Bad Habit-demo

self-produced
2007

This four song demo from Maryland's Bad Habit sounds largely like early 80's punk rock. It's very short and plunges straight ahead with no apologies, but a tremendous amount of fire and rage. The thing I liked most about a lot of punk rock bands back in the early 1980's was that it seemed pure to some extent. There was little thought about money, production values or anything that might make you second guess yourself and your music. I think these guys very much have that approach and that's refreshing because the term "punk rock" has become a bit too broad over the years and not everyone deserves to be in that category. These guys do and fly through their songs yet they still manage to sound powerful and each song has it's own flavor. They remind me primarily of Minor Threat and early Uniform Choice yet it's still a direction that certianly seems to work for them. I certainly enjoyed it and that they keep moving forward and stay focused.

http://www.myspace.com/badhabitmd

Interview with Dave Overkill of Destructor

Destructor formed in the Cleveland area back in the early 1980’s. They released their debut “Maximum Destruction” back in 1985 which was a very raw and killer example of early thrash. The band broke up in the early1990’s, but have since reformed and just released “Forever in leather” in the fall of 2007. I recently interviewed guitarist/vocalist singer Dave Overkill to find out more about what the band were up to.



MM-So what are you currently up to?
Dave- IN THE FALL OF 2007 DESTRUCTOR HELPED ORGANIZE A FESTIVAL WITH BILL PETERS, THE PRESIDENT OF AUBURN RECORDS, TO CELEBRATE HIS 25 YEARS ON COLLEGE RADIO. BILL HAS HAD A SHOW NAMED “METAL ON METAL”. THE BANDS CONSISTED OF RAVEN, ANVIL,THE EXALTED PILEDRIVER AND US ALONG WITH SOME CLEVELAND FAVORITES. THE SHOW WAS A GREAT SUCCESS. AFTER THAT WE RELEASED THE“FOREVER IN LEATHER”C.D. THE REACTION HAS BEEN GREAT. WE HAVE RECEIVED GOOD REVIEWS AND THE DISTRIBUTION IS THE BEST WE HAVE HAD SO FAR. IT SEEMS TO BE SELLING WELL. A COUPLE OF SHOWS HAVE FOLLOWED SINCE . CURRENTLY DESTRUCTOR IS WRITING NEW SONGS FOR ANOTHER FUTURE RELEASE. WE HOPE TO RE-RELEASE “MAXIMUM DESTUCTION” IN 2008. WE HAVE RECORDED ALL OF THE SONGS THAT WAS TO BE OUR SECOND L.P., DECIBEL CASUALTIES. THAT HAS BEEN DONE SINCE 2002 BUT WE HAVEN’T PUT THAT ONE OUT BECAUSE WE WANTED TO PROVE TO OURSELVES AS WELL AS THE FANS THAT WE WERE BACK AND HAD CURRENT MUSIC TO OFFER THE HEAVY METAL WORLD.

MM-“Forever in leather” has been out for a few months now so what has been so what has been the reaction to it so far?

Dave-WE WANTED TO PRESENT ALL NEW SONGS ON FOREVER IN LEATHER. ON SONIC BULLET AND THE STORM OF STEEL E.P. WE HAD A COUPLE OF NEW SONGS MIXED IN WITH OLDER ONES AS WELL AS LIVE TRACKS. FOREVER IN LEATHER WAS OUR FIRST CHANCE TO SHOW WHAT DESTRUCTOR WAS CURRENTLY ALL ABOUT.

MM-What were you doing in the 1990’s during the time when you didn’t have this band going?

Dave-DESTRUCTOR’S LAST SHOW FROM THE OLD DAYS WAS IN 1992. IT WAS WITH OVERKILL. IN 1990 PAT RABID MAT FLAMMABLE AND I STARTED A PROJECT CALLED “SPACE CORE” IT WAS A FUN BAND THAT PLAYED SPACE ROCK. WE OPENED UP FOR HAWKWIND AND HAD SO MUCH FUN WITH IT THAT AFTER DESTRUCTOR SPLIT PAT AND I KEPT SPACE CORE GOING. IN 1995 I LEFT SPACE CORE AND THEY CHANGED THEIR NAME TO NUCLEON. PAT REMAINED IN NUCLEON UNTILL 1997 OR SO THEN IN 1999 DESTRUCTOR REUNITED.

MM-It’s hard to believe that it has been 23 years since Maximum Destruction came out. Does it seem real to you that it was that long ago?

Dave-IT’S WEIRD. LIFE HAS GONE SO FAST AND MANY CHANGES HAVE HAPPENED OVER TIME. NOW DESTRUCTOR HAS COME FULL CIRCLE AND HAS A NEW LIFE.
MM- Let’s say someone could only afford to buy one of your albums, which one would you recommend and why?

Dave-I WOULD SAY FOREVER IN LEATHER BECAUSE IT SHOWS ALL SIDES OF THE DESTRUCTOR STYLE.I BELIEVE IT IS OUR MOST METAL EFFORT EVER.


MM-What is the music like in Cleveland these days? Any great bands there that we should know about?
Dave-CLEVELAND STILL HAS AN UNDERGROUND METAL SCENE. MANY BANDS HAVE COME AND GONE OVER THE YEARS AND SOME HAVE COME BACK. A COUPLE OF GREAT ONES ARE ETERNAL LEGACY,CELLBOUND, SOULLESS,LICK THE BLADE AND MIDNIGHT.


MM-You are set to play at Wacken this year. How excited are you about that?
Dave-WE LOOK FORWARD TO PLAYING EVERY SHOW WE ACCEPT AND WE HAVE DONE SOME GREAT ONES OVER THE PAST 5 YEARS BUT WACKEN WILL PROVE TO BE THE BIGGEST SHOW YET. THE WHOLE FESTIVAL SCENE IN EUROPE IS THE BEST IN THE WORLD. FOR DESTRUCTOR TO EVEN BE CONSIDERED FOR A SHOW LIKE WACKEN IS ANOTHER DREAM COME TRUE.

MM-In recent years a number of bands like Fueled by fire, Merciless Death and other have popped up. They play an 80’s style of thrash metal. Do you think these band are doing anything that older bands like yourself have not already done or are they copying a style that has already been done?
Dave-WELL THAT’S NOT REALLY FOR ME TO SAY. JUST BECAUSE YOU PLAY OLD SCHOOL STYLE DOESN’T MAKE YOU GOOD IN MY EYES. I LIKE ALL TYPES OF MUSIC AND, TO ME; THERE ARE ONLY GOOD SONGS AND BAD SONGS. THERE IS A LOT OF GREAT METAL RIFFS STILL YET DISCOVERED AND IT’S UP THO THE NEW BLOOD TO TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL.


MM-What have Destructor yet to accomplish that you would like to do?
Dave-DESTRUCTOR WANTS TO TOUR EUROPE AND OTHER COUNTRIES. WE WANT THE CHANCE TO CONTINUE TO SHOW WE ARE BACK AND READY TO KILL. WE HAVE MANY MORE GOOD SONGS TO RECORD AND AS LONG AS WE ARE ABLE AND THERE IS AN INTEREST IN WHAT WE DO WE WILL CONTINUE OUR MISSION OF METAL.



MM-How do you think that the metal scene now is different from say twenty years ago?
Dave-WELL FOR ONE THERE ARE MORE DIFFERENT FORMS OF GREAT METAL MUSIC NOWDAYS.THINGS HAVE PROGRESSED FOR METAL MUSIC A LOT OVER THE PAST 20+ YEARS BUT AS MUCH AS THINGS CHANGE THINGS REMAIN THE SAME. MEANING THAT REAL OLD SCHOOL METAL WILL ALWAYS HAVE AN AUDIENCE. METAL LIVES FOREVER IN THE HEARTS OF THE BELIEVERS.

MM-What newer metal bands do you like?
Dave- I REALLY LIKE MANY OF THE NEW METAL BANDS. SOME SUCH BANDS LIKE AMON AMARTH, RIOTOR, TOXIC HOLOCAUST ARE ON MY LIST.

MM-If you could only listen to three albums for the next month then what albums would you pick?
Dave-UNLEASHED IN THE EAST, (JUDAS PRIEST) , ANOTHER PERFECT DAY ,(MOTORHEAD) AND ODIN ON OUR SIDE, (AMON AMARTH). THAT SHOULD TIE ME OVER I THINK.

MM-Pick the band from the following pair that you prefer and tell why.
Dave-
Destruction or Kreator
KREATOR. I DON’T KNOW WHY!

Judas Priest or Motorhead
I CANT PICK BETWEEN THOSE TWO.IT’S WAY TO HARD.

Breaker or Damien
BREAKER. THOSE ARE MY BOYS. THEY’RE ALMOST LIKE FAMILY.

Anthrax or Slayer
SLAYER. THAT’S A NO BRAINER. ANTHRAX IS GOOD BUT SLAYER ??? COME ON!!!

MM-Is there anything else that you want to say about your band or your music?Dave-DESTRUCTOR ARE JUST GLAD TO BE APART OF METAL AGAIN. THERE SO MANY GREAT BANDS OUT THERE THAT WE JUST LOOK FORWARD TO MAKING MORE MUSIC AND PLAYING IT LIVE. THANKS TO EVERY METALHEAD THAT HAS SHOWN DESTRUCTOR THAT FAITH LASTS FOREVER. I HOPE EVERYONE THAT READS THIS HAS A CHANCE TO PICK UP FOREVER IN LEATHER AND

http://www.myspace.com/maximumdestructor

Thanks to Dave for doing the interview.

