Infected Dead (United Kingdom)

Interview with Alexander Brown

https://www.facebook.com/Infecteddead

More than the sum of their parts and rebirthed through perseverance, grit and cosmic horror, Kent’s Infected Dead marks their arrival into 2026 as a newly fine-tuned and reincarnated beast. Having regrouped with a new line-up in 2024, the five-piece technical death metal band boasts alumni from the likes of Pupil Slicer, Dawnwalker and Overthrow. Gelling as a unit on stages throughout their home country of the UK, which includes previous touring alongside Bloodshot Dawn and Reprisal, as well as sharing a stage with the likes of Ingested, Vader, Immolation and Pestilence. Infected Dead’s second era is set to be cemented in stone with their forthcoming Invicta EP. Watch for our review of Invicta in the coming days, and meanwhile read our extended interview with Alex Brown (guitars) and Lou Ede (vocals).

Metal Revolution: Can you tell us about the very beginning of your career? When and where was Infected Dead formed?
Alex: The band was formed initially in 2014 out of the ashes of a former project. Unfortunately, as with all bands personnel has been a barrier to progress over the years. Finding the right team is essential after all!

MR: How would you define your sound for the readers of this webzine still unfamiliar with your music? ‘Technical Death Metal’ or…?
Alex: Technical/Progressive Death Metal is what we feel best describes our sound we feel. Although, we are huge fans of many different kinds of extreme genres.

MR: You regrouped as a band in 2024, featuring a new line-up? Would you introduce the other members of the band, and tell us your experiences creating music together for two years now?
Alex: The core of ID for many years has been myself (Alex Brown) on lead guitar, Chris Rahman on lead guitar and Lou Ede on vocals. In 2019 we added Luke Fabian to the line up on bass and were ready to forge forwards.

Unfortunately the pandemic and more personnel problems occurred and we found ourselves without a drummer. So in 2024 we added Scott Lindsay on drums and its been full steam ahead ever since!

Creatively it has been fantastic! Each of the songs we have worked on I feel are not only the most musically mature but also show the individual musical DNA of each member of the band.

MR: Recently you released your new EP, Invicta. What can you tell us about this opus, and its four tracks?
Alex: Invicta represents a massive step forward in our musical journey. Each track individually stands on its own as a statement.

MR: Which song from Invicta resonates with you personally the most and why?
Alex: “Astral Divination” I would say personally. Its the kind of song i have been trying to write from the moment I first started writing tech death. Beyond this, it wasn’t a particularly easy song to write. So its quite pleasing to have it out there!
Lou: I too am a big fan of “Astral Divination”, but I’ll go with “In Spaces Beyond”. It’s been through the most evolution since it was conceived, I like how it turned out lyrically and its really fun to play.

MR: Probably too early to ask, but are you pleased with the reception of Invicta so far? Any feedback from media and black metal worshippers?
Alex: No unhappy black metal worshippers this time, although that would have been very entertaining! So far the response has been great! We worked on this release for a while so after a time you kind of become unsure of how people are going to receive it once it drops. Luckily its going great!

MR: What’s the lyrical content on Invicta, and what were you inspired by when composing this new four-tracker release?
Lou: The lyrics of Invicta are very much inspired by the current chaotic state of the world, filtered through a lens of Lovecraftian cosmic horror.

It opens with talk of ominous lights in the sky, grim portents and otherworldly colours in “Astral Divination”. “Organic Monolith” is about environmental collapse and a prevailing sense of being dragged unrelentingly into the maw of madness. In “Spaces Beyond” focuses on witchcraft, insomnia and a malevolent force lurking just beyond the gates of perception. And the closer “Realm Of Ichor” is about the inevitable, chaotic end of everything you know.

MR: Where and under what conditions were you recording the new EP? Who was in charge of sound, production and mastering?
Alex: So funnily enough, a couple of mates were involved in the recording of this release from an engineering standpoint. Our drummer Scott engineered his own drums. Both the guitars and bass were recorded my great friend Francesco Bertan from Centurion Studios and the vocals were recorded by Cam Shuck (from the band Gorgon Vomit) at Monolith Studios in London.

