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Obituary is one of our favorite bands, if you haven’t already noticed. We were lucky enough to steel John Tardy away from a little relaxation and song writing long enough for him to answer a few of our questions via email.

MouthForWar.net: Hey there. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods. Where the hell are you guys now anyways?

John Tardy: I am actually at home for a change, working on a new song for the limited edition CD we are putting out and working on the new set list for our upcoming U.S. Tour!

MFW: Let’s get right into the new album, Xecutioner’s Return. I love the title, bringing back the moniker you all first played under. Who’s idea was that?

JT: It was kind of a band decision. We felt so good after completing our contracts with Roadrunner that we just felt like we were starting new again. Then after working with Andreas and his artwork it really seemed to come together.

MFW: Going into the studio to start writing, was it your intention to create faster material or was that something that just evolved on its own?

JT: It was just the way it happened! We never go into a project thinking we need to do this or that, we just start jamming and have a good time with what we are doing. This album does have some faster stuff on it and it does have probably the fastest singing that I have done! Straight out of the Slayer handbook…Ha!

MFW: As one of death metal’s defining bands, did you feel any pressure to produce something as influential as your earlier work — especially with your first album for a new label?

JT: We get asked that a lot and believer it or not we really do not put any pressure on ourselves. We even got asked that a lot with the last record because it had been so long between albums. We always go in and have fun with it and I think it shows in the song we came up with. We did want to do a great album for Candlelight and I think they were even a little surprised by how good this CD is. It is a good feeling to exceed someone’s expectations!

MFW: Speaking of new record labels, how does it feel to be on the Candlelight roster? Have they been good to you all?

JT: It has been great. It is so nice to be with a label that actually cares about you and believes in you. Roadrunner did so little for us the last several albums and I am not sure why, but I am looking forward to see what Candlelight can do with this CD. So far so good…

MFW: With Ralph Santolla stepping in to help out with the guitar work while Allen is unavailable, how did the song writing process go? How involved was he in the writing of the new material?

JT: Actually the album was already written so Ralph just did most the leads on the record. He is so talented and was so willing to work with us with what we wanted so that it didn’t seem like the solos were put on top of music, but rather written with the music. He did a great job and I think his playing adds a whole new dimension to our music! We were really lucky that he was so into doing this new CD!

MFW: Your vocals on the Xecutioner’s Return sound stronger and more versatile, even more powerful. For those burgeoning death metal screamers out there, what have you been doing to maintain your consistency and health with regard to your vocal delivery?

JT: Thank you very much for that and I am not really sure! I have just been doing it a long time and have been fortunate I guess. Taking care of the voice at home and on the road are to different things. At home it is easy to get rest, while on the road you do so much traveling that you can get tired. If you are not careful, when your body is tired you tend to work your voice more, so you have to get rest and keep hydrated!

MFW: Xecutioner’s Return is some of the best and hardest hitting stuff you all have written to date. It’s got a good bit of the old school Obituary sound, new stuff from Frozen in Time and piled on top of that it’s faster. Was it a goal (with bringing back the band’s old name) to bridge that generation gap of fans — us old guys who grew up on Slowly We Rot and Cause of Death and the new breed of fans just hearing you all for the first or second time?

JT: Once again thank you very much! We are really really happy with this new CD. I think you are right. You can hear a little old style with a little new style combined with some stuff we have never done. I don’t think it is possible to have a goal when you start writing. At least as far as saying we need to do this or that! I think, in our case, it is just most important to have motivation and fun! If you start to think too much about it you can find yourself chasing your tail and forgetting to just rock!

MFW: You’re tour schedule in support of the new album was just recently announced. I’m going to make every attempt possible to escape the wife and kid for the Jaxx show in Virginia. Do you all have any surprises in store for this tour? Who do you have on as supporting acts?

JT: You better! Do you need a note? Ha! We will be with Alabama Thunderpussy, Full Blown Chaos and Hemlock. There will be some surprises, but the strength of this band is its performance and straight forward metal!!!!!!! We are looking forward to getting out in the states, it should be fun. We play so much over seas that it is nice to be in the U.S.!

MFW: The final question is more just a big thanks for spending a brief bit of time with us. Do you have anything else that our readers need to know before picking up the new album on August 28th?

JT: Thanks for the support! iTunes is doing an exclusive release of Evil Ways, the single off the new CD, July 31st! That should be cool! There will be a limited edition digi-pack CD released that will have an exclusive song, packaging and poster! Other than that get you asses out to a show, it is going to be sick!!!!!