Geared Up: Funebrarum’s Phil Tougas Talks Vintage Gear, Modern Touring & Extreme Metal Tone

Across the worlds of death metal, black metal and technical extreme metal, Phil Tougas has built a reputation as one of Canada’s busiest and most versatile musicians. As a guitarist and bassist performing with multiple bands, including Funebrarum, Worm, First Fragment and more, his equipment has to serve very different musical styles while remaining dependable in the studio, on tour and at festivals around the world.

In the latest edition of Geared Up, Tougas discusses the gear behind Funebrarum’s latest album Beckoning The Void Of Eternal Silence, why vintage DOD pedals remain central to his sound, the benefits of travelling with a Fractal Axe-FX II, his love of solid-state Peavey amplifiers, and the lessons learned from years of equipment failures, touring, recording and improvising when things inevitably go wrong.

First things first: what’s your current setup? And what setup do you think serves musicians like you the most in the style of music you play?

Phil Tougas: “For Funebrarum, I use a combination of Peavey solid state & tube heads as well as Marshall cabs & DOD pedals as well as the classic green overdrive pedal and a boss delay cranked up in the FX loop for leads. This simple setup makes the most sense for the band, stylistically. We play death metal in its most rotten form and we have a preference for guitar tones that are heavy and dirty. We are usually able to source backline for tours to make this setup work.

My personal setup varies a lot, though. In most cases, it’s best to be self-contained & self-reliant. I usually fly into tours and fests with an OG Axe FX II and a Seymour Duncan Powerstage 700. I can travel with those by plane and consolidate everything by having the ability to replicate my album tones and effects there. I currently play shows with six bands both as a guitarist and bassist, and they all play different genres and most of them play fly-in festivals on top of fly-in tours and local gigs. Means I won’t always have access to the same gear or reliable backline.

I can appreciate staying loyal to real amps but I’m not a land-locked bedroom musician nor a jam band guy. Good luck hauling tube amps in planes especially with rising luggage fees too! I have to be self-reliant based on the fact that I’m never playing on my own backline most of the time. The easiest setup possible works best for traveling musicians.

Funebrarum Geared Up, photo provided by Artist.

Regardless if I use modelers or real amps, I don’t go direct-in, or use cab sims, nor use IEMs. I want Marshall 4×12 cabs screaming behind me at all times. My setup as a bass player is more or less the same. I use a giant Ampeg bass 8×10 cab with an Ampeg head and chorus pedal or I go the Fractal + Seymour Duncan route depending on what’s most convenient.”

Did you use this set up during the recording of your latest song or album? If so, please elaborate on how and for what parts.

“On the newest Funebrarum album Beckoning The Void Of Eternal Silence, we used the American Metal pedal through Laney & Bogner amps and a Fender cabinet for rhythm guitars. This pedal has been a staple of the Funebrarum sound since 1999, long before my arrival in the band, which was ten years ago. There is something about these old DOD pedals that I just love. It makes me feel like the guitars were put through a meat grinder filled with grease and lard, as it should because we play death metal. The production on this album is something I am immensely proud of.

From the drums that were recorded to tape to the bass and guitar tones and all analog effects, I feel its sound is a crossover between all of the band’s past albums but with a new dimension of grimness and heaviness. The type of heaviness that chains you down at the bottom of a damp and narrow well with no chance to ever surface again. I think we were able to capture the raw and dark essence of death metal without sacrificing clarity or impact despite the dirty distortion of the DOD. It’s likely because we made sure the guitar and bass performances were articulate themselves and the riffs were the focal point of the songs.

For my leads, I chose to omit pedals as we had access to a rackmount delay unit from the 80s in the studio. I remember showing Steve Deacutis, our engineer, an album called Project Driver by the group M.A.R.S. featuring Tony MacAlpine. Specifically, I wanted him to hear how the delay volume would fluctuate from one part to another, to give the leads the feeling that they are alive and screaming in your ears. Combining that with a Peavey 6505 through a Marshall Cab made it easier to recreate my preferred settings with it. I could automate the wet signal of the effect and “print” it in real time directly from the mixing board with the faders after Stevie set up the delay unit for me. It’s insane how much I have learned from this guy after working with him for a few releases. He is an infinite source of knowledge.”

What one piece of gear do you use to obtain your signature sound? Do you have a special way that you recreate your album (guitar/vocal/bass) tones in a live setting, or is it more just plug-and play?

“What I will say is that I use a delay set to 0.67 ml for my guitar lead channel, with three tails and this setting is likely over countless recordings I’ve made in the past including the aforementioned Funebrarum album. This setting is applied regardless of the actual tempo of the section, by the way, and this is on purpose. I can recreate it with most pedals, rack units or any modeler so it doesn’t really matter the piece of gear I use. I just use whatever I got to recreate this setting to go with my sound and it works well enough that I’m not dependent on one sole piece of equipment by one brand to sound like “me”.

The same goes for my bass tone on the latest Zeicrydeus album, which has a thick chorus and a lot of midrange frequencies. While I used a boss multi-chorus pedal for it, a lot of pieces of gear can recreate this tone effectively to sound like Zeicrydeus. Fractal works best for live situations if I’m not going through a traditional setup but still going through a 8×10 cab. I got the inspiration to have a tone like this from Cirith Ungol, Manowar and Heir Apparent.”

Funebrarum Geared Up, photo provided by Artist

What was your first ever instrument?

“Before finding my home with Ibanez and Schecter Guitars and Fender Basses, my first instrument was a cheap 50$ nylon guitar and a Slammer which is a clone of a clone. Not memorable, huh? Well, it carried me through my formative years when I was playing punk age 10-13. However, my first “real” guitar was a 1976 Gibson Explorer which I got right around the time I got into Metallica, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden and decided I wanted to write metal music. I did my first tours with it with cover bands when I was 14 and 15. I used it on a few records too, notably the Atramentus and Chthe’ilist albums.

