Leslie's metal

Actual faves - playlist

2012-02-08T22:55:00.000-08:00

1. ASPHYX: Deathhammer
2. DESASTER: The Arts Of Destruction
3. HAIL SPIRIT NOIR: Pneuma
4. SODOM: Persecution Mania
5. NUCLEAR ASSAULT: Game Over
6. VEKTOR: Outer Isolation
7. UNHOLY: The Second Ring Of Power
8. DEAD CAN DANCE: I.
9. METALLICA: Ride The Lightning
10. SEAR BLISS: Phantoms

Top 20 releases of 2011

2012-01-10T22:51:00.000-08:00

1. ARCH/MATHEOS: Sympathetic Resonance
2. ARTILLERY: My Blood
3. HATE ETERNAL: Phoenix Amongst The Ashes
4. MORBID ANGEL: Illud Divinum Insanus
5. BLOOD CEREMONY: Living With The Ancients
6. BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION: II.
7. CROWBAR: Sever The Wicked Hand
8. CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED: Cold Winds On Timeless Days
9. LAKE OF MIND: A Condemned Soul
10. ANVIL: Juggernaut Of Justice
11. ALARUM: Natural Causes
12. DEVIL: Time To Repent
13. VEKTOR: Outer Isolation
14. VALLENFYRE: A Fragile King
15. ENTRAILS: The Tomb Awaits
16. MORBUS CHRON: Sleepers In The Rift
17. VAIN: Enough Rope
18. STEEL PANTHER: Balls Out
19. VOMITORY: Opus Mortis VIII
20. TOXIC TRACE: Torment

Viking interview with drummer Matt Jordan - part 2.

2012-01-10T03:47:00.000-08:00

The three songs of the demo made up on the debut record titled Do Or Die, at which point did you write the other tunes? How about the song composing, the song composing-process of Viking?
We wrote the songs together as we rehearsed every week. I remember playing drums on my chest as Brett wrote the riffs. We could be walking through a store, driving, hanging out, it seemed like we were always trying to come up with cool riffs. Ron wrote most of the lyrics. I did write some early stuff but it was mostly Ron who had the gift of writing the lyrics.
The album was recorded 9/87-10/87 at the Adamo’s Recording, produced by the band itself and Brian Slagel, how about the recording sessions? Were you prepared to record the material?
I have mixed emotions about the album Do or Die. We're we prepared? Yes we were. We were polished, fast, we practiced rigorously, and we had very high expectations for ourselves. Looking back almost 25 years later, I regret not having more discipline in how I played. The first song we recorded was Valhalla. I remember the engineer commenting how cool and fast the song was. I was very excited and wanted the drums to be brutal.. kick you in the chin fast. Unfortunately, the recording came across a little out of control and even too fast at times. The recording was high paced and had a since of urgency for some reason. I'm not sure what it was other than pure excitement. The album could have been so much better if we had someone in the studio with more production experience and could've reeled me in a little bit.
Most of the tracks are viciously fast with some incredible thrash breaks, correct?
The songs we wrote for Do or Die was classic speed metal. I have made it no secret over the years, that the recording is disappointing to me. I'm very thankful Viking fans over the years have embraced it as a classic thrash metal album. I have received a lot of positive feedback and appreciated all that has been said over the years. But those songs were so much better than that recording. I played those songs so fast they lost some of the detailed intricacies and cool riffs we worked so hard to perfect. I have recordings of Viking practices that blow that album away. I love the songs, I liked the album.
What do you think about, that the inevitable influences came directly from bands like Dark Angel and Slayer and this album develops its fury through 30 minutes of hyper fast and destructive brutal thrash metal the aggression is really present?
There is no doubt our influences were Slayer and Dark Angel. They were our heroes. We were so thankful Dark Angel embraced us as brothers. They were very supportive of Viking and I consider them friends. Gene Hoglan was my idol and hero. I learned a lot from just watching him. I still consider him my mentor and an old friend.
Do you agree with, that the nine songs are mostly played in a supersonic velocity, but the songs are catchy enough to turn not out to useless noise, fast pace, some slower moments, loads of riffs, catchiness and energetic vocals?
I like the speed of Do or Die on some of the songs. If I could do it again, I would like to see the speeds vary a bit. For the most part, the record is the same out of control speed which takes away from the catchy riffs and slower parts. I love all those songs and they are very special to me because they were written with passion and a love for music. I would have liked them to be more controlled and a little slower in the studio.
Do Or Die wasn't about song writing, it was about relentless speed and extreme intensity…
Do or Die reflected our mentality and view on life. We didn't care what people thought about us and wanted to produce an in your face bone crushing thrash metal record. The production sound could have been better, the tempo could have been slower.. we were young and excited to be recording. In those days, not every band had that chance to record their music. Now a days, with technology and the internet, music is more accessible and its easier for bands to record and distribute their material.
Are the guitar solos screeching in best Slayer tradition, Ron Erikssen sounds like a combination of Tom Araya and Don Doty and the whole sound is rough and unpolished?
No doubt Slayer and Dark Angel was a big influence. Bret and Ron were very fast when it came to their guitar solos. They worked hard and wanted to make eardrums bleed. I think the overall production of the album didn't give justice to how talented Ron is. Ron is a very accomplished and talented vocalist. Yes it sounds unpolished and rough, which people liked, but I think he was ripped off a little due to the fast pace and poor overall sound.
The song Warlord was featured on the The Best of Metal Blade, Volume 3, along with tracks from Slayer, Lizzy Borden, Trouble, how much did this record help the band getting newer fans?
We are very thankful for the Metal Blade compilation series. Viking has had a consistent fan base for 25 years. Metal Blade and the Metal Massacre series really helped us form that fan base.
The world-famous Dark Angel invited Ron into the studio to sing a duet with vocalist Ron Rinehart on The Promise of Agony (Leave Scars record), did it symbolize the friendship between the bands or…? How did that happen?
We were very good friends with Dark Angel. Ron Rinehart and Ron Ericksen had similar singing styles. I was not surprised when Ron participated in Live Scars. Ron Rinehart also helped us in the studio when we recorded Man of Straw.
How about the shows and touring after the release of Do Or Die? Did you give a lot of shows? Did you have the opportunity touring in Europe?
There were local clubs in the southern California area that were very supportive of Viking. We played a lot of local shows but really never made it outside the area.
The Promise Of Agony was Ron’s last recorded vocal work before becoming a Christian just three months later, correct?
I'm not sure of the time frame. I know Ron has had several studio recordings since his work in Viking. He is a very gifted and versatile musician.
At which point did you start working on the second album titled Man Of Straw?
We started writing Man of Straw right away. We had tons of songs that never even made into the studio. We were very excited to begin the recording process. Although Do or Die was somewhat successful, we knew it wasn't our best work and we were eager to get Man of Straw recorded.
Is it true, that before completing the second album, Ron became a Born-Again Christian, and thus Ron rewrote some of the lyrics on Man of Straw to be more Christian-friendly (though with the exception of The Trial, that is generally not overtly religious)?
I don't think that's true. I remember Ron rewrote some lyrics because the older style of writing was more juvenile in nature... the blood and guts and satanic lyric style didn't capture the attitude of Man of Straw. He wrote about things he liked and what challenged him in life. Great White sharks, movie set tragedies, bad relationships, and creepy TV shows... Ron had a lot freedom to write what he wanted and wasn't locked into the worn out death, blood and guts lyrics style.
Do you consider Man of Straw an interesting album with some clear changes and concessions from the blitz of debut Do or Die?
Man of Straw was a great album. Looking back, I think it was a time of redemption from the sloppy recording of Do or Die. We used metronomes and had a concise plan when recording. Every song was planned out and rehearsed relentlessly. A lot of work was put into that album.
Was Man of Straw a step forward for this band, shows how much the band had matured since their debut?
Man of Straw was definitely a step forward. We matured as musicians and friends. We knew Do or Die wasn't our best work and were eager to redeem ourselves. We took our time and recorded in a better studio and really tried not to make the same mistakes we made when recording Do or Die.
The songs are more complex and still well structured, and the musicianship in general has improved immensely, correct?
We worked hard on the tunes for Man of Straw. I know Ron and Brett really worked hard when writing their guitar solos. Ron worked hard on keeping his gallop picking techniques tight.... I wrote the music for an entire song. Brett really helped me in construction the song Raped the Land and I was really happy with how it turned out. We rehearsed a lot and really came together as a band to make sure it was a tight controlled recording. All of us had input and I think it turned out well.
Did Man of Straw vary the tempos from song to song with some fast and furious riffing, as well as some more mid-tempo grooves?
I loved how our songs varied in tempo on Man of Straw. That is how we wrote the tunes and it reflected in the recording. Do or Die would have turned out better if we would have stuck with what we knew. Fast and furious with tempo changes and slower mosh riffs. When songs have slower breaks, the fast parts are more exaggerated and sound better.
Whose idea was covering the Pat Benatar song Hell Is For Children? Did it fit to your originals, to your own songs?
I think the motive behind the cover tune was to get radio air play. I'm not sure it worked. The song turned out good and fit the album. We actually recorded Roundabout by YES also. I remember that turned out really good although it didn't make the final cut. I would love to get my hands on that recording now. We had a lot of fun recording it.
In your opinion, is another big improvement over the debut the production, because this album was produced by Gordon Shumway pesudo name for Bill Metoyer and the production is far superior, with a great clear guitar tone, the sound is clear and sharp?
I know Bill was in the studio and contributed a lot to the project. Most of the improvement came from not wanting to make the same mistake twice. We knew we let one go when we recorded Do or Die. Those were really good songs that got away from us We knew we were better than that and wanted to live up to our potential.
In 1990, Metal Blade Records released a compilation Metallic Overdrive, an album of bands such as Viking, Heretic, Lizzy Borden, and Anvil, the Viking track featured was Man of Straw, what was the goal of this compilation? Did you find it as a good idea?
I always appreciated Metal Blade Records and their compilation series. It kept bands like Viking alive and helped the fan base increase.
Compared to the mid ’80s, thrash metal started going out of fashion, a lot of thrash bands changed their sound and songwriting, such as Slayer,Megadeth, Metallica, Dark Angel and at this point started popping up the so called funky thrash outfits, such as Mordred, Ignorance etc. how do you view it?
I never got into the newer metal bands and sounds. It was either too fashionable.. too movie prop.. and some of it was over the top fast to where you could even understand the music. As I got older, I actually started listening to older thrash bands I grew up with. Slayer, Megadeth, Metallica, and Dark Angel will always be special to me because I grew up idolizing these guys. I also got involved in the local scene and supported many local bands. Bands who weren't interested in how ugly they looked, or how evil they were, but had a lot of passion and love for the music.
Although Viking had a six-album contract with Metal Blade Records and an upcoming U.S. tour, Ron knew that his young Christianity would not withstand the temptations of the road, so he quit the band in 1990 along with you who had also recently become a Christian, would you say that this led to the band’s split? Did with only two members remaining, Viking immediately disband?
I think it was a combination of a lot of things. Brett had joined Dark Angel on a tour and left Southern California for a while. Jim is a very gifted artist and wanted to express himself there. I was engaged to be married and my priorities changed. I needed to find a full time job that could support me and my new family. Ron and I felt there was something else bigger than music and we needed to figure it out in our own way. We were very young at the time and felt the need to move out of state and melt into the working world. Viking never really officially disbanded, our priorities changed very quickly in a short period of time and we went our separate ways. Viking was, and is, very special to me. Brett, Jim, Ron and I were very close friends and I still consider them my brothers to this day.
Brett Erikssen, having replaced Dark Angel’s Jim Durkin on a world tour, joined the band full time, and released Time Does Not Heal, but what about James Lareau? Did he remain in the music business and started searching for new bands or…?
Brett had a great time and was very successful with Dark Angel. Those guys were great friends and he had a wonderful life experience. I'm not sure if Jim joined any other bands. I know he works in the art industry and is doing very well for himself.
Did your life radically change, that you became Born-Again Christian? Would you tell us more about it?
A number of years ago I came to some personal conclusions that did change my life for the better. I realized there was something bigger in this world than just me. I don't call myself religious... and I'm not dogmatic... I don't do drugs, I don't drink, I love life and love interacting with people for who they are, no matter who they are.
Ron and you had moved to Oregon, correct?
Ron and I did move to Oregon and worked for large t-shirt company. We stayed close friends and played music together off and on.
Have you watched the development of Metal after leaving the scene? Do you care at least a little bit about modern Metal?
I have followed some of the metal scene over the years. There are some bands that are extremely talented and have a passion for the music. I got interested in the local scene rather than the exposed popular bands. There are some really good loacl bands out there that will never get the recognition they deserve. I will always love and care for the industry. It is, and always will be a huge part of my life.
In 2011, Ron Daniel Eriksen and you reunited for the purpose of creating new tunes, with Brett Eriksen completely out of the music business, Viking stage manager Glenn Rogers (founding member of Deliverance, and longtime member of Hirax) joined as the second lead guitar player, what were your reasons to reform the band?
Since Viking disbanded years ago, both Ron and I have continued to play music in lots of different settings. But thrash - specifically Viking's brand of thrash - has always been our true love. It just seems to be the way our brains are wired. We love the speed, the aggression, the brutality, and the simplicity of it. As far as the reforming, we've always had a steady trickle of fan mail and requests to reunite, but they really have intensified a lot in the last couple years. Maybe it's because of the internet, but I think we may have more fans now than we did in the 80s. And one day Ron and I were talking on the phone and throwing around the "wouldn't it be cool if we got Viking back together." It just seemed to click this time around. We couldn't think of any reason NOT to do it this time.
Your bassplayer is Tyler Von Moll, did you ask James Leareau joining again at all? Is he out of the music business too?
Our first choice was certainly to have Brett and James do this. For us it was always the perfect balance of push and pull to make the best tunes we could that wouldn't be possible individually. We really wanted them to be a part of it - and still do - but for the time being, they don't seem to be interested. To his credit, James has become a very accomplished artist. If you Google "James Lareau Sculptor", you'll see some of the amazing stuff he's made. We're hoping they decide to come out of retirement one day. And Glenn and Tyler have already told us they'd be totally cool with that, because they're fans of the original Viking too.
What about the brandnew tracks compared to Do Or Die and Man Of Straw? When do you plan to record the new tracks and to release the album?
The new tracks are phenomenal. They are exactly what I always hoped the third Viking album would sound like. It's not going to be as fast from start to finish as Do or Die was, but we had already decided to notch things back to a level where people could actually hear what was going on in the music back before we recorded Man of Straw. It will be fast, and the lyrics are brutal, the riffs are heavy, and the tunes kick. As for recording, we're having some scheduling issues. The logistics of us all being adults with families and jobs and all living in opposite corners of the country has been challenging. Getting everybody scheduled together in the studio at once is proving to be difficult, but we'll do whatever we need to to get this record done as soon as possible. And when it's done, we're pretty sure everyone will say it was definitely worth waiting for.
Do you know, that Man Of Straw was re-released by Lost And Found Records several years ago? Only 1000 copies was re-released…
I was very excited to see and hear the Lost and Found Records release. I have had a lot positive feedback and I think it was an intricate part in the recent reforming of the band. Over the last few years there seems be a renewed love for classic thrash metal and an interest in Viking. We are doing our best to give what the fans loved so much in the 80's. Raw in your face thrash metal. At this point in time, it just seems right to reunite and create what we grew up with.
Do you think that both Viking records are classics and had a great influence on today’s scene?
I know people from all the world have shown a lot of respect and love for Viking. I've been told Viking albums are classics. I really don't know, I'll let other people determine that. We were 4 guys in southern California who loved speed metal and wanted nothing more than to express ourselves through music.
How would/could you sum up Viking’s short career? What were the highlights and the lowpoints?
Viking did have a short career which I think adds to the mystic to the band. I could second guess myself and wish things had happened differently. But instead I cherish the memories and loved the experience. We were all great friends who are bonded together for the rest of our lives. We created fast, brutal, ear piercing tunes that I'm very proud of. I don't think there were low points in the bands short career because we loved what we did. We had some hard times and struggled through them as friends. But our successes out weighed any difficulties we went through. We started as kids who wanted to conquer the world with relentless bone crushing thrash metal and ended as musicians who loved the experience and what we accomplished together as friends. We had the opportunity to play with outstanding bands, famous venues, made outstanding friends, and had a blast doing it.
Can you perhaps write me about the recording sessions of the new album, about the songs how are they compared to the first two Viking records etc.?
Unfortunately my hectic schedule this summer prevented me from recording the new Viking tunes. I am very thankful my friend and mentor Gene Hoglan offered to help with the recording. I have heard some rough cuts and will say it is brutal, raw, and hardcore. It won't be over produced and is as old school as it gets. If you like fast, smash mouth, hardcore thrash metal, you're going to love this recording. Ron has worked very hard on this project and it shows. It is very consistent with the other Viking tunes... the guitar riffs are thick and loud, the drums are fast and in your face, the vocals are raw and vicious. Fans will love this!
Thanks a lot for your answers, anything to add that I forgot to cover?
Leslie, thank you so much for your continued interest in Viking. It means a lot to us. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help you.

Viking interview with drummer Matt Jordan - part 1.

2012-01-10T02:29:00.000-08:00

So Matt, before Viking was formed in spring 1986, you were playing in Tracer, that included you on drums, James Lareau on bass, Ron Daniel on guitar and Spider on vocals, how did the band get together?
Tracer was in essence the beginning of Viking and was the start of something very special. Jim and I were in raw adolescent hard core garage bands. Ron was in The Hags and was already established and familiar with the club scene in Orange County California. Ron, Jim and I became friends through the music scene in that area and immediately had something in common. We wanted to express ourselves through music and become the band we always wanted to see.... a loud in your face locomotive. Tony Spider was brought in to do the demo and really never fit in. He was a good friend and helped us out. Tracer was the chance for Ron, Jim and I to become good friends. We used the time to get to know each other. We developed and matured as musicians forming a band that was very special to us.
As for your musical past/background, you were involving earlier in Barrier, Ron was the member of Hags, while James were in Lethal Gene, does it mean, that all of you were involved in the underground those times?
We were all involved in bands of some kind. I was in a sloppy garage band that really never satisfied what I wanted to do early in life. The guys I shared music with were more into playing heavy metal cover tunes, hanging out with girls and going to parties. As I developed as a drummer, those guys really couldn't keep up with what I wanted to do. I wanted to play heavier hard core songs that meant something. They were satisfied playing Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath copies then hanging out wasting time. That wasn't for me. Jim and I had mutual friends through the local punk rock scene. Jim was in a punk band and mostly played parties. Ron played guitar in The Hags and was more exposed to the club scene.
How did you discover music as a whole and at which point did you turn into the realm of metal? What were your early favorites?
Tough question... When I was 6 years old (1975) I fell in love with KISS. The attitude, smoke bombs, flames, blood... I've loved them as far back as I can remember. I've always loved music and was heavily influenced by music at a young age. When I was a kid in the late 70's I loved everything from Van Halen to Iron Maiden. In the early 80's I dabbled in the punk rock scene for a while before discovering speed metal. When I first heard speed metal I was in love... it was what I was looking for the whole time.
Being based in Los Angeles, what do you recall of the early/mid ’80s L. A. scene? Can you tell us more about it?
In the early 80's heavy metal took a turn for the worse in my opinion. At that time metal was more interested in hairspray and lip gloss than kicking your face in with killer guitar tones and out of control drum kits. I rebelled and melted into the local punk rock scene. I loved tons of bands like Sin 34, Dr. Know, and Manifest Destiny. I liked the attitude, the fast drums, cool mosh riffs, and heavy guitar tones. The problem with the L.A. punk rock scene in the early 80's is there was a division between punk rock and metal. There was almost an anti metal mentality in some punk rock circles. My problem was I had long hair but liked punk rock. I wasn't going to cut my hair or get some goofy hairdo for the sake of fitting in. For a long time, I would go to punk shows and stand in the back. I saw a lot of stupid fights because of hair length. I remember going to a GBH show at the Olympic Auditorium in LA. What attracted me to that show was the comment at the bottom of the flyer said "Heavy Metal welcome." Shortly after that I got a cassette copy of Metallica's demo. I also discovered early Slayer, Corrosion of Conformity and Artillery. I was hooked. This was what I was looking for. The heavy guitars riffs, fast locomotive drum kits, killer moshes... I was home.
Would you say, that the L. A. scene was divided into two parts, since there were the glam/hair bands (Steeler, Ratt, Dokken, Mötley Crüe, W. A. S. P. etc.) and there were the underground thrash/speed/power ones (Armored Saint, Metallica, Hirax, Sceptre, Slayer, Dark Angel, Vermin etc.)?
The LA scene was definitely divided into two parts. At the time, I really didn't care or even notice. There were certain clubs in Hollywood that attracted the heavy metal glam bands. There were a few clubs in Hollywood the thrash metal bands liked to play. I remember Ron and I went to a free Stryper show at Magic Mountain. Looking back it must have been a bizarre scene. Two thrash metal dudes with long dirty hair right in the middle of the lipstick and hairspray crowd. We were outcasts from the start. Before the first song (a ballad) was over, we were basically kicked out and ridiculed by some chick who had giant pink hair and makeup dripping off her cheeks. She had her hands on her hips and said in a snotty voice, "I suppose you like Slayer too." We laughed in her face and left.
Were the underground acts overshadowed by the hair/glam ones?
I really don't think glam bands overshadowed thrash bands. The thrash metal bands I knew didn't care what the glam scene was doing. I thought it was kind of funny. Some of these guys were more into glitter, hairspray, lip gloss and getting girls. We cared about the music. I remember Viking played the Whiskey A Go Go in Hollywood and the headliner was a local glam band. We were the last band after the headliner. I guess we were hired to clean out the club. It worked.. by the time we were done with our set the place was empty and we loved it. The club was full of hairspray that didn't know what to do with the attitude of Viking. I remember being in the dressing room and watching these guys color coordinate their clothes and wristbands. I thought it was hilarious.
Which clubs did start opening their doors for metal at this point?
Some of the clubs that were very supportive was The Whiskey, The Waters Clubs, and Fenders Ballroom. There were several clubs in the LA area that were open to having us play. Back then, some of the clubs had the band buy tickets to their show a head of time. It was the bands responsibility to sell the tickets and fill the club with people. That way the club was guaranteed to get their money. Unfortunately, if the bands didn't sell any tickets, they would be paying a lot of money to play for an empty house. That inspired a lot of bands to make flyers and advertise their shows at other concerts. We sold tickets in the parking lots and left flyers on light poles and car wind. There was no internet back then so bands depended on flyers and word of mouth to advertise their shows.
You released a demo as Tracer, how was it recorded? How would you describe Tracer’s music? How did the band sound like at all?
The Tracer demo was recorded in a studio in the Orange County area. It was good a sound for what we were trying to do. Ron, Jim and I were still getting to know each other and we were still developing our musical style. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece by any means. I remember it being an exciting time in our friendship and we were proud for what we accomplished.
Was this demo spread around?
The demo was mostly distributed in the Orange County area.
You temporarily broke up because you couldn’t find a full-time singer, but restarted after Brett Eriksen (a.k.a. Brett Sarachek) began jamming with you, and Ron Daniel (a. k. a. Brett Eriksen) began singing, how did you find Brett Eriksen? What about his musical background?
Brett answered an ad we placed in a local paper. Brett was a breath of fresh air and we immediately bonded. His writing style, attitude, and skill level was exactly what we were looking for. We had so much in common it was like we were friends for years. He was a very gifted musician and great friend.
Did you perhaps audition some guitarist besides him or was he the first choice?
I don't remember if we auditioned other people for the position. If we did, it was before Brett. Once we all played with Brett there was no need for another. This was the guy. We had so much in common it was obvious we were going to be friends and band mates.
How about the band’s name? Who came up with it? What did you want to symbolize with it?
I think we all agreed on the name of the band right away. The Viking image was very appealing to us because of our Norwegian heritage. The Vikings wanted things: coins, treasures, spices, works of art, raw materials. They probably didn't want these things any more than other cultures did..... But with their skill at sea and violent tendencies, they often found themselves in a position to take whatever they wanted. Looking back... I feel that was our attitude towards the music we created together. It worked and just fit. There was no debate about it. Viking was an attitude and the name we chose right away. We were also fans of the artist and painter Frank Frazetta. His portraits of Vikings were brutally awesome and fit our mentality. Those paintings were very inspirational in our early writings.
What can you tell us about the rehearsals of Viking? Did you start writing originals or were you jamming on covers?
Those were good times... We rehearsed at Ron's house and customized his garage with a killer drum riser and stacks of amps. We even tried to make it sound proof which really didn't work very well. Ron's mother was very supportive and loved having us. Everyone called her mom... she is a fantastic person and we loved her a lot. All the neighbors knew we religiously rehearsed every Saturday and Sunday mornings and rarely got complaints. We had a skateboard ramp in the backyard and arcade video games in the living room. It was a great place to hang out and we all called it our second home. I think we started to write original songs right away. Brett and Ron wrote most of the music. I remember walking through a grocery store with Brett and coming up with riffs and chords right in the middle of the store. I would play drums on my chest and Brett would be writing cool riffs on the spot.
Viking entered the studio for the first time to record three songs (Hellbound, Prelude/Scavenger and Do or Die) that became your first demo, do you still remember how did the recording sessions go with the demo? How much experiences did you have at this point considering recording a tape?
Nowadays its easier for bands to record demos and even full length CDs. Recording studios are now very common and for a reasonable price, a band can record their material and distribute the music via the Internet. Back in the 80's, it was not that easy to share your music. Bands usually recorded demo's in a low quality garage studio with an 8 or 16 track recorder. These were transferred onto cassette tapes and distributed through word of mouth or sold at shows. Back then, there were no CDs. If you were fortunate enough to record on a major label, your material would be on vinyl and cassette tape. Viking was very fortunate to record our first demo in a high quality professional studio. We all pitched in and payed for the project. The tapes were mass produced and given away and became popular though word of mouth. At the time we were also playing local clubs in San Pedro and Hollywood. We would hit the clubs and hand out flyers advertising our next show. We sold and gave away many cassette demos and developed a large following in the area.
Can you give us details regarding the demo?
What an exciting day. It was the first time I had a drum tech set up and tune my drums for me. He set up all the mics and made sure I was comfortable with the recording. I remember we were all driving home together listening to our recording and thinking to myself I ruined the demo. I thought I played our songs too fast and felt it was a little out of control. Little did I know, our first full length album would be almost twice as fast as our demo. It was a great experience and we really bonded as a band. Those are great memories. We were great friends who felt we captured something very special.
Did the demo fulfill the needs of the thrash metal fans?
I'm not sure I would say our demo fulfilled the immediate need of metal fans. There were a lot of great bands at that time. We were very fortunate to be good friends with Dark Angel and played several shows with them. They were a great influence on us and we considered them our big brothers in the industry. I think our demo became more popular after the band split. We were very lucky our demo played a small part in the huge history of the LA metal scene.
Tape trading was huge in the 1980's speed metal scene, so fanzines began to brand this cassette as essential for every collection, and orders from all over the world began to come in the mail daily, would you say, that the demo helped to expand the band’s popularity in the underground?
It definitely helped expand the popularity of Viking. After the band dissolved, I think our fans craved more and discovered the demo later. It was a raw kick you in the head recording that is very appealing to fans. I'm honored people still love and ask about it. It was great time in the history of Viking.
Viking also appeared on Metal Massacre VIII with a song titled Hellbound, was this the choice of the band or of Brian Slagel? How did you get the chance being
featured on this legendary compilation?
It was an honor to be featured on Metal Massacre. I'm not sure who picked the song Hellbound for the LP... but it was good choice. It had killer riffs, shredding guitar solos, heavy drums, a smoking hot bass tone, and head pounding vocals. It encompassed all that Viking had to offer and was a good example of what our material stood for. We owe a lot to Brian Slagel and his loyalty to our music.
Was it a good opportunity to draw more fans attention to the band?
It was a great way to expand the popularity of Viking. For the most part, our exposure was limited to the southern California area. This was setting the stage for our full length album that would hit the shelves a short time later.
Do you agree with, that the Metal Massacre compilation series from Metal Blade Records has launched the careers of many bands, including Ratt, Slayer, and Metallica? Was/Is the label (Brian Slagel) very supportive of the underground?
I absolutely agree with the Metal Blade compilation series and the part it played in the success of many bands. It was a great way for talented bands to share their music. It's a different world now a days. With internet access, it's a lot easier to hear bands from all over the world. Back then we depended on major labels like Metal Blade to record and distribute songs from somewhat unknown bands who deserved to get their material produced. I appreciate Brian and Metal Blade in what they did for Viking. It was a great start to some great memories I'll cherish for the rest of my life.
Did the demo generate some buzz from Metal Blade Records that resulted in your signing and the release of the debut Do Or Die? Is it true, that the band signed a record contract after completing their second live appearance?
The demo definitely had some buzz around it. I'm sure it had something to do with our eventual signing with Metal Blade. I know Brian was at one of our early shows at the Whiskey in Hollywood. I'm not sure if it was our second show or not. It just proved you never know who is out there to watch and listen to your band.
The cool logo of the band was drawn by you, wasn't it?
Yes I believe I came up with the logo. Nothing too glamorous... I remember working for a trashy phone soliciting company and just sat there and drew pictures all day. Instead of making cold calls, I would draw pictures on the back of the cards. I still have some of the old calling cards with Berserkers... axes.. swords.. skulls.. whatever.. I drew the logo as if it was cut from stone then put the Viking horns on each side. We loved it right away and it stuck until this very day.

Viking - Cult american thrash band

2011-12-16T02:35:00.000-08:00

Morbid Angel, Necrophobic, Benighted, Nervecell - Illud Divinum Insanus European Tour - Budapest, Club 202 - 2011. 11. 27.

2011-12-05T06:35:00.000-08:00

MORBID ANGEL
NECROPHOBIC
BENIGHTED
NERVECELL

Szokásomhoz híven ideje korán (két órával kapunyitás előtt) érkeztem a klubhoz és meglepve konstatáltam, hogy rajtam kívül írd és mond egy szál emberke toporgott a hidegben. Gondoltam, később csak megérkezik a rajongók hada, de nem, ¾ 7-kor nagyjából 30-an mentünk be a klubba.
A helyzet az, hogy nagyon gyér volt a koncert látogatottsága. Saccra negyed ház (kb. 200-250 fő) lehetett, amelynek véleményem szerint (egyik) oka a floridai death metal veteránok idei, a rajongótábort alaposan megosztó, Illud Divinum Insanus műve volt/lehetett. Feltételezem, sokan azt hitték, hogy a csapat erre a lemezre fekteti majd a hangsúlyt, amolyan lemezbemutató buli lesz, pedig nem az volt. De erről majd később.
Egy-egy nagyágyú előtt hálátlan szerep az elő zenekar szerepét betölteni, főleg akkor, ha egy relatíve ismeretlen csapatról van szó. Annak ellenére, hogy a dubai illetőségű NERVECELL 1999-ben alakult, csak idén került be az európai underground köztudatba második, Psychogenocide lemezüknek köszönhetően. (Webzine-ünkön amúgy Dehumanizer kolléga méltatta a korongot szeptemberben). Roppant kevesen voltak rájuk kíváncsiak, ettől függetlenül a kvartett mindent megtett annak érdekében, hogy maguk mellé állítsák a fanatikusokat, illetve, hogy megalapozzák a buli alaphangulatát. Brutális, technikás, floridai és európai hatásokkal egyaránt tűzdelt death metaljukat viszonylag hosszú dalok (pl. All Eyes On Them, Vicious Circle Of Bloodshed) formájában vezették elő, úgyhogy annak, aki először hallotta/látta a bandát (mint jó magam) feladták a leckét a zene befogadását illetően. Az mindenképpen lejött, hogy felkészült, technikás zenészek alkotják a tagságot, Rami H. Mustafa és Barney Ribeiro gitárosok az intenzív riffeket, itt-ott dallamokkal, szaggatott témákkal kombinálták, feszes, precíz, pontos műsort vezetett elő a banda. Jó benyomást tettek rám.
Másodikként a francia BENIGHTED következett. Nevükre emlékeztem, mivel annak idején hallottam Insane Cephalic Production lemezüket, de a muzsikát, ha agyon ütöttek volna sem tudtam volna felidézni. Öreg motorosoknak tekinthetők ők is, hiszen 1998 óta léteznek, ettől függetlenül/ennek ellenére nem hiszem, hogy komoly hazai rajongótáborral rendelkeznének. Suffocation, ős Cannibal Corpse hatású death metaljukban grind tempók, blastbeatek éppúgy találhatóak mint dallamok, groove-ok, mely utóbbi arra engedett következtetni, hogy a mai modern színtér sem hagyja őket hidegen. Becsülettel daráltak, tekertek, Julien Truchan énekes mezítláb nyomta le a műsort, valamelyest sikerült a jelenlévőket megmozgatniuk, bennem azonban nem hagytak mély nyomot.
A klasszikus svéd death metal intézmény a NECROPHOBIC a jelen underground színtér egyik legjobb, legmegbízhatóbb alakulata. Véleményem szerint a másodgenerációs svéd death metal hullám legjobbjai, korai lemezeik egyértelműen a műfaj klasszikusai közé sorolandók. Műsoruk tetszett, azt azonban mindenképpen meg kell jegyeznem, hogy a brutális, de tiszta hangzás (ez egyébként mindegyik csapatra jellemző volt, semmiféle probléma sem volt a megszólalással) elvette azt a jellegzetes klasszikus svéd ízt, soundot, dallamokban, harmóniákban gazdag muzsikájuk nem úgy jött le, mint lemezen. Bő háromnegyedórás programjuk gerincét a Hrimthursum korong szerzeményei (The Slaughter Of Baby Jesus, Blinded By Light, Enlightened By Darkness, The Crossing, Age Of Chaos) alkották, egy dal erejéig (Taste Of Black) megidézték a Bloodhymnst, három tétel (For Those Who Stayed Satanic, Celebration Of The Goat, Revelation 666) hangzott el a Death To All-ról, míg a múltat (értsd korai időszak) csupán egy szám (The Nocturnal Silence) képviselte. Értelemszerűen rájuk már többen voltak kíváncsiak, mint az előző két zenekarra, ami nem csoda, lévén ismertebbek, jobbak és többet tettek le a death metal színtér asztalára, mint a Nervecell és a Benighted együttvéve.
Szerintem nagyon sok MORBID ANGEL fanatikus fejében megfordult, hogy mi lesz kedvenc csapatukkal, ki lesz az új dobos, amikor kiderült, hogy Pete „Commando” Sandoval porckorong kopása miatt nem tudta feljátszani az új korongot. Amikor értesültem a hírről, hogy Pete helyett Tim „The Missile” (rakéta) Yeung lett az új ütős elégedetten dőltem hátra, hiszen tudtam, hogy szemernyi csalódást sem fog okozni. Nemcsak a lemez, hanem a Club 202-ben átélt, letaglózó, gyilkos másfél óra is bizonyította, hogy Tim Yeung napjaink egyik legjobb dobosa, játéka pedig nemhogy nem hagyott kívánnivalót maga után, hanem lenyűgözött. Ahogy fentebb utaltam rá, a show nem az új anyag bemutatója volt, a csapat egy olyan szettet adott elő, amely minden Morbid Angel rajongó igényét kielégítette, nem hiszem, hogy valaki is elégedetlenül távozott volna a helyszínről. Tulajdonképpen le se kellene írnom a látottakat/hallottakat, elég lenne felsorolnom a setlistet. Maga volt az őrület a műsor, a death metal legfelső szintje került prezentálásra aznap este, a hangulat pedig olyan volt, mint az intenzívosztályon: eszméletlen. Az Immortal Rites-szal nyitottak és onnantól kezdve nem volt megállás, egymás után jöttek az olyan alapvető death metal klasszikusok, mint a Fall From Grace, a Day Of Suffering, a Blasphemy, a Maze Of Torment vagy a Lord Of All Fevers And Plague. Kell-e valamit ehhez hozzáfűznöm? Esetleg annyit, hogy az Altars Of Madness-hez hasonlóan a Covenant album felét is eljátszották, az Angel Of Disease és a God Of Emptiness nélkül gyakorlatilag elképzelhetetlen egy Morbid Angel koncert. A rend kedvéért, a Rapture, a Blood On My Hands és a World Of Shit (The Promised Land) csendült fel a Covenant-ról. Azt viszont a mai napig nem értem, hogy a Domination-ről miért csak a Where The Slime Live és a ráadásban előadott Sworn To The Black fér bele a repertoárba, személy szerint nagyon szívesen vettem volna az Eyes To See, Ears To Hear-t, ahogyan a Thy Kingdom Come-ot is, de ez legyen az én gondom, nem igaz? Mindenképpen meglepetés volt a Bil Ur-Sag felbukkanása a Formulas Fatal To The Flesh-ről, lévén azon nem David Vincent énekelt. Mindösszesen két dal (Existo Vulgoré, Nevermore) képviselte az új anyagot, tehát az új album death metal(os) szerzeményei. (Kötözködés: eljátszhatták volna a Blades For Baal-t is). Ahogy Milán Péter barátom még 1997-ben a Psychotic Waltz koncert beszámolójában említette, nem lehetett olyat kiemelni ezen az estén, hogy a legjobb nóta, mert itt mindegyik a legjobb nóta volt. Trey Azagthoth és Thor Anders Myhren, alias Destructhor átszellemülve, magukat egy az egyben átadva a muzsikának pengették a klasszikus, death metal mérföldköveknek számító riffeket és szólókat, David Vincent énekes/basszusgitáros jókedvűen, szimpatikusan irányította a műsort, Tim Yeung pedig… Ahogy már utaltam rá, elképesztően játszott, a 150-160 cm, kerti törpe alkatú srác valóságos dobbemutatót (headbangelt, ujjai között forgatta a dobütőt stb.) adott elő. Mellesleg aznap ünnepelte 33. születésnapját, melynek tiszteletére David Vincent előadta a happy birthday örökzöldet. A ráadásban a Chapel Of Ghouls klasszikus adta meg a kegyelemdöfést, a beteg angyalok pedig diadalittasan vonultak le a színpadról. Nem vitás, hogy az év egyik legjobb koncertjét láttuk az egyik legmeghatározóbb zenekartól.

