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 Of all the bands interviewed 'live' over the three issues of this zine, Morbid Angel's Trey Azagthoth has to stand out as the weirdest fish yet, giving even a stoked-out-of-his titties Jason Newsted a run for his shekels in the arena of speech patterns and enthusiasm. Sounding with alarming frequency like a new-age guru on a major book-selling plug, there were a couple of times when I suddenly feared that he'd sneaked off for a piss and stuck on a tape, but nope, 'twas still our man all the way through. But this is good... with a distressingly high proportion of interviewees, you're trying to drag something halfway decent out of guys who simply have nothing of interest to say, or who couldn't be arsed to make an effort... with Trey, it's the exact opposite... the guy's a ball of energy... ask a question and away he goes, minutes at a time... actually getting him back to the mundane issue of an interview is something of a challenge in itself.
And here's the result. Light that incense, loosen your clothing and imbibe some mind-expanders. Sitting comfortably? Good. Let's journey into the beyond...
We'll start off with the new album, predictably enough... to me, on first spin it seemed to have a very 'Covenant'-like feel to it...
"Does it? Cool"
Yeah, it sounds like a step backwards -though not a regression- toward the Morbid core. Subsequent listens give rise to more parallels with other albums, like I can increasingly see more 'Formulas..' type themes appearing, but what make of my first impression?
"I think what impression you get is as fair as anyone else's. Because there's no inherent meaning in the universe, or anything in it. So whatever impression you get is no better or worse, not truer or less true, than any other. There's no different value there, except for in a man's mind. Basically, the album is what it is... it's a new album... it's a contrast from the last one... it's not concentrating on proving, you know, our speed or things like that, but even though there still is some very fast stuff going on, it's more concentrating on the groove. Y'know, groove..."
(there's a sudden shriek of feedback down the phone... did I hear correctly?!),
"...y'know, get movin', get the girls fucking taking their clothes off, having fun"
I did... Rock'n'roll!
 "And about celebrating the spirit and joy, and flowing... but, yeah, of course it's also spooky and eerie and creepy and all that too, but to me that's fun. A friend told me that that's the kind of music that is not the way music was ever intended to be played. For example, the guitar melodies were not what people had in mind when they started writing music. Well, that just comes from me, the stuff that I wrote that is, it came from inside me, the feeling, and this album is to (pause)... the main theme of the album is about that, whatever you believe that's going to have a great impact in your life. It's going to impact on what you see, pay attention to, things like that. You change your beliefs, and you change your world, you change the way things happen. You change everything, you change the way you see things. Well, this album is something to be approached with emptiness. One should be empty before they listen to it. They should not have any pre-decided things or expectations of it. They should not think 'well, I hope this this is fast' or 'I hope this is slow', 'I hope it's like this album/ that album'... no, none of that... you'll spoil it.. you won't see it for what it really is. Find a silent place, and let the music come in there... and then, experience it for what it is. Experience the nothingness of the potential. Of the potential to become anything. And then, see where it takes you... and there you go. That's really the thing... I know that's very weird for a lot of people, but I've done interviews today with people who just don't get it, and I'm sorry... but I get older and I learn more, and experience more... y'know, I'm not a kid, I mean I'm still a total kid, but I'm not the sort of kid I was when I did 'Altars...'. Basically now, the only thing in life that's meaningful or important is joy. That's it. There's nothing else. The only reason to rebel against anything is because something's in the way of you having a good time and enjoying life. The only reason to work to accomplish anything is to get the feeling.. but you can get the feeling without doing a damn thing, because the feeling is there, it's only in the mind that we become blinded to it."
I'd say that there's an obvious freedom of inspiration behind your lyrical matter. Also, compared to Dave Vincent's prose-narrative (Dave increasingly wrote Morbid's lyrics up to his final album with the band, 'Domination'- Ed), you've a more 'random', statement-type lyrical approach... tell me, the use of Sumerian... is it genuine Sumerian?
"I wouldn't say it's so genuine, it's genuine to me. Sumerian was made by a man, that language. I'm a man, I can make my own language. What's more 'real' about it? 'Real' is in the mind"
To the casual observer, your messages about The Ancient Ones, that use of Sumerian, and the arcane structure of your lyrical content would suggest that you're heavily influenced by the works of the novelist H. P. Lovecraft... or the 'Necronomicon'... however, I've seen you taking pains in many interviews to point out that this isn't actually the case... rather, that works such as the Qaballah are more important...