Check out Divine Chaos

Divine Chaos are from Alexandria, Virginia and they have two songs over at their Myspace page. They play a very raw medium fast style of metal bordering on early speed metal. The first track reminds of say Kill 'em all era Metallica at times. The second reminded more of the great, but barely known Medieval due to the low, rough and fairly heavy sound. I think the music actually benefits from being somewhat under produced, it certainly sets them apart from most bands playing a similar style of music. I certainly liked what I heard so hop over and check out their tunes.

www.myspace.com/divinechaos1

Check out Watchmen

I recently recieved an e-mail asking if I would got and check out this band so I went over and listened to them. Watchmen have been around for almost five years and are from Buenos Aires, Argentina. They had three tracks up over at their Myspace page. I would say they are melodic hard rock sounding a bit like bands from about 1987-1991. The first two tracks were somewaht similar to early Mr.Big while the third track reminded me more of late 80's Whitesnake. The vocals are strong and the music was overall solid. Not totally original, but very tight and they know how to build up a song and keep it going. So go over and check them out.


http://www.myspace.com/watchmenhardrock
http://www.watchmen.com.ar/

Bone Shaker interview

Bone Shaker are a classic metal style band from Wisconsin and they formed back in 2006. They have appeared on various compilations and they recently released “Bang,… You’re Dead” on Turkey Vulture records. I recently interviewed Vocalist/Guitarist David"Gonz"Gonzalez to find out more about this band.



MM-Can you tell us a little about how and when this band formed?

Gonz-It sort of grew out of nothing. I was spending a lot of time in cover and tribute bands and had a large number of originals laying around. I decided I wanted to record some of them for personal reasons and it sort of got out of control! Myself and some friends from another band went into Triple Six Studios and before I knew it, we had recorded 14 songs over a few weeks time. This wound up being the '13 Ghosts' demo and I decided the material was good enough to be rocking the clubs with. Some of those early versions of songs wound up on a couple compilations!


MM-How do the songs on your new album “Bang,…You’re Dead” compare with the material on your “13 Ghosts” CD?

Gonz-The new songs are true to the band and what it offers. '13 Ghosts' has a lot of the same songs at a very young stage. The songs developed further once I decided to back the CD with a real band. We used the demo to shop labels and there are actually only a few hundred out there. If you have one, dispose of it immediately for fear of contamination! Ha, ha! The new material has a raw edge to the fidelity which is one of the targets we we're aiming for. I don't like over-production and fills everywhere there's space in a song. You have to let a song breath a little even if it's just a guitar chord sustaining. I also wanted it to feel as closely as possible to a live Bone Shaker show so we purposefully didn't layer too many guitars.

MM-Who have you opened for? Who would you like to open for?

Gonz-We we're lucky enough to open for Metal Church on our second show. We've opened for lots of bands and headlined ourselves. We did a gig with Lillian Axe recently and also the side stage for the Viva La Bands Tour last fall. I think it's one of the things that boosted our confidence and sort of let us know that we could go further with this band. Hearing it from seasoned national artists and industry people really helps a lot.


MM-What have been some of your most memorable shows so far?

Gonz-The unexpected ones! We had a show that we thought was going to be pretty tame and it turned out the crowd was damn near on stage with us! They were eating it up so much and getting as close as they could. We loved it. That's what it's all about. Any of the shows where first timers are singing along, that's the goal, that's the high.


MM-What should someone who comes to see Bone Shaker live expect?

GonzHonesty. What you see is what we are. We dress a little better on stage because that's what I expect of my favorite bands. I don't like casual dress on stage. Dress casual if you want to be taken casually. We also play as close to the original version as possible.
That goes back to not adding things in the studio you can't pull off live. We are looking at bringing in another guitar or maybe keys but it has to be a perfect fit. Also, as much of a set change as possible from the other bands. I want you to know Bone Shaker's on stage when you look up there. Not some nondescript act you won't remember the next day.


MM-I know you have a few local shows coming up soon. Do you have any plans for a bigger tour in the works?

Gonz-Actually we plan on many bigger tours. We've got some things in the works that could pan out in a huge way. We are joining up with some great management next month. We have a song going out with the April issue of Metal Edge Magazine. That will be a lot of exposure for the band. We hope to do Europe as soon as it's feasible. We are dying to do those metal fests over there. We also plan to do a North American tour coming up. Once the new cd picks up steam.


MM-You have only been around for two years and you have done CDs, had songs on compilations and toured. It seems like you have done a lot in a short time period. Are you surprised by how much this band has done so far or was that all part of your plan?

Gonz-We're very thankful for the opportunities that have come our way. We also take a lot of credit for it because we don’t waste time. It's just the nature of the people in the band. We are very dedicated to do more than the next guy. As long as it is possible and doesn't disrupt normal life, we'll give it a try. We take an idea and we see how we can do it better. We don't like to be the band that forever rehearses and never does a show or sells a cd. You will become super at your instrument if you practice all the time. Screw that, we want to get out and gig! The song may only be 95% ready but we're going to play it for you and see what you think so far. We are also very into networking all the time. Always trying to see who can help us in the industry. If someone tells us no, or we're not good enough, that's o.k. We just move on to the next person or idea. There are lots of people out there and the trick is to find the ones who like you and believe in your music. We don't care about the rest.


MM-What do you hope to accomplish in 2008?

Gonz-A bigger label. A new cd. A world tour would be nice. Honestly, as much as we can. We are surprised every day by what happens to this band and we know we are truly blessed. What ever happens, it's going to be by our fans doing. So, in advance, thank you fans!



MM-Obviously you are big fans of 1980’s metal. What do you think was so good about metal from that decade as compared to other decades?

Gonz-Better melody. I'm not trying to regress or anything like that. I just prefer certain moods in my songs and today's metal doesn't have it. Everyone is too wrapped up in singing about death and dismemberment today or trying to sound like the last band to have a hit song. The subject matter was lighter in the 80's. Singing about dragons or mythology takes you away and lets you escape. I don't write about those things but what I do write about for the most part doesn't exist. I want you to visualize and escape for a moment. The new screamo type metal gets old to me. There are so many doing it; I wonder where metal will go from here. The 80's also had better showmanship. Big productions and arena shows. I've been told those days are gone. Well, music goes in cycles and I believe it's coming back. I'm already noticing tours are getting bigger and the Swedish metal scene is kicking stage shows up further every year. Iron Maiden is doing a huge world tour this year.


MM-What’s the metal scene like in your area?

Gonz-Brutal. The bars prefer cover bands for the most part. The good venues don't allow covers so that helps us a lot. But you can't play the same place every week. If you don't sell merch, you can't make much. There are tons of metal bands in the Milwaukee area. We also have the Nightmare of the Chicago club scene in our backyard. The venues will just find someone to play cheaper or for free if you ask for too much up front. Shows outside our immediate area always go over better. It's a shame, we have a better time away from home.

MM-Why should someone buy your new album?

Gonz-Because it's fresh to the ears. Yes, it's heavily influenced by our favorite bands but it's what everybody else isn't doing right now. We don't tune down to D for a reason. It's an easy way to achieve heaviness but we use E Flat because it winds up sounding very different today. Fresh in an old way! It takes you back and let's you know you're not the only one who was alive before 1990.


MM-What are some of your favorite tracks off of “Bang … You’re Dead” and why?

Gonz- "Hell and Back" because of the lead break. I used to ad lib that solo live. Now I play it just like the studio version. "Judge, Jury..." I like because it goes over great live. We extend that one and get people to sing along. I like "Hell Razor's" attitude. I think it's bad-ass. And "Dr. Strange" for sure.


MM-Do you play any cover songs live, if so then what?

Gonz-Yeah, we do "In The Dark" by Billy Squire. I know that sounds weak but if you take out the keys and heavy it up, it rocks! We also do "See You In Hell" by Grim Reaper. We did "Looks That Kill" from the Crue but we may stop that now. Covers take away from original material even though they do serve a purpose.


MM-I saw that you are going to have a song on an upcoming compilation that will distributed by Metal Edge. Can you tell us more about that and how did that opportunity come about?

Gonz-They decided to let a deserving indie band be on the comp along side the big boys. Who else could it be?! Honestly, the call went out and we were chosen. We were on a compilation last Summer that went out to the Ozzfest tour dates and we were noticed off of there. The Ozzfest compilation was a small investment that may pay off in a huge way.


MM-Pick the band from the following pair that you prefer and briefly state why.

Gonz-

Accept or Grim Reaper

Ouch! Tough one...even though I love Grim Reaper's melodies and guitar work I have to give this one to Accept. They had some awesome dark, gloomy stuff and Udo is living proof that metal doesn't care what you look like. Short hair from the word "go".


Iron Maiden or Judas Priest

Iron Maiden, hands down. Big tours. Big albums. The best use of harmony guitars ever. Completely consistent to this day.


Ozzy or Dio

Great songs aside, Ozzy. Just because he was better at picking guitarists over the years. They both changed up often but Ozzy just knows how to pick a great guitar player. I prefer Jake E. Lee over Zakk, by the way.


Motley Crue or WASP

WASP. Anyone who knows me knows this answer. Blackie is one hell of a frontman. I hope to do a show with him sometime in our career.


MM-Is there anything else that you would like to say about your band or your music?