Actual playlist

2011-12-02T01:45:00.000-08:00

1. MORBID ANGEL: Altars Of Madness
2. ALARUM: Natural Causes
3. DEVIL: Time To Repent
4. LAKE OF MIND: Condemned Soul
5. CYNIC: Focus
6. TROUBLE: IV.
7. SLAYER: South Of Heaven
8. ANVIL: Juggernaut Of Justice
9. MERCYFUL FATE: Melissa
10. IMMORTAL: Blizzard Beasts

Current Faves - Actual Playlist

2011-10-02T00:11:00.000-07:00

1. ARCH/MATHEOS: Sympathetic Resonance
2. DEATHSTORM: Storming With Menace
3. AGONY: The First Defiance
4. CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED: Cold Winds On Timeless Days
5. MOTÖRHEAD: Ace Of Spades
6. KREATOR: Terrible Certainty
7. VIRUS: Force Recon
8. NIHILIST: Demo Collection
9. MASSACRA: Enjoy The Violence
10. OZZY OSBOURNE: The Ultimate Sin

Actual playlist

2011-08-31T20:30:00.000-07:00

1. DELIRIUM: Zzooouhh
2. POSSESSED: Seven Churches
3. EXCRUCIATOR: Devouring
4. ASPHYX: The Rack
5. DEATH: Scream Bloody Gore
6. KREATOR: Pleasure To Kill
7. IMMORTAL: Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism
8. CELTIC FROST: To Mega Therion
9. SOLITUDE AETURNUS: Beyond The Crimson Horizon
10. TROUBLE: Manic Frustration

Actual playlist

2011-07-24T23:03:00.000-07:00

1. EXCITER: Heavy Metal Maniac
2. MERCYFUL FATE: Don't Break The Oath
3. ARTILLERY: By Inheritance
4. LIVING DEATH: Metal Revolution
5. COUNT RAVEN: Destruction Of The Void
6. SACRIFICE: Torment In Fire
7. FORBIDDEN: Forbidden Evil
8. ATLAIN: Guardians Of Eternity
9. MORBID SAINT: Spectrum Of Death
10. PROTECTOR: Urm The Mad

Stormwitch - Andy Mück

2011-07-11T23:56:00.000-07:00

A little chat about the 25th anniversary of the third album Stronger Than Heaven, of the legendary German heavy/speed act Stormwitch. The answers were given by singer Andy Aldrian.

So Andy, let we start with the past, while the NWOBHM was ruling the world, in Germany things were a bit different, many bands with a special „teutonic” sound were coming out, most of them soon to disappear in the early eighties. Bands like Gravestone, Noisehunter, Veto, High Tension, Tyrant, Running Wild, Steeler, Grave Digger...and of course Stormwitch (earlier Lemon Sylvan), do you still remember how the band got together exactly? What about your musical backgrounds, experiences? Was Lemony Sylvan the very first band for all of you?
We were friends at school and liked the same kind of music. Our school was very depressing and the small town from where we came from was very boring nothing for young males who wanted to see the world and make experiences.We were keen to have adventures to make our own band was our ticket for a new life. When we started there where no Heavy - Metal scene. There were Hard Rock. Hard Rock was bands like: Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple. Hard Rock was more intellectual more poetic so we nomed our first band Lemon Sylvan. But we wanted a concept that was harder, crueler and darker and as we heard the first Iron Maiden album with songs like Phantom Of The Opera or Transylvania it was an manifestation.
Who came up with the name Stormwitch? Did it sound more metallic, than Lemon Sylvan?
In 1983 we named our band Stormwitch. Storm for the music and witch for dark and mystic lyrics.
In 1984 they released your debut „Walpurgis Night” album through Gama Records, do you think, that your career was on the way?
Gama Records was no big deal but it was a good opportunity to stay independent. We could create our own cover, choose our own photographer we could wear the clothes that we wanted and could play our music in the way that we liked it.
A year later came out „Tales Of Terror” and if I remember correctly, you had some troubles during the recording sessions, the studio and the tapes were burnt, right?
Yeah, we had a lot of bad luck during the recording of Tales Of Terror. But also a lot of fun. Nearby the studio was a well known place called the Rock Fabrik where they played Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. It was a good place for drinking beer. We made our first experiences with girls there I saw important bands of the Metal scene there in their younger years, Manowar, Slayer for example.
Were you aware of Hallow’s Eve also released an album (their debut) with the title „Tales Of Terror” in 1985?
No, we had the idea for the album title from The Alan Parsons Project album, Tales Of Mystery And Imagination.
At which point did you start writing the material for your third album, that became „Stronger Than Heaven”? How did the song composing go as a whole? Is it true, that Stefan Kauffman (Steve Merchant) and Harald Spengler (Lee Tarot) composed the whole material in 14 days? Why did you have to hurry at all?
Two weeks before we went to the studio Lee Tarot and Stefan Kaufmann closed themselves up in a room and came back after 14 days with the whole material, stinking hungry and tired. We had to fulfill the contract with Gama: Every year an album.
What about the recordings sessions? Did you have a decent budget to record the material?
No. Independent always means: you start with nothing and later on you have debts.
How do you view, that with this album Stormwitch became more original with the image you started wearing old costumes from the baroque era of the 17th and 18th centuries?
At that time the ideas came from Lee and Steve also to wear baroque costumes contrary to all expectations it was very satisfying for me personally. The outfit fit me very well and my adventures with women of all kind increased.
Instead of spikes and leather you changed your outfit to baroque costumes, was your goal to take distance and different yourselves from all those speed-/thrash-/black metal bands, that were appearing or existing at this point?
Lee Tarot always hated Speed, Thrash, Black, Death Metal - he always loved melodic songs Eye Of The Storm is mainly his album. I myself was at that time just the singer in the band. I never was so distant to such bands. I loved Venom, the best live show I ever saw was King Diamond from Mercyful Fate. Like everybody I love Reign In Blood from Slayer and Metallica’s Kill'em All for me is their best album. Kill'em All what a statement !
You named yourselves as the Masters of the black romantic, that became an inherent part of the band, how do you explain this?
Black Romantic was a period in the English literature, it is also called Gothic novels: H. Walpole The Castle Of Otranto, Ann Radcliffe The Mysteries Of Udolpho, The Monk from M. G. Lewis for example. The scenes of this novels were always old castles or monasteries. We always loved the atmosphere of such places and in our phantasy we lived inside these thrilling stories. Many people have longings for such places and stories.
Do you agree with, that the incredible quality of this album obviously helped the band a lot to move another step forward?
Yes, hear it. I love you for those sentences you bastard. Correct. Yes, yeah we all liked it. The sound is terrible.
Is Stronger than Heaven certainly an album, that any trad metal fan will enjoy from the first spin?
What do you think about, that the result is a top notch record of speedy metal influenced by Running Wild/Helloween, but also with a perfectly clear personal character, thanks to the ever present new wave touches, the melodic guitar leads, your characteristic vocal and of course the occult lyrics and atmosphere (trademark of the band)?
In 1987 Stormwitch was a bunch of high motivated, very creative musical amateurs. No, but the ideas on this album are absolutely great, like on every Stormwitch album. I say that very humble.
In 1986 Stormwitch did their first and only German tour supported by Stranger and Killer, how did the whole tour go? Can you tell us more about it?
The singer from Stranger lost his voice after the first half of the tour because he was constantly drunked and didn't slept an hour. Killer had these L.A.Rocker poser image and when we played in Casrtop - Rauxel they had a gang bang with one of the groupies. That is not my cop of coffee. I myself had same special affairs very erotic, very special.
Strangely, the band was way more popular in Eastern Europe and spent more time touring and promoting there for example in Hungary (Budapest), what do you recall of those Hungarian shows? You had a lot of followers and die hard fans in Hungary…
In Hungary I had the best days of my life and I am happy that we play at the Metal - Fest in Budapest in June. I always loved the warm and sincere way that the Hungarian fans loved us.
Is it correct, that even a fan club was created, under the name of Witch Attack, that stayed with the band until the very end, but somehow the magazines and general media kept on ignoring the band, giving much more support to Helloween, Running Wild or Rage?
Yes, it is correct, but I have no problem with that.
Why did you never really achieve that kind of popularity?
You have to be at the right place at the right time. We were never at the right place at the right time without Hungary - that was always a great time.
Thanks to Hammerfall (who covered your classic „Ravenlord”), Stormwitch fortunately became known by the younger generations, right?
Yes, very special thanks to Hammerfall.
Did they help taking the band’s name, the legend alive?
Yes. You are right since that Stormwitch is a legend.
Andy, thanks a lot for the interview, anything to add, that I forgot to ask?
I’m glad to see you all in Budapest !

Pannónia Fesztivál - Cseri Parkerdő - 2011. 06. 09.

2011-07-05T00:12:00.001-07:00

Amikor tudomásomra jutott, hogy a Twisted Sister fellép az immár ötödszörre megrendezésre kerülő, négy napos Pannónia fesztiválon, arra gondoltam, hogy valaki nagyon poénos kedvében van. Április tréfaként fogtam fel, ugyanis az esztendő negyedik hónapjában tudtam meg ezt az információt. Miután utánanéztem, hogy a hír nem kacsa, hanem valós, egyértelmű volt számomra, hogy a Cseri Parkerdőben lesz a helyem június 9.-én.
A viszonylag gyors beengedés után a Port.hu színpadot (amúgy négy színpad volt) céloztam meg, ugyanis ott léptek fel a new yorki istenek. A fesztivál első fellépője számomra a BEATRICE volt. A ’88-ban megjelent duplalemezen (78/88) kívül nem túlzottan hallgatom a zenekar kiadványait, mindenféle sértő szándék nélkül, nekem az a korszak a Beatrice. Értelemszerűen a Nagyvárosi Farkas, a XX. Század, a Katicabogárka vagy a Boldog Szép Napok többet mondanak, jelentenek nekem, mint az Őrületes Rock ’N’ Roll. Sajnos nem volt Jerikó és Motorizált Nemzedék, de a csapat rendelkezésére álló egy órás műsor így is tömény, intenzív és szórakoztató volt.
Ajándék volt részt venni a Twisted Sister sajtótájékoztatóján, begyűjteni autogramjaikat, közös fotókat készíteni velük, azonban Dee Snider unszimpatikus hozzáállása kiverte a biztosítékot. Történt, hogy minden idők legnagyobb frontembere, egyik legnagyobb énekese, nemes egyszerűséggel felhúzott a turnébuszra és a koncert kezdetéig ki sem dugta onnan az orrát, ergo közös fotó, dedikáció felejtős. A sajtótájékoztató után az EDDA vette birtokba a deszkákat, amely legnagyobb meglepetésemre egy méregerős best of programmal rukkolt ki. Ha nem tévedek a „legfrissebb” dalok a Szellemvilág és az Elérlek Egyszer voltak. Jó formában, energikusan vezette elő a zenekar az olyan klasszikusokat, mint a Minden Sarkon, a Torony (!!!), a Kölyköd Voltam, a Győzni Fogunk vagy a Gyere Őrült. Pataki Attila énekes politikát sem nélkülöző, itt-ott obszcénba hajló átkötő szövegeit megspórolhatta volna, ettől függetlenül kiváló hangulatot teremtettek, kiváló koncertet láttunk/halottunk tőlük.
20.50-kor, a kiírt fél kilences kezdés helyett aztán elérkezett a várva várt pillanat: színpadra lépett minden idők egyik legalapvetőbb, legmeghatározóbb zenekara a TWISTED FUCKIN’ SISTER. 2004-es Summer Rocks-os koncertjük után másodszor tették tiszteletüket nálunk. Különbség annyi volt a hét évvel ezelőtti előadáshoz képest, hogy ezúttal elhagyták a sminkeket, a klasszikus fellépő ruhákat, kizárólag Dee The Fuckin’ Snider énekes használt egy kevés szemkihúzót. A régi időknek megfelelően az intro után a What You Don’t Know (Sure Can Hurt You) – a Eddie „Fingers” Ojeda és Jay Jay French gitárosok valamint Mark „The Animal” Mendoza basszusgitáros a közönségnek háttal állva pengettek, Snider pedig atombombaként robbant a színpadra, „Good evening welcome to our show…” – The Kids Are Back – Stay Hungry hármason rongyoltak át és kezdetét vette az extázis, az eszméletvesztés. Minthogy a többi fellépőnél már kiválóan belőtték a hangzást, a Sisternél sem volt semmi kivetnivaló a megszólalással, akkorát ütött a banda, hogy még. Ellentétben a Summer Rocks-szal Eddie-nél nem merültek fel technikai problémák, gördülékenyen, olajozottan ment a show. A SHOW! Dee Snider 55 évesen úgy tombolt, rohangált a színpadon, mint egy ereje teljében lévő, 20-21 esztendős fiatal titán, irányította a műsort, énekeltette a közönséget, a hátán vitte a produkciót. A sajtótájékoztatón mutatott negatív magatartása ellenére is azt mondom, hogy ő minden idők legnagyobb frontembere, showmanje, hangja mit sem kopott az évek során, elemi erővel törtek fel üvöltései illetve az olyan klasszikusok, mint a The Price vagy a The Fire Still Burns dallamait is mindenféle erőfeszítés nélkül énekelte ki. Képtelenség volt fotózni a sajtóárokból (csak az első három dalra kaptunk engedélyt), egy óriási szőke, göndör hajtenger volt csak látható belőle, megállás nélkül mozgott, bejárta a színpad minden egyes négyzetcentiméterét. Ezzel szemben Eddie, Jay Jay és Mark egy helyben állva, statikusan pengettek. Felesleges hosszasan méltatni a programot, ugyanis ezekkel a dalokkal nem lehet hibázni, a metal/rock történelem legnagyobb klasszikusairól van szó, különösebb kommentárt nem kell hozzájuk fűzni (pl. Shoot ’em Down, Under The Blade, You Can’t Stop Rock ’n’ Roll). Annak ellenére, hogy mindenki tudta mekkora buli lesz, a negyedikként elhangzó, súlyos, lassú Captain Howdy-t nyugodtan nevezhetjük meglepetésnek, lévén sosem volt a korai Twisted Sister koncertek repertoárjának szerves része. Egy hibátlan dalokat felvonultató koncertbe elméletileg nem lehet (szabad) belekötni, én most még is megteszem, mert A. J. Pero dobszólója teljesen felesleges volt, akkor inkább már játszották volna el a We’re Gonna Make It-et, az I Am (I’m Me-t) vagy a Ride To Live Live To Ride-ot. Amúgy Pero dobszolóját az AC/DC klasszikusa, a Whole Lotta Rosie követte, mintegy tisztelegve az ausztrál csapat előtt, egyben kinyilvánítva, demonstrálva, hogy honnan indult el anno a zenekar, milyen hatásokból táplálkozik muzsikájuk. Ahogy az várható volt, a We’re Not Gonna Take It-nél és az I Wanna Rock-nál Snider mester megéltette a közönséget, félelmetes volt, ahogy a Burn In Hell-nél piros lámpa világította meg, tehát mindent megkaptunk, amit vártunk. Rettentő szimpatikus volt Jay Jay French beszéde, melyben a gitáros kifejtette, hogy a metal nemzetközi muzsika, kapocs az emberek között, összeköti az embereket, míg a pop, a rap stb. csak trend, jönnek és mennek, az olyan nagy bandák, mint a Motörhead, a Black Sabbath, az AC/DC, a Judas Priest vagy éppen ők ennyi év után és sok szarságot leküzdve még mindig talpon vannak és hogy eddig eljutottak, azt a rajongóknak köszönhetik. A mintegy másfélórás műsor végén (a ráadásban) a Come Out And Play és az S. M. F. adták meg a kegyelemdöfést. A korosztály összetételét illetően, a skála a 8 évestől a 60 évesig terjedt, magyarán a csapat muzsikája korosztálytól független és abszolút időtálló. A Twisted Sister jött, látott és (újra) győzött, azonban a koncert után már nem volt módunk találkozni velük, mivel felmentek a buszba és úgy elhúztak, hogy magukkal sem találkoztak.
Sch-dt barátommal azt taglaltuk a műsor után, hogy képességeiket tekintve a zenészek nem tartoznak a műfaj elitjéhez, krémjéhez (ez különösen Mark Mendoza-ra igaz, aki végig csak csapkodta a bőgő húrjait), mégis egy nagyon jól összerakott és felépített csapatról, klasszikus lemezekről, dalokról beszélünk. (Tulajdonképpen úgyis fogalmazhatnék, hogy a Twisted Sister Dee Sniderről szól). Egyértelmű, hogy bőven kiérdemelték a halhatatlan státuszt, történelmet írták, megkérdőjelezhetetlen, hogy a Rock ’n’ Roll Hall Of Fame-jében van a helyük. Egy újabb páratlan és meghatározó élménnyel gazdagodva indultam haza a program után, remélem mihamarabb újra kis hazánkba jönnek. Képtelenség őket megunni.
Dr. Feelgood

Actual Playlist

2011-07-04T23:57:00.000-07:00

1. MORBID: Year Of The Goat
2. TOXIC TRACE: Torment
3. ORIGIN: Entity
4. E-X-E: Stricken By Might
5. JUDAS PRIEST: Screaming For Vengeance
6. PESTILENCE: Consuming Impulse
7. DOWN: Nola
8. ASPHYX/HOODED MENACE: Split 7"
9. SYMPHONY X: Iconoclast
10. BLACK OATH: The Third Aeon

Current playlist - Actual faves

2011-06-13T00:59:00.000-07:00

1. MORBID ANGEL: Illud Divinum Insanus
2. HATE ETERNAL: Phoenix Amongst The Ashes
3. ANVIL: Juggernaut Of Justice
4. BLACK OATH: The Third Aeon
5. NADER SADEK: In The Flesh
6. NASTY SAVAGE: Indulgence
7. ATHEIST: Piece Of Time
8. TOXIC TRACE: Torment
9. METALLICA: Kill 'em All
10. KREATOR: Terrible Certainty

Twisted Sister Mania

2011-06-12T00:35:00.000-07:00

1. TWISTED SISTER: Come Out And Play
2. TWISTED SISTER: You Can't Stop Rock 'N' Roll
3. TWISTED SISTER: Live At The Hammersmith
4. TWISTED SISTER: Stay Hungry
5. TWISTED SISTER: Under The Blade
6. TWISTED SISTER: Singles and Ep-s
7. TWISTED SISTER: Live from Rochester New York - Rochester War Memorial, 1984. 07. 18. - bootleg
8. TWISTED SISTER: Twist Of The Wrist - Live in Rochester, 1984. 10. 14. - bootleg
9. TWISTED SISTER: You Can't Stop Rock At Donnington - Live at the Monsters Of Rock Festival, 1983. 08. 20. - bootleg
10. TWISTED SISTER: Deetroit Disciples, Live at the Fox Theatre - Detroit, 1986. 01. 30. - bootleg

Onslaught interview with Nige Rockett

2011-06-07T03:14:00.000-07:00

1986 was the best year for metal, a lot of classic, influential masterpieces were released this year, such as Eternal Devastation (Destruction), Pleasure To Kill (Kreator), Reign In Blood (Slayer), Darkness Descends (Dark Angel), Doomsday For The Deceiver (Flotsam & Jetsam) to name a few. Although the British bands didn't belong to the top of thrash metal, Onslaught were a very good act, their masterpiece The Force came out in 1986 too. The record celebrates its 25th jubilee, so I got in touch with guitarist Nige Rockett to speak about this classic record.

So Nige, since The Force album celebrates its 25th anniversary, I want to talk with you about it, all right?
Hi My friend, yeah that’s cool, it would be a pleasure…!
Do you still remember at which point did you start writing the material for the record? How did the song composing go as a whole?
I remember it very well.. We used to rehearse in a local youth club, we wrote all the material for THE FORCE during these sessions over a period of about 6 months.. I would work on music and lyric ideas at home and bring them to rehearsal where the band would develop them into full songs..
Some changes happened compared to the first album; first you left COR (Children Of Revolution) Records and you were signed by Under One Flag/MFN, how did that happen? Was it a good decision, in terms of promotion, label support etc.?
Yeah COR records was a very small label run by a friend on a government scheme, he did a fantastic job with the release even though he had very limited resources, the record was a real big seller worldwide for a debut album and really brought great attention to the name of Onslaught… so much so that we were contacted by MFN records who were interested in releasing the bands second album.. We had no contract with COR and they were very happy to see us move to such a big label as MFN.. It was a real big deal for Onslaught, as MFN had bands such as Metallica and Anthrax on their roster, so yeah it was a very very good decision for us.. The label were awesome and the support and promo really was excellent, which really helped us take the next step up the ladder..
Was only Under One Flag that showed an interest in signing the band by the way?
They wasted no time in asking to sign the band after the immediate success of Power From Hell, and they were the only label that we wanted to work with, so any other label never existed as far as we were concerned…..
Former vocalist Paul Mahoney took over the bass duties, while former bass player Jase Stallard switched to rhythm guitar and a new singer Sy Keeler joined the band, can you tell us more about it?
It was in our rehearsal room where we met Sy Keeler.. He came along to a rehearsal one night with a crew member just to watch and by the end of the session he was part of the band hahaha.. We heard he was a good singer so we asked him to have a blast with one of the new songs, he sounded so cool we offered him the job there and then…
We had been thinking about adding a second guitarist for sometime and when Sy appeared it really finalized our decision. Paul Mahoney was also a bassist and Jase Stallard could play guitar so it was an east transition to make. We just reshuffled the personnel and gave the band a totally different sound…
What can you tell us about Sy’s musical background? Did you perhaps audition other singers too besides him or was he the first choice being the singer of the band?
Sy Keeler had never been in a band previous to Onslaught, as I said earlier it was just spontaneous decision to have him join the band, we weren’t even looking for a new vocalist..
Did Sy have a big hand in the songwriting or was the material ready and written, when he joined?
All the material was already written for The Force album when Sy joined, he just added some of his own vocal melodies and obviously delivered the songs in his very own style..
During January/February 1986 you entered the Martix Studios with Dave „Death” Pine, what about the recording sessions? Were you more prepared than with the previous album? Did you have a decent budget to record the album?
Yeah were pretty well prepared we had rehearsed hard before entering the studio and got everything as precise as possible, we are definitely not a band to write in the studio... We had 2 weeks to make the recording, which was cool and yeah the budget was fairly decent, Matrix was a decent studio, the Sex Pistols recorded ‘Never Mind the Bollocks’ there which we thought was awesome to make our record in the same place as them….
The Force shows a great development compared to Power From Hell, was it a natural progression or did you work extremely hard on it?
It was a natural development, but we also worked very hard at it… the progression was purely down to an improvement in our musical skills, lots and lots of practice enabled us to have the ability to write and perform better songs…
Most of the songs on here are quite long, going into the 6 minute range, but without becoming overlong, what do you think about it?
Yeah, we just let things follow a natural course, I think there are maybe a few parts we could have cut back and made shorter in retrospect, but there are no unnecessary sections to the songs, every part is crucial to the overall picture of The Force album… we liked using lots of tempo and rhythm changes to make it an interesting album, Power From Hell was quite one dimensional by comparison..
Would you say, that newer musical influences happened to you/were hit by you? I mean, your musical range of interests became wider and in my opinion, The Force is very similar to the Bay Area scene…
No I don’t think so… our influences never changed and are still the same today, the changes were purely down to an improvement in our musicianship, nothing more really…
How do you explain, that the songs had been more matured than on the debut, but the songs didn’t lose any brutality, heaviness or speed and on the contrary, songs like the rhythmic opener „Let There Be Death”, the mid tempo hammer „Metal Forces” or the speed massacre „Thrash Till the Death” with its great break are the best or at least, one of the best examples of 80s thrash metal?
Thank you, real kind of you to say…. We were just learning to become better song writers at the time, the heaviness was always gonna be there, but we had now learned to refine the brutality and channel it in a more mature kind of way..
Is it correct, that „Metal Forces” was dedicated to Bernard Doe’s magazine, because he was very supportive of you?
Yes, of course.. Bernard Doe was very instrumental in helping Onslaught climb the ladder so quickly. He ran a great magazine and was so supportive of the band in the early days, I believe he also recommended that ‘Music for Nations Records’ should sign the band, which they did and that’s exactly why we are here talking right now :)
The Force is an excellent album from beginning to end, all killer no filler, right? What are your favourite tracks from the record?
That’s our intention with every record we make, we try our best to have no fillers at all.. My favourite track is probably ‘Let There be Death’ It still sounds so cool to play live, I love all the changes in the song, its just real fast and heavy with lots of hooks…..
Do you agree with, that you tightened up your sound, with a much sharper-sounding riff assault that is pure thrash metal and The Force sounded better than the debut? Was it an even stronger effort?
Definitely a stronger album than ‘Power From Hell’ no question.. PFH was very raw and basic but The Force is much more refined…
What kind of reviews did you get back in the day? How much like the Onslaught fans the record?
All the reviews were amazing, I never actually seen one poor review for ‘The Force’ which was very cool. The press and the fans really loved the record and still do in 2011, which cannot be bad…
The Force came out in 1986, in the year, when influential classics, such as Master Of Puppets (Metallica), Doomsday For The Deceiver (Flotsam And Jetsam), Reign In Blood (Slayer), Darkness Descends (Dark Angel), Pleasure To Kill (Kreator), Eternal Devastation (Destruction) etc. were released, were you familiar with these outfits and albums? In your opinion, did thrash metal reach its peak at this point?
Yeah of course we knew these bands, I think 86 / 87 Thrash really hit a peak, there were so many great bands and great album releases around this time, the scene was intense and very cool….
What were the show sin support of the record? Can you tell us more about your gigs?
We played so many shows around this time in Europe, it was total insanity every time.. We loved all the stage diving and actively encouraged fans to join us on stage, there were some very violent crowd reactions back then… quite a few venues got torn up and literally destroyed.
I have a bootleg in my collection titled Hell in Copenhagen 28.03.87, are you aware of this release? Does it really represent/capture Onslaught’s live brutality?
I am aware of the bootleg but I have never actually listened to it….
Did Onslaught leave its mark with The Force on the thrash scene? Do you name it an influential, classic thrash record? Is The Force the best thrash record, that came from England/Britain?
Yes definitely, it's not a perfect release but it has been hailed as a classic Thrash metal album and that’s a very big honor for Onslaught…. Haha no, ‘Sounds of Violence’ is now the best thrash album to come from the UK… ;)
Although some thrash bands appeared in Britain (England) during the middle of the ’80s, such as Virus, Deathwish, Xentrix, Sabbath, D. A. M. etc., would you say, that thrash metal hadn’t such a strong background, like in Germany for example? I mean, the British thrash metal bands didn’t manage to breakthrough…
In terms of bands the UK has never been that strong for producing real good ones, its strange because there are many many many Thrash fans here.. But we never had a good band scene, there just were not the amount of musicians that there were in the US or Germany…
After the release of the record began a new chapter/history in the career of the band (I’m thinking of the line up changes and the change of your music), how could you sum up that period? I mean, ’til the release of the In Search Of Sanity album?
The ‘In Search of Sanity’ period was not a good one for us to remember, too many negative things happened in this time and it would eventually lead to the band breaking up. There was just too much outside influence for us to deal with.. But now we are back and very very strong once again just like the old days, lots of fire and more brutality than ever before….!!!!
Thank you for the interview my friend, see you soon
Nige

Interview with Michael Zaputil (Sexist, Agent Steel)