"The Qaballah... if you want to find magic, and if you want really want to find the power that you're looking for. If anyone's looking in the Necronomicon or HP Lovecraft stories or whatever for power, to be a magician or wizard, if you're looking to become a magic user, someone who can perform magic and make things happen in their life, in control of their life... don't read those books... those books are just like the icing on the cake. If you want to get to the real stuff, study the Qaballah, read Deepak Chopra, read Tony Robbins, read about creative visualisation..."
I was actually going ot ask you about those people... they appear in most interviews I've seen with over the past few years. Who exactly are they?
"Deepak Chopra's from India, and he teaches about spirit, he's done many books, seminars, all that kind of stuff. Brilliant. He talks about the higher self, spiritual laws of success, quantum time, all these different things. Tony Robbin's is about getting your own personal power, in the ego and personality sphere of life. To get that all worked out... your values, your beliefs, your associations and how they work in your life, how they actually create, how they actually filter everything you see in life. But the key thing is, you find all that in the Qaballah... but the Qaballah's for heads and stuff, it's not, like, for sixteen year old kids or whatever. I mean, they could try and read, but you'd had to have experienced a bit more in life, be around a bit longer, and then start studying it. But if you want to get the stuff now, and get it a little bit easier to understand, read Tony Robbins and Deepak Chopra, because they're teaching the Qaballah and what the Qaballah is, but they're doing it in a very practical way that's really easy to relate to. Qaballah can be incredibly complicated to see it, because when you get into it, it's going to affect everything about how you think. It's going to change the way that you think. For a lot of people, it's going to really be very foreign and strange, coz it's a whole different way of thinking. And in my opinion, it's a better way, because it's more 'real', because the only thing real is spirit. The potential. All based on perception and interpretation"
This would seem to go some way to explaining Trey's concept of the Living Triumphirite and the affirmation of 'I am, I will, I create". You've clearly been affected by these people. Though how much of your outlook, which shows through in Morbid Angel, would be from your childhood, and how much formed as you matured?
"I'm changing every day. It's good, it's healthy, it's real. It's the way the universe works. I'm growing. That's important. And I'm moving... that's also important. I've always believed in spiritual things. I've always known The Ancient Ones, even before I knew anything about what they were, or had any words to describe them. I've always been at one with them. The Ancient Ones are nothing more, nothing different than spirit, this energy field that is 'god', y'know, the pure potential of everything."
Tell me, what would you see as the law of success in life? Karma et al?
"The law of success in life is as simple as enjoying life. Just finding the joy that's already there... that's what's important. Because in spirit, it's all joy. Life. Enlightenment. Cast away all the heaviness, all the crap in the mind, y'know what I mean? In life, there's two things going on simultaneously... there's the spirit, which is nothing but perfection and joy, and any pain that you might ever encounter is happening in your mind, and it's happening because you're not accomplishing your desires or whatever. Basically, in spirit everything is already perfect as is right now. Now, as far as in the game of life, we live on the earth in these bodies to have fun and to do things and to play games... Make a business, play in a band, drive a racecar, whatever... the purpose in doing all that is to have fun in the experience of being able to anything at all. It's not about the detail. Now, in a business, obviously details are important, but it's still just a game and even in all these details and stuff, don't ever lose sight of why you're even doing it to begin with. Coz it's all for fun. But you have all your money, y'know, someone works real hard to make a lot of money... if their whole purpose was to have a lot of money, then they're never going to be really happy. Because the money cannot bring the happiness. You're supposed to enjoy the process of your life rather than waiting until you accomplish the goal. Those are things that are very real for me. They're changing the way you think. And if you understand that already you're perfect as is, that you're a part of the universe, and that the universe is perfect. And that everything that happens is necessary. You have the power that created all things within yourself, just like everybody else. But, if you've got your chakras all blocked, because of too much judgement or worrying about rules, whatever, all that crap going on in the lower chakra, then you're not going to have that flow of energy going to ground and manifesting in your life. Y'know what I mean? That's a quick lesson about the Q'Abballah. So... um, I don't even remember what your question was!"
I reckon it's been covered! Steve seems to have settled into his role extremely well, he does a fine performance on 'Gateways...'
 "Yeah! I think so... I think on this album he did a wonderful job, I also think he did a great job on the other record (note: 1998's 'Formulas Fatal to the Flesh'- Ed), though that had different material, and a different approach. This album was more getting the singing to be real catchy, with the phrasing and stuff, singing, but sounding sick and hideous... the two together. 'Formulas...' was more like (Trey does a 'Wwuh-wwuh-wwuh'-type bark down the phone - Ed), kind of real fast and at the same level and all of that, some changes, but usually the stuff was so fast that that it was real hard to develop it..."