Gonz-We always try to put our best foot forward. Bone Shaker is what it is. Not contrived. We love our influences and when I write, it shows. I think you can say that about most bands early in their careers. If I write a song that seems too long I chop bits out. I want to have fun on stage and not have to think too much. I'd rather not be standing still because I have to nail something. Keep an eye out for us; we're coming your way!


www.myspace.com/boneshakerinfo



**Thanks to David for doing the interview.

Check out the KISS reviews

Bob Vinyl reviewed all of the make-up KISS studio albums over at his blog. He even took the time to listen to The Elder so hop over there and check out his reviews.

http://www.rnrnonsense.com/2008/01/discography-kiss-makeup-years.html

Various Artists-Thrashing like a maniac

Earache
2008



The thrash movement was huge between about 1985 and 1990 in many different countries. Even though this genre likely will never reach those heights of popularity again there has been a resurgence of younger bands following in that style. This compilation includes mainly previously released tracks from sixteen of today's up and coming thrash bands including some of the biggest in the movement like Municipal Waste, Merciless Death and Toxic Holocaust. I loved this style back when it first emerged and ate up stuff by almost every new band that popped up back in the day. These younger bands play with largely the same energy and fire yet so many of them are relying on formulas that were created 20+ years ago and they just fail to bring, add or blend much of any new ideas into the fold. Most of the bands here fall into one of the following three categories.
A-Sounds like Slayer/Dark Angel
B-Sounds like the German bands: Sodom, Kreator and Destruction
C-Sounds like the Bay area bands: early Metallica, Testament and Exodus
All good bands to be influenced by, but most of the bands on this compilation just are not doing anything that you have not already heard. Now almost every song here is good, but only two bands really stood out to be as being somewhat different. "Immortal Life" by Bonded by blood had a very a frantic approach with the guitars just tearing through thrash riffs with far more intensity than most bands could even hope for. They were taking thrash, but moving beyond it by upping the pace and energy level a notch and it worked. The other band that made me take notice was SSS doing "Overload". The music on this was sort of standard pace, but as self aware as many of the songs on this album. The best of the song were the vocals which at least partially embedded in mid-late 1980's hardcore style that was both charged and confident. This song sounded more like some of the better crossover music of the 80's yet they had their own flavor as well. Overall a decent compilation, but not terribly original except for a few tracks.

Ninth Moon Black interview

Ninth Moon Black hail from Eugene, Oregon and have an album due out soon. I recently interviewed guitarist Erin to find out more about the band and their upcoming release.

MM-How and when did this band form?
Erin-The first stage of this band was formed in 2003 in Fresno (lemoore to be exact) Ca. I was learning how to do my own demos and decided on the name at that point for the project. It was very different from what we do now, more simplistic, a little industrial. However Caleb and I had been talking years before about doing something like this, but we were both pretty busy in our other bands at the time, Ahisma, and Fuck God in the Face,. Fast forward a little bit, I moved back to Oregon and Caleb wasn't doing anything at the time musically so we started working with our original lineup. This is our second.

MM-You have an album coming out soon on Forgotten Empire records. Does it have a title and how would you describe the music?
Erin-At present time, self titled, and I would describe it as dark, ambient, metal. We're really aren't that metal, but we're not pop by any means, so I guess that will work.

MM-Why should someone buy your record?
Erin-Good question. To take a chance on something a little different I guess. We are an instrumental band, nothing new, and we use video for live shows, also nothing new, but we are four people doing our own thing. For me personally I don't listen to a lot of new music, or bands that sound anything like us for the simple reason I like to have a clean slate when I write, no outside influence. I mean as much as possible. So I think we have a unique sound that is easy to connect, and relax to.

MM-What was the most difficult aspect of recording your album? What was the most enjoyable part about recording it?
Erin-There were no major difficulties at all. Josh Alderson is a really easy engineer to work with. This is our third time with him, and each time he learns a little bit more about what we are going for. Most enjoyable aside from hearing progress each time we mixed would be the studio it self, Dogwood. It's in the woods so it's very peaceful.

MM-Who came up with your band name and what does it mean?
Erin-I came up with the name, and I wish I could say there is some deep meaning behind it, but it just came to me one day. Maybe it has meaning on a sub-conscious level.

MM-Where do you get the inspirations for your song topics?
Erin-Since there are no vocals, there is no specific topic. You can draw you own conclusion. Whatever you feel from our music, that's what right for you. It can vary from person to person. Like reading a book.

MM-You have a tour coming up in March with label mates Blackwaves. How psyched are you about that and what expectations do you have about the tour?
Erin-Extremely excited! this will be their first time in the states (I think), so we want to show them a good time, with good shows. No expectations other than fun.



MM-What should someone who comes to one of your shows expect? Do you play any cover songs live?
Erin-No cover songs yet. Our set runs continuous for 35-40 minutes so, I don't know, hopefully people will enjoy the atmosphere we are trying to create.

MM-What is your band doing that sets you apart from others?
Erin-I think we are combining many styles of music. Obviously we don't sound like '50s surf music, but my clean guitar tone is influenced by that style of music. My guitar playing in general is influenced by surf music. Fast picking, reverb, delay and so on. Combine that with heavy bass, atmospheric keys/ samples, and steady drum lines, and I guess you have a Link Wray/ Pink Floyd sort of metal. If that makes sense.

MM-What is the music scene like where you are at? Any great unsigned bands we should be aware of?
Erin-I don't get out much, but there are a lot of good bands in this area so I would say overall the scene is good. I wish there were more all ages places for the younger crowd but you can't have everything. Bands, to name a few would be: Middian (presently unsigned), Deosyll, Happy Bastards, On the First day...they were Kittens, Traitor Hearts, Fuck God in the Face was awesome, but they are long gone. There are a lot of others, but I can't think right now.

MM-What do you hope to accomplish in 2008?
Erin-Well, we hope this tour goes well in march for us and Blackwaves. After that we are gonna work on writing a new album to record in the summer, and maybe tour at the end of summer again. I think everyone wants to do as much as we can get away with. Write, tour, meet new people, and just get our stuff out there. We do hope to go to Germany soon and tour with the Blackwaves, so 2008 could be very busy. I know I hope so.

MM-If you could only listen to five different albums for the next month, what would they be and why?
Erin-I really couldn't say. I really like the bands on our label, so maybe some of those. Middian (age eternal), is heavy as hell and we wish them the best with their legal issues. Sorry, I don't think I could narrow it down, it's day to day for me.

MM-Is there anything else that you want to say about your band or your music?
Erin-Only that we're doing what we do because we have to, there is no choice, so we hope you enjoy it.

http://www.myspace.com/ninthmoonblack

Thanks to Erin for doing the interview.

What's coming up?

I'll be feeling whoozy on Sunday since there is no football and still a week to ago before the Super Bowl. I'll have to manage somehow though and then the big game will be here. I'll have a Super Bowl story for you on Super Bowl Sunday about something that happened to me ten years ago. However, this week I hope to have out the following.

Reviews
Bad Habit demo
Thrashing like a maniac compilation

Interviews
Destructor
Bone Shaker
Ninth Moon Black

Plus
Spotlight on an up and coming band or two on Myspace (didn't get to it this past week)
and
Lesser of two evils with Iron Maiden vs. Judas Priest. How can these two be in this feature? Drop by and see and then you will know.


***If I gave you $15 to buy one CD released since 2005 then what would you buy?

Mos Generator interview

Mos Generator are a bunch of veteran musicians who recently released the very solid "Songs for future gods" on Small Stone records. I recently interviewed guitarist/vocalist/keyboardist Tony Reed to find out more about this band and their plans for this year.



MM-This band has been around since 2000, but every band member has been playing for quite some time. What bands was everyone in before Mos Generator?
TR-All three of us were in a band called twelve thirty dreamtime from 1991-1996. During that time we were also touring and making records with other bands. Shawn was also in Mindfunk, Scooter was in a band call Voodoo Gearshift and I was in a band called Treepeople.


MM-How did this band form?
TR-After the demise of the other bands we had been working in we just came home and gravitated to each other. We decided to do the kind of music we loved and since we had a background with each other it was easy to pick up on each other.



MM-How does your new album “Songs for future gods” compare to your previous releases?
TR-SFFG is more straight forward than our last two discs. It sounds a lot like our first CD. It also has re-recorded versions of a few songs from our out-of-print self titled disc. "The late great planet earth" was a concept album and "the vault sessions" was a disc of demo sessions we had done in our rehearsal space. Each album has a different feel to it.



MM-How would you describe your music?
TR-Melodic heavy rock

MM-What’s the music scene like in your area? Are there any unsigned bands there that people should know about?
TR-Heavy rock is a hard sell in the Seattle area. Right now the local bands that I am into are friends of mine or bands I have produced/recorded. Golden pig electric blues band, Sower of dischord, and The Valley just to name a few.


MM-You have a few dates set up in Washington state soon and then a number of dates in Europe for the spring. Do you have any plans to tour in the summer yet and do you know if you will make it to the East Coast?
TR-After we get back from Europe we are going to take some time to write the next record. We are trying to do the 1 record a year thing. After that it would be great to get to the east coast. We get asked about the east coast quite often and we have good connections there. Hopefully in the fall we can make it happen.



MM-Your music has a bit more of a groove to it than a number of bands that play a similar style of music. Is that intentional or does it just naturally happen?
TR-Shawn is the secret to that whole vibe. The swagger in his playing makes it's way into the feel of many songs. Sometimes in the studio I have to hold him back from it. It's a natural thing we all have, born to boogie.





MM-How is being in this band different from previous bands that you have been in?
TR-In Mos Generator we are all playing the kind of music we love with no compromise. We can be honest when we write music.