2011-06-07T01:47:00.000-07:00

Mike, do you still remember, how did you discover music and how did you turn into hard rock/metal?
My parents always had music in the house, my father was a radio announcer/DJ in Billings, Montana in the 1950’s, so he had had a shit-load of records. All bigband, polka,& swing music from the ’30s, 40’s and ’50s. He HATED rock music, so you can about imagine what he thought of the music his son made. He attended only one Agent Steel show we did at the Whiskey in late ’86, he shook his head and left before I had a chance to introduce him to Dave Mustaine and Dave Ellefson who were backstage with us in support. Oh well. I discovered hard rock on the radio when I was about 11, but also discovered and loved (and still do) the ’60s and ’70s soul and R&B at that time as well.
At which point did you decide playing an instrument? Was bass the first instrument that you’ve picked up?
My first instrument was the accordian, at 8 years of age, my folks being Croatian (Yugoslav) and German/Hungarian set me on that path, as you would figure. I was really a good player, read sheet music and did recitals at the school I was trained, and everything, but I hated it, they had to force me to practice. I picked up guitar at 15, but my brother got a bass guitar at a swap meet so I started playing that as well. I only switched to bass because no one else at the time played that instrument well. In a way, that was a good thing because I play the bass very guitar-like, alot of chords and with a pick so I can play very fast rhythms and licks. This style I formed from punk rock, Klaus Floride of the Dead Kennedys especially.
Do you play other instruments too?
Nowadays aside from bass is my guitar, which I use to write material with.
What were your influences become a musician? Were you self taught or did you often take lessons?
My influences began with Geezer Butler. Self taught. I took a couple of lessons from the guy in Steppenwolf, can’t remember his name when I was 17, in 1977. I decided it was a waste of my time, so I did what I always did and taught myself songs from my favorite records, usually Black Sabbath and Alice Cooper, and sad to say, Kiss. (I hate Kiss now, lol!) Around 1980 I started listening to the DKs, and took it from there.
As for you musical taste and interest, were you into established, well known outfits or did you rather prefer the underground ones?
I was into the typical mainstream stuff (see above) at first, not knowing any better until about 1979 a friend that I grew up with was really into punk rock and turned me on to the Sex Pistols, the Clash, X, Black Flag, Germs, and the Dead Kennedys. A whole new world opened up for me with those bands, but I also got into stuff like Wall of Voodoo, The Tubes, Oingo Boingo, Killer Pussy, X-Ray Spex, Plasmatics and a lot of out-there stuff. To this day, I always prefer the underground- it is by far much more honest, interesting, and real to me.
Being based in Los Angeles, what do you recall of the early ’80s L. A .scene?
Well, I haven’t been based in L.A. for twelve years, however back then it was an interesting time. If you were into punk, you had the Circle Jerks, Fear, Black Flag, X, etc. on the outskirts of town. On the Strip, you would have Y&T (Yesterday & Today) come down from San Francisco to play at the Starwood, you had the early Quiet Riot and London, Ala Carte, and Snow, you even had Judas Priest come over to play in the clubs back then, believe it or not.
Would you say, that it was great underground buzz with a lot of new bands, that started their career, such as Armored Saint, Metallica, Slayer, Shellshock (later known as Dark Angel), Vermin, Sceptre etc.?
Absolutely. It was like we were all like-minded, we all discovered Judas Priest, Scorpions and Iron Maiden, but had punk influences too. We all grew up on Black Sabbath - the band that started it all. Well sort of, alot of us like myself learned hard rock from Cream, and Jimi Hendrix.
Do you think, that the L. A. scene was divided into two parts? There were the glam/hair bands (Mötley Crüe, W. A. S. P., Ratt, Dokken etc.) and the thrash/speed/power etc. underground ones…
Oh yes, you got that right. There was always these two concurrent scenes going on, at first it was the punks vs. the Hollywood hard rock hair people, then the European influenced thrash bands took the punk’s place. Sometimes, stupid club bookers would force us to play together, not a good idea. We did not like them, it was almost a gangland sort of thing, I had punk-thrash friends who would kick a glam-metaller’s ass every chance they got. I did not approve of this, but that’s the way it was.
Was it hard the metal bands getting shows? Were they overshadowed by the glam/hair outfits?
Pretty much, especially when slam pits got going in about 1984. Not to be confused with the slam-dancing/pogoing the punks did many years earlier. That is why alot of us went to San Francisco to play, they were much more open to our type of thing. Los Angeles was completly over-run with faggoty poser metal stuff. Mustaine use to call glam Gay L.A. Music.
What were the clubs that started opening their doors for metal at this point?
Two come to mind, the Woodstock, and Radio City, both in Anahiem (Orange County). Strangely enough, those two clubs were literally next door to each other. Another place was called Dancing Waters, down in a city called San Pedro, off the coast. Down the coast from there, in Long Beach was a place called Fender’s Ballroom. But the real mayhem occured in two places-the Olympic Auditorium and the Balboa Theater, both downtown. Not for the meek or timid, let me tell you.
Please tell us about your early musical experiences as musician! Was Sexist the very first band, that you’ve played in?
No, I had played in many outfits not worth mentioning, however I was a member of Armored Saint and Malice before that time. I even went down to Lars Ulrich’s place in an attempt to form a band in 1981, but he was such a shitty drummer I never called him again. Who would have thought? I also tried out out for W.A.S.P. but I guess Blackie didn’t think I was tall enough, lol!
How and when did Sexist form exactly? What about the musical background of singer Dan Mateik, guitarists Doug Pittam and Mark Anderson and drummer Robbie Blackmore? Robbie and Mark played in Energy before, correct?
Yes, Robbie and Mark and Dave had Energy before. I happened to catch one of their shows at the Troubador, and wasn’t impressed. Sexist was a band that Doug Pittam and his asshole brother Tommy had with Gilby Clark on bass originally, believe it ore not. Their band dissolved, so Doug and I re-started the band from scratch and Jake Williams ( E. Lee) was our first lead guitarist.
Before Mark joined the band your guitarist was Jake E. Lee, but he left the band to play for Ozzy, right? Did you consider him a talented guitarist by the way?
Yes, an amazing player, but he was incredibly arrogant. He was into punk rock however, so when I’d pick him up to drive down to Redondo to band practice, we would listen to the Germ’s first record, maybe some Ramones. He didn’t have a pot to piss in back then, had no money, car, or anything else. Just his axe and his Marshall half-stack. He was cool to me, but he treated Doug like shit. After he left to join Rough Cutt, before Ozzy, me and Doug hooked up with the three Energy guys somehow.
You released a four track demo including „Fire & Wind”, „Friday Night”, „The Jet Stream” and „Slice Of Life”, do you still recall, how was the demo recorded?
It was at a place called Total Access Recording in Redondo Beach, Doug was drunk thru most of it, but we got the tracks down somehow. By the way, I hated this stuff we were playing, but there just wasn’t anything else for me at that time.
Was it the first recordings experience for all of you?
For them, yes, for me, no. I was in a Led Zep wannabe band called Angeles when I was 19, about ’79 or ’80. My first recording experience was with them.
How would you describe the demo as a whole?
Interesting, though a lot of time wasted so certain members could go out and score some coke.
Through which channels was it spread around? I mean, did you send them to fanzines, radio stations, was it available at record stores and stuff?
I answered an ad in a newspaper called the Recycler where Brian Slagel was looking for bands to record. I sent him our demo when it was done, and it was as simple as that. He called me after that, and the rest is history.
How did Don Dokken end up becoming the producer of the demo?
Hate to say it, but he and Doug Pittam were partying buddys there in Redondo, so he asked him to help out with backround vox, and then he (Don) then took the bull by the horns and produced the whole thing. Maybe that isn’t fair of me, Doug did know Dokken for quite some time.
„Fire and Wind” was featured on the Metal Massacre III compilation, was it good opportunity drawing the fans attention to the band?
Actually, nothing really changed for the better. Immediately after MM III came out, Doug was fired from his own band for his chronic alcoholism. I didn’t want it that way, but the other guys would have it no other way.
How did you get the offer being featured on this legendary record at all?
Like I said above, it was really nothing more then sending Slagel our demo.
Did this feature open some doors for the band?
I wish I could say yes, but things within the band went to a downward spiral, after that. Our new singer, Robert Sykes, Mark, and Robbie Blackmore were adament. They no longer wanted to play with Doug, and they wanted to start a new project altogether- that being Letchen Grey.
In your opinion was Brian Slagel very supportive of young, unsigned, talented metal bands?
Of course, who else was there? There would be no Metallica, Slayer, or even Megadeth if it wasn’t for him. One could argue that Jon Zazula (Megaforce) had his place in getting unsigned metal bands recognition, and in a way that was true, but in L.A., it was all Brian. One thing of note, Brian turned down Agent Steel. Zazula was very interested and was gonna sign them originally, but couldn’t come up with the money John (Cyriss) wanted, so they went with Combat Records instead. I wasn’t in the band at that time, but I knew Juan, Chuck, and John very well, and kept in touch, so I knew what was going on. I was there to observe the drama when Juan and John left Abattoir to form A/S as well.
Why and when did the story of Sexist come into the end?
When Doug was fired, we scraped Sexist altogether, because it was his name, and morphed into Letchen Grey. Interesting side note, Doug and John Cyriss were good friends, they went to G.I.T.(Muscian’s Institute) together.
You joined Agent Steel, while Robbie and Mark founded Letchen Grey and released an Ep titled „Party Politics”, but what did Dan Mateik and Doug Pittam do? Were they also involved in several outfits?
Actually, I too was in L.G. for two years, a founding member, starting in late ’83, but I was never happy with what they were doing musically, so I left in late 1985. The only reason I stayed on with them at all was the women and drugs. Sad to say, but true. When John found out I was available again, he immediately called me. What Doug and Dan did afterward, I have no idea. I think they were both good guys, just not that talented.
Was Letchen Grey an improved line up of Sexist?
You might say that, however Mark on guitar in my opinion was a complete incompetent, one of the main reasons I left, aside from the crappy songs he was writing. Plus I was so musically incompatible with them. They loved Kiss, Bad Company, and Led Zeppelin-bands I can’t stand, while I really loved Slayer, the Sex Pistols, and the Dead Kennedys, they couldn’t understand why I loved those bands so much, a mystery to them.
As for you, please make the things clear, because I read, that you played in Malice too. Did you only help them out, were you a session musician? At which point was it exactly?
I played with them for two or three months in late ’81. It became more and more clear to me the more I worked with them that the guitarist Jay Reynolds was a complete jerkoff, and I was wasting my time. Sorry for the strong words, but its true. One need only read Mustaine’s (there I go, bringing him up again!) book where it mentions his bad experience with him to know what I’m talking about. Believe me, we are not exaggerating about this. No wonder they made only one album, on a major label no doubt, and still failed miserably. Last I heard of Reynolds, he was hired, then fired from Metal Church, then went to prison, for what I couldn’t tell you.
Do you still remember how and when did you join Agent Steel to replace George Robb? What was the problem with him?
The problem became evident when the band was recording the Mad Locust Rising EP in late 1985. The recording engineer informed John and Juan that the tracks Robb was putting down were barely usable in a professional capacity. John called me and asked if I was available to finish up the project, but I just didn’t have the time. They then went with what they had, but fired George soon after. A few months later, John called me after I left Letchen Grey, I then accepted, and joined the band. When the EP came out, they gave me full credit for being on the album, photo picture and all. I didn’t think that was fair to Robb, but that is how they wanted it. Abattoir had just done the same exact thing to Juan, on their first release on Combat.
Were there auditioned other bassists besides you or were you the first choice?
Nope, John didn’t waste any time. Once he found out I was available, that was it.
To which extent were you familiar with Agent Steel and with the previous bands of the members, such as Vermin, Sceptre (John Cyriis), Abattoir (John and Juan Garcia)? Were they kind of cult L. A. underground bands?
I knew all of them. I went with John when he auditioned for Scepter(on guitar). They were two brothers, the Sardos, who had that band. John ended up marrying their sister Layla,(yep, just like the Clapton song) and had a son with her. When that didn’t work out(both with the band Sceptor, and his marriage), John decided to switch to vocals, instead of guitar. The first band he sang with was Medusa, the same band that appeared on Metal Massacre III with Sexist. He quit them, and then joined Abattoir. He did the Screams from the Grave demo with them, then quit again. It was at this time I met Juan, very late 1983. It was also at this time Dave Mustaine happened to hear the Abattoir demo right as he began Megadeth. Cyris was his first choice as a singer. They got together for a few weeks to try and work things out, but I don’t think they clicked together very well. Dave was a heavy drug user at that time, and John wasn’t at all. Plus, they were both very strong, personality wise, they both had their own ideas as to how to proceed, song-content wise. This is an important piece of history many people don’t know, that John was gonna be in Megadeth, and I’m surprised Dave didn’t mention this in his book, as this was very significant. Megadeth and Agent Steel however did go on to have a friendship, being lablemates on Combat, and all. Juan is a very close friend of Mustaine to this day. John then had a brief fling with Vermin, in 1984, which I thought was a very good, heavy, fast band. He stayed with them for most of that year,but quit them because he thought they were too punk influenced(not a bad thing in my eyes at all), then got together with Juan, Chuck, and George, in August of 1984. Agent Steel was born.
Do you consider Abattoir as one of the first speed metal bands by the way?
Well, to be honest, no. But they were miles and miles ahead moving metal forward to the future then bands like Armored Saint and Malice which were stuck in the past. You mentioned Vermin, which I thought never got the credit they deserved. They were doing the crossover punk/thrash thing a full year and a half before anyone heard of D.R.I., or Stormtroopers of Death. I would say that the first speed metal songs were as follows: alot of Judas Priest’s Sin after Sin album, Exciter on the Stained Class album, and He’s a woman, She’s a man on Scorpion’s Taken by Force album. Also, much of the Virgin Killer record. Those were the songs where it really all began, but I must mention also the first two Iron Maiden records. That was what really lit a fire under everyone’s ass, so to speak. But really, that title belongs to Judas Priest and Exodus.
Do you think, that Agent Steel made their mark incorporating all the aggressive elements of the Bay Area Thrash scene with soaring vocals inspired by Metal gods Judas Priest and Iron Maiden?
I think the Bay Area thing in the media was a bit over-generalized. They lumped everything going on in California in one place, and it just wasn’t that way. I mean, really, the bands that changed the world forever came from Los Angeles, that is just a straight-out fact. With the exception of Exodus.You hear about the so-called Big Four of thrash. Anthrax is one of those bands out of default. We –Agent Steel may of been one of those bands, but lost our place because we fucked-up so badly in a critcal time when we (and our management) should have been making better business decisions. I may get strong and violent disagreement on this, but that is how I see it. Thrash metal was borne and bred in Los Angeles, that is a fact that some need to deal with. The other cities-New York, and San Francisco, copied us. Again, Exodus being the exception. They were at it a long time, they were one of the first, and they deserve all the credit they get, if not more so. I think they deserve to be one of the Big Four over Anthrax too, my opinion, kids don’t get excited –lol! Now, I’m talking about modern thrash as we know it, not the earlier influences like Venom, Priest, or Motorhead.
In fact, Kerrang magazine dubbed Agent Steel, Iron Maiden on speed, right?
Yep, they sure did. I was always trying to get the guys to do the song Iron Maiden(from their first album) Agent Steel style. That would have been a hoot, don’t ya think?
What was your debut at all? I mean, did you perform some shows to check out your skills before you started writing the material for the second album titled Unstoppable Force?
Naa, they knew full well what my skills were. I’d known Chuck and John for five years by that point, and we had tried many projects together before this. When I joined, it was straight into a writing situation, immediately. No time wasted. They needed material for a new album post-haste. The song Unstoppable Force is my music alone, with John’s lyrics. Everything else on that record was a collaboration between all five of us. My first show with them wasn’t until we began our first European tour. It was in Antwerp, Belgium, and it was a disaster. It was in this old airplane hanger they turned into a venue, solid concrete everywhere, even the ceiling. Terrible acoustics. On stage, it sounded horrible, we could barely hear each other properly. But it was what it was, and we got thru it.
How about the song composing considering Unstoppable Force? Was the material ready when you joined them or did you have a big hand in the songwriting?
See above. I would say they gave me a lot of freedom to contribute. They had some ideas ready to go, but nothing complete. A lot of re-arraingment going on.
Have you recorded some pre-production demo and stuff? Did Combat ask you to hear the newer material before you entered the studio or did they still have complete confidence into it?
Yes they did request pre-production, but we went straight in, and banged that record out as we saw fit. Combat was gonna take what we gave them whether they liked it, or not. We had our vision, and we wern’t going to compromise on any level. As it turned out, I’m glad they saw it our way in the end.
How long did it take to write Unstoppable Force?
The writing part was very quick, we had a lot of ideas that went together fast. Recording it took some time, as we had to interrupt the process to go on tour. Plus, when we got back, John pulled some shit which I will get into later.
The album was recorded at the legendary Morrisound Studios in Tampa, what made you to record the material in Florida?
That was John’s idea. He wanted to be there for inspirational reasons.
Is it correct, that the band moved to Florida that John and Chuck wanted being closer to the Bermuda triangle?
Well, we didn’t move there to record, just stayed for the duration of the work being done, but later on, (early 1987) those two did, and I’ll address that very issue later on in the interview.
Unstoppable Force was one of the first records (besides Nasty Savage’s debut), that was recorded at the Morrisound Studios, would you say, that was a kind of work preference (preference work) of Scott Burns considering the future?
No, it was entirely John and Juan’s choice.
How did the recording sessions go? Can you tell us detailed about it?
It was alright, John was the most professional in that situation than I ever saw him, before, or after. Us four in the band were sharp as a knife, our parts didn’t take too long to record at all. Our recording and mixing engineer, Tom Morris really knew how to get the best out of us as well. One of the things he would do is write different shit on Chuck’s drum heads like ’’HIT ME HARD YOU FAG!’’ to motivate him to pound loud and hard for the sound he was after. We lived in the Embassy Suites in downtown Tampa for that month and a half, but boy did we ever rack-up a bill staying there. I remember that time, it was March of ’86, Metallica had just released Master of Puppets. Juan and I found a record store in town, and bought a tape of it, we just had to know what they were up to. He and I were impressed, John thought it sucked. It figured, he was listening to nothing but Queensryche at that point. Also, the guys in Nasty Savage use to come by our suite and hang out. Very cool dudes, we went to parties they had going on in their hometown of Brandon, good times.
The band interrupted the recording for a few months to tour in Europe, you toured through the month of May with Anthrax and Overkill where the split video US Speed Metal Attack was recorded, what do you recall of this tour? Did you get on well with those bands?
Well, here’s the thing- when young, up and coming bands like the three of us are thrown together like that-same tour bus, same hotels, many times same eateries, same everything, there’s going to be be competition, we all had everything to prove. Plus, we didn’t know them, nor they us. So with that, there is going to be a lot of tension as well. I wish I could say we all got along, but not really. From the start, there was this New York vs West Coast attitude thing, also Megaforce vs Combat type of shit, but to be fair, alot of the crap was started more by their tour managers and crew members then the bands themselves. It certainly didn’t help that when John gets into a position where he feels threatened,or mocked, he gets very belligerant and in your face. John also brung over a friend of his that did nothing but cause problems. He use to push him over to fuck with Anthrax’s guitar tech, a very shy, nerdy, jewish kid named Irv. It was like school at times, a bunch of kids fucking with and teasing each other. Every one of us were 24 and under. Personally, I thought Charlie, Frank, and Joey from Anthrax were very cool guys, but I found Scott Ian off-putting and a bit of a stuck-up douche. The biggist asshole of all was a crew member that Overkill brought with them, a complete obnoxious, incendiary jerkoff. I have no idea what this guy’s problem with us was, he did everything he could to get us thrown off the tour, and start shit with us time after time unnecessarily. But all in all, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world, it was an experience very few people get to enjoy.
Was it an opportunity that you couldn’t miss out? Did the tour, the shows help the band getting new fans?
That tour projected us into a spotlight none of us had ever dreamed of, it was surreal. We felt like the Beatles, everyone was so enthusiastic and rabid about what we were doing. Constant photography flash in our faces, everywhere we went.We could do no wrong in their eyes. I kind of think the other two bands were jealous of the attention we were getting over them. Success for us at that point was easily obtainable, all we had to do was let it happen. Sad to say, we didn’t.
You returned in June to finish recording the album and it was released in 1987 due to delays in the recording sessions, what happened? What kind of reasons did lead to the delay at all?
It was at this point John became more and more difficult. He was holding the record company hostage, and was refusing to complete his vocals unless they came up with more money for him alone. In a word, he became greedy. He had them over a barrel, and took advantage of the situation. When he gets that way, there is no getting thru to him on any sensible level either.
Do you think, that the most improved aspect on this album compared to their debut album has got to be the guitar work, there are many more riffs in the songs, and no two songs are structured the same nor sound the same?
Oh absolutely. The first album’s music was very raw, basic, and punk-influenced, as four of the original members-everyone but John, were into punk rock. When Bernie came in, the song writing changed dramatically, he and John were much more on the same page as for more melodic arraingements.
Is the dual guitar approach of Juan Garcia and Bernie Versailles a highlight of the album? Are both their high-energy riffs and their slick soloing extremely memorable and catchy?
Yes, they became the new dual guitar team to follow in the footsteps of KK Downing & Glen Tipton, or Dave Murray and Adrian Smith. Juan and I however, really liked the dual guitar work done in Thin Lizzy as well, and emulated harmonies and soloing as such. I myself am to this day in awe of the work those two came up with, and am proud to have been a part of what they were doing. I am a fan of them both, and love them as good friends to this day.
The overall song composition is very well executed, right?
I would say yes, considering being on Combat and Music For Nations,(no major label) we sold untold numbers of records, so we must have been doing something right. I am very proud of what we did, wouldn’t change a thing.
How do you view, that the songwriting is catchy and contains loads of dynamics, the band knows when to slow it down to create a good song and when to speed it up?
Let me put it this way, Juan, Bernie, and I had that special connection that just worked wonders, its hard to explain, all I can say is that the writing chemistry was so right on, so perfect. Very rare to have that going on.
Are drum and bass magnificently done here, with a fair amount of fast double bass and grooving rhythms and both instruments are clearly listenable (audible)?
Yep, just listen to that record. With George Robb(not to slag him at all) the bass was barely audible. For needed reasons, I guess. With U.F., that changed, to much more over-driven bass and drums carrying things along. I felt that Chuck and myself could really kick people’s asses when we really got going.
What do you think about, that the bass has a rich organic tone and your work here is impeccable and highly memorable, and you almost has the same presence as the guitars?
It was all part of the vision we had. I played with Juan and Bern as part of a three-guitar team, if you will. I am always right there, riffing right along with them, it is all in my style of playing. Just like with my current band. There is very excellent bass work in the title track and Never Surrender for example… Well, thank you I tried. I can’t stand boring bass lines-drives me nuts.
Do you agree with, that compared to the debut only the speed was reduced a bit gets a lot more melodic?
We wanted to try many different ideas for Unstoppable. It was make or break time for us at that point, we needed to prove that we could do anything. Every song had to be outstanding, and no crappy filler material was acceptable, wouldn’t have it any other way. As it turned out, this was our seminal work.
How did The Ripper end up becoming on the Japanese version of the album?
That was a choice of the satellite record/distributor over there. We really didn’t have a say in that.
Were all of you satisfied with the end result or would you have changed something on the record?
Except for the very few clinks and mistakes my ears can hear on those recordings, I would say otherwise, nothing. We are very proud of our end product, and it stands the test of time.
Both Agent Steel album are excellent, classic heavy/speed masterpieces and the band succeeded in leaving its mark on the scene, correct?
I would say yes, but I want to be humble here, and not an arrogant jerk off. At the end of the day, we were writing and playing to please us. We wanted to put out music we would go out, buy, and enjoy ourselves, let alone anyone else. But we managed to impress alot of our peers as well. There also are a bunch of young bands now that tell us how much what Bernie, Juan, and myself did to impact their lives.
What were the shows in support of the record? How did they go compared to the previous ones?
Well, I wish I could say. Unstoppable Force was released in mid 1987. The lineup that recorded it had broken apart at that point. Juan, Bernie, and myself were doing other things by then. It was John and Chuck alone with new guys supporting it.
Internal difficulties forced Juan, Bernie, and you from the fold, what happened? Were the problems unavoidable or…?
This is how it happened-like I mentioned before, when it came time to finish the record, John was holding Combat hostage for more money. This was creating strife between us and him. We then did a showcase for no less then 7 or 8 major labels. At the end of the showcase, the same A&R guy from Capitol Records who signed Megadeth approached us, and shook all our hands, saying he thought we were great, and that he would get in touch. This was in December of ’86. Over the next several weeks they were in negotiations with our our management, and with Combat over money matters I won’t get into here. There was a pending deal going on.(unknown to most of us in the band). John then, out of the blue gave all of us band members a call, demanding that we move to Florida. We tried to talk him out of this foolishness, it was a piss-poor excuse to disrupt a successful band’s career for all the wrong reasons, but he wouldn’t listen. And it would have been nice if our management talked some sense into him, but they did no such thing, as a matter of fact, they enabled him.These were the people hired to know better, they were the adults in the situation. But they had the mistaken belief that John WAS the band, and thought everyone else was expendable. What complete, fucking idiots they were. How wrong could they possibly be? Juan, I, and Bernie, we had girlfriends, our families, and lives based in L.A., we mulled this nonsense over as to what to do, but we had no choice. By the way, the three of us were kept in the dark by them as to what was going on with Capitol, but we heard nothing, until long after the fact. So we told John, if that is where you want to go, then go, we are not interested, and this whole thing is very unfair and selfish of you. So he and Chuck went to Florida, and that was that. When Capitol got wind of this whole situation, they pulled the deal. They wern’t interested in us if we were this unstable and dysfuntional. John and Chuck re-formed the band, they did one more tour of Europe, then Agent Steel broke apart for good.
How would you describe personally John Cyriis whom I consider as one of the best singers of all time and who is my absolute favourite one? Why was it hard getting well with him?
I liked John. He was a fan of my talents, as was I of his. He is one of those rare people that the very same gifts he has, also drive him to destructive impulses. He would give me a place to stay, if I needed it, like any good friend would, but could be the most ridiculous, irrational, paranoid, out of control asshole ever. And usually over small issues that amounted to basically nothing. Another thing with him is, he has a tendency to be very selfish in his choices and movements without considering the other people involved. He is by complete definition, an enigma.
Richard Bateman, James Murphy and Jay Weslord joined the band, did you follow the band’s career?
At the time, no, wasn’t interested. It wasn’t until much later Chuck gave me some videos of their shows in London, and elsewhere.
What did you do after your departure from Agent Steel? Did you join The Mofo Homeboys right after that?
No, Bernie and I formed a project called Phobia that lasted a year. When that folded, he wanted to do other things, and I really wanted to do something more hardcore punk oriented. The Mofos approached me, so I joined up.
What about this band and their Peace In Anarchy demo as a whole? How did they sound like?
They were what you would call a ’’crossover’’ band I guess. I recorded both of their demos, with a bunch of my material thrown in, along with some Black Flag covers. We had an interesting sound, our vocalist Tom Baile sounded a lot like Kurt Cobain,(Nirvana) and Mike Ness of Social Distortion. The band’s music sounded like what Sick of it All does, only more sped-up. I thought they(the demos) turned out really well, Brian Slagel was very interested, but nothing became of that. This went on from 1988 to 1991. When I first heard Nirvana’s Nevermind record, I thought to myself Whoa! he sounds a hell of a lot like Tom!
The band usually played Agent Steel’s The Day at Guyana, correct?
Yes, but looking back, I don’t know why. We had plenty of our own material to go with, so we certainly didn’t need to go with that. I think they talked me into it because it wasn’t my idea. I had moved on (from A/S) by that point.
The Mofo Homeboys disbanded in 1991, did you follow what’s going on in the metal world, in the underground? Did the new trends (grunge, pop/punk, nu metal) almost kill the traditional metal?
I had quit playing for a while at that point, but I did follow Nirvana and Soundgarden, and the new crop of death metal, grindcore bands. I really liked what they were doing. And, yes, I think music fans had had enough of the hair-metal thing, for very good reasons, but Megadeth, Slayer, and Metallica went on to even bigger things in the Ninties, and I say good for them. Plus, you can’t deny all that was going on in Norway and Sweden at that time. Also the rise of bands like Death, Obituary, Cryptopsy, Cannibal Corpse, Nalpalm Death, and of course, Sepultura. Metal never went away, it was dormant for a time, but look, we have Lamb of God, Norma Jean, Slipknot, and a host of others, doing it up now.
Do you think, that a lot of bands lost the thread and started playing something new that wasn’t familiar with their original approach, such as Metallica, Megadeth, while a lot of bands got on hold or fell apart?
Sadly yes, Metallica totally lost it, in my opinion, and never got it back. Megadeth has been touch and go, some of the stuff Dave comes up with are alright, some-well, not so much. Slayer, on the other hand, has kept it going, who would have thought that these four green kids I saw playing the Troubador at one of their first shows would become one of my all-time favorites. Consistantly so.
After 10 years hiatus (silence) Agent Steel regrouped in 1998 with Bernie Versailles and Juan Garcia on guitars, you on bass, Chuck Profus on drums and Bruce Hall on vocals, how did you get together again? What were the background of the reformation?
Those three just called me one day, so I invited them to my home, we talked, then I helped them audition vocalists.
A lot of cult ’80s bands started working again at this point, such as Metal Church, Nasty Savage, Necrodeath etc., how did you view this?
I thought it was a good thing, I mean, why not? As long as you can still pull in a significant number of fans to your shows, then go for it. But they should have as many of the original members as possible, otherwise it becomes just a cover band.
Did you feel, that you found the perfect replacement in the person of Bruce Hall considering being the new singer?
I liked him as a person, but to be honest, I am not a big fan of his voice, but remember, this is my opinion, and the type of music I am now into isn’t really driven by the vocals anyway, so you should take that for what its worth. That said, I think he did a good job for what they did for ten years, and I do love the Omega Conspiracy album.
You recorded three demos (Agents Of Steel – including New Godz, Into The Machine, Fighting Backwards, Bleed Forever – 1998, a second demo – including Deny The Poison and Eradicate – also in 1998 and the Deny The Poison demo – including Deny the Poison, Eradicate, New Godz, Into the Nowhere, Fighting Backwards and Bleed Forever – 1999, how would you sum up these recordings? How did you write the songs?
Well, I have to be honest, I had left the project by that point, and wasn’t involved in any of those, as a matter of fact I had left California by that point too. Karlos Medina did the bass chores. He and I talked, and I gave him my complete blessing. He has done more with the band then I have, and I think the world of him, a truly talented and great guy. He however, is not in the band anymore too, and is now a cardiological examiner in a clinic in a California town named Temecula.
As for the first demo, some internet versions of the demo add the Black Sabbath cover version Sweet Leaf, but that is taken from the Hell Rules tribute album and was not part of the official demo, wasn’t it?
Don’t know, I wasn’t there.
Were all of these demos sent to labels to attract labels interests?
Probably.
The comeback record of the band was released in 1999 titled Omega Conspiracy, but why didn’t you play on this album? Why did you leave them again?
You have to understand that when they approached me, I was 38 years old and was pretty burned out. At that time, I had been slugging it out in the music business for 22 years,and after my previous project at that time which I had just spent 3 1/2 years, and a lot of time and money with had fizzled out, I had had enough. I had already bought property in Arizona(where I am now) and already had a job waiting for me there, and was about to get married and start a new life. You reach a point when you are tired of being broke, and not having anything, and putting in tons of hard work, your time, blood, sweat, and tears, all for nothing. Also, for all the records, CDs and what not that Agent Steel sold, I have yet to see a penny of it. Back then, our corrupt managment had us all sign promisary notes without the oversight of a good attorney, or even our parents, but we were dumb young kids-what the hell did we know? And I realize that time and again in this interview I keep bringing up things our managment did,or didn’t do, but it always seemed like at every important junction in our career, they did the wrong thing. Always. All that said, I love O.C., the material is excellent, and I wish I could have been a part of it. If they had asked me one or two years earlier, I’d have been all for it and right there with them. Totally bad timing again.
In your opinion, did it become a classic album too? Did it satisfy the needs of the Agent Steel fans? How do you view the other Agent Steel albums Order Of The Illuminati and Alienigma?
O.C. absolutly is, the other two, time will tell. But thats just me, a little too melodic for my taste.
Are you aware of John Cyriis returned to them?
Yes, but it is my understanding that he is already out of the picture, things didn’t work out after they toured Japan. They already are recording with a new singer named Rick, and sadly, they are having difficulties using the name Agent Steel again. Which to me is a joke. John never came up with the name ’’Agent Steel’’ a mutual friend of ours by the name of Brett Phillips did.
Mike, how would you sum up your career as a whole? What were the highlights and the lowpoints of your career?
My career as a whole, well, for obvious reasons I wish the payoff would have matched the hard work and effort put in, but I’m not complaining. I would have done the same thing again, but I wish I knew then about some things what I know now. A real low point for me was the last 6 months I was in Letchen Grey. I was beyond disappointed that after two years, and much gigging and recording, nothing much was really happening. I was seriously drug and alcohol addicted, I was depressed that I chose to score some coke or some crank instead of bettering myself musically as well as building my career. I was constantly going to jail that year(’85), drug possession, drunk driving, traffic warrants, assault and battery, all kinds of shit. I was also very unhappy with what we were doing in that band song wise, and it was not really their fault, they loved what they were doing, it just wasn’t my thing, the Sunset Strip hair metal scene. But that band did give some very high points, for what it was, we drew a lot of people to our shows, and it was fun in its own way. Agent Steel was of course, the very high point(when we were kicking-ass successful) and the very lowest, when we broke up. What was so pathetic was, we didn’t go out with a BANG as much as a whimper. Truly sad for the fans, let alone us. I use to be very bitter and angry at John, but no longer. Everything happens for a reason, I guess, but one can’t help but imagine what could have been. You have to move on, or go crazy.
Are you proud of playing (taking part) in Agent Steel?
My proudest ever. And let me say this, I am proud of people like you Les, and everyone who loved our band and loves thrash metal in general. This very Easter weekend about 275 miles west of me in Coachella California , the Big Four played. Juan was there backstage sending pics and videos to us on Facebook and it was crazy packed with thrash metal heads from all over. Those bands are almost 30 years old, and yet they still draw tons of people. Most of them young kids, like my 19 year old niece who was there, and her boyfriend. Yes, that does make me proud and happy. I like to think we, and the other bands in our genre, took what punk rock and English metal started, and took it to entirely new levels.
Thanks a lot for the interview, anything to add, that I forgot to mention?
Just one thing. (ok, maybe two). You haven’t heard the last of me yet. After twelve years of inaction, I was approached by some good friends of mine-the band Unforseen, to join up. They are Phoenix’s top thrash metal kings, my two guitarists and lead vocalist are half my age, but who cares?(bigtime Agent Steel fans btw). We can be found on Facebook either my page, or the Unforseen page there. Or go to unforseenonline.com. Incredible music, you just won’t believe how awesome this band is. Our upcoming CD release was produced and mastered by none other then our very own Bernie Vesailles. And let me just say that Les, you really did your homework on this, and came up with some very smart and well-thought out questions. And I wish you much success. One more thing, some of the comments said by me may seem more than a little harsh, and to the point, but everyone who really knows me knows what an opinionated bastard I am. I just call it as I see it. Some of my friends say (and also my wife) I am a music snob. Maybe thats true too.

