<![CDATA[My Site - Interviews 2015 --]]>

<![CDATA[My Site - Interviews 2015 --]]>Fri, 19 Dec 2025 10:22:18 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[THRONE OF IRON INTERVIEW]]>Sun, 25 Aug 2019 22:35:39 GMThttps://metalwarfare.weebly.com/interviews-2015/throne-of-iron-interview

1. So could you please introduce yourself and the current lineup of the band?

Tucker: I'm Tucker Thomasson, and I do lead vocals and guitar. Corwin Deckard also plays guitar as well as synth in some parts. Jacob Lett is our drummer who does backing vocals. Evan Pruitt plays bass.

2. Throne of Iron formed in 2018 and was originally a solo project. We’re you shocked at how much positive feedback you received from the demo? How did you come up with the name for the band? Myself I remember hearing it on bandcamp and immediately purchasing it.

Tucker: I was blown away at the response for the demo! Things picked up extremely fast with it and I was sending out demo CD's faster than I could restock them. Everybody was leaving such nice comments about the songs, and it was so encouraging. This may come as a shock to some, but the name of the band didn't come from Game Of Thrones, but rather I was bench pressing one night and just thought of "Throne Of Iron" as a kenning of sorts for my bench and squat rack, and then I thought it sounded like a super tough and hard band name.

3. To turn to current events you guys just released a split with Hillsfar a dungeon synth band. How did this come into fruition? Something I thought was interesting this is whenever you see metal and dungeon synth together would be with bands like Summoning or Caladan Brood. Are you a fan of those bands?

Tucker: I reached out to Maalthir, the nebulous storytelling wizard behind Hillsfar about doing a split with his other band, but he suggested we get adventurous and interesting with this and do it with Hillsfar instead, which was an idea we were immediately keen on, as I love dungeon synth. Corwin actually did a dungeon synth track for our full length, for instance. I love Summoning AND Caladan Brood! I got introduced to Summoning's "Minas Morgul" when I was just out of high school, and I'd never experienced anything like it before, and it left quite an impression on me.

4. So recently you guys were planned to play Gen-Con and from my understanding is you guys got screwed over. Can you explain what happened?

Tucker: We did a video on our YouTube explaining the full story, so anyone interested in the long version can check it out there. The short version is that we were apparently only being allowed to play as a trial or a test run, but nobody told us that. We got shut down after two songs with little in the way of an explanation as to why, and the people who paid to see us were pretty visibly upset about it. But they voted with their wallets and bought every CD we brought with us, which makes me want to give a shout out to everyone who came to see us at Gen Con. We got to meet some incredible people there in spite of the less than pleasant experience we had playing and dealing with event staff.

5. You guys have recently done two new songs. One for Roll for Metal and one for Indy Metal. How did you get involved with those projects?

Tucker: We actually dropped another Roll For Metal as well! Roll For Metal was a song writing game that Corwin and I came up with the day after our frustrating Gen Con experience to let off some steam. We have a folder of drum grooves on my computer, so we use dice rolls to determine the tempo of the song, then again to pick out the drum patterns for the intro, verse, chorus, and bridge of the song, then make up guitar parts on the spot to fit the feel of the drum parts. Originally we were using the "Power Metal Lyrics Generator", but after we released the second one Dave from DMR Books made us our own very extensive random lyrics generator to use in future ones. Our plan right now is to possibly get other bands involved in playing Roll For Metal with us and spreading the fun around!
I've been friends with a lot of people involved with Indy Metal Vault, some for almost 20 years in the case of Jason Roach. Bryan from Indy Metal Vault approached me about us doing a song for a compilation to help fundraise for local all-girls School Of Rock organization, which is a cause I will always back because I want kids to have a future in music. So we wrote "Xanathar" really quickly and had our friend Mitchell McKinney, who I knew from my previous band Thorr-Axe lay down a shreddy solo on it, and it was off into the world.

6. You guys are obviously heavily inspired by sword and sorcery imagery and literature. What are some of your favorite authors and what else inspires you?

Tucker: Corwin and I both come from a heavy Tolkien background. Like most other metal kids on the literate side of things, I also read a lot of Howard and Lovecraft. The core influence for this band, however stems from a childhood experience of finding a stack of 1st edition Dungeons & Dragons manuals that an older cousin had left behind after he had moved away. The illustrations and the feelings soaked into those books left a huge impression on me during a time where I was also just beginning to get into heavy metal, so in my mind those two converged and sat in my mind as a seedling of sorts for what would eventually become this band.

7. Another obvious observation is seeing you guys are influenced by the ancient ones (Manilla Road, Cirith Ungol etc..) What are some of your favorite albums and what are your biggest influences? Would you consider your band just a traditional metal band or an epic metal band?

Tucker: Within this corner of metal, I always go back to "King Of The Dead" and "Crystal Logic". I think that the feel and vibe of those two albums set the bar for everything that us and bands like us do now. I think that the band that Corwin and I in particular draw the most from, however, is Accept. We have spent many an hour combing over and reveling in "Restless And Wild", "Metal Heart", and "Balls To The Wall", as well as the newer output with Mark. As for what we are, we really just play what we feel we need to be, so I'm not entirely sure what niche we fit best into!

8. Coming from Indiana I’m assuming there isn’t a huge metal scene. Especially playing a more niche style of metal. Was it hard to find members for the band? (Hell even here in Cali most people still don’t like USPM or Epic Metal)

Tucker: Indiana actually has an extremely healthy metal scene, especially in Indianapolis. We have a good number of great venues that host a wide variety of different sub genres every week, and touring bands of all sizes come through here regularly. Doom metal in particular is big in Indy right now, but death metal has always been a presence here. In our hometown, about an hour southwest, we have been trying to build up more of a metal presence and things have been going well. We live in a college town, so when the students are back it's much easier to get shows together it seems. We just hosted Midas down here, and Paladin and Knights Of The Forge before them. Finding members wasn't hard, because I'd known the other three guys in the band for so long before they joined. I've known all of these guys for close to ten years at this point. It's just now that we've all decided to play music together.

9. You guys are signed with No Remorse Records from Greece. Is there a projected date for the new album?

Tucker: Not just yet! We'll be sure to scream and herald the date form the hills and roof tops when we find out.

10. Well we have come to the end. I want to say thank you for your time to do this interview. I’m assuming the Allure of Silver is calling you to the road. Is there any touring plans? Do you have any last words for the fans?

Tucker: We have some plans for a smaller United States tour around the time of the album release to try to get our name out a bit more in the states. I really like touring, especially in the American West, and we're in a position to be able to tour pretty frequently, so I suspect the United States will be seeing a lot of us later this year and in 2020!

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]]><![CDATA[Clashing Iron an Interview with Vulture]]>Thu, 10 Aug 2017 22:17:33 GMThttps://metalwarfare.weebly.com/interviews-2015/clashing-iron-an-interview-with-vulture

1. First things first is thank you for taking your time to do this interview. How has the overall response been to the first single ‘Vendetta’? You guys also filmed a music video for it. How was that experience? Also, for the B- side of this single you cover ‘Stormbringer’ by Deep Purple. How did you guys decide to cover this?

A. Axetinctör : Well, thank you too for having us. The response to 'Vendetta' was, yet again, amazing. I really enjoy reading every single comment and see how far it spreads, that's the best payoff. Filming the video was extremely exhausting but just as exciting. Everyone was pretty nervous if it would turn out as planned because we organized everything ourselves. Therefore it was very good to have Oliver from 'Visions in Fear' behind the camera. His calm nature and professionalism really kept us from strangling each other close to the end haha. In the end it turned out to be one hell of a video so no drop of sweat was shed in vain. As for the B-Side, at first we wanted to cover another Priest song but couldn't really decide which one to go with. So we looked a little further and found a perfect match with Purple's 'Stormbringer'. It already is a very heavy track so instead of speeding it up we turned into a real steamroller.