MM-What are some of your songs about and where do you get the inspirations for your song topics?
TR-Most of the songs I have written in the last few years have had a very science fiction feel with topics ranging from science fiction authors to leaving the world to find a better place. A real "into the void" thing.



MM-What should someone who comes to one of your shows expect?
TR-30-40 minutes of high energy rock with possibly an improvised jam section.



MM-What bands would you love to tour with?
-Dexter Jones circus orchestra, Dixie Witch, Pearls & Brass. We are touring with Blood of the sun in Europe and they would be another band on my list.



MM-With each band member having quite a bit of playing experience, does this help the writing and recording process to go smoother or not? Or does it make a difference?
TR-We demo everything before we go into the studio. some times there will be 2 or 3 demo versions. We are really hard on ourselves in the studio. I operate a recording studio for a living so when we go in we have as much time as we need. Since we grew up together we understand each other and know how to work in the studio environment.



MM-What music related goals do you hope to accomplish by the end of 2008?
TR-We would be happy with recording another disc and doing some more touring.



MM-Pick the band from the following pair that you prefer and state why.
TR-
Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin
-For me this is one of the hardest music questions of all time but I'm going to say Black Sabbath. Black Sabbath ARE my favorite band. There is something about them that is so primal, raw & heavy. There is no other band in history that was that powerful and that beautiful at the same time.


YOB or Sleep
-I would have to say sleep because they were first.


Deep Purple or Pentagram
-Another hard question. on one side(Deep Purple) you have one of the most talented band of musicians ever, and on the other side (Pentagram) you have that killer raw heavy energy. Today I'm going for the underdog. Pentagram


Cathedral or Trouble
-To be honest I don't have much from either of these bands.



MM-Is there anything else that you want to say about your band or your music?
TR-We're just trying to have a good time playing the music we love. If other people dig it as well. that's a bonus



http://www.myspace.com/mosgenerator

Interview with Bad Candy

Bad Candy were playing in St. Louis in the early 1990's. They recorded a demo called called "Welcome to the party" back in 1991. Recently Retrospect records released the demo and now the band also has another album called "Welcome back to the party" out on Retrospect as well. I recently interviewed guitarist Kevin Hauk to find out more about this band

MM-Tell us some about the history of your band?
KH-Bad Candy was formed in 1990. Me(Kevin Hauk) and Troy Heigl were writing songs, but we didnt have a singer so we had our friend Jeff Mueller who is also a singer record our songs and sing the songs for us. He liked what we were doing, so he eventually joined . We started playing locally and opening up for any band we could. In the summer of 1991, we went to Memphis Tenn. and recorded "Welcome to the Party" with producer Danny Jones, who is well known in the music industry. He had worked with the Beach Boys, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Patti Labelle, etc. We figured he could really make a great demo. And he did. I think our demo was one of the best sounding around as far as production. We played a huge demo release in June 91' and from there we just played all over town, opening for such big names as Firehouse, Britney Fox, Asphalt Ballet, and Valentine Saloon. We even opened for the guy who played "Ricky" in Skid Rows 18 and Life video, who had a band. We kept it going till some members were either got kicked out, or left. In 1993, the remaining members , Me, Troy, Ryan, and Travis, who had replaced Nikki on bass, changed the name to Beggars Playground and recorded a new demo, which was a totally different style than Bad Candy.



MM-What are you currently up to?
KH-We are now just playing locally in cover bands for now. We are all married and have kids and fulltime jobs. We have gotten together lately and did a reunion show which went very well.



MM-How would you describe your band’s music?
KH-I would call it 80's Hair band rock. Course none of us have the hair anymore.



MM-I know you had a reunion show lined up last year. Are you currently playing any shows? KH-Right now we arent locally. But we do have a big show coming up this summer, that I cant really give out any details to just yet.



MM-Did you ever have any label interest back when you did “Welcome to the party”?
KH-No, we did have a lot going for us as the follow up band Beggars Playground, but Bad Candy never had label interest as far as I know.

MM -How did you link up with Retrospect records?
KH-Sam from Retrospect records somehow got a copy of "Welcome to the Party" and then managed to get ahold of TRoy. Troy did all the correspondence with him. When Troy first told me about it, I was like , "Yeah Right". Everyone else said the same thing. But it turned out to be true. I mean it's 17 years later!!!!

MM-It seems like so many hard rock bands that were around in the 80’s and early 90’s are reforming. Why do you think that is?
KH-I think with the internet and myspace, you can reach a lot more people, so bands are putting up pages of their former bands, and people are responding to it. I think the overwhelming response, gets bands motivated to reunite. We were actually joking about a reunion show for a long time, but when Retrospect Records came calling, it just helped make it a reality.

MM-What do you hope to accomplish in 2008?
KH-Have Bad Candy's music reach as many people as possible. I dont know what to expect, but I think we're gonna just see what happens. Like I said, we have a pretty big show this summer, that we're all very excited about, and everyone will find out what it is as soon as we are given the go ahead to make the announcement.

MM-What is the hard rock/metal scene like in St. Louis these days? How is it different from say 17 years ago?
KH-Truthfully, I don't think its any better. Bars cater to cover bands mostly. Back 17 years ago, there were many more places to play for "original" bands. It seemed like back then, more people were into it. These days, the original clubs pack 6 bands on one bill for a single nite. Back in the nineties, we might share a bill with one other band. I think if we had the internet back then, we could have done so much more. We did everything with flyers.

MM-Any great unsigned bands there that we should know about?
KH-Well the best unsigned band around that I know is Modern Day Zero. There is also Never My Silence. I know alot of great musicians that are just doing the cover thing too. But those 2 bands are probably the best around in my opinion.

MM-So what were you guys doing when after this band broke up and before you recently reformed?
KH-Me and Jeff and Troy were in a band called Spit in the late nineties together. We were a cover/original band. Then Me and Jeff were playing in a cover band called Fivetimezero up till about a year ago. Troy was singing in a original/cover band called Slapdragon till about 8 months ago, and Nikki and Ryan were out of music completely.

MM-In the early 1990’s you changed singers and became Beggar’s Playground. How long did that version go and was the music any different?
KH-That went very well, we thought we had found our sound. The music was harder edged, more like Skid Row, and we were playing alot. We had a little airplay on Kshe 95, and opened for a lot of great bands. Our demo"the beg", which has just been released by Retrospect Records, was reviewed in RIP magazine, and thanks to that, we were getting the word out all over the world.

MM-Pick the band from the following pair that you prefer and tell why.
KH-
Poison or Skid Row
Skid Row, because Sebastion Bach was and still is one of the greatest Rock singers of all time.
Aerosmith or Cheap Trick
This is a tough one, since I think they are both great, but I'd have to say Aerosmith, because they are still to this day cranking out hits.
LA Guns or Pretty Boy Floyd
This one is a no brainer, Pretty Boy Floyd. Motley Crue junior, Bad Candy used to play Floyds version of "Toast of the Town".
Guns and Roses or Motley Crue
Another no brainer, Motley Crue. They were the band everyone wanted to be like. With a drummer like Tommy lee , and songs like "looks that kill" and "Shout at the Devil", they were the best around and fun to watch.

MM-Is there anything else that you want to say about your band or your music?
KH-We did just record a new cd, which is available on Retrospect Records titled "Welcome Back to the Party". 7 of the songs were written back in the early nineties when we were still together, and one of the songs is a brand new song, called "Hangin' On". It is a song about us, still being friends and Hangin on to the past, and doing it all over again. I hope whoever reads this, will check it out on www. Retrospectrecords.com and check out our myspace page at www.myspace.com/badcandystl. We will keep everone posted on future shows, especially the big one this summer!! Peace.

http://www.myspace.com/badcandystl

-Thanks to Kevin for doing the interview.

Byzantine-Oblivion Beckons

2008
Prosthetic

West Virginia's Byzantine have released their third album and quite honestly it's boardering on being incredible. This album manages to be and do so much without seeming fake or overeager. Everything about this release comes across as being natural and this album has so very much to give. There are elements of death, progressive, thrash and classic metal yet all are played with the same high level of intensity and give the same amount of importance. Despite the different styles that are used, the band still manages to move to and fro with the greatest of ease while pounding out and building the songs. The vocals go from death metal to clean, but truly powerful without loosing any momentum at all. On top of all this each song has it's own real personality and that's probably the real kicker about this album. Byzantine pull off the basic and the complex and utilize both while getting the most out of everything they are cranking out on this release. They have managed to use their obvious technical skill, their energy and their creativity and put all of that into a very cohesive and mind boggling product. I think this album will just get better each time I play it because I think it's one of those type albums that just gets better with repeated plays. I have heard a few albums so far in 2008 and almost all of them have been good, but this is the first great release I have heard so far in 2008.


http://www.myspace.com/byzantine

Most likely to happen?

Last year was a pretty good year for music and hopefully 2008 is just a good. I have already heard a couple of good albums this year. My mind was turning to some of the bigger acts and bigger events of this year.

So I wanted to ask which of the following do you think is most likely to happen this year?

-Chineese Democracy is released.

-Metallica's new album is good.

-Judas Priest's new album isn't completely stupid.