Nowadays, my father uses it most often for his new band (Band Of Brothers) pre-production demos. After disbanding D.D.T. (the first ever Québécois heavy metal ever) and Adam’s Apples, he became a sound engineer in the 90s but he still writes music. Although it looks aged, I can tell you that some layers of crust were accumulated from one specific show when Funebrarum played at Earslaughter back in 2018. This show took place in Montréal but it was sweatier than any Texan, German or Mexican venue I’ve played at.”

What’s your dream setup?

“An entire wall of Marshall 1960A stacks behind me as well as a rack full of 80s effect modules like the eventide. A man can dream. I’d ideally play on that rig with my own signature guitar. I think for Funebrarum, I would have a rack with only vintage DOD stuff and solid state Peavey rackmounted amps.”

Funebrarum ‘Beyond The Void of Eternal Silence’ Album Artwork

What was the first rig you ever bought that felt like you had “arrived” as a musician?

“After years of being broke and borrowing gear from many people for shows, my younger self got my first real job (aka stopped working under the table which I did for years) and got myself a Peavey Slanted Cab and a 5150 II head. That’s where I felt I finally had the POWER. I used this rig for many bands I have been in over the years and I still do! The price I got for it was insanely cheap too. I don’t think the seller knew he was sitting on gold but hey, thanks to that, I was able to do a lot of touring and studio work.”

Which company do you think has provided the most support to you as a musician?

“I would say Sweetwater really gave me a lot of help for my backline needs while in the US. The fact that I was able to get a sponsor discount from them as a Québécois musician means a lot to me because this almost never happens. The amount of Québec based metal musicians that actually tour the US is much lower than it used to be.”

Any sponsors who deserve a shoutout?

“I’ll give a shoutout to Ernie Ball which I am sponsored by. I also am endorsed by EMG pickups whom I’ve used for almost the same amount of years. Everything I recorded between my career start in 2006 up to 2015 was on Daddario and GHS strings as well as stock pickups. After I started using these two brands, there was no going back. They have been used on the following albums I have played on between 2015-2026, not including session or guest appearances:

Funebrarum – Beckoning The Void Of Eternal Silence
Exxûl – Sealed Into None
Zeicrydeus – La Grande Hérésie
Worm – Bluenothing + Starpath + Necropalace
First Fragment – Gloire Éternelle
Chthe’ilist – Le Dernier Crépuscule
Atramentus – Stygian
Zealotry – The Last Witness + At The Nexus Of All Stillborn Worlds
Voidceremony – Threads Of Unknowing
Serocs – The Phobos / Deimos Suite
Eternity’s End – Unyielding
Equipoise – Demiurgus
Cosmic Atrophy – The Void Engineers

I would also like to mention Intunegp who were kind enough to make me picks with the TSO logo. Since TSO is the label that I run and the collective of bands that I’m in, you will see this logo on a lot of pieces of gear that I own.”

Funebrarum Geared Up, photo provided by Artist.

Destroying instruments on stage: yay or nay?

“Destroying instruments… in this economy? It was cool when Pete Townshend did it in the 60s I guess. If I see touring bands doing that intentionally nowadays, I can only assume they are rich as hell. If I see you destroying a headless guitar on stage, you may get a pass though.”

What’s a brand or bit of gear that everyone else seems to love that you can’t stand?

“Headless guitars are the ugliest thing I have ever seen. One day when I end up in a fusion jazz band, you will definitely not see me playing one of those abominations. I have had many guitar students show up with these at lessons and I always just have to resist cracking jokes. OK, I might give the synthaxe a pass, but solely because of its practical use. It’s still ugly as hell, but it technically has some sort of headstock, and playing synth leads would be much easier for me that way.”

What’s a brand or bit of gear that you love that no one else seems to?

“I think Peavey Solid state amps destroy most amps out there when it comes to death and black metal guitar tones. I don’t think they’re hated by everybody else, but I think everyone swears by tube amps while I am more of a solid state kinda guy. I’ve played shows and backyard festivals with a Peavey Bandit and honestly thought that aside from lack of stage volume, I sounded better off that way. I had one for a number of years before it died. Thankfully, I was able to find one again at a stupid cheap price in Sherbrooke!”

Funebrarum Geared Up, photo provided by Artist.

Time for some fun. Give us your best “gear goes wrong” story.

“When I played at Decibel Beer Fest 3 years ago, the cab they gave me blew up midsong. Not sure how that happened or much it cost the fest but that surely was not cheap. I just air guitar’d on my actual guitar for the rest of the song. What else is there to do? The show has to go on.

One time, my Floyd went out of tune midset due to the insane Texas heat. That stage was so cramped not to mention my backup guitar was out of reach and we had a very limited amount of time not to mention no space to breathe between the songs. The solution : I played every note bending the strings a half step like Marty Friedman and used the whammy bar a lot.

One time I had my midi automated patch changes disabled which meant I couldn’t play parts of songs normally so I made up new guitar parts on the spot, entirely improvising everything. I’m not gonna stop playing if my shit goes wrong. But yeah, safe to say I much prefer using pedals and footswitches.

One time the entire tuning of my guitar dropped two FULL steps down after I touched the whammy bar despite stretching the strings and testing the bar prior to the set. I just transposed the riffs up by two step midsong.

Music gear can fail you anytime and anywhere. Your musical abilities won’t fail you if you train them to circumvent those uncertainties. Invest in gear, yes, but invest more time in practice. You know what else won’t fail you though? A giant sword. And Jakub Dobes in front of the net.”