Key Takeaways

• Collaboration: The Melvins teamed up with Napalm Death for the album Savage Imperial Death March.
• Friendship: Buzz Osborne values the long-standing relationship with Tomahawk and looks forward to touring together.
• Creative Process: The band emphasizes true collaboration in songwriting and recording, enhancing their musical output.
• Future Plans: Buzz hints at exciting new projects and tours in the works beyond the summer.

At four decades-plus into their career, Melvins’ Buzz Osborne still finds ways to keep it interesting. Case in point is their 2026 collaborative record with Napalm Death under the moniker Savage Imperial Death March.

Osborne was beaming to Full Metal Jackie about the experience on her weekend radio show, explaining, “I didn’t know what it was gonna be like. I knew it was gonna be cool, but I had no idea.”

The Melvins frontman says the idea of the unknown was appealing to him, knowing they had a limited amount of time and unsure of how much material they might come up with during their pairing. “It’s doing stuff like that that keeps me interested in everything that we’re doing and also keeps it interesting,” shares the singer.

Within the chat, King Buzzo also spoke about the band’s long-running friendship with the members of Tomahawk with the two bands teaming up once more on tour this year. He speaks of his fondness for where Melvins are at this point in their career and the lineup of musicians he’s playing with. And he hints at something big in his world on the horizon.

Check out more of the chat below.

It’s Full Metal Jackie and it is a pleasure to welcome back to the show King Buzzo. Buzz Osborne. 2026 is turning into a fun one for the band as you already paired up with Napalm Death on Savage Imperial Death March, and of course, a Melvins tour with the reformed Tomahawk. There’s a long history there as peers, labelmates, and Trevor [Dunn]’s obviously played with you in Melvins. What’s it been like reconnecting with those guys?

I’m a big fan of those guys, especially Trevor. I’ve worked with Trevor on a lot of different things. We did a big huge U.S. and European acoustic tour almost two years ago. That was great. Hope to do that again with him on standup bass and then we’re hoping that those guys or some of those guys will jam with us onstage when we do our sets.

But we’ve all worked together a lot. I think the last time we played with Tomahawk was the better part of 20 years ago and our last show was in Sydney, Australia with them. So that was a lot of fun. That was a Melvins, Phantomas, Tomahawk tour of Australia. It was really cool. We loved it. It was really fun. I think I was the only person on that tour that wasn’t drinking.

Oh, really?

Yeah.

And can still call it a fun tour?

Oh, I had a blast. I’m there to do my job and have fun playing music and then I am completely content to go straight back to my room at the hotel and watch a movie and maybe email my wife or call her if the time changes aren’t too bad.

I’m totally fine with that. I don’t need a whole lot to keep me occupied or happy on tour. You got a good bookstore or something like that. I’m a bookworm, so it all helps.

Melvins + Napalm Death, “Rip the God”

This wasn’t the first time for you have crossed paths With Tomahawk. Back in 2003, there were dates together. What are your recollections from those early shows and were you immediately a fan of their music upon hearing them?

With Tomahawk? I knew all the guys really well so I was happy they were doing anything together. It wouldn’t really matter to me. You put those guys together, they’re gonna come up with something good without too much trouble.

We did a European tour with them, a U.S. tour and a big Australian tour, so basically the whole world. Didn’t play Japan. I don’t know why we left Japan out. For some reason we left them out. No Japan for this tour. No dice.

This time it’s four weeks across the U.S. I wish it was longer but we’re gonna end in Los Angeles at two shows at The Belasco, which will be really fun. I love The Belasco. Do you like that venue?

Yeah, It’s cool. I have to say that I feel like they try to make downtown a thing and I don’t know that downtown’s a thing, but there’s definitely some cool venues now downtown.

Well, you can drink cheap wine and score heroin and go to the show. And there’s an amazing bookstore down there called The Last Bookstore.

Oh, yeah.

That place, that’s one of my favorite bookstores certainly in L.A., so I’m always happy to go downtown.

We’re talking about this summer tour that finds Melvins back with their four-piece lineup. Musicians have come and gone throughout the years, but Dale Crover has been there the longest with you. What has it meant to have someone to share this musical journey with throughout and can you talk about that working relationship?