-Rocklahoma is more than just a festival of hasbeens.

grief of WAR-a mounting crisis...as their fury got released

2008
Prosthetic

The old style thrash wave comeback has apparently hit Japan as well as grief of WAR play a style completely relying on late 1980’s-early 1990’s thrash. To be more specific they are obviously very influenced by the old Bay area sound that was so big for several years. I would say that they sound most like the tight punching styles of early Testament, Forbidden and Death Angel. One obvious advantage for this band is the high production values which is something so many thrash bands two decades ago didn’t have. This high production allows one to hear that this band plays a rather brutally punishing style that they are comfortable with. The band also obviously have no difficulty changing the pace even at high speeds and that’s not a skill that every band can master. I loved the aggression that grief of WAR so easily bring and I like how they can channel it into different approaches. My gripe is that I have heard just about all of this before, in fact I heard it before 1990. That’s the problem with doing this style, it has all been done and you really have to bring or add something new or different for it to be anything except a re-hash. It’s a solid retread, but certainly nothing new.

http://www.myspace.com/griefofwar

Clash of the album covers

This time around it is....


Accept-s/t

versus


Jackyl-s/t

***So which one do you prefer?

Steve Grimmett Band interview

The Steve Grimmett band of course features former Grim Reaper, Lionsheart and Onslaught vocalist Steve Grimmett. The band just released their debut album “Personal Crisis” this past fall. It’s a killer solid heavy metal album very much in the mid-1980’s style. I recently got to interview the band and find out more about them and their future plans. The band answered the questions as a group unless otherwise noted. The band members are Steve Grimmett-vocals, Ian Nash-guitar, Richard Walker-bass and Pete Newdeck-drums.


MM-What has been the response to your album so far?
SGB-Very positive, the songs & production have been very well received by the music press with some reporting that in their opinion 'Personal Crisis' is the best album that Steve has ever done. Many reviewers have stated that the album was much better than they had expected it to be & that Steve's vocal's have, if anything, improved over the years.


MM-How and when did this band form?
SGB-The four of us initially got together in January 2006 to rehearse a full Grim Reaper set which we played at several European metal festivals during that year. The idea for the Steve Grimmett Band was conceived in April 2006 We were enjoying performing & touring together as a band so much, that we wanted a vehicle to enable us to write & record brand new material & also to allow us to incorporate Lionsheart and reaper material in to our live sets.


MM-Do you any tour dates set up for 2008? Any plans to play in the United States?
SGB-We are confirmed for some festivals so far, Puerto Rico Metal Thunder in March & Madrid Pounding metal in May.aswell as british festivals. Along with this, we are exploring the chance of an appearance at Rocklahoma for 2008. We are also in negotiations with various promoters for appearances at several other UK & European metal festivals & UK ,US and Japan tours We would love to get over to the States & play some shows, but nothing is confirmed as yet. Although there has been a huge amount of interest in getting us over there, the logistics mean that is is that much more difficult to make it happen. That doesn't mean that it won't happen of course..........


MM-How is this band different from other bands that you guys have been in?
SGB-Everyone is much older & much uglier. Seriously, we are all best friends. There are no conflicts in this band even after almost two years together. We all have different strengths & the music seems to come together by all of us just doing what we do best. Personal Crisis was not written & recorded under ideal circumstance by any means, we were all under a huge amount of pressure with very tight timescales & a limited budget but we all worked together & pulled the rabbit out of the hat. That could never have been achieved if there had been any conflicts or egos within the band.


MM-Where do you get the inspiration for your song topics?
Pete & Steve-Song topics have ranged in subject matter that includes………..people we hate, people we care about, people who have killed and other things that range from reaol life to fantasy.
Reading through the lyrics you will find that some are obvious and some are a bit more hidden and obscure. Depending on steve and pete’s given moods or aspirations.
Karma being a good example stating to a person that maybe they should keep looking over their shoulder….and I will leave that one for you to consider who it might be about!!!


MM- Question for Pete. What other albums have you produced and is it easier producing something when you are involved in the playing like with this album?
Pete-Other albums I have unofficially had an input into production, go back as far as ‘The Shock’ @PINULTIMATE@ album where a lot of the initial song writing structures and parts etc were given to myself for scrutiny……since then I have had much production experience with demos and recording other bands on a private basis. This however is my first official product and look forward to meeting the challenges for SGB album 2.
Being involved with the playing and songwriting has advantages but also can cloud issues when you can easily become ‘too close to something’


MM-Question for Steve. Grim Reaper seemed to have had a strong following here in the states back in the 1980’s while a number of other NWOBHM bands really had trouble breaking in over here. Is that accurate and if so then why do you think that was?
SG-It was all one giant piece of luck, the album got to the States as an import to a store called Zig Zag records who played it to a guy call Walter Obrien who was head of Combat records at the time he contacted Ebony records who said they only wanted to deal with a major label, he took it to Wendy Goldstine at RCA who signed us and Walter became our manager,it is right that most British bands couldn’t get a deal out there but I guess it was down to luck in the end.


MM-You do a cover of Grim Reaper’s Wrath of the ripper. Will you be playing that one live and will you play any other Grim Reaper songs live?
SGB-Hell yes!! Wrath of the Ripper is definitely one of our live favourites. We also play other tracks taken from all three Grim Reaper albums.


MM-What do you think about the metal scene these days? Is it getting better worse or about the same as in recent years?
SGB-Difficult one to answer that, probably about the same there has to be a lot more effort going into it but it’s still a very limited response al round.


MM-What’s the metal scene like in the UK these days?
SGB-Same as always really, the support is there but it's very difficult to generate much enthusiasm for our style of music. Well organised & well supported metal festivals are few & far between in this country.


MM-Are there any younger bands that have had influence on your music or do you generally have the same influences that you have had for years?
SGB-Looking at the Myspace communications we have around the world, it seems Steve’s voice has been inspirational to many people. Grim Reaper as a band again have had the same influence. It’s nice to know that you have been an influence and have helped change some lives. Personally our influences are pretty much the same as they were twenty years ago. Although we are aware of what a lot of the newer & younger bands are doing we still tend to refer back to the music we grew up with. That's not to say that we don't like what younger bands are doing, some of them are awesome, we’d imagine that a lot of them have many of the same influences as we do anyway.


MM-Anything else you want to say about your band or music?
SGB-Yesh, I really love you guysh.....*hic*...... you are my besht friends.....*hic*...... oh shit.....*hic*.....I think I'm gonna puke............. Blah Blah Blah and puke in the bucket this time and don’t shit your trousers again.
We would like to thank all the people who have offered the large amounts of kind words and encouragement, to make us believe in metal again!!!

http://www.stevegrimmett.co.uk/


Thanks to the whole band for doing this interview.

Blind Fury Interview

Blind Fury are from Boise, Idaho and have played on tour dates with acts such as Judas Priest, Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper, Dokken and L.A. Guns. I recently got to interview guitarist/vocalist Eric Cliff to find out more about what the band is currently working on.

MM-So tell us a little about how and when your band formed?
EC-We formed in Dec 24th 1994. My brother Dwight and I were playing in a band in L.A. in the 80's and early 90's called Prototype. We were in 94 earthquake in Northridge. It destroyed my house and about crushed me inside. So at the point I had decided enough of L.A. for a while and decided to come back home to Idaho. We had been playing the biggest clubs in L.A. , Roxy, Whiskey A GO GO, Troubadour, etc. We had write ups in Hollywood Gazette Magazine, and Variety Magazine, Bam, Sreamer Magazines.Grunge music was starting to get big at that time so the metal scene was dying. So I came back to Idaho to re-group and started Blind Fury. It took a while to find the right musicians in Idaho because there just are not a lot to choose from. But we finally came up with the right combination of players.

MM-How would you describe your band’s sound?
EC-We are a melodic heavy metal band with duel guitars and duel lead vocals. With touches of the 80's,90's and up to date with today's sounds. Ripping lead guitars and powerful vocals and vocal harmonies.

MM-How is it going with trying to land a record deal?
EC-We have 2 cd's out from 1997 and 1998 and have recieved air play from Germany, Brazil, USA and many others and have had a great response from the audience's. One of our songs from our 2nd cd Master of Allusion went to 89th in the world ratings on MP3.COM and we had John Weakland from Columbia Records show interest in the band. Then the band had a misfortune of the bass player went to prison. So we had to find a new bass player and re-group again. We lost some momentum from that and had to start again. Then I was diagnosed with a potentially deadly disease (coccidiomycosis) and was very sick and wasnt sure if I was going to make it or not. Slowly I got better from the medication and we got back on track. We just recorded our new CD Do or Die with a top producer from L.A. Jerry Deaton. Jerry has worked in the Industry for many years and is in Music, Movies, TV Commercials and has worked with the best in the business. So we are just now getting the new cd out to the labels. I have my friend from Billboard Magazine, Bryan Reesman helping me get it to the right people at the labels. So far I have had one response from Alfie Falckenbach the Pres. of Mausoleum Records,Belguim. He said that he went to our myspace site and listened to the tunes on the site and said it was (very promising) and hoped the rest of the cd was as good. And for me to send him the full cd. I just sent it to him and am waiting to hear from him at this time. I have several labels I am waiting to hear from so we are keeping our fingers crossed.We just hope someone gives us a chance. We have put a lot of hard work into this.

MM-If you were to secure a record deal soon do you already have an albums worth of material written or would you have to come up with some more songs?
EC-We have a full cd of new music we are getting ready to record. Some of the songs on our cd Do Or Die are actually old songs. We just wanted to get a product out to have something to shop and for our fans that keep asking us for a new cd. Our new stuff is really our best stuff and we are excited to get it out. We have no problem coming up with new material because everyone in the band rights music.

MM-What is the music scene like in Boise, Idaho?
EC-The scene here is not that great. We have some good clubs and concert arena's to play at but there isn't anyone to really get you to the right people. It's to bad because there is some really great bands here. I am lucky in knowing contacts from my past in L.A. so I have the advantage. It is getting better here all the time and soon to be a great place to come and discover bands. The music world is starting to notice Boise as a hot spot for talent that no one has discovered yet.