Actual playlist

2011-06-07T01:07:00.002-07:00

1. ANATHEMA: Serenades
2. W. A. S. P.: The Last Command
3. BLOOD CEREMONY: Living With The Ancients
4. ANGEL OF DAMNATION: Carnal Philosophy
5. EXHORDER: Slaughter In The Vatican
6. BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION: 1/2
7. ORIGIN: Entity
8. BLACKKOUT: Ignorance Of Man
9. DEATH ANGEL: The Ulra-Violence
10. RUNNING WILD: Black Demons On Stage (bootleg)

Current playlist (Actual faves)

2011-05-09T03:55:00.000-07:00

1. HATE ETERNAL: Phoenix Amongst The Ashes
2. EXTREME DEFORMITY: Internal
3. VOMITORY: Opus Mortis VIII
4. BLOOD CEREMONY: Living With The Ancients
5. HADES: Resisting Success/If At First You Don't Succeed...
6. MERCYFUL FATE: Don't Break The Oath
7. THRUST: Fist Held High
8. ANNIHILATIONMANCER: The Involution Philosophy
9. NUCLEAR ASSAULT: Game Over
10. INFERNÖ: Utter Hell/Downtown Hades

Mercyful Fate - Pictures of bootlegs

2011-04-30T07:31:00.001-07:00

Mercyful Fate - fourth part

2011-04-30T06:55:00.000-07:00

Then on April 30th, you began to work on the next release for the next 19 days, once again at Easy Sounds Studios, when did you start wrting the song for this second album, that became the excellent Don’t Break The Oath? Did the songcomposing something/somehow change compared to Melissa?
We wrote songs all along as we rehearsed after Melissa. There was no change to how we composed/arranged the songs. But the songs came pretty fast one after the other.
Were you more prepared then with the previous release?
Yes I think we were better prepared after having done it once before. We learned what not do and we knew how to improve our recording. It always helps with a little more experience. You learn things all the time.
On June 10th 1984, the band performed at the prestigious Heavy Sounds Festival in Poperinge, Belgium and beside Mercyful Fate, the bill also featured Motörhead, Twisted Sister, Metallica, Baron Rojo, Lita Ford, H-Bomb and Faithful Breath, what kind of memories do you have considering this festival?
Oh it was great. We had a lot of fun with especially Motörhead, Metallica and Twisted Sister. I remember sitting in the dressing room, when everything suddenly went black. I looked up and saw Dee Snider walking in the door to say hi to us. Man – he was big as a house and blocked the entire doorway. And of course we hung out with Metallica. When we went on stage it was early afternoon and the sun was burning down, so it was quite a sweaty performance.
Does it mean, that you did/hold a little break during the recording sessions? Did you perform some new tunes on this festival?
Was that in the middle of our recording? I can’t really remember, but you might be right. I think we played a couple of songs from the new album at the festival, but I’m not sure how many.
It was actually the first time the band played outside during the daylight, playing when the sun is shining doesn’t really fit to the songs which are quiet dark, so it loses too much of its atmosphere, but its a necessary evil as the band had to do it anyway, even though they preferred playing in the dark, how do you view it?
As I said above the sun was burning down on us when we went on stage, but we took it with good humor and made the most of it. We performed like we would have done anywhere else at night.
In May 1984, Mercyful Fate returned to Easy Sound Studios with producer Henrik Lund for the recording of their second full-length album, was it obvious for you working again Henrik with? Would you say, that you were on the same wavelength considering the work, the recording sessions?
We thought that Henrik did a great job on the first album, so it was natural to work with him again, and in my opinion it worked out quite satisfying. Don’t break the Oath is still one of my favorite albums with both Mercyful Fate and King Diamond.
How much did Henrik help for you? Did he suggest some ideas, riffs etc.?
He had of course some inputs to different things concerning the sound on the album, but the composition of the songs he never interfered with.
What about the recording sessions? Did you have a decent budget, more time to record the album?
Not really. But we didn’t need much time for recording as we rehearsed as much as we did. We knew the songs my heart and had everything worked out before we went into the studio.
Since Melissa became an influential masterpiece, a classic, were you under pressure considering the new album? Did the fans have a high expectation?
It rather think that we ourselves expected an even better 2nd album and I think we made it. I know Melissa has become a classic with many MF fans, but I still think Don’t break the Oath came out a little heavier.
It’s finally on August 10th 1984 that was released the album Don’t Break The Oath, which had to become another heavy metal classic album…Do you think, that the guitar playing is more technical, the bass and drum-work tighter and vocally and lyrically come close to the evil atmosphere King Diamond spews forth?
Yes as I mentioned above I think we were very well prepared for this album. And for my own part I had improved my bassplaying. I was far happier with my bass playing on Don’t break the Oath. And I also thing the guitars were better worked out.
The album is conceptually tight as a whole and tells a diabolical tale of Satanism, which for this era (the early 80s), was unheard of, how do you view this?
At the time when we recorded the album I found it very interesting to do a concept album, and I think King got a great horror story out of it.
The guitar solos are all unique in approach and technique and the rhythm playing is just as good as the solos, they have two very different styles yet they have a wonderful chemistry, correct?
Yes absolutely right. Michael and Hank worked so well together as guitarists, even though the are completely different in their style of playing. Michael Denner plays with a lot of feeling while Hank plays more aggressive. I’ve always compared them a little with the guitar pair in Judas Priest.
Is it correct, that many songs on the album previously appeared on some of the band’s earlier demos, sometimes under different titles, with different lyrics and arrangements? Did these songs change, develope a lot compared to their earlier, original versions? Did they become heavier?
Yes we played several of the songs earlier under different names. We worked on the songs as we rehearsed and improved some of the songs along the way. And yes I think we played the songs heavier along the way.
Some of them were actually written even before Melissa was done, such as Come To The Sabbath among others and this song, as well as The Oath were ready by the time the band did the Melissa album, but you preferred keeping it for the following album, right?
Yes thats right. We saved the songs because we thought that they didn’t really fit in on Melissa. And therefore we saved them for the 2nd album, so we could include them on the concept album.
Did sometimes the band end up in fights over whose songs were going on the album, because everybody wanted their own songs on the album?
No we actually agreed on the songs without any fights. We had the same kind of ideas about how the albums should be, and we always worked it out piecefully.
As for you, did you have a great hand in the songcomposing? Did you write your bassparts yourself?
I never wrote any of the songs, but I wrote my own bassparts. That was something I insisted on. Nobody interferes with my basslines. Of course we could talk about it if King for an example thought I did a little too much „running” on the bass when he had some singing parts. But we always worked it out without getting mad at each other.
Another song that was written for a while and ended on this album was A Dangerous Meeting, which was originally called Walking Back To Hell, and then retitled Death Kiss, wasn’t it?
Yes A Dangerous Meeting was originally called Walking Back to Hell and then Death Kiss before we rearranged it slightly and called it A Dangerous Meeting. It was mostly down to that King wasn’t happy with his lyrics and changed then a couple of times.
The song Welcome Princess Of Hell, was supposed to be Welcome Princes Of Hell, it was a title misprint, where the lyrics were correctly written in the original pressing but the title wasn’t…Is this the album that gained you real worldwide exposure? Were you on your peak at this point?
I think this album was the one that really opened op to worldwide exposure, but I wouldn’t say we were at our peak. Perhaps as Mercyful Fate, but personally I didn’t peak until the King Diamond days. By this I mean myself as a bassplayer.
Do you agree with, that, you are every bit as essential to the evolution of metal as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest?
I wouldn’t compare us to those two great bands. They are both more metal than we were. But you could say on the heavy part we were essential to the break through of Heavy Metal all over the world.
The cover of the record is one of the best one in the history of metal…
I agree with you. I think it’s become a classic and the one cover everyone combines to Mercyful Fate.
Soon after its U.S. release on Combat Records, the album became the first underground metal album to reach the Bubbling Under section of the prestigious Billboard magazine album chart; it came in at #202, just two slots of making the Top 200, was the band as „popular” in the U. S. as in Europe?
After the U.S. release we became very popular over there. I think we became even more popular in the U.S. than in Europa.
Shortly after the release of the album, the band fired co-manager John Kibble as you discovered that he recorded their gigs and sold the tapes falselly pretending these were real albums, which pissed off the band due to the lack of quality of these recordings, can you tell us more about it? Does it mean, that John caused a lot of harm for you?
That’s right we had to fire him after we discovered that he sold demo tapes and recordings, but I don’t think it harmed the band. I won’t go into details about the whole thing.
Is it correct the authorities found it and destroyed the whole lot, which represented around 5,000 to 10,000 copies? Didn’t you think about, although John earned a lot of money with the boots, this recordings spread more the band’s name in the underground?
I haven’t heard anything about police involved in this. It might have spread our name faster than it would have normally.
Mercyful Fate became self managed with the help of Ol Bang, a friend of the band who was involved with them since the very beginning, how did he end up becoming the manager?
It was natural as he was taking care of a lot of the things around the band to let us concentrate on playing.
In the following month of October, some American promotors were finally convinced to book the band for an American tour as you gained always more and more success over there, did you surprise about it? Did you have a big name in the U. S.? The initial plan was to do 15 shows in 3 weeks, but as the ticket sales far surpassed expectations, the tour was extended for 19 additional dates…Mercyful Fate headlined their own club tour, then opened for Motrhead on a trek through theatres, were these shows the preparations for the coming U. S. tour? Were they a kind of warm up gigs?
No the first tour in America in 1984 we arranged ourselves. Ole got ahold of different promoters and put a tour together, which a lot of people in the U.S. thought was a very risky thing to do, but it went well and at the end of this tour somebody must have seen our show, because we were signed to start all over on another tour with Motörhead and Canadian band Exciter. During these months we gained a big audience in the U.S. being the kind of band we were.
The band headed to the USA on October 18th, as their first show was scheduled two days later in Portland, Oregon, then on the October 26th, the band was performing in San Francisco, California, how did these shows go? How was playing in San Fransico, where the famous Bay Area scene was born and bands started popping up such as Exodus, Death Angel, Possessed etc. at this point?
The first show in Portland wasn’t great but ok. But the show in San Fransisco was great. We had Metallica on stage with us during the extra songs at the end of the show. That was a great feeling.
By the way, was it your first touring experience in the States?
Yes, we had never been to the States before.
The American Tour then ended on December 16th in Providence, Rhode Island, how about this show?
That was a small club and not many people showed up, but they still got the same show as had it been a full packed arena.
Further dates in Norfolk and Pittsburgh were canceled as local promoters were pressured by religious groups to ban the group from performing as Mercyful Fate’s reputation had actually preceded them, the band even landed on the front cover of the biggest news papers in America, USA Today and The Globe, stating in a headline Satanic rockers threaten our kids, what do you recall of it?
We all laughed about it. We couldn’t really take it seriously.
Do you agree with, that the American tour was completed with success? Did you feel good in the States? What kind of experiences did you gain during that U. S. tour?
I think we completed the U.S. tour with success. It was great to tour the States and it gave us a great experience, plus it matured the band regarding live performances.
Some frictions within the band began to arise regarding the musical direction the band had to take after that, what happened? Wouldn’t have been those problems unavoidable? Did the problems envenom the connection of the band members? Is it true, that a rift had sprouted between Hank and the other members, leading to the fabled reports of Hank wearing pink sweatsuits onstage while his bandmates still prowled the boards in black leather and spikes?
There were some differences in the opinion of what kind of music the band should do. Hank wanted to add a little funky stuff in songs for the next album, but both King, Denner and I said STRONGLY no way. And eventually it led to Hanks departure from the band. He did wear pink sweat pants on stage once or twice, but I think that was as much to provoke the rest of us, but we kept doing the same show.
Anyway, the band then came back home for a well-deserved Christmas break, but pretty short as you were booked to appear on the German Christmas Metal Meeting Tour, which lasted from December 26th through December 30th and the bill also comprised of Motörhead, Helix, Girlschool and Talon, was it a good gig by the way?
It was. We had gotten real close with Motörhead during the U.S. tour, so it was just like being with „ole friends” again. And it was a good oportunity to talk to Girlschool again.
In the beginning of 1985, the band was preparing material for their next album, did you have already some songs written or only rhythms, riffs, ideas?
At the time it was only ideas, though some riffs had been put together during our touring, but most of the material was written when we came home.
Do you something know about, that at the end of February, Hank stopped by King’s apartment to play him a tape of riffs and ideas he prepared for the upcoming album, King also had 5 tracks ready which were a direct continuation of the style displayed on the previous albums? Is the material Hank had was in a completely different direction as it was much softer and even funky in certain places?
Like i mentioned above Hank wanted to bring a funky touch to some of the songs, and King, Denner and I wouldn’t hear of it. Mercyful Fate was a heavy band, not a funky dance band.
Why did Hank want to change the band’s musical direction? Was he fed up of playing metal or…?
At the time being i think he was fed up and simply changed as a person.
How about you, Kim and Michael? What were your goals considering the band’s future career? Neither Hank and King wanted to compromise, and this situation left King with only one sensible choice; leaving Mercyful Fate and starting a band of his own, right? Is it true, that for the next month King kept his decision a secret from the rest of the band while laying out plans for a future on his own?
No. King, Denner and I had a good talk about it all and we decided to try and get an even better record deal than the one we already had, and the only way we could do that, was to close down the band Mercyful Fate. We agreed on that our fans would connect Kings name to Mercyful Fate, and that’s why we started King Diamond Band. That was King, Denner and I.
Would you say, that from this point did start forming the King Diamond Band, along with you, Michael Denner and drummer Mikkey Dee? How did he get in the picture exactly? Were you a four piece at this point?
You’ve got it all wrong. Let me tell you in a few words how it all happened. We knew Mikkey from a Danish band called Geisha, so we asked him if he would like to join our new line up. Fortunately he joined us immediately. We also got a hold of a friend of Mikkey's from Gothenburg (Floyd Konstantine) who came over and played with us for a while as we were waiting for a new contract to be drawn. By the time we were about ready to go into the studio to record the new material we agreed that Floyd wasn’t the right guitarist for our band. So Mikkey got hold of yet another friend from Gothenburg (Andy LaRoque), and he came down to Copenhagen, and we all clicked at once. So the new King Diamond band was born.
Even after its demise, Mercyful Fate was still causing controversy as in the summer of 1985, an organization, formed by American senator’s wives, called the P.M.R.C. (The Parents Music Resource Center) published the infamous Filthy Fifteen List, that was a list of the fifteen songs that the P.M.R.C. considered the most harmful for young people; among others, such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and W.A.S.P., but there was also Mercyful Fate on this list, regarding the song Into The Coven, were you aware of it?
Yes we heard about it, but again we could only laugh about it.
Now that the band was no more existing, Hank went on his side forming his new band called Fate, King, on his side, started on a new band simply called King Diamond, while drummer Kim Ruzz, decided to call it quits for the musical scene as he was not asked to follow King because Michael did not get along with him at all and they even had a fist fight on tour, right?
Yes Hank formed his own band and King, Denner and I continued as King Diamond Band with Mikkey Dee and Andy LaRoque. It was actually me that had not a fist fight with Kim Ruzz, but he wasn’t my favorite person. Let’s just leave it with that.
You recorded several singles and two records with the King Diamond Band, what were the differences and similarities between Mercyful Fate and KDB? Could you tell us more about both about Fatal Portrait and about Abigail?
Well the music was still heavy but with a little twist of classical music in some riffs. And as a band we developed a more theater like performance with different costumes that we thought fitted with our stage show.
Two compilations (The Beginning – 1987 and Return Of The Vampie – 1992) were released under the moniker of Mercyful Fate, did these releases keep the band’s name alive? Did the band leave its mark on the scene?
People still remembered Mercyful Fate as we toured around the States and Europe.
Would you say, that Mercyful Fate has (or would have) a place in the Hall Of Fame of Metal?
It would surely be a great honour, but I’m not sure we were big enough to have a place in Hall of Fame of Metal.
Once again you returned, as you played on Mercyful Fate’s comeback album In The Shadows, how did this reunion (comeback) come into being? How long did it take ’til King and Hank buried the hatchet?
It was Brian Slagel from the record label who wanted to reunite Mercyful Fate. So we just met and agreed that we would do this album. There weren’t really anything between King and Hank other than musical differences. We have all kept contact ever since the early days.
Why wasn’t Kim Ruzz interested in playing Mercyful Fate again?
Nobody had really talked to Kim at the time, so we found another drummer – Morten – who went into the studio with us.
Do you agree with, that everything from the early ’Fate days are here considering the In the Shadows album, such as excellent dual lead work, powerful bass, and King’s unique vocals? Is the main element that makes this album so great is the atmosphere?
I think we actually got the sound very a like a the early Fate stuff. I was quite satisfied with the album, and it was great to be together again.
How did the old, classic Return Of The Vampire make up on the record? Did you something change on the tune? Why wasn’t the song on the early Mercyful Fate classics released?
Return of the Vampire sounded just like I remembered us playing it live in the old days. As far as I remember we didn’t change anything on the song. The reason why it never made on the early albums were that we saved it for later. It didn’t really fit in the album material we wrote back then.
How did Lars Ulrich end up drumming on this tune?
Lars and the rest of Metallica have always loved the old heavy tunes from Mercyful Fate, and we knew they were on tour an had a week off in Mexico at the same time as we were in the studio in Dallas. So we called up Lars and asked him if he would like to make a guest appearence on the album and he had a quick word with Metallicas manager and called us back and confirmed. So we flew him in from Mexico together with his drum tech (my old brother in law). I had my son with me from Denmark to Dallas when we recorded, so he was very excited that he was gonna meet his uncle Flemming in America. And we had great fun while he was with us in the studio, and he actually loved playing the old Mercyful Fate classic Return of the Vampire.
Two years ago you released a two song single including Evil (2009 Version) and Curse of the Pharaohs (2009 Version) and these two songs were also be available as a limited edition 12-inch vinyl picture disk from both Metal Blade and Massacre Records, what can you tell us about this release?
Nothing really. I haven’t heard about this. I haven’t really been in contact with others than Denner and Hank for the last 5-6 years.
How about you these days? Are you still a metal fan?
I still love heavy/metal music, but these days I spend most of my spare time in the local football club FB, where I take care of our 1st teams kit and have everything ready for each training and match. We play in the 4th best league in Denmark.
What kind of stuffs do you listen to? Do you still follow what’s going on in the metal scene?
I listen to many different styles of music these days, but I still prefer heavy metal. This music can still make me drift away in my old memories og those great days. I don’t know a lot of the new young bands turning up. When I listen to metal it’s mostly the old stuff.
How would you sum up your career in Mercyful Fate? What were the greatest and the worst moments with the band? So the highlights and lowpoints?
I had some very good years with Mercyful Fate and the rest of the guys in the band. We got quite close from being so much together as we were. I think one of the greatest moments was being discovered more or less in the Dynamo Club in Eindhoven and coming back there again. One of the worst moments was the supposed tour with Manowar, who turned out to be the worst kind of fellow musicians. There was no need for them to be such big assholes to us as they were.
A Mercyful question: what your favourite Mercyful Fate songs and records? Are you proud of being the bassplayer of this legendary, influential band?
My favorite song must be A dangerous Meeting. I loved to play that song. And my favorite album is Don’t break the Oath.
Would you have ever thought that Mercyful Fate will be a great influence for a lot of metalheads and musicians?
No not really, as we were just a bunch of music loving guys who thought it was fun playing together. I’ve heard things from a lot of people after I quit the band(s) about how big influences we have been to other young musicians. I never really looked at us as being big influences, but since I’ve heard so many times from people all over the world I have started to believe that it is actually so, and that makes me VERY proud. To hear from so many people that you’ve actually meant something for them is the biggest achievement you can get in life.
Is the band’s name still big an it is in people’s minds?
Obviously. Whenever the name is mentioned when I’m with some people who doesn’t know I’ve been a part of that, they always go: what? Have you been in one of the greatese heavy bands ever?. That sometimes makes me think that Mercyful Fate has meant a lot and still does. Again that makes me VERY proud.
Timi, thanks a lot for the interview, share us your final thoughts…
Well it’s been a pleasure to share some of my thoughts about the whole world around Mercyful Fate. And it’s always great to be able to share some of my very best memories of my life. I think I had my best years with both Mercyful Fate and King Diamond band. I never regret having been a part of that and I never will. And to all the young promising musicians around: Keep up the good work, work hard and always believe that you could be tomorrows new stars. Stay heavy and all my best wishes for you all.
Timi

Mercyful Fate - third part

2011-04-30T04:49:00.000-07:00

Is it true, that there was a priest in Denmark who really tried to finish Mercyful Fate’s career, before the first EP came out, and you had the chance of appearing on national TV in Denmark? Did it do/mean some extra promotion for the band?
No not before the first EP. But there was a priest at a time who went on to national TV in Denmark to confront King. He was left blank, because King had some really good answers to all his accusations.And yes I think it gave people the impression that we weren’t just a stupid rock band, but young guys with brains, and if that was the case it couldn’t be all that bad.
The band had the opportunity to perform their first shows outside their native Denmark under the name Mercyful Fate, the first one took place at the famous Dynamo Club in Eindhoven, Holland, on September 23rd, as the club was packed with 300 people, can you tell us more about this gig, since it was your very first touring/live experience abroad?
Dynamo Club in Eindhoven still stands as one of my favorite venues all over the world. As I told you earlier, Eindhoven became our 2nd hometown. We were blown away by the reaction from the crowd in Dynamo Club. They really took us to their hearts and we have visited friends in Eindhoven after and one summer about 6 people from Eindhoven came and visited us in Copenhagen. So we have always had a special feeling about Dynamo Club.
How did the second show, that was at Ulicoten, still in Holland, two days later go?
Again a great reception from the audience. But then again a lot of people from Dynamo Club came and saw us at Ulicoten too, so we had a great gig there too.
The next day, the band returned to Copenhagen, where they were booked to support the English all-female band Girlschool, were all of you aware of that NWOBHM movement? Which NWOBHM bands were you into?
Yes we all knew NWOBHM and have known it all the time we were playing as a band. Bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Girlschool, Saxon, Riot, Tygers of Pan Tang and others. They were/are all great bands.
During this show, Girlschool singer Kim McAuliffe suffered an injury, right?
Yes unfortunately she was electrocuted when holding her guitar and the mike stand. She touched both at the same time and some bad electricity went through the whole PA and that’s when it happened. It was an unfortunate accident, but luckily she wasn’t really hurt by it. Only a little shocked.
How and when did then an invitation from Tommy Vance, who asked the band to record a live session for the Friday Rock Show on BBC Radio 1, in England come? What about the travel to England?
I can’t really recall how we came about the invitation, but I guess he heard about this new band from little Denmark and got interested. That's where we played Satan’s Fall live and he was very impressed.
In London on March 18th you performed your first show in England at The Moonlight Club in front of a small but very enthusiastic audience, how did the people welcome Mercyful Fate? Would you say, that you were heavier, than the NWOBHM bands altogether?
I remember this little club The Moonlight Club. There was only about 25-30 people there, but we agreed that if they had paid to see us they deserved a full show, and we went on stage and had a great time. After the show we just went down and talked to all the people there. It was like performing for a group of friends and the people there really liked out attitude and I think this helped us further on, as we were known as a bunch of really nice guys who really gave us time to talk to everyone. I think we were heavier than NWOBHM bands altogether as NWOBHM bands were more metal than heavy. Not that I see this as bad, cause I have always loved the above mentioned bands.
The band recorded the 3 songs for the BBC session: Curse Of The Pharaohs, Evil and Satan's Fall, that were recorded in only 8 hours in The Maida Vale Studios, were later mixed and produced by BBC engineer Tony Wilson, what was the goal of this recording sessions? How did these songs sound like?
What can I say. As I explained about Satan’s Fall we took it in one take. So it sounded fantastic ! ! !
You managed then to perform at The Clarendon Ballroom, also located in London…
Ah yes the Clarendon. I don’t really remember much from that gig. Sorry.
In April, after you returned home you decided to leave Rave On Records, what kind of reasons did lead to the department with the label? How much support, help did you get from them?
We were offered a better contract with Roadrunner Records and King and Ole Bang took care of all negotiations with them. Rave on Records helped us as much as they could, but the offer from Roadrunner was just too good to pass.
Having returned to Denmark, the BBC broadcast of The Friday Rock Show was aired on April 22nd and after the broadcast, BBC had so many requests for a re-broadcast that you did it, and it really helped the band a lot, it seems, Mercyful Fate conquered England and draw more fans attention to the band, right? Did you reckon to such a success by the way?
No we didn’t really expect that kind of response, but after Tony Wilson praised us for our performance in the studio, we all had a feeling that something great could happen.
Among the listeners, there was also some people of Roadrunner Records of Amsterdam, Holland, they were then interested in signing the band for a long term contract and so, they contacted Mercyful Fate in May 1983, were you the first (or one of the first) signing of the label?
I don’t think we were their first signing, but I really don’t know.
Did you think, that Roadrunner will be a better chance for the band in terms of promotion, support, distribution etc.?
It seemed like it according to the contract we signed with them.
On June 1st, the band then played a show in Copenhagen, and on June 25th, you were performing at the annually held Aardshock Festival in Holland, which bands did you share the stage with? Did you do a really triumphant performance?
I’m sorry I can’t recall which other bands played the Aaardshock Festival, but as I recall we had a great gig at the festival. I remember stumbling around on stage after having stepping on a big nail which went through my foot. But I still had a great show.
The next day you played in Bochum, in Germany, before returning home to start preparing the material for the upcoming recording sessions of their first full-leghth album, correct?
As far as I remember we played with Accept in Bochum and I lost my Flying V when our roadies forgot it at the venue in Bochum. You’re right. We started working on our new material for the first full length album as soon as we came home from Bochum.
So, on July 18th 1983, Mercyful Fate started recording at Easy Sounds Studios in Copenhagen for the 13 next days with producer Henrik Lund, which was the co-owner of the studio along with his brother, how were those songs born? I mean, how were they written? How about the songcomposing as a whole?
Normally the person who wrote the song, presented it in our rehearsal studio and we all put our own way of playing to it. The composing was done by the songwriters alone at home.
Did you have more time working on Melissa and recording the material, as you did the first EP?
Yeah the first EP was recorded in a couple of days and Melissa we had 2 weeks in the studio.
Is it correct, that the band knew the songs very well before entering the studio and made it very quickly?
Yes, as I described earlier in the interview, we rehearsed 7 days a week and could play the songs even if we were woken up at 4AM and asked to play. All the songs were in our backbones.
What about the recording sessions?
We always recorded the ground track first, them the drummer put in his drumming with guitar and bass playing along. Then I went in and did my bass tracks. Then the rhythm guitars, then the guitar solos and finally Kings singing.
As for the title of the record, it was the name of a skull the band was using at the time in their shows, and that we can see on the cover of the album, wasn’t it? Does Melissa have a story by the way?
I’m not really sure. I think i remember it all was in Kings fantasy and he just called the skull Melissa for fun and the name followed the skull and also we thought it would be at great name for our 1st album.
Do you agree with, that this record is not only influential to countless bands, but also landmark of the genre?
I have heard from several musicians, that they took big influence from Melissa and Don’t break the Oath. At the same time I would agree with you that it was kind of a landmark of the genre. We were actually the first band (as far as I know) who wrote a full compilation album – meaning that all the songs were connected as one whole story.
Everything was said and written about Melissa, so I would ask you describing the album with your own words! What kind of memories do come in mind considering this period?
Oh, I have some great memories concerning Melissa. Not as much the recording as the people around the band at the time of the recording. We had 6-8 people from Eindhoven to visit us while we were recording and we had a great time with these people in Copenhagen.
Some of the material on the album had their roots in even earlier demo recordings done during the Brats days, such as Curse Of The Pharaohs, which was originally titled Night Riders on some old Brats demo, but retitled after King changed the lyrics to it as the original lyrics were written by the Brats bassist, there was also Love Criminals, which is actually the first song Mercyful Fate ever written, that have been finally available for the first time on this album, but under the title Into The Coven, which was originally meant to be the title of the album too, how much did these songs alter compared to their early versions? Did the sound lot heavier and brutal?
I have only heard these songs from earlier recordings once or twice, so I can’t really remember them other than they sounded slightly different in the earlier days. I think they came out a lot heavier played by Mercyful Fate.
Was Satan’s Fall unaccustomed those days in terms of lyrics, structure, music etc.? Would you name it an epic tune?
Satan’s Fall is one of the most complicated songs I ever had to rehearse and learn by ear. There was so many changes in the song (32-34 I believe in 12 minutes) going from light and fast to very heavy. And fast and half beats. In my opinion it is surely an epic in heavy music.
At that time, the label asked the band to do a cover song, so the band tried Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song, why did ask you Roadrunner doing a cover at all? How did your choice fall on this song?
He wanted us to record a song people already knew to make more people than „just” underground listeners open their ears to Mercyful Fate. We actually agreed on Immigrant Song pretty fast. We all loved the song and we had jammed the song at several rehearsals just to warm up.
The band skipped it because you didn’t felt it was working very well, so it seems, it wasn’t recorded, but was it planned to be featured on Melissa or…? Did this song fit to the band’s musical world?
We agreed that we didn’t want to do a cover song on our album. Melissa should only contain our own material. As far as our musical world I think the song would fit in very well.
November 26th 1983 Melissa, the first full-length album was released and this was also the first Mercyful Fate effort to get an official release in the United States, as the self-titled EP was a highly sought after import, and the BBC sessions were only availlable on bootleg tapes, do you think, that this album opened the doors for the band both in Europe and Overseas?
I’m pretty sure Melissa opened the doors for Mercyful Fate overseas. A lot of people had heard our demo tapes as they floated around the underground heavy metal world in the US, so when Melissa was released a lot of people wanted to hear more of this „Satanic” band from Denmark.
In December 1983, the Black Funeral single was released, it contained a B-Side called Black Masses, which was recorded during the Melissa session, but has been deleted from the album, why? Did you have other songs written, that didn’t make up on the record?
Black Masses was saved from the album exactly to be released as the B-side of a single. It was already agreed before recording Melissa. We didn’t really write any songs that didn’t go on an album. But as we had so many songs when we were about to record Melissa we decided to save Black Masses.
What kind of goals did the Ep serve at all? Was it a limited release by the way?
It was meant to open doors for us. Yes, I think it was only released in about 1000 copies. (As far as I know).
During the same month, Mercyful Fate was booked to support Ozzy Osbourne in Copenhagen, but due to an illness on Ozzy’s part, the show was cancelled, right? Were you disappointed about it?
I have no recollection of us supposed to support Ozzy in Copenhagen. Sorry.
Later that same month, the band performed a headline show in Copenhagen as preparation for your upcoming European tour….
We played the „Salt Storage” in Copenhagen.
It was also in 1983 that Mercyful Fate first met the guys of Metallica, with whom you stayed very good friends since then and it all began when Metallica, while recording some of its albums (Ride The Lightning – 1984 and Master Of Puppets – 1986) in Copenhagen, asked Mercyful Fate amplifiers and other borrowed equipments from them, can you tell us about it?
Michael Denner and Lars Ulrich knew each other from their school days and had stayed in touch. Then when Metallica came to Copenhagen to record Ride the Lightning, they used our rehearsal room to get ready to go into the studio (which by the way was right next door to our rehearsal room). During their recording we took the guys out in Copenhagen and we had some great times going out together. We introduced them to almost everyone in the heavy/metal scene in Denmark and we spend a lot of time together. It was also then Lars found his drum tech Flemming. Flemming was my brother in law and a drummer in a local band. Lars asked me if I knew a good drum tech who could prepare his drum kit every day in the studio and get paid for it. So I asked Flemming and he was happy to get the job. Now he has worked with Lars as his drum tech for 27 years.
The European tour started in Holland on January 19th 1984 at The Dynamo, in Eindhoven, do you recall how much gigs did you perform altogether? Can you tell us more about this tour?
Again I’m sorry I don’t recall how many shows we did and where. I think Ole Bang is the right person to ask this. He might still have itenerarys from back then.
What were the highlights and the lowpoints of the tour? What kind of experiences did you gain during the tour?
Dynamo Club in Eindhoven was ALWAYS a highlight on ANY european tour. We got familiar with performing live on these early tours to get ready for our first US tour.
March 3rd, you started your UK tour supporting Manowar and originally, 11 shows were booked, but it turned out that Mercyful Fate would only play one, what happened?
Manowar f..... us up real good at the first show, so we agreed that they could tour the UK without us and went back home to Copenhagen.
On April 5th, the band played a sold out headline show at Saltlageret, in Copenhagen, was it the last station of the Melissa tour?
As mentioned above there was never a Melissa tour due to „Women of war” as we called then after they treated us real bad in the UK. But the show in Saltlageret was great.
There, for the first time, you were able to present you new chapel; a fantastic stage set in which the band had invested a lot of their earnings in their never ending quest to deliver the ultimate show for the fans, weren’t you?
Yes that was the first time we had the „Chapel” with us on stage, and what a great prop that turned out to be. It gave our live show so much more atmosphere. Everybody thought it was a great show. We were always trying to give our fans a better show every time. And it was getting better and better from gig to gig, as we ourselves got more self confident on stage and developed our stage show. At the time of the King Diamond days the show was at the best I have experienced in my musical days.

Mercyful Fate - second part

2011-04-30T04:20:00.000-07:00

In early 1982, Mercyful Fate had recorded two 4-track demos; the first one contained Walking Back To Hell, Running Free, Black Masses and Hard Rocker, as the second one contained Curse Of The Pharaohs, Return Of The Vampire, A Corpse Without Soul and Burning The Cross, how were these demos recorded and how did they sound like?
They were both recorded in a small studio in Copenhagen as far as I remember. It’s a little blimp for me. I wasn’t really involved in the sound, but I think it sounded pretty heavy for the time, when metal was the preferred rock music, but we wanted to create a more heavy sound and I think we succeeded in this.
Is it true, that then co-manager John Kibble had been knocking on all the major label doors, but even though these demos received some attention from the underground tape-trading circuit, nobody was willing to take that big chance, although a lot of the A&R people liked what the band was doing? Would you say, that the demos helped a lot to expand the band’s popularity in the underground?
Yes, John Kibble tried all he could to get the bigger labels interested, but most of them pulled back because of our lyrics. It was too strong for them and they thought that they couldn’t release an album on their label with this kind of lyrics.
Prior to that, the band had already performed a few more headline shows and had also opened for a show of The Gillan Band in Copenhagen, on March 26th 1982, right? How was this show?
It was a lot of fun. Alone to meet Ian Gillan (one of our boyhood heroes). He was a nice guy and we had some fun together. The gig itself went very well and Gillan and his band praised us for our performance. They thought we were a really good live band and that gave us a lot of confidence to hear that from well experiences musicians.
Later on the band flew to Hull, England, to record a session for a newly established label Ebony Records, their A&R man, Daryl Johnston, liked a lot the material he heard from the band, were only Ebony Records that started showing interest in the band or…?
At the time Ebony Records were – as far as I remember – the only label interested at the time being. But other labels were beginning to show some interest.
He offered them the opportunity to do a session for 2 upcoming compilation albums on his label, right so the band then recorded Black Funeral and Walking Back To Hell and Black Funeral was included on the Metallic Storm compilation album, do you still remember about this album? Was this song your decision to be featured on the compilation or…?
I have to be quite honest. I can’t remember if the label decided or if we had any inputs to that.
It came out during the following summer, which was the first album on which the band appeared, wasn’t it?
My God I’m getting old. My memory is not what it used to be. I think we released the mini album before this – or am I wrong ? It’s embarassing not to remember – sorry ! ! !
Why Walking Back To Hell have not been used at this time for a release?
We didn’t think the song at the time was strong enough for a release.
Can you tell us more about your experiences in London?
We went into BBC radio studio to record one song live on the radio. And we went in and played Satan’s Fall direct and the studio reporter was very impressed that we could go straight into the studio and just go through a song at 12 minutes with 30 – 35 different changes and beats and do it perfect. He was very amazed. That is the thing I remember the best from our trip to London.
During the summer that followed, Benny left because of his girlfriend, and Michael Denner went back in the band, so from this point, this line-up had to remain the same until the demise of the band, correct?
Yes we stayed together until we split and called the band King Diamond band, and that was really only to get a better record deal from Rave-On Records.
Then came the Dutch label Rave-On Records, offering the band their first record deal, Rave-On Records was based in the same city as Holland’s leading heavy metal magazine Aardshock, which was a very supportive magazine of the band since hearing the demo recordings; that’s what introduced the band to the label, how did that happen?
If you want details about how the contract was landed, I’m not the right person to ask. King and Ole Bang will know this a lot better. I wasn’t involved in the meetings about the contract. I was actually only a musician in the band.
So, in the following September, in Stone Sound Studios, Holland, the band recorded and mixed, in two or three days only, the 4 songs that had to become your classic eponymous EP, also known as Nuns Have No Fun, what do you recall of the recording sessions?
I remember recording in the Eindhoven surrounds and Eindhoven became our second „hometown”. We had a lot of fun and made a lot of fans and friends in Eindhoven. We always loved to come back to perform in Eindhoven.
Do you think, that you surprise the scene with this stuff? Do you agree with, that the music was complex and unique those times? Did the EP take the underground by storm the year before, bowling people over with a mixture of elements that nobody before or since has ever matched?
I think we did surprise the whole scene a bit, because as I mentioned before the music that was very popular at that time was metal and we played more heavy stuff and at the same time we played some very complex music that most people had never really heard before in that kind of music. And that is in my opinion why we took the underground by storm.
How much did your music change compared to your early days, such as The Brats or Danger Zone? Was it a logical step becoming more complex and heavier?
Yes it came quite natural. We all wanted to get our music more complex and heavier than the other bands we played in before. We wanted to create something new and not just become another metal band.
It’s well known thing, that your lyrics are/were about occultism, satanism etc. at which point did King dig himself in these topics? Did all of you agree with King’s lyrical direction?
King always stood by his believes in satanism, but the rest of us just thought it was interesting, but we didn’t have quite the same believes as King. But when it comes to the lyrics we all agreed that the lyrics were great to create a good live show from. It was perfect to present our music with at live show that represented Kings lyrics.

