Saxon is a well respected moniker in the heavy metal world. The band exploded onto the scene in the early 80s, and were one of the prime movers of the infamous New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Saxon's trademarks of course included extremely catchy tunes, crystal clear vocals, and blistering leads. The band's first few records are still considered staples of heavy metal, and forever cemented Saxon's place in the genre's history. After the successful 80s, Saxon, faded a little, at least in the U.S. only to properly resurface in the late 90s. The band still kept solid ground in their native Europe. Saxon released records consistently, and was visible on the touring front. Of course as it is in the music business, Saxon experienced some drama as well. Some former members put together their own version of the band, things got ugly, courts got involved, but wisdom luckily prevailed.
Today, Saxon includes three original members: Biff Byford on vocals, Paul Quinn on guitar, Nigel Glockler on drums. Glockler of course replaced Pete Gill in 1981. Joining the original trio are: Nibbs Carter on bass, and Doug Scarratt on guitar. This version of Saxon had been together for the last 15 years, only with Glockler taking time off here and there due to health issues.
In 2011, Saxon is back with a new album titled, "Call To Arms," and touring the world, including sometimes the ignored United States. The fan base is responding to the new album strongly, as it displays the spirit everyone fell in love with back in the early 80s. Simply put, 30 years down the line, and things couldn't look more promising for Saxon.
Saxon's vocalist, Biff Byford, talks about band's glorious return onto U.S. shores, and explains the origins of the new album.
Today, Saxon includes three original members: Biff Byford on vocals, Paul Quinn on guitar, Nigel Glockler on drums. Glockler of course replaced Pete Gill in 1981. Joining the original trio are: Nibbs Carter on bass, and Doug Scarratt on guitar. This version of Saxon had been together for the last 15 years, only with Glockler taking time off here and there due to health issues.
In 2011, Saxon is back with a new album titled, "Call To Arms," and touring the world, including sometimes the ignored United States. The fan base is responding to the new album strongly, as it displays the spirit everyone fell in love with back in the early 80s. Simply put, 30 years down the line, and things couldn't look more promising for Saxon.
Saxon's vocalist, Biff Byford, talks about band's glorious return onto U.S. shores, and explains the origins of the new album.
It's been a while a while since Saxon graced the Midwest stages, what's been going on?
Biff Byford: We've been to America in 2009, we just didn't come to these parts. We did New York, and San Antonio, Austin. So, we've been here. We just haven't been up here.
Now, that you are doing a longer and a more organized tour, did you notice any differences in the way the market operates on this side of Atlantic?
Yeah, two things were different on this tour. One, we are touring on an album release, and two, the album is being made in America. That's a massive difference. In the past, we were always touring way past the album's release. It was always after. And SPV would import the European copies of the records here, and once they sold them out, they didn't bring anymore. It just stopped us from selling more albums than we could. This time EMI is printing albums here, so they can just continue to print, and we'll continue coming. It's as simple as that.
Also, you did the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise, which was also an American venture.
Yeah, that was in America. Not many Americans on the cruise, mind you, it was mostly Europeans actually. There were a few Americans on there, but most of the crowd came from Europe, especially from Germany.
What was the experience like?
It was good actually. We liked it. At first we were a bit hesitant, but it was great. The fans are great, respectful of the bands. The cheapest cabin was about $3,500, so it was a lot of money. Then you got add the cost of the flight, if you were coming from Europe, or US. So it was a very middle to upper class tour.
The new album has a very fresh vibrant sound. Can you describe the process of making the record?
Well, we started before last Christmas, and we finished it in January 2011. We were actually pretty rushed to get it finished. We tried a few different techniques on it. We were trying to bring it more into the spirit of the 80s feel on there.
Do you think you were successful in recovering that spirit?
Yeah, less is more you see. The album is recorded quite live, not totally live obviously. The drums are one take, no samples or anything like it. We didn't go for any tricks with Pro Tools. Not a lot of BVs or keyboards really. So, less productions techniques, and more passion, and more working on great songs. I think some bands try to make mediocre songs great by overproducing, but we wanted to move away from that style. It stalled for a while, so we changed the team, and it worked really well. We like it.
When it comes to writing songs, you've been at it for over 30 years. How do you do it now? Do you still rehearse as much as you did back in the beginning, or have you developed a new formula for writing?
Sometimes we jam it, and the songs come out, and sometimes people bring things in, and we develop it. Usually what happens is I'm usually in charge of all the arrangements, and what riffs we actually use. So, I go to my hard drive and work on things. For example the riff for "When Doomsday Comes," which is a little bit Zeppelinish, is a Nigel's riff. And he played it one day messing around on keyboards, and I recorded it secretly. When we were asked to do a film soundtrack, I played that riff back to him, and asked Nigel if he remembered doing this. So we wrote a song from that actually. The guitarists came up with their parts, and it all came together. So, it's a little bit of a melting pot process I suppose. Sometimes I have lyrics, and different things. The guitar pats in "Mists of Avalon," and "Ballad of the Working Man" are mine. I wrote those. On the other hand, the guys might write some lyrics too. It depends really. Usually, we have one guy in control of all these pieces that are flying around, and that's generally what I do. I put them all together, and make songs really.
So it appears that songwriting ideas could come from every member of the band.
Everyone contributes in one way or the other. It takes a long time to make a song from a guitar riff, or a vocal melody. It's not a song, and a lot of work gets done after that fact. But yeah, everybody puts in their share of the songwriting.
Do you happen to have riffs recorded and lying around for years before the right idea comes?
Not really, I mean the guys already have some new riffs written as they are messing about. I've got 5 or 6 titles for the next album already. So, yeah, when we get an idea, we write it down basically.
"Back in 79" is a track with a true anthem quality, not heard from Saxon since the 80s. Can you tell me how that song was written?
Well, that one, it's really "Denim and Leather" revisited. I wanted to do a song that had that type of spirit. We were one of the first bands to write songs about our audience, and still do write songs about our fans. It's a unique thing that we started. "Heavy Metal Thunder" is about our fans as well. Toby (Jepson-producer)wanted to go back for me to write lyrics again that were more working class, that were more connected with the fans. And that's one of the songs dealing with the topic. That one and "Ballad of The Working Man," and "Surviving Against the Odds." Those songs are me going into that zone I suppose, really. I wanted it to be like "Denim and Leather" and we did the same thing with the fans singing on the track like we did back in 1981. Only this time we did it by the internet, and not by the telephone. You know, it was a bit quicker.
Obviously you had a chance to try these new songs live. How do they go down, and how many are you playing?
We were playing 6 or 7 tracks off the new album. It really depends how much time we have to play. People want to hear the hits, especially in America, and we don't come here too often. We can experiment in Europe a bit more, and play different songs. I think if we didn't play "Denim and Leather," or "Crusader," or some of the big hits that we had people would be disappointed. So we have to figure it out. I mean "Power & The Glory" was a huge album in America, it sold over a half a million copies here. Not a member of the platinum club, but for the people that bought it, it was an important record. We tend to play 2 or 3 tracks off that. We mix the new songs with the old, and it goes down well.
Your old catalog is seeing the light of day again. The albums are very nicely re-mastered, with plenty of bonus tracks, and great packaging. Were you involved in bringing it back to life?
Yeah, I did a couple of the forwards for the EMI catalog. The back catalogue is what really keeps the band alive I have to say. It sells continuously. Someone told me it sells one copy every minute around the world. The back catalog sells really well. And now it's coming out on vinyl again, so you got all the CDs and you got the vinyl. When you write so many great albums, and the first 5/6 were really big for us song wise I suppose. That's why I think this album comes close to it because the songs are great.
The packaging of the new album is very unusual, nothing like any other Saxon cover. Care to explain the idea behind it?
I hope it's unusual.
I like it, but it's completely off that wall.
I wanted it to be off the wall. It's nothing like "Strong Arm of the Law" where it's just an image I suppose. The album is called "Call to Arms." Obviously all of the songs are very sad songs about soldiers living with death, and missing their loved ones. I think the cover is good, it has a theme going through it.
Yeah, I did a couple of the forwards for the EMI catalog. The back catalogue is what really keeps the band alive I have to say. It sells continuously. Someone told me it sells one copy every minute around the world. The back catalog sells really well. And now it's coming out on vinyl again, so you got all the CDs and you got the vinyl. When you write so many great albums, and the first 5/6 were really big for us song wise I suppose. That's why I think this album comes close to it because the songs are great.
The packaging of the new album is very unusual, nothing like any other Saxon cover. Care to explain the idea behind it?
I hope it's unusual.
I like it, but it's completely off that wall.
I wanted it to be off the wall. It's nothing like "Strong Arm of the Law" where it's just an image I suppose. The album is called "Call to Arms." Obviously all of the songs are very sad songs about soldiers living with death, and missing their loved ones. I think the cover is good, it has a theme going through it.
I remember asking you back in 2003 how many records do you still have in you as Saxon, and you said 2 or 3. Did anything change since then?
Well, it's still 2 or 3 (the interview room explodes with laughter at this point.) I can't really tell, but if the chemistry of the band is as fantastic as it is now, then obviously we will still make records. I suppose the more you stay together the more irrelevant you become because it all goes around the full circle, and there aren't too many bands around anymore from our time. There is Iron Maiden, that started it all, you know the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Def Leppard started that too, but they sort of don't want to be involved with that sort of movement anymore, although they are. The bands are still there, aren't they? Diamond Head is back at it again. I mean, Metallica kept them alive for years, and that's good.
Speaking of Metallica, you did a performance with them not too long ago. How did that come about?
Yeah, I did "Motorcycle Man" with them in Paris. It was a great fun. They love our music, and they've influenced us as well, so it goes backwards and forward.
I know you've had a lot of dealings with former members who formed Oliver/Dawson Saxon. The trademark case went to court, and there was a lot of bad blood there for a while. Did anything change?
We allowed them to use that name, Oliver/Dawson Saxon, so they can earn some money basically. They still do little clubs here and there. They do a lot of those tribute festivals where you bands impersonating other bands. So they do a lot of that, and so what, they don't really bother us too much really.
And there are no court case pending at this point?
No, it was all finalized years ago. They tried to make things spin out a bit by putting things on Wikipedia. They have a judgment against them, and they can't use the logo, or use the album covers, or anything really. They still continue to pretend to be in Saxon which is a little bit sad. The Son of a Bitch album ("Victim You"-1996) they did couple of years ago was actually quite decent. I quite like that album, when they came out with the guy named Ted Bullet singing. I like that album, and if they carried on with that, it could've been a bit of a threat I suppose, but they didn't, so see you.
Finally, how many years is it exactly that you play together?
Saxon as a name started back in 1979, but me and Paul had been together for a quite a long time. We were in many other bands together.
What's the magic recipe for a long and lasting career then?
It's the strength of the music, the strength of the fan base, and it's like Lemmy said "what else can we do?"
Well, when Lemmy talks you know you have to listen.
Exactly!
Well, it's still 2 or 3 (the interview room explodes with laughter at this point.) I can't really tell, but if the chemistry of the band is as fantastic as it is now, then obviously we will still make records. I suppose the more you stay together the more irrelevant you become because it all goes around the full circle, and there aren't too many bands around anymore from our time. There is Iron Maiden, that started it all, you know the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Def Leppard started that too, but they sort of don't want to be involved with that sort of movement anymore, although they are. The bands are still there, aren't they? Diamond Head is back at it again. I mean, Metallica kept them alive for years, and that's good.
Speaking of Metallica, you did a performance with them not too long ago. How did that come about?
Yeah, I did "Motorcycle Man" with them in Paris. It was a great fun. They love our music, and they've influenced us as well, so it goes backwards and forward.
I know you've had a lot of dealings with former members who formed Oliver/Dawson Saxon. The trademark case went to court, and there was a lot of bad blood there for a while. Did anything change?
We allowed them to use that name, Oliver/Dawson Saxon, so they can earn some money basically. They still do little clubs here and there. They do a lot of those tribute festivals where you bands impersonating other bands. So they do a lot of that, and so what, they don't really bother us too much really.
And there are no court case pending at this point?
No, it was all finalized years ago. They tried to make things spin out a bit by putting things on Wikipedia. They have a judgment against them, and they can't use the logo, or use the album covers, or anything really. They still continue to pretend to be in Saxon which is a little bit sad. The Son of a Bitch album ("Victim You"-1996) they did couple of years ago was actually quite decent. I quite like that album, when they came out with the guy named Ted Bullet singing. I like that album, and if they carried on with that, it could've been a bit of a threat I suppose, but they didn't, so see you.
Finally, how many years is it exactly that you play together?
Saxon as a name started back in 1979, but me and Paul had been together for a quite a long time. We were in many other bands together.
What's the magic recipe for a long and lasting career then?
It's the strength of the music, the strength of the fan base, and it's like Lemmy said "what else can we do?"
Well, when Lemmy talks you know you have to listen.
Exactly!
Links:
www.saxon747.com/en/
www.saxon747.com/en/
There is a video up on YouTube that shows a very young Zakk Wylde. Very, very young. It’s an illuminating vid and not because the teenaged guitar player has long blonde tresses any Hollywood groupie would be jealous of. In fact he looks like a transvestite hooker sitting there along side Ozzy Osbourne â€" and he’d be the first person to admit as much. No, what is so extraordinary about the clip is that Wylde is still searching for his inner identity, the person he’d become. His words are tentative and he’s not quite sure who he is or who he wants to be. But he’d soon find that persona and emerge as the great metal wild man we all love.
You can hear some of that wildness here in a conversation with Wylde when he phoned in from Florida. Black Label Society were there in Tampa for some shows supporting Judas Priest and then continuing on the tour that would find them opening for Guns N’Roses.
In the midst of all this touring, the guitarist found time to write a book â€" Bringing Metal to the Children â€" bang out a theme song for a baseball news show and record a new three - song EP of Christmas music called Glorious Christmas Songs That Will Make Your Black Label Heart Feel Good. In typically crazy spirits and cranked up to 11, Zakk broke the ice by talking about the Judas Priest tour.
UG: What has the Priest tour been like?
Zakk Wylde: It’s awesome, man. I mean they’re all super cool dudes to begin with aside from being an amazing band and legendary and all that stuff. I mean they’re just super cool people. I met the guys back on the Ozzfest when they first hit the Ozzfest years ago and I became friends with the guys then.