2. When was the idea of Vulture conceived? Also, who named the band and how did it all come together? And how did you start working with High Roller Records?

A. Axetinctör: When Stefan quit 'Obsessör' he never intended to stop playing Speed/Thrash. So he contacted Leo, Mathis and me in mid 2015 and already delivered some very raw bits and pieces of songs which later became 'Victim to the Blade'. We were all hyped and started working on the songs, a name and the whole concept. After months of discussions and a lot of creative input from everyone we hit the studio and recorded the demo. Before the tape version was even released we contacted High Roller to show them our material and see if we could work out a deal for an EP or Album in the future. They were stoked and insisted on re-releasing the demo on CD and LP, which we were more than happy about. I mean your demo on vinyl, how amazing is that?! haha

3. ‘Victim to the Blade’ was released last year and it got a very good response. I believe it went through multiple pressings. Were you guys shocked at the response you got? Can you also tell us about the writing and recording for this release?

A. Axetinctör: It was simply overwhelming to see, read and hear the reactions and realize that we really hit a nerve. As I stated in the previous answer the foundation for 'Victim ...' were some raw riffs and ideas from Stefan. We then started to piece them together, adding stuff, cutting something else, speed up one part, slow down another. You get the idea haha. Everyone really had some part in the process, which was really refreshing and extremely creative. Once the three songs were fleshed out 'Rapid Fire' was added and we hit the studio immediately to keep everything as fresh as possible. Just like the album we recorded the demo with our longtime friend Marco in Hellforge Studio.
It was recorded , mixed and finished over the course of one weekend and everything worked out perfectly - simply lightning in a bottle.

4. On your new debut ‘The Guillotine’ there was some use of synthesizers which really fit the music but also reminded me of something out of a John Carpenter film. Are those type of movies influential to Vulture?

A. Axetinctör: We had some synthesizers on 'Victim ...' already so we simply took it a step further and exaggerated them a bit on the album. We're all fans of the old horror classics and their soundtracks, no genre experts by any means but we chose to include synthesizers as well as lyrical themes from these flicks because they work brilliant with our music.

5. On both the art of ‘Victim to the Blade’ and ‘The Guillotine’ you have a leather glove assailant. Is he a mascot of the band of some sort? How did this concept come to be?

A. Axetinctör: Haha, well I guess you could call it that if you wanted to. The 'faceless killer' really became its own thing only after we received the artwork for 'Victim ...' from Velio Josto. We thought it would be cool to have the killers hand and knife appear again in different variations here and there so we had Velio painting two more versions over the course of 2016. When the time came to work out the concept for the album cover it was clear that the killer had to make an appearance again as well as in the music video for 'Vendetta'.

6. Can you tell us about the writing and recording process for this new album and how did it differ from the EP? To me the songs have very much the same feeling as the EP. Was there a lot pressure on you guys to follow up EP? Do you happen to have a favorite song from this new album?

A. Axetinctör: The writing progress was very similar but of course way longer because there was more to discuss haha. And yes, we had a lot of pressure! Every riff and melody was questioned numerous times and you could never tell which part of a song would really make it to the studio. 'Triumph of the Guillotine' for example was finished first and we played it live a few times but for the record we reworked the song nearly completely. It's hard to follow up an EP because you need to make the tropes, which made it stand out, work on an album with a much longer running time without repeating yourself and becoming redundant. When we finally made it into the studio things didn't really become much easier. Marco pushed us to our limits in order to get the best takes possible and our plan to record the album within a week failed miserably so we had to return a few more weekends. Afterwards the mixing progress dragged on for additional 3 months during which we really tortured Marco 'til we finally worked out every note and snare hit. As for me my favorite songs are 'Adrian's Cradle' because of its atmosphere and 'Electric Ecstasy' because it is the most powerful in my eyes.

7. The new album really took my head off like a guillotine. The album’s name really does sum up the music. What I also like about Vulture is you guys aren’t following the trends you guys are playing genuine metal. Can you tell me about some of your biggest musical influences?

A. Axetinctör: We're very much rooted in 80's Speed and Thrash as well as in 70's proto Metal. We think that the spirit that made the early days of extreme Metal so fascinating, wild and refreshing is found earlier than '82. Listening to bands like Deep Purple and to draw your own creative conclusions is way more inspiring then recycling old Slayer riffs. But of course bands like Agent Steel, Exciter and Exodus sure have a huge impact on us, you can't deny that.

8. On the track ‘Adrian’s Cradle’ Olof from Enforcer did some guest vocals. How did that all come about? Also, is the song about Rosemary’s Baby?

A. Axetinctör: Olof has been supporting us ever since 'Victim ...' was released. He's a really cool guy and just as crazy about Metal as we are. At last years Live Evil in London we also met personally, had a few drinks and simply asked him. Also during the production of the album we asked for his opinion from time to time to have an objective and fresh view, which helped a lot.

9. You guys have played a couple festivals like Live Evil and shows in Europe. How has the response been to you guys?

A. Axetinctör: The crowds have all been amazing and some were the biggest we ever played as musicians so far. But also the smaller shows in sweaty clubs are always memorable. Gotta love it when the maniacs are banging their heads against the stage.

10. My last question is are Ibanez destroys the true source of your power? Well once again thank you for doing this interview. Any last words for fans?

A. Axetinctör: Haha, nah I'd say they are rather a channel than a source! Get hold of 'The Guillotine' or the Guillotine's gonna get hold of you! KICK ASS!

https://www.facebook.com/vulturekills/?fref=ts

http://www.vulturekills.bigcartel.com/

]]><![CDATA[Legionnaire interview]]>Sun, 06 Aug 2017 22:59:07 GMThttps://metalwarfare.weebly.com/interviews-2015/legionnaire-interview

1. Hello Aku, thank you for your time and doing this interview. How did the band form? What was the vision you guys had when you formed the band?

Aku: First of all, sorry for the late answer! The band was formed in 2012 when we wanted to form an epic heavy metal band with Petri and Frans. Actually we didn't have any particular vision when we formed the band. We just wanted to play and see where it would lead.

2. How has the reaction been to ‘Dawn of Genesis’ overall? What is your favorite song off this album if you have one?

Aku: I think the reactions have been quite good even though some people didn't like my vocals, but that is not our problem. My favorite songs are Enigma of Time and Olympian Aegis. Both songs have great guitar leads, killer riffs and an epic atmosphere!

3. What was the biggest difference in the recording experience of this record compared to the demos? The production on this record has a great sound. It sounds organic and not overly polished. Yet, on the other hand each instrument is heard clearly.

Aku: Well, the biggest difference was that Dawn of Genesis was recorded at a proper studio while our demos were recorded in our rehearsal room. That's why the tapes are more raw and the quality of the sound is not as good as it is in the studio album.

4. How did you guys get signed with Gates of Hell records?

Aku: We contacted Cruz del Sur and then we've got involved with Gates of Hell. They had heard about us before and liked our stuff.

5. When it comes to songwriting does the band work as a unit or do you guys come in with individual ideas?

Aku: We do it both ways. Most of the songs from Dawn of Genesis are written by Petri, but when we practice new stuff everyone can say their own opinions about it.

6. As a band what are some of your biggest musical influences? And what are some personal musical influences you draw from?

Aku: I think the biggest influences for the band have come from Slough Feg, Brocas Helm, Omen, Liege Lord, Thin Lizzy, Iron Maiden and several punk bands. I personally don't like the idea of making music under other bands infuence so it's hard to tell, but I think Iron Maiden would be the band which made me do this kind of music.

