Pushing Deathcore to its limits
When it comes to merciless, brutally aggressive Deathcore, Osiah is impossible to ignore. The band from Northern England has secured a permanent place in the scene in recent years with their crushing riffs, unmistakable breakdowns, and feral vocals. The British band is highly regarded, but Osiah remains largely underground. At least so far…..
To coincide with the release of their new live album (out 25 April 2025), which is simply titled „Live“, Andy Mallaby (guitar) and Chris Keepin (guitar) sat down with us for an interview in Lindau, Germany. I have to say – on stage, these two shred so hard it feels like your skin’s being torn off. Offstage, though, they both came across as very friendly and incredibly funny. In Lindau, as part of the „Circle Pitournium“ tour, Osiah joined forces with Acranius, Necrotted, and Cytotoxin to make Lake Constance tremble.
If you made it out of this tour in one piece, you clearly didn’t go hard enough!
As you can tell from the fact that the interview has been published, I survived the mosh pits. Looks like I still need some practice in the mosh pits, though. For those who want to know more about the live performance, check out the (German) review with photos on www.metalinside.ch
MI (Liane): You recently had a headliner tour in Great Britain and now you are on a European tour. Tomorrow is the last gig: Any highlights and lowlights of the tour?
Chris: Well, I’m gutted it’s over. It’s gone really quick, hasn’t it?
Andy: Yeah, it went by really fast. It was only two weeks.
Chris: I’m trying to think about the highlights. Well, there were a lot of highlights. Honestly, most highlights are the time we’ve been able to spend with friends. They’re so funny. Everyone on this tour is so incredibly funny. It’s fun with all those people just sitting and hanging out, isn’t it?
Andy: Yes, exactly. Hanging out and drinking.
(Laughter)
Andy: It’s already the second tour with Cytotoxin and the third tour with Necrotted. We all know each other very well. That’s why the tour was really fun.
Chris: And lowlights? Did anything happen?
Andy: Not really.
Chris: Apart from last night’s show, I snapped a string. So I had to run off, change my guitar, and then the battery pack of my in-ears ran out. Our tour manager came, grabbed my pack, changed the battery, put it back in my pocket, turned it on, and he’d replaced it with another dead battery.
Andy: We stood on the other side and asked ourselves: „What the hell is going on here“?
Chris: So I just had to take out the in-ears, and I thought, „Well, I’ll just guess if I’m playing everything right.“ That was the worst part for me. But everyone said it sounded fine.
Andy: I think another highlight was the two sold-out shows. The first concert was in Chemnitz and was sold out with 700 people. The second show might have been Hamburg at the Logo.
MI: Ah – Logo, a great venue!!
Chris: Good point, that’s actually another highlight. Each venue was amazing. They were all like that, WOW.
Bass or Guitar?
MI: Andy, you played bass with Osiah from 2015 to 2020 and now you play guitar. Why the change?
Andy: Yes, but I played bass until 2029, um, 2019. I’m not really awake yet. I’m still waiting for the caffeine to kick in, so my brain`s shutting down. I filled in on guitar for one tour with Cattle Decapitation and then the guitarist left. We parted ways and I moved to guitar.
MI: So you’re actually continuing without a bassist?
Chris: Yes. I’ve got Steve Jobs on the case. A laptop. (Laughter) He never plays anything wrong. Spot-on every night.
Andy: He does what he’s told and there are never arguments, nothing. It’s perfect. You don’t hear from him until the next day.
(Laughter)
MI: You made a good choice. Chris, you also play in another band called Viscera and you play bass there. What’s the challenge for you, playing bass versus playing guitar?
Andy: I don’t think it’s such a big challenge, to be honest.
Chris: No, it’s easier to play bass, if anything. I don’t want to offend any bass players. I think it’s different with the Osiah stuff, it’s really easy there.
Andy: Yes, it’s much easier on the bass, but when it comes to guitar, it’s so hard.
Chris: I’m not really a bassist, so I just play the guitar riffs on a bass. It`s hard in that respect because it is just a bigger guitar.
(Laughter)
Andy: When I played the bass in Osiah, I just played it like a guitar. I even distorted it like a guitar.
