Eat, Play & Love: How an American death metal guitarist found second life in the Philippines.

Eat, Play & Love: How an American death metal guitarist found second life in the Philippines.

by rick olivares

Jason Gobel hurriedly walked over to the coffee shop in a mall in Marikina where we were meeting up. He was an hour and a half late as he mistakenly went to another mall that was farther out. Gobel profusely apologized on the mix up. But it wasn’t any trouble. It isn’t every day that you get to meet someone who played on two classic death metal albums one of which I have. Besides, I had The Insektlife Cycle and Boarhog bassist Joy Legason to keep me company.

Gobel, 48, doesn’t look anything like his younger self when he wore his hair long, and was swathed in black looking like some avatar of death. Gobel recorded music with Cynic and Monstrosity, bands might not be household names, but they did release cutting edge records, Focus for the former, and Imperial Doom for the latter. You can say that both were ahead of their time and helped define extreme music in general. And the two records are considered among the 500 best metal albums of all time.

I remark that Gobel who hails from Miami, Florida, USA, looks like he wouldn’t look out of place of a NASA control room or some college classroom. He laughs and smiles. 

It wasn’t too long ago, Gobel wasn’t smiling. He was going through a divorce and in need to find himself and what lay ahead.

In an Eat, Pray, Love moment, Gobel, like the noted author Elizabeth Gilbert, sold all his belongings and traveled around the world. “I had to get away from what was familiar to me and go out and do some soul searching,” he explained. 

Imperial Doom was released by Nuclear Blast Records in May of 1992, setting a template for death metal bands in terms of technical efficiency and a somewhat progressive approach. The album experienced moderate success having sold over 40,000 copies. 

Yet a year later, Gobel found himself recording with Cynic.

Focus came out on Roadrunner Records in 1993, there were expectations. But the album didn’t fare too well, and the label, then one of the biggest and most famous of the independent record companies, didn’t do too much to promote Focus. 

“I think that after giving it a good chunk of my youth recording, performing, and touring, maybe it was time to get some real work and support my family,” recalled Gobel. “The decision certainly wasn’t easy. I stewed over it for a while, but I did what I had to do. I have no regrets.”

However, life has a funny way of throwing curve balls at you. With the divorce being worked out, and his kids already adults, Gobel felt it was time to figure out the next phase of his life. 

“If I stayed in the States, I’d be around familiar faces and places so it would be easy to slip into something else. I needed to get as far away as I could and away from my comfort zone.”

“I was supposed to experience new cultures and food. And it is great trying all these. It’s a feast for the senses,” said Gobel. “What wasn’t supposed to be a musical journey was ending up as a musical journey.”

Meet and Greets were arranged and Jason was surprised when fans in Malaysia and Thailand (and later in the Philippines) pulled out rare copies of Focus for him to sign. “And we’re talking about a first pressing here,” he noted. 

“I know the records I worked on were released all over the world and some of them made their way to Asia,” reasoned Gobel. “I have not recorded nor played professionally in a while so it was surprising and gratifying to know that people knew who I was and that I had an impact in their music in some way.”

While the American was stomping around Southeast Asia from Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and other countries in the region, the Philippines wasn’t really on his stopover list. “I was invited by a friend from the Philippines, Yarden Angeles, to come over,” he recalled. “and I thought, ‘Why not?’ We’d do things such as go see the Hanging Coffins in Sagada. Yet at some point, I was always asked if I wanted to play in some gig or studio.”

Last February 4, Gobel was surprised when some local metal musicians organized (Angeles, Jamez Salvaje, and the East crew) A Night with Jason Gobel, where they performed songs from Monstrosity and Cynic. He was finally persuaded to jam with the musicians on stage. “I was really rusty from not having played in a while,” chuckled the guitarist. “I haven’t played these songs even longer so I wasn’t sure if the muscle memory would kick in. I didn’t want to leave them with a bad impression.”

Nevertheless, Gobel got his licks in. “A short guitar solo,” he clarified. 

However, it sparked something in Gobel that he had not felt in a long time. “I started getting ideas – bits and pieces – for songs. Ideas for projects. Including one where I would work with local musicians. And I have met a lot of talented Filipino musicians.”

Anything is possible, bared Gobel. “It is impossible for me to go back to that death metal phase. I might do a metal song here and there. A project here and there, but at this point, I am open to a lot of things.”

Over time, his musical horizons expanded and the American enjoys a myriad of genres. “I think it is impossible to be still playing the same things over decades. As a musician, as an artist, you want to grow. You’re tastes change. You appreciate different things. And traveling opens your eyes as well.”

And to love as well. While in Manila, Gobel has met someone. The effect on Gobel has been huge. “I thought that it was in Thailand where I’d settle if not find myself. But it looks like Manila will be my base in Asia.”

“From the little that I have seen, the music scene here is exciting. You can say that it has also inspired me and I feel a rebirth of sorts here.”

A comeback?

“Not really because that is picking up where you left off. This one… is like starting something new. Definitely, a new stage.”