7. Who drew the cover and who come up with the cover concept? I must say when I first saw it I knew I had to listen to the music. It just screams traditional metal and I’m glad I discovered you guys!

Aku: The artwork was painted by Anu Bring (check her fb page Art by bring). We discussed about the cover idea with the band and Anu told her ideas so I guess we visioned the artwork together.

8. Are there any plans to do any touring? I think you guys would fit great on a fest like Keep it True in my personal opinion.

Aku: Maybe in the future at some point! At the moment there are no plans of touring, but we do play individual gigs.

9. Finland has some great bands. You guys for example but also Ranger, Speedtrap (R.I.P), Chevalier, and Rapid. Are the shows pretty crazy in Finland? Is the scene pretty tight knit?

Aku: Yeah, the shows are quite good in Finland! I think the only problem with gigs is the fact that Finland is quite a small country so the underground scene is not that big.

10. I wanted to say thank you once again for taking your time to do this. Any last words for the fans that will read this?

Aku: Thanks for the interview! Hope to see you when we get outside the borders of Finland!

Aku/Legionnaire

]]><![CDATA[Seven Sisters interview]]>Tue, 25 Jul 2017 06:30:39 GMThttps://metalwarfare.weebly.com/interviews-2015/seven-sisters-interview

1. Hello, Kyle I just wanted to say thank you for doing this interview. What’s been going on in the Seven Sisters camp recently?

Kyle: Hey man, thanks for having us! We’ve been pretty busy recently actually. We’ve been playing a fair few shows all around the UK, and have been working on songs for our second album. It’s all sounding pretty good so far. More imminently, we’ve contributed a song for a compilation album called British Steel that’s coming out on Dissonance Productions. It’s a brand new song called The Witch’s Eye, and it’s exclusive to this release so you won’t be able to hear it anywhere else. The record also features a ton of our favourite bands from the UK, so it’s definitely one to watch out for. It’ll be released on vinyl and CD in September.

2. You guys formed in 2013 how did that all come about? Were you guys friends beforehand? If not how did you meet?

Kyle: Myself, Graeme and Steve had all known each other for a while before we started the band, although we’d never worked together musically. Our bass player Javi is a relatively new face in the band having only joined us about a year ago. We were fortunate to meet him in a bar through a mutual friend at around the same time as our previous bass player left, so that worked out nicely.

In terms of how the band came about, it was just a collective desire to try writing the kind of Heavy Metal we like to listen to I guess. We weren’t expecting or planning for it to be successful or anything; it was just for a bit of fun, and to see what happened. We’re really pleased other people seem to have enjoyed the band too though!

3. Are you guys influenced by Greek mythology? Is that how you came up with the name Seven Sisters?

Kyle: I think we have a general interest in things like history, philosophy and mythology, and not specifically limited to the stuff that originated in Greece. The first album is a kind of retelling of the Greek myth concerning Orion, but that’s certainly not the only kind of thing we’re interested in. The next album is looking like it’ll have songs based on mythical events from a little closer to home. The name Seven Sisters was in place a few years before we even started writing the songs for the first album, so that just tied together nicely really. When we chose the band name it was more because it sounded cool than anything else!

4. Last year you guys released your self-titled debut album on High Roller Records. It got a very good response and I believe the first pressings on both CD and Vinyl sold out. Were you guys surprised at the response to your album?

Kyle: Very surprised actually. Obviously we thought the album was good, but we were also aware that for a lot of people we were still a relatively new band, so for the first pressing of the album to totally sell out within a few weeks of being released was absolutely amazing. We can’t thank everyone who bought a copy enough. We’re just delighted that the album wasn’t a total flop!

5. This album has some songs that are killer headbangers like 'Highways of the Night' and then a more prog track like 'Cast to the Stars'. What I like is the variety in songwriting of this album. It doesn’t get boring at all. So my question is do you guys write all the music as a band or do you guys work individually and come together with ideas or even finished songs?

Kyle: Most of this album was written by myself. Our previous bass player Adam wrote a few riffs here and there, and Graeme helped out with lyrics on a few songs, but most of it came from me. The other guys obviously then contributed their own parts and touches when we came to rehearsing the songs in the studio. That isn’t necessarily the way we planned to work or what we’d done in the past, but just the way it seemed to go with this record. The stuff we’re writing at the minute has been more of a collaborative effort so far, with everybody pitching in with cool ideas, and it sounds great so far. We don’t really have a set strategy for writing songs. If someone comes up with a good idea, we use it!

6. From the demo to the debut album do you feel you have progressed as a song writer?

Kyle: I’d certainly hope so! We wouldn’t want to just keep releasing similar sounding stuff year after year. That’s not to say it doesn’t work for some bands who are happy with their sound the way it is, but we tend to get bored easily and like a challenge. So we’re always trying to progress and push ourselves both musically and compositionally. Everybody loves a good three minute fist-pumping metal tune, but I think we’d get bored if we wrote a whole album of them. It’s definitely a conscious effort for us to try and make our music as interesting and varied as possible, but without it sounding over-complicated or like we’re trying to show off. The main thing is to have a catchy tune at the end of the day. But if you can have some fun with it on the way, then you should.

7. The first bands that came to mind was Iron Maiden and Angel Witch but personally I can hear other NWOBHM bands as well. To me I hear a bit of Virtue and even some neo-classical edges to your solos here and there. What are some of your biggest influences?

Kyle: I’m really glad you noticed the neo-classical influences, as myself and Graeme have a total obsession with Yngwie Malmsteen! But yeah, I think you’re right, our sound is probably rooted in that classic NWOBHM sound, and this is undoubtedly our primary influence. That’s not all that we listen to at all though. I’m also really into progressive rock, Graeme likes AOR and hair metal and stuff like that, and Steve and Javi come from thrash backgrounds I suppose. I’d like to think we’re able to blend these influences to a certain extent, and that you can hear a bit of all these things in our songs and our playing.

8. The UK is the birthplace to one of my favorite subgenres NWOBHM which you guys are obviously influenced by. Getting into metal were you attracted to that style or how did you get into it?

Kyle: I think, generally speaking, people’s first exposure to music is hearing their parents’ record collections at home. If your parents have Lizzy, Zeppelin, Purple and Sabbath records lying round the house, it’s not too big a leap for you to check out things like Maiden, Priest and Saxon when you start looking at trying to discover bands for yourself. So I wouldn’t say any of us were NWOBHM fans from birth or anything crazy like that, but that we gradually started to gravitate towards that sound over the years having listened to all sorts of stuff and realizing that this was the music that we enjoyed listening to more than any other.

9. My last question is what is planned for the future for Seven Sisters? New album, EP, single?

As I mentioned earlier, we recorded a new song for the British Steel compilation album. That will be out in September, and it’s going to be killer, so make sure you check that out. Other than that, we’re just keeping ourselves busy by playing as many shows as we can and working on material for the second album. We don’t have any firm details on that one yet, but we’re hoping to hit the studio before the end of the year, and we’d expect it to be released in 2018 some time. Watch this space!

10. Once again thank you for your time. Do you have any last words for the fans?

Just a massive thank you for all the amazing support so far. I don’t think any of us ever expected to be in a band that people actually liked, so it’s pretty awesome that people seem to genuinely enjoy Seven Sisters! It really does mean a lot. Stay safe, stay crazy and see you on the road!

https://www.facebook.com/sevensistersuk/?fref=ts
http://sevensistersuk.bigcartel.com/
https://sevensistersuk.bandcamp.com/

]]><![CDATA[Attacker interview with Mike Sabatini]]>Fri, 06 Jan 2017 23:05:49 GMThttps://metalwarfare.weebly.com/interviews-2015/attacker-interview-with-mike-sabatini

Attacker is an iconic US heavy metal band! With albums such as 'Battle at Helm's Deep' and 'The Second Coming' they have solidified themselves as legendary band in the underground and beyond! After hearing their new album 'Sins of the World' I knew I had to get an interview with them! So here's my interview with their drummer Mike! Enjoy!!