You got to know the band during that 2004 Ozzfest?
I remember I got Glenn an old SG from Gibson and I got a red-and-white pickguard V for KK back then. You know like the two guitars they had on the back of British Steel so I just got those as presents for the guys to say, “Thanks for the guitar lessons over the years and the inspiration†and all that shit. We all went to dinner last night and I’ve known Scott [Travis, drummer] for years and Richie [Faulkner] now playing guitar for ‘em; Rich is like slammin’ it and killin’ it every night.
Richie Faulkner is a really good guitar player.
Yeah, he’s like slammin’, dude. I mean killer technique and chops up the ass. He’s great and he fits in great with the guys. I mean it’s whatever happens between bands and K.K. and why isn’t Bill Wyman still in the Stones? You know what I mean? To me and you on the outside lookin’ in you just go, “How hard could it be to be in a band?†Like me with Ozzy? We never got into an argumentâ€"we were too busy laughin’ our balls off.
Playing with Ozzy was a really fun time for you?
All the years in Ozzy, all the guys in the band it’s just that we’d all hang out. It’s like, “Steve, do you want to go to a tit bar tonight? Steve, we’re gonna go hit a Hooters.†You know like we all hung out. I’ve never been in a band where I didn’t get along with anybody.
That’s the same dynamic as in your band?
With Black Label nobody ever quits or gets fired. It’s just kinda like, “Yo, Zakk, I’ve gotta go home. My wife’s pregnant now.â€
What happened with Craig Nunenmacher?
Like when Craig left, he was like, “Zakk, we’re not tourin’ all the time. Between the wife and the bambino, I think I’m gonna do some other things.†Because Craig wanted to get into the medical field and he wanted to have a steady income all the time ‘cause in music it’s up and down. And like with Ozz it would either be we’re workin’ and the money is comin’ in and then when you’re not workin’ there’s a lull. If anybody wants to leave Black Label for those reasons or you get a higher paying gig if you go out with Celine Dion, I’m not gonna stop you. It’s like, “Steve, you can always come back here.†I’m not gonna stop you from makin’ more money. Go and make the dough and if one of the guys wants to jump onboard a Whitesnake tour or something, you can always come back here.
Black Label is a real democracy.
That’s the way we roll and that’s what makes it unique. ‘Cause we all still talk and hang out and I mean even the guys that aren’t in the band that are playing in other bands. Like with the K.K. thing and the Bill Wyman thing or with Axl or Slash and all that. Between the wife and the kids and worrying about Black Label 25/8 and 366 days a year, I really don’t have time to be talkin’ to Dr. Drew and seein’ a psychiatrist. I really don’t have time for this, dude.
You bring up Axl and Slashâ€"Black Label is going out on the road with Guns N’Roses. What are you expecting?
I get along great with Axl. When I was playing with the guys in’95 or ’96, I had known Slash for a while and Duff and Steven and then I met Matt when he was playin’ in the Cult. We ran into each other and we’d always hang out and everything like that. I’ve known all the guys forever and the only guy I never met was Dizzy and that was about it.
What was that like when you auditioned for Guns N’ Roses back in the day?
Axl called me up and he was like, “Hey, Zakk, we’re talkin’ about guitar players and we were talkin’ about you. Do you want to come jam with us?†I was like, “Yeah, no problem, man. We’ll have a blast.†So we were jammin’ on stuff and everything like that but whenever I’d hang with Axl he was a good dude. He’s not an asshole or anything like that. It is what it is.
Could you have seen yourself joining Guns N’ Roses?
Yeah, why not? I mean I’m friends with all the guys and I can play with anybody, dude.
"With Black Label nobody ever quits or gets fired. It’s just kinda like, “Yo, Zakk, I’ve gotta go home. My wife’s pregnant now.â€"
Obviously you could have covered it musically but would it have satisfied all your guitar urges?
Let’s put it this wayâ€"as far as being a guitar guy, being an Ozzy guitarist, like I always said, “It’s the house that Rhoads built.†It’s the pinnacle of playing and there’s no higher honor than being a guitarist and playing for Ozzy. You know what’s expected out of you after Randy. Randy was the Babe Ruth and the Jesus Christ of Ozzy’s guitar players and always will be and that’s the way it should be. Randy started it just like Babe Ruth. Being an Ozzy guitar player is just putting the uniform on. And you know what’s expected out of you and you’re supposed to win a championship every yearâ€"that’s what’s expected out of an Ozzy guitar player ‘cause Randy set the bar. From playing with Ozz, where you gonna go from there?
If you had joined Guns N’ Roses, would you have been able to write and do all the things you do with Black Label Society?
When the guys asked me about jammin’ with GNR, yeah, as far as being in a band thing. But with me I love singin’; I love writin’ lyrics; I love producing and playing the piano. I love the acoustic stuff and the heavy stuff and being there for the mixing and dealing with all the merchandise. I love dealing with the backdrops and the production and everything. Now we’re doing videos and I’m involved in everything. I’m like George Steinbrenner [owner of the New York Yankees].
With Ozzy you weren’t able to fill all of those positions.
Being with Ozzy, I could be Mickey Mantle. You have St. Rhoads and he was the Bambino [nickname for Babe Ruth] and then you got Jake E. Lee who was Lou Gehrig; I was Mickey Mantle and now Gus G. is Derek Jeter. Like I said, being with Ozz I couldn’t ask for anything more being a guitar player. But now I’m involved with the trades and I’m involved with the free agency and who we’re drafting. I’m involved with the way the stadium’s gonna be built and the way we want the lawn cut for Christ’s sake. You know what I mean? Everything. Who are we gonna get in trade? What kind of pitchers are we getting in and the whole nine yards. I’m involved with everything. But being with Ozz was just like being at home with your parents and you couldn’t ask for anything more because you’ve got the coolest parents on the planet. But now me and you got our own apartmentâ€"know what I mean?
Since we’re talking about Ozzy, they have your audition tapes that you sent to Ozz on YouTube. Have you heard those recently?
What is that? Is that me playing classical guitar? I guess it was to show him I could play a bunch of different things. Actually somebody played it for me because I haven’t heard it in years. I don’t even have the tape; I don’t even know how that thing came about. But it was funny listening back to it and all the classical guitar stuff and that. It was cool.
There’s another video of you and Ozzy doing an interview. It’s really interesting because it shows Zakk Wylde before you had really developed into Zakk Wylde. Does that make sense?
I have no idea. You figure I started when I was 19 or 20 years old and I look back at the pictures and it’s awesome, man. A lot of people are like, “Oh, dude, I don’t even wanna sign the pictures.†With the big poofy hair and everything? I’ve just got to take the piss out of it. It’s like high school photos and the running joke was that Barb [Zakk’s wife] actually wanted to have sex with me. I go, “That’s when any chicks wanted to have sex with me†[big laughs]. And then if I was on Santa Monica Boulevard [a gay section in West Hollywood], guys as well [more laughs].
You’re not choosy.
Exactly!
Going back really early, there’s a YouTube video of you doing a solo in Zyris, one of your first bands.
It was the same thing with Zyrisâ€"we always had a good time and it was a lot of fun. Packin’ the gear and throwing it in the back of my Delta Royale and me and Barb going to the shows. I’d have to throw my gear in there and we’d make $20 a night and that was basically for the gas for me to do the gigs. But I was mowing lawns then and giving guitar lessons and obviously saving up all my money for Marshalls.
What were you using with Zyris?
I had the Laneys then ‘cause I got them because Warren DeMartini was playing them. The Ratt guys were all using Laneys. So I was like, “Man, I wanna get Laneys.†I had two Laney heads and two cabinets. But then Dave Dipietro and TT Quick when I saw them opening up and Dave was using all Marshalls, I was just like, “Oh, my god.†His guitar tone was ridiculous and I was just like, “Dude, I’ve gotta get a Marshall.â€
You’ve always had this type of camaraderie with in the bands you were in.
Dude, I had just as much fun then as I do now. It’s just that there’s more people. When we played keg parties it was always a blast ‘cause even though there’s like 180 people there, it looks like Madison Square Garden because there’s people everywhere and it’s just the coolest.
At the end of the solo, do you start playing the riff from Bad Company’s “Rock Steady�
Yeah, probably. I was going, “Why aren’t we playing more music like this?†because our originals were the worst, cheesiest shit. ‘Cause I remember Johnny Iacoves, the singer, loved Bad Company, Zep and Van Halen and everything like that. I was totally into Sabbath and Randy and Ozzy’s solo stuff and then I remember our drummer Andy Marcus was a huge Bonzo freak and loved Zeppelin and Johnny loved Zeppelin.
Your originals didn’t sound like Zep or Sabbath?
Somebody was like, “What does Zyris sound like?†‘Cause with Black Label I can say, “Well what does Black Label sound like? There’s tons of Sabbath flying around in there and Zeppelin. Whether you’ve got Allmans influences or Creedence and Skynyrdy-type things floating around. If you were eating soup or something you’d go, “What am I tasting here? Is that cilantro? Ginger? Is that tobasco?†If somebody wants to know what Black Label sounds like, I can just rattle off these bands. And it’s just like, “Well it kind of sounds like these guys. That’s what it’s gonna taste like when you eat this shit.â€
How would you describe Zyris?
I remember I was thinking about that and Scandal came on the radio with “Goodbye To You†[Zakk sings the chorus line]. And then “I’ve Done Everything For You†[sings the chorus. Rick Springfield. Didn’t Sammy Hagar originall write that song though?
He may have.
I think I heard Sammy do that one years ago but the Rick Springfield version? That’s what we sounded like. And I go, “There’s no guitar solos†and if there was a guitar solo it was the melody of the chorus. I remember when were doing the demo tapes with Zyris it was like, “Oh, we’re going into the studio and this is where all the magic happens†and blah blah blah. All I remember is when we were in there, I was trying to put some scale thing in there, some Randy-type thing or some thirds or some pentatonic thing or whatever. I got done doing the solo and these guys J.B. Moore and Robert Ford stopped the tape. They produced Kurtis Blow and shit, this rap stuff, and they wanted to get into the rock thing. So they put three-grand up for the studio time for us to do this fuckin’ pile of shit. But I remember one of them stopping the tape and he lit his lighter like he’s at a rock concert and he goes, “Alright now that we’ve got that out of our system, can we play the solo?â€
Did that really happen?
I kid you not, dude. I’m like going, “Unbelievable. What the fuck am I practicing for? What am I spending 12 hours a day playing the guitar for?? I’m listening to Randy Rhoads the whole time and Eddie Van Halen and “Spanish Fly†and “Eruption†and Tony Iommi kill it and Frank Marino. “And you want me to playâ€"nothing? This is ridiculous. I guess this is how it works: ‘We do this kind of crappy music first and then when we sell a lot of records then we can make our Black Label album with ‘Crazy Horse’ and ‘Overlord’ and everything like that.’†I go, “Dude, it doesn’t work that way. Alice in Chains was Alice in Chains from the get-go and they didn’t write cheesy, poppy Bon Jovi songs. They didn’t write songs that made Bon Jovi look like a death metal band.â€
You’re saying that you have to believe in the kind of music you want to play.
The only advice I give to kids is just like, “Oh, Zakk, you got any advice starting out?†I’m like, “Yeah, what music do you love?†And they’re like, “We love Dimebag and we love Pantera and Metallica.†And I go, “Good. You know what? There should be elements of that floating around in there. I go, “You know when you play a Metallica song or a Pantera song or an Alice in Chains song or whatever? Or Soundgarden? You know how good that makes you feel and you’re like, ‘Man, this song is awesome.’ That’s what your songs should make you feel like. You should be playing it going, ‘Wow, I can’t believe we wrote this song. I feel like I’m playing a cover song.’ That’s what your song should feel like and that’s when you know you’re doing the right thing.â€
You never had that feeling with Zyris?
No; it was all contrived and cheesy. It was just ridiculous. How are you gonna have your own identity if you’re writing stuff you don’t even like? ‘Cause you’re writing stuff that’s horrendous. I listen to Robin Trower every morning when I get up but Trower’s stuff, that’s the way he plays the guitar. He writes riffs that are pentatonic-based and you got James Dewar singing and it’s a three-piece band and there’s killer solos going on and that’s the kind of music he writes, man. I mean Zeppelin writes what Zeppelin wants to write. I mean just write the music that you love writing. And when you listen to it at the end of the day, you go, “It feels like I’m playing a cover song. Because I like the song so much it actually feels like I’m playing a cover song.â€
Did you have to wait until Pride and Glory before you were really able to write songs that made you feel good?
I just remember one day on stage we needed to play more songs at the Stone Pony with Zyris and we just broke into “Rock and Roll†by Zeppelin and now all of a sudden it’s like we’ve all got massive hard-ons because we’re playing cool music. Then it’s like you’ve got to go back our originals and our originals were songs I didn’t even want to play. “I mean I hate this music. I wouldn’t even listen to this kind of music. What am I doing?†I just tell kids, “Do yourself a favor and save yourselves a couple years and don’t do what I did. ‘Cause I’m telling you right now it’s just a waste of timeâ€"a complete waste of time.â€
"My parents always made sure we had killer Christmases. And being a parent now it’s always awesome with the kids and everything like that."
Jumping to the Glorious Christmas Songs That Will Make Your Black Label Heart Feel Good EP, you actually did your first Christmas instrument with Father Steve Vai for his Merry Axemas, Vol. 2: More Guitars For Christmas album back in 1998.
Years ago. Stevie asked me, “Hey, Zakk, you wanna knock this thing out?†So I was like, “Yeah, no problem.†I remember we recorded it when I was doing the first Black Label album and we were down in Miami at Criteria Studios. All I remember is Steve says, “Which one?†I go, “Did anyone do ‘White Christmas,’ Stevie?†And he goes, “No, Zakk†and I go, “I’ll do that one.†He goes, “Well that makes sense since you’re in Miami.†All the cocaine. “Oh, yeah, ‘White Christmas,’ that’s a good one.â€
That was the first time you ever worked on a Christmas instrumental?
Yeah, for that thing because Stevie was just like, “Zakk, why don’t you knock something out?†and I said, “No problem. I’ll just do an acoustic version of it.†I mean I love doing ‘em anyway. I mean I had a blast when I knocked these three out [on the new EP].
