Des Moines thrashers Green Death (who will be opening the Chicago date of the Decibel Tour) are set to re-release their 2015 album Manufacturing Evil through EMP Label Group. While that may not be a day-changing snippet of news, that the album features an updated version of third track “Gates of Hell” with former Morbid Angel vocalist David Vincent is definitely worth cutting a couple cat videos out of today’s streaming agenda.
Below we’ve got the debut of said rager, for which Green Death members are (very understandably) quite excited. Click play and headbang along to the thrash excellence while reading the background story from vocalist/bassist Sol Bales (below, in italics). And for more info on Manufacturing Evil, check out the story behind the Death Monks on the cover.
Working with David Vincent on this track was a dream come true, because when writing the chorus for the song, I felt like that vocal part called for a very “Vincent-esque” style. I could hear David’s voice in my head while playing the guitar part. It didn’t work out to have him do the track when we released our album Manufacturing Evil independently. When we signed to EMP Label Group, they wanted to re-release our album. We knew if we were going to do a re-release, it had to be special, so we decided to contact David to see if there was any interest on his part for doing the vocal.
Surprisingly, David loved the track and agreed to work with us! I’ve got to tell you…it’s a little nerve-racking getting a call from your favorite death metal vocalist (arguably the greatest death metal vocalist of all time). I knew going into it that he may agree to do it and I’d be discussing the vocal parts with him…but actually hearing that voice on the other end of the line was pretty surreal. I had to suppress my urge to “fanboy out” on him!
He was as cool as I thought he would be, and after awhile, it was just like talking to a friend. We talked about what I wanted to hear on the track and what he may be hearing differently, or where he wanted to take it vocally. We were basically singing the parts back and forth (what I wouldn’t give for a recording of that conversation!), discussing likes and dislikes with new metal music, and tons of other stuff over the course of a few weeks via phone and email. He really wanted to make this track the best that it could possibly be, and ultimately, the track sounded about a thousand times better with his vocals. “Gates of Hell” finally sounds the way we (Green Death) originally intended it to sound. We hope you dig it as much as we do!
The re-release of Manufacturing Evil is April 1st, and pre-orders are available here, or here in digital form. You can keep up with Green Death via Facebook and Twitter, as well as their homepage. In addition, you can catch them in the live during March, April and May.
