Gibsonton, Florida’s Obituary is an institution. Vocalist John Tardy, drummer Donald Tardy (John’s brother), guitarists Trevor Peres and Ralph Santolla (replacing original member Allen West) and bassist Frank Watkins are responsible for creating the sprig on heavy metal’s family tree that is Floridian death metal. Born on albums such as 1989’s Slowly We Rot and 1990’s Cause Of Death, this subgenre is recognized as slower and more deliberate than others — without lacking severity or heaviness — and is mimicked to this day by bands great and small.

Despite being innovators, though, Obituary has never attained the same level of success as their imitators. What they have done is survived. Forming in 1985 under the moniker Xecutioner yet going on to release seven albums as Obituary, they’ve created a metallic style, broken up, reformed and ultimately become elder statesmen of metal.

“I don’t know if that’s a term I particularly like,” laughs Tardy, discussing the band’s seniority. “At the same time, after seeing some of the people that claim to like us that have gone on to become a part of great metal bands, I guess we are. We’ll see if they still think that way when they hear this record.”

Tardy’s modesty seems like frivolous nicety. Obituary’s eighth full-length, Darkest Day (Candlelight USA), is one of their best, and that’s fighting an already-high watermark. From the guttural grind of “List Of Dead” through to “Left To Die,” Darkest Day exudes a deeper sense of cohesion. That’s because it was recorded in their own studio, allowing them to be meticulous in ensuring each track turned out exactly as expected. Some people might think it isn’t hard to merely document demonic growling and overly distorted guitars, but Tardy reveals that the process was intense and involved.

“You wouldn’t believe how much effort went into this record, man. I’m talking about moving mics a quarter of an inch at a time to make sure we got the best possible sound out of everything. I think we took more time on that than we did on writing,” he laughs. “When we write, we just jam. We’ve been doing it so long together, we know what the other guy is gonna do before he does. This is the most fun we’ve ever had with the band.”

While Tardy and crew may only be rediscovering their love of Obituary, it never left the fans, hence the pressure put on them by diehards to reform circa 2003, resulting in renewed attention and, eventually, Darkest Day. The conversation rolls back to the fact that, while Obituary may not be reaping massive financial rewards despite their influence on metal as a whole, there is an undeniable adoration for them that has endured.

“I know, but it’s odd to think about,” Tardy shrugs awkwardly. “When we got back together, that’s when it dawned on me what this band has done. Some of the people we’d run into, like the guys from Slipknot, were, like, ‘we’ve been fans of you forever,’ or Phil Anselmo [of Pantera and Down]. He had a bunch of Obituary CDs and wanted us to sign them. I was like. ‘You’re Phil from Pantera! What are you talking about wanting my autograph for?’ It dawned on me — I hadn’t thought of it before — but after we came back, we were accepted by fans and other bands who showed us that Obituary was missed during that period. And now we’re back, stronger than ever.”