How did the Glorious Christmas Songs EP come about?
After I did “The First Noel†thing on The Song Remains Not the Same, iTunes called and said, “Mind doing another thing?†Because as far as I’m concerned, I love listening to John McLaughlin and Father DiMeola; Paco [DeLucia] and Christopher Parkening and any of the great [acoustic] guitar players. Any of the guys that are just killin’ it on guitar and it’s awesome to have these outlets to do it. Like when I jammed with Father Sherinian where it’s a fusion thing so it’s my fusion home when I’m jamming with Derek and stuff like that. When I got a chance to do these instrumentals, I love doing ‘em.
“I’ll Be Home For Christmas†combines acoustic and electric guitar and a bit of piano.
Yeah, and I got the string section in there.
That song has a bit of a Jeff Beck/Les Paul feeling to it?
Yeah, totally. Without a doubt. When I listen back to it that’s the first thing I was thinking. Kind of like a Les Pauly or Jeff Beck thing.
Your tone on “I’ll Be Home For Christmas†is pretty clean and almost has a jazz sound to it.
I’m just using the Vertigo Les Paul, the new one they gave me, straight into one of my JCM800s. That’s it; I didn’t use any of my pedals. I actually went into my pedal boards but I didn’t [turn them on]. If I wanted the chorus the chorus on or my Rotovibes or something, I had access to the pedals. Or if I wanted to use the wah and set it back like the cool Michael Schenker thing and get that tubey sound, I had access to it. But I didn’t even bother using the pedal board. All I did was just use the volume [on the guitar] and the settings on my amp were the same settings I use all the time and I just had the volume rolled down a little bit.
You really captured the essence of the song with that cleaner guitar tone.
Without a doubt. When I listened to it I said, “It sounds killer the way it is.†It just sounds like your classic Les Paul and the Marshallâ€"you can hear the tube and it sounds real glassy. The high end is real sensitive and glassy, which is a beautiful electric guitar tone.
“Oh Little Town of Bethlehem†had that same arrangement of acoustic and electric and piano. Also a bit of a Jeff Beck feel here?
Yeah, without a doubt. I mean he’s the king of that stuff with tones and just makin’ the guitar sing. And every now and then I’d put a fast thing in there or something like that. Before when I was listening to some of the takes it was more doodleah doodleah doodleah [imitates a manic guitar riff] and I go, “Zakk, what the fuck am I doing, dude?†It’s like people will be spilling eggnog all over the house. It’s like, “Dude, calm down a little bit and just play the song. Everyone knows you can play kinda fast, dudeâ€"just play the melody.â€
You could really hear the articulation and the vibrato and it wasn’t covered up with distortion and effects.
Cool. Thanks a lot, brother.
You also did an instrumental version of the Baseball Tonight theme for ESPN.
Oh, yeah. It just goes to show you the strength of the Black Label family. They’re the knuckleheads that voted me in on that. As far as the winners of that thing, it’s more the Black Label family having a good time and being a bunch of goofballs. Because everybody else that did it had slammin’ stuff too. It was no big deal, man.
You mentioned that John Pizzarelli was a pretty insane guitarist who did a version.
He’s ridiculous. John was on Letterman or he might have been on Conan one night and he was just absolutely killin’ it, dude. I mean blitzkriegin’. ‘Cause I mean like dude, he plays as fast as Father DiMeola and McLaughlin and everybody. You know diddla diddla diddla [another speedy guitar lick] and it’s just ridiculous. And with all the jazz chops and the chromatics it’s like out of control, dude.
When you were arranging the Christmas songs for the EP, where did your sense of harmony come from?
“I’ll Be Home For Christmas†had some jazz chords in that thing with some 7ths and things like that instead of your normal power chords and riffs on one string. I mean a lot of Black Label riffs are on the low E string. You literally play them like “Smoke On the Water†or “Iron Man†or something. Like I said some 7th chords and some diminished chords are in there like actual jazz chords you hear in jazz.
You listened to the originals to learn the basic arrangement?
I’d be sitting at the piano learning the songs and I’d keep the bass note, the root note, and you can hear the 7ths and the 13ths and 9ths flying around in there. You can hear them in there. So it’s just a matter of dickin’ around and going, “Well give me a second, Steve, hold on a second. I’m just figuring out what chord they’re playing right there.†So you just dick around with it and then you finally get it.
“It’s A Wonderful World†was a very cool arrangement with nylon string and electric with the piano. How did you track these songs?
We had a YouTube of Al Jolson doing “It’s A Wonderful World†[Zakk probably means Louis Armstrong] and we just sat and listened to it. I was just playing the bass notes [on the piano] and then I’d put the chords to it. So then I’d just play it on the guitar and then I’d go in there and track it on the piano and then I’d put a string arrangement to it. Then it was time to do the solo. Game on.
While we’re talking about holiday music, we’re now going to find out everything you wanted to know about Zakk Wylde and Christmas. If somebody attended Christmas with the Wylde family, what would they experience?
Little kids runnin’ around and cocktails flowing. And you always wondered why your dad was drunk every Christmas because he had to put everything together, man.
Have you ever dressed up as Santa Claus?
No, I haven’t done that yet. We’ve never done that but we’ve done stuff for the kids where they’ll put out carrots and vegetables and stuff like that for the reindeer. Where like me and you will just munch on the stuff and the kids will come out in the morning and they’ll go, “Oh, my God, the reindeer at them!†Then I’ll take my Rottweiler Dorian who’s like 150 pounds and I’ll take his footprints and put ‘em outside the house and everything so it’s like there were reindeer all over the place. I mean Barb clued ‘em in ‘cause now the kids are in college but they were like, “I can’t believe dad did that all those years ago.†We got ‘em all the time with that.
"Whenever I’d hang with Axl he was a good dude. He’s not an asshole or anything like that."
Did you believe in Santa when you were a boy?
Yeah, of course, man. It’s awesome. My parents always made sure we had killer Christmases. And being a parent now it’s always awesome with the kids and everything like that. We always made sure that whatever stuff they had, every Christmas ‘cause they’re getting new stuff, we’d always go down to Goodwill and give tons of this stuff that they had laying around over the years back to the kids.
What was your favorite present as a little Zakk Wylde?
I remember at one point I really wanted the Six Million Dollar Man doll [laughs]. It was over at my grandmother’s and my aunt’s; they were the ones that had it ‘cause they knew I wanted that thing the most. We went over to grandma’s and they said, “Santa left something here for you.†I opened it up and I just went ballistic because I had my Six Million Dollar Man doll.
Did you ever get a guitar for Christmas?
No, I think the first thing I had was an acoustic guitar or something like that. Yeah, with the action five feet off the neck and the whole nine yards. But you don’t know you know what I mean? It’s like going to buy a carâ€"you’ll buy anything because you don’t know. Unless you’re going to go get a guitar and it’s like, “My nephew wants to get a guitar.†And I’m like, “Dude, let me go down there with him and make sure he’s getting something where the action is good on it and it’s actually a decent guitar. So he’s not miserable after a week of it and going, ‘This sucks. I don’t wanna play guitar. It’s no fun, man.’â€
When you were in school did you ever sing Christmas songs in the choir?
No, I didn’t do any singing in choirs or anything like that. Or maybe I might have when you’re in kindergarten and all that stuff. But not when we were getting older or anything like that. I took a music class and theory but that was high school.
Bringing Metal To the Children, your first book, is coming out in March.
Oh, yes. It’s a literary masterpiece of doom.
What is your most savage Christmas memory?
I remember one Ozzy tour, mom came out to the one show and it was on the Merry Mayhem Tour with Rob Zombie. I remember they remember had Santa up on the crucifix and then the crucifix would go on fire. I remember they had the fire marshals there and it was a big deal and the whole nine yards. And all I remember was right before we were coming out to do “Crazy Train†at the end of the show, all of a sudden the next thing you know we just look over to the side and the fuckin’ backdrop caught on fire. You wanna talk about Keystone Cops shit, bro. Mom is sitting there looking, “What the fuck is going on?†and our production guy, Opie, and the fire marshal is going fuckin’ ballistic ‘cause this fuckin’ thing is torching up like it’s nobody’s business, man. Just to see the fuckin’ look of sheer panic and terror on fuckin’ everybody. I mean we weren’t gonna burn the place down but it’s like sitting at the dinner table and the fork is slightly out of place and everybody goes fuckin’ nuts. I’m just sittin’ there havin’ a chuckle out of this bullshit [laughs].
Next year you have the Unblackened record coming out?
Yeah, that’s actually gonna be the next DVD. So we’re gonna do the whole thing with a four-piece string section, a pedal steel guy, and I’m gonna have some of my musician buddies sit in on some of the songs and stuff like that. So yeah, I’m lookin’ forward to us knockin’ that thing out. We’re gonna have two solid weeks of rehearsal and then we’re gonna knock this thing out.
Unblackened will be all acoustic?
Yeah totally. Well, acoustic/electric type of thing. Kinda like how the Christmas record is or like how we did The Song Remains Not the Same where you’ve got an acoustic and then you can put a rippin’ solo something. So I’ll still have the Marshalls going with the acoustic stuff. It’d be almost kinda like if Pink Floyd was doing an Unplugged thing and they did “Comfortably Numb†but Dave will be sitting down but he’ll still rip that solo out. It’ll still be electric and then we’ll have the string section behind it and the whole band and it’ll be killer.
Any feelings about the original Black Sabbath getting back together and recording?
Yeah well more Sabbath is always a good thing. It should be slammin’, dude. Father [Rick] Rubin is gonna be producing it so hopefully it will come out ridiculously awesome.
Have you read Tony Iommi’s autobiography, Iron Man?
I haven’t gotten around to that one yet. I’m sure it’s gonna be slammin’ though. I saw one of the sections in there and it was talking about Zeppelin and Deep Purple. And he felt there was more of a thing going on with Deep Purple than they did with Zeppelin. I didn’t know that John Bonham was the best man at his wedding and all that other stuff.
Sabbath and guys from Zeppelin were all from Birmingham.
Yeah, it’s kinda like Father Cantrell and Chris Cornell and all the Pearl Jam guys and it was all coming out of that same place.
Everything else is good with you? You’re feeling healthy and wise?
Oh yeahâ€"that’s the reason why I’m gonna start drinkin’ again immediately [laughs].
You fooled me with that last time.
Oh my god. Fuckin’ ridiculous. It still is funny when people will go, “What do you do when you’re out on the road?†I go, “I don’t know. What do I do when I’m home? Do I still shit in my pants? When I’m on the road I still shit in my pants. What do you want me to tell you? I do everything I did before except I don’t drink. I still go to bars but I don’t drink.
That’s amazing willpower.
Well you know, when I pass Chippendales I go right past it now. It’s willpower, man. Back in the day I’d pull right in there.
Thanks for calling, Zakk.
Alright Stevie, I’ll see you in a bit, man. Tell the rest of the gang I said hey, buddy. Take care, Steve. Bye brother.
Guitarist Bill Kelliher of Atlanta progressive metallers MASTODON has posted the following message on the band's official Facebook page:
"I recently sold a guitar on eBay to a kid in Germany. Now, long story short, he didn't like the guitar so asked for a refund. I gladly said, 'Send the item back and i will give you a refund. Well, he opened a case [and] somehow eBay Germany decided in his favor and refunded his money, WITHOUT EVER SENDING THE ITEM BACK!!!!!! Real cool, eBay. So when I opened an appeal to the decision, they asked him to send the item to me. He sent me an empty box!!! And I can do nothing now. eBay claims he sent the item back even though I have the receipts showing when I mailed it to him, it weighed 27 lbs. and when he sent it back, it weighed 11 lbs. They don't wanna hear it.
"ANY HELP????? Anyone affiliated with eBay Germany???"
MASTODON are among the nominees for the 54th annual Grammy Awards, which will be held on Sunday, February 12, 2012 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The band's Grammy nomination is for "Curl Of The Burl", the first single from MASTODON's new album, "The Hunter".
MASTODON received its first Grammy nomination in 2006 for the single "Colony Of Birchmen", from the band's Reprise Records debut album, "Blood Mountain".
"I recently sold a guitar on eBay to a kid in Germany. Now, long story short, he didn't like the guitar so asked for a refund. I gladly said, 'Send the item back and i will give you a refund. Well, he opened a case [and] somehow eBay Germany decided in his favor and refunded his money, WITHOUT EVER SENDING THE ITEM BACK!!!!!! Real cool, eBay. So when I opened an appeal to the decision, they asked him to send the item to me. He sent me an empty box!!! And I can do nothing now. eBay claims he sent the item back even though I have the receipts showing when I mailed it to him, it weighed 27 lbs. and when he sent it back, it weighed 11 lbs. They don't wanna hear it.
"ANY HELP????? Anyone affiliated with eBay Germany???"
MASTODON are among the nominees for the 54th annual Grammy Awards, which will be held on Sunday, February 12, 2012 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The band's Grammy nomination is for "Curl Of The Burl", the first single from MASTODON's new album, "The Hunter".
MASTODON received its first Grammy nomination in 2006 for the single "Colony Of Birchmen", from the band's Reprise Records debut album, "Blood Mountain".
According to the NIGHTWISH North American fan club Oceansouls Of America, NIGHTWISH is rumored to be playing a "secret" gig at the Key Club in West Hollywood, California on January 19 — two days before the Finnish/Swedish symphonic metal act's sold-out world-tour kick-off performance at the Gibson Ampitheater in Universal City. The Universal City concert will be the biggest NIGHTWISH show production ever on North American soil and strictly a one-off — there will be no U.S. tour until later in 2012.
On October 24, Finnish newspaper Karjalainen quoted the band's management as saying that there would be a "secret NIGHTWISH gig scheduled somewhere in California in mid-January."
A flyer on the Key Club's web site utilizes a dark, pixelated image of the NIGHTWISH "Wishmaster" cover art to promote a January 19 concert by the "RUBBER BAND OF WOLVES (from Finland)."
**IMPORTANT**: It should be noted that NIGHTWISH has not officially confirmed or denied that the band will perform at the Key Club on January 19 and any such suggestion should be treated as speculation and rumor only.
"Imaginaerum", the first album in four years from NIGHTWISH, entered the official chart in Finland at position No. 1.