Mercyful Fate interview with bassist Timi Hansen - first part

2011-04-30T04:04:00.001-07:00

So Timi, how and when did you discover music and when did you turn into hard rock/heavy metal? What were your first experiences considering the hard/heavy rock scene?
I've always wanted to play music, but I first started out in Heavy Metal in the late 70s. My first experiences were Status Quo, Uriah Heep, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple.
When did you decide becoming a musician and how did you pick up the bass? Was it the first instrument you chose or…?
I had a bunch of friends (Michael Denner) being one of them who had a band. Their bassplayer was German and wanted to go back home to Germany, so they asked me if I could play bass. I never tried before, but thought to myself: "If I can play guitar, I can also play bass". So my first instrument was acoustic guitar.
What were your influences becoming a musician? Were you self taught or did you take regularly lessons?
Regarding influences it's the bands mentioned above. I’m self taught as a bass player.
Before being involved in Mercyful Fate, you played in Danger Zone, that was Michael Denner’s band/project after he left Brats in 1980, do you still remember, how did you get in the band? Was Danger Zone your very first act by the way?
I was in Danger Zone with Denner and a drummer and another guitarist. Danger Zone was my first heavy/metal act.
Were you familiar with Brats at all too?
I'm familiar with Brats, Hank Shermann was in Brats with Denner.
In April 1981 a demo was recorded at The Rocktape Studios, contained songs such as „M.D.A.” (Mission: Destroy Aliens), „Killed For Love” and „Not Amusing”, how was it recorded at all? How would describe the demo musically?
The demo we recorded in 1981 was songs Denner and I played in Danger Zone. The studio was a very small studio in Copenhagen and we asked King and Hank to give us a helping hand in the studio.
Is it correct, that the demo tape features King Diamond and Hank Shermann, who were asked to help out Michael? How did they get in the picture exactly? Did you try out other musicians too?
At that time they had Mercyful Fate already, but they had no guitarist and no drummer and no bassist, so they agreed to help us out, and that was the start of Mercyful Fate.
King didn’t seemed to really enjoy Michael’s songs, right? What were his problems with the tunes?
The tunes were not heavy enough in King’s eyes. And we all agreed.
A second demo was released in 1982 featuring „Persecution”, „I’m Alright” and „Death Kiss”, what can you tell us about this tape? Is it correct, that the new demo turned out so well that it became obvious that the two bands should become one, that became Mercyful Fate later on?
The second demo I can't really remember, and we were already together as Mercyful Fate after the first demo in 1981
Mercyful Fate was formed the in 1981, the very first incarnation of the band consisted of King Diamond, Michael Denner, Hank Shermann, you and „Old” Nick Smith, but the chemistry wasn’t quite right and soon, so Ole Frausing replaced Nick on drums, what happened?
Nick wasn't good enough on the drums. So we tried out a couple of different drummers and found Ole as the best of them.
Was this the only one line up change at this point? I ask it, because I read, that the very first Mercyful Fate demo was recorded at The Rocktape Studios in March 1981, featuring „Death Kiss”, „You Asked For It” and „Running Away” the line up was King Diamond on vocals, Hank Shermann on guitar, Carsten Van Der Volsing on guitar/bass and Jan Musen on drums. Would you clear the things?
I can't really answer that question. That recording they made before I came in the picture.
This new version of Mercyful Fate played their first live gig in the following summer in Taastrup, a small suburb of Copenhagen, then during the next autumn, in Herlev, another suburb of Copenhagen, the band rehearsed and played one more gig, what do you recall of these gigs? What about the setlist?
I remember the gigs, but not the setlists.
How many songs did you have written at this point? Did you constantly write new material?
I can’t really remember how many songs we had at the time, but we had enough for a couple of albums. We spitted out new material all the time. Some was put aside and some was worked on.
Did you often rehearse?
We rehearsed 7 days a week and constantly wrote new material. We were at a point where you could have woken me in the middle of the night at asked me to play Satan's Fall and I could have done this in my sleep.
Once again, another lineup change took place; Michael had some problems finding the time to play with the band because he had a day job and a frustrated girlfriend so he left the band and was replaced by Benny Petersen, better known as Bennett…Around the same time, Ole Frausing was asked to leave the band, and his replacement was Kim Ruzz, who have previously played with Benny, what did go wrong Ole with? How did you find Kim?
Yeah Michael had some problems and we found Benny who had been hanging around the band for a while. At the same time Ole was very often sick with asthma and had some problems breathing when we played, so we agreed together with Ole that it would be best for all parts if he called it quits. So we took in Kim Ruzz.
What was the band, that he played Benny with? From what kind of musical background did Kim Ruzz arrive?
Kim and Benny played in a small Copenhagen suburb band. I can't even remember the name.
Would you say, that he was the missing link, considering the line up of the band?
Is it true, that Kim Ruzz was flashy with a cool drumming style and hard-hitting playing, but was very different as a person compared to the rest of the other members and he was younger and immature but was working very hard in the beginning, always six days a week?
Kim came in and was clearly the best drummer so far in the band. He was a good drummer but as you mention he had some personality problems which interfered with our playing, and that's the main reason we didn't ask him to join us when we reformed the band as King Diamond band. But of course we got Mikkey Dee, who I still consider as one of the best drummers EVER.
How about the Danish metal scene at this point as a whole? What were the bands that started at the same time as you?
The Danish metal scene now is a bit week, there aren't that many known bands around. There are plenty of small bands but I guess only Pretty Maids are still going strong.

Actual Playlist

2011-04-03T03:00:00.000-07:00

1. DESTRUCTION: Mad Butcher Ep
2. MERCYFUL FATE: Melissa/Don't Break The Oath
3. SLAYER: Show No Mercy/Haunting The Chapel Ep
4. ARTILLERY: My Blood
5. INCUBUS: Serpent Temptation/Beyond The Unknown
6. SEPULTURA: Beneath The Remains
7. DARK ANGEL: Darkness Descends
8. WITCHUNTER: Crystal Demons
9. SACRED REICH: Ignorance
10. MEGADETH: Peace Sells...But Who's Buying

2011-04-01T06:07:00.000-07:00

DESTRUCTION
Mad Butcher Ep
(Steamhammer 1987)

Noha (annak ellenére, hogy) egy Ep a rajta szereplő dalok és időtartama folytán nem egyenértékű, nem egyenrangú egy koronggal, az adott zenekar életében meghatározó jelentőséggel bír(hat). A teljesség igénye nélkül pl. a Slayertől a Haunting The Chapel, a Sacred Reichtől a Surf Nicaragua, a Nasty Savage-től az Abstract Reality, az Agent Steeltől a Mad Locust Rising, a Kreatortől a Flag Of Hate illetve az Out Of The Dark…Into The Light, a Sodomtól az Expurse Of Sodomy vagy a Destructiontől a Mad Butcher. Klasszikusok.
Egy-egy Ep több funkciót is betölthet. Ha kezdő, tapasztalatlan csapatról beszélünk, akkor jelzi, jelezheti, hogy milyen zenei világban próbál majd érvényesülni a szóban forgó banda, mit várhatunk el tőlük a jövőben. Ha már egy több kiadvánnyal rendelkező (esetünkben egy demo, egy Ep, két lemez), tapasztalt, műfajában, a színtéren klasszikussá avanzsálódott együttesről van szó, akkor egy Ep amolyan időhúzó, űrkitöltő, a rajongók étvágyát csillapítandó mű lehet, ugyanakkor jelentheti azt is, hogy a csapat elért egy bizonyos pontig, amikor azon kezd el filózni, hogy most merre tovább, tehát útmutató, a jövőt meghatározó funkciót lát el a kiadvány. A Mad Butcher esetében ez utóbbiról beszélünk. Köztudott, hogy az Eternal Devastation után Tommy Sandmann dobos kilépett a csapatból, helyére pedig a jazz vonalról érkezett Oliver „Olly” Kaiser érkezett illetve egy másik gitáros, Harald „Harry” Wilkens, tehát az addig trióként funkcionáló Destruction kvartett lett. Ez a lépés azt vonta maga után, hogy zeneileg egy, az előző anyagokhoz képest, még technikásabb, fifikásabb irányba lépett a Rombolás. Nemcsak zeneileg, hanem image-beli változás is bekövetkezett, az addig bőrbe, töltényhevederekbe, szegecsekbe öltözött társaság, „mezei”, hétköznapi ruhákat kezdett el viselni. Fazonilag, tehát küllemileg, abszolút illet a képbe a két új arc, sokat nyert velük a zenekar. Egyfelől a két gitár alkalmazásából kifolyólag vastagabb, keményebb lett a zenekar hangzása, másfelől bizonyítást nyert, hogy nem tehetségtelen, ügyetlen, kezdő muzsikusok léptek a banda soraiba. Egy klasszikus nóta újra felvett változatát, egy feldolgozást és két új tételt tartalmaz az Ep. A címadó dal – amely szerepelt a Bestial Invasion Of Hell demón illetve a Sentence Of Death Ep-n – egy gyorsabb, komplexebb – ha úgy tetszik átdolgozott – változatával nyit a korong. Maga a nóta a Destruction (és az egyetemes thrash történet) legklasszikusabb szerzeménye; ha csak a zenekar saját repertoárjára fókuszálunk, akkor a Curse The Gods-zal, a Bestial Invasionnel vagy az Invincible Force-szal egyenértékű darab. Alapos vérfrissítésen esett át, Harry új dimenziókat nyitott, új értelmet adott a dalnak, a két gitáros óriásit riffel és szólózik a szerzeményben, főleg a váltott szólómunka zseniális. Bizony köröket ver az eredeti változatra. Ezt követően a Plasmatics Coup d’Etat lemezén szereplő The Damned hangzik el, mely alapvetően egy dallamos tétel és amely beleillik a Destruction világába, lévén sosem mondtak nemet a melódiáknak. Schmierék remekül formálták képükre a dalt, szinte alig vettek el belőle valamit. Azt sem tartom kizártnak, hogy ezáltal fedezték fel sokan maguknak a Wendy O’ Williams (R.I.P.) vezette bandát. A megújult felállású tagság első közös szerzeménye a Reject Emotions, egy akusztikus gitárral és Schmier énekével kezdődő, majd középtempósig fejlődő szerzemény, a maga majdnem hét percével a klasszikus Destruction egyik leghosszabb tétele a Black Death-tel és a Sign Of Fearrel egyetemben, de hogy a legkomplexebb az biztos. A turnézás hátrányait (visszautasított érzelmek – ez a cím) taglaló számról azt olvastam, hogy egy thrash ballada, ami jó nagy hülyeség, mert ez egy összetett, középtempós dal, mely a Destruction koncertjein előszeretettel bukkant fel azokban az időkben. Mindkét új muzsikus parádézik benne, csakúgy, mint a többi tételben. A mai napig úgy vélem, hogy a Sentence Of Death Ep és az első kettő lemez klasszikussá nemesedésében elévülhetetlen érdemeket szerzett Tommy Sandmann, a süket is hallja a Mad Butcheren, hogy Olly mennyivel dinamikusabb, professzionálisabb és képzettebb dobos, mint ő. Tetszik, nem tetszik, ez az igazság. Végül a hangulatos, instrumentális The Last Judgement zárja az Ep-t, ez egy az egyben Harry nótája, ő játszotta fel a dalt. Nem volt meglepő a felvétel, hiszen ezt megelőzően is tett fel instrumentális nótákat lemezeire az együttes, gondoljunk a Thrash Attackra vagy az Upcoming Devastationra.
Úgy gondolom, ezzel a kiadvánnyal nem tévedett a csapat és jelezte, hogy mi várható majd a Release From Agony-tól (1988). Tehetségük, zsenialitásuk elismeréseként felléphettek a ’87-es Dynamo illetve a ’88-as Heavy Sound fesztiválon, tehát a Destruction egyértelműen a legjobb thrash csapatnak számított akkoriban. Jelen aktivitásuknak, létezésüknek is van létjogosultsága, de abban talán mindannyian egyetértünk, hogy a legnagyobb dolgokat a ’80-as években vitték véghez. Az én véleményem alapján mindenképpen.

Destruction - Eternal Devastation

2011-04-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

DESTRUCTION
Eternal Devastation
(Steamhammer – 1986)

Bevallom férfiasan, nem durrantam el a Destruction bulitól (PeCsa március), az általam várva várt varázs elmaradt, ettől függetlenül a show arra öszöntzött, hogy elővegyem a korai Destruction anyagokat és hetekig csak azokat hallgassam.
A csapat története (karrierjének kezdete) 1983-ig nyúlik vissza, amikor Weil am Rheinben Michael „Mike” Sifringer gitáros basszusgitárost keres a zenekarához, miután felhajtotta Ulf énekest és Thomas „Tommy Sandmann” Senmann dobost. Kisvártatva megtalálja Marcel „Schmier” Schirmert, akinek lövése sem volt akkoriban a basszusgitározáshoz, de ez nem zavarta az akkor 17 éves fiatalembert, hogy csatlakozzon a csapathoz. Mike mutatta meg Schmiernek a legelső hangokat, fogásokat, így emberünkből basszusgitáros lett. Ekkoriban még Knight Of Demon néven futottak, azonban az arcok rájöttek, hogy ez a név nem passzol az általuk képviselt zenei stílushoz. Destructionra változtatják nevüket, majd felveszik a Bestial Invasion Of Hell demót. Két héttel a demo felvétele előtt Mike és Ulf között egy hölgy miatt vita robbant ki, melynek következtében az énekesnek távoznia kellett. Mivel ilyen rövid idő alatt egy új énekes megtalálására rossz volt a kilátás, a srácok azon a véleményen voltak, hogy Marcel „nincs igénybe véve” a basszusgitárosi teendőkkel, így rákényszerítették, hogy ő énekeljen. (Érdekesség, a tagok a zenekari logót ruháikra festetették, Marcel azonban a sablont túl korán húzta le ruhájáról, így az egész elkenődött (verschmieren = elkenődni). Ettől a ponttól ismeri a metal történelem Schmier-ként főhősünket). A zenekar legelső koncertjét 1984-ben Altenessenben, a Sodom, az Iron Angel és a Tormentor (ma Kreator) társaságában bonyolította le. Mindenképpen fontos megemlíteni, hogy a kezdeti, Iron Maiden jellegű hangzástól heteken belül jutottak el egy súlyosabb, keményebb Venom inspirálta megszólaláshoz. Az 1984-ben kiadott Sentence Of Death Ep-t követően az 1985-ös debüttel, az Infernal Overkill-lel tették le névjegyüket a thrash metal asztalára és írták be magukat a stílus halhatatlanjai közé. Hogy mást ne említsek, a Metal Hammer olvasói az év lemezének választották az Infernal Overkillt. Az akkortájt első ízben Európában turnézó Slayer előtt négyszer is fellépett a Destruction, majd 1985. november 30.-án, a montreali Paladiumban, a Celtic Frost, a Voivod, a Possessed és a Nasty Savage társaságában (ütős névsor) a World War III. fesztivál keretén belül a tengerentúlon is bemutatkozott a banda. Lendületbe jött a csapat, melynek folyamán, 1986 áprilisában újra stúdióba vonultak, hogy felvegyék második korongjukat. A Hilpostein stúdióban, Manfred Neuner felügyelete mellett rögzített Eternal Devastation bombaként robbant a thrash metal világában, mely a Destructiont még magasabb szintre katapultálta. Ez a lemez hitelesen tükrözi, hogy a nagy német thrash hármas közül, ők voltak a legtehetségesebbek, a legtechnikásabbak. Amíg a Kreator a fékevesztett agresszióra, a brutalitásra helyezte a hangsúlyt, a Sodom pedig kaotikus volt, addig a Destruction zenéjében a dallamok, a harmóniák is komoly szerephez jutottak (pl. United By Hatred), a precizitás mindenképpen kulcstényező volt muzsikájukban. Mike riffelése, szólói, Schmier hangja, vastag basszusfutamai, a hangzás, mind-mind a csapat védjegyévé váltak illetve tették a zenekart különlegessé. Ehhez a megszólaláshoz szervesen hozzájárult Tommy Sandman dobolása is, aki semmivel sem maradt el társai mellett, az ő teljesítményét sem lehet elmarasztalni, magabiztosan játszik a lemezen. Több helyen olvastam, hogy a zenekar sokat fejlődött a bemutatkozáshoz képest, technikásabbak, precízebbek, gyorsabbak lettek, anélkül, hogy az intenzitás csorbát szenvedett volna, ami igaz is, jó magam úgy vélem, hogy mindkét korong egységesen magas színvonalat képvisel. Ami az Eternal Devastationt illeti, a Schmier basszus intrójával kezdődő Curse The Gods, a Life Without Sense illetve az Eternal Ban – anélkül, hogy a többi dal érdemeit lekicsinyíteném – egyértelműen a lemez csúcspontjai, mind a Destruction, mind a thrash műfaj legnagyobb szerzeményei. Az Infernal Overkill Thrash Attack tételéhez hasonlóan erre az albumra is felkerült egy instrumentális felvétel, az Upcoming Devastation, mintegy bizonyítva a csapatban rejlő potenciált illetve a zenészek felkészültségét, tehetségét. Image tekintetében is egységességet képviselt a zenekar, mindegyik tag dús, hosszú, göndör hajjal, tetőtől talpig bőrben, szegecsekben, töltényhevederekben, láncokban mutatkozott a három zenész a promo fotókon illetve a magas szárú edzőcipő, a fordított keresztek illetve a szegecselt nyakkarika is ruhatáruk (image-ük) fontos részét képezték.
Nyilvánvalóvá vált, hogy a banda egyre több rajongót szerzett magának, nevük egyre nagyobb lett a thrash színtéren, Tommy azonban nem kért a zenészéletből, kilépett a bandából, mivel civil életére akart koncentrálni (rendőrként dolgozik napjainkban). Mivel ekkoriban a csapat már lekötötte koncertjeit, Chris Witchhunter (R.I.P.) ült be a dobszerkó mögé kisegítve a zenekart. (A Kreatorrel és a Rage-dzsel közösen turnéztatták meg a lemezt, amely Hell Comes To Your Town néven futott). 1987-ben két új tag, Harry Wilkens gitáros és a jazz vonalról érkezett Oliver Kaiser dobos csatlakoztak a zenekarhoz, az így kvartettre bővült banda pedig egy még technikásabb, még komplexebb irányba fordult, sőt elhagyták image-üket is. Schmier eltávolítása és a botrányosra sikeredett Cracked Brain után a Destruction az Artillery frontembert, Flemming Ronsdorfot kívánta a mikrofon mögé állítani, de az a kísérlet meghiúsult. A ’90-es években mindvégig aktív volt a banda, két Ep-t és egy korongot jelentettek meg, azokra azonban kár a szót vesztegetni. 1999-ben Mike és Schmier kibékült, azóta a csapat él és virul, folyamatosan adja ki lemezeit és turnéznak. Noha a csapat nagy rajongója vagyok, mai lemezeik már nem hoznak úgy tűzbe, mint a régi klasszikusok és ugye senki sem sértődik meg, amikor azt mondom, hogy inkább a ’80-as években rögzített lemezeiket favorizálom, élükön a halhatatlan Eternal Devastationnel, amely idén ünnepli megjelenésének 25. évfordulóját.

Holy Terror interview with drummer Joe Mitchell

2011-03-28T00:21:00.000-07:00

So Joe, Holy Terror was originally formed in 1986 by guitarist Kurt Colfelt (after he quit Agent Steel) and the line up became complete with the addition of second guitarist Mike Alvord (Black Widow), bassist Floyd Flanary (Thrust), drummer Jack Schwartz (Dark Angel) and singer Keith Deen, do you still recall at which point did you get in the band to replace Jack Shwartz? Is it true, that he got on the phone and strike a deal without talking to anybody and the band received a couple of contracts with Jack’s name on them so they already getting real fed up with him in general so Kirk kicked him out of the band but he won’t leave which leads up to him socking him in the nose?
That’s pretty much the story I was told. I met them a couple of weeks after Jack was out.
Did you know, that Black Widow was featured on the legendary Metal Massacre III. compilation with the instrumental track „Blitzkrieg”?
Yes
Are/Were you aware of they tried out some different drummers -one of which was Jordon Lieberman-, but they didn’t find anyone so they run an ad in the Music Connection?
Jordan was a friend of Kurt’s roommate so he was around and wanted the gig. Keith didn’t really like his playing and I think Kurt was going to see if Jordan could work out because of the studio time already booked. Kurt told Keith if he wanted someone else to put out an ad.
You were one of the guys who answered, is it correct, that Kurt played you Slayer - Hell Awaits and told you about about speed metal and he wasn’t really sold but Keith Deen liked you? Do you still recall, how did your audition go?
Only 2 guy’s answered the ad, one being me. I think since time was running out til the studio Kurt was hoping for someone maybe more familiar with Speed Metal but Keith thought I was a better fit so they took a chance on me and it worked out well.
In your opinion, was Kurt a talented, experienced musician?
Yes and so was Keith & Floyd .
Before continuing the band’s story, when and how did you discover music and rock/metal in general? How did you turn be a metalhead?
I started playing guitar at 8yrs old, switched to drums at 11. Metal was a natural progression.
What were your faves that you grew up listening to?
Mahavishnu Orchestra, Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa.
When did you start playing instrument? How did you choice fall on drums? Do you play other instruments too, by the way?
I started guitar lessons with a nun at 8. I wanted to switch to another instrument, was thinking about trombone but found drums and that was it.
What were your influences to become drummer?
I was at a parade as a kid and saw a bass drummer with a bandaged hand and blood on the drumhead. That and the sound of the drums made an impression on me.
Did you take some lessons or were you self taught?
I’ve had lessons here and there and played music all through school but mostly I’m self taught.
What about your musical background? What were the bands that you’ve played in before being involved in Holy Terror?
I’ve been playing in bands since I was 15. There’s too many to remember. There’s no one you’ve probably heard of Holy Terror was definitly a high point.
Were you deeply involved in the L. A. underground scene by the way? Did you often hang in clubs etc.?
Oh yea! I lived in Hollywood and was always doing something related to music.
How do you view, that the ’80s L. A. scene was divided into two parts? On one hand were the glam/hair outfits, on the another hand were the speed/thrash/power acts…
Well, back then L.A. was mostly butt-rock. There weren’t hardly any speed or thrash other than a few bands like us, Dark Angel, maybe a couple more. Slayer was in O.C. Metallica moved to S.F. The clubs weren’t too friendly to the heavier thrash bands.
You were already booked for studio time and six weeks after you joined the band went in and began work on Terror And Submission, so it means, you didn’t play on their demo, to which extent were you familiar with Holy Terror? Have you ever listened to that particular demo?
Yea, the demo was one of the ways I learned those 3 songs. I had never heard of Holy Terror until I answered the ad.
Terror And Submission was not the original title, Kurt wanted to call it Holy Terror but the label guys wanted a title other than that, correct?
Yea, I think it was originally going to be Holy Terror. Then it was going to be Reign of Terror but Slayer released Reign in Blood so it was changed to Terror and Submission.
What about the recording sessions?
It was at a studio in Topanga canyon. It burnt down a few years later. I think we laid the tracks down in a couple of days. The guy’s at the studio had never heard of speed metal. I think they were old disco guy’s.
The intensity showcased across the album was a wise decision for Holy Terror, because unlike so many of their peers, they produced an effort that could be remembered fondly, what do you think about it?
All of us were just trying to put our best foot forward. Who know’s what it would have sounded like with better production. Through the years since, it’s seemed to hold it’s ground pretty well.
Is Terror And Submission top-notch speed/thrash metal performed with conviction? Are the songs well-constructed anthems of pure, raging metal?
Yea, that’s a good way to put it!
How do you view, that Holy Terror wrote some of the most intelligent and thematically original lyrics ever put to metal music, sung by one of the most dynamic vocalists of metal, Keith Deen whose voice gave the band a grisly edge?
Kurt’s lyrics and Keith’s vox were definitely over the top!
You had a sound that, by 1987 standards, was quite intense; filthy, aggressive thrash metal which mastered both the elements of chaos and precision into a violent experience, what’s your opinion about it?
We were just getting started. We were trying to improve with each record. Who know’s where it would have led to if the band had not been stopped!
What were the tours, shows, in support of the record? Can you tell us more about them?
Well, it was great as long as it lasted. Lot’s of great shows with most of the active bands of the day. We were on the rise and the sky was the limit. It definitely looked like we had a bright future. We were brought down by our own hand.
In the fall of 87 you went on tour with DRI in Europe, was it your first European touring experience? Did you go with DRI, because they were one of Kurt’s faves?
H.T. and D.R.I. had the same management. And that’s how we got to go with them. This was our first tour in Europe. We did 30 shows in 31 days. We played a show in N. California with D.R.I. at a place called The Farm so they could check us out to see if they wanted us on the road with them. We didn’t have the best show, but it turned out for the better. I guess they didn’t think we were much of a threat so that’s why they took us with them. One of the guy’s from D.R.I. told us this later down the road.
How did the whole tour go?
It was great! It was the Crossover tour and D.R.I seemed to be at the height of their popularity. Some of the hardcore punks were kind of stand-offish with metal bands but we won a lot of them over. I think because we were fast and not your typical metal band. We became good friends with D.R.I. They were cool, they let us stay in their booked rooms and they stayed on their bus. Great guys, we got along well with them.
When you got home, you got ready to release the Terror and Submission album in the States and got Casey McMackin to re-mix it, so it sounded more like you wanted it, but was inherently hard because of the way it was recorded, what happened at all? Were all of you dissatisfied with the sound of the album?
Terror and Submission was recorded with engineers that were not familiar with recording Speed Metal. They were pretty much disco guy from what I remember. One of the problems was they used gates with some of the mics and it affected the drums and cymbals in a bad way. The production was lacking on T&S, but it did have an overall vibe to it. Some people actually like the original better than the re-mix. Casey basically went in and tried to polish things a bit. In the end some things were sacrificed. For me, it was my toms and cymbals, because they were getting picked up through the gated mic’s. If you listen to the beginning of Blood of the Saints on the re-mix, the toms are absent and the cymbal crashes are cut off. Throughout the record there are inaudible drum parts, little things I played that you can’t really hear because of the production. I don’t think we’re dissatisfied. It is what it is. The only way to really change it would be to re-record it. It was a learning experience for all.
Do you still recall, when did you start writing the material for the second album, that became Mind Wars?
Yea, it was after T&S came out and we weren’t touring. We used to practice about 5 days a week. Mostly what would happen is Kurt would come in with a riff and we would go from there. Once we had part of a song, we would record it and take the tapes home and work on it. That’s how I would get ideas for the drum parts and then I would try them out at rehearsal. Kurt didn’t write all of the songs. I think Mike and Keith wrote some stuff. It was a collaboration.
Is it correct, that the idea was to make an epic metal record so with all the improvements and a bunch of new songs yo went into a better studio again with Casey McMackin?
Our idea was to push ourselves to do the best we could. We were trying to improve with recording from record to record which I beleive we did. We were also catching our stride and getting tighter as a band. We felt as long as we were getting better with each record then we were on the right track. It’s a natural progression, the band gets tighter and more dialed in. Having Casey on board was definitely a step in the right direction.
You tracked at The Music Grinder in LA a very expensive automated studio and then continued tracking at Track Records, what do you recall of the recording sessions? Were you more prepared then with Terror…?
Well, I was the first to record and I recorded all of the drum tracks in two days. We had the experience from the first record and were trying to avoid any issues like we had in the past. We definitely were prepared as we could be. We had Casey on board which was definitely an improvement on the engineering end. I was more prepared because it wasn’t like T&S where I only had six weeks before recording. We were trying to get the most bang for our buck. It’s all about preparation and being efficient as you can in the studio. We didn’t have the luxury of writing IN the studio or staying in as long as we wanted. The clock was ticking and we were on a budget.
How do you view, that Holy Terror’s strength lay in its command of melody and blackened atmosphere in the midst of the manic tempos and swirling thrash riffs?
Well, because of each of our past individual experiences I’ve never thought we were your typical speed metal band. We each brought alot of varied influences to the table. Kurt, Floyd, Keith and I were a few years older than Mike and between us there was alot of experience in other styles of music. Floyd, Keith and me had never been in a speed metal band before H.T. We were exploring new ground bringing our past experiences and abilities into a new style of music for us. We had alot of background to draw from. You never know what the end result will be until your done. I felt we were doing some quality stuff.
The music is largely the same pace as Terror and Submission, with dense riffing that hints at some technicality, what’s your opinion about it?
Yea, there’s a lot going on in the music. Your not going to hear everything the first time you hear it. I think this helps to keep it fresh. There’s things in there that you might never catch but in the end it all contributes to what our sound is even if it’s something little that goes unnoticed.
Did this album spend a goodly amount of time in manic thrash mode, and was ridiculously fast for the time, as well as featuring a good amount of melody too to balance out the frenzied thrash madness?
We were a pretty well rounded band. After touring with D.R.I. we were definitely faster. We were influenced by them on the speed end of things for sure. We just combined the speed with our melodic approach. We played the songs even faster live.
This album is different from what one (a thrash fan) would expect from the average thrash metal recording, right?
Definitely in a lot of ways. Again, I don’t think we were your typical thrash metal band. With any style of music I think too many musicians copy their heroes too much. Theres nothing wrong with drawing from your influences, you just have to refine it and put your own stamp on it. It’s hard to be original when your just into one style of music. Our influences were not the same as other thrash bands. Thats probably because we didn’t grow up listening to speed metal and we weren’t trying to copy anyone. We were into doing our own thing, developing our own sound. And I think at the end of the day we did that.
The atmosphere it creates is not one of evil, the melodies and vocal lines suggest an aura of sadness instead of pure hatred for anyone…
Kurt’s lyrics make you think rather than just blasting you with shallow words. The lyrics leave room for the listener to interpret the song themselves. I think Keith’s vocal melodies themselves were unique because of his varied influences. I know of many bands that have goofy, simple, non-sense lyrics. They definitely have their place with people who like that kind of thing. I won’t metion any band names but I’ve gotten some good laughs at some of the lyrics from bands that were much more popular or bigger than us.
The lead guitar busts out some lengthy, very tasteful solos, drenched in pure melodic brilliance and some solos are to be remembered as lost gems of quality guitar playing in metal…
Overall, the dent we made in the metal scene was relatively small. Being that we only released two albums, I think the third could have gotten more attention and accellerated things for the band which would have meant more a lot more exposure which might have made those gems not so lost. In my opinion, Kurt’s riffs, solos and lyrics are superior to others I’ve heard, especially back in the day. As time goes on, this seems to hold true. In the end, anything lost is probably our own fault! We were brought down by our own hand.
Is the rush of speed provided by the drums intense and precise?
Well, I was definitely going for intensity and precision. The faster you play the more you loose intensity, power and melody. I’ve always tried to be as powerful as possible, but also have a groove and some feel in my playing without loosing the speed. It’s interesting nowaday’s with blastbeats. They are amazingly fast but I’ve noticed that most of the drummers don’t really work too hard. Some I notice barley sweat. Most blasters play super lightly which translates to not much power. They have to do this to play that fast. Some of the blastbeat drummers are amazing but if they try to play another style, their lost! I think the listener can feel if the drummer IS powerful. Groove and feel is hard to hold on to the faster you play. I’ve always tried to combine power AND speed and it takes some work to pull that off. Precision is necessary to keep the band tight and everyone together. Especially with more complicated music. I think the drummers command of the groove and feel contribute alot to the overall sound and also to the songs being varied. If you don’t insert groove and feel, you run the risk of all of the songs sounding too similar. It’s sad that alot of metal drummers don’t have much groove or feel. They just play fast and after awhile all the songs start sounding the same. I think a lot of musicians, especially metal don’t even consider this. Groove, feel, and power are all necessary especially at fast tempos. The faster you go the less creative you have a chance to be. I like to bust it up. A band has to practice a lot to get together where the band is a single unit. I wrote all of the drum parts to compliment the basic guitar riff and melody of the vocals. It must work together. You don’t want to sound like your just trying to keep up...........you have to drive the band.
When slowing down, you show some interesting patterns…
When you playing slower you have more room for creativity. I am heavily influenced by bands from the 70’s that played odd time signatures like Mahavishnu Orchestra and Frank Zappa. Back in the early 70’s you had heavy bands like Black Sabbath, heavy, but not very fast. I’ve alway’s been attracted to heavy and speed and Billy Cobham from Mahavishnu was the first powerful speed double bass drummer plus he was playing some really innovative fucked up time signatures. There was nothing else like it back then. I listened to them all the time growing up. My friends used to call it headache music.
Did Mind Wars have its fair share of power, crunch and genuine anger?
I think so. It has a vibe to it. There’s alot of emotion in it. We were trying to be as powerful as we could. It seems to have held it’s own through the years.
What do you think about, that innovation is also a key factor, since one will find little to no riffs borrowed from other bands?
There was a common thread among us as players in the band and thats where where we hooked in with each other and we also each had our own little worlds different from the others. I think a lot of bands get together with too many similarities with there tastes of music and in the end you end up with a copy or close enough copy. It’s not really cutting new, original ground. As a player I have always tried to have my own style and I think it’s true with the others from H.T. If you have this, then the end result can have a style of it’s own and not sound like anything else.
The songs are jewels, such as Judas Reward is great, alternating the aggression with melodic solos and vocal lines, Debt of Pain is very catchy and fast, Damned by Judges has top-notch vocals, how do you view this?
I remember when Kurt would bring forth a new idea or riff. I would listen and be intrigued and try to complement what he was doing to intrigue him in return. I really liked his riffs, it was inspiring to me. You know, back and forth working together building a song. When there’s enough of a song you record it and it kinda tells you where it needs to go when you listen back to it. Keith was the icing on the cake. I don’t think anyone can cover the ground Keith did. I don’t know many or maybe ANY singers that have his range or power.
Is it true, that Debt of Pain was originally written for Agent Steel with the title Back to Reign, but with other lyrics?
Yea, I remember when Kurt brought that song in, I knew it was from his past. I’ve heard the Agent Steel version I think once. I didn’t care anyway. I just treated it as another new song knowing we would tweak it to our own in the end. I think Keith changed the lyrics on that song.
Would you say, that Mind Wars is the perfect melodic thrash album?
I think we’re all proud of it. As musician I think we were just trying to play that ’Perfect note! Do you ever hit it? Maybe, but then there you are trying to make the next one better. Mind Wars seems to have been well received by the people familiar with it. Who know’s where the next record would have gone. I think Mind Wars is our best effort in our short career.
During the summer of ’88 you went on tour thru America with DRI and Kreator, did you get on well with the bands? What do you recall of that our?
Those guy’s were great! It was a blast hangin with them. Ventor from Kreator used my drum kit and their road manager had to cover our name on the front of my bass drums every night before their set. He devised a system with duct tape. After lot’s of shows I remember seeing some of the tape fall off halfway through Kreators set and our name shining through. I pretty much handled the road manager position for us. I remember D.R.I. had a road manager that was a prick. He tried to ripp me off a couple of times. We drove the equipment truck with each of the bands gear in it. I think this was the only reason their road manager helped us with directions and what not to get to some of the gigs. Then, one nite one of the guy’s from D.R.I. kicked him in the face.
You got to open for Motörhead for four shows too, correct? When was it?
If I remember correctly, it was November 88. I think all of the shows were in California. Of course it goes without saying, playing with Motorhead rules!
Shortly after X-mas 88 you got ready to go on tour with Exodus, and Nuclear Assault in Europe, how did it go compared to the previous European tour?
It was supposed to be a month long but it only lasted two weeks. Exodus and Nuclear Assault were supposed to alternate the headlining slot but Exodus headlined the shows we played on. The shit hit the fan on that tour. One night in Germany, Keith and I were doing a radio interview after a show and the guy mentioned something about us getting kicked off the tour and I said ’No, everything’s great!’. The next day we were kicked off the bus. Later, I learned that MFN had found out that we had signed a deal with Roadracer. MFN had put out our first two records and were pissed we didn’t go with them for the upcoming third record. I guess they figured the only way to get us back was to kick us off the rest of their tour!? For Their Record!? Pussies! MFN immediately flew in another band for the next show. MFN had supplied the buses and crew, etc. so we figured since we had contracts with the promoters for the shows that we would just show up to the scheduled gigs and play. We didn’t need THEIR bus OR backline. I rented a van and we headed off to the next show. You should have seen the look on Rick and Gary from Exodus’ faces when we showed up. The head guy from MFN, this pompous prick by the name of Jim, I think, saw Kurt and one of our crew heading his way and he picked up a board. Kurt ended up punching him out and we split. Later that night we ended up at a restaurant and Mike quit and abandoned the band. He had his mom fly him home. We were stranded in Germany. Our airplane tickets were non-changable, non refundable. We were scheduled to fly out in 2 weeks. We were broke and finaly ended up charging Kurt’s girlfriends credit card to get back to L.A. after sleeping two nites in the Zurich airport.
What happened with the band after this Euro-tour? Did you write some new tunes for a third record? Have you ever recorded demos, rehearsals and stuff?
After we returned to L.A. Mike was still done with the band. For the next 2-3 years Keith, Floyd and I waited and waited and waited for Kurt to come out of his drug bender. We were really dedicated to the band, but it was all about Kurt. Finally Kurt layed off the drugs a bit and decided he wanted to relocate to Seattle where he’s originally from and put the band back together. I moved to Seattle then Floyd followed but Keith did not! I think it kinda put Keith on the spot. In Seattle it was just Floyd, Kurt and me. We went in a studio in Seattle and recorded a few songs with Kurt singing.
At which point and why did the band split up? What kind of reasons did lead to the band’s demise?
In the end Holy Terror was pretty much done after we got back from that European tour we had gotten booted off. Almost all communication was cut off from Kurt except for my occasional visit to his house. Floyd, Keith and me tried to keep it alive and after 3 years Kurt was back in circulation and was moving and if you wanted to be in the band you had to follow him to Seattle.
After 1989, the band, minus Keith Deen and Mike Alvord, relocated to Seattle and continued for a short while as Holy Terror before changing the name to Shark Chum and playing punk rock, correct? Have you ever anything released or performed gigs under the name of Shark Cum?
Oh yea, we played as much as we could and recorded 11 songs in the year that we were together before Kurt broke that band up. About 4 years later I got one of the old Shark Chum songs on an Epic records compilation and we reformed Shark Chum with Kurt, me and an ex-Zeke founder Dizzy. We played locally and toured. We recorded one cd and were getting ready to record another after 2 years, but Kurt broke the band up once again.
Why did you change your music at all?
It was obvious with the 3 piece line up that we weren’t H.T. anymore. I guess we just simplified things. How can you do a 3 piece Holy Terror especially without Keith singing?! Actually the 2nd time we did Shark Chum with Dizzy the band was even better because Dizzy also sang. We were more versitile. We started making some headway but Kurt stopped it. This was the third band I was in with Kurt that he broke up. I started seeing a pattern here and I needed to move on myself. It seemed like everytime we got something going on it was just a matter of time before Kurt stopped it for some lame reason or another.
After the Shark Chum thing, Kurt was involved in Zeke and in The Load Levelers later on, but what about you and the other guys? Did you remain in touch with each other? Did you follow what was going on in the metal scene?
I was asked to join Load Levelers, but I was done with the ’start – stop’ thing Kurt had going on plus I wasn’t into the style of music they were doing. I was going to move back down to L.A., but at the last minute I hooked up with a band in Seattle that was in the studio and ended up recording with them. I stayed with them a few years and recorded 2 cd’s. I occasionally saw Kurt. Floyd moved to Nevada. We didn’t see Keith for about 16 years until he resurfaced about 2007. I haven’t seen Mike since bailed on the band in Europe. I was always doing something musically. I was in quite a few bands in Seattle.
Kurt Kilfelt reformed the band (Holy Terror) in Washington circa 2005 along with you, guitarist Matt Fox, vocalist Aaron Redbird and bassist Jeff Matz, how did that happen?
I was playing in a metal band called The Undisputed Heavyweight Champions and Kurt and I started jamming at my practice space. UHC didn’t really like it so they split up and Kurt and I started looking for other members for H.T. and also started another band on the side. Jeff Matz was out of Zeke for a while and wanted to play with us. Kurt found Matt Fox and then we started trying to find a singer. We used Aaron for a short while, but that didn’t really work. We then found this guy named Trent to sing. We played one show and Jeff went to High on Fire and Trent went back to his band. It was obviously not H.T. so that was that!
What can you tell us about the El Revengo material, that was released in 2006 by Blackend?
There was I think 4 H.T. songs that Jack Endino cleaned up a bit which made them sound better. The rest of the cd was live shows or video, pretty much whatever we had accumulated over the years.
Did you rehearse, write new tracks or give some gigs with that new Holy Terror line up? Was it worth to reunite without Keith Deen and Mike Alvord?
Well, we played that one show and rehearsed alot for that. We didn’t really write any new material. Without Keith it’s not really H.T. It’s more like a tribute band. Keith was the icing on the cake. I think H.T. could have survived without Mike, but Keith? No!
Would you name Keith’s voice as a trademark of Holy Terror?
Yea, I think H.T. had a few trademarks that made us what we were. A band is like a hand of cards....you change one and it changes the whole hand.
The band has split-up again since then, what are you doing these days? Can you tell us more about it?
Presently I live in North Carolina. I moved back here to be close to and help out my family. I don’t plan on staying here forever, but for now it’s o.k. I play out locally once or twice a week. I’m not playing metal. I wish I was, but there’s none around here where I live.
How can you sum up Holy Terror’s career as a whole? What were the highlights, so the best and the worst moments as the member of Holy Terror?
I guess you could sum it up by We appeared, we kicked some ass, we disappeared!! Kurt started the band, Kurt ended it! The highlights would be the music and the shows. The worst would be the unnecessary demise of the band. Holy Terror had all of the elements I wanted in a band. I was proud of the music and felt lucky to be a part of it. Kurt, Keith and Floyd will always be life-long bro’s. We worked extremely hard to get what we had, only to have it needlessly thrown away! I’ve read fans comments regarding the band saying things like It’s a crime they didn’t get the recognition they deserved! etc. It’s like there’s someone to blame!? Well, there is!! When it’s all said and done, I’m just glad we have what we have from our short career!
Joe, thanks a lot for the interview, anything to add, that I forgot to mention?
Thanks to everyone that likes our music and thank you!

