Rob Cavestany and Death Angel's Unbreakable Spirit
Death Angel architect Rob Cavestany discusses his new Jackson Pro Series RC signature guitar and three decades of thrash metal chemistry
Death Angel came alive back in 1982 when you still went to the studio to do all your recording. The boys were young, untamed, and playing as hard as they could. Today, the music is still raging. Things have changed, however, as they always do when we grow up. Rob Cavestany is much more experienced, and does most of the pre-production in his home studio.
With nine studio albums behind them and over 900 live shows, they’ve brought crushing metal to music lovers in 49 countries over a 41 year time span. Death Angel is still on fire, and live, they’re beyond belief. Rob has never lost his sincerity or his mojo. His skills are solid and his passion for music still dominates the stage.
Your live shows are a total blast. Your chemistry together is a high standard to follow, because you guys are genuinely having fun up there—every show! Can you tell me if you have any rituals on the road or if you do anything backstage to get geared up and ready to go on with so much energy?
Thanks! We take pride in our reputation as a killer live band. Always been heavily influenced by bands that give it all they’ve got live. Is this not entertainment? Fans pay good money to see a performance and it takes time and effort to go out to a show plus give their energy from the crowd to us on stage, it’s only right that we give it back!
To be honest, it would be harder to NOT give it all up and leave everything onstage. That is what we are there for, that is what we live for, it’s our dream fulfilled. It’s the best part of the day, what we are waiting for, the entire day is a ritual leading up to stage time.
We each have our own rituals. Work out, eat light and healthy, take care of biz, listen to music and get inspired, take a walk around the local area for fresh air and inspiration, we often do meet and greets before the show these days, I get inspiration talking to our fans, feeding off their energy. Then in the hour before our set, stretching the body, warm up on guitar, listen to favorite music. We constantly talk about how fortunate we are to get to do this, don’t take it for granted, be thankful for our awesome band and the position we are in to get to do this at this level. It takes a LOT of work to keep motivated, inspired and grounded, but experience has taught us well.
Does this chemistry you have with each other carry over to your practice and jam sessions? What about in your songwriting process?
Absolutely! Our chemistry is one of our secret weapons. We are blessed to have the same line up for nearly 15 years now. We have made 4 original studio albums together and done countless tours / live shows. We know how rare it is to keep a line up intact so we don’t take it for granted. Hence this positive energy comes out whenever we get together be it practice, jam sessions, writing sessions or full blown tours. I mean of course we have our bad days but overall I’m actually amazed at how we keep our positive vibes when we get together. Also we know how to give each other space so we don’t get sick of each other - at least not until the end of the tour! Haha! We kind of have our songwriting process down whereby I usually compose the song by myself then bring it to the guys one by one as they add their magic. Works for us.
Your taste in guitar design is top notch. You have a beautiful collection. You got to design your first pro signature collection with Grover Jackson in 89- (is that right?) How was that, and don't you have a new one—the Pro Series RC Death Angel?
Thank you! Yes, I sketched the first prototype on a napkin (like Randy Rhoads did!) then Grover Jackson and Mike Shannon built me the first prototype in 1989. I used it faithfully during our ACT III Tour in 1990 and when we reformed in the early 2000’s Jackson built me another, then another, then more and more… I’m so grateful, it’s like a dream. I guess it helps to be loyal, haha! But it’s true. I exclusively play Jackson Guitars live in Death Angel and I love my guitars. Wouldn’t trade ‘em for the world, they are my babies and I’ve spent many hours with each one of them. My sweat and blood is in the grains of wood on every one of them, they are faithful companions and they kick some serious ass!
At last in November of 2022 Jackson released my official Signature Pro Series model. One of the proudest moments in my life. They are killer guitars even though they aren’t the custom shop ones that I own. When I play them live mid way thru the song I forget I’m not playing one of my customs! It’s easy to play (aka “super fast”) with a small neck, dual humbuckers, 3 way toggle, one volume knob and a Floyd Rose floating bridge (I block mine from “pulling up” to stay in tune better because I tend to hammer down hard with my right hand). The crazy shape is actually really killer live because you can get into all kinds of positions with it if you like doing stuff like that. Also sitting down is comfy and well balanced. Lots of sexy curves that fit on your body in various positions. It looks strictly metal but it’s quite the versatile machine!
There's rumors that you guys are working on another album. Is that true?
Absolutely! I don’t like divulging the “play by play”, I’d rather news came out when there is substantial information to speak of. That being said I can tell you there are around 7 songs we are currently working on and I’m currently getting deep into the writing zone which is my happy place! If we can manage to stop saying yes to every tour offer (we love to tour) then maybe we can finally get this new album done! The plan is to record it this year.
Death Angel is headed to South America next month. Head over to their official website for tour dates. And don't forget to check out the beautiful Pro Series RC Death Angel at Jackson Guitars.
Cavestany Signature