MM-What bands have you played with so far?
EC-We have opened for Judas Priest, Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent, Dokken, Skid Row, LA Guns, April Wine, Nazareth and many more. They all ask us why are we not signed. We usually impress them quite a bit. Many of them have come back stage to meet us and talk to us. Judas Priest came back and met us and took pictures with us and Jane Andrews their road manager was trying to help us get a touring budget so we could go on tour with them but because we are not signed to a label she couldnt help us. I personally have jammed with Neil Schon/Journey, Jeff Watson/Night Ranger, Paul Gilber/Mr.Big, Phil Wolf/Wasp and many more.

MM-Have you played much outside of Idaho?
EC-We have toured in Washington,and California. We just dont have the budget to tour. We all have good jobs and for us to leave we would have to have a major deal. My drummer is a Doctor/Surgeon so for him to take off is pretty hard. We will have to secure a Deal.

MM-Did anyone in the band play in any bands before Blind Fury?
EC-Yes we all have played in other bands. My bass player is from Ohio or Iowa, cant remember and had a record deal on an indie label. My drummer has played in several bands. My brother and I played in a band Prototype and Tamerlain in L.A. Prototype was very big in L.A. We won the first DEMO LISTEN competition for KNAC in L.A. in 1991. We had several labels talking to us but the earthquake put an end to it all.

MM-After getting a record deal, what other goals do you have for the near future?
EC-Go on tour and show the world what we have to offer. We put on a great live show. We sign autographs after every show which is very unusual for a band that isnt signed. So we feel we have the right goods. Our music is the kind of music that you have to listen to a couple of times to really break it down and then you start to get hooked on it and see the capabilities of each individual musicain. We have been on stage with the best and held our own and we think if we can get the right exposure we can do some great things. We average 40,000 hits a month on our web site with absolutly no promotion,and have lots of fans around the world. So we just want to tour and show the world what we have to offer.

MM-What are you doing that other bands today are not doing?
EC-I can't say that we are doing a whole lot of different stuff. But we still play mean lead guitar riffs and we are very fluent on our instuments. We have good powerful vocals. We just play good rockin music.

MM-What bands would you love to open for?
EC-Anyone who is a major player in the metal world at this time. So we can get exposure.

MM-What are your songs about and where do you get the ideas for your topics?
Love, Sex, Drugs, Terrorist,God,Life Goals, Evil,Broken Hearts. Good ole life stuff. We get it from our dirty little minds. TV topics etc.

MM-What do you think is the best thing about the music business? What’s the worst thing about it?
EC-Touring seeing the world. Being on stage, the rush you get. Being told that one of your songs changed somones life from one of your fans. Meeting your idols. The worst is the politics involved. Its who you know not how good you are. Having someone else decide if your good enough to make it. That always kills me, what makes someone think they know what is going to be a hit. Know one really knows, it is pretty much up to the public, they are the ones that really decide. Sure there are some people in the biz that have been in it for a long time and do have the knack for realizing what a hit is. But there are definitly some bands and songs that know one thought was going to be big and they turned out to be major players. It sucks to have someone else decide if your going to be the next big thing or not.

MM-Is there anything else you want to say about your band or your music?
EC-Take a chance on us. Listen a couple of times and you will probably get hooked on the music. It sinks into you soul after a while and you will be humming the tunes and they will be stuck in your head. We are pro's and have the right attitude to be successful. We are not on drugs or have alchohol addictions. We are a pro act and will deliver the goods.We are fortunate to have been given a gift and just want to show the world what we do.Thank you to all the fans around the world that have supported us. We owe it all to you. We hope to see you on tour!

http://www.myspace.com/httpwwwmyspacecomblindfury

**Thanks to Eric for doing the interview.

Lehigh Valley Rocks, The best of 1984-1994

2007
Fever Rock

The Lehigh Valley area of Eastern Pennsylvania saw a number of musicians like Richie Kotzen, Jimmy Degrasso and Robert Mason get their start before moving on. There were also a lot of local bands during the time between the mid 1980's and the mid 1990's. The idea for this compilation originally came from two friends who were at first talking about just making a CD for friends that would include songs from hard rock and metal bands from the Lehigh Valley area. However the idea grew and turned into to being an official two disc set with 30 tracks from 27 bands. With that many songs there is a variety of musical styles and heaviness ranging from Omynus who have an AOR/hard rock sound like Journey up to Atom West who play speed metal with some crossover undertones. I thought that I had heard of a lot of bands and I have, but I had only heard of a few of these bands before including Teeze who appeared on Hit Parader's Wild Bunch, Dirty Blond who did a few albums and Destroyer who I think got some mentions in the metal magaines back in the day. Now some of these acts like Rock Haven sound like a raw bar band and I can tell why they didn't get a lot bigger. However, then you hear the smooth hard rock of Washed and Kraken, the groove of Jolly Roger and heavy involved riffing of Leviathen and you wonder why these bands didn't get further. At least I am getting to hear them now though. With the packaging we get a huge booklet where each band gets a half of a page that includes the list of band members and most entries include a band picture, information on when the band was around and even information on any band members who are still currently playing music. Overall it's a nicely constructed compilation with most of the songs being of good quality and it comes with great packaging. So I am glad this project came out so those of us who didn't hear these bands the first time around at least get to check them out now.

http://www.myspace.com/lehighvalleyrocks

Brainstorm-Downburst

Metal Blade
2008

I actually never heard of Germany’s Brainstorm until recently yet they have been in existence for almost two decades. That’s a shame because they obviously have a great deal to offer. Downburst is fairly potent blending of power metal, classic style heavy metal and thrash to a lesser extent. They hammer at their songs with no hesitation and attack most of them with a flurry of riffs. Brainstorm does a good job of balancing between melodic and heavy. One of my biggest problems with power metal is that some band get too caught up in the flourish and pageantry part that they forget that it’s a metal album. Brainstorm never for one second let you forget that they are a metal band. The vocals are extremely solid with a huge range and a great deal of consistency. This band is not doing a whole lot new, but they are certainly proficient at what they do. A few songs tend to get a little too repetitive as I found my attention drifting here and there. Largely it’s a good album that I will be playing for a while.

1,000th post, what's coming up and Motley Cruise

This is my 1,000th post which means I have written a lot of posts and hopefully some of them actually made sense. Thanks for reading my blog.

This week I hope to have these topics out.

Reviews-
Lehigh Valley Rocks
Brainstorm-Downburst
Byzantine-Oblivion Beckons

Interviews-
Blind Fury
Steve Grimmett Band
Mos Generator

and

Either Clash of the album covers or judge the album cover.

I was reminded that the Motley Cruise is coming up so I thought it was appropriate to do a list on that topic. Here are the top five things you might here someone say on the Motley Cruise.

"Didn't you used to be somebody?"
"I thought the 80's were over"
"Are you going to Rocklahoma this summer to see more hasbeens?"
"Vince Neil ate all the doughnuts"
"This cruise isn't the only thing that sold out"

Have a great week!

Interview with Titan

Titan are from Brooklyn, New York and play a style that is heavy and progressive music yet at the same time they are beyond that as well . They released their album "A raining sun of light and love for you and you and you" on Teepee records in early 2007. It's an incredible release and it made number three on my top album list of 2007. This interview was done with keyboardist Kris D'Agostino.

MM-Can you tell us some about the history of this band?

KD-Well, Josh and I started playing music together during the summer of2004. I was looking to start a punk band and so I posted a craigslist ad, which Josh responded to. He basically wrote me and email saying,"hey, I play guitar. Used to be in punk bands, but I'm not really interested in doing that anymore, but I see you like the boredoms."and we started talking and he told me about this prog project he wanted to start. So I met up with him and a drummer name Adam Kriney and we played together as La Otracina with Dan Bates on bass. After a while Josh, Dan and I parted ways with Adam and picked up Dave Liebowitz as a drummer and started writing music as Titan. I thinkJosh and I really wanted to keep a really basic, rocking, driving sound and fuse it with what we liked about progressive rock. Dan eventually moved on to other things and recently we've been jamming with Steve Moore on bass, which has been amazing.

MM-Who are your influences?
KD-We have a zillion influences. Everything from ELP to Yes to High on Fire to Discordance Axis. I think that great thing about the guys in this band is that we are into a ton of different shit outside of what we draw upon as influences as a band. I think all of us are open to new things and we're constantly excited about new stuff we here, be itold 70's Kraut records or Wu Tang.

MM-Your album “A Raining Sun of Light and Love For You and You and You” came out about a year ago. What have you been up to since then?
KD-Since the record came out, we did a west coast tour for a few weeks, hitting California and Oregon. And we've been working on new material and we finished mixing an 12" version of our CDR Pilzmarmelade which should be out on Wakusei Records soon.

MM-Prior to the album you had some earlier releases that you released yourselves onto CDR. How do those songs compare with your album?
KD-In my eyes, the album is a lot more focused than our CDRs. And what I mean by that is that on the album we actually "wrote" songs that are really structured and we practiced the shit out of them and tried toget them as tight as we could. There are jams on the record but we always tried to keep it within a structure. Most of the stuff on the CDRs is pure improvisation. We'd come up with an idea or a theme and hit record in our friends' basement or in the practice space and jam. For the record we got studio time and an engineer and did it "proper". The CDR have way more of a DIY approach behind them.

