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 guitarist Marco Gomez of Foreword, the Texas metalcore outfit that recently dropped their latest single, “Glass Castles.” During our conversation, they shared the interesting tidbit that their pets are named after iconic figures like Ozzy Osbourne and The Black Dahlia Murder.

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

My Rottweiler/ Pitbull Dahlia was named after The Black Dahlia Murder. Ozzie Pawsborne was of course named after the Prince of Darkness Ozzy Osbourne. Lydia Deetz is my third tuxedo cat named from BeetleJuice. And I have Rue, my first tuxedo cat. I just liked that name for a cat. I also have a black guinea pig named Sippy and a brown guinea pig named Poppy, the latter of whom was partially named after the music artist. 

Have you ever taken your pet on tour? 

No I haven’t. I would definitely take my dog Dahlia, but the cats are not huge fans of traveling! 

Who looks after your pet while on the road?

Normally a very close family member or one of my very close friends. Dahlia is a big strong girl so it helps for someone to already be familiar with her. 

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

They love anything with low tuned guitars and a heavy drum beat, anything they can bang their heads to!

How did you introduce your pet to metal? 

They would always be interested in the strings on my guitar especially when I was restringing one. So, when I was done restringing and I would be riffing around or practicing, they would sit and listen. Naturally that was a lot of metal. 

What animal charity means most to you? 

ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) who does a great job rescuing pets who are being abused by their owners.