According to Rytmi.com, "Imaginaerum" sold 50,000 copies in Finland in its first two days of release. The band's first CD since 2007's "Dark Passion Play" — which was then-new singer Anette Olzon's debut — is due in North America on January 10, 2012 via Roadrunner Records.
Key Club advertisement for RUBBER BAND OF WOLVES:
On October 24, Finnish newspaper Karjalainen quoted the band's management as saying that there would be a "secret NIGHTWISH gig scheduled somewhere in California in mid-January."
A flyer on the Key Club's web site utilizes a dark, pixelated image of the NIGHTWISH "Wishmaster" cover art to promote a January 19 concert by the "RUBBER BAND OF WOLVES (from Finland)."
**IMPORTANT**: It should be noted that NIGHTWISH has not officially confirmed or denied that the band will perform at the Key Club on January 19 and any such suggestion should be treated as speculation and rumor only.
"Imaginaerum", the first album in four years from NIGHTWISH, entered the official chart in Finland at position No. 1.
According to Rytmi.com, "Imaginaerum" sold 50,000 copies in Finland in its first two days of release. The band's first CD since 2007's "Dark Passion Play" — which was then-new singer Anette Olzon's debut — is due in North America on January 10, 2012 via Roadrunner Records.
Key Club advertisement for RUBBER BAND OF WOLVES:
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/nightwishrubber.jpg
Over the course of four feature-length documentaries, Toronto filmmakers and anthropologists Scot McFayden and Sam Dunn have a made a cottage industry of their love of heavy metal. Their first film, 2005's Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, followed Dunn across the globe as he waded through heavy metal culture. Global Metal continued the quest in 2008, tracing metal's explosion outside of the Western world, and again casting Dunn as the long-haired, inquisitive escort through the annals of the music. The duo (with their aptly named production house, Banger Films, Inc.) also turned out docs on Iron Maiden and Rush, which ditched the anthropological element for a more straight-ahead profile approach.
McFayden and Dunn's latest project, the documentary series Metal Evolution (currently airing Fridays at 10 p.m. on Much More) sees the two returning to their more academic roots. The ambitious, 11-part series traces the whole history of metal, from 18th-century Italian violinist Nicolò Paganini through to surf rock, thrash, and post-grunge. The A.V. Club talked with Dunn about his continued interest in metal, the problems of subcategorizing musicians (however carefully), and why Nickelback may get a bad rap.
The A.V. Club: You've done so many in-depth metal documentaries—or anthropological studies on metal, as you tend to frame them. Was there any worry, going into a series like this, that you'd have to dumb it down for people who aren't as familiar with the genre?
Sam Dunn: Scott and I, we really thought we'd get even deeper than before. It seemed that, with the films we made before, there was still an unsatisfied need for metal. A lot of people who saw Headbanger's Journey came up to us afterwards and said, "We wish this was eight hours long." So what we're saying now is, "Here's 11 hours." A lot of people really wanted to see that Heavy Metal Family Tree broken apart and analyzed. You'd think that people would be burned out on metal, but it's clearly the opposite. There seems to be this undying appetite for more metal.
Sam Dunn: Scott and I, we really thought we'd get even deeper than before. It seemed that, with the films we made before, there was still an unsatisfied need for metal. A lot of people who saw Headbanger's Journey came up to us afterwards and said, "We wish this was eight hours long." So what we're saying now is, "Here's 11 hours." A lot of people really wanted to see that Heavy Metal Family Tree broken apart and analyzed. You'd think that people would be burned out on metal, but it's clearly the opposite. There seems to be this undying appetite for more metal.
AVC: And what about you guys? Do you feel at all burned out after four films and a documentary series?
SD: Yeah, well, for us this was an opportunity to actually talk about the history of metal. Headbanger's Journey was really an overview of the culture of metal and the effects of metal as not being just music for [Cro-Magnons] and people who like to smash beer bottles over their heads. What Metal Evolution allowed us to do was to dig into the sound of metal and where it came from. At first, we worried about retreading the same ground. Then we kept digging and realized there were all these fascinating links between metal and all other kinds of music we hadn't even thought about before we started.
AVC: You trace it as far back as classical, and especially Paganini. There are some fans who would say you don't need to connect metal to classical music to legitimize it. Was there any worry about this? Or is the aim to remove your presence as a metal fan and approach metal from this anthropological distance?
SD: What we don't want people to think is that we're connecting metal to jazz and classical and blues because we want to legitimate metal. Metal's already legitimate to us. And metal is already legitimate to a lot of people. What we wanted to do, quite simply, was show were this music came from. We weren't trying to dignify it or impress jazz aficionados by showing that Bill Ward, the drummer from Black Sabbath, grew up on the Glenn Miller Orchestra, or that the MC5 were into Ornette Coleman. That's not the point. What we wanted to show is that there are connections between metal and other kinds of music that surprised us, and hopefully would surprise others as well.
AVC: You trace it as far back as classical, and especially Paganini. There are some fans who would say you don't need to connect metal to classical music to legitimize it. Was there any worry about this? Or is the aim to remove your presence as a metal fan and approach metal from this anthropological distance?
SD: What we don't want people to think is that we're connecting metal to jazz and classical and blues because we want to legitimate metal. Metal's already legitimate to us. And metal is already legitimate to a lot of people. What we wanted to do, quite simply, was show were this music came from. We weren't trying to dignify it or impress jazz aficionados by showing that Bill Ward, the drummer from Black Sabbath, grew up on the Glenn Miller Orchestra, or that the MC5 were into Ornette Coleman. That's not the point. What we wanted to show is that there are connections between metal and other kinds of music that surprised us, and hopefully would surprise others as well.
AVC: It works very well, as in the films, how you treat it as if it's your own journey, and you're very much a part of discovering all these connections. Do you find that putting yourself at the centre helps you lead people down the path a bit?
SD: When we set out to do Headbanger's Journey, Scott and I were setting out to find a way to do a film that wouldn't alienate the metal community, but also wouldn't alienate the general music fan. What we found was that by having me be in front of the camera as a fan of metal, but also as someone who has a background in anthropology and has a real curiosity about this music, was a great way of bringing everyone in. We like to think of it as being a good referee. Referees know when to step in and when to let the game play out. And that's what we try to achieve. And with Metal Evolution, we found no need to change what we were doing. It worked in Headbanger's Journey and Global Metal, and we figured it would work here as well.
SD: When we set out to do Headbanger's Journey, Scott and I were setting out to find a way to do a film that wouldn't alienate the metal community, but also wouldn't alienate the general music fan. What we found was that by having me be in front of the camera as a fan of metal, but also as someone who has a background in anthropology and has a real curiosity about this music, was a great way of bringing everyone in. We like to think of it as being a good referee. Referees know when to step in and when to let the game play out. And that's what we try to achieve. And with Metal Evolution, we found no need to change what we were doing. It worked in Headbanger's Journey and Global Metal, and we figured it would work here as well.
AVC: As far as this referee aspect: You must be familiar with a lot of the subjects you were talking to in Metal Evolution, from working on the previous films. But are there any times when it gets a little tense? In the second episode, you're talking to Ted Nugent and mention it's hard to keep on track and not go off on tangents about hunting or the Obama administration.
SD: There are a lot of challenges. When the chips are down, no musician likes to be categorized. No one who has invested their life in being creative wants to be put in a box. So oftentimes we're starting from a disadvantage, because I'm walking in there with an idea of where this band is going to fit in the story, and musicians are understandably opposed to that. They don't think, well, "Oh, I'm going to start a band, and we're going to be thrash metal band, and that's where people are going to put us." That's not why people pick music. It's our job as nosy filmmakers and documentarians to try and make sense of it all.
SD: There are a lot of challenges. When the chips are down, no musician likes to be categorized. No one who has invested their life in being creative wants to be put in a box. So oftentimes we're starting from a disadvantage, because I'm walking in there with an idea of where this band is going to fit in the story, and musicians are understandably opposed to that. They don't think, well, "Oh, I'm going to start a band, and we're going to be thrash metal band, and that's where people are going to put us." That's not why people pick music. It's our job as nosy filmmakers and documentarians to try and make sense of it all.
A great example is Nickelback. Nickelback is the most abused band in the present day. Everyone beats up on Nickelback. As we were working on the episode about grunge, we realized that grunge kind of died off. But where did it go? Well, it was bands like Nickelback and Creed, and these late-'90s rock bands, that picked up the sound of grunge and turned it into something a little more straightforward and a little more accessible. We did an interview with Chad [Kroeger], and he doesn't take kindly to being labeled a "grunge-lite" act or a "post-grunge" band. But luckily I walked out of the interviews with all my limbs intact.
AVC: He's probably getting off easy, being called a "grunge-lite" band.
SD: [Laughs.] Yeah, well, we may be the first series ever to actually take a balanced look at Nickelback's music. Actually, I think that's more ballsy than beating up on Nickelback.
AVC: He's probably getting off easy, being called a "grunge-lite" band.
SD: [Laughs.] Yeah, well, we may be the first series ever to actually take a balanced look at Nickelback's music. Actually, I think that's more ballsy than beating up on Nickelback.
AVC: You mentioned how people don't like to be categorized, but metal especially seems to thrive on differentiating between genres and subgenres, like the Metal Family Tree that you mentioned. Are most people in metal bands used to being grouped off in that way?
SD: We had an advantage in that we're not the first people to talk to these guys about this. Lars [Ulrich, Metallica drummer] has been asked a lot about inventing thrash. And the guys from Mudhoney and the Melvins have been asked plenty about creating grunge. There seems to be a lot of goodwill in the metal community, and I think people know that we're not coming at it from a tabloid, sensational, news-gathering approach. The musicians we approach realize that we're doing something respectful. We're not just putting them in a box because it's convenient. We're putting them in a box because we want to see how all these decades and hundreds of years of music actually connect.
SD: We had an advantage in that we're not the first people to talk to these guys about this. Lars [Ulrich, Metallica drummer] has been asked a lot about inventing thrash. And the guys from Mudhoney and the Melvins have been asked plenty about creating grunge. There seems to be a lot of goodwill in the metal community, and I think people know that we're not coming at it from a tabloid, sensational, news-gathering approach. The musicians we approach realize that we're doing something respectful. We're not just putting them in a box because it's convenient. We're putting them in a box because we want to see how all these decades and hundreds of years of music actually connect.
AVC: It makes sense that they'd be open to you guys, because your other films are different from what we've seen in previous metal documentaries. Films like The Decline Of Western Civilization Part II or Heavy Metal Parking Lot almost celebrate what you call the "Cro-Magnon" aspect. But there's also something likeable about this aspect. Like when you see the guys from the L.A. hair scene in Decline Of Western Civilization, it's hilarious.
SD: Absolutely. Believe me, I think Spinal Tap is one of the best movies of all time. It's brilliant. Because metal is all about being over-the-top and creating a sound and an image that is larger-than-life. And when you do that, you're ripe for parody. You're setting yourself up to be made fun of. What we realized making these films, is that as much as metal musicians and fans want to be taken seriously, they also have a really great sense of humour. Certainly, I was worried about how much humour we wanted to have in our original film. But our episode on glam metal has got tons of hilarious shit from the Sunset Strip and people falling on their faces.
AVC: There's a lot of really rare footage in Metal Evolution of bands performing, especially in their earlier days. Did you get your hands on this because of that goodwill you share with the bands you're interviewing?
SD: We have a team of researchers that are very good at digging into the deep corners of the past. The footage we've collected has come from all sorts of places—from personal collections to record labels to the bands themselves. We've tried to find footage that hadn't been seen before. Everyone's seen the "School's Out" video, but we tried to dig up some photos and videos of Alice Cooper that are a little more rare. It's hard, when you're doing 11 hours of TV, to keep everything unique. Sometimes you have to show people that iconic photo of Van Halen or that famous Iron Maiden cover. But for the most part, we try to find these diamonds in the rough.
SD: We have a team of researchers that are very good at digging into the deep corners of the past. The footage we've collected has come from all sorts of places—from personal collections to record labels to the bands themselves. We've tried to find footage that hadn't been seen before. Everyone's seen the "School's Out" video, but we tried to dig up some photos and videos of Alice Cooper that are a little more rare. It's hard, when you're doing 11 hours of TV, to keep everything unique. Sometimes you have to show people that iconic photo of Van Halen or that famous Iron Maiden cover. But for the most part, we try to find these diamonds in the rough.
AVC: In your first two films, metal seems pitched very much as a kind of "outsider music." But nowadays you hear terms like "hipster metal" to describe bands like Mastodon or Kylesa. Michael Fassbender showed up to the Toronto International Film Festival in an Iron Maiden shirt. How do you feel about this mainstream acceptance? Is it just fashion?
SD: All music goes in cycles, and metal is no exception. Over the last 40 years, you see various points where metal becomes a little more visible on the mainstream radar. It happened with glam in the '80s; it happened with nu-metal in the late '90s. And you see it now, but I think it's in a more honest and meaningful way. Yeah, you see celebrities wearing Iron Maiden T-shirts, but that's going to disappear.
What's not going to disappear is multiple generations of fans that are into this music. Everyone said Black Sabbath was a fad that would fade away. Everyone said Metallica wouldn't last. Every big metal band that there has ever been was supposed to be a flash in the pan. When AC/DC, Metallica, and Iron Maiden are three of the biggest touring acts on the planet, you can't deny that. That's longevity. If it's accessible, I think it stems from the realization that this music has some pretty strong legs. It isn't going away.
Max Cavalera makes it abundantly clear that he's looking forward to coming to Australia with his new band, Cavalera Conspiracy. After a disappointing no-show a while back when they were announced – then dropped – as support to Judas Priest, the group will be taking the stage at the Big Day Out in a few weeks and playing some club dates of their own.
"I'm very excited. It's (the) first time I will play with Iggor there since 94," Cavalera says, affably. "It's a huge amount of excitement and it's (the) first time in Australia for Cavalera. The band is a couple years old now and finally we get to come down to Australia and show our music. We're gonna prepare a really special setlist for the Big Day Out shows and for our own headline shows. It's gonna be great."
The Brazilian metal pioneer has appeared at the BDO before, with his other post-Sepultura band Soulfly in 1999. Cavalera has brought that band out on tour on the back of every album since, but still has fond memories of those first festival appearances.