MM-How was the whole recording process different between the album and those prior releases?
KD-Like I said, for the album, we had money in our hands from Teepee and we had Steve Revitte on board to record and we booked time in a studio and we went in and tried to get the sound we wanted. The CDR's were recorded by our friend Jeff Yellin who did an amazing job, but those were basically done super DIY on a mobile protools rig in a basement in Brooklyn.

MM-Do you have any new material written? If so how then does it compare to tracks from your last album?
KD-We have a couple new songs written and we're working on building up more new stuff for what could possibly be our next full length. The new songs are very heavy, very rocking and have less frills attached to them. I think we're honing in on the best parts of what we do, as opposed to just A Raining Sun of Light and Love which has a lot of different elements to it. Our new material seems more streamlined tome. More urgent.

MM-Any touring plans for the near future?
KD-No touring plans for the future that are set in stone. But we'd really like to put something together for the summer. We are working on it. We want to be on the road this summer.

MM-How have TeePee records treated you?
KD-Teepee has been great. Tony and everyone at the label have been super supportive and have been there for us whenever with whatever we've needed.

MM-On your Myspace page under “sounds like” it states "...they plucked a demon’s jawbone for a guitar pick to strum the massive tones". Where did that quote come from and can you elaborate a little on how you would describe your sound?
KD-Haha, that demon's jawbone comment came from a review of the record that was online somewhere and we thought that was best compliment and so we posted it up there. I have a hard time describing our sound to people, but I have a hard time describing any music to other people. I think it's really hard and often pointless to sum up a band with afew words or a "they sound like ______". it's really limiting in away and you never to a good job describing. It's best to just get your hands on some songs and hear it for yourself.

MM-What should someone who comes to see you live expect?
KD-Someone who comes to see us live should expect a headache the next day.

MM-Choose the band you prefer from the following pairs and tell why you chose that band?

Black Sabbath or Deep Purple
ELP or Yes
Dream Theater or Spock’s Beard
Electric Wizard or Sleep
KD-I like all of those bands. Don't really know which I'd pick out of the pairings. They all kinda rule and we rip off pretty much all of them.

MM-“A Raining Sun…” is available on vinyl. Are any of you big fans of vinyl?
KD-Josh and I are huge fans of vinyl. Dave, too. I think we were all most excited about the fact that Teepee was doing vinyl. I remember getting the copies of the full length vinyl and really feeling super psyched about it. Everything sounds better on wax, even if it doesn't, it still does.


**Thanks to Kris for doing the interview.


http://www.myspace.com/titanaut

Bone Shaker-Bang,...you're dead

Turkey Vulture
2007

I am not sure exactly what I was expecting from this based on the cover, but solid, gritty mid-1980’s style metal wouldn’t have been my first guess. However, that’s exactly what this late 2007 release is and it’s pretty much right up my alley. The music reminds me of Accept, Judas Priest, Grim Reaper and maybe even a dash of early WASP thrown in for good measure. The vocals are raw and work wonders as this trio absolutely plow their way through ten tracks that will make you think that it is 1985 again. They obviously strap on the studded bracelets and just go at it. Okay, they are not exactly busting down the doors of originality yet they are tearing up some killer metal with a lot of steam and fire. I love the energy they bring and they do a nice job of mixing up the pace as well. The production is in your face and they waste no time ripping into every single song. The lyrics are a bit on the cheesy side with dribble about rockin’ and three songs have “hell” in the title. Yet it is unquestionably one of the better old style metal albums I have heard in a long time. They have a lot of control and confidence and those two things coupled with their talent are what makes them better than a number of other bands I have heard recently who are trying to sound like old style metal.


http://www.myspace.com/boneshakerinfo

Airbourne-Runnin' Wild

Roadrunner
2008



This release actually came out in Australia and New Zealand through EMI back in the summer, but it is being released here this month by Roadrunner. Melbourne based four piece Airbourne are initially going to have you stuck on one thought and that's the fact that they sound a whole lot like AC/DC, probably prime “Powerage” and “Highway to Hell” era. These guys bring a lot of energy and a full throttle approach to the classic three chord rockers. There is very little fooling around and they launch right into most of their songs. They also don’t overstay their welcome either as we get eleven tracks, but with a running time of just a little over 37 minutes. Tracks like “What’s Eatin’ You”, “Diamond in the Rough” and “Let’s Ride” are just a few of the instantly memorable tracks on this release. This band was receiving a huge amount of hype months before it was released here so much so that I think it is going to recieve a huge response. Although a good album, I am still left wondering how much credit should they get for being so much like another band? Maybe I am overcomplicating matters, but I am a little hesitant to give give too much credit to an album that does not bring any new ideas. It's a good album and I love the energy, but they are going to have to eventually bring some more if they want to carve a niche for themselves.



http://www.myspace.com/airbourne

Rat Skates interview part two

More with former Over Kill drummer Rat Skates. If you missed part one yesterday then just scroll down and read that first.





MM-You mentioned learning some things through watching Twisted Sister, the Dead boys and other bands perform. Once Over Kill started to get more popular were there smaller local bands being influenced by what you were doing?

RS-Yes, but not right away…that didn’t really happen until the first record and the L’Amour scene started opening up to more aggressive and heavier stuff. BUT, we were really a local representation and interpretation of what I was scoring from the Import Section…that’s were it all came from. I was turned on to it by the tape traders, and so I turned on whoever DD and I had in the band at the time. Aside from the core NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) bands that had inspired us, like Priest, Maiden, Saxon, Motorhead, etc. we had stepped it up to pulling some influences from they “gray area” time period of metal (as I like to call it). This means the bands from like ’81-’83 that were not traditional metal, but had definitely stepped things up quite a bit as far as tempos, aggressiveness and lyricism, bands like Anvil, Riot, Accept, Mercyful Fate (musically) and even Manowar (listen to “Fear His Name” from “Taking Over” and tell me there’s no Manowar influence).
So really what happened is that we had SUCH a devoted but VERY specific group of fans, who were 99% the same guys I would always see at the flea Market, around Rock n Roll Heaven, and at the Import section of the few record stores where I got my goods….that was my ‘connection”…our fans were very hardcore because of our obscurity in the early days, and I think other bands wanted that, so yeah, they mimicked certain aspects of what we were doing to try to get that devotional following…a loud crowd with fists in the air was straight-up “success”.

MM-It sounds you spent several years wearing the ghoul make-up and Blitz wearing the cape and the other horror type props you used. When did you drop all of that? Was it because most thrash bands were going for the plain jeans and t-shirt look or did you have a label or someone that asked you to change your image?

RS-That whole theatrical thing wasn’t just suddenly “dropped”, but it did dissolve over a short period of time…it was pretty much gone by I guess 1985 because it wasn’t understood. When you have a band like Exodus who was kicking the shit out of everyone (musically), the “denim and leather” mindset of the headbangers at the time really are the people who persuaded us and Slayer to take it off…it was like “why are you wearing all that shit, Exodus doesn’t have all that crap on”. And of course, that was what was Motley Crue was being recognized for, so we CERTAINLY didn’t want THAT comparison. So they were correct in the sense that Exodus had the MUSIC as their building block, we (Overkill) grew up in the New Jersey/ New York club scene era from 1978- 1983 that was totally dominated by Twisted Sister, so that was all that we knew in a way, it was the standard…just like long hair and spandex pants, you go with what you know. I think we (us and Slayer) should have continued on and stuck to what we believed in…that’s why we did it in the first place…for a little longer, because to me anyway, the theatrical aspect of the show just was just a visual extension of the music. I enjoyed using that part of my brain to be imaginative like that, and DD was REALLY into it and really good at it.

MM-Which album do you prefer "Feel the fire" or "Taking Over" and why?

RS-“Feel The Fire”, without a doubt. A band’s first record is usually their best, and that’s the case here. I think it’s blatantly clear that “Taking Over” was being attracted by that Metallica-magnet that consumed a lot of bands in that time period, and Gustafson was no exception…which was too bad, he had is own style early on, very Priest/ Sabbath/ Maiden-ish. That record was recorded at the start of the period where everything became a comparative to the peers; lets A/B ours to Master of Puppets or Slayer or they even tried Pantera…You can fool the people for a little while, but not forever. Eventually the copying or ripping off even could put such a big bruise in your credibility that you’ll never be able to get out of. How about doing what’s best for YOU and YOUR music, instead of just hoping you’ve changed some things enough where no one will peg your influences, or even who you are directly ripping-off?
In “Born in The Basement”, I freely talk about some things that I ripped off, like Maiden’s letter “O”, and there’s even more that didn’t made the final cut. There are two things about that thinking; first, it clearly shows how strong our influences were, and how those influences directly dictated our directions going forward. Second, the competitiveness. There’s a very fine line between what fuels you to push something up to the next level, and just complacently existing as a wanna-bee.
“Feel The Fire” was honest; there was very little influence from the fans, media, or all the other things that cause most bands to swing the pendulum in whatever direction the fans want, or whatever band they have a hard-on for. The production on “Feel The Fire” was pretty rough, but at least you could hear the drums. On “Taking Over” we tried to make the guitar so fat and layered it a billion times that it devoured any bandwidth where things like snare drums should reside. I’ll never forget having this ‘argument’, as I kept explaining that the clarity of an instrument should be a GIVEN…I mean you could hear the drums very clearly on those Slayer and Metallica records, right? And they’re still heavier than hell. I thought the first Metal Church record was produced very well and that we should have used that for guidance, if anything. They took my advice, amongst other things, immediately after I left…the drums were heard!
On “Feel The Fire”, I think that Carl (Canedy) really did do a heck of a job, considering that everyone was still figuring out how to record music this heavy and fast in 1985…and if nothing else, at least it didn’t sound like everyone else, and when everyone else just kept gauging themselves to Metallica, in songwriting AND production, when that became the STANDARD in metal, which Priest had up until then been the benchmark, all the groups subsequently had their best sales in like 1988-1991-ish. As long as you had the Metallica crunch-thump, the black stretch pants and Reeboks, you did well in the game…the SOUND was the priority, not the songwriting, and that’s what caused the collapse of the “Thrash” bands.

