Obituary’s Tardy Brothers Are Better Late Than Never

After years of pounding out serious death metal grooves in seminal Florida death metal band Obituary, brothers John (vocals) and Donald (drums) Tardy are showing a different but not drastic side of their shared musical personalities on their Tardy Brothers project. The record 'Bloodline,' available through Candlelight, isn't as thunderous as the brothers' main band but it's every bit as metallic. "Bring You Down" boasts an almost Southern rock riff, while the vocals retain John Tardy's signature, inimitable death metal roar, where he uses his voice to complement and shape the music, rather than concentrating on actual lyrics.

"This is something that we've wanted to do for a long time," John told Noisecreep. "Donald and I are always jamming and thinking about music. Some of these songs have been around for a while. It was not until we built our own studio that we could find the time to actually finish and record. It's just fun for us, more than anything, and it's nice to do something the way we like to."

The Tardy Brothers differs from Obituary in that it allows the singer and drummer to push boundaries. "It gives us flexibility to do things that if done in Obituary, some of our diehards would not like it." Tardy said. The biggest change lies in the tone of the guitars. "They are cleaner and really cut through," Tardy explained. "Then there are all the leads! It's filled with awesome leads played by four different guitar players. I love it! There are some acoustic parts, too. Overall, the songs are not as heavy as Obituary and may attract some fans not quite into death metal."

As for their longtime partnership, Tardy feels that he and his brother's familial relationship is enhanced by their sonic one, saying, "We have gotten to the point, when writing, that we kind of know what the other one is going to go before he does it. We still have different opinions and that's good and makes us work things out. We do metal because that's what we like." We like it, too!