Our guests in this week’s Gear Factor episode are Jason Parrish and Mychal Soto of slam/death metal breakouts PeelingFlesh.
Formed in 2021 in Oklahoma, the four-piece group (rounded out by vocalist Damonteal Harris and drummer Joe Pelleter) has made an immediate impact on the scene. The 2020s has been one of the best eras in death metal history thanks to a legion of newcomers with an unquenchable desire for brick-laying brutality.
Where did it start?
Both guitarists found some early inspiration in Metallica’s Kirk Hammett. But for Soto, his story takes an entirely different and unlikely turn — Creed and Mark Tremonti.
“A lot of his chugging in Creed was heavy back then. I thought it was sick. It was the coolest thing I was listening to at the time … I learned to palm mute from Mark Tremonti.”
He’s not wrong — Tremonti always made it a priority to have some heavy, chugging parts in Creed’s music.
From there, Soto plays “Gematria” by Slipknot and explains how they’ve been an essential part of extreme metal. “I think Slipknot is a very easy gate to death metal,” he says says. “I don’t think they get enough props. I think people are just too used to them being the biggest band in the world. They forget that them motherfuckers can RIFF. They’re the reason why everybody chugs and pinches a certain way. I hear a band, I can tell if they listen to Slipknot based on the way they chug and pinch.”
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Meanwhile Parrish is more of his own guitarist, having the path to extreme metal opened by the likes of Dying Fetus, Cannibal Corpse and Ingested. He insists, “I just like writing and making songs. I play guitar, but I don’t play guitar if that makes sense. I couldn’t tell you anything about any kind of scales or anything, but I can pick it up and I know what sounds good to me and what feels good.”
Those feel-good original PeelingFlesh riffs can be heard too in the video below.
Follow PeelingFlesh on Instagram, X and Facebook. Catch them on tour with Lorna Shore, The Black Dahlia Murder and Shadow of Intent this fall. Check out their 2024 debut album ‘The G Code’ wherever you listen to music and look for new PeelingFlesh to come soon!
Best Death Metal Album of Each Year Since 1985
Almost four decades of brutality!
Gallery Credit: Joe DiVita