"It was some of the first shows we did, when we were still getting ready and we'd just formed and was just in the process of being a new group," he says. "It felt really great and it was one of the first festivals where we were accepted as a band, so to think now we come back with Cavalera is amazing. And to have Iggor there with me too now is going to, I think, be even more special."
Since Max and his drummer brother Iggor reconciled a decade after Max' bitter split from their former band Sepultura, it appears that their family bond is stronger than ever. In our interview earlier in the year, Iggor talked about the excitement he felt at being in a band with Max once again, and the ease with which they re-connected musically. For Max, the Cavalera Conspiracy is all about recreating the vibe they had when doing those early Sepultura albums together.
"With Cavalera we try to create, sonicwise, maybe the best time of me and Iggor together, which was the thrash times with Sepultura with stuff like Beneath the Remains and Arise and 'Third World Posse' and Chaos AD," he explains. "I think that era of the sound of me and Iggor together was the most energetic and the most aggressive and was like the fire of the brothers. So I wanted to maybe recreate that. But not imitate, but just as a reference, use that kind of sound. So we started… the first record was created with that in mind. Had a lot of thrash sounding stuff, a lot of hardcore stuff. Then we started the new album Blunt Force Trauma, and we even went deeper and heavier, even more hardcore and even did a song with Roger from Agnostic Front."
Both men have explored various musical avenues with their other bands – tribal rhythms, world music, industrial noise, even colloborations with the likes of Jonathon Davis from Korn and Fred Durst (that Cavalera now apparently regrets) – but Max is adamant that Cavalera Conspiracy is all about metal.
"Soulfly's always been a little bit more open to different kinds of music and different influence(s) […], you know the world music type of stuff, stuff like that," he says. "Cavalera's more metal. It's really more strictly metal. I don't let the influences come into the Cavalera world. They're not really welcome. It's kinda precious. I'm not prejudice(d) against other type(s) of music (but) I wanted Cavalera to stay separate. I did it on purpose. I stand by it and I think it's something I'm proud of. When me and Iggor are together, and we're playing, we just wanna play metal. We don't wanna fuck around with other kinds of music. We just wanna do what we do best – in your face, aggressive, always that attitude which people (are) expecting."
Now that the brothers are reunited, people will also expect to hear some of those songs they first made together as they rose from the South American metal underground. Max isn't about to disappoint.
"It's gonna be kinda hard to do a setlist, but I think we're gonna come up with something cool that people will like and will get out of the show happy and say, 'Look, I finally heard this song and heard that song. It was worth it to wait twenty years!' You know?" he says with a laugh. "There's always classics that people can expect from our shows. We play a lotta Cavalera stuff from both records, but we still play a lot of Sepultura favourites. Stuff like 'Arise' and 'Inner Self' and 'Troops of Doom' and 'Roots' and 'Refuse and Resist' (sic)."
Cavalera Conspiracy is also playing a series of shows at smaller venues alongside their Big Day Out dates. The club gigs will allow the band and the fans to be closer and interact on a much more familiar level and Max is eager to get amongst it.
"(It's) an intimate kinda show and you always get to really talk to your crowd and joke with (them)," he says. "Those small shows are always fun. I always look forward to them. I think it's a good contrast. When we do the Big Day Out it's huge show and the next day you're in a small place… that kinda contrast I think is really cool for the band too. So we're gonna try to have fun on both."
Now two albums into a career, Cavalera Conspiracy looks like being around for some time. While Soulfly remains his main concern – with another album due in March – Max Cavalera has plans for another Conspiracy album, but it may be some time off. He's prepared to just let it happen, but he does hope that when the moment arrives, the band's next release will have something a little extra.
"When it's time to do the third record, we'll get together and we'll try to prepare a very special record. Most of the time (a band's) third record is a really special time in the career of a band and in the case of Cavalera it should be no different. So we gonna treat (the third album) as a very special record and give special treatment to it and put a lot of time on it and write it the right way and record it and get everything done for it the right way."
Further speculation about the next Cavalera album is then put aside. Max has a job to do right now and a full year of work ahead of him as it is and he's keen to get cracking and get back down here.
"I'm looking forward to doing this tour for the album, which is the last tour for this album," he says. "Our last show will be at the Big Day Out, and then Soulfly's gotta new record coming out in March so I'll be touring with Soulfly for the rest of the year and then later on I'll pick up with Cavalera and do another record.
"I'm very happy to be part of the Big Day Out festival. It's a great festival and it's great to be part of it again. I was lucky to do it with Soulfly in 98* [sic] and I'm lucky to be doing it again so I'm very, very excited about it."
*Editor's note: It was actually 1999. The Big Day Out was not held in 1998.
Watch our news feed for details of our upcoming Cavalera Conspiracy giveaway!
Cavalera Conspiracy is appearing at the Big Day Out in January and playing club shows with Lynchmada and Contrive
22/1: Big Day Out, Gold Coast Parklands, Gold Coast QLD
24/1: Panthers, Newcastle NSW
26/1: Big Day Out, Sydney Showgrounds, Sydney NSW
27/1: ANU Bar, Canberra ACT
28/1: Metro Theatre, Sydney NSW
29/1: Big Day Out, Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne VIC
1/2: Billboard the Venue, Melbourne VIC
3/2: Big Day Out, Adelaide Showground, Adelaide SA
4/2: Big Day Out, Victoria Park, Perth WA
6/2: HiFi Bar, Brisbane QLD
"I'm very excited. It's (the) first time I will play with Iggor there since 94," Cavalera says, affably. "It's a huge amount of excitement and it's (the) first time in Australia for Cavalera. The band is a couple years old now and finally we get to come down to Australia and show our music. We're gonna prepare a really special setlist for the Big Day Out shows and for our own headline shows. It's gonna be great."
The Brazilian metal pioneer has appeared at the BDO before, with his other post-Sepultura band Soulfly in 1999. Cavalera has brought that band out on tour on the back of every album since, but still has fond memories of those first festival appearances.
"It was some of the first shows we did, when we were still getting ready and we'd just formed and was just in the process of being a new group," he says. "It felt really great and it was one of the first festivals where we were accepted as a band, so to think now we come back with Cavalera is amazing. And to have Iggor there with me too now is going to, I think, be even more special."
Since Max and his drummer brother Iggor reconciled a decade after Max' bitter split from their former band Sepultura, it appears that their family bond is stronger than ever. In our interview earlier in the year, Iggor talked about the excitement he felt at being in a band with Max once again, and the ease with which they re-connected musically. For Max, the Cavalera Conspiracy is all about recreating the vibe they had when doing those early Sepultura albums together.
"With Cavalera we try to create, sonicwise, maybe the best time of me and Iggor together, which was the thrash times with Sepultura with stuff like Beneath the Remains and Arise and 'Third World Posse' and Chaos AD," he explains. "I think that era of the sound of me and Iggor together was the most energetic and the most aggressive and was like the fire of the brothers. So I wanted to maybe recreate that. But not imitate, but just as a reference, use that kind of sound. So we started… the first record was created with that in mind. Had a lot of thrash sounding stuff, a lot of hardcore stuff. Then we started the new album Blunt Force Trauma, and we even went deeper and heavier, even more hardcore and even did a song with Roger from Agnostic Front."
Both men have explored various musical avenues with their other bands – tribal rhythms, world music, industrial noise, even colloborations with the likes of Jonathon Davis from Korn and Fred Durst (that Cavalera now apparently regrets) – but Max is adamant that Cavalera Conspiracy is all about metal.
"Soulfly's always been a little bit more open to different kinds of music and different influence(s) […], you know the world music type of stuff, stuff like that," he says. "Cavalera's more metal. It's really more strictly metal. I don't let the influences come into the Cavalera world. They're not really welcome. It's kinda precious. I'm not prejudice(d) against other type(s) of music (but) I wanted Cavalera to stay separate. I did it on purpose. I stand by it and I think it's something I'm proud of. When me and Iggor are together, and we're playing, we just wanna play metal. We don't wanna fuck around with other kinds of music. We just wanna do what we do best – in your face, aggressive, always that attitude which people (are) expecting."
Now that the brothers are reunited, people will also expect to hear some of those songs they first made together as they rose from the South American metal underground. Max isn't about to disappoint.
"It's gonna be kinda hard to do a setlist, but I think we're gonna come up with something cool that people will like and will get out of the show happy and say, 'Look, I finally heard this song and heard that song. It was worth it to wait twenty years!' You know?" he says with a laugh. "There's always classics that people can expect from our shows. We play a lotta Cavalera stuff from both records, but we still play a lot of Sepultura favourites. Stuff like 'Arise' and 'Inner Self' and 'Troops of Doom' and 'Roots' and 'Refuse and Resist' (sic)."
Cavalera Conspiracy is also playing a series of shows at smaller venues alongside their Big Day Out dates. The club gigs will allow the band and the fans to be closer and interact on a much more familiar level and Max is eager to get amongst it.
"(It's) an intimate kinda show and you always get to really talk to your crowd and joke with (them)," he says. "Those small shows are always fun. I always look forward to them. I think it's a good contrast. When we do the Big Day Out it's huge show and the next day you're in a small place… that kinda contrast I think is really cool for the band too. So we're gonna try to have fun on both."
Now two albums into a career, Cavalera Conspiracy looks like being around for some time. While Soulfly remains his main concern – with another album due in March – Max Cavalera has plans for another Conspiracy album, but it may be some time off. He's prepared to just let it happen, but he does hope that when the moment arrives, the band's next release will have something a little extra.
"When it's time to do the third record, we'll get together and we'll try to prepare a very special record. Most of the time (a band's) third record is a really special time in the career of a band and in the case of Cavalera it should be no different. So we gonna treat (the third album) as a very special record and give special treatment to it and put a lot of time on it and write it the right way and record it and get everything done for it the right way."
Further speculation about the next Cavalera album is then put aside. Max has a job to do right now and a full year of work ahead of him as it is and he's keen to get cracking and get back down here.
"I'm looking forward to doing this tour for the album, which is the last tour for this album," he says. "Our last show will be at the Big Day Out, and then Soulfly's gotta new record coming out in March so I'll be touring with Soulfly for the rest of the year and then later on I'll pick up with Cavalera and do another record.
"I'm very happy to be part of the Big Day Out festival. It's a great festival and it's great to be part of it again. I was lucky to do it with Soulfly in 98* [sic] and I'm lucky to be doing it again so I'm very, very excited about it."
*Editor's note: It was actually 1999. The Big Day Out was not held in 1998.
Watch our news feed for details of our upcoming Cavalera Conspiracy giveaway!
Cavalera Conspiracy is appearing at the Big Day Out in January and playing club shows with Lynchmada and Contrive
22/1: Big Day Out, Gold Coast Parklands, Gold Coast QLD
24/1: Panthers, Newcastle NSW
26/1: Big Day Out, Sydney Showgrounds, Sydney NSW
27/1: ANU Bar, Canberra ACT
28/1: Metro Theatre, Sydney NSW
29/1: Big Day Out, Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne VIC
1/2: Billboard the Venue, Melbourne VIC
3/2: Big Day Out, Adelaide Showground, Adelaide SA
4/2: Big Day Out, Victoria Park, Perth WA
6/2: HiFi Bar, Brisbane QLD
A PALE HORSE NAMED DEATH, the new band featuring Brooklyn, New York native Sal Abruscato — who played drums on three TYPE O NEGATIVE albums ("Slow, Deep & Hard", "Origin Of The Feces", "Bloody Kisses"), as well as four LIFE OF AGONY releases ("River Runs Red", "Ugly", "River Runs Again", "Broken Valley") — on guitar and vocals, has released the following statement:
"Due to conflicting schedules with BIOHAZARD, Bobby Hambel is unable to tour any further with A PALE HORSE NAMED DEATH. We wish Bobby and BIOHAZARD all the great success they deserve on their upcoming release in January 2012. Eddie Heedles has been chosen as the new replacement for Bobby. Eddie is a shredding guitarist who has worked with the likes of Corey Glover (LIVING COLOUR), T.M. Stevens, Vernon Reid (LIVING COLOUR), SEKOND SKYN and THE WHITE CHOCOLATE EXPERIENCE. We are excited to get back on the road and do what we do best see you soon."
A PALE HORSE NAMED DEATH earlier in the year inked a worldwide recording deal with Steamhammer/SPV for the release of the group's debut album, "And Hell Will Follow Me".
A PALE HORSE NAMED DEATH made its live debut on February 20, 2011 at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey as the support act for MONSTER MAGNET and SEVENTH VOID.
Abruscato previously stated about A PALE HORSE NAMED DEATH's debut CD, "This is my first album where I composed and play all instruments, including vocals. Along with co-producer/guitarist Matt Brown (SEVENTH VOID), we have accomplished a very fresh sound and it includes guest appearances by Bobby Hambel, Keith Caputo (LIFE OF AGONY) and Ulrich Krieger (LOU REED).
"It is the darkest music I have ever written and recorded in my life, back to my sinister roots and I believe the fans will learn a completely different side of me."
For more information, visit www.apalehorsenameddeath.com.
"Due to conflicting schedules with BIOHAZARD, Bobby Hambel is unable to tour any further with A PALE HORSE NAMED DEATH. We wish Bobby and BIOHAZARD all the great success they deserve on their upcoming release in January 2012. Eddie Heedles has been chosen as the new replacement for Bobby. Eddie is a shredding guitarist who has worked with the likes of Corey Glover (LIVING COLOUR), T.M. Stevens, Vernon Reid (LIVING COLOUR), SEKOND SKYN and THE WHITE CHOCOLATE EXPERIENCE. We are excited to get back on the road and do what we do best see you soon."
A PALE HORSE NAMED DEATH earlier in the year inked a worldwide recording deal with Steamhammer/SPV for the release of the group's debut album, "And Hell Will Follow Me".
A PALE HORSE NAMED DEATH made its live debut on February 20, 2011 at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey as the support act for MONSTER MAGNET and SEVENTH VOID.
Abruscato previously stated about A PALE HORSE NAMED DEATH's debut CD, "This is my first album where I composed and play all instruments, including vocals. Along with co-producer/guitarist Matt Brown (SEVENTH VOID), we have accomplished a very fresh sound and it includes guest appearances by Bobby Hambel, Keith Caputo (LIFE OF AGONY) and Ulrich Krieger (LOU REED).