1. Hello Mike how are you doing? Attacker formed in 1983 and has been playing this real metal style since then. How does it feel starting in the early 80’s and going strong into 2016/2017?

Mike: I am doing really well here in New Jersey, thank you for asking. It really is a great thing to still be able to do what we truly love. Music and heavy metal is in our blood and we are very fortunate and blessed for what he have in the world of heavy metal!!

2. How has the music business changed since you guys started? Would say it’s been a double edged sword with illegal downloading but on the other hand you are also able to reach many people you may have not have been able to reach?

Mike: Well, there were much more opportunities to sell records back then. Labels were making more money could then put more into the bands. Today, label give bands much lees support and it’s up to the band to get their name out there. The internet has been blessing and a curse. As you said, we reach many more people but the downloading has really changed the entire landscape of the music business and not for the better. We just all have to make do with how the industry has changed and do our very best.

3. How has the reception been for ‘Sins of The World’ so far? I think it’s a really killer record and a great follow up to Giants of Canaan!

Mike: The response having been overwhelmingly positive, I don’t believe I have seen bad thing said about it. We had to do some serious work to put together an album to compete with the Canaan album. But, I think we achieved our goal of producing an album as good or even better than Canaan.

4. I want to talk about the lyrics a bit. This album has some interesting lyrics like the title track about man and “no respect for the gift that he gave”. Also, you have songs like ‘We Rise’ which talk about fighting the new order and Annunaki oppression. ‘World Destroyer’ is about Nibiru which reminds me of Wormwood from Revelations. Is this something all you guys are interested in?

Mike: That actually is all Bobby. He has a huge interest in all these subjects. I know about some of these things but it is his brain that put it all together. He has definitely come up with some very cool subject matter for these songs.

5. You are now the only original member. Does that put a lot of pressure on you to keep Attacker on the right track?

Mike: I don’t believe so. Mike Benetatos has been with Attacker since we 2000, played on 4 albums and has really embraced the Attacker style in keeping the writing in the vein that keeps us being Attacker. Bobby has the type of voice to handle past albums material and my style of drumming has been a constant throughout the bands history. It really has been no effort at all to keep Attacker right where it needs to be.

6. Can you tell us about the new members in the Attacker fold?

Mike: Absolutely. We have Brian Smith on bass who joined in 2014 after Jon Hanneman decided to leave and move to Nashville Tennessee. Brian was recommended to me by a drummer who he had played with for many years. We also just added Jon Hasselbrink this past July to replace longtime an original member Pat Marinelli. Jon played with Bobby in his old band Morbid Sin, so Booby thought of him first when we had to start looking. They have both stepped in to their respective roles and been doing an amazing job for Attacker.

7. What I always liked about is Attacker is your guys signature sound a little bit of speed, heavy, power and it just works so well! Would you agree that you guys mix classic metal and that’s what makes the Attacker sound?

Mike: We have definitely have a good mix of different types of metal while never straying too far to have fans question what we were doing. Our albums all have their own character but still have an Attacker sound as you said. We are lucky to be able to keep a style that is easily recognizable as Attacker.

8. In the songwriting process what is the biggest difference compared to Giants of Canaan and this new album?

Mike: I would say that having played with Bobby for a while now and obviously Mike Benetatos, we have jelled better as a writing group. On Canaan, we kind of threw things together much faster but on the new one, we had time to grow together with the songs and I think that it shows in the material.

9. How did you guys get involved with Metal on Metal records? They have put out a lot of killer metal albums it seems from what I saw.

Mike: One of the label owners, Jowita Kaminska-Peruzzi is a very talented artist who had done 2 covers for us previously as well as now Canaan and Sins of the World. When she started the label with her husband and she approached us, it made sense for us as we already had a working relationship through the cover artwork. They are great people to work with.

10: Do you guys plan to play any shows next year in support of the new album?
Mike: Yes, we have some U.S shows such as the Milwaukee Spring Bash, Rage of Armageddon Fest in Brooklyn, NY as well as European fests that include Pounding Metal Fest in Madrid, Spain, Up the Hammers in Athens, Greece and Headbangers Open Air near Hamburg, Germany. We will hopefully be adding more dates as they come in.

11. I really like the drum sound on this album it has a very good and natural sound. What's your opinion on drums that are triggered or get to the point where it's very produced and all you hear is clicking sounds from the bass drum?

Mike: I am not a fan of clicky triggered drum sounds, I always prefer real drum sounds. If you want the drums to sound like a drum machine, why bother having a drummer record, just program it in the drum machine. We have had many comments about the new album sounding very organic and real. We wouldn’t have it another way!

12. Is there any plans for a vinyl issue of the new album?

Mike: Definitely, it should be available in April for the Keep it True fest in Germany from what I hear from there label.

13. What's your opinion on the metal scene in the 80's and now? Would say it’s gotten better for Attacker?

Mike: Believe it or not, I think we are doing better now that back then. There was a lot more competition then and we kind of got lost a bit and never rose to where we wanted to be. Somehow, things are just better today. Maybe it’s because we are all grown men and have a different appreciation now than we did in the 80’s. We are a happy bunch of Attacker’s at the moment!!

14. Well I would like to say thank you for your time and do you have any last words?

Mike: Thank you this opportunity to speak about Attacker and we hope to see a lot of your readers at a show somewhere in 2017!!
Cheers!!!

https://www.facebook.com/AttackerBand/

]]><![CDATA[Sanctifyre Interview ]]>Mon, 26 Sep 2016 22:12:30 GMThttps://metalwarfare.weebly.com/interviews-2015/sanctifyre-interview

Sanctifyre is a heavy metal band Eugene, Oregon. They have put out a demon 'Wasteland Warriors'. This just screams heavy metal and that's exactly what they do best. They'll put a fyre inside your head. This is the music you will be playing while your going down the highway like Mad Max. Wyatt Benson conducted this awesome conversation/interview with Sanctifyre.

Wyatt Benson : Out of all the metal genres around, what inspired you guys to play the metal style you do?

Noah Hadnutt: To me personally, old school styled metal, in some form, is all I could envision playing in any kind of serious, goal-oriented sense. There was this undeniable spirit of energy, power and strength that permeated the entire genre and its formative bands during its glory days of the late 70s and 80s because something mighty and unforgettable was happening. And I want to do my part to make sure that stays alive. At this point, channeling that timeless spirit of heavy metal itself and making a lasting contribution to it is what inspires me more than any specific bands, but of course, the legends like Priest, Maiden, Accept, Riot etc are massive influences on our playing style and we all love them. And we all have our own particular favorites too that inspire us individually, and it just comes together in this heavy metal melting pot.

Wyatt Howell: Well, for a while I was playing thrash metal, which is very near and dear to my heart, but for whatever reason it just didn't feel quite right. My breakthrough moment came when I was listening to The Sentinel, and it was just like "yeah, this is what I need to do". It was really as simple as that. I had been into Judas Priest for as long as I can remember, but it just didn't hit me until that moment. I came into contact with Nik not too long after and started jamming. I couldn't imagine playing anything else and putting 100% heart and effort into it.

WB: What is the metal scene like in your area and are there any bigger named bands in your scene?

