Pete Sandoval

Pete Sandoval
Background information
Also known as	Commando, Pete the Feet
Born	(1969-05-21) May 21, 1969
Origin	Santa Ana, El Salvador
Genres	Death metal, grindcore, deathgrind
Occupation(s)	Drummer
Instruments	Drums, piano, keyboards
Years active	1986–present
Associated acts	Morbid Angel, Terrorizer

Pete Sandoval (born May 21, 1969) is a Salvadoran-born American death metal drummer. He is widely regarded as "the father of the blast beat" and one of the fastest drummers in the death metal scene. He plays Sabian cymbals and Evans heads. His first significant stint as a drummer was for the grindcore band Terrorizer, formed in 1986, where he began to demonstrate some of his talent. Heavily influenced by the grindcore music around him, Sandoval quickly developed his abilities as a drummer with little formal training or musical education.

In 1988, Sandoval was invited to join the death metal band Morbid Angel. Concurrently, the original lineup of Terrorizer was dissolved after the departures of Sandoval and guitarist Jesse Pintado (who subsequently joined Napalm Death).

Sandoval had never used two bass drums before joining Morbid Angel. He had to practice frequently in order to get his feet up to speed, and recorded the Altars of Madness album within only a couple of months of joining Morbid Angel. According to Morbid Angel guitarist Trey Azagthoth, the band would occasionally walk in on Sandoval passed out on the floor in a pool of sweat. After being woken up, he would immediately say, "Time to get back to work!"^[1] After mastering double-bass usage in Morbid Angel, Sandoval also implemented them in Terrorizer's World Downfall album when the band briefly re-united to record it.

According to former singer David Vincent, the band once played a prank on Sandoval by making him listen to a band that used a preprogrammed drum machine, and pretended it was a real drummer who could play faster than he could. Sandoval was gutted, and went on to practice until he managed to play faster than the machine.^[2]

In 2010, he had to undergo surgery to repair a prolapsed disc. Not being able to play painlessly for an extended period for up to a year, he was replaced by Tim Yeung for the recording and touring of Morbid Angel's 2011 album Illud Divinum Insanus.^[3]

In December 2013, David Vincent stated in an interview that Sandoval was no longer with Morbid Angel, citing incompatibility with the band after Sandoval's conversion to Christianity as the reason.^[4]

In a 2014 interview, Sandoval said that his beliefs would not affect Terrorizer's music or lyrical content, explaining that his faith has given him a positive outlook on life.^[5]

In 2015, he gave an explanation about his split from his former band: "The reason for the separation of MORBID ANGEL and I was not really a religious matter. But it was my problem that I had with my back. I had to have a surgery back in 2009. And I was not a religious person back then. It was all a back problem. I had to get my back fixed, and they were gonna wait for me, actually, for me to recover. But then it took more than what we expected it was gonna take. So the bottom line is MORBID ANGEL could not wait for me, because I could not do it for years. So they had to find a new drummer. And that's the reason why I don't play in MORBID ANGEL anymore. Four years it took… I didn't even think I was gonna come back and play drums again, because I was really bad. I was, like, four years of recovering. And while MORBID ANGEL had already done a new record with a new guy, I recall. And so, in 2012, right after I recorded [TERRORIZER's] 'Hordes Of Zombies' record, during that year, somehow that's when I found God. That's when I found God and that's when my life started to change."

When asked if he missed playing with the band, he said: "No, I don't. I don't miss it. I don't miss any of that."^[6]

References