"It is the darkest music I have ever written and recorded in my life, back to my sinister roots and I believe the fans will learn a completely different side of me."
For more information, visit www.apalehorsenameddeath.com.
Former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman joined Japanese phenomenon Momoiro Clover on stage on December 25 at the Saitama Super Arena, a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Saitama City, Japan. They played two songs and a guitar solo corner with an excerpt from Friedman's "Valley Of Eternity".
Friedman recently recorded Clover's upcoming single, "Moretsu", with producer Maeyamada Kenichi at the helm. Maeyamada is being hailed in Japan as the hottest new producer in recent times, racking up several hits with his twisted and instantly recognizable style.
Stated Friedman about the collaboration, (translated from Entame magazine): "This song is like the (QUEEN's) 'Bohemian Rhapsody' of idol/girl group music. It has all the elements you would never expect in the genre — aside from the five girl singers, there is a 100-person choir, odd-time signatures, high-speed tempo changes, unusual key modulations, and my guitar over the top of all of it. Actually, if you could imagine a two-hour-long Japan-themed Broadway show fast forwarded and squeezed into five and a half minutes, that might describe the song. No question this is my favorite collaboration since I moved to Japan. It's also the kind of thing you either loathe with a passion, or you love it so much you can't get enough of it."
"Moretsu" will be made available in early 2012, and even though it will be a Japan-only release, for fans of Friedman's playing all around the world it will be well worth looking into.
Friedman recently recorded Clover's upcoming single, "Moretsu", with producer Maeyamada Kenichi at the helm. Maeyamada is being hailed in Japan as the hottest new producer in recent times, racking up several hits with his twisted and instantly recognizable style.
Stated Friedman about the collaboration, (translated from Entame magazine): "This song is like the (QUEEN's) 'Bohemian Rhapsody' of idol/girl group music. It has all the elements you would never expect in the genre — aside from the five girl singers, there is a 100-person choir, odd-time signatures, high-speed tempo changes, unusual key modulations, and my guitar over the top of all of it. Actually, if you could imagine a two-hour-long Japan-themed Broadway show fast forwarded and squeezed into five and a half minutes, that might describe the song. No question this is my favorite collaboration since I moved to Japan. It's also the kind of thing you either loathe with a passion, or you love it so much you can't get enough of it."
"Moretsu" will be made available in early 2012, and even though it will be a Japan-only release, for fans of Friedman's playing all around the world it will be well worth looking into.
I prepped my notes, and was ready to go, I was expecting a call from Zurich around noon my time and at about 10 a.m. the power goes out...damn! It comes back on, then goes back out again! Oh no! What the hell!?! Now, I have power backup to my computer, but the damn thing is a dinosaur, in tech terms, and I thought to myself: if the power goes out during the interview, I got maybe ten minutes to wrap stuff up...you just don't pull this crap when interviewing someone like Marky .
About forty minutes before the interview, there's juice again, but now, the telephone line is out! Thankfully I still got internet; fine this thing's gonna go fubar for sure...the call comes in and the connection is terrible, the video recording software crashes, I quickly close and re-launch, it goes again...god fuggin damnit!! I finally get through on audio only and my knuckles go white with fear as I wait with visions of my kit melting while the rock god on the other end screams "What is this shit !? I thought I was dealing with professionals here !?" going through my head...
...and I am greeted by a voice I almost didn't expect with a super laid back tone and jovial attitude. Before I knew it, I found myself speaking to him as if he was some long lost friend rather than the drummer to one of the most influential heavy metal bands in history. A band that went to the edge creatively, and knew when it was time to step back from the cliff...unlike others who should have kept their name intact while exploring new avenues of musical expression. That band was and still is Coroner; not in name only, but musically as well...when you go to a Coroner show, you are seeing Coroner and hearing the songs which make them a vital part of any thrasher's music collection.
Ron Broder (aka Ron Royce), Tommy Vetterli (aka Tommy T. Baron) and Marky Edelmann (aka Marquis Marky) are back!
ThrashHead: You are considered to be one of the finest drummers to come out of the thrash metal era, how did you get started drumming and who influenced you the most?
Marky: Ok well, first of all I have to say that I don't think that I am one of the finest drummers at all (laughs), especially now I can experience this once more when we are on tour or the few shows we are playing and we have supporting bands with young guys, and I can tell you one thing; every single one of them can play ten times better than I ever could.
So, my problem was that I never had a drum education, so everything I am doing I learned myself without a teacher and now, I totally regret that I never went to any lessons or anything because I have completely no technique, I can't even do a proper drum roll or anything like that. So, I somehow survived with Coroner, trying to play along the other two guys, so that's the facts. (Laughs)
ThrashHead: That's really a surprising answer, because to us, every time we hear a Coroner album we're absolutely flabbergasted by really how technically advanced all you were, you guys were ahead of your time.
Marky: Thank you very much.
ThrashHead: Compared to a lot of the bay area thrash bands that were comin' out early like Exodus, Metallica of course, Death Angel...
Marky: Right
ThrashHead: You guys were already putting out music that was far more advanced on your albums from the get go, like songs Nosferatu and Totentanz. That in itself, really showed your ability as musicians whereas there wasn't really anything comparable to it in American thrash metal until much later for the more recognized thrash metal bands. (note: the intro to Totentanz is a cover of Bourrée by French composer Robert de Visée)
Marky: Thank you for the compliments.
ThrashHead: Who influenced you as a drummer?
Marky: I probably got influenced...I always like John Bonham a lot, I think it was Physical Graffiti, when it came out, a girl from the neighborhood gave it to me as a present..I think for my birthday. I was quite young , I don't really remember what year it was and it was the first time I ever heard music like this and I immediately really liked this kind of drumming. But, I had no idea who Led Zeppelin was and I was like "OK" . So, I was listening to it a lot. It was actually the first record I ever got, so I think it stuck in my mind somehow and I always loved John Bonham a lot.
And another drummer that came later, I really like is Stewart Copeland from the Police, he's an outstanding drummer . And now, I really think one of the coolest drummers ever was Buddy Rich, I really like to watch him play on what videos I can get or Youtube.
ThrashHead: You're Essentially self taught and got into drumming just for the pure love of music then. You were born and raised in Switzerland, what was the metal scene like in the 80's around... Zurich, is it?
Marky: Exactly, Yeah...Absolutely, at this time there were things called heavy discos, I don't know if you have this kind of things in the United States as well. It was called heavy discos because people were actually meeting somewhere, like in a community house or something like that, so all the metalheads would go there and someone would be playing extremely loud metal music and people were just playing air guitar kinda like...as others go to a disco to dance, there were like handbangers banging their head to the music. That was basically how everything started here, that was where the scene met.
And there was a record store called Music Land in Zurich where every Saturday pretty much everybody who was listening to metal at that time was meeting. It was actually new, maybe not the traditional metal fans, but like a new breed, you know, guys listening to Venom and like, thrash metal, early Metallica..things like that.
One of the guys I met there was Tom G Warrior who was already doing Hellhammer at that time, so we became pretty good friends.
You know, they had like a group of people and I was with another group of people I was with. The guys... you know, there was a Coroner lineup before the lineup with Tommy and Ron, Coroner used to be a five piece, back in.. I think we started in '82 or something and we played just three shows and recorded a few songs, I don't even remember what music we were doing exactly. I think it sounded something like Twisted Sister or early Motley Crue.. something like that.
I had to go do military service in '84 so the band split up at that time and when I finished with the military after a half a year, I was looking for new members and I met Tommy and Ron. Then, there was also quite a big group of metal fans at that time, and of course we were going to all the shows of the bands who came to Zurich, which at the time weren't that many, I think Exodus played quite early in Zurich or Metallica as a supporting act of Venom at that time.
ThrashHead: So there was a pretty vibrant scene? When people speak of Switzerland and heavy metal, there are only two bands that come to mind, at least on this side of the Atlantic, and those are Coroner and Celtic Frost; we were also listening to Celtic Frost when the first European Imports came out and it was some of the heaviest stuff around, almost making Motorhead look tame. It was really powerful stuff.
Marky: Right
ThrashHead: When you came back from military service and you hooked up with Tommy and Ron, you did a demo and Tom G. Warrior did the vocals on that?
Marky: Exactly, yes.
ThrashHead: How did that work out? I mean, were you expecting this to be the Coroner lineup, you three with Tom G Warrior or was he helping you out since he already had albums out?
Marky: Exactly, yes, yes. He was basically helping us out, of course we knew he wasn't going to be our singer in the future and the problem was we were looking for a singer, as well as a second guitar player, and it turned out it was really hard to find the right person. So , we already had a few songs ready so Tom was like "Yeah, if you guys like, I can help you out with the lyrics." and then later he went as far as doing the vocals. Which was fantastic for us because it gave us a quite a good kick, it was good promotion for Coroner. As well as the fact that Tommy and Me later went on that U.S. tour in '86 with Celtic Frost, Voivod and Running Wild where we could spread this demo tape all over the United States; every interview Tom was doing or Martin I would immediately give these people one of our demo tapes. So it was fantastic opportunity for us to become known in the United States.
Yeah Tom help us out in the beginning, he was wearing Coroner t-shirts during live shows and stuff like that, we are still really thankful, he helped out a lot in the first years and days.
ThrashHead: You guys were picked up by a label a little while later and went into the studio for the R.I.P. album..
Marky: Exactly
ThrashHead: At the time we over on this side of the Atlantic , were listening to albums like Exodus' "Bonded By Blood" and when we got a hold of "R.I.P." we were blown away. How does it feel to know that that album is still considered to be one of the finest thrash metal albums in history? Matter of fact, I don't think there is any Coroner album, if you compare it to Metallica for example, where some elitists will definitely criticize Metallica in their later years, but when it comes to Coroner, pretty much all the albums are classics, how does it feel to be regarded in that light?
Marky: Well, it's first of all, it's a big honor, it's like "wow, thank you so much for this compliment" , it leaves me speechless, i don't know what I can say. We were just, you know, doing what we like, we were playing the music that we wanted to listen to ourselves basically. It's great, it's fantastic people still remember us after such a long time, that's a big wonder to me right now, with this reunion it's unbelievable.
We feel very honored to be not forgotten and people like our music so much.
ThrashHead: It's timeless music. Most headbangers essentially realize, from the mid 90's up until fairly recently, heavy metal has become a little too corporate, there's been that missing edge of the underground which was around in the 80's and I think a lot of people realize "hey, you know what? these band back in the early 80's are still as heavy as anything now and these albums still kick ass" and you turn somebody on whose never heard a Coroner album and they're absolutely blown away.
Marky: Cool!
ThrashHead: One of the tracks on the first album is one of the most famous songs "Reborn Through Hate" But the song that really gets me the most, is a song I think you wrote "When Angels Die"...
Marky: Right.
ThrashHead: And I was wondering, you know those lyrics center around apocalyptic contamination and disease and the album actually came out, I think, a year after the Chernobyl disaster, did that have anything to do with what you wrote in "When Angels Die"?
Marky: Um, That's a good question, because it's way back, you know I think there it was more from the fear of atomic war, because I think everybody also...I have to think back...you know it was Ronald Reagan, for instance, who was in charge and there was this talk of "star wars" and there was this "let's get more atomic rockets to Europe and put them in Germany to get ready" as well. And, on the other side, the Russians was doing exactly the same.
I remember, for a moment, I feared it was going to be more extreme, I was thinking about things like that. I think the Chernobyl incident happened when I wrote the song, but I'm not sure any more. But, it was basically: yes of course, I'm concerned about this problem with atomic disasters. My wife is Japanese so, I never ever thought that we could not travel to where we always traveled in Japan because there is an atomic catastrophe happening right there with the nuclear shit that's gonna take for, I don't know, how many hundreds of years until its gone.
So, It's still something that is always there, as long as we work with atomic power stations and as long there is atomic bombs and rocket; I think it's a topic that will never be too old to talk about.
ThrashHead: Exactly, it just seems that there is a complete insanity among world governments and also the populace of the world with their thirst for energy and they talk about nuclear as being potential answer to our energy woes instead of depending on solar and wind, and tidal energy using the ocean or rivers and such.
Marky: Absolutely.
ThrashHead: It's completely frightening, even after Chernobyl and Three mile island in the united states, which was mild in comparison, and now in Japan....speaking of your wife, hopefully her family is ok?
Marky: Thank you very much for asking. Yeah, they are ok, they are living about 250 miles from the Fukushima (Daiichi ) power plant. Her brother lives in Los Angeles so , they are already planning to go over there because he has two kids and can help out with the kids. They will live in Los Angeles until things settle down
ThrashHead: Until they know exactly what's going on.
Marky: Exactly.
ThrashHead: It's good to know they are safe and sound
Marky: Thank you.
ThrashHead: Getting back to Coroner's history...when you guys first put that album out, we've always heard stories about how brutal touring for thrash bands was, even though Coroner might not be considered to be just "thrash" band because of the complexity of the albums....
Marky: That's ok, that's ok I have no problem with being called thrash (laughs)
ThrashHead: Most of them didn't have any support at all, it was all the next stop is gas money and maybe a place to sleep if we're lucky and we just tour and tour. What was touring like when that first album hit? How crazy was it?
Marky: Well, first of all, I have to say actually the hardest tour ever was the tour where Tommy and myself went along as roadies with Celtic Frost because we were driving ourselves, I think there was an English Roadie as well, Tim Botch I think was his name, he was the guitar backliner and Tommy and myself were driving a small dodge van which was pretty much broken. We were driving ourselves from one to the other venue, so that meant we were actually doing our jobs at the show, we were, like, you know, putting all the gear back into the gear truck and the bands went with the Nightliner while we were driving all night with this van and sleeping on the suitcases and our bags. That was quite hard for two months. Just a very few times we had a hotel room, basically we were driving at night, so it was extremely exhausting. After two months we were really...we looked different (laughs)
But, we were glad to be on our first tour as Coroner, that was with Kreator in '89, it was really cool because we had a Nightliner and it was really like a professionally organized tour, we had a great, fantastic crew...so basically that was like a holiday compared to what we did as roadies on that first trip through the United States.