NH: For Eugene itself, it's kind of dry as far as anything beyond a local scene goes. We have Yob, but that's about it as far as national level bands go, across all genres of metal. Eugene's scene is small, and largely focused on other types of metal than what we do. But we've gotten a good reception anyway, which I'm very grateful for. Plus there's this contingent of teenagers here who are super into classic heavy metal so when we do an all ager, it's guaranteed to be a good time. Portland is about 2 hours north of us, and we play there a lot. That scene is way more geared toward stuff like what we do and there are tons of old school style bands. Spellcaster are probably the biggest of those, they're doing a lot these days. Weresquatch, Tanagra, Bewitcher just to name a few. There's a ton of great stuff happening there right now. Now I'm just holding out for a Glacier reunion! Haha

WB: You mentioned Glacier. I’m not too familiar with them, but they’re a legendary old-school heavy metal band correct? Are there any other old school gems in Oregon?

NH: An old school heavy/USPM band from Portland. Their self titled EP is the stuff of legends. They haven't officially done anything since the 80s to my knowledge, but there's been some recent activity like planned reissues of their 80s material, and more outreach to fans. So we can only hope

WB: Right on! Alright, back to questions for all 3 of you. If you could play anywhere in the US, where would it be? What 2 bands would you pick to play with?

Nikki Krimson: If I could play anywhere in the US, I think someday I'd like to sell out the Madison Square Garden with Striker, and Spellcaster. Those guys work really hard, and they're a blast to play with

NH: Right now I'd say my ideal US show would be one of the festivals - Frost & Fire, Ragnarokkr, if they do another Metal Threat that would be great too. As far as bands to play with (avoiding the obvious Priest and Maiden), High Spirits is a current one I'd love to share a stage with. Crystal Viper too, if they were to make their way over here. We're actually playing with one of my major bucket list bands in November, Riot. Still kind of in shock about that one.

WH: I'd definitely be really stoked to play Ragnarokkr. And if I could throw two bands on there, I'd probably pick Spellcaster and Striker as well haha.

WB: Cool, cool. Do you guys have any plans for recording new material any time soon?

NH: Actually, we're right about to start recording an EP. That should be ready for release soon.

NK: It's gonna rock your socks.

WB: Can you tell me more about the vibe and all that?

NH: I'd say basically just the same old Sanctifyre from the demo, but more focused and current to where we're at right now. Some speedy stuff, some more hard rocking stuff. There's some new stuff that's going to be on it that hasn't ever been played live before

NK: It's going to be fast, and melodic, but with lots of guts. The riffs are high octane, and the vocals are going to make you want to ride a dragon in a thunderstorm. Imagine injecting Nitro into you vein, and shattering poser skulls. We want everyone to feel like rocking out when they listen to it.

NH: It'll make you shit straight out your ass

WB: And you guys will sell me the EP a little early right?

NH: 😂I'm sure we can arrange that!

WB: Right on!!! Anything else you wanna add to this interview???

NK: Sanctifyre just wants your beer, and your babes. And to start a Fyre in your home town

NH: Well, we plan to hit the road next year and we hope to shatter as many of your skulls as possible out there so stay tuned for that! Blast records. Rage hard. Keep the true spirit alive and burning in your metal hearts!

https://www.facebook.com/sanctifyremetal/

https://sanctifyremetal.bandcamp.com/releases

]]><![CDATA[Desaster interview with Infernal]]>Sat, 10 Sep 2016 18:46:49 GMThttps://metalwarfare.weebly.com/interviews-2015/desaster-interview-with-infernal

Desaster is a legendary band from Deutschland! They have been spreading metal mayhem since the 90's with their black/thrash assault! Earlier this year they put out the album 'The Oath of the Iron Ritual'. They also toured the U.S on this new album and played MDF. I caught up with Infernal to talk about the new album and also Desaster history!

1. Hails Infernal! So you guys just did a successful U.S tour and also a Canadian show if I’m not mistaken. How was the experience and how was MDF? Sadly, your LA show got cancelled and I was planning to go to that one, hopefully sometime in the future.

Infernal: Well, the tour went quite well although we expected some more people to come to the shows. Also playing at 4´clock in the afternoon on Maryland Death Fest was not a fantastic slot! I´m not sure if we will do something like this again in the future, so better book your ticket for a show in Germany!

2. So your new album dropped earlier this year, how has the reception been to the new record?

Infernal: The response was very good! I don´t pay too much attention on album reviews in magazines, but if fans who follow DESASTER since Demo-days write to me that the album kicks ass I´m proud!

3. I noticed this album is slightly more “thrash/speed” compared to your last album “Arts of Destruction”. Now, Desaster has always had a healthy dose of black metal and thrash. So was this a conscious decision or did it just naturally come out that way?

Infernal: We don´t “plan” the songs for an album but I think we again managed to find the right DESASTER mixture on “The oath of an iron ritual”. Yes, compared to “The arts of Destruction” it´s a little bit more “thrashy”. I agree with you.

4. The new album just kicked my ass, it’s just pure metal at its finest. How did you guys come up with the title “Oath of the Iron Ritual”. It really fits the music that’s on the album. Also, it’s like an ode to metal just like Metalized Blood is just an anthem to all the maniacs! What is your thoughts on “modern metal” and “modern metal production" and sound?

Infernal: Yes, you are right, the title of the album stands in a kind of tradition with “Metalized Blood” and is dedicated to all those maniacs who are into Heavy Metal music for all those years like we are. We all have sworn an oath and celebrate the “iron ritual” everyday when listening to Metal! I´m not into modern metal, bands like Sabaton are absolutely not my cup of tea and I also don´t like the sound of the modern bands with their triggered drums and Rammstein guitar sounds. I grew up in the 80s and still like this “old-school” sound most. The perfect production for me you can find on “Ride the lightning” or “Reign in blood”.

5. Later this year there is going to be a re-release of the old demo stuff. I’m hoping to snag a copy because the song “Tears of an Old Wizard” is actually one of my favorite songs by you guys. Looking back what are some of your favorite songs on those demos and how do you think Desaster has changed the most from the demo days?

Infernal: Cool you like the old "wizard" song! It´s also one of my all-time DESASTER fave songs. We already re-released the demos on vinyl in our 20 years anniversary box but it´s cool that the people out their still like tapes. So when we got the offer to re-release the demos on tape again we agreed. The two demos from 1993 and 1994 will come in a limited box as well together with a third tape with a live show from that time. I still like the songs from this time, for example “Into a magical night” always reveals some great memories and other songs like “As the deadworld calls” or “In a winter battle” we still play live from time to time. I don´t think we have changed our sound much, the way we write songs hasn't changed at all and we still have all the elements in our music we already had on our demos. We of course became tighter and I also would say more brutal in our sound during the years, especially because of Sataniac's brutal voice.

6. Back in the 90’s your guy’s style was very underground. Yes, you had the death metal explosion and even the black metal scene from Norway gaining attention but your band and bands like Usurper, Pentacle, Destroyer 666, Witchburner in the vein of the ways old weren’t as known or it seemed to be as appreciated. Do you think people now are more into Desaster now then let’s just say the 90’s? Because to be into those bands like I have mentioned before you had to me a total metal maniac and not just your Nuclear Blast bands at that time. Also, in the 90’s Desaster all though I don’t want to say pure “thrash” but you were one of the few bands that were playing that style as well.

Infernal: Well, since the first demo we had a speed/thrash element in our sound with songs like “Witchcraft”. After our debut album was released in 1996 we put more attention on those old-school elements because we were fed up with the Black Metal scene with all those keyboards and female vocals which really didn't fit in our metal-universe! So since our “Stormbringer” mini-LP in 1997 I think our roots can be heard much better and also Okkulto found it´s own singing style. Yes, I agree with you that this style of black/thrash wasn't very popular back then and we could have sold more albums with some tits and orchestra stuff back then, hehe! But we didn't give a shit and decided to swim against the stream and play the music we loved and still love. Yes, it´seems that some few more people are into our music right now, but it´s still underground and although there´s again a little “thrash revival” going on it´s no mainstream at all.