Production & Recording
MI: Andy, you are also busy with music production: You recorded and produced Osiah’s current album „Kairos“. Can you share any challenges in this context?
Andy: I’ve produced every Osiah album since the release of „Terror Firma“. When it comes to engineering and producing, it’s more or less about not thinking as if I’m a member of the band, but thinking like someone outside of the band. And then pushing people like Danny (drums) or Keepin (Chris, guitar) to do better takes. I can see or hear when it needs to be better. It’s just learning to split myself. So to be a member of the band, and then also be the person who goes: „No, that’s terrible. Do it again“.
Chris: I think there are benefits as well, because you know how it’s supposed to sound, you know exactly how you want it to sound.
Andy: And then, obviously, once that’s done, I’ll send it to Christian Donaldson so he can work his magic on the mixing and mastering.
MI: I once read that high production quality doesn’t matter in aggressive music. What’s your opinion on this?
Andy: I much prefer high-quality sound on aggressive music, just so that you can hear the details.
Chris: That’s definitely a matter of opinion. I think it also depends on the genre – Black Metal sounds terrible on purpose. (Laughter) But I am the same as Andy, I want to hear everything clearly. For example Immortal: their production is sick. To me, it just sounds so much better.
Andy: When you get the really bad production, it just sounds like a mess. But some people like that. I do like that on some bands. But I prefer higher quality. Preferably overproduced.
Chris: Overproduced!?
(Laughter)
MI: More and more artists use Dolby Atmos on their releases. For example, Paleface Swiss. Their last album was released on Dolby Atmos. Would you like to try it in the future?
Chris: I think Paleface Swiss is under contract with a major label. It’s just that all major labels now want to have a Dolby Atmos mix with every release. That could be the reason they did it. It’s very expensive though. But I`d love to do it.
Andy: I’d love to do it, too, but for our style of music, I don’t think it’s needed. I really like the band XTC, for example, and they did that. They re-mixed albums in collaboration with Steven Wilson.
Chris: Oh, the guy from Porcupine Tree?
MI: Yes, that’s him, I love Steven Wilson.
Chris: Yes, I love him. I’ve seen him live a few times.
Andy: The album „Black Sea“ by XTC, for example, is very nicely made. Something like that. But I don’t think Deathcore or Death Metal needs that kind of high-quality remastering.
MI: What music do you personally listen to?
Andy: I don’t really listen to Metal when I’m home.
Chris: I’m the same. I don’t listen to that.
Andy: I listened to the last album of Chelsea Wolfe. That’s very good. I like to listen to old things, e.g. Yob and Cult of Luna. I know I said I don’t listen to Metal at home, but I wouldn’t really call these bands Metal. For me, they are not as superheavy as Death Metal. I am basically very open to different styles.
Chris: Much of what I listen to is rather gentle and melodic. I like pop music, for example, but not mainstream pop like Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift. I prefer Steven Wilson, so more sophisticated music. I like guitar-heavy music, that makes sense to me. Steven Wilson or The War on Drugs, that’s gentle, but characterised by guitars.
MI: I like Progressive Metal, for example Leprous.
Andy: Very nice. Who else? Agent Fresco from Iceland are also great.
Musicman or Businessman?
MI: Chris, you work as a product manager for Unique Leader Records. How does this influence you as a musician?
Chris: I think it’s definitely an advantage to work for a label. I now have a better idea of how things work behind the scenes. It also helps to make friends. Obviously, I talk to a lot of the bands that are signed to us and you build a relationship that way. This was the case with Cytotoxin, for example. We’ve been on tour with some bands at Unique Leader Records. I worked with a guy named Matty who was really influential. He’s the CFO of Unique Leader and knows everyone.
MI: It’s exciting to see the other side of the coin…
Chris: People think you sit there all day listening to music, talking to bands. No, you’re sitting with a spreadsheet with numbers. (Laughter)
Gaming
MI: Actually, my nephew Alex wanted to come today. He loves Deathcore. I thought maybe he could support me and ask some exciting questions since he plays drums and guitar himself. However, he decided to go to a LAN party instead.
Chris: To a what? A LAN party? Amazing. Fair enough, I can understand that very well.
