With Blood Eagle, the latest single from his project DIECOT, Chicago-based musician Thomas Robert delivers a relentless blend of precision and intensity. Featured on Progotronics 51, the track emerged from a period of experimentation. In this interview, Robert tells us about the creative process behind Blood Eagle, his approach to songwriting, and where he sees DIECOT fitting into today’s ever-evolving metal landscape.
You just launched a new single with DIECOT entitled Blood Eagle. How do you feel about the new track, and what was the creative process behind it?
Very happy with the new track and how it turned out, I love the energy of it. Guitar variation’s and rough concept’s of that song had been floating around my head for a while, but nothing that I was committed to. I kept feeling that something was lacking from it, so I shelved the idea for a while. Then one evening I was playing around with sounds on a pitch shifter and thats when it sonically all fell into place for me. The song wrote itself at that point.
How much of a challenge was it to bring Blood Eagle to life, and did you set any specific goals or obstacles for yourself during its creation?
My goal and approach to Blood Eagle was the same as it is with every track, and that’s to write the best song I can. I listen to a lot of music, so when writing I am always thinking to myself “what would I want to hear as a listener?”. I don’t believe in writing ‘filler’ songs for an album. I want every track to belong and have its place, so every one gets 110% effort. Blood Eagle was no different and I believe it fits this album perfectly.
Every song comes with its own set of challenges and obstacles, but you’ll never hear me complain about stuff like that. Part of the fun in making music is that it pushes you creatively in different directions to try new things and if/when mistakes are made, you fix them and learn from them. End result is a better song.
Tell me about the different instrumental aspects you explore on Blood Eagle. Was the dynamic flow carefully architected, or did it evolve more organically?
The song is in drop A and was recorded on my KM-7 Schecter. As a guitarist, I’m always chasing tone and trying to find that next best thing. For this track I used the Archetype: Nolly X and Gojira amp modeler for guitar and Parallax X modeler for bass. Both plugin’s are made by Neural DSP and the tones on both are sick with endless options to tweak and personalize. At this point, it’s almost exclusively all I use for tones on DIECOT tracks.
I never force myself to write music, I find when I do that the end result is always shit. I really strive to only write when things are flowing organically. Blood Eagle was not a preconceived idea that I was trying to re-create, it evolved on the spot while in the studio. I prefer to compose that way, in the moment. If I feel I’m overthinking a part, I will always move on to some thing else and come back to it another time.
How did you document the music while it was being formulated, and what was your approach to recording the EP?
Out of habit for years I record riffs as they come to me. Whether it be straight into my DAW or into my smart phone, I’m always recording ideas. Doing this allows me 1) to not forget the riff and 2)always have a good starting point on something when I sit down to work on a new track. DIECOT is a metal band, so my approach to this track was to of course make it fu*ken heavy, but to also give it some depth and variation from other tracks on the album. I had recorded the riff idea for Blood Eagle several weeks earlier, but it had no real direction. Once I reproached the idea at a later date with a new set of ears, the song took on a life of its own and the creativity took over.
I like an album to ebb and flow with variations in time signature and BPM’s. I will never write an album where every song sounds the exact same and hits the listener with the same sonic energy. That’s a boring way to write music in my opinion. The way I see it, is every song can be heavy, but can also have a different vibe to it.
Who are some of your key influences—both past and present—that have shaped and continue to shape your sound? What is your opinion on the metal scene today, and where do you see DIECOT fitting within it?
As a guitar player, the list of influences is long and vast. I’m always learning new techniques and tricks and getting inspired from different genres. Growing up as a metalhead though; Dimebag Darrell, James Hetfield, Dino Cazares, Fredrik Thordendal, Jerry Cantrell, Max Cavalera (to name a few) were all huge influences on me that shaped my style. I can play lead, but I’ve always gravitated more towards rhythm. I love writing heavy, chunky guitar riffs that create the groove on a track. A good riff carries a song and engages a listener in my opinion.
To me the metal scene is always evolving and branching out. There’s too many genres and sub-genres within the scene for me to wrap my brain around or care about to be honest. I’ve always just considered myself a metalhead and refuse to put myself into a box of any certain genre. I love a lot of different bands within this scene from Pantera to Meshuggah to Dream Theater and they have all influenced me in different ways. So when it comes to DIECOT, I just write what comes naturally and whatever genre ppl want to label that as, then so be it. So far the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. People seem to really dig it, so I guess that means it fits within the scene somewhere.
What are your thoughts on the role of technology in music? Has it impacted how you write, record, or perform?
Technology is always moving forward, we can’t stop it. So you need to embrace it. Don’t get me wrong, I love the sound of older bands that recorded in analog. There’s a warmth and richness to it that just makes it sound more natural and some may say it just sounds better altogether.
For me personally though, I wear a lot of hats in the studio, so efficient workflow is paramount. I write modern metal and use a DAW to do that. Recording in digital gives me the precision, control, editing flexibility, and modern production techniques I desire to achieve sonically for DIECOT. Digital technology allows me to do it all in a timely and productive manner.
Do you see your music as serving a purpose beyond just being music—whether emotionally, thematically, or conceptually?
I write music for me because I love it and it keeps me level headed. Now, if others get something out of what I write too, then right on. Whether I’m just listening or creating as an artist, music has always been very therapeutic for me. It’s gotten me through some tough times in life, so I would imagine it has the same effect on others. Music is a powerful drug and everyone connects with it in their own personal way. I’m just happy to be able to write and do something I’m passionate about.
What are your top five records of all time?
1) White Album or Abbey Road (tie between both albums. Depends on the day!) – The Beatles
2) Houses of the Holy – Led Zeppelin
3) 1984 – Van Halen
4) Texas Flood – SRV
5) Far Beyond Driven – Pantera
Beyond the release of Blood Eagle, what are your plans for the future?
Blood Eagle is the third single release from the upcoming DIECOT album Cruel & Unusual Punishment which is due out by Halloween of this year. Singles will continue drop in support of that album, but there’s no plan to stop there. Moving into 2026, the goal is to continue writing, releasing music and grow the DIECOT fan base.
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