first formed in the spring of 2012. That’s about when this all started to take off…
RoM: Describe the scene when FH first started jammin.
Mike: At the time, we were all jamming in separate bands but in the same scene and we were all friends. All our bands played shows with each other. The scene back then was a lot more bonded it seemed like. It’s still that way, but bands just seem to be doing their own thing now…Back then though, when we first started jamming, we knew we had something special with this group of guys. It was a brutal brotherhood.
RoM: I understand there was a hiatus. What happened?
Mike: There was never a hiatus with us, just a long break in between the demo and the full length. We still kept very busy playing shows throughout the Texas circuit…
[The images below are selected FH shows separated by year in each row beginning with 2011, second row from 2013, third row from 2014 / 2015 and the last row from 2017]
Finally in 2016 we got our shit together and started piecing what has become our full length debut together.
RoM: When did FH acquire the current lineup? When did you guys know the chemistry was right?
[From top L to R: Mike Deleon – guitar, Rene Martinez – drums, Angel Tarin – guitar, bottom L to R: Nick Moreno – vocals, Adam Deleon – bass / photos courtesy of Facebook.com/FleshHoarder]
Mike: We had our original lineup solid and set in stone for the first five years or so together. It was myself, our drummer Rene Martinez, our original bassist Jason Rodriguez [not shown above], Angel [Tarin] on guitar and Nicholas Moreno on vocals. We knew right off the bat once we all got into the jam room for the first time that it was meant to be.
We all laughed, joked around but still all had the common idea of creating and playing heavy, brutal death metal straight out of Texas the way we know how to do it!
About a year and a half ago we lost our original bass player Jason but snagged up Disfigured bassist Adam Deleon. It was the perfect fit and replacement–Adam is a beast on bass!
RoM: The debut EP “Infatuation With Menstruation” was released in 2012 / 2013. Was it a difficult road to get to this recording or was everything in perspective?
Mike: …gotta say it was a pretty difficult road, especially on my end with everything I had going on in my life, bands and what not, to really focus on putting time on a full length recording. We all had gone through a bunch of different things in life during those years. It seems like the time is right now and we are releasing it with a great label and everybody is in good places!
RoM: Where did the creativity come from to make “Homicidal Necrophile?”
Mike: Most of the writing for this band comes from the creative mind of our other guitarist Angel [Tarin]. He writes and demo’s an idea and sends them to the band which then allows us to learn, create and add more textures and levels to these songs. Make them heavier and as brutal as all fuck possible!
We all got to add our touch to this album and all ideas were talked and figured out. The final result from the tunes all the way to the layout is sick as fuck!
RoM: How is life with Comatose Music?
Mike:
Steve Green and Comatose Music (CM) have been the best in helping and believing in this band. We have known Steve for over a decade now and have worked with CM before releasing some of our previous band’s albums. [Green] has always been professional and super cool, so when it came down to releasing [“Homicidal Necrophile”], it was a natural fit to work with CM again.
RoM: FH played the Las Vegas Death Fest (LVDF) this year, congrats for that! What can you tell us about this experience? Any other accomplishments / milestones hit for FH that come to mind?
Mike: Thanks for the congrats man! We are all pretty excited to be heading back out to Las Vegas to play this year’s Death Fest. We played the fest a few years back with our old lineup, so it’ll be great to do it again with our lineup today. The album [was] released worldwide on May 11 and just so happens we perform at LVDF on Sat May 12, which made it our official album release show–super huge for us dudes!
We also just signed onto working with Jarvis Booking and Management so hopefully this summer will bring a nice little tour in support of the disc. Besides that, the milestones this band has already achieved are just being able to share the stage with the many bands that have influenced us one way or another. We are also playing with Mortician in June, that’s gonna rule!
RoM: What’s next?
Mike: Hit the road and start pumping the disc everywhere we can and for all the death metal-heads out there who still love their music heavy and chunky! As well as start the writing process of album number two.
RoM: How would you describe FH to the listeners and readers that haven’t had the opportunity to listen or see live?
Mike: Low end, brutal, greasy heavy Texas Death Metal is what you’re gonna get when you jam the Hoarder! Still very professional, but still very raw and evil!! If we’re coming to your town, get out to a show and get the full slab you’re needing..
RoM: Thanks Mike!!!
Mike: Thanks as well man!!
Cheers to everyone out there and hope to see ya at a show soon in the near future! Keep it sick!! –guitarist Mike Deleon
Republic Of Mosh - Texas Underground Journal 