7. When was it decided to record the live album and DVD “Live in Bamberg” for 25 years of Desaster? Also, on the DVD was a documentary about the band. How was that process of doing the interviews for the documentary and finding old archived footage and such?

Infernal: It was a pain in the ass to collect all those old photos and video-material but really fun to do all those interviews and meet some old friends again. I think the documentary turned out really great and is also a kind of documentary about German extreme metal underground in general. It took some years to plan the anniversary release, so for example the show in Bamberg had to take place one year before our anniversary so that the show could be released in 2014, 25 years after our first concert in 1989 which marked the official beginning of the band.

8. What gear do you use? Does it differ from live performance and recording?

Infernal: No, it´s mostly the same stuff. I mostly use my old Ibanez RG 550 left handed guitar, I use the Metal zone distortion and a digital delay and play an old Hiwatt amp with Marshall speakers. That´s it. No amp imitation stimulation amputation or whatever this modern shit is called, haha!

9. During the late 80’s when you formed Desaster and even before how was the metal scene in Koblenz? Everybody knows the big bands from the 80’s that came from Germany. Was it an exciting time to be picking up the new albums by those bands? Were you involved in tape trading back in those days?

Infernal: No, tape trading began when our first demo was released in the 90s. In the 80s we were mostly into the “bigger” bands which already released albums, but soon we listened to more extreme bands because we were pissed by the big Metallica hype back then. So the first records from Pestilence, Protector etc. were the most extreme stuff we knew and we always drove with our bicycles to the next town to buy the latest album releases. The first demo I had was from the Speed band “Pyracanda” from our hometown Koblenz which was released in 1988 and called “Welcome to crab-louse city”, haha! But the metal scene in Koblenz was not as exiting as in other cities. The bigger bands didn't play here and we had to organize a lot on our own to keep the flame of metal alive here! Now in 2016 there are some more bands and people around in this area, but it´s still no Heavy Metal “Mecca”.

10. I was watching some early videos of Desaster live and I noticed that you guys had torches on stage, was that influenced by the medieval sound you guys had in your music in those early days?

Infernal: Yes, exactly! By the time when our debut came out we tried to support the atmosphere of the music by some torches and candles on stage, later we weren't motivated to carry all the shit with us any longer, hehe! I think we still have this medieval elements in our music, just listen to the middle-part of “At the eclipse of Blades” on the new album!

11.Over all the years of being a metal maniac do you feel your influences have overall stayed the same or have there been slight changes throughout the years?

Infernal: No, I think it´s quite normal that you are influenced by the music you listen to when you are a teenager. And I still prefer the old albums to the newer ones. It´s also a matter of fact that in metal music you can´t invent something completely new, so I prefer to listen to the original albums.

12. Well I want to say thank you for your time and answering these questions. Any last words for the fans?

Infernal: I want to thank everybody who supported DESASTER so far and I want to greet our loyal fans in the worldwide underground! BANG OR BE BANGED!!!

https://www.facebook.com/666Desaster666/?fref=ts

http://www.total-desaster.com/

]]><![CDATA[Flight interview heavy metal from Norway!]]>Thu, 14 Jul 2016 21:54:33 GMThttps://metalwarfare.weebly.com/interviews-2015/flight-interview-heavy-metal-from-norway

Flight is a traditional heavy metal band from Norway. Last year they put an awesome debut album and have been destroying our ear holes ever since! So I figured why not get an interview with these guys. So here it is!

1. Hello, thank you very much for doing this interview. When did you guys decide to start a traditional heavy metal band? How did you guys meet each other?

Jonas: We started up the band in October of 2012. We were all active in other types of metal. That’s fun and all, but classic heavy metal has always been our main genre, at least for me personally (Jonas). The thing is that there has never been a heavy metal scene in Norway, really. Right now there are us, Black Magic and Magister Tempi. So it’s not the easiest thing to do as it’s hard to find the right guys to do it with. And nobody sings clean anymore either. I was asked to play bass live with Herman (Flights first drummer) and Chris’ other band, and when we got to really know each other Flight just happend by itself. It felt very natural for us to do this kind of hard rock sound. We started out as a three-piece, and then Kribb (lead guitar) joined us half a year later. A much needed addition to play proper heavy metal! We also got a new drummer around springtime last year: Kickan from Nekromantheon. Great guy!

2. Your album is really awesome! How was the writing and recording process for this album? I notice with the production it sounds very organic almost like a 70's album which I really enjoy was that an objective for the band?

Jonas: Thank you! As mentioned we started up the band in October of 2012, and a month later we had pretty much 75% of what were to become our album ready. It all came quite fast and natural in the beginning, we had a lot of ideas and riffs already, riffs we couldn’t use in other bands. The last songs we finished were Lion’s Den and Devil Woman, which were completed sometime the first half of 2013.
We got a good mix of late 70’s and early 80’s heavy metal in our sound, which comes from my and Chris’ differences in writing music. His stuff is more rooted in the ‘70s, and mine in the early ‘80s. We think it works well together and gives the record a bit more dynamic and variety.

Having a proper organic sound was definitely an objective for the band. Half the battle is having the right sound. There has to be a “right” amount of gain on the guitars when playing early heavy metal. Growing up today you get exposed to all kinds of different genres of metal and your ears adjust to it, and it might feel correct to play classic heavy metal through a super-overdriven amp, but that doesn’t mean that you should do it. Listen to some classic albums and appreciate what just the right amount of gain can do to your sound. We just got the Gibson Flying-V and plugged it straight into a Marshall JCM800 without any extra bullocks and experimented with the placement of the microphones to get the desired sound.

3. You also released a 7" with a cover on it. How did you guys decide to cover ‘Stormers of Heaven' by Legend?

Jonas: We wanted to do a single like they did in the old days, have it released a month before the album to promote it (which didn’t happen). But it’s no use in doing a 7” single if there isn’t anything special on the B-side. Chris came up with the idea of doing Stormers of Heaven as he was listening quite a bit to Legend at the time. It was a perfect fit, it really has that kind of riffing that we’re aiming for. And to do it a bit more special we had Kribb, the other guitarist, to do vocals on it.

4. How did you guys get signed to Bad Omen Records?

Jonas: We made a quick demo with 6 songs to be distributed digitally to labels or relevant people. Dave Sherwood from UK heavy hitters Amulet got a hold of our demo, and he passed in on to Bad Omen Records, which again contacted us and that was it.

5. How was the Muskelrock fest? And how are shows generally for you guys?

Jonas: Playing shows are always fun, it’s one of the main reason for why we play. Muskelrock was the best, a bit hot rockin’ playing in leather in 30 degrees Celcius. The crowd was good, and there’s always a good atmosphere there. We played 3 news songs which will be on the next album, it’s nice to finally do some new stuff live too. Muskelrock is top 1 festival to go to for me at least, even though you have to sleep in a shitty tent that starts to boil at 9 in the morning because of the sun. It’s a good way to get you up early in the morning and go swim in the lake though.

6. Is there any plans for any new material?

Jonas: We’re working on our second album right now. Most of the ideas and riffs are there, but we’ve only got 5 out of 8 locked down as a full band.

7. What are some of your biggest musical influences?

Jonas: Judas Priest is number 1, obviously. Other than that you got a few UK bands, and even stuff like Rush, Camel and Winterhawk is a big inspiration. And 80s stuff like the first Queensrÿche EP and Iron Maiden. And even some classic US 70s rock.