Yeah, the biggest problem with had on the tour, was a problem with the drivers, in the end, I think we were somewhere in Florida, we getting thrown out of the tour bus, we went for soundcheck in the club and as we came out there were cops around the bus and we had to clear the whole bus...everybody had to throw out their things onto the parking lot, the bus was leaving with the police. So we had to wait, I think for two days or something for a new tour bus. Thankfully it was in Florida so what we did was spend a day in Orlando at Disney World, which was fantastic fun for everybody. (laughs) I am glad it happened there.
But, basically it wasn't so hard...it was harder for us, for instance, when we did single shows in Europe, you know, traveling with the small van on far trips...that was tough, but touring was actually always with the tour bus, so that was very, very easy, not so tough.
ThrashHead: Ok, now getting to you coming back out to the tour bus...there are cops everywhere?
Marky: Right.
ThrashHead: Why the heck were there copes there? Was it famous American, you know, Southern Hospitality...
Marky: (Laughs)
ThrashHead: I know Southern Hospitality very well, you don't look like their kind, they (the cops) will talk to you...but, what happened?
Marky: What Happened was the driver called the tour bus company and he told them we were actually destroying the tour bus...I have admit it was sometimes things just broke, but it wasn't because we destroyed something on purpose...but sometimes bad quality...(laughs)
ThrashHead: Right you weren't being Paul Baloff right?...
Marky: (Laughs)
ThrashHead: ...The singer for Exodus with his cards which said "will destroy anything" or whatever it said on them...so, you guys weren't being rock stars, you know...a cup holder breaks and the driver goes nuts?
Marky: Exactly! It was a bit like that and the other problem this guy was never flushing the toilet so after a while it was all full...
(Both Laugh for a bit)
Marky: The bus was just like not in good shape anyway. But, he did, he called the company and he told them that we were shitting in the bus, or things like that or completely destroying the bus so they called the cops and they were just waiting until we were out of the bus and they kinda surrounded the bus...and the driver was already gone, he was somewhere else and another driver picked it up because he was afraid we were going to fight him...I don't know, anyways it turned out to be no big deal. We had a good time, I think we had to cancel one show or something and in the end it was great fun at Disney.
ThrashHead: Your next album was "Punishment For Decadence" and I know you're being really humble with your technical prowess as a band, but it's the second album and yet again, another metal album par excellence, considered another classic. And talking about technical, you guys did a cover on the album of Hendrix.
Marky: Right.
ThrashHead: How were able to follow up such an incredible debut with such a hard hitting masterpiece, did it just come naturally or did you really have to work at it?
Marky: Thank you so much again for the compliment. What happened was we were rehearsing like crazy, I remember , at least the first four or five years, we were rehearsing six days a week, we went to this bunker and were playing for three or four hours.
So, that was of course the reason. We were trying out a million things and the other two guys were writing like crazy and coming up with riffs and we threw away a lot, using things, changing things...so what we basically did, we were playing together like every day for many years. And so, maybe that was also a reason...it was never like "Ah come on let's get together next month" and things like that. I remember extremely strict, there was no way we would not rehearse...it was total, like the main thing we were doing.
I think that was one of the main reasons that the album turned out like this.
ThrashHead: So essentially pure dedication to your art.
Marky: Oh yes, totally, totally.
Once we had a record deal, we were dreaming of going on tour, we wanted that so bad that there wasn't anything else that we wanted...yeah..it just had to be like this.
ThrashHead: That's great advice for any band whose aspiring to be great right there...it's not partying and women from the get go, it's hardcore dedication and discipline...
Marky: RIght, well, that you get in the end if you do a good job...the partying and the woman hopefully (laughs) that's a good part of the whole thing too (laughs) it's not just the rehearsing, but that's the main part.
ThrashHead: Speaking of "Punishment for Decadence" all the Coroner imagery has been really impactful, the cover , and forgive me for my German, was from a woodcut "Der Tod als Wurger" "Death as Strangler" in English I think, from 19th century German painter Alfred Rethel?
Marky: Exactly, yeah.
ThrashHead: I was wondering myself I am into it; I ended up becoming a painter myself...so, the artistic side of music, not just the obvious of songs which kick butt, I'm saying the actual creativity behind the music, behind the lyrics and the artwork which is there to draw attention to the music....also draws my own attention...and I was just wondering who decided on that artwork for that cover.
Marky: I don't know if you've ever seen the original cover which was a bluish cover with the relief from Auguste Rodin on it, it was actually meant to be a fold out sleeve and this grim reaper you can see now on the front was actually meant to be in the foldout in the middle surrounded by photos of the band. And the front side is actually, if you Google "Punishment for Decadence", you are probably gonna see the original sleeve somewhere. So it was different sleeve actually, then the record company they just decided themselves, I think it was the second edition, and also in the United States, they just changed the cover from the Centerfold...this picture was meant for the center of the record, and they changed it and put it on the front . So we were actually quite pissed about this because we wanted the other cover, it also has a black stripe on the side and so, yeah you have to check it out. I mean you know in the end it's ok, but it would have been different if the band wanted it. (note: the relief Marky refers to is "La Porte de l'Enfer" or "The Gates of Hell" )
ThrashHead: So essentially, the album we got was not the original cover at all
Marky: Exactly.
ThrashHead: Now I am wondering if I can get my hands on Punishment For Decadence as it was when it was released in Europe.
Marky: Right, I think it's really tough because it was only out on vinyl, I think it's probably impossible, I think, I only have one copy of every Coroner record...that's all I got...it's really funny (laughs) I was going through all my things recently because of the reunion and I was quite shocked that I basically only..I don't even have all the CDs and stuff. So it's funny, yeah it's quite hard to get the original
ThrashHead: I am going to have to keep an eye out for that, now I feel like I've been cheated.
Marky: (laughs)
ThrashHead: After Punishment of Decadence, the third album, you come out with "No More Color" and there is a slight change in the musical style and unlike other thrash bands, who will remain nameless, who go for a very "popular" sound... this sounds more like it's not intentional other than there is an evolution to the music; there seems to be a whole new set of musical influences to the album. When you went to Berlin to record it was there a conscious effort to change the direction of the music or was it as, I perceive it to be, simply evolved?
Marky: I think we definitely wanted to change the sound on every record basically, you can say that.
I think you're totally right, it was definitely the point where you can say we went more in the direction that we kept until we stopped. But, it is really hard for me to recall how exactly things were going at this time, you know, what happened to make it sound like this.
Of course, it had a lot to do with the music we were listening to...somehow, I don't know, I was listening to the Doors a lot at this time, it's funny, I was totally listening to the Doors...I don't really remember what the other guys were doing. I think all in all, we were trying to do more heavy music... it was more heavy, heavy riffing and then playing extremely fast it was not so much influenced by classical music or other styles...so things change.
ThrashHead: That change did continue because the next two albums "Mental Vortex" and "Grin" pretty much touched everything there is as far as there is in genres and subgenres in metal..especially on "Grin" there were touches, it wasn't so much thrash, it was like speed metal, which essentially is the same thing, but a little tighter, a little cleaner, there was a progressive feel to it, even a hint of groove, but not in the sense of what we were seeing with a lot of heavy metal in the 90's which is pretty much the dark ages of heavy metal, I mean..
Marky: (Laughs)
ThrashHead: ...It was an evil, vile and terrible time in metal history, I just can't explain it, there wasn't anything out there, I don't care what anybody says about newer bands, there were only a handful of bands in the 90's who were putting out good tunes...how were you able to really stick to the origins of Coroner without sounding like you were selling out to the way heavy metal was changing? As far as I m concerned, when I listen to those albums, I hear musicians coming of age, I don't hear what had happened to so many other bands of that time. Were you being true to yourselves rather than what was going on around you?
Marky: Yes, I think there was still a certain Coroner style, that was just coming out of us without having to do a lot. Let's say if the Police are doing a record, they always sounded like the Police even though they did a lot of experimentation as well . I think there is a basic Coroner sound that you have, on the inside, that sound.
We were experimenting as much as we could without going too far, and I think that was the reason why we stopped ...yeah, that was the reason we stopped because we felt that we were coming to a point where we actually wanted to go further, and that far the people would probably not recognize the band anymore as Coroner. So we felt also, the whole thing was a little bit like... a cage, you know, where we couldn't get out. So, I think we went as far as we could being Coroner and experimenting, but not so far that we should call it different...where you should say that's a different band now. I think we did that at the right moment when everybody was really up to do something new, and we were kinda like bored, playing always with the same people.
ThrashHead: Right, you wanted to essentially to expand your horizons as musicians and not, as you say, be "caged" into the Coroner thrash mold. So, you didn't think then that the fans would be open-minded enough to accept you at that stage, doing something like that?
Marky: It was for ourselves, you know, because we knew that Coroner is Coroner you know, with all the possibilities , maybe much more possibilities, being accepted by fans then other bands who ever do it.
I think the Coroner fans were basically people who were very, very open-minded, most of them I think. Because if you look through the years, I mean, there is a massive change between R.I.P. and Grin for instance. But, people were also expecting changes that was the great thing you know, we could do that and I think that many bands were not able to do those things like that and still be accepted by their fans and that was really cool for us.
ThrashHead: That was going to actually be my next question, why did you guys broke up in '96 because, in my opinion, unlike a lot of bands that just had to throw in the towel due to so much conflict or for whatever reason, you guys seemed to be coming together, meshing together, perfectly artistically...after the breakup, Tommy went on to play in Kreator and you hooked back up Tom G Warrior, and you guys started a band together or you joined his band Apollyon Sun?
Marky: Exactly, yes, I joined his band.
ThrashHead: What were those times like, could you tell me about it?
Marky: Yeah, it was actually... it started really cool, it was a lot of fun with the guys, we had a good time, I think what the problem was, was that probably we stepped into a very high level, we had the same management as Iron maiden for instance, there was a lot of money in the production and somehow for me, it felt a bit... it was a bit too much before we actually ever played live, had any response from any fans, it was already...we started at such a high level.
For me there was a big pressure, I always felt like "Wow, we spend another week in the studio, we do this and that" and this cost so much money, and I felt like "wow it has to be the ultimate super product" we have to come out now with otherwise, you know, this is all ridiculous. It was a lot of pressure for me.
For me there was a big pressure, I always felt like "Wow, we spend another week in the studio, we do this and that" and this cost so much money, and I felt like "wow it has to be the ultimate super product" we have to come out now with otherwise, you know, this is all ridiculous. It was a lot of pressure for me.
And besides, that was very bad time in my personal life, I broke up with a girlfriend, it really put me down so hard like never before. So, all in all, everything went ... kinda it took forever 'till the record was released....it took much too long in my opinion, between songwriting and the release I think it was like, in the end, it was about almost three years.
Combined with my personal problems, so in the end you know, I left the band...it was not so fun how it ended. But Still, listening back to the music, I have to admit, I think it was not so bad at all, it is actually a shame it didn't go any further. But, I think it was as well... the record company was disappointed, I don't know what ever happened, but it never really went as far as it should have gone.
ThrashHead: What did you do in the interim before Coroner getting back together. Did you step away from music awhile?
Marky: Yes, first of all I had to find a new job (laughs) I suddenly realized that I had to earn some money to pay for my daily life, I had to say to myself "You're not a musician anymore now, you have to find something else". I am a graphic designer and I went to an art school here in Zurich for five years, but I never really, except for the Coroner covers and some little other things, I never really did the job so, first of all, I thought I would go back to this...but I've found out it's like I don't want to sit in front of the computer all day.
Then I found, through the bass player of Apollyon Sun, he brought me into like a gallery to work for artists to build up installations... contemporary art. And from there I went to a museum, a quite big museum here in Zurich, also contemporary art, and I was doing this for many years; I was helping creating and building the exhibitions, working with artists from all over the world, very famous artists actually.
It was fantastic for me to feel that I could do things, and so, I was basically doing this and then I slowly started going back ...But, what I did was like electronic music, I was getting more into the electronic music scene, and there was a great club scene here in Zurich, a great, great underground scene with lots of new freaks doing strange things.
The first project was called "Spoon", you know supreme psychedelic underground, it was named after a band in the 70's, I just liked the name so I just "stole" it..(laughs) so we were four guys doing music using only Playstation programs and we really fucked up the samples and stuff like that.
(Both laugh)
So, that was the first...actually there is a record, a double LP that came out and then the second thing was called KnallKids, Knall stands for BANG! in English, it was a duo and we did very sick kinda house music, really like, you know...you might be shocked hearing the words "house music" but it's not like what you think probably. Anyway, so that was what I was doing, there was also a record that came out on Deck Records, thousand pieces or something like that were sold out, which was really cool for me, because I was like "Ok, it's working in the scene as well." But then slowly, I heard Tommy was calling up, that we should try to play together again, then I slowly started to think about maybe about playing drums again...but that took another four years or something before I really decided to do it.
ThrashHead: When you said that "I might be shocked to hear that it is house music", just to let you know, all of us over here at the websites are not elitists, we've been listening to all sorts of music throughout our lives and we are all fully aware of how important music is and all its expressions, there is always a time and place to listen to a certain type of music, there are a lot of people who will absolutely turn their nose up simply because it's not their music...to me that closes their mind to all forms of artistic expression.
Matter of fact, it really makes me quite happy to hear that, once you withdrew from music, you were able to continue in an artistic environment, and perhaps in a way, deep down, just by being surrounded by that creativity...you, yourself, being an artist but with sound rather oils, water colors, charcoal or whatever, maybe perhaps that effected you on a very deep level and that is really great.
The question I wanted to ask, about the Spoon and KnallKids albums, if wanted one of us wanted to score those albums, where would we be able to get either one of those?
Marky: Well, actually you can't get (laughs) either one because I think I only have two copies, I think there was 200 hundred copies or something which each guy had fifty or something....it never sold, the other one, it's sold out, but I think you're could find it if you just Google KnallKids. Then you can still listen to some of the songs as teasers at the time you order it. So some of the tracks from KnallKids you can still hear on the internet, the other thing is impossible.
ThrashHead: Impossible, huh? Gonna have to kill someone to get a copy then?
(Both laugh)
ThrashHead: When you guys did decide to get back, was it just simply because there seems to be a resurgence of thrash metal; of gettin' back to the basics of what made heavy metal great? Did you notice all of a sudden people were saying "hey wait, we've been fed crap for ten, twelve years!" and now there is all of sudden a whole new school of musicians who are bringing this music which Coroner pioneered back onto the scene. Were you aware of that, did you think the time was right that a new generation understood the metal geniuses that you guys were?
