Paws, Pets & Metal is Metal Insider’s newest column on bands with pets, discovering who watches them on the road, and more. Get to know more about these metal furbabies. We caught up with the New Jersey power metal outfit Mindrazer, infused with dark/black metal roots evident in their debut album A Thing of Nightmares, released on October 13th via Misanthropic Records. Nick DeFuria, the vocalist, rhythm guitarist, classical guitarist, and percussionist, reveals  how his dogs were thrown into listening to metal. 

Tell us more about your pet(s) and their names?

Right now there are two dogs in the Mindrazer family. We’ve got Rex, some kind of mutt that resembles a dachshund. He is our Drummer Brian’s dog. I have a shih-tzu yorkie mix called Peaches. Both of them are pretty quirky and fun. Rex has a thing for feet, he likes to attack them. I’ve never seen anything like it. He’s sweet about it though. Nothing painful or anything like that. Peaches is exceptionally well-behaved and a very affectionate dog towards humans but she’s a rescue and must have had some trouble with other animals. She really doesn’t like other animals. The only other dog she liked was Max, my bichon frise, but unfortunately, he died last June at the age of 17. Despite this flaw, she is quite the sweet little creature and everyone loves her. 

Have you ever taken your pet on tour?

Our dogs have never come out with us unfortunately, we do mostly one off road dates so it is impractical to bring them along. Plus, we wouldn’t have a comfortable place to keep them while we performed. A metal venue is no place for a dog due to their sensitive hearing. 

Who looks after your pet while on the road?

Our dogs stay with our parents when we go out and play shows. It sucks leaving them but they get lots of attention and even get a little spoiled when we are gigging so I imagine that the dogs don’t mind our absence too much. Especially since we are usually back within the next couple of days. 

What’s your pet’s favorite song or album?

Interestingly enough, I’ve noticed Peaches responds in a novel way to our own album “A Thing of Nightmares”. She must recognize my voice on the record or can relate the sounds to the sound of me practicing in the house. She has never really responded to music unless it was really loud until I started playing the tracks from the album around the house. I had been listening to them in various rooms on different speakers when we were in the mixing and mastering process to get a feel for them and see what needed to be fixed. It was then that I noticed that Peaches had been reacting to them. She kind of perks up when she hears certain passages. All of which have my voice on them. She definitely knows my voice.

How did you introduce your pet to metal?

I don’t know if there was ever a formal introduction. I think she was kind of just thrown into it when she came home for the first time. During that period of my life, I practiced a ton and she was definitely subject to the noise that came from that. Initially, I think it frightened her because she has some trauma with loud noises, especially thunder but since then, she has become accustomed to it and like I said, responds to my voice.  

What animal charity means most to you?

The one closest to my heart is Eleventh Hour Rescue. That is where we met Peaches and I love supporting the organization. There are so many dogs in shelters who need a home and they make fantastic members of the family. They deserve love too. Go rescue a dog if you can give them a good home.