I think the song 'He who Sleeps' in particular achieves that sick-balance you've just mentioned... there's an especially dark undertone to that one...
"Cool."
Tell me, what do you make of 'The Beginning', the bootleg collection of demo material from Morbid Angel way back in '86, before even Dave or Pete had joined from Terrorizer... (this is reviewed in this very zine- Ed)
"I think it's slop. I think it's a bunch of bullshit, it's a rip-off"
Not unduly concerned about it though?
"Hmm... well it's like Napster, our album being on Napster. It's gay... I think it's pretty gay. But, hey, there's gotta be a reason for it!" (laughs) "And I ain't going to get all uptight about it. I just don't think about it."
Guess it's on someone else's shoulders... that burden of negative karma...
"It might... I used to get really mad about these things, but I've learned better. Now, I want to pay attention to what's wonderful... and I don't want to thinks about all the bad, stupid things. Because it's all there... everything from the greatest thing to the worst thing. You can find it if you look hard enough. Your can find what's brilliant about anything and what's shit about everything and anything. It's all based on interpretation"
You seem to prefer to devote your lyrics and energies to celebrating what's good rather than concentrating negatively on what you perceive as shit...
 "Exactly. I try to surround myself with the great stuff and let that float through my mind as much as possible. I don't want to pay attention to the crap"
Like the business-side of Morbid Angel, the hum-drum mechanics of band-business, promotion etc?
"I don't really pay attention to the business side. I think we've got a really cool manager and he treats us great, our label treats us great, and everything's cool like that, and that's as much as care about!" (laughs)
What's the story with Erik Rutan... is he still a live-session guitar, or a full-time fourth member?
"Yeah, he's a member right now"
'Gateways...' will inevitably get scrutinised to death when it's released next month. Do you feel that fans tend to overanalyse your Morbid output, or are overly-anal about it... after all, albums are written in different circumstances, frames of minds, etc...
"Yeah... I think people waste a lot of energy with that... but that's fine. Before, I would've said they're wrong... but now, I can't say that because that goes against what I believe" (laughs) "People are only wrong if they're sitting there, walking into situations that are bothering them, and causing a bunch of pain, suffering and confusion. But if people just want to play with a bunch of mind-candy and play games and things, think this that and the other, that's fine. I still do, I sit there and think about what things could mean... but I could tell you that there is no inherent meaning, no ultimate truth about anything. So, people are just going to come up with their own truth. They may find some others who share the same truth, but it's not the secret of the universe."
Beyond MA, Trey, what else is there in your life?
"I play Quake 3 Arena! With my clan, my team called 'The Sailor Scouts'. We play Areal Death Match. We have a web page that we're working on, www.morbidangel.com/sailorscout. People can come play us, maybe join the clan!"
With regard to the current US Death scene... which bands do you rate as innovative or simply plain very good?
"I don't have any opinions on it. the only thing I listen to is 'The Gathering'... that's the best. They're my favourite band, they're brilliant... they have the most feeling, and the most inspiration, in my opinion, of any band I've heard these days. The Death Metal scene? Once I start touring again, I'm sure I'll be listening to that sort of stuff, but y'know, some Death Metal's just stupid. It can be so boring, just a bunch of noise... but other Death Metal bands are cool... I really enjoyed playing with Vader, I think Deicide's a really good band, Nocturnus, I like their stuff, I like Nile... I don't know what they sound like now, but I liked touring with them, and I liked touring with Krisiun. Those are all really cool bands."
It's a shame Angelcorpse have split... they were extremely good...
"Yeah, they were ok"
Tell me, if someone was to come up to you and say 'Trey, what one Morbid Angel song personifies everything that the band is about'. What would say?
"There isn't one. Morbid Angel's too big to be limited in that way. To do that is to define, to limit it to one likeness. And I couldn't do that, because Morbid Angel is the biggest band that there is in the fucking world when it comes to how much we've created and how much we've done... that's my opinion. Morbid Angel has written songs like 'Chapel of Ghouls', like 'Rapture', like 'God of Emptiness', like 'Nothing is Not', like 'Where the Slime Live', 'Heaving..?', we've written all kinds of songs... 'Bleed for the Devil'... we've produced so many different ways to play Heavy music. So it's really hard to say which song is the one that sums it all up. I can't do it. Morbid Angel's just got too much going on... we're expanding... we're booming."
Trey, I guess we're coming to the end of the thirty minutes... any messages for the readers in Ireland at all?
"Well, we hope to come back soon, that's for sure! And when people listen to the record, I hope they go into it empty."
Trey, it's been an absolute pleasure. Many thanks
"Yeah, I enjoyed it man! Hope to see you soon."
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