Dysfunctional Rotout is a raw death metal band from Tennessee. These two brothers play a unique brand of death metal, and I had the pleasure to interview the band recently. Dont forget to listen to the podcast which features their entire demo as well as some extra tracks from the upcoming full length.


MBR: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, if you would, please introduce yourselves for the readers.

DR: Hello everyone, we are Dysfunctional Rotout! First of all we would like to thank Metal Blessing Radio for having us on the station and for this interview.

MBR: What made you guys decide to start a band? And why did you choose the name Dysfunctional Rotout? What is the meaning behind the name?

DR: Well, we are brothers and we have been playing music together for nearly three years now; it is something that we both have a passion for. Our name "Dysfunctional Rotout" means that our sin is a dysfunctional cycle, and we describe it as a "rotting out" process. We like to relate this to Romans 8:10 - "If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness."

MBR: You currently have a seven song demo out, which you are giving away for free. How has the response been to this offer? Have you had a lot of requests for your demo and have you received a lot of positive feedback?

DR: We believe that spreading the word of Christ is something that shouldn't be paid for. Giving away our demos for free is our way of demonstrating that. We have had several people from fanzines to websites who were interested in receiving copies of our demo for reviews and such. We've also had a lot of metalheads who wanted copies too. Surprisingly enough, a lot of people enjoy our stuff. This was a big shock to us because we never thought that our music would appeal to people this much! Of course, we have people who can't stand our music, but that's cool.

MBR: Which one of you did the cover art on the demo? And what is the meaning behind the artwork?

DR: The artwork on the front cover was done by me (Zack). It was originally a college project that I later decided to turn into our demo cover. It has a corpse on the front of it with the hand of Christ above its head. The wound in Christ's hand is dripping blood on top of the corpse, giving it flesh. Beside the corpse is a dove taking flight, which symbolizes forgiveness.

MBR: Obviously not everyone has a taste for raw death metal, so will your upcoming full-length be recorded with a better production quality or will it be of the same quality as the demo material?

DR: Our new material has a lot of differences in it; it has a more passionate approach. Keyboards and high-pitched screams are a new addition to our music, which gives it a "black metal" sound, however we still retain our original sound with elements of death and thrash metal.

MBR: Where does your musical inspiration come from when writing your music? Do you write the lyrics first or do you begin with the musical portion?

DR: Our inspiration for writing comes from some of our favorite bands and musicians. Usually, we record and mix our music first. We write our own lyrics separately and apply them to our music after it's complete. We are about to start having bible studies together for lyrical inspiration.

MBR: I ask most bands this question, but lyrically what do you typically prefer to write about? Some bands take the preaching/teaching route similar to Mortification, while others may be a bit more metaphorical, or talk about life situations.

DR: Basically, we are straightforward with our lyrics. We usually write music about God's love, struggling as a Christian and the corruption of our society.

MBR: Just curious, but on the song “Ritualistic Monastery”, what is the opening sound clip from?

DR: The opening sound clip from "Ritualistic Monastery" is from the movie The Gift. The story follows the life of a fortuneteller who is seeing a woman who is abused by her husband. Her troubled husband confronts the fortuneteller and threatens her family with a voodoo doll.

MBR: You have incorporated an interesting element in your music that I have not heard before, although I feel it is a welcome touch. What made you decide to use a cowbell sound within your songs? Personally I like the cowbell, it gives it a “fun” touch, if that makes sense.

DR: Hahaha! The cowbell effect is our way of applying a little sense of humor and personality to our sound. We wanted to try something different with our music and it seemed to click for us. We are really exited to see that people accept the drums, considering the fact that they are simplistic and played from a keyboard.

MBR: Regarding your upcoming full-length, will there be more cowbell?

DR: Oh yeah! You betcha! Hahaha!


MBR: Do you have any idea when your album will be released, or is it too early to tell?

DR: It is kinda too early to tell at the moment. We are pretty sure that we will finish it before the year is over.

MBR: What are some of your favorite things to listen to in your spare time? And do you have any hobbies?

DR: We listen to way too much music! We both buy nearly two to three cds a week. We like to listen to bands like Becoming The Archetype, Corpse, Demon Hunter, Frost Like Ashes, Impending Doom, Living Sacrifice, Mortal Treason, Mortification, O, Majestic Winter, Pantera, Sleeping Giant, Stryper, Testament, Tourniquet, War Of Ages, Whitecross and many more. As brothers, our main hobby together is making music. We like to endlessly browse up and down the aisles of music stores and hang out with our friends.

MBR: What are your favorite albums, and what upcoming albums are you most looking forward to this year?

DR: It would be too difficult to name some of our favorite albums. All together, we have about 360 cds and there are A LOT of good ones! This year we are looking forward to releases from For Today, Living Sacrifice, Sleeping Giant, etc.

MBR: Do you see a possibility in the future of Dysfunctional Rotout becoming a full band?

DR: Dysfunctional Rotout is a brotherly relationship. Both of us have been playing music together for quite a while now and it would be too much trouble to have a band. Whenever we have time, we just get together for a few hours and make a song; it's an easy schedule for the both of us.

MBR: If you guys were to eventually becoming a touring band, what bands would you most like to tour with, and why?

DR: If we were going to tour, we would love to tour with Frost Like Ashes, Mortification, O, Majestic Winter, Saviour Machine, War Of Ages, etc. because we would love to know the musicians and have an AWESOME fellowship!

MBR: Are there any memorable moments as a band or during the songwriting process that you would like to share with us?

DR: Well, we are stuck in Matthew's HOT room for three to four hours a song. We are using a crappy 10-year-old Dell computer with 36 viruses on it to mix our music (hence the poor production). In the middle of recording our music we usually get these CRAZY pop-ups, 30 to 40 of them at least! So we have to reset the computer and pick up where we left off! So there are plenty of "great" moments in the "studio."

MBR: What are you favorite scriptures or Bible passages?

DR: We love Romans 8:10 and Isaiah 40:31!

MBR: I closing I want to thank you for taking the time to do this interview and I will very much be looking forward to your full-length album. Do you have anything you would like to say to anyone who may be reading this interview?

DR: Thank you very much! In closing we would like thank anyone who has supported us in any way! Christ has plans for this world and we are living in His awesome construction. Never be discouraged, never falter, and never doubt. We encourage everyone to praise God in his or her own way! Thank you all and God Bless!

great interview

I really enjoyed the interview. I really dig their demo