Marky: To be honest, I was not really aware of it. What I did realized was that, on Youtube, suddenly I saw there were young bands playing covers of Coroner for instance, young guys who were probably not even born when we stopped the band, that was the first thing...I was "wow man , that's so cool!" you know or I see some guys sitting at home and a Coroner song comes through their stereo and they play along with their guitar, bass or drums or whatever, I was like totally like "wow, that's so cool!" seeing people doing this...I mean it's not so easy to recreate these songs.
That was the first thing, there's people caring about what we did in the past. To be honest, I really never listening to new bands or realizing that anything has changed or coming up like you mention before. Maybe Tommy much more, because Tommy owns a studio and is producing a lot, he is really listening to, and aware of, a lot of what's going on. Myself, not at all.
Now what I see on these shows we've played so far, there was a lot of young bands playing, for instance at the Maryland Death Fest, there were a lot of bands, or during the several shows we've done recently, Italy, Greece or whatever...I see bands, you know, that I can really see sounds like old school...they're coming back to the essence. I can hear sometimes, definitely some Coroner in some of the other bands.
ThrashHead: Absolutely, Coroner is just one of those bands... for example some members of newer bands were born in '84 or something like that, when we were already cranking Coroner as far as it could go and blowing our speakers, so we're your generation my friend, fans from way back. Coroner is one of those bands where headbangers would get together and say "hey have you heard Megadeth's first album, or Metallica's or Exodus' " and then the real connoisseur walks up and says "ah, but here's Coroner" and then everyone's gotta bow down to this guy because he is the all knowing metalhead, because he has a Coroner original first vinyl pressings or something...
Marky: (Laughs)
ThrashHead: Coroner has always been one of those bands, where there has been a lot of respect from the Americans towards European thrash bands, because even though we had the pioneers over here, you guys were a lot more political, you had a message and you also took it to a speed that was just a little faster than us, a little heavier than us and it was one-upmanship but Coroner, Sodom, Kreator, Destruction those are the bands outta of Europe, you cannot say there is only Kreator, you always have to mention Coroner when you talk about European thrash. Another question I was going to ask you, is that people hear about all these bands who are coming back together and it's not really the original band because it's only one guy..
Marky: Right
ThrashHead: It's not even the singer, or guitarist, it's just the drummer.
Marky: (Laughs)
ThrashHead: You on the other hand, even though there was some lineup changes like you mentioned, before the demo, it's always been pretty much you three, Ron, Tommy and yourself as Coroner, does you three coming back as the original band speak a lot of how you guys got along?
Marky: Absolutely, yeah. It does.
ThrashHead: When you were touring and putting out albums, you essentially got along artistically?...I'm sure you had your fights, I don't think there are any friends who don't
Marky: You can bet, it even got close to physical sometimes, I remember once, a producer had to stand in-between we were ready to about to smash each other's faces in, especially between Tommy and myself, it could get way out...then it was, you know, we'd probably not talk for awhile, then...I am not the kind of person whose not going to talk to anyone for 200 years because there was a fight, I'm really not. And it's the same with Tommy, so yeah, basically we get along very good. I think there was always respect of each other, it's not perfect...we just live with that. I think basically we had such a great time, that these few fights would just disappear.
ThrashHead: Essentially you guys got along like brothers then?
Marky: Yeah, you can say that, absolutely, totally and still now it's better than it ever was...it is really a unit, it's an extremely relaxed situation right now because we don't have to promote an album, it's just travel around and play shows, and we are so glad to see all those people to talk to, the fans ....it's just fantastic. It's really basically a great time we are having right now, everybody feels really lucky that we have a chance to do this.
ThrashHead: That kinda leads to my next question, and I know you've been asked this probably a 100,000 times and you can probably guess what I am going to ask; have you ever really thought now, that you've got a few shows under your belt, and with people saying "coroner's back!", about gettin' back into the studio.
Marky: (Pause) No, we don't. (Laughs) Because there are several reasons for this, the main problem is that we all have daily jobs. Ron is working for a company, I work for an art collector, I have a family and a little daughter, I am just not as free as I used to be, I can't just say "well, I am going to be in the studio for a month", I can't cancel my job for that, I can't be away from my family for that long.
And, Tommy with his studio, is extremely busy all the time. I think it's just an illusion if we say we'll make a new album, because it would take such a long time. Of course, we can try to do that, but it would take, maybe three or four years or something....that would be just strange you know to produce in this way, that you say "let's wait three weeks, and then we come together and put together the second song, drums" or something like that. For me, you have to be a band, you have to be somewhere else, away from everything, you have to be together for three weeks or whatever in one studio, just to get through one piece...that's the way we always did it...this is just not possible.
I think it's ok how it is...well, what we are probably going to do is one song or something, just one song to add to these few shows we do know or we just put on ....we're actually planning on putting out a DVD with all the cuts from the shows, traveling, what we're doing now and next year...combined with some old footage, like for instance, the first Coroner concert ever that we did in Zurich with Celtic Frost and Kreator and things like that. That's probably where the one new song or something like that will go....I don't know.
But, basically to answer your question, there is not going to be a new album.
ThrashHead: That's a definitive no, but we can at least look forward to that DVD you mentioned sometime in the near future?
Marky: Yes, Yes, well...near future...(laughs)
ThrashHead: Ok, sometime down the road.
Marky: It's takes time to do something like that, we are also quite lazy, it's going to take awhile, because it's a lot of work to cut these clips that we recorded. We recorded sometimes with up to eight or nine cameras during each show we've done so far.
ThrashHead: Really?
Marky: Yeah? There's a guy touring with us whose doing the keyboards and sampling, we have four members, studio musician, he was already touring with us on the last tour we did in France in '96. The same guy is now with us, he's doing the sampling and these things on the stage, while he's actually filming...placing cameras everywhere, small helmet cameras, really cool, we can record HD. Also, he has a larger camera, so basically we completely document everything we are doing right now and now all this material needs to be cut.
ThrashHead: That's sounds awesome, gonna have to keep an eye out for that definitely! Last question: Is there any chance perhaps for one monster concert in Europe and maybe one more in the United States as an answer to the famous "Big Four" tour where Coroner, Sodom, Kreator and Destruction play together? Is there any possibility of saying: "You know what? here's Europe's Big four!"?
Marky: I never thought about something like this...but yeah that would be totally, totally possible. It's probably hard to get everybody together, we were just talking about...actually, there's probably a tour coming up with Triptykon and Kreator and they were asking us if we were up to tour with them...but it's just not possible because it's gonna be like 24 dates or something like that. As much as I would love to do that, it's just not possible; it's impossible for me to be away for three weeks. But, to do a single concert, a Festival like that would be fantastic! If you know anyone who would like to put something like that together...(laughs)
ThrashHead: Are there any words you'd like to say to your fans before I let you go?
Marky: Well all I can say, how much we enjoy being able to do these shows, I am just thankful to everybody who made it possible, the people who book coroner, the fans who come to the show to make this possible. I am very thankful, I am really enjoying this time...the next concert is in January we are gonna do 70000 Tons, so I am sure there are going to be a lot of American fans, I am really looking forward to this. Basically I want to thank everybody in the countries we've played who've come to the shows, I look forward to every single show!
Again, I wish to convey my deepest appreciation to Marky for participating in the interview and putting up with my enthusiasm, it was a great experience to say the least! It was definately the most memorable itnerview I have ever had!
Be sure to hook up with Coroner and show them your support, try to catch a show and keep an eye out for that DVD mentioned in the interview!
British female singer Sarah Jezebel Deva (CRADLE OF FILTH, THERION, MORTIIS), and Swedish composer Chris Rehn (ABYSSOS) will begin work on a new album in January which will pick up where their last collaborative effort, ANGTORIA, left off five years ago. According to Sarah, "the music will continue in the same vein as [ANGTORIA's 2006] debut album, 'God Has A Plan For Us All', blending the world of epic orchestral music with metal."
Due to reasons beyond their control, Sarah and Chris have to change the name of the project. More information will be made during the coming weeks.
"God Has A Plan For Us All" was released in Europe in April 2006 via Listenable Records. The CD was issued in North America in October of that same year.
ANGTORIA's video for the title track can be seen below. Sarah previously stated about the track and the accompanying clip, "The song covers two subjects but they are both linked. Written about a man who preaches god's word yet finds it acceptable to sexually abuse children. Also this song describes the pitiful chilché used by many religous people who can't offer any other explanation as to why people suffer in their life. Rape, murder, poverty, whatever it may be, the only excuse that can be offered is: 'God Has A Plan For Us All!'"
She added, "The video was filmed at two locations, a very impressive and beautiful church (Njurunda Kyrka) and an abandoned deteriorated building, over a three-day period and due to the lyrical theme of the song it was filmed as a 'short movie.' It contains footage of as well the band as Chris' five-year-old daughter Saga who played the child, Toni Davey (wife of Dani Filth in CRADLE OF FILTH and covergirl on the [ANGTORIA] album) who played the child as a grown-up to a 35-piece church choir and a priest played by Pierre Ragnehag!"
Due to reasons beyond their control, Sarah and Chris have to change the name of the project. More information will be made during the coming weeks.
"God Has A Plan For Us All" was released in Europe in April 2006 via Listenable Records. The CD was issued in North America in October of that same year.
ANGTORIA's video for the title track can be seen below. Sarah previously stated about the track and the accompanying clip, "The song covers two subjects but they are both linked. Written about a man who preaches god's word yet finds it acceptable to sexually abuse children. Also this song describes the pitiful chilché used by many religous people who can't offer any other explanation as to why people suffer in their life. Rape, murder, poverty, whatever it may be, the only excuse that can be offered is: 'God Has A Plan For Us All!'"
She added, "The video was filmed at two locations, a very impressive and beautiful church (Njurunda Kyrka) and an abandoned deteriorated building, over a three-day period and due to the lyrical theme of the song it was filmed as a 'short movie.' It contains footage of as well the band as Chris' five-year-old daughter Saga who played the child, Toni Davey (wife of Dani Filth in CRADLE OF FILTH and covergirl on the [ANGTORIA] album) who played the child as a grown-up to a 35-piece church choir and a priest played by Pierre Ragnehag!"
Reactivated German melodic death metallers BEHIND THE SCENERY have inked a deal with Serial Six Records. The band is currently in the studio recording its as-yet-untitled fourth album for an early 2012 release. According to a press release, the follow-up to 2004's "Rétroviseur" "will contain about nine songs plus an intro and an outro."
BEHIND THE SCENERY is:
Holger Speidel - Vocals
Immanuel Rein - Guitars
Marcel Renning - Guitars
Simon Abele - Guitars
Guntram Berger - Bass
Uwe Kurz - Drums
In March 2007, BEHIND THE SCENERY announced its retirement from the active music scene. In July 2011, following intense discussions between the members, this decision was adjourned. The band simply felt that it was the right time and place in order to come up with a creative output strong and diverse enough to stand as the logical follow-up to "Rétroviseur".
For more information, visit www.behindthescenery.com.
BEHIND THE SCENERY is:
Holger Speidel - Vocals
Immanuel Rein - Guitars
Marcel Renning - Guitars
Simon Abele - Guitars
Guntram Berger - Bass
Uwe Kurz - Drums
In March 2007, BEHIND THE SCENERY announced its retirement from the active music scene. In July 2011, following intense discussions between the members, this decision was adjourned. The band simply felt that it was the right time and place in order to come up with a creative output strong and diverse enough to stand as the logical follow-up to "Rétroviseur".
For more information, visit www.behindthescenery.com.
A "party" to celebrate the life of David Gold — a founding member of the Ontario, Canada-based black and doom metal band WOODS OF YPRES — will take place on December 28 in his hometown of Sault Ste. Marie. According to his sister Marie, "a formal service" for David will be held the first week of January, once holidays are over. She added, "It's been really amazing to see how David has positively influenced people all over this world; it truly warms my heart."
David was killed last Wednesday afternoon (December 21) in a car accident near Barrie, Ontario. He was 31 years old.
According to Ontario Provincial Police, the accident — which involved a vehicle and a pedestrian — occurred at 1:30 p.m. on Highway 400 north of Highway 89.
The police shut down the northbound lanes at Highway 89 and traffic was diverted from the scene as OPP highway safety investigators collected evidence.
The cause of the collision remains under investigation.
The accident occurred just hours after Gold texted his mother in Sault Ste. Marie that he was on his way home, according to Local2.ca.
There were no other injuries.
WOODS OF YPRES' new album, "Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light", will be released in 2012 via Earache Records. The CD was recorded with producer Siegfried Meier (KITTIE) at Beach Road Studios in Ontario, Canada, and was mixed by John Fryer (NINE INCH NAILS, PARADISE LOST).
Earache Records set up a memorial page on its web site after learning of Gold's death.
Formed in 2002, WOODS OF YPRES has earned critical acclaim for its ever-evolving, envelope-pushing mix of blackened doom metal. Most often compared to bands such as AGALLOCH and TYPE O NEGATIVE, WOODS OF YPRES toes a thin line between the catchy, the artistic and the extreme to create an unmistakable signature sound.
David was killed last Wednesday afternoon (December 21) in a car accident near Barrie, Ontario. He was 31 years old.
According to Ontario Provincial Police, the accident — which involved a vehicle and a pedestrian — occurred at 1:30 p.m. on Highway 400 north of Highway 89.
The police shut down the northbound lanes at Highway 89 and traffic was diverted from the scene as OPP highway safety investigators collected evidence.
The cause of the collision remains under investigation.
The accident occurred just hours after Gold texted his mother in Sault Ste. Marie that he was on his way home, according to Local2.ca.
There were no other injuries.
WOODS OF YPRES' new album, "Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light", will be released in 2012 via Earache Records. The CD was recorded with producer Siegfried Meier (KITTIE) at Beach Road Studios in Ontario, Canada, and was mixed by John Fryer (NINE INCH NAILS, PARADISE LOST).
Earache Records set up a memorial page on its web site after learning of Gold's death.
Formed in 2002, WOODS OF YPRES has earned critical acclaim for its ever-evolving, envelope-pushing mix of blackened doom metal. Most often compared to bands such as AGALLOCH and TYPE O NEGATIVE, WOODS OF YPRES toes a thin line between the catchy, the artistic and the extreme to create an unmistakable signature sound.
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