Well, we’ve been working together since 1984. But we’ve also worked with Coady Willis, who’s the second drummer on this and we’ve done shows without Dale when he was incapacitated and that went really well because Coady’s a great drummer.

It’s nice to know that I have these musicians including Steve McDonald, who plays bass, that I can rely on and that are really good in their own right. We can make it work. To me, these guys are all top-notch musicians.

I feel honored and privileged to have them as my side mates in a musical endeavor that has lasted me the better part of 50 years.

Looking back at the history, it’s easy to call Melvins one of the more prolific bands of their generation. We’ve got 29 studio albums, multiple collaborative albums, EPs and live albums after starting off in 1986. You don’t get to this point without pushing the boundaries and keeping it fresh. At this point, how do you go about keeping it challenging and interesting for yourself? What makes a recording and creative process one that’s something you always wanna come back to?

Well, not being afraid to do what we just did on our newest album, which is a collaboration with Napalm Death, which is a true collaboration. It’s not like Melvins put in songs and Napalm Death put in songs. We collaborated as a band in writing the songs and recording them.

And so it was really like putting a new band together with the members of both those of Melvins and Napalm Death, which I think came out well. I didn’t know what it was gonna be like; I knew it was gonna be cool but I had no idea.

I also didn’t know how much material we’d come up with because we had a limited amount of time to figure it out. So I had some material; they had some material; we combined them; figured out what we were gonna do; and then once we were done we sent it to Barney, the singer, who put his magic on it.

And I think he really elevated it to another level that wasn’t there before. And it’s doing stuff like that that keeps me interested in everything that we’re doing and also keeps it interesting. I don’t think any other two bands have ever done this — made a true collaboration — not that I know of.

So it was really cool to be able to do that; those guys are very open-minded and super nice guys; I could not be happier with how the record came out; it’s a great addition to what we’re doing; things like that keep it interesting for me.

I’ve done many records; collaborating makes everything more interesting; when you throw creative people into one room you’re gonna come up with something good.

Buzz, it feels like you’re always working but given the long history of the band do you ever get a chance to reflect or take it all in? This year’s gonna mark 40 years since the first EP; obviously there are gonna be highs and lows throughout that time but I was curious if you had a period within the band’s history where you felt mostly present about enjoying everything where everything was satisfactory?

I’m really happy with what we got going on now; usually I’ve always enjoyed whoever I’m playing with because I’m playing with them for reason; sometimes problems arise but we’ve moved on from some situations along those lines.

The better part about 20 years ago — 10 or 15 years ago — we decided whatever me and Dale were doing was The Melvins; whatever we come up with now isn’t going to be solid anything; we just leave it at that.

We’ve played with these guys for quite some time now; I really like having two drummers; I don’t think we’re gonna sway from that; playing with Steve McDonald from Redd Cross is fantastic; he’s one of the hottest bass players out there both in looks and skill; it’s win-win; he’s an excellent addition and musician; I’m very satisfied in that department; double drumming is difficult but rewarding at end.

I really enjoy it; not many people do this either; we’re planning another record soon featuring double drumming again which will be drum-centric.

King Buzzo is here on our show this week; as mentioned earlier besides Melvins earlier this year saw you team up with Napalm Death for Savage Imperial Death March. How long have you been a fan of Napalm Death? Can you share your experience during this collaboration?

I really enjoy it; I’ve known them since their first U.S tour which happened late ’80s or early ’90s; met them shortly after; we’ve done various shows prior to this project; then we did an extensive U.S tour together in 2016 which involved careful planning by our booking agent so they would enjoy themselves during our shows.

Their response was positive leading us into another big tour last year involving around 52 or 54 shows across U.S.; we played literally everywhere possible; one drummer humorously noted “This is about five weeks longer than I’d prefer,” which made me laugh but they enjoyed themselves thoroughly during both tours.

I would love future tours across Europe or Australia alongside them; when discussing recording earlier this year I proposed creating something special as limited edition EP while touring which they agreed upon readily; Shane and John came over for collaborative work.

The effort felt so collective it’s hard recalling who played what exactly — I remember playing bass guitar along singing — everyone contributed equally without egos involved while laughing through entire process leading us ultimately producing enough material for an album before handing over final product for Barney’s magic touch.

I believe his contribution elevated our work significantly resulting into something truly special released through Ipecac rather than simply an EP barely recognized by fans.