8. Once again thank you for doing this interview. Any last words for the fans?

Jonas: “Get fucked up. Drink a couple of beers, you know”.

https://www.facebook.com/heavyflight/

]]><![CDATA[Crematory Stench interview]]>Mon, 13 Jun 2016 18:37:08 GMThttps://metalwarfare.weebly.com/interviews-2015/crematory-stench-interview

Cheers Nathan!

1. So what's the story behind Crematory Stench? How did this idea rise from the crypts?

E. Cruz: Crematory Stench started out with J. Aguilar and me (E. Cruz) wanting to do death metal in early 2015 since we live close to each other and knew what we wanted it was just about choosing the right people. After trial and error on members for months, we got E. Barajas and M. Valencia.
The most stable line up, and the most comfortable to work with. We recorded March 26th-27th the four song EP.

2. You guys play dirty and filthy death metal? I personally hear Autopsy and Dismember. What are some of your influences?

EC: That’s what we wanted! Well Autopsy and Dismember are just a few of our influences. Our influences are Morgoth, Asphyx, Darkthrone, Slayer, Repugant and lots of Iron Maiden.
As well as newer bands that have come out , like Tribulation, Deathcult, Venefixion, Bastard Priest.

3. You guys have been playing some kick ass gigs. How has the response been overall? I'm excited for the upcoming Deathammer show you guys are going to be playing.

EC: It's funny actually, Were kind of the "new guys" so people don't really know us until we go up and even then everyone’s like "woah.." not expecting us to be making that noise! Considering were also the youngest band on the bills usually! We're excited as well! It’s going to be one the best shows for sure!

4. So let's talk about the EP. How was the writing process for this? How was the recording process? How did you get Olof from Enforcer to do the mix?

EC: J. Aguilar and E. Barajas are the mastermind on the writing. The recording went smooth. We had those songs locked and loaded for a couple months. Just needed to get them recorded, which took 2 days.
Our first mixing was a bit ehh. We were very strict on what we wanted everything to sound like especially the drums. No triggers, no over productions. Olof was the first person that came to mind, I had heard 2 album mixes by him and new that
Our music was good in his hands and new exactly what i wanted. No over production. No triggers.

5. Do you have other material that didn't make it onto the EP? Possibly for a future full length?

EC: We have 1 song that was recorded that didnt end up on the EP only because we wanted to keep it 4 songs. FDA will be releasing it on a Compilation with other bands in the winter for there anniversary. We already have 2 new songs ready to go.

6. How did you get signed with FDA Rekotz and was their interest from other labels?

EC: Chris Monroy from Skeletal Remains showed Rico (FDA Rekotz owner) our youtube song and got ahold of us the same day. No other interest from other labels.

6. What's your thoughts on newer technical death metal?

EC: Technical death metal can fuck off!!

7. What gear do you use?

EC: I use a Hartke HyDrive 410 speaker with a Hartke LH1000 head and a Dean Z bass.

8. Who did the logo and rotting corpse for you guys?

EC: Our good friend Marc Strobel from Carnal Tomb did the logo! And Gabe Slaughter did the artwork!

9. I know you design t shirts and patches with your distro Muerto En LA Cruz. How did you start?

EC: I started in 2014. I don’t work alone though, I get designs done from Rags in Vision and Obsessed By Cruelty.

10. Thank you for the interview. Any last words for the fans?

EC: Cheers! And be sure to check out the EP coming August 19th through FDA REKOTZ! Rot in hell!

http://crematorystench.bandcamp.com/releases

https://www.facebook.com/crematorystench/timeline

]]><![CDATA[Skeletal Remains interview a conversation with Chris Monroy]]>Thu, 18 Feb 2016 04:38:36 GMThttps://metalwarfare.weebly.com/interviews-2015/skeletal-remains-interview-a-conversation-with-chris-monroy

Skeletal Remains is a killer death metal band from Whittier, California. Pretty much they have been wrecking necks in Southern California and beyond since 2011. They released their first album in 2012. Then they went on a break but in 2015 I started to see them pop up on show flyers and they were making waves and releasing a new album. This album is Condemned to Misery. Which has to be one of the best death metal albums I have heard from a new death metal band in a while. Since their album kicked my ass I figured I should get an interview with them. I got into contact with Chris and this is the product of the phone call we had. For some reason there was some technical problems on my side and like one question got all messed up and I wasn't able to hear what was said. But from memory it was about cassettes and we both agreed on how early death metal albums sound awesome on that format but to the interview!

MW: Hey Chris, how are you doing?

Chris Monroy : Good man, pretty good.

MW: So let’s go back to how Skeletal Remains started how did you guys form? What is it out of highs chool how did it all work out?

Chris Monroy: So pretty much, I don’t know if you know but I also play in Fueled by fire so I was pretty busy with that. One of my longtime high school buddies came up to me and he was trying to start a death metal band and he asked me for some help to just get it started so yah I helped him out. We went to the studio recorded 3 tracks. 3 originals and a cover and that's when the original guitarist Mike who asked me to help start the band left the band. So it was me, Mike, and Chris who recorded the demo but when Mike left I ended up finishing the demo with the drummer. The demo was pretty much done so we decide to just released it we didn’t just want to leave it sitting there and not push it. So we released it and a lot of people enjoyed it and that’s when I figured we had something good going so I asked two of my good friends I've known since high school to help me out on guitars and bass and Yah, man that’s pretty much how it started but it was nothing serious for me at first since I was so busy with Fueled by fire but people really enjoyed it and we got offered to tour Europe, yah man it’s all history from there.

MW: Your guys originally name was Anthropolgy correct?

Chris Monroy: Yah, that was the original name when me and Mike started the band then once Adrius and Adrian came in the band they the idea to change the name they had started a band some time ago with the name of Skeletal Remains but it never really took off or did anything with it because they were so busy with personal stuff so once they brought the name to my attention I was like yah man that actually fits better. So yah we just ended up using that name and we listed the demo under that name. So they came in right before we released the demo.

MW: Last year you guys released Condemned to Misery and you guys did a release show at the Black Castle how was that show?

Chris Monroy: it was actually really cool one of our friends helped us put that show together. She does the Born For Burning shows at the Black Castle but I don’t think the black castle here in La but I don't think it's open anymore but yah man it was actually a great show and a great turn out and we sold a lot of merch it was cool.
MW: How has been the general feedback to the album? I think it kicks a lot of ass!

Chris Monroy: Yah, it’s been good man a lot better than our first album a lot of people say it’s a step up from the first album and we’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback and a lot of people enjoy we’ve been selling a lot of merch we pressed a lot more copies for the second album then the first album yah it’s selling a lot of people enjoy it.

MW: I actually thought you guys broke up I remember hearing many years ago the first album on YouTube and I liked it. I was glad to see that you guys were releasing a new album.

Chris Monroy: After the first album came out we did the European tour and then came home and wrote the album and then we went on a break because our drummer quit so it took us a long time to find a replacement since we were looking for someone who was going to play the songs right and the way we wanted them to sound so it took us along time until we finally found somebody that’s probably part of the reason we took so long to release the album and all that. Because we had actually recorded the album with our old drummer completely it was done but we weren’t happy with the way it sounded and how everything came out so we had our good friend do drums for the album and we re-recorded the whole album so all that took us along time to do. That’s why we were kind of on a big break for a while.

MW: Didn’t you guys get Carlos Cruz to do drums on this album?

Chris Monroy: Yah, Carlos Cruz, Warbringer and Hexen presence. He’s a good friend of ours and he went ahead and did us a favor playing drums for the album. It was a lot better than we expected.

MW: How was the recording process for this album different between Condemned to Misery and Beyond the Flesh?