My actual playlist

2011-03-28T00:15:00.000-07:00

1. WITCHFINDER GENERAL: Death Penalty/Friends Of Hell
2. SPIRIT CARAVAN: Dreamwheel
3. THE OBSESSED: The Church Within
4. NEMESIS: The Day Of Retribution
5. RWAKE: Hell Is the Door To The Sun
6. ST. VITUS: St. Vitus/Hallow's Victim
7. EIBON: Entering Darkness
8. INDIAN: Guiltless
9. CONFESSOR: Condemned
10. MY SILENT WAKE: IV Et Lux Perpetua

Killfest Tour - Over Kill, Destruction, Heathen, After All - Budapest, PeCsa - 2011. 03. 11.

2011-03-14T12:45:00.001-07:00

Nem akarok panaszkodni, de vidéki, két gyermekes családapa, két munkahellyel rendelkező ember lévén, nem igazán jut időm egy-egy koncertre eljutni. Pedig nincs nagyobb élmény, katarzis egy metalos számára, minthogy élőben, a színpadon láthassa kedvenceit. A körülmények szerencsés alakulása folytán, eljuthattam a Killfest turné budapesti állomására és végre élőben láthattam három kedvencemet is. Ciki vagy nem, de legutóbb a Twisted Sister fellépése alkalmával nézhettem meg nemzetközi zenekar fellépését élőben.
Bárhonnan is nézem, bizony ez a csomag az old school metalosok ünnepe volt. Nem telt meg ugyan a PeCsa, de nagyjából úgy 2/3 ház lehetett. Mikor beértem, azt hittem, hogy a belga After Allnak csak a beállását látom/hallom, aztán kiderült, hogy mégsem, a kvintett már a műsorát nyomta. Az old school kategóriába ők is beletartoznak, hiszen 1988 óta vannak jelen a színtéren, más kérdés, hogy komoly ismertségre nem tettek szert, a többi három zenekar tulajdonképpen elhalványította a belga thrashereket. Azt se tudtam pl. hogy már hét lemezt jelentettek meg, melyek közül nekem a 2005-ben kiadott The Vermin Breed van meg, igaz az sem forgott túl sokat a lejátszómban. Kis túlzással, a kutya sem figyelt oda a színpadon küzdő zenészekre, de ez nem nagyon zavarta őket, lelkesen nyomták modern, Bay Area hatásokkal tűzdelt thrash metaljukat. Elő zenekarnak megtették, túl komoly hatást nem gyakoroltak rám, az azonban javukra írandó, hogy jól szóltak, ami aztán a többi fellépőre is érvényes lett.
Az egyik szemem sír, a másik meg üvegből van. Na jó, nevet. De csak egy nagyon kicsit. Bár, ha nagyon őszinte vagyok, az is sír. Nem tagadom, az este vonzereje, aduásza a bay area-i kult banda, a Heathen volt számomra, tulajdonképpen az ő fellépésük miatt mentem el a bulira. 1991 után másodszor lépett fel hazánkban ez a zseniális csapat. Az ős Heathen tagságot manapság csak David Godfrey White énekes és Lee Altus gitáros képviselik, de társaik sem nyeretlen tízévesek, lévén Darren Minter dobos a Victim Of Deceptionön játszott, Kragen Lum gitáros a Prototype-ból és a Psychosisből lehet ismerős, míg a turnén kizárólag kisegítő jelleggel bőgőző Jason Viebrooks a Grip Inc.-ben tevékenykedett, illetve a Victim Of Deceptionhöz is volt némi köze. Mindmáig rejtély számomra, hogy ennek a páratlan tehetséggel megáldott muzsikusokat a soraiban tudó zenekarnak miért nem jött össze az áttörés, holott roppant komoly minőséget képviselő, zseniális lemezeik a thrash/power/speed stílus megkerülhetetlen klasszikusai. Elfogult vagyok? Egyáltalán nem. Boldog vagyok, hogy láthattam őket, de rendkívül csalódott, mi több mérges, hogy alig több mint fél órát kaptak, ami rájuk nézve egyszerűen megalázó. Akkor inkább spórolták volna meg az After Allt és játszhatott volna a Heathen egy órát. A rájuk szabott műsoridőben így csak négy dalt játszottak, ráadásul azt is, - igaz a rettentő erős és hibátlan – The Evolution Of Chaosról. Ergo nem voltak olyan halhatatlan mesterművek, mint a Death By Hanging, a Goblin’s Blade vagy az Open The Grave a szenzációs bemutatkozó korongról, a Breaking The Silence-ről vagy a Hypnotized a Victim Of Deceptionről. Elismerem, hogy mind lemezen, mind élőben tarolt, gyilkolt, irgalmatlan erővel taglózott le a Dying Season, az Arrows Of Agony és a Control By Chaos, azonban a több mint 11 perces, a japán földrengés áldozatainak ajánlott No Stone Unturned sok volt, ehelyett simán befértek volna a fentebb említett klasszikusok. David White irányította a színpadi akciót, Kragen Lum (Celtic Frost pólóban) és Lee Altus ellenállhatatlanul, lehengerlően riffelt és szólózott, a Jason Viebrook illetve Darren Minter pedig feszesen, atomóra pontossággal hozta az alapokat, a ritmusokat. A Heathen – csakúgy mint bay area-i társaik – mindig is a technikás oldalról közelítette meg a thrash-t és a dallamokkal jócskán átszőtt szerzemények komplexitásuk ellenére is könnyedén fészkelik be magukat a fülekbe. Nem akartam elhinni, hogy a No Stone Unturned után vége lett a programjuknak, sajnos így történt. Persze, értem én, hogy ismertség, népszerűség terén meg sem közelítik a Destructiont vagy az Over Killt, de 35 percet adni annak a csapatnak, amely 1987-ben megjelentette minden idők egyik legzseniálisabb bemutatkozását, a Breaking The Silence-t arcátlanság. Nagyon remélem, hogy még az idén, de legkésőbb jövőre, visszajönnek hozzánk egy önálló turné keretén belül vagy egy újabb utazó cirkusz szereplőiként (mint amilyen most a Killfest), de headlinerként. Ez a fellépés csupán étvágygerjesztő volt, amolyan előétel. Ennél sokkal többet érdemeltek volna David White-ék.
Van egy olyan hipotézisem, hogy a ’80-as évek klasszikus zenekarainak (pl. Agent Steel, Metal Church), a ’90-es évek legvégén futószalagon történt újjáalakulásának katalizátora a Destruction volt. (A Heathen, a Forbidden és a Death Angel pl. a 2001. augusztus 11.-én, a san francisco-i Maritime Hallban megrendezett, Chuck Billy és Chuck Schuldiner megsegítésére szervezett jótékonysági koncert, a Thrash Of The Titans keretén belül tért vissza és aktív azóta is). A 2000-ben kiadott All Hell Breaks Loose lemezt én is kitörő örömmel fogadtam, azóta azonban valamelyest csillapodott a zenekar által érzett lelkesedésem. Persze egy ekkora ziccert nem szabad lett volna kihagyni, hiszen most láttam először (a többi fellépővel egyetemben) a Destructiont. Az a fajta csőlátású Destruction fan vagyok, aki a banda legújabb műveit csak mérsékelt lelkesedéssel kezeli, fogadja és noha tudom, hogy a dicsőséges ’80-as évek elmúltak és sajnos nem is jönnek vissza, azért egy mai, modern Destruction, nem ugyanaz, mint amely ’86/’87 környékén volt. Durván egy órás programjukban az új nóták kerültek terítékre, régi klasszikus csak három volt, de az a helyzet, hogy azok viszont nem sütöttek. A Mad Butchert csak a refrénnél ismertem meg, a Bestial Invasiont, melyet Schmier a ’80-as évek old school rockereinek ajánlott, teljesen átdolgozták, tehát a várva várt hatás elmaradt. Az újabb keletű tételek közül olyanok voltak, mint pl. a zenekar hitvallásaként is aposztrofálható Thrash Till Death, a Tears Of Blood, a Soul Collector vagy a D.evolution. Nem én voltam az egyetlen, aki nem volt teljesen elégedett a műsorral, ami mindenképpen jelzésértékű, de öröm az ürömben, hogy láthattam őket.
Nagyon kevés olyan zenekar létezik, amely mindvégig kitartott a metal mellett és őszinte, lojális volt a rajongóihoz, mint a new yorki Over Kill. A ’90-es évek metal ellenes miliőjében sem feküdtek le az aktuális zenei trendeknek, nem lettek kisminkelt köcsögök, mint az a zenekar, nem modernizálták stílusukat, mint az Exodus vagy a Slayer, sosem tűntek el rövidebb-hosszabb időre, folyamatos aktivitást mutattak és kitartottak amellett, ami az életük, amiben hisznek: a metalban. Sok pályatársukhoz hasonlóan a fénykorukat ők is a ’80-as években élték, a The Years Of Decay-ig kizárólag hibátlan, 100%-os lemezeket tettek le az asztalra. Egy ilyen hosszú, gazdag pályafutás alatt törvényszerű, hogy be-becsúszik egy gyengébb teljesítmény (pl. W. F. O.), akadnak hullámvölgyek, de összességében nézve sosem okoztak komoly csalódást rajongóiknak, mindig hozták azt a szintet, amit egy Over Kill hívő elvár tőlük, rájuk jellemző, egyedi hangzásuk pedig azonnal felismerhető, beazonosítható. Ez a koncert a csapat hitelességének, életképességének, kompromisszummentességének, elpusztíthatatlanságának ékes bizonyítéka volt. Bobby Blitz Ellsworth énekesen mintha nem fogna az idő, ugyanolyan energikusan, lelkesen vezényelte le a műsort, mint a ’80-as évek közepén. Nem lehet hálás feladat számukra egy-egy koncert programját összeállítani, mert ugye mindenkinek mást jelent a klasszikus Over Kill nóta definíciója, ilyetén tehát akár három napig, non stop játszhatnának D. D. Verni-ék. Ezen az estén egy irgalmatlan erővel döngölő másfél órát zúdítottak a nyakunkba, mely után nem hiszem, hogy bárki is elégedetlenül távozott volna. A másodikként elővezetett Rotten To The Core speciel azt jelenti a zenekarnak, amit az Indians az Anthrax-nek, az Angel Of Death a Slayernek, a Curse The Gods a Destructionnak, - és még sorolhatnám - azaz kihagyhatatlan a programból, a csapat és a metal színtér egyik legnagyobb klasszikusa. A buli repertoárjának (13 tételt reszeltek el a „fő műsoridőben”) majdnem fele az Ironboundról csendült fel (The Green And Black, Ironbound, Endless War, Bring Me The Night, Give A Little), megidézték a Horrorscope-ot (Infectious, Blood Money), terítékre került az Old School a ReliXIV albumról és a Bastard Nation a gyenge láncszemről (értsd: W. F. O. korong), míg a ’80-as évek remekműveiről a már említett slágeren kívül a Wrecking Crew, a Hammerhead és a Hello From The Gutter (extázis!!!) hangzott el. Nagyjából ugyanennyi dalt fel tudnék sorolni, amit szívesen hallgattam volna meg, ha pedig megszondáztattuk volna a jelenlévőket egy kívánságműsor erejéig, össze is jött volna a durván 3 napos, non stop buli. Belekötök a programba: hiányoltam az In Union We Stand himnuszt, amelynek minden Over Kill koncerten szerepelnie kellene. A ráadásban előadott Deny The Cross (még nagyobb extázis!!!!!!!!!!!), Elimination, Fuck You trió valósággal kivégezte a nagyérdeműt, mintegy megadva nekünk a kegyelemdöfést.
Ha egy rövid értékelést kell(ene) adnom a koncertről, akkor tízes skálán egy hét és felest, nyolcast adok a bulira. Az After Allt –mint már fentebb említettem- ki lehetett volna hagyni, a Heathennek több műsoridő járt volna, a Destruction sem váltotta be a hozzáfűzött reményeket, az Over Kill viszont hengerelt, a fények, a hangzás, tehát a körülmények is abszolút rendben voltak. Semmiképpen sem akarok szőrszálhasogatónak tűnni, hiszen értékeltem, megbecsültem a lehetőséget, hogy egyáltalán ott lehettem és mindent egybevetve jól éreztem magam. És ez a koncertek lényege, nem igaz?

My current playlist

2011-03-04T10:19:00.000-08:00

1. FLOTSAM & JETSAM: Doomsday For The Deceiver
2. MERCYFUL FATE: Melissa
3. MALICE: In The Beginning
4. BLOODFEAST: Kill For Pleasure
5. DEATH FORCE: Demo + Live
6. SACRIFICE: Torment In Fire
7. SAXON: Destiny
8. XENTRIX: Shattered Existence
9. KISS: Destroyer
10. GAMMACIDE: Victim Of Science

Headbanger fanzine - Bob Nalbandian

2011-02-28T04:52:00.000-08:00

To say the truth, I started relatively late interesting in the fanzines, I discovered them only around '97 or so, but since then I started collecting as much as I can. With the help of the internet, I discovered a lot of fanzines and editors from the '80s and I was lucky enough getting in touch some of them with. Legendary L. A. based fanzine editor's Bob Nalbandian tells us the story about those times. Let you read some metal history with the help of Mr. Nalbandian!

So Bob, when and how did you get in touch with Metal music? What made this kind of sound so attractive for you?
Well, I guess I would have to thank my older cousin Harry for that. He's about 5 years older than me and he turned me on to all the great hard rock/metal bands of the early '70s when I was around 8 or 9 years old. He used to make me compilation tapes (cassette and 8-track!) featuring bands like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, Ten Years After, Humble Pie, and others. And from that point on I became a die-hard fan of hard rock and metal music.
For how long have you been involved in metal?
Well, as I said I first got into metal when I was 9 or 10 and I'm 45 now so that would mean I've been involved in metal for over 36 year! (Damn I'm old!)
What were the first songs, records, shows etc. that had the biggest effect on you and you decided dedicating your life for the metal scene? Which groups did you experience for the first time?
Well, when I first heard Zeppelin and Sabbath they instantly had a huge affect on me. I also loved the band Bachman-Turner-Overdrive when I was a kid. I still think the "No Fragile" album is one of the greatest metal albums from the '70s. I was also a big Deep Purple fan but when Blackmore formed Rainbow and released the Rainbow Rising record, that literally changed my life. THat is probably my all-time favorite metal album, along with Black Sabbath's "Sabotage." As far as shows, the first metal concert I saw was AC/DC on the Highway to Hell tour when I was 15 (with Bon Scott!) and that still today was one of the best shows I've seen in my life and had a huge affect on me!
You were born and growing up in Los Angeles, do you still remember, how did the whole L. A. metal scene start and develope step by step? How about the early footsteps of the L. A. scene, with bands such as Slayer, Metallica, Shellshock (later known as Dark Angel), Abattoir, Vermin, Sceptre, Armored Saint etc.?
Yes, I remember all those bands you mention! It would take a whole book to answer that question! But I truly think ARMORED SAINT were the first TRUE European sounding metal band from LA that didn't follow the LA trends (glam, pop-metal etc) and they literally started the headbanging scene in LA. I saw this first hand back in '81 - '82. This was before Metallica were playing the LA clubs (and they were playing covers only of NWOBHM bands then), and a at least a year before Slayer, Abattoir, Dark Angel and any of the thrash bands formed.
Would you say, that the L. A. scene was divided into two parts? There were the aforementioned underground groups and in opposite of the were the glam/hair ones, such as Ratt, Mötley Crüe, W. A. S. P., Dokken etc.?
Yes, like I said you had Armored Saint who were influenced by British groups like Priest and Maiden. You also had bands like Malice and Warrior that were also European metal influenced and didn't sound like your typical LA glam-metal. This was also the starting of doom-metal and bands like St. Vitus were starting out in LA and then of course you had Metallica and later Slayer but they hadn't yet made an impact in LA (when Ratt and Motley were playing the clubs). But the scene wasn't really separated because bands like Armored Saint, Malice and even Metallica and Slayer would open up shows for bands like Ratt and WASP since back in the early '80s if you wanted to play Hollywood clubs like Troubadour, Whisky or Roxy you had to play alongside with all the glam/hair metal bands.
What about the club scene? Which clubs did start opening their doors for metal? Was it easy for the underground groups getting shows in the clubs and making name for themselves at this point?
Not many clubs in LA really catered to metal. They catered more to the glam-metal bands. The Troubadour was really the only Hollywood club to play if you were a metal band in early '80s. It was the clubs in Orange County (where I grew up) like The Woodstock, Radio City and Concert Factory that had most the heavier metal bands. That's where Metallica and Slayer started out, as well as Dark Angel, LA Kaos (who became Hirax) and other big OC bands like August Redmoon, Dante Fox (who became Great White but had Tony Richards on drums and Don Costa on bass and were much heavier), Leatherwolf and others. Also clubs in Pasadena like Ice House and Pookies were where Pasadena/ East LA bands like Armored Saint, Abattoir, Tyrant and others would play.
Were you rather into the underground bands or rather into the commercial, popular ones? How deep you did you dig yourself in the scene? Did you take part in the tapetrading network?
I loved the underground bands but I also loved the popular metal bands like Priest, Sabbath, AC/DC etc. I was a huge tape-trader and one of the first to send out all the underground LA metal demos/live tapes (Armored Saint, Metallica, Slayer, etc) and I would get all the great metal demos & live tapes out of Europe in return.
At which point did you decide to bring Headbanger into being? Who came up with this name?
I started Headbanger in '82. I came up with the name because all the other magazines had the word "metal" in the title and I wanted something different. I was really inspired by Brian Slagel's zine "New Heavy Metal Revue" but even more so by Ron Quintana's "Metal Mania" zine which really made me decide to start up The Headbanger.
Was it the very first fanzine in L. A. and in the surrounding of L. A.?
Brian Slagel's "New Heavy Metal Revue" I think was the first. I started The Headbanger a few months after that.
Was the whole metal scene in its infancy at this point?
Pretty much, at least here in the US. Metallica were a garage band and Motley Crue and Ratt were still playing the clubs and the NWOBHM was just starting out so the only really big metal bands in the US then were the '70s icons like Sabbath, Priest, AC/DC, Scorpions etc.
Did you have any experiences considering making a fanzine?
Not really, I did a little bit of writing for Ron Quintana's Metal Mania fanzine before starting The Headbanger. In fact, my friend Pat Scott and I did one of the first LA HM revues for Metal Mania which ended up featuring the first articles ever written on Metallica and Armored Saint.
Did you start it alone or did you have other contributors (co-workers) right from the start?
I started it with my friend Mike but did most of it myself in the beginning. A few issues into it I had a contributing editor Fid who did a lot of the articles and reviews and he helped out a lot and was a great writer!
Headbanger was one of the first US fanzines along with Ron Quintana’s Metal Mania and Brian Slagel’s The New Heavy Metal Revue, wasn’t it? Did you know Ron and Brian by the way or at least have you heard of them?
Yes, I knew them both. I had met Brian when he was selling records at the Hollywood Record Swap Meet (this is before he worked at OZ Records). I also was penpals with Ron, since he lived in San Francisco and I lived in Orange County so we never met, just penpals and tape traders.
Were you aware of, that by the mid-1960s, several fans active in science fiction and comics fandom recognized a shared interest in rock music, and the rock fanzines were born and Paul Williams and Greg Shaw were two such SF-fans turned rock zine editors?
Wow, you know your history! That was way before my time. I know the names but never met these people. Again I lived in Southern California (OC/LA) and they were all in Northern California (SF) so I really didn't get to know that scene.
Are Williams’ „Crawdaddy!” (1966) and Shaw’s two California-based zines, „Mojo Navigator” (full title, „Mojo-Navigator Rock and Roll News”) (1966) and „Who Put the Bomp?” (1970) among the most important early rock fanzines? Did you know these fanzines at all?
I remember the names of those zines but never actually collected them. I was never really into Sci-Fi or comic books, and only was into metal zines.
Did you know, that „Crawdaddy!” quickly moved from its fanzine roots to become one of the first rock music „prozines” with paid advertisers and newsstand distribution, while „Bomp” remained a fanzine, featuring many writers who would later become prominent music journalists, including Lester Bangs, Greil Marcus, Ken Barnes, Ed Ward, Dave Marsh, Mike Saunders and R. Meltzer?
I didn't know that. But I did read Lester Bangs work in Creem Magazine (which was after Crawdaddy). I grew up reading Creem and Circus Magazine and also Hit Parader, which were the big US music magazines at the time. But when Kerrang! came out in England, that became my Bible!
Bomp was not alone; an August 1970 issue of Rolling Stone included an article about the explosion of rock fanzines: other rock fanzines of this period include „Flash” 1972, edited by Mark Shipper, „Eurock Magazine” (1973-1993) edited by Archie Patterson and Bam Balam, written and published by Brian Hogg in East Lothian, Scotland, beginning in 1974, and in the mid-1970s, Back Door Man and denim delinquent, so would you name it the start and the turning point of the underground scene?
I guess you can call it the turning point for the underground scene. Again, this was way before my time and I didn't get into fanzine until the early '80s, and most of the mags/fanzines I read were from Europe like Kerrang! of course and also Aardschok from Holland, Metal Forces from UK, Enfer from France and many other metal zines from Europe.
Do you still remember how did you do the first issue of Headbanger? How did issue #1 clog together exactly? I mean what kind of articles, reviews (demo, Lp, tape, live) were featured in issue #1? Who was on the front cover?
Yes I remember. I had Girlschool on the cover because they had just come to the US for the first time (when "Screaming Blue Murder" just came out) and idd a show at the Whisky so I put them on the cover. The quality for my first issue was very low budget! I Xeroxed all the copies of that issue on a small Xerox machine.
What were the criterions for choosing the bands to feature in Headbanger?
If I had contributors that wanted to do an article or and interview I always welcomed it and also Fid pretty much had full reign of band he wanted to review or interview. We tried to do a lot of the underground metal bands to give them exposure but also like doing the bigger bands and often put them on the cover since they would sell more issues than the underground bands. But Headbanger was probably the first fanzine or magazine to ever do articles or interviews on Slayer, Dark Angel, Celtic Frost, and many other groundbreaking bands.
Did you have European penbangers, friends at this time? Did you know what’s going on in Europe? I mean, have you heard of the NWOBHM and the German metal movement, that started at the late ’70s/early ’80s with bands, such as Iron Maiden, Diamond Head, Jaguar, Raven, Accept etc.?
Yes, I knew all about the British and European metal bands. I traded tapes with people in UK, Germany, Holland, Brazil, Australia, Belgium, France and many other countries so I had all the killer underground metal albums and demos from all over the world!
Were you concentrating on supporting the underground scene?
Yes, we totally supported the underground scene.
Did you often get demos and rehearsals from underground groups? How did you enter into relations with the bands? Were you aware of the newer bands via flyers or…?
Yes, mostly through penpals or reading about these bands in underground fanzines or mags like Kerrang! (The Armed & Ready section introduced me to tons of classic NWOBHM bands!) Metal Mania, Aardschok, Enfer, Rock Brigade (Brazil), and others.
How did you do the issues of the fanzines and how much did take to do each issues? Did you have enough material for each issues? Were there any materials that left out?
The first 5 or issues I xeroxed at a local copy center. I xeroxed I think 200 of the first issue (very rare free issue) and 300 for the next couple issues and #5 and #6 I think I xeroxed 1,000 each. By the time I did #7 I used a professional printer and #7 thru #11 i believe I printed 2,500 to 3,000 of each issue. I don't think there was much material left out, maybe a few reviews that didn't fit.
Did you do the issues with typewriter? What about the production of the fanzines as a whole?
I first 3 or 4 issues were done on a typewriter, I think by #5 or #6 I started using a computer but it was a basic computer (this was back in 1984) so the font was very small. Production was all cut and paste and ruff off letters! No computer graphics back then - couldn't afford that!
What were the early issues like and how were the responses to them? How many copies did you print and was it hard to get rid of them?
Refer to question #1. I pretty much got rid of all of the issues by now I don't have barely any left! They actually sold really good, I had Greenworld and Important (LA & NY) as my primary distributors and they did a great job getting them out in the stores. I also had a big subscription list of a lot of overseas fans and also traded my fanzine with tons of other fanzine publishers as well as metal radio shows worldwide so most the under metal heads and tape collectors had copies of my zine.
Did you also try to get in touch with labels as well? Do you still remember what were the labels that you got in touch with?
I didn't really have luck with the major labels back then but all the new indie metal labels that were coming out at the time - Metal Blade, Shrapnel, Megaforce, Combat, as well as a lot of the European labels would service me their product and were really good about setting up interviews and getting me passes to their shows. Fanzines like The Headbanger worked hand and hand with all the indie metal labels at the time since none of the major US magazines really covered metal bands at that time.
Did they start sending you promos? On what kind of format did you get the advance or promotional stuffs?
Yes, they would send me vinyl and sometimes advance recordings on cassette.
What do the issues cost back then? Did you also change, trade with other fanzine editors?
The cost was only $1.00! So I really didn't make any money since it cost me almost a dollar to print! I think by issue #7 I started charging $1.25. But like I said I traded fanzines with most the fanzine editors worldwide. There was no competition between us, we were all friends and respected one and other.
How did you distribute, spread the fanzines? Were you in connection with penbangers from all over the world?
Yes, I had a pretty big subscription list and I went to a lot of the local LA and OC records stores that sold metal myself. And as i said i had distributors like Greenworld and Important (who later become Relativity) distribute my fanzine nationwide.
What about the promotion of Headbanger back then? How and how much promotion did you make for Headbanger? I mean, did you sell it alone or was it available at shows, record stores etc.?
I would bring a lot to shows, when Maiden, Sabbath, Priest, AC/DC etc would play Long Beach Arena, we were in the parking lots before the show selling Headbangers! And they sold like crazy!
Did you send from the paper to those bands, which were interviewed in the fanzine? Did the bands get a copy from the 'zine that were interviewed?
Yes, I sent free copies of the Headbanger to all the bands that were featured in the issue.
As for the ’80s, both the tape trading scene and running fanzines were very popular, they were at their peak those times, would say, that running fanzines was a chain reaction back then? I mean, the editors draw inspiration from each other or…?
Yeah, totally, we worked together - we all were tape traders, the people that ran fanzines or that ran indie metal labels (like Slagel) or the dj's from college radio stations that had metal shows. It was kind of like a chain reaction.
Was a competition between the fanzines editors or was a unity among them? With which fanzine editors were you in touch back then? Which fanzine was the best back in the day in your opinion?
Total unity. I traded with all of them... Metal Mania, Northwest Metal, Aardshock (Holland), Headbanger (Holland), Shock Power (Germany), Enfer (France), Metal Forces (UK), Kick Ass Monthly (NY), Rock Brigade (Brazil), and tons of other zines! (Too many to list)
Do you think that fanzines played, play and will play an important role in the Metal scene? How can mags/’zines support the career of bands?
I think unfortunately those days are gone now with the Internet and everything else, there are tons of killer metal websites out there where people all over the world can access for free so metal fanzines are now a thing of the past for the most part.
As fanzines were produced in ever greater volumes and developed into new areas of subject matter, a form of culture also developed around them, a "fanzine scene" is referred to by zine producers, do you agree with it?
Yes, it was definitely a scene. But it was truly out of the love for metal, not because it was trendy or to make money. Most fanzine editors from the '80s did it because they wanted to promote these great underground metal bands.
What do you think about, that a major problem that fanzines have is their seclusion and isolation away from the general public?
I think that was the special thing about the Fanzines, it was for a very underground breed of metal heads that loved metal music.
How do you view, that along with Tampa, Florida, New York and Bay Area the Los Angeles scene was widely attributed as a starting point of American thrash metal?
I totally agree, the fanzines didn't necessarily "start or create" thrash metal but we were at the time the only source of media (apart from certain college metal radio stations) that were giving any publicity or media attention to thrash metal.Most the major labels and major mags despised thrash metal at the time so it was only the fanzines that gave these bands exposure.
Do you agree with, that as different thrash metal scenes began to develop starting around the early/mid-80's (I think of Texas, L. A., Bay Area, New York/New Jersey) each had their own distinct sound that differentiated the bands from other bands on the scene?
I think in the beginning that was true, but toward the mid-80s a lot of the thrash bands started sounding alike and cloning one and other.
In your opinion, were there any borders between the styles (black, thrash, death etc.) back in the day or was it a common underground scene? Would you say, that the rise of the extreme metal began with acts, such as Mantas/Death, Massacre, Possessed, Slaughter, Death Strike/Master etc.?
Yes, although I think VENOM really were the band that started Black/Death Metal (even though it was at it's very primitive stages musically). And some will say Destruction, Sodom, Hellhammer were also responsible for the more extreme metal before the bands you mention above. It's all a matter of opinion.
You published 11 issues of The Headbanger from 1982 through 1985 and you gave a big chance to the unsigned L. A. bands through the paper, would you say, that you helped them making a name for themselves? Were they thankful for your job during the years?
Yes, my fanzine was one of the first to feature METALLICA, SLAYER, ARMORED SAINT, MEGADETH etc and I still talk to all those bands today and I think they see the importance of fanzines like The Headbanger in the beginning of their career.
Did Headbanger play an important role considering the developing of the L. A. underground scene?
I think it did, issue #7 and & #8 featured a two-part LA Metal special that featured some of the very first interviews/features of many of the groundbreaking LA metal bands including Slayer, Megadeth, Warlord, WASP, Dark Angel, Abattoir, etc...
How were your views on the mid ’80s L. A. scene, when a lot of thrash/death bands started popping up, such as Archenemy, Death Force, Viking, Recipients Of Death, Sadistic Intent, Terrorizer etc.? Were all of them influenced by the first wave of thrash metal, such as Slayer or Dark Angel?
I think they were all definitely influenced by the first wave of thrash whether it be Slayer, Dark Angel, Exodus or Megadeth. I think those bands will admit that too. I'm not really so into those bands, I'm mainly into the original first wave of thrash.
Do you agree with, that the extreme metal scene started being saturated at this point?
Yes, I totally agree with that. Although there are a lot of great talented extreme metal bands, they tend to all sound the same after a while - not much originality these days with extreme metal.
At which point and why did you stop doing Headbanger? Lack of motivation, money or…?
It was more financial, I wasn't really making that much money and it would have cost too much money to bring the fanzine to the next level (make it full-size w/ color cover). So I started writing and contributing to other fanzines that were able to reach the "magazine" level, like Metal Rendevous where i was their LA editor. I am still very good friends with publisher John Strednansky.
Were you satisfied with the selling of the fanzine by the way? Did it have a big influence on the underground scene? Did it introduce your name for other fanzine editors back in the day?
Yes, I was very satisfied and the influence was overwhelming i believe. Even today people tell me my fanzine introduced them to bands like Armored Saint, Slayer, Raven, Metallica, Megadeth etc. I used to get fan letters from Jason Newsted (back when he was in local Phoenix band THE DOGZ) and the Pantera guys back when they put out Metal Magic. So I know The Headbanger influenced tons of metal musicians back in the early-mid '80s. And people still remember my name today from The Headbanger! So I think it was Extremely influential in metal music.
In the early ‘90s, you landed guitarist Marty Friedman in the multi-platinum group Megadeth and soon after you headed the west coast office of Roadrunner Records working closely with many of the labels cutting-edge artists at the time, including Sepultura, Type-O Negative, and Last Crack. What can you tell us about this period?
It was a good time in my life. Roadrunner was the first record label I worked with so it was all kind of new to me but it was a lot of fun.
Did you work with Monte Conner together?
Not directly, I was the only person working the Los Angeles (West Coast) office and of course Monte and the rest of the RR staff were all in New York. I also didn’t do much in the A&R dept but I did send a lot of demos from West Coast bands over to Monte every week or two. And I would visit the NY office occasionally as well but never really worked together with Monte.
What were your daily tasks?
West Coast Publicity, Retail, and Radio. I would mostly call up Magainzes and newspapwers, record stores and commerical and college radio stations on the West Coast and promote the latest RR bands. I would occasionally visit them as well
Would you say, that at this point the metal scene and the music industry changed a lot compared to the ’80s?
I was there in 1991 so it started to change with the emergence of grunge and alternative music but that really happened more toward the mid-90s.
As for Roadrunner, the label seems/seemed to be a kind of trend label for me, how do you explain this? I mean, they were invilved in thrash, death, grunge etc.
Like any record label, whether major or independent, it’s a business so you need to sign bands that will make money otherwise you go out of business. I think RR always stayed pretty loyal to metal music although at the time they also had a alternative label called Emergo which was a division of Roadrunner but they kept it separate.
How long did you work at Roadrunner?
I believe a little over a year.
After Roadrunner, you went on to Bizarre/Straight Records (Rhino/WEA) assisting label president Herb Cohen (who co-founded the label with Frank Zappa in the ‘60s); their roster specialized in diverse artists such as Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent, Captain Beefheart, Tim Buckley, Lenny Bruce, Screaming Jay Hawkins and Tom Waits, any comments about it?
It was great to work alongside Herb Cohen who had quite a history in music!
You worked both catalog and new artists for the label, did you like this work compared to your previous ones?
Bizarre/Straight was a lot more laid back than Roadrunner. Roadrunner had several different bands/albums I was working at the same time while Bizarre only had a few. And most the catalog releases (the reissues through Rhino) really sold on it’s own so I didn’t really work them a lot.
You also acquired several license deals through the years with major international companies such as: Century Media, Enigma/Restless, Roadrunner, JVC/Victor, Music For Nations, Bandai/Apollon, Jigu, Polystar, High Vaultage, Dream Circle/Polydor, and Reality/Sony…
Yes, that’s true. It’s good to see someone has read my bio!
Currently you are the VP of press and publicity for HardRadio.com, a top-rated Internet radio station where you also produce Shockwaves Magazine On-line and Shockwaves/HardRadio Podcast which features interviews with some of the greatest performers in hard rock/metal music, tell us more please about it?
The Shockwaves/HardRadio podcast I’ve been doing for a few years now. You can hear it on HardRadio.com (go to the Shockwaves page) and you can also read old interviews and reviews I did. I also have a second podcast I do called the Shockwaves Skullsessions Podcast which you can download and listen to on Roadrunner Records site (RoadrunnerRecords.com/skullsessions). Both are also available for free on iTunes.
Are there many metal radio stations in the US these days?
None of them in Los Angeles where I live, all we have here is complete shit. I’m sure there are still some college stations that still have metal shows and of course there is now satellite and Internet Radio with HardRadio.com being one of the leaders in Internet radio as far as metal goes.
Over the years you were a contributing editor to several well-known music publications including; Creem, Music Connection, Hit Parader, BAM, Foundations, Loud, Metal Rendezvous, New Rave, BURRN! (Japan), Rock Hard (Germany), and Fachblatt (Germany) and publisher/editor of Shockwaves Magazine (now online at HardRadio.com) as well as associate editor for several national men’s magazines, what kind of experiences did you gain during the years?
I always liked to do freelance writing, it was sometimes a lot earier than working exclusively for one publication where it gets too political. It was all good experience and gave me a chance to write about a lot of different things.
Did you leave your mark on the scene? Do you consider yourself (and the band, fans too) an influential writer?
I think so, especially during the Headbanger Fanzine days as I was one of the first ever to write stories on bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Armored Saint and Slayer back when very few people even heard of these bands. My writings gave bands like these international recognition for the very first time. When I was publishing The Headbanger I was also getting several fan letters from a lot of people who ended up being in famous metal bands like Jason Newsted (when he was in The Dogz) and the guys in Pantera (just before they released their first album Metal Magic).
How do you view the present „metal world”?
It’s good. It’s great to see a lot of younger kids getting into metal these days, even classic metal. I think the present metal scene today is very healthy.
Do you follow the fanzines these days? Do you know some fanzines/magazines, such as Snakepit? What's your opinion about it? What about webzines? Do you willingly read them?
I don't really follow the fanzines these days but I do try to check out metal websites and will read Blabbermouth, BW&BK etc and the only music publication I currently read is really only Classic Rock Magazine.
Would you say, that being involved in the underground, in the tapetrading/fanzine network, the gates of a totally new musical world have been opened for you? Did it succeed in building up a lot of friendships with the help of the metal music?
Yes, the fanzine and tape trading definitely opened up a totally new musical world for me and I made lots of friendships with people all over the world from it. I still am in contact with many of the old fanzine writers and tape-traders I traded with 25-30 years ago! In fact I just did a Shockwaves Skullsessions episode (which should soon be posted at RoadrunnerRecords.com/skullsessions) which included Ron Quintana (Metal Mania), John Strdnansky (Metal Rendezvous), KJ Doughton (NW Metal) and Steve Hammonds (Metal Forces, UK) regarding the early days of fanzines and tape-trading.
What do you think about downloading and the mp3 files? How do you view that the labels nowadays are sending their promo materials via ipool, mp3 etc. instead of promotional, physical cd-s?
Well, I guess that’s the way of the future, and the way of the present. I think bands and labels need to be current with todays market and public demands and the downloading of mp3 files is the new way of promoting and selling music. Although I still prefer CDs as I like to have the physical product but I’m not opposed to mp3’s and I understand the conveniece of it.
If you would own a label, what would be its name and what would be the records or re-releases, that you would release?
I actually never considered that. Not sure what I would name it, maybe Shockwaves just because it’s my magazine and podcast name. I would likely release classic metal bands.
Have you never thought about establishing an own label?
No, not really. I think nowadays there are so many record labels out there and most are really struggling.
What about your musical collection? What are your rarest stuffs? Do you buy regularly cd-s, dvd-s etc. these days too?
As far as my collection, I sold all my vinyl collection years ago as well as most my other stuff I sold or got rid of so I don't have much of a collection these days.
What are the 10 most influential, most classic records that changed your life and your musical taste? Would you comment them?
That would take a lot of thought.... off hand I would say the early metal albums that I first heard when I was very young changed my like and influenced me the most like the whole Black Sabbath catalog (up through Born Again), but Sabotage probably changed my life the most. Also all the Led Zeppelin albums, Rainbow, particularly the Rising album which is my favorite of all time. And albums from AC/DC (Bon era), Deep Purple (mostly In Rock), UFO (Obsession, Lights Out), Scorpions (Love Drive and the early Uli albums) and Bachman-Turner Overdrive was always a favorite of mine when I was a kid, particularly the Not Fragile album. Also a lot of the NWOBHM albums namely Motorhead’s Ace of Spades, Saxon’s Wheels of Steel and the debut’s from Iron Maiden, Angelwith, Diamond Head, Tygers of PanTang and several others...
Bob, thanks a lot for your patient, please fell free sharing us/me your final thoughts…
I appreciate the fact that you took the time to put together all these questions Leslie and it was a pleasure to do this for you. I’m still very much into heavy metal music and still a big fan of the music. I appreciate all my friends and fans that have supported me over the years and those who continue to support the Shockwaves/HardRadio podcast and Shockwaves Skullsessions podcast. Cheers!