MM-What was the most difficult aspect of making your film?

RS-Well, it was kind of weird in the way that I approached the “interview” parts, because I wanted to keep the audience that I invited (which was really just a dozen select old school people of that era) interested in the whole story. Some were primarily Overkill fans and wanted to know that history, but some couldn’t care less either. I had to try to keep everything consolidated and to the point; painting the timeline in which all this happened, and relating it to the culture as a whole, and my obsessive/compulsive behavior that drove me everyday. Quite honestly, I was conscious about how much I wanted…or needed…to talk about Overkill. There weren’t Cliff Burton-type tragic deaths or anything really so unique about how everything came to be, so all the references are just that…references. I also reference Twisted, The Dead Boys, on and on to make everything relative, but my focus was just to tell my story of the struggles I experienced, relative to the time period and within the culture of the Northeast. It was Lori (Director) that really kept everything in perfect perspective; not too much, but not too little, make the point and move on. There are quite a few really interesting bites that didn’t end up in the final cut; more honest, straight-up stuff, but Lori really kept the whole story in mind, beginning, middle, end. There is also a cut/ fade that everyone’s been asking about what I was saying (the part is towards the end where I think the words I used was “making a mistake by turning my back and walking away”)…this was actually a GREAT piece about MONEY, where I got pretty detailed. It may not be super-clear, but Lori thought we should fade out and back like that so it would be understood that talking about financial matters in any detail is in poor taste, it’s finger-pointing that is supposed to be a private concern, so it could be mentioned as an issue of discussion but not elaborated on, and I totally agree. I mean you’re watching this whole story and at the very end it turns into this propaganda thing about money?…I don’t think so…Fans are interested in us as musicians, not as businessmen. That “Wrecking” DVD was a great example of what NOT to do, so we didn’t. In another recent project that David Ellefson and I just did, we had some Grammy- award winners with us in it who reaffirmed it…MONEY has single-handedly RUINED the art of music…I wasn’t going to let the subject of money ruin our film as well, that’s not what this was about. Another thing that we considered, since I am a writer, and as a songwriter I was noted for writing Thrash music, but NO WAY did I want another label to box me in as a filmmaker, that’s why I didn’t use the words “Overkill” or even “Thrash” in the title of the project, those labels could help in some aspects, but for the long haul they could hurt even more…if Overkill was a REALLY popular band, I guess using the name MIGHT help on an awareness level, but again the friggin’ label…I write what I feel, regardless of whatever “genre” the public decides to tag my work with, same with playing music.
So, back to your original question. It was a challenge to keep it interesting and understandable for EVERYONE to understand EVERYTHING I was talking about while shooting it live and trying not to shoot re-takes. The other thing that was hard (but fun) was rounding up all our materials, hooking up with some people that helped that I hadn’t talked to in years…I actually came across some more UNBELIEVABLE audio and video material that I could have used in it, but we’ll use it in an upcoming project….and we’ll have to put more of the cut about that money part on YouTube so everyone sees where it was going.

MM-What were you doing in the 1990's?

RS-My main focus was to raise…correctly raise…a family, by my standards and values, which meant staying off the road, and re-assessing some real-world issues like financial portfolios and so on…I really needed a break from the music business. Music is, and always will be the absolute BEST thing in someone’s life and also the absolute WORST. Love to play, hate the business, but one needs the other. It’s an act that can never be perfectly balanced. After Bomb Squad (my band post-Overkill) broke up in ’93, I continued as a full-time percussion instructor, both public and private, did a little stint teaching at Rutgers University in NJ, did audio engineering in and out of the television business, and generally I just tried to have fun with music again. I did some hired/ studio work (not using my professional name) in all kinds of music from electric jazz-fusion to rhythm and blues to everything else in-between. It was actually a lot of fun to PLAY drums again, to enjoy my instrument for all the reasons I am a drummer. I don’t care what anyone says, there is no possible way that your creativity will ever expand if you only listen to ONE type of music and nothing else. Period. Even if you play Thrash or whatever…the narrow-minded thinking of some people amaze me. And some people admit to this too! “No, no…all I listen to is Thrash”…and they call themselves musicians. Those are the guys who will asking you if you want more coffee at Denny’s when everyone else is retired.

MM-How did you things have changed for up and coming bands from the early 1980's compared to what it's like for bands today?

RS-It is drastically different today, some for better, some for worse. Fortunately, the traditional record industry as I know it is self-destructing. I for one, am happy to finally see this. As you saw in the film, when the industry became involved, things changed. I did everything by myself because I didn’t have a choice, but that wasn’t how I wanted it either, I was always striving for that plateau of being a Recording Artist that was signed to a Record Label, and when I got there, things never really got better, they just got different. Here’s a quick example: did you ever notice how many BIG variations of the color GREEN my Overkill logo has been through over the years? This wasn’t rocket science, I picked a simple fluorescent lime-green, I even used to give the record company people actual COLOR samples, saying “here, do this…not darker, not lighter, just do THIS”…and see what happened? To them, this was apparently no big deal, but to me it was my entire WORLD. It got screwed up all the time, everywhere. But on the flipside, I could never have sold more than a few thousand “Power in Black” without a record company behind me at some point. (There was no such thing as The Internet). So, We able to sell a LOT more of the WRONG colored albums!
The thing that hasn’t changed is the fact that every successful band always has one guy (usually one guy) who is the pragmatic guy with the initiative to keep forging ahead onward, and completely ignore the odds. When I was out there fighting the world for the cause of Metal and getting my band on the map, in retrospect I was pretty blessed to have instinctively acquired enough business skills that HAD to be implemented along with the creative element to ultimately reach my goals…Today If a particular individual within a band can also merge these two elements together, the rest is SO MUCH easier…As I said before there was no internet…and there was no CD burning, digital cameras, home recording, on and on…the resources that I had available SUCKED compared to today, no comparison. With all these great tools, a band can obviously be known around the world literally OVERNIGHT! Get a Pro-Tools recording system or Cakewalk or one of the countless other software recording packages, record something that may not be GREAT, but it just has to be ON PAR with the other guys who are also recording in their bedrooms, shoot it out to the ‘net via MySpace, YouTube, etc. and BINGO! You’re in the game. Look at what Radiohead did?…brilliant. But of course they had prior success via traditional recording industry protocol, and of course have the music to back up their marketing moves. So the playing field is pretty even now, but if your music can’t carry you, all the MySpace friends in the world won’t get you past playing Bar mitzvah’s.

MM-What plans do you have for the future?

RS-Well being that you see that I have a real-world assessment of the BUSINESS of MUSIC, I can’t say too much here, but David (Ellefson) and I just put together something TOTALLY unrivaled about this subject and then some…I’m not saying anything more right now due to the “shit-happens” factor, but, it is a COMPLETED project we did, only the delivery end of it is the process that we’re just now working on. I’m also sorting through my own scripts for an actual feature-length movie that I can’t WAIT to start filming….wait ‘til you see this…
I’ve also got projects with Kick Ass Magazine and The Old Bridge Militia on the boards…just deciding on which comes first tends to be my difficulty sometimes.

MM-Anything else you want to say?

RS-Yep…I would like to say ‘thanks” to everyone who has supported this film, the contributors, the fans, the reviewers, and I would like to thank YOU Mark for giving me this opportunity to share some thoughts with your readers. Keep up the great work.

http://www.myspace.com/ratskates

Thanks to Rat Skates for doing this interview.

Rat Skates interview part one

Rat Skates was the original drummer for Over Kill and he left them in 1987. He recently released his documentary "Born in the basement" which is about his time in Over Kill and the whole "do it yourself" approach they had to go through while trying to get their name out there.
This was a long, but very informative interview so it will be posted in two parts with part two coming on Friday. So enjoy!

MM-I just finished watching "Born in the basement" last week. When did you come up with the idea to do this documentary?

RS-I had thought about it for quite a while…but only very recently, I guess it was late 2005…that we decided to give it the green light. Over the years, I still kept getting mail from fans who have been wondering how (and what) I’ve been doing. It’s actually pretty amazing, kind of a hardcore following that I never knew existed. It was then, I guess late ’05, that someone brought me over this Wrecked Everything DVD that apparently had been out for a while, and it didn’t hit me right away, but when it did, I realized that it wasn’t about a weak effort, or uninteresting or anything, it was just that it was just plain WRONG to claim to tell the bands history, and talk about only the things that best fit into the current personal business agendas of the storytellers and NOT tell the actual story, just a myopic, totally self-oriented overview. As with every group, there is a line-up and a time period that THE FANS decide to be the CLASSIC line-up, classic album, etc. Now, EVERY artist from EVERY genre has the same situation, and being that their “golden era” might be that of 20 years past, nonetheless, the fans are the ones who make that choice. As these post-heyday members continue on, they’ll always try to tell themselves that people really DO care about their new material. Since this is proven otherwise by the all the reunions and horrible sales numbers of their newer releases, whether they want to come to terms with it or not, its just a simple fact in the entertainment business, it’s the same with actors and the movies they are acting in, same with athletes, etc.
So, there’s 7 years of history…the important stuