AUTOPSY vocalist and drummer Chris Reifert spoke to About.com's Justin M. Norton recently about the band's comeback, their headlining performance at this year's Maryland Deathfest and the upcoming album Macabre Eternal. Excerpts follow:

Q: You’ve often said that Autopsy was never going to come back and that people needed to move on. What finally made you decide to bring the band back – was it a fan base that refused to accept that Autopsy was gone forever?

A: "Well, we reserved the right to change our minds (laughs). We did two songs for a reissue in 2008 (of Severed Survival) and it generated a lot of interest. We had a good time with that and it was a good foundation. We started talking to the guys from Maryland Deathfest and they pushed hard to get something going on. We finally just said f—it let’s do it as a one-off, just for the hell of it. As soon as we decided to do that we got excited about the band and remembered how fun it was. Then Abscess split up and rather than just sit around and do nothing we figured we’d go with Autopsy 100 percent. It was a smooth reactivation."

Q: When you went back and played MDF it looked like you were greeted like conquering heroes. What was it like to play in front of such a big and rabid audience years after the band went dormant and after living through a time when there was a small audience for this music?

A: "There were pockets of people into it at the time, but the Bay Area wasn’t too hot for us. Maryland was totally amazing. We weren’t prepared for that reaction. The best part was when we were getting set up to sound check and a huge crowd had gathered. We did about twenty seconds of 'Ridden With Disease' and people just went nuts. That was a good feeling and we knew then it was going to work. We knew we were going to have a good time but weren’t sure about everyone else. That was a defining moment and let us knew it would be OK. It was even better than we imagined."

Q: Was there any trepidation in that MDF was your first live performance in so many years? How did you prepare without getting out in front of crowds?

A: "We just practiced a bunch. It was interesting because we had Danny Lilker (BRUTAL TRUTH bassist) playing bass and he lives in New York and we live in California. We gave him all the albums and told him the set list and he learned it all at home. We had him come out for a weekend and we had three nights in a row rehearsing with him. We rehearsed as much as we could. We didn’t want to blow chunks or disappoint. We took it very seriously. We didn’t know how people would react but we hoped it would be good."

Q: There were a lot of years between the new music and Severed Survival. Are you still interested and able to write about violence and zombies? Does that feel fresh or did you ever consider alternate lyrical content? Would that go against what the band is?

A: "If it’s going to be a song with the Autopsy name it has to be horrific, sick, brutal, gory or all of the above. We can’t be going political or be socially aware. It just needs to be disgusting or at least dark. It’s fun to write stuff like that because you know that’s what the band needs. You set out a mission. It’s amusing and entertaining to find new ways to be disgusting. And I’m not tired of it. I should be, but that’s not the case (laughs)."

Q: Is it like what George Romero said to Tom Savini before they started working on the original Dawn of the Dead… go think of ways to kill people?

A: "That’s it! I mean, not every song is about killing people but it’s chock full of horror. If you are in a band called Autopsy that’s what it needs. I just let my mind wander and find that dark place and transcribe it. For whatever reason, it comes naturally."

Q: ABSCESS was your other band for a long time and you put out so many records. Were you ever miffed that some people seemed to care more about your old band than music you were working on in the moment?

A: "Oh, definitely. There were times when I wanted people to shut up about Autopsy. We did Abscess for 16 years and we went out of our way to say Autopsy is done and this is what we’re going to be doing. There were time when we were frustrated, but not enough to give up what we were doing. Reforming Autopsy has nothing to do with Abscess being a hard sell. It was just time."

Read the entire interview here.