The Top 10 list of 2010 by Bob Nalbandian

1. Armored Saint: La Raza
2. Accept: Blood Of Nations
3. DIO: Dio At Donnington UK: Live (1983 & 1987)
4. Megadeth: Rust I Peace (Live)
5. Heaven & Hell: Neon Nights - Live In Europe
6. Broken Teeth: Viva La Rock, Fantastico!
7. Texas Hippie Coalition: Rollin'
8. Pretty Maids: Pandemonium
9. Halford: Made Of Metal
10. Exodus: Exhibit B: The Human Condition

Old school Swedish death metal history - God Macabre with singer Per Boder

2011-02-22T00:06:00.000-08:00

So Per, do you still remember how you got involved in the metal scene? How and when did you discover death metal? What made you becoming a death metal fan?
I've always been into the extreme side of metal, early discovering Motörhead, Venom and Metallica. From there it went to punk, hardcore and grindcore. After a gig with napalm death in -88 I stumbled upon the underground via fanzines, and that was the final push I needed to get out and create stuff on my own. Started tapetrading, started in what was to become God Macabre and made a fanzine.
Do you think, that the Swedish death metal scene’s earliest originators were in the D-beat hardcore punk scene? I mean, is death metal rooted in the hardcore/punk?
I think many has a background in punk yes, and the d-beat was picked from there. At least it was for us. Death Metal is probably rooted in everything extreme from that era, there wasn't 20 BM albums released every month so you hade to be open minded to get your fix..albeit punk, thrash or german speed metal. From Crumbsuckers to Bathory.
Do you agree with, that in the late ’80s/early ’90s two death metal scenes emerged in Sweden, in Gothenburg and in Stockholm?
Yes, I don't know when the Gothenburg scene started out though, that happened a few years later. From the start there wasn't really much happening there. Grotesque were around, but that's about it.
Did the first wave of Swedish death metal consist of the bands, such as Grave, Carnage and Nihilist, who fragmented later into Entombed, Dismember and Unleashed?
Yes, that would be some of the originators, Nihilist pioneered the whole scene.
Many of these bands used the trademark Tomas Skogsberg/Sunlight Studios „buzzsaw” guitar tone, which was created by using heavily detuned electric guitars (usually C# standard or lower), a maxed out Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal, sometimes in combination with a single guitar through a Boss DS-1 Distortion pedal, correct? Would you say, that this type of sound became the trademark of the Swedish death metal scene?
Well the guitarists of the band are more suitable to answer this, I think the pedal was quite cheap and easy accessable, there was no "guide" on how to get that sound. There wasn't like a rule on how to tune your guitar either. The sunlight studio obviously helped shape the worlds view on SDM, a great studio even affordable for teenagers still in school.
Was the originator of this guitar sound Nihilist guitarist Leffe Cuzner (R.I.P.) though it was evolved and altered over the years?
No clue, but as I said Nihilist spearheaded the scene, and Cuzner was a part of that. Nihilist / Entombed certainly set the standard for others to match, the Only Shreds Remain demo has a totally beastly guitar sound.
Did the death metal scene in Sweden influence many bands and genres outside Sweden?
Yeah, that it did. Up until then Swedish metal was kinda weak and forgettable, the DM bands changed that. Judging by the amount mail and offers I got back then it's quite easy to say it made a big impact on the metal world.
In the winter of 1988 a grindcore band was formed named Botten På Burken and a year later you switched to playing death metal and changed your name to Macabre End, correct? How did you get together exactly? Did the line up consist of you, guitarist Ola Sjöberg, bassist Thomas Johansson and drummer Niklas Nilsson right from the start or did you go through some line up changes? Was Botten På Burken/Macabre End the very first outfit for all of you?
We were all friends from school (except Jonas Stålhammar), none really had any knowledge on how to handle their instruments. Nicke the drummer was mainly an guitarist, but had to fill the spot since none else wanted the drums. We met Stålis through fanzines and various gigs, he suited the band well and joined a little bit later. We had dabbled in various local punk bands before, nothing that ever resulted in something. GM was the first proper band where we actually had a goal. The addition of Jonas catapulted the band to a totally new level, even if the direction was set before he entered the band.
Did Macabre End belong to the first generation of Swedish death metal?
Yes, I'd say. Not pioneers, but definately in the first wave.
At which point did you join forces with guitarist Jonas Stahlhammar? Was he the first choice being the second guitarist or did you perhaps audition other guitarists too?
Stålis joined in late 89/90, cant really remember. We didn't look for an extra guitarist (or so we thought) but he was a great guy and we had fun jamming together. He had all the qualities we would have been looking for anyway, so it just felt obvious that he should be in the band. And he joined, it was a great time.
Ola Sjöberg was the editor of Suppuration Magazine, while you were the editor of Senil Nekrofil Zine, does it mean, that you were deeply involved in the underground scene?
Me, Ola and Stålis all made fanzines, tapetraded and attended loads of gigs etc. we were all deeply involved in the scene. That was just second nature at the time. Nothing else of interest, this was it.
You came from Vasteras, how was the metal scene in your town?
Only Stålis is from V-ås, we're from Vålberg outside Karlstad quite a travel from Västerås . No scene to speak of, Vomitory was starting out back then but had some growing up to do (as a band). We hung out with those guys from time to time, but there was no local scene to speak of. If you wanted something done you had to DIY.
What did you want to achieve Macabre End with?
Get a rep. underground, to be part of the scene and get gigs, Maybe record some records. No high flying stuff at all.
What can you tell us about your rehearsals? Were you jamming on covers or did you start writing originals?
We wrote our own material from the get go, but we occasionally covered some song for entertainment. Stuff like Troubles "Psychotic reaction" and KISS "Strange Ways". We did The Day Man Lost by Carnage (SWE) live some times as well. We rehearsed two times a week at the local youth center, and in the summers when it closed we played in an old factory. The accoustics in there was surely deafening!
You released a demo in September 1990 titled „Consumed by Darkness”, how was it recorded? Can you give us details regarding on this demo?
It was recorded and mixed at Sunlight Studios, it took only 11 hours finishing the whole deal. Later Stålis and Skogsberg remixed it a bit for the 7" release on CGR.
Did this demo show a lot of promise?
You tell me, but I guess it did!
How much promotion did you do for the demo? I mean, was it shopped around to attract label interests, did it draw the fans attention to the band, did it succeed in making a name for the band etc.?
It pretty much spread the word through tapetrading, thats how it came to be released as a 7". It was a success to say the least, a lot of attention gained through that 3-track tape. We knew it was good, and obviously others thought so as well. As far as promotion, I guess we made some flyers (back then this was the usual routine) but it was tapetrading that got the word out.
Did this demo turn into an underground hit?
People still today talk about it today so maybe you could call it a "hit". It was a great start for the band anyhow.
Do you agree with, that „Spawn Of Flesh” is/was the highlight of the demo and belongs to the best, most classic death metal songs, that was ever recorded?
It's the highlight of the demo, but I can't say that it is one of the most classical DM songs ever recorded. That would be a very bold statement. It's pure Swedish crust death though!
Why did you thereafter change your name once again to God Macabre? Were you perhaps dissatisfied with Macabre End or…?
We lost our bassplayer at the time, and Macabre End was a bit more on the “gory/primitive” side of bandnames, it really didn’t fit the music we thought. So we changed it to the better GM, which we took from an old Abhoth song. To mark a new beginning since Thomas left. The name has a more “epic” ring to it than ME.
Weren’t the fans confused considering the change of the band’s name?
Maybe, I don’t remember. I understand that today it might be confusing, since the band existed under two names under such a short lifespan. Hopefully with the collected material on the Relapse Cd everything clear now. It probably wasn’t the wisest idea to change it after the 7”, but we didn’t care about those things back then.
You were supposed to record a second 3 track EP titled „Nothing Remains Forever” (with the songs „Into Nowhere” , „Lost” and „In Grief”) for Relapse Records but it never happened, why?
Something in the contract we didn’t like, and due to us being young and stubborn this never came to be realized. In the end the material ended up on Relapse anyhow, so in hindsight we might as well just have done it from the start.
Did Relapse show an interest in signing the band by the way?
I think that was the problem for us, the contract regarding the EP spoke of future recordings and clothing etc., this wasn’t what we had in mind at the time. We wanted to release an EP, and not be tied to anything after that. No merchandise, that we could take care of ourselves. It was all a bit unclear and we changed a LOT of things in the contract, sent it back to Relapse and they never bothered to answer. Teenage know-it-all = No compromise! We were also approached by a Peaceville sublabel (Deaf rec. as I recall), that never happened either.
Thomas Johansson left the band and Jonas Stahlhammar played bass in the Pantalgia compialtion song „Ashes of Mourning Life” (former titled „Life’s Verge”) and in „The Winterlong” cd both issued by MBR Records, so first, what kind of reasons did lead to the departure of Thomas?
Thomas went into the military and there was some lack of dedication from him overall. Great guy, still hang out with him but back then we were hellbent on the band, and we probably demanded more than he could give. No hard feelings, that’s the way things goes. Life’s Verge is a completely different song never recorded, not a former title of Ashes..
Jonas took over the bass duties, does it mean, that you didn’t start to find a new bassist?
We tried somewhat to find a position for the bass, but troubles arose with the drummer so the band were put on hold (and soon disbanded). So we looked for a while but no-one ever auditioned.
What about the aforementioned compilation? Was the song „Ashes…” written for that comp.?
Yeah I think so, but it ended up on the Winterlong CD as well. But at first I think it was meant to be an exclusive track for the comp. It was 20 years ago, my memory is fading on these subjects.
How did you get in touch with MBR (Mangled Beyond Recognition) Records? What kind of releases did they have at that point?
Through my fanzine, they had released a Grave 12” and were about to release a record with Sweden's Crematory. They seemed to be a label that got shit going instead of just talking about it. A label with some visions, and that’s what we liked about them. Also, this was a one-time deal, we were free to do whatever we wanted after the recording.
Did they offer you a contract by the way? For how many records did you sign them?
We wrote a contract regarding the Winterlong album and the comp, nothing else was planned other than that.
When did you start writing the material for your debut which became „The Winterlong”? What do you recall of the recording sessions?
Directly after the 7” we set out to do another recording, we thought of another ep, but in the end it came down to the Winterlong recording. It was recorded and mixed in 3 days, I was only in the studio the last day. We did all the vocals and then mixed it the same day. Short on memories, but Skogsberg was a great guy, it was a bit hectic and the cartrip to Stockholm was a nightmare due to bad weather and broken windshield-wipers (this was in late December). I had to hang out from the passenger seat and wipe the window by hand, of course in full motion. There’s a death metal stunt you never heard of,...:-) That’s a 4 hour car-ride by the way, there was some wiping to be done!
Is it correct, that Niklas Nilsson left God Macabre before „The Winterlong”, but he played on the album as a session drummer? Why did he decide to leave the band at all?
Again, a bit of dedication problem there as well. He also had a bad back that kept him from playing periodically, which slowed the whole situation down too much. He did the the drums for the CD as we couldn’t find a replacement, after that he was done with the band. Again, great guy that I still hang out with, but back then it was too much to handle. We never found a new drummer, which was the final reason to split the band. Nicke’s back is still not ok, and he never played the drums again. Too bad on natural talent.
As for the album, how do you view, that synths are used selectively and appropriately to add further depth in atmosphere?
The synths are just used to highlight something, never to move the music forward or to be a important ingredient in the mix. On the remix for Lamentation the mellotrone really added to the song, that was really cool and became much more significant to the song than the original synth stuff.
Did electric and acoustic interludes add immensely to the overall flow of the album?
We wanted an album that was memorable and dynamic in its structure, not 5 d-beat death songs in a row. It works for me, others be the judge if it flows the right way, or otherwise.
Do you agree with, that „The Winterlong” is another superb example of the strength of the earlier Swedish Death Metal scene?
I think its a good example of what was happening in Sweden back then yes. The competition was tough, but time has proven that we did some solid stuff. People talk about it still today.
Did the Sunlight sound capture the true spirit of their brand of Swedish Death Metal in a magnificent way?
From the start Sunlight had a cool organic/fleshy/warm sound that defined the swedish style. A bit later on it got more mechanical/cold, I’d rather have had the EP sound on the album. There’s a difference in tone that can’t be ignored. The Sunlight sound suited the Swede death, crushing, dirty and powerful. I think we did good in what we did, but I wouldn’t say we outshined Entombed etc. We made our mark in the history of SDM, without a doubt.
The throaty vocals, the excellent upbeat drums and the always compelling buzzsaw guitar sound are/were a winning formula, correct?
Yes. No sound can save a bad tune though, the ideas got to be there from the start.
Is this album, for those who are not familiar with it, is never less convincing than the best albums of the biggest bands in the genre, Entombed, Grave, Unleashed, Dismember etc.? Would you say, that as with many other great Swedish death metal releases, „The Winterlong” was a bit overlooked at the time of its release and failed to get the recognition it deserved?
The Winterlong was delayed almost two years in its release, so nobody really cared about SDM when it arrived. It was practically impossible to get hold of as well. We have gotten lots of recognition the last few years though (due to the reissues), and it really never bothered me back then since the band quit shortly after the recording. It was a great thing to be part of, but we were off doing other stuff. But the timing/release failed miserably, too late for even us to care.
How do you view, that 1993 was already a bit too late this record should still have caused a tremendous thrill throughout the whole extreme metal scene, despite the upcoming black metal hype?
As I said, we never thought of it that way as the band had already split up. For the bands that still was around, the BM bands surely was competition hard to match. It was pretty much over for the foreseeable future..
When the album came out, the band splitted up, because no suitable replacements could be found replacing Thomas and Niklas, how did that happen? Were all of you sad because of the demise of the band?
It was along time coming, we knew it would be extremely tough finding replacements, so in our minds we were probably already there. I know I was, so it wasn’t sad it just felt a bit unfullfilled.
If „The Winterlong” would have released around ’89/’90, would it have been one of the biggest Swedish death metal classics and would it have made a big name for the band?
If it had been released in 79 we would probably be the biggest metal band in the world, you never know about these things. The band is rather known for the stuff we did, I’m pleased with that.
You and Ola formed the band Snake Machine which evolved into Space Probe Taurus, what can you tell us about it? For how long did this outfit exist? What type of music did you play compared to God Macabre? Have you ever recorded any materials as SPT?
SPT still exists, Ola is singing/playing guitar. I left about 10 years ago but you should check them out. It’s a fuzzrock outfit and a great one at that. I had left the band when they recorded their first album, but all that info can be found at their myspace-site. http://www.myspace.com/spaceprobetaurus
Jonas joined then Utumno and he is/was involving in bands, such as Bombs Of Hades, Darkcreed, The Crown, but what about Thomas and Niklas these days? Are they also still involved in metal? Are you still in touch with each other?
I’m in touch with all the old members, Nicke and Thomas have left the music-scene behind them a long time ago. Thomas actually recorded an EP with a band called Ozium some years later, but that is ancient history. Nicke never ventured into anything after GM.
„The Winterlong” was re-issued in 2002 with the demo as bonus tracks by Relapse Records, how did it come into being? Do you think, that did it succeed drawing more fans attention to the band with the reissue?
Ola was asked by some Relapse-employee if we wanted to do a reissue, it wouldn’t be a full on big, advertised release but just to get it out there. The original release never got around and was sold out long time ago. We thought about it, we knew there were bootlegs out already so why not do it properly? We decided to remix it and remove the synths and adding mellotrone instead. The final mix was done at a local studio by a friend, at the time there was a trainee working there as well. That was Björn whom I know play alongside with in Mordbrand. Pretty much the same regarding the Live 12” on HMSS, if we release it officially at least we get some copies and have some saying.
In March 2008 the Relapse version of the album was also released on vinyl for the first time by the Swedish label Bloodharvest Records, was it done only for the collectors, for the die hard fans? Was it a limited release?
Yes, I think it was a first pressing about 500 ex, we agreed on releasing 500 more after that but I’m not certain those were made (or have been made yet). Ola was the man handling all that stuff, so I don’t have all the facts.
This Blood Harvest release is the vinyl version of the re-release through Relapse Records, which means that we are talking about the remixed recordings at Speed Ball Studio the 5th and 6th of December 2000 were the keyboards of the original release got replaced and played with a mellotron, correct?
Yes, that is correct. At the time, the mellotrone was the “weapon of choice” for Stålis.
Are/Were you aware of the CD-reiusse 2007 by Strike Force Records, that was one of many cheap CD-R bootlegs made by the infamous bootlegger vegascds to cash in expensive /sought after CD rarities? Was „The Winterlong” often bootlegged by the way?
We are aware of bootlegs but not what the labels are called. I think there were a couple of unlicensed releases, it they were factorypressed or just cd-r’s I dont know.
Last year was released a bootleg, titled Eve Of The Souls Forsaken, what can you tell us about it? Who came up with the idea to release this gig at all?
We figured since the gig was widely spread through tapetrading ages ago, it would probably end up on a release anyhow. It was the label that approached us, we thought if we were involved it would be better than an non approved release.
A Carnage cover can be found on this record, does it mean, that Carnage was one of your most important influences? Did you often perform covers in live situation?
They had that kind of background that we had, a bit on the crusty side of death metal. You know, napalm death, carcass, ENT and Discharge. we did a cover of there song Day Man Lost live atleast twice. They were our favourite Swedish band back then, I listen to their demos still today.
How often did you play live? What can you tell us about the live gigs of God Macabre at all?
We planned to do a lot of gigs but had to cancel due to circumstances out of our control. Like I said earlier, our drummer couldn't play periodically, so that put an halt to a lot of plans. we played live 3-4 times only, nothing much to say about it. Typical underground gigs back then.
In your opinion, is God Macabre's name still big and is it in people's minds? I mean, did you leave your mark on the scene?
As I have said earlier in the int. I really can't say what is big or not, we were not up there with Entombed. Since the reissues we have gained attention in the last few years. I guess we left a mark in the scene, as did all the other bands back then.
These days you are involving in Mordbrand along with Björn Larsson and Johan Rudberg, when was the band formed exactly? Is Mordbrand a project or a „normal”/full time group?
The band was formed in 2005, recorded some tracks in 2006 which just recently got a proper release as a split with EVOKE (UK). I joined just last year and we’re working on some stuff for a future release. So I’m not doing the vocals on the said split. Mordbrand is a normal/serious band in a sense, but Björn and Johan has the thrash band The Law who need their attention as well. Mordbrand exists solely to release some good old DM, there are no big plans for world domination and touring etc.
You released a split album last year with Evoke, whose idea was this cooperation? What can you tell us about this split as a whole?
Björn has known John Redfern (vocalist from Evoke) for a number of years. The songs on this split were never meant to be released in the first place, so It was basically Johns idea to release the songs as a split with his former band.
What do you think about, that it’s a dirty, raw and sloppy kind of death metal, where gore and horror is key, so it hasn’t anything to do with God Macabre or…?
It’s a different approach to the same kind of thing. There’s a different theme, but there’s definitely some stuff that resembles GM. Björn told me that GM was huge inspiration for the recording they did, and there’s some beats and riffs that made me feel at home straight away. This is NOT a continuation of GM by any means, this is the spirit of ‘88-91 through the crimson eyes of 2010.
You do your slow to mid paced death metal very well…
You ain’t seen nothing yet.
Since 2010 is finished and a new year begun, what do you think about the death metal releases of 2010? Which record did you like?
I liked the Immolation and Blood Revolt records, Bombs of Hades and Bastard Priest also did some excellent stuff in 2010. Hey, Autopsy reformed, what can top that?
How do you view the present death metal scene compared to the late ’80s/early ’90s? How much did this genre develope during the years?
The bands are marching to a different drum now, a drum that beats well over 300 bpm. It’s very fast, technical and not really my cup of tea, but there’s always something popping up that grabs my attention. I prefer the old ways though...
Per, thanks a lot for your answers, feel free sharing us your final thoughts…
Thanks! Check out Mordbrand at: http://www.myspace.com/mordbranddeath New songs uploaded shortly.

My current playlist

2011-02-21T06:51:00.000-08:00

1. HOODED MENACE: Never Cross The Dead
2. PROCESSION: Destroyers Of The Faith
3. BOLT THROWER: Warmaster
4. TROUBLE: Psalm 9
5. CROWBAR: Sever The Wicked Hand
6. THE DEATH OF HER MONEY: You Are Loved
7. NEUROSIS: Times Of Grace
8. UNHOLY: The Second Ring Of Power
9. COUNT RAVEN: Destruction Of The Void
10. MORGOTH: Cursed

Current playlist/My actual faves

2011-01-24T23:45:00.000-08:00

1. GOD MACABRE: The Winterlong
2. GUTTED: The Mankind Carries The Seeds Of Hell
3. CROWBAR: Sever The Wicked Hand
4. EXTREME DEFORMITY: Internal
5. OBITUARY: Cause Of Death
6. BOLT THROWER: Warmaster
7. SINISTER: Legacy Of Ashes
8. UTUMNO: Across The Horizon
9. ETERNAL DARKNESS: Total Darkness
10. SORORICIDE: The Entity

Death - The Sound Of Perseverance - Reissue (Relapse 2011)

2011-01-18T05:41:00.000-08:00

Nehéz. Nagyon nehéz. Nagyon nehéz bármit is írni Chuck Schuldiner pályafutásáról, a színtérre kifejtett felbecsülhetetlen hatásáról. Pláne olyat, amit még eddig nem írtak le illetve elfogultság nélkül
Jó magam a Leprosy-val ismertem és kedveltem meg a Death-et és azóta legnagyobb kedvenceim között tartom számon a zenekart. Az most mellékes, hogy kik és hányan fordultak meg a bandában az évek folyamán, hogy egyetlen egy albumot sem rögzített ugyanaz a tagság, egy dolog viszont tagadhatatlan: az összes Death kiadvány minőségi korong és Chuck mindig egy lépéssel a mezőny előtt járt, sohasem ismételte önmagát, sosem adta ki kétszer ugyanazt a lemezt. A műfaj alapvetéseit, megkerülhetetlen klasszikusait készítette el. Amikor a Death pályafutásáról beszélünk, megállapítható, hogy lemezről-lemezre fejlődött a zenekar, a Spiritual Healingtől kezdve pedig egy komplex, progresszív irányba indult el Chuck és tette azt úgy, hogy az agresszivitás csorbát szenvedett volna. Meglátásom szerint ennek a folyamatnak a tudatosságon kívül az Atheist Piece Of Time örökérvényű klasszikusának is elévülhetetlen érdemei vannak. No meg annak, hogy a Humanen a Cynicből ismert Sean Reinert és Paul Masvidal játszottak. Mindenféle bántó vagy becsmérlő szándék nélkül jegyzem meg: egyikük sem említhető egy lapon Bill Andrews-zal vagy Rick Rozz-zal. A Death-re jellemző fejlődés, progresszivitás ezen a korongon érte el csúcspontját. A Mester ezt a lemezt szánta az utolsó Death anyagnak (nem tudom, hogy hová lehetett volna még innen fejlődni, továbbmenni), habár azzal nem volt tisztában, hogy három évvel később agytumorban életét veszti. Pár évvel eme korongot megelőzően alapította meg a Control Deniedot, mellyel új utakat keresett, mellyel új utakon indult el. Annak ellenére, hogy minden eddiginél hosszabb dalokat írt és tett fel Chuck erre a lemezre, nem esett az öncélú művészkedés, magamutogatás csapdájába, hiszen a dalok megjegyezhető, befogadható részekkel éppúgy rendelkeznek, mint lélegzetelállító, élményszámba menő váltásokkal. A The Fragile Art Of Existence-t (a Control Denied bemutatkozása) rögzítő tagság háromnegyede volt ez esetben a Főnök segítségére: Richard Christy dobos, Shannon Hamm gitáros és Scott Clendenin basszusgitáros. Nem sok zenei múlttal rendelkeztek az új arcok. Shannon a houstoni Metalstormmal készített egy demót 1991-ben, Scott a Control Deniedban mutatkozott be, Richard Christy pedig a Burning Inside-ból, a Public Assassinból és az Acheronból volt/lehetett ismerős. Minthogy Gene Hoglan, James Murphy, Steve DiGiorgio, Sean Reinert és/vagy Paul Masvidal nagyon magasra tette a lécet teljesítményével a korábbi Death lemezeken, gondolom nem lehetett könnyű dolga Chucknak megtalálni a megfelelő embereket a hangszeresi posztokra, de ma már tudjuk, hogy ez maradéktalanul sikerült. De még hogy! Teljesítményüket a zseniális és lélegzetelállító jelzőknél kevesebbel nem lehet illetni. A lemezen található dalok közül néhányat eredetileg a debütáló Control Denied albumra szántak, de Chuck egy, 1998-ban a Metal Maniacsnek adott interjújában tagadta, hogy a Control Deniednak írt szerzeményeket űrkitöltő jelleggel használták(volna) fel a The Sound Of Perseverance-en. Ennek ellentmond, hogy Tim Aymar tavaly decemberben azt mondta, hogy néhány Control Denied dalt „Death-esítettek” és azok felkerültek a lemezre. Tulajdonképpen mindegy is ki mit mondott, az igazság sajnos most már úgy sem derül ki. Mikor a Death leszerződött a Nuclear Blasthez Chuck beleegyezett abba, hogy készít ez utolsó Death korongot és a továbbiakban a Control Deniedra koncentrál. A már fentebb említett progresszivitás, fejlődés első sorban abban nyilvánult meg, hogy a korong hossza egy picivel több, mint 56 perc, ergo hat percet „ver” az előző Symbolicra. Meglepetésként hat a Mester éneke, állítása szerint unta már a hörgést, a korongon egy durvább, extrémebb power metal stílus, előadás hallható, melyre a legjobb példa a megklippesített Spirit Crusher. Ha pedig ez nem lenne elég bizonyíték, meg kell hallgatni a Judas Priest Painkillerjének zseniális feldolgozását, amelyben Chuck egy az egyben úgy énekel (legalábbis megpróbál), mint Rob Halford és egyből értelmet nyer az énekre vonatkoztatott „másság”, a power metalos megközelítés. A Flesh And The Power It Holds a maga nyolc és fél minutumával a leghosszabb, legösszetettebb Death felvétel, az instrumentális Voice Of The Soul maga a csoda (ez volt a második instrumentális tétel a Death történetében a Cosmic Sea után), a többi szerzemény pedig szimplán zseniális. Valami azért lehetett abban, hogy a kompozíciók némelyike a Control Deniednak íródott, mert a lemezre felkerült az A Moment Of Clarity, amely a Control Denied harmadik demójának címe volt. A lemez megjelenését követően Európában a Benedictionnel, Amerikában a Hammerfall-lal turnézott a Death, az album pedig Németországban a 60., míg Ausztriában a 35. helyig jutott, amely megkoronázta ezt a bámulatos, kolosszális alkotásokkal kísért pályafutást. A Relapse által megjelentetett második deluxe verzió 2 és 3 CD formátumban lát majd napvilágot február 15.-én a kiadótól ismert igényes kivitelben, kiadatlan demónótákkal megspékelve, remasterizálva.
Hosszan tartó betegség és küzdelem után, 2001. december 13-án Chuck szervezete végül megadta magát a ráknak és a metal műfaj egyik kiemelkedő alakja távozott el közülünk, sötét, fekete fátylat borítva a metal színtérre, egy óriási betölthetetlen űrt hagyva maga mögött. Életműve befejezetlen maradt, emlékét mindörökre szívünkben őrizzük.