MI: I know you’re a passionate gamer, Chris. I recently read an article about the good and bad sides of gaming. They said it encourages strategic thinking and also helps to interact with other people. But they also said that of course it can be dangerous and addictive. What is your opinion on this?
Chris: I can agree with all that. It’s definitely addictive. I’ve played „Call of Duty“ far too much, almost every day. You get that serotonin boost, don’t you? But it definitely helps, like you said, with interacting with people. Because people feel safer sitting at home, chatting to people online.
MI: Are you a gamer, Andy?
Andy: I`ve played games from time to time. I used to play „Call of Duty“ a lot, but I stopped because it was terrible. I also play „The Division“, which is more of an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game). In the 2000s, there was a guy who wanted to send anthrax to all Americans and he was caught doing it. The story is based on that.
Chris: The moral of the story is that Andy likes stories and I just like to play shooting games.
(Laughter)
The Future
MI: There’s a new release of Osiah? A live recording…
Andy: Yes, we have a new release. It’s a live album with 10 tracks. When we get back to England, we’ll continue writing on the new songs for the next full length. I don’t know when it will be released yet, but it will be sometime in 2026.
MI: Chris, you also have a new project in the pipeline. There’s a new band called Spitting Glass. Can you say something about that?
Chris: (Laughs) Um, not really. I’ll get told off. I’ll get a slap on the wrist.
Andy: Just kidding.
(Liane: An obvious „Just kidding“ hint that only insiders know. That’s all I’ll say on that!)
Chris: Yeah, just kidding.
(Laughter)
MI: Okay, we don’t want anyone to kill you if you reveal too many details.
Chris: The only thing I can say is that a lot of people think that it’s not actually a thing. They think it’s all just a big joke. But it’s definitely a thing. Danny from Osiah plays drums on Spitting Glass. Danny’s in every band, by the way. We call him „the scene“. He plays in every single band. Or if he’s not in the band, he’s filling in for another band.
MI: I really enjoy watching Danny play the drums. It’s such an aggressive sound, but he always seems totally relaxed behind his drums, as if he were playing in a pop band. He always looks so casual when he plays.
(Laughter)
Chris: He’s got a gentle touch, but he can also hit like a hammer.
MI: Very good to hear that he’ll also be playing in Spitting Glass. Do you have any songs ready yet?
Chris: There are a lot of songs written and it’s just caveman riffs. So it’s simple and heavy at the same time. That’s essentially it. Very easy to play and it’s fun.
MI: How do you manage to play in three bands at the same time?
Chris: I think it depends on how the bands work. So it’s fine for us because I think every band that we play in works in the same way that I work. You write the stuff and you learn the stuff in your own time. Then we’ll have one practise before we go on tour, because we all play to clicks. Whereas some bands jam every week or something, and that would be difficult. It would be more difficult for Danny, I think. Because he has to practise on drums, that makes a hell of a noise. Whereas playing a guitar, you can do that at three in the morning. You know what I mean? Quietly. It’s not very challenging, I think. You’d think it would be, but it’s not.
MI: You mentioned there will be a new album from Osiah. How will your sound develop?
Andy: I wouldn’t say it’s going to go in a different direction. It will just be what we normally do.
Chris: Our vocalist Ricky Lee Roper used to write a lot of the music and he’s got a very different sound to how me and Andy write. How do I explain this without being offensive? (Laughs) Me and Andy write „normally“. Roper writes in such a way that you listen and ask yourself: „What the hell is that?“ It’s very good, but it’s more complicated.
Andy: Yeah, Chris and I wrote the songs for the „Lost“, „Chronos“, and „Kairos“ albums.
Chris: With the new stuff, Ricky will be writing some of the riffs and some of the songs. So it will sound a bit different, I think, but it’s still Osiah. We’ll take his craziness and dumb it down a bit.
(Laughter)
Andy: Because we’re getting a bit old now.
MI: Well, I don`t think we have to worry about Osiah releasing lullabies in the future. Andy and Chris, thank you very much for your time. It was my pleasure.
Chris: Yes, it absolutely was. Thank you.
Tip: Beyond Extinction have released the song „Winter Sun“, which was produced by Andy Mallaby. An absolute Deathcore beast!
Many thanks to Anna Wirz for the photos during the interview and for proofreading.
Pictures from the interview (Anna Wirz)