Chris Monroy: I guess it would have a lot to do with Carlos playing drums for the album he brought in some cool ideas during the recording process. When we recorded Beyond the flesh and the first demo we just went in there and jammed the songs this time it was a little bit more professional we had a click track and everything was on time so that was a big difference from the first one. That’s pretty much it we recorded at the same place everything was kind of similar I think Carlos made a big difference compared to Beyond the flesh. Condemned to misery was recorded a lot faster he just kind of shot through all the tracks in one day and it was just a faster process..

MW: How did you guys get Sign with F.D.A Rekotz

Chris Monroy: Yah, their a German label we actually got contacted when we released our and he was interested in releasing our demo on tape so that sold out in like the first week I think I can't remember and he was very happy with the way things went and he brought up the idea of possibly releasing an album. We kinda had already had the idea to release an album out selfs so it all worked out. But that’s pretty much how we released the album he gave us a 2 album contract and then we did these two albums and the demo as well.

MW: You guys seem very popular in Slovenia and Czech I saw some videos and some articles and people were saying shows were sold out and it looked like the crowd was going nuts!

Chris Monroy: Yah, Europe especially Eastern Europe we have a pretty good fan base. Just Europe in general I think are fanbase is great. It’s pretty shocking how many fans we have out there but yah we have an Ok following here in LA but definitely Europe is the place for us.

MW: It’s kind of weird with the United States I noticed, not all the time but people won’t support American bands which is kind of weird to me I don’t know why.

Chris Monroy: Yah, exactly I feel the same way it’s kind of awkward and I don’t know why it’s just the way it goes. People don’t support the local bands much I think it has to a lot with being part of a trend or following what other people say instead of supporting the music . Yah, it’s weird I don’t know how to explain that but I know what you mean I see the same thing.

MW: Musically a lot of people are going to say off the bat Pestilence but I definitely hear you guys have your own Identity, but what are some other bands that have influenced you

Chris Monroy: Yah, like you said definitely Pestilence pretty much the early 90’s extreme stuff Morbid Angel, Deicide, Death of course umm some Canadian stuff like Gorguts but I would say the main, main influences would be Pestilence, Gorguts, Death and Demolition Hammer.

MW: Yah Demoliton Hammer kicks ass! What I love about your guys sound is your able to be technical but you also keep the headbanging riffs and memorable songwriting.

Chris Monroy: Yah, that’s what we kind of try to shoot for of course we want it to be technical but at the same also want it to be catchy you know like music that makes you band your fucking head!

MW: I have to admit I’m a bit of a Martin Van Drunen fanboy so when I heard your vocals I was immediately sold but what are some of your biggest vocal influences

Chris Monroy: Well definitely Martin Van Drunen, John Tardy of course from Obituary Marc Grewe from Morgoth . Chuck of course um let’s see who else. Well that will definitely be my top influences but I also like max otero from Mercyless the French band. But my main influences it would definitely be Chuck, Martin Van Drunen, luc lemay and John Tardy. Those guys are like legends to me and when we did our first European tour we played Party San festival in Germany and I’m not sure if it was for Grand Supreme Bloodcourt or one of Martin’s bands but they played the day before us and at the festival we got to hang out with him backstage and drink beers and he told us some really cool stories about seeing Metallica for the first time it was cool Marc Grewe came on stage and sang a Morgoth song with us that was really cool it meant a lot to me being able to share the stage with someone who is such a big influence

MW: What are some of your biggest guitar influences

Chris Monroy: Guitarist Jason Becker would probably be the number one. James Murphy you can probably hear a lot of his influence on our songs Chuck Schuldiner of course, Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert Andy le roque.

MW: I forgot to ask, going back to Condemned to Misery who did the artwork?

Chris Monroy : This dude from Mexico, Mario Lopez. He did this artwork that caught my attention. There’s this Belgian band Evil Invaders I don’t know if you heard of them. I believe it's for their second album and I really liked the artwork so I found out who it was and I hit him up and thought he had a pretty cool style which had the more of the old school style in the 90’s. So yah we gave him ideas of what we wanted it to look like and we gave him some lyrics and he pretty much came up with it and we were really fucking happy with the final product we think it looks freaking cool.

MW: You guys are playing a Festival soon with Sadistic Intent is that correct? Isn’t it in Oregon?

Chris Monroy : Yah, we are doing the Oregon Famine fest that’s with Sadistic Intent and Coffins that’s in Portland, Oregon and we’re playing a show with Sadistic Intent in LA at the Complex and that’s at the end of February 26 or 27th but that’s with Sadistic headlining.

MW: You guys are also doing a tour with Sakrificer right?

Chris Monroy: Yah, maybe like ten dates we start in Oregon for that festival then we play Oakland. Then we drop off the tour but then we come back play Bakersfield, Anaheim and then LA with Sadistic Intent.

MW: I guess I should ask for the East coast fans is there any plans to play over their?

Chris Monroy: We plan to but for now were just going to do a small tour and I’m pretty sure we will. We have had a good response from the east coast to come out and play but it’s kinda hard you know especially with not having tour support from the label it’s kinda hard doing it on your own but I’m sure sooner or later we’ll get out there.

MW: I bet this is a hard question but what are some of your favorite Death metal albums?

Chris Monroy : Oh man… Spiritual Healing is one of my favorites. Consuming Impulse from Pestilence of course. Cause of death Obituary umm let’s see the Deicide. Deicide – Deicide, Gorguts – Considered dead, umm shit man there’s just so many good ones out there Morbid Angel - covenant . Entombed – Left hand path is a really good I like the Swedish stuff of course. Carnage – Dark recollections as well

MW: That’s an amazing album!!

Chris Monroy : Yah it is man, also Cancer – dead shall rise that’s a fucking great album as well umm let’s see. A lot more I just can’t think right now but that’s a lot of good albums right?

MW: Yah, a lot of good albums! When you guys right music how does that work? Do already have ideas or do you just jam it out?

Chris Monroy: It’s a little bit of both actually because most of the music is written by me and Adrian the lead guitarist and me and him will sit together and write and play in front of each other. Show each other riffs that we have and that’s how usually the songs are put together. Or We usually have half a song and then I show It to the guys that’s how it starts from there and the people put in their input and then that’s how the song comes together that way. There are sometimes I have sat down and wrote a whole song I took it to the studio and we just jammed it out. For the most part it’s just me and Adrian and that’s how it gets started.

MW: This is probably a hard question since they’re all your songs but what songs would you say work the best live?

Chris Monroy: Definitely, Euphoric Bloodfeast because it’s so heavy umm also Viral Hemorrhagic Pyrexia also Extirpated Vitality from the first album Beyond Cremation is another one because it’s aggressive and to the point and it sounds good to me live. I like all of them in general but those are some of my favorites to play live.

MW: Yah, I saw you guys twice at the Born for burning and I saw you guys at the Show your scars fest. Both times you guys kicked ass!

Chris Monroy: Yah, the recent one with Repulsion that was a cool show man. That was one of our first times playing a big place we usually play small venues here in La that was the first time playing a bigger venue. There was a good amount of people and overall it was a good show.

MW: I always thought it would be so cool to use “Fire in the sky” in a death metal video. So I have to admit seeing you guys use it I thought it was pretty sweet.

Chris Monroy: Yah, cool man definitely. The song was based on that lyrically. Yah, we just had an idea to record footage of us jamming and then we used some clips from the movie and I think they did a really great job and it came out really good.

MW: I’m out of questions so thank you for your time..

Chris Monroy: No worries man.

MW: Any last words for the fans?

Chris Monroy : thanks for taking ur time to read this interview Keep supporting the band and we hope to play for you all someday!

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