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.