The final mix/master was handled by V Santura at Woodshed Studio in Germany. Who has mixed Obscura, Alkaloid and Tryptikon to name a few. We really love d his ability to create clear but warm mixes, we’re very happy with the end result.

MR: How does your creative process work? I mean, what’s the creative process like when you make a new song?
Alex: Generally, I will get the shell of a guitar track prepared. As that shell is being prepared I will check in with the rest of the band for input if I get stuck with a riff.

After that is prepared, demo’d and transcribed I will send it to the rest of the band to write their parts and add them. Then once we have all these pieces written we will jam each song together to get a good feel of it.

MR: What was your first guitar and which bands/guitarists mainly influenced you in playing guitar?
Alex: I got bought a ¾ size fender mustang for Christmas when I was 6 but didn’t have the attention span at that time to learn. In the end I traded that guitar with my brother for a PS2.

Fast forward to my late teens and after i came back from my first music festival I was hellbent on wanting to learn guitar and play heavy music. So I bought this horrific BC Rich V and obsessively applied myself to learning the instrument. At that time I was a huge Megadeth fanboy, so I would say Dave Mustaine and Marty Friedman were the primary influences.

MR: You’ve been sharing a stage with the likes of Ingested, Vader, Immolation and Pestilence. Any unusual fact, or a funny story from the tours with these giant acts, that you would like to share with our readers?
Alex: The pain guy in Pestilence drinks a lot of milk and energy drinks. He gets very defensive if its brought up! (Laughing)

MR: How was that experience for you? Has it changed you as a band?
Alex: Seeing how put together these bands are as a live unit is incredibly inspiring. Getting to see them up close shows you the bench mark of what the genre is and the standard you should aspire to.

MR: What’s been your most memorable live experience to date and why?
Alex: I would have to say the first show with this line up. We had been coming off a long break but everything just clicked within a minute of the first song. It was incredibly validating to see that we were onto something.

MR: Although you write insane tech death metal, what is a ‘guilty pleasure’ you have (if any) with music?
Alex: It’s not really a guilty pleasure but I absolutely love hair metal and electronic music like Industrial.

Lou: Yeah, I don’t feel guilty about my love of hip hop and hair metal. Skid Row were a very big deal for me growing up and I still go back to a lot of that stuff now.

MR: I agree with you when it comes to Skid Row and other hair metal bands from that era. How many copies of Invicta were released and which medium was used for this new edition (CD, digital…)?
Alex: So I can’t say specific numbers, but as far as physical formats Invicta is available on Vinyl and CD! Both of which are available to purchase on our bandcamp.

MR: When did your interest in (technical) death metal start to grow and what is it that fascinates you so much about it?
Alex: So initially I was very into the OSDM sound, especially the Swedish bands like Grave, Dismember etc., but through my obsession with guitar deepening I was starting to become very interested in guitar players like Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, John Petrucci etc. So a friend of mine reccomended me Epitaph by Necrophagist under the premise of “it’s basically these Death Metal bands and these shred guitar players you like in a blender” suffice to say, I was absolutely hooked!

The thing I enjoy about the genre is the abillity to push boundaries, not just in terms of speed or technicality but in terms of how you can expand the sound of your music within it.

MR: What are your favourite bands then? Do you all four guys share the same musical interest?
Alex: I think we all share quite different favourite bands! Which thankfully adds to the sound of our music! Whilst I my favourite Tech Death band is Obscura, my other 2 favourite bands are Depeche Mode and Type O Negative.
Lou: Big fan of The Black Dahlia Murder, Dying Fetus & Gorerotted.

MR: Regardless of a genre, what is your favorite album of this year so far?
Alex: Absolutely has to be Vol II by Angine De Poitrine!
Lou: As of this week it has to be the new Ingested.

MR: If you had to perform one cover for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Alex: Either “Stabwound” by Necrophagist or “Sun of Nihility” by Job For A Cowboy.

MR: How can people reach your band & music?
Alex: You can reach us on: Instagram, Facebook, Youtube and on all streaming services… or conveniently everything you’ll need is on our Linktree/infecteddead..

MR: Please tell the last words to the fans and our readers out there to finish this great conversation.
Alex & Lou: Thank you to anyone who has taken the time to check out the release! We hope to come and play in Denmark someday!