Carl Canedy speaks about Stricken By Might of E-X-E

2011-01-14T02:31:00.001-08:00

How did you get the job being the producer of the debut E-X-E record titled „Stricken by Might”? Were you familiar with this band prior to the work?
I wasn’t familiar with them but David Carpin came to me with the band asked me to work with them.
How do you view, that E-X-E found themselves stuck in the middle of the thrash explosion a little too late for 1985’s releases like Agent Steel’s, Destructor’s, Abattoir’s, Over Kill’s or Savage Grace’s etc. debuts?
I would say that was correct. The timing for them was a little off, sadly.
Did E-X-E seem to take a little more influences from the speed metal side of things rather than Bay-Area?
These guys were way more New York than West Coast. There was no mistaking that.
Is the diversity all over the place?
I think they could have used a little more time on the road perhaps.
Do you think, that the guitars are razor sharp and stand out more than anything else? Do the instruments themselves often sound downright evil, giving practically every song quite a dark and utterly metal atmosphere to the music?
I thought these guys were pretty scary musically. Not as people because they were all great guys but musically they were definitely there in dark side of metal.
Would you say, that „Stricken By Might” is a mixture of fast furious thrashers and generic heavy metal? Does/Did the record mix elements of conventional heavy/power metal and more furious speed/thrash metal?
I would have to agree with that and yes to everything. I think that is both its strength and weakness.
Do you agree with, that tracks, such as „Slayer”, „Metal Hell” or „Warchild” are forgotten, underground classics?
I loved the songs but that type of thing is best left to the fans.
Did the record have a pretty raw sound?
Absolutely raw however as I recall David had a huge hand in the mixing process. He had a certain sound he wanted and we spent time trying to find that for him. I don’t think we always agreed with him but he was the label exec so we did what we could to make him happy without selling out the band.
What do you think about, if E-X-E had not been for terrible label backing and lineup shifting, we might still be hearing from these guys?
Well, I think you’ve nailed it on the head. David was a bright guy but seemed distracted from his duties at times. Ultimately the label was unable to deliver what the band needed in the way of support. I also agree that the band had its own issues with regard to band members. The best thing about Shatter Records was Monte Connor. He was such a fan and such a smart A&R guy but was basically working at a sinking ship. Fortunately for the Metal world Monte was able to transition into another position and has been VP of A&R at Roadrunner Records for many, many years. He’s signed not only some hugely successful artists but Metal artists who helped carved their own niche’s in the Metal world. So I guess that E.X.E. and Shatter Records obviously had the talent behind them but not the label head to make things happen. Monte has remained a good friend to this day and on several occasions we’ve discussed our experiences with Shatter (David Carpin) and bands such as E.X.E.. If Monte had been given more support I believe we we would have seen major success from that label. Sadly, David was unable to keep it together long enough for his artists and staff to prove their talent.
Did this album develope a small cult following, but never received much attention? Did the record draw a lot of fans attention back in the day?
I’m aware of it receiving good reviews but I don’t believe it sold nearly as well as it should or would have had Monte been able to promote it properly.
In your opinion, did it succeed in making a name for yourself both as musician and as producer? Were all of the groups satisfied with your work? Can you tell us your best and worst experiences as producer?
I’ll take this question in several parts.
Did it succeed in making a name for yourself both as musician and as producer?
I believe I am now referred to as both musician and producer. To that end, yes, it did help enhance my rep.
Were all of the groups satisfied with your work?
I wish I could say yes to that question but in honestly I doubt that there’s a 100% satisfaction on their parts with my work. I can only say that I always brought my best intentions and worked as hard as I could with what I was given. I don’t think that any of the groups would deny that and I’m grateful that many of the musicians I’ve worked with have been kind regarding our time together and have remained my friend. I’ve been fortunate priviledged to work with some extremely talented artists.
Carl, thanks a lot for the interview, anything to add to this feature?
The only thing that I would add is that I’m ever grateful to The Rods fans. In recent years between contact either live or through the internet I’ve met so many fans and I’m truly appreciative for their kind words and support. I’m always amazed and humbled at how loyal they are. The Rods fans have really stuck with us and now that we’re releasing new product I’m looking forward to meeting many more of them. Thanks for giving me a chance to discuss these bands. Some really interesting and insightful questions and I’ve enjoyed answering all of them.
Cheers,
Carl

Carl Canedy speaks about Exciter's Violence And Force record

2011-01-14T02:09:00.000-08:00

Carl, how did you end up becoming the producer of the second Exciter record titled „Violence And Force”? Were other producers also in mind or...?
Jon and Marsha Zazula contacted regarding working with the band. I loved their music so I signed on. As for other producers, I’m not sure as I wasn’t privy to those discussions.
As the producer of The Rods albums, would you say, that you have quite a lot experiences considering producing a record?
I would say that now I have some experience. In those days of producing Exciter etc. I had an energy and some knowledge of how to get energy on tape. I always worked hard to get the best performances and energy transferred to the recordings. We had limited budgets and not always the best gear to work with but my goal was always capturing the band energy. Over the years I’ve learned much more about engineering so that if and engineer now told me that a particular sound was best they could do and I wasn’t happy I would know how to get past that. In those days I was, at times, limited by the engineers and studios in which we were working. I know do extensive pre-production and demos and make the entire process much more fun and less stressful. In those days there were few options with tight deadlines and budgets other than to just get it done.
Do you agree with, that in 1983 Exciter released a classic speed metal album in the form of „Heavy Metal Maniac” which had to have been a major influence in the development of thrash metal? Can it be considered as the very first thrash/speed records of all time, since it came out before Metallica’s „Kill ’em All” or Slayer’s „Show No Mercy”?
Going to back to what I’d said about first hearing Exciter and really loving the band was how much energy these guys had. They were so raw and hardcore about their music. Dan Beehler’s voice was so balls to the wall that you had to love it! I don’t think Exciter got close to the recognition they deserved.
When talking about the thrash heyday of the early 80’s, Canada’s pioneers of rage, Exciter, takes a back seat to no one, they were playing a distinct, rabid Venom/Motörhead/Anvil/Raven style, correct? Can be Exciter labelled as Canada’s answer to Motörhead or were they faster, rawer and more brutal than Lemmy and his Co.?
I think it demeans everyone listed to say that one was more or less that another on any level. They were all part of something that many other musicians didn’t have the desire or balls to do. Put it all out there without concern for hit singles or power ballads. They were all pioneers and as such deserve each their due.
To which extent were you familiar with them? Did you like their awesome, brilliant debut „Heavy Metal Maniac”?
I had heard about them but only really dialed it in when approached by Jon and Marsha.
In your opinion, musicwise did they have something to do also The Rods with or…?
Since we hadn’t heard of them really nor did we know them personally I would say that there was no real connection of any kind until we met.
While their debut album was released by Mike Varney’s label Shrapnel, „Violence And Force” came out through Megaforce, do you know something about the label change?
I think when you say Mike Varney’s name to many musicians you’ll have the same reaction and similar shared experience. They came to me with their story about their time with Shrapnel which in many ways was similar to that of The Rods. Let’s leave it that the music biz ain’t always pretty. Mike has done a lot of good for many musicians and shined a light musicians who might not otherwise have had the exposure or credibility given to them by being associated with Mike.
The band entered the Pyramid Sound, Ithaca, New York, November 1983, how did the recording sessions go? Was it easy to work with those guys with?
I still love the guys and have from day one. They are extremely talented and dedicated. There is nothing negative I can say other than I wish we’d been able to sonically have done better for them. They were a blast to work with and have nothing but good memories from my time with them.
Were Exciter prepared to record their second full length? Did they record some demos or pre-production materials before the recording sessions?
As I recall we may have done some demos (I’ll have to check my files) but they were ready to record. They knew what they wanted and weren’t allowing any partying to get in the way of their recording time.
While it doesn’t do anything different as it’s debut, one thing for certain the sound is way more polished and nowhere near the ass-kicking rawness of Exciter’s debut album but none-the-less it’s an excellent follow-up, what do you think about it? Is the sound a bit clearer than the one on the debut but it’s still heavy, corrosive and total speed, as the genre command?
As I’d stated in the prior question I wish we’d been able to do a bit more for them sonically. Comparing the two albums is probably something the fans can debate. I know these guys have never been anything but a fucking tank at high speed their entire career.
Did Exciter’s second album appear just as the metal world was feeling the impact of the thrash boom and the band was astute enough to adapt to the change?
I can’t say directly about that but it seemed to me that Excited was being Exciter every step of the way. They weren’t interested in jumping on any band wagon. They were leading the parade.
Does/Did „Violence and Force” feature the same characteristics of their debut?
Without a doubt you can’t have musicians with such strong personalties not bring to that each record. Their musical signature will carry through every time.
Do you agree with, that this album feature some of the greatest songs by this band and the title track is one of them? What are your fave songs from this record?
I thought these songs were excellent. I would have to go back and listen again to decide if I had a true favorite. There are some standout tracks but I felt and feel that it was an album that successfully made a musical statement as a whole.
Can be the songs devided into two parts? I mean, the first ones being speed metal monsters, and the second ones being slower mid-paced traditional heavy metal tunes; the faster songs are definitely better which is obvious considering that after all this is a speed metal band…
I’ve always thought that if you do a break down or mix it up a bit it makes the impact of the sledgehammer more exciting. I liked the way they did their bone crushing mid tempo stuff.
How do you see, that Exciter’s style on „Violence and Force” isn’t really thrash although they were certainly fast enough to keep up with the new breed and doubtless influenced the scene with this release?
As I’d said these guys were doing what they loved with their music. They were being themselves not jumping on a musical trend.
According to guitarist John Ricci, at this point, they were still discovering theirselves, the success of their first record was unexpected, so they wanted to follow up with even a greater record, what do you think about it?
Isn’t that the mark of a great artist or band? Need I say more?
Is it an absolutely outstanding record? Is it a legendary album of a legend?
I can’t make that call. I loved working with the band, I love the record, and I love the music. I think were trying to make a cohesive album and to that end I believe we succeeded.
Did Exciter manage to catch the attention of the then leading heavy metal label in the US?
That aspect of the business was something that Jon and Marsha were handling. I do believe they had interest but from whom or where it led I have no idea.
How was the record welcomed? Did it fulfill the hopes that were added to it? I mean, did it satisfy the demands of the fans?
I can’t recall all of the reviews from the time. I was busy and didn’t always follow every review. I don’t think any album can satisfy all fans but I think it served them well. I say that despite a cover which I found a bit weak.
Megaforce Records which at the time couldn’t be a better place considering the label had just released Metallica’ „Kill ’em All”, and later on Over Kill’s „Feel the Fire”, so being stuck next to those two definitely gave them an advantage in exposing them to a bigger audience, how do you explain this? Did Megaforce really help a lot the band? Did they really support Exciter?
Jon and Marsha, to my knowledge, never signed a band they didn’t believe in. They were tireless promoters but they didn’t promote something their hearts weren’t committed to. It certainly was an advantage for the band in the fact that all the bands on the label had credibility given to each other by their label mates. They were all in good company.
They were not all that popular, though they have always made great quality songs throughout their career; Exciter was a band that never hit it big but should have, correct?
Again, I feel that Exciter is a band who has not gotten the recogition they deserve.
Is Exciter often overlooked when it comes to metal?
Without a doubt!
It seems, a good friendship have woven among you and the band, because during 1984 Exciter embarked on the Hell On Earth tour with Metallica and with your band The Rods, how did that tour come into being exactly? How did the whole tour go? Did the bands get on well with each other?
Sadly this tour never materialized.
Dan Beehler was involving in your project Thrasher, what can you tell us about it? Could you give us details about the Burning At The Speed Of Light record?
When Duck (Andres Duck MacDonald) and I were working on Thrasher album we discussed musicians who would be right for the project. I’d always loved Dan’s voice and Dan as a person. As Duck and I worked on the song Burning At The Speed of Light we knew there was only one guy who was going to bring to it what it needed. Dan came in and just sang his ass off as he always does. The guy gives a hundred percent every time.

Raging Steel interview with Dan and Dave

2011-01-10T04:35:00.000-08:00

Old school thrash metal (and the '80s as a whole) a favourite music of mine. In the recent days/months I discovered a very young and talented Swedish outfit Raging Steel. Their awesome effort Guilty As Charged rooted in the '80s thrash, that I recommend for the fans of that genre. Enjoy this interview.

Dan, around the early ’2000s seemed in Sweden a kind of thrash metal boom, a lot of bands started popping up, such as Leprosy (they became Caustic Strike), Oppression, Corrupted, Hazard, Terror etc. were you familiar with those bands?
Hey David, and thanks a lot for doing this interview!!! Well David, when I moved to Sweden back in 2005 I had no idea at all who those bands were actually. Mostly due to the fact that I didn’t have any connection to the Swedish underground scene when i lived back home in Norway. Hehe, I remember the first time I heard Corrupt. It was their Born of Greed demo... I was literally totally blown away by their aggression, their speed and the way they played their thrash. They played like back in the ’80s! With all those riffs, the crushing „grabs your balls” bass, those pounding drums, the raw hateful vocals, the sound, how they changed the tempo and beats in every song. And especially, with something most bands lack of today, feeling and the spirit for playing pure metal. Now that was thrash! It was thrash with a fistful of „Fuck all them shitty asshole wannabe new age metal rapers” if you know what i mean. As with Oppression, Lethal, Caustic Strike, Divider, Immaculate and Entrench to name a few, they all shared that same spirit and some still carry that torch!
Not like most of todays bands. Today all you see are these cookiecutter fuckers who absolutely have to have the cleanest production, absolutely need the biggest drumkit, absolutely need to have the most cash, and not to forget their total ignorance of actually having a sound thats unique and personal... Shit did i just go berserk? Well, anyhow, that was how i became familiar with the Swedish bands and the scene over here.
What made those guys playing in the vein of early thrash outfits, such as Kreator, Destruction, Slayer, Testament etc.? Was their goal keeping the ’80s thrash scene alive?
Good question! I think what made them play in that vein is as with the rest of us... the urge to get out there and headbang, be able to play and let the aggression, feelings or whatever just rip out through the music without having to be affected by commercialism and bullshit. Besides that, its just pure fucking neckbreaking metal haha! As to think of such a goal, hell yes! I believe their goal was to keep the ’80s thrash scene alive, but in a new face so to speak. We live in the 2000s now, and things will obviously never be the same after all them moneysmoking cocksuckers (Yeah you know who you are!) milked and raped the thrash scene back in the ’90s. I think the old school metalheads just got sick of listening to shitty popfuck metal. So then in the end, they took shit in their own hands and the goal became to show that real metal still exists...
How about Swedish thrash bands, such as Merciless, Agony or Mezzrow? Why did it fail them to break through? I mean, it failed them to make a name for themselves…
Man its hard to tell actually... Bands as Merciless, Agony and Mezzrow all deserve the respect they never got. The biggest reason in my opinion, is that they never broke through because there mainly never was any larger thrash scene in these parts of Europe, and still there ain't such a big scene here. But back then you had the black metal hailing from Norway, the famous death metal from Sweden and on top of that I dont think the Swedes, Norweges, Finnish and Danish really could appreciate their thrash metal at that time. EVEN though it was in the ending phase of the ’80s. Look at these bands today, now most metalheads who dont have their head up their asses knows who Merciless, Agony and Mezzrow are! And totaly love the music! Bad timing perhaps?
Would you say, that the Swedish thrash bands never played an important role during the ’80s, like the German or American ones and weren’t so influential? Were they overshadowed?
Id say the contrary, of course the Swedish bands played an important role man! Maybe they didn't get heard of too much globally, but id bet my ballsack that a little underground guy named José was hanging out in his friends basement over in Brazil or wherever, smoking some shit, drinking some beers, moshing and headbanging till his eyeballs fell out of his ass, WHILE listening to Merciless, Fallen Angel etc etc!! But to compete with the German or the US bands on the other hand was most likely really hard at that time. I mean, those two scenes grew fast as hell when the wave first started. They have some of the greatest bands and was also the „introducers” of thrash/speed metal... So if i would say that the Swedish scene was overshadowed? Yes, but that doesnt necessary decrease the quality of the Swedish thrash! And where would todays Swedish bands be, without their predecessors? Probably having just a hard time as those back in the ’80s.
Let we speak about your current outfit Raging Steel, how did the band get together?
Hehehe... By satans will!! No im just kidding! Or am i? Well... its a real fun story actually! To begin with, Vitja and I have known each other and have played together since ’05. First time i met him was when i was auditioning to play guitar in Electricution hehe... I thought he was a maniac who was ought to kill me or something haha! But the audition went as it went, i brought some whisky to the rehearsal and it ended with me getting in the band and Vitja hugging my toilet later that evening hahaha!! Now, it was the summer of 2008 and Vitja and i was hanging out at my place for a month where we partied and got shitfaced everyday like normal people... But in addition to that, I had already started to think of a new band since our former band Electricution was starting to loose motivation. During that month I wrote most of the songs thats featured on our debut album with Vitja, we still cant remember any of the writing process though hahaha! Nevertheless we recorded test versions on some of the tunes in the apartment, which ended up sounding pretty awesome. After that i called Emil (Braindead), since we both was in the same class in college and asked him if he wanted to play bass in our new band. And without hesitation he was there! As for Dave, I met him at random parties back in the days. What year i actually cant remember, but he was a cool guy with long hair who was into old school death metal. And i knew he could play guitar really well, plus he never said no when i offered him beer! So after a few calls and he had listened to the test versions, he too didnt hesitate to join. With that done, we started looking for a rehearsal where we could start working some more on the songs. From there on we have all grown together as a band, a unit, but mostly as really good friends! Which i think is very unrare these days...
It seems, Raging Steel isn’t your first band, since you are involving or were involving in other acts, such as Electricution, Torn Apart and Chainsawtan, how about these acts? Is Raging Steel the most important for you?
Yeah Electricution was a fun time. We thrashed around the city and Sweden playing our asses of without mercy, even did a gig in Norway with none other than Pentagram from Chile! Which was totaly bad ass! But sadly in the end of ’Cutions time, some of the guys lost motivation, and i think their passion for playing music just quite didnt grow as it should have. Now, i dont carry any negative feelings against those guys at all, we split up as friends and they still are really good mates of mine (I even live in the same apartment as the vocalist/bassist haha). I just think its a shame that such a raw, old school speed/thrash band dont exist anymore in these dire times of Swedish thrash metal...
As for Torn Apart, that was Daves former band so il let him talk about that himself.
Dave: Well, Torn Apart was formed around 05 with the notion that no brutal bands were active in Umeå at the time, at least that I was aware of. It was mostly melodic stuff around so I wanted to just slaughter and brutalize Umeå in the way I deemed fit! So I got 4 other guys together and we started playing around in Umeå til’ we recorded the first demo that was later released as a 4 track EP on Pathologically Excplicit Recordings, titled Craving Pale Flesh around 06. Then we continued writing stuff and playing live now and then til’ around 08 when the singer left the band. At the same time I had jumped on the Raging Steel bandwagon so I myself started losing interest in continuing playing with Torn, as I consider him the best Death Metal vocalist in our town and it would be hard replacing him AND that I had some downhill spiral with my inspiration in writing riffs and wanted a fresh start. So as all that shit was flying Torns way we had plans on recording our first full length album, so we did that even though the singer and I had quit the band, but it turned into a 9 track Death Metal album that has yet to see the light of day as it hasn’t been released, shame, as it is one brutal album! After the recording was done we parted ways as friends and I moved on to play with Raging Steel.
Dan: Chainsawtan on the other hand, is a new but old school black metal band where Vitja and Emil featured as session members for their first gig. The gig was actually on Forlorn Fest this year, Swedens only black metal festival that was held here in Umeå. Check it out if you are into black metal!
To conclude for me personally, Raging Steel is the only band I want and its one of the most important things in my life. Its the place where i go when i need to exert my aggressions, when i need time off from todays fucked up society and its people. I think, the bands chemistry alongside the musical freedom (take this sentence as you will) and passion to play old school metal, not for money and not for any one elses sake but our own, is what a band should be all about.
Do you take the band seriously by the way? I mean, what are your goals that you wanted to achieve, to reach Raging Steel with?
Haha of course, metal ain't a joke! And maybe thats one of the goals we have, to show people that you don't fuck around with it... But i couldn't say that we have any other concrete goals more than playing our metal, crush, kill and headbang around. Hopefully someday though, we might be able to go on a tour and have a fucking ball with metalheads around the world!
Who came up with the band name? Would you say, that it speaks for itself considering your music and stuff?
Another great question haha... As with the writing in ’08, i still dont recall if it was me or Vitja who came up with the name. The name for itself does speak for our music, I mean, we are raging and we like cold bloody steel. No but the music itself is Raging all the way.
You are from Umea, the home of Swedish outfits, such as Naglfar, Bewitched or Guillotine, what can you tell us about the metal scene of the town? Are there clubs, shows in support of metal?
The metal scene here in general is really big actually, theres always new bands in all kinds of genres evolving and popping up. Back in the past Umeå was mainly a punk city as I've learned its story, and id say it still is, but now its even a metal city. Umeå has even been proclaimed culture capital of 2014! When it comes to the thrash scene in Umeå there really ain't so many bands, you have us, Lethal, Evolvator, Electricution and Guillotine... I hope someday that the old school metal scene in Umeå will grow even further. As for clubs, there are a few that dares to have metal bands live and then on the other hand theres mostly underground punk/hardcore gigs. But as time passes I've noticed that more and more clubs are leaning into the old kind of metal.
What about your influences? Do all of the band members have a common musical taste or do everybody have an own fave? Do you listening to other type of music besides thrash?
Yeah totally, we all listen to old school metal! Creative wise, our lyrics and music are influenced from a personal perspective in terms of madness, death, satan and hell. Ive always said that lyrics are personal and flexible, and should be written from your own view on things and experiences. How people choose to see the meaning of our lyrics are up to the ones that listen to it. Some may understand them, some may not... As for the differences in the band regarding genres, i myself listen to ’80s thrash and death. But I also listen to NWOBHM, speed metal and good old heavy that goes all the way back to the 70’s! Other than that, i also like Jimi Hendrix haha!
I know Vitja is moreover a ’80s death/thrash, punk and hardcore fanatic while Dave originally is an old school death metal guy, but he also digs the old ways of thrash. Emil on the other hand is pure ’80s thrash and heavy metal in his choice of music, if you want metal, hes the guy to be thrashed by!
In 2009 you released a rehearsal tape, titled „Pits Of Hell – Rehearsal Tape #1”, can you give us details regarding on this material? How long did it take for you guys to write the material?
That tape is actually the first demo on the tunes that evolved to be the ones on the „Guilty As Charged” album! The material as i said earlier in the interview was written in ’08, it took about 1-2 months to finish up every song before we started rehearsing them. When we recorded the tape we had just been rehearsing the songs for about 1 month or so, and the only recording equipment we used for it was a friends old tape recorder from the ’80s haha!
Did you promote this stuff at all? Did you try to make a nme for the band with the help of this material?
We did some promotion for it, but we only sold it to some friends and around the people we hang with. Other than that, we didn't actually think to much about making a name for ourselves with it, it was mostly intended for the band to fine tune the songs before we were going to record it in the studio. Eventually, labels became interested in the material and wanted to hear more.
It was followed by the three tracker „Guilty As Charged” in the same year, was it a promotional material? Was it shopped around to attract label interests?
The three tracker that we released was actually a promo that we gave to people at our gigs, to labels and any that wanted it. Many have been confused that its a demo, but it originally was a promo with raw mixes on some of the studio version songs.
August 2009 you entered the DimRakk studios in Umea to record your debut record „Guilty As Charged”, how did the recording sessions go?
Hehe, studio recording.. what can i say? For Me, Vitja and Emil it was our first time ever in a real studio as Dave had been in studio with Torn Apart earlier. But studios are studios... One guy who sits and tell us we cant play this kind of music and the other telling us our equipment is outdated... Fuck that, people who cant see music and its way of life for what it is shouldn't be in studios. Anyway the recording sessions went really good regardless, we only had 2 weeks time to record all the 9 songs and we had been rehearsing them now for 3-4 months and did our first gig during that time too. The drums took about 2 days to record, the guitars about 3, the bas 1-2 days and the vocals about 1 day i think. We did actually have some time over when everything was recorded, but on some mysterious occasion the guy who engineered us said theres was no more time... So we did it all in a total of 1½ weeks.
Did you have a decent budget to record the album or did you pay the studio costs by yourselves?
We paid for the studio time ourselves, and we didn't have any budget since we all were really really poor and unemployed at the time. To afford it we had to sell some of our shit and borrow from our families. In fact we didn't even have a dine over after we had paid for the studio time... Couldn't pay for rent and shit and had to live on almost no food or beer for a month.
Were you prepared to cut the material?
No, we didn't want to cut any of it. Before we started the sessions we had chosen all the songs we wanted to keep, and thus the fact that all the songs we recorded contained something special which we had worked our asses off for.
Why didn’t make up new tunes on the record? Did you simply re-record the „Pits Of Hell” material or…?
We already had a lot of new tunes before that recording came to life actually, but we wanted to keep the „old” songs exclusiveness, history and raw feeling. So we chose to re-record the „Pits of Hell” tape, but with the finished versions of the tunes of course!
I for one would say, it’s a very cool thrash metal album, rooted in the ’80s and similar to early Slayer, Metallica or Merciless, how do you view it? Would you tell us more about the album?
Thanks a lot David!!! Id say the album speaks for all the individuals that understand metal and its aggression, the hate, passion for real music. The album itself is fast paced all the way through with riffage and solos, raw vocals, pounding drums n bass, but in a contained chaos straight from hell. We aren't trying to be the fastest or anything like that, music ain't about trying to be someone but being yourself. And the record expresses just that, i mean we are four poor guys that just want to play metal as we see it! Soundwise most modern people will most definitely hate it, but for those who still loves the feeling and punch in the ’80s sound it will hopefully be enjoyed with a beer and lots of headbanging haha!
Do you agree with, that your vocals are a little death metal influenced?
Yeah i have to agree to that, and not just a little haha! Singers such as Jeff Becerra, Mille Petrozza and Ventor, Pat Lind, Darren Travis, Paul Baloff, David Vincent and Anton Reisenegger to name a few have been a really great inspiration to me. Ive always wanted to be able to expose my aggressions in a really hateful way besides just playing guitar, so naturally a kind of an evil streetwise death/thrash vocal evolved.
How would you offer the record for those, who didn’t listen to the record or aren’t familiar with the band?
To those kind of people i would offer it as a very raw, aggressive and diversified old school thrash metal record from a band that puts the music and headbanging as priority one. Not money or fame but with the urge to want to break some necks live. Easy said, if you like 80’s thrash/death metal you should give our record a chance!
The album was mixed at the RR Studios Umeå, by Robin Rehnstrom, was it his first experience as mixer? Were you satisfied with the end result?
It was his first experience in mixing a full length album yes, but he had been mixing a lot of other stuff before this as personal projects etc. But we chose to go with him cause frankly, id hate to see some all knowing modern fag make a „default fabric” cookie cutter sound to our record. And with Robin here i knew he understood what we wanted to achieve and the meaning of our music, which ended in us being very satisfied with the result.
By whom was it produced and engineered?
The record was produced and engineered by Hans Johansson at DimRakk studios, but the producing was with our directing.
What type of reviews did you get on the record? Do the thrash fans like it?
So far we have had only a phew reviews on the record as I've seen. But the reviews we've gotten have been in good favor of the record, makes us really glad to see that our record is being appreciated! Yeah totally, it seems that people like our music. So i certainly hope that they'll stick with us till the next album, if „Guilty as Charged” was from ’84 then the next will be ’85!
Though it was not until the year 2010 that you signed with Bay Area based label Reinig Records and managed to release their first full length, how did you get in touch with them? Weren’t other label interests in the band?
Yeah there was a few other labels that showed interest. At first, we were going to release our record through a Swedish label, but communication between us and the label wasn't good enough so in the end we chose not to release it through them. During that time JoJo from Reinig Records had sent us some mails and we started talking, he showed a lot of interest in our music and the band. So we were talking to a few other labels after that but in the end we chose to go with Reinig Records since they were the ones that cared the most for the musical aspects of our metal, the rawness of old school metal and the knowledge of how a metal record should sound! Plus JoJo is the one of the coolest metalheads I've talked to ever, so it felt natural to let him and Reinig Records release our record since he know that sound and spirit also has a meaning to a record!
Does it mean, that the reason of the delay was, that you hadn’t any label? Didn’t you think about to release it as a self-financed/self-released material?
Hmm both id say, we had lots of bad luck and the fact that we had a label with bad communication; delay was inevitable. And self finance was in our minds as well, but if we were to release it on our own the record might never have gotten released with us not owning a penny and no one wanting to employ us for regular jobs. So when Reinig approached us with the papers to sign, it was like a dream come true for us haha!
How much support, promotion do you get from the label? How many copies were sold from the album?
From the label we have gotten lots and lots of support and promotion. They've been spreading the word over in the US and the rest of the world! But they've also helped us personally when we have had rough times over here, which in my opinion is what a label is about. Bringing forth the music and caring for the bands that they sign! How many copies that have been sold i don't have any numbers on actually. I just know that we finally have gotten a chance to share our metal with the rest of the world, and hopefully we will be able to share the stage with like minded metalheads in the future!
Over time, the band has played on festivals like the Norwegian Raise the dead fest alongside Sodom, Asphyx, Angel Witch, Manilla Road, Ram and more, as well as on the House of Metal festival in your hometown Umeå, which is one of the biggest metal festivals in Northern Sweden, can you tell us more about those gigs? Were they your first live experiences by the way?
Raise the dead fest was actually our 3rd or 4th gig i think, we had a really good time over there! Despite the fact that half the band was sick with fever, we drove for over 13-14 hours to get there, we had to pay for our hostel when we were promised a free staying place (we were the only band that didn't get it for free mind you) and that we didn't get the promised time to soundcheck properly or eat anything before we had to go on stage. But nevertheless we did our gig the best we could and we got our fun, also we saw bands that we never thought we would see live or play live with even!
The House of Metal show on the other hand, we had our best time and gig ever id say. They gave us all that was promised, beer, food, good times and an audience that knew how to fucking let hell loose.
Were there still other shows in support of the record besides those two festival appearances?
Yeah, we have been playing around Sweden on clubs and pubs at various occasions now. We even did a „mini-mini-tour” with Immaculate for a weekend that was totally heavy mental man! Haha, we partied, played, headbanged and just had a ball! The last gig we did was at the UmeMetal open air festival here in Umeå, had a bad sound live and didn't even got the time to pre party since we were first out of all the bands. But it was fucking fun!! As for now we are planing a lot of gigs for the coming year and a proper release gig for „Guilty As Charged”, its going to be a blast from the past here in Umeå when that gig opens the gates!
In the future, Raging Steel will continue to burst aggression, play fast as hell, worship satan, when do you plan to record and release the second album? Do you already have some songs written?
We don't have any date for when we will start recording our next album. Our schedule as for now is that we have... without spoiling to much, the whole next albums songs ready actually. For the time being we are rehearsing them new songs and keeping a steady fine tune for every time we rehearse them, making sure they come out the way we want it. Hopefully, we will be done rehearsing in the beginning phase of next year and already started the recording. So keep your eyes open for our next record, it will be even more evil and raging than the first! Trust me!
Dan, thanks a lot for the interview, your closing words are coming…
The pleasure is all mine David, hope to talk to you again when the next album hits the lights! As for final words, don't try to be someone else but yourself. Thats when the real music is made! You cant cheat metal, and metalheads deserve real fucking metal! Metal till’death!!