Erik Rutan (Hate Eternal, Alas) interviewed

Posted August 6 by Chris D.

dB digs Nile. Nile is working on the follow-up to 2007's Ithyphallic opus. dB also digs Erik Rutan. Dude has a lot to say, was a songwriter and played as a sideman to Morbid Angel's Trey Azagthoth, and he fronts the massively brutal Hate Eternal. So, when you combine Nile and Erik Rutan you end up with awesome. As Rutan would say later in this interview, "It’s like putting jelly on peanut butter."

So, doing what we do best (which is pontificating on all things death metal) we caught up with Eagles fanboy and death metal figurehead Rutan to talk about his involvement in the new, as-yet-untitled Nile record, where he, working with legendary producer Neil Kernon, engineered the drums. George Kollias drums. Mega-brutal drums. Ten-arms-of-Shiva mega-technical drums.

Read on mortals. Rutan speaks. Nile is coming. Oh, and so is a new Alas record.

What impressed you about the upcoming Nile record?
Erik Rutan: First of all, working with Nile in any capacity is something great. The collaboration with Neil [Kernon] is just awesome. I’m used to manning the ship all the time, so having someone like Neil, who is obviously a well-known producer, was really cool. Nile is one of the best death metal bands out there, they’re great guys and incredible musicians. To get the call that they were going to do drums at Mana, I was totally stoked about it. I didn’t hear any pre-production before they came in. I normally get pre-production months in advance. My role for this record was engineering drums. George’s [Kollias] drums were huge. It was a massive beast of a kit, befitting a massive beast of a drummer. He came in and tore the place apart. He’s one of the best death metal drummers I’ve worked with and I’ve worked with the best. It was an intense session with some intense people. The drum takes, the performances, the tones came out stellar. Just having all those ears on things was a great experience. Because of the collaboration the drums came out incredible.

So, you just engineered the drums?
Rutan: Yeah. That’s it. We made sure all the click tracks were in place for the drums. We laid down some scratch guitars for the songs. They were open to any suggestions I made as far as ideas for the songs. It was an open game for everyone to comment on things. My role was engineer though.

Why do you think they called you for the drums?
Rutan: There are a lot of great engineers out there, so I’m sure someone else would’ve done a great job. But they love the studio. I have a nice facility. I have a pretty big drum room. It’s exclusively for drums. I’ve always played with incredible drummers throughout my career. I’m also lucky to have produced some amazing drummers. Certainly when it comes to death metal drumming I understand it. I understand guitars, bass, and vocals too. You name it! I feel like I have a great grasp on death metal. I’ve always wanted to work with Nile. I guess they felt the same. I look at it this way, I wasn’t sure what my involvement was going to be, but I wanted to be involved. In any way. They’ve always been hard working, dedicated guys. I remember they drove all the way across the country to play with us on the Morbid Angel tour. So, to see them succeed over the last decade and end up down here to record is really awesome.

Did you hear full songs?
Rutan: Because of the way they record, all the click tracks are layered together and the rhythm tracks are laid down as well. So, no. Well, they’re scratch guitars, but they’re in stereo, so you get all the harmonies. I got to hear the orchestration as well. There were 24 tracks of drums on this huge kit. There were 10 overhead mics, which is very odd in overhead mic-ing. On the rides and the hats we put a pair of mics. So there were four mics there. We really wanted to capture the sound of the drums to avoid phasing and shit like that. We spent a lot of time on mic placement and getting tones. I bought a bunch of new mic pre’s for this record. Vintech 1073 mic pre’s. I like to use those on toms. They like to have all acoustic drums with the exception of the kick drums. They’re keeping it real. Most records are sampled. A record where you can get natural tones is always good to me. So, yeah, I got a pretty good picture of the songs. The songs are awesome! I really think it’ll be a masterpiece.

There seems to be a movement towards more natural drums. Or natural drum sounds. Five years back death metal drumming was rad, but everything sounded like a computerized typewriter.
Rutan: There’s good and bad to everything. That’s what it boils down to. It could be technology, sound quality, the advancements in recording. To me, I always talk to bands to try to understand what they want. What they are trying to establish. What kind of vibe they are going for. Most of the guys I talk to are going for something in the middle. Not something totally old-school. Not something totally new school, super-polished. It depends on the band how raw I go. It also depends on the type of music. I’ve been lucky to work with bands where I can let the players be the players. It’s all about the performance. The playability. With Nile, we captured some magic on the drums. George Kollias is one bad motherfucker on drums. I’m not kidding. He’s astonishing.

You’ve worked with Pete Sandoval, Tim Yeung, and Derek Roddy. Where do you put George?
Rutan: He’s on the list, man. If I’m talking about bad-ass death metal drummers. Pete Sandoval is a legend. He’s top dog. He was doing groundbreaking things 20 years ago. On the list with Pete, George is on the list. I don’t want to name names, but every drummer I’ve played with is on that list. Also, some of the guys I’ve recorded. It’s like putting jelly on peanut butter. [Laughs] That’s just how it goes.

What other projects are you currently working on?
Rutan: I’m doing pre-production for Hate Eternal. I’m also do pre-production for Alas. Before Nile I was working on some stem mixes for a rock band, which was kind of cool. I did the last Goatwhore and Cannibal Corpse.

You haven’t done anything with Alas since 2001.
Rutan: Right. I’m working with my original drummer Howard [Davis]. Me and him have been pre-pro-ing. We have 10 songs so far. I’ve wanted to do another Alas record for a long time. But between Morbid Angel and Hate Eternal and having a studio, I haven’t had time. The last five years I’ve done a lot of production work. Alas just didn’t fit. I’ve been writing music. Slowly. I’ve finally had a couple of weeks to focus on it. That’s the luxury of having a studio. I can pretty much mic everything up and start pre-production. After two weeks we had 10 songs. It’s like, ‘Holy shit!’ I also have a good chunk of the next Hate Eternal record ready.

Will Martina [Astner] be a part of Alas?
Rutan: On this record I’m going to have a few singers. A couple different voices. Some of the music I’m writing is of a different breed. It’ll probably be all female vocals though. I’d like to include Martina in that. Alas, being the project that it is, I can do so much with it. I want to branch out with the new Alas, especially in the voice department. Really give it a different vibe. Musically, it’s similar to the first one, but it has more vibe. I’m not sure when I’ll record the album. Definitely next year. Hate Eternal as well. I’m an ambitious person. I want to do everything! [Laughs]

If you were to sum up the new Nile record for the kids what would you say?
Rutan: I would say they’re in for a stellar performance and an awesome album across the board. The material is super-strong and very dynamic. Super brutal. It’s some intense stuff. Nile did a tremendous job writing the record. It’s an onslaught and a massive one at that! Any Nile fan out there is going to be blown away. I was.

** Erik Rutan runs Mana Recording Studios in St. Petersburg, Florida.

** Nile plays ithyphallic (whatever that means) death metal exclusively.

** dB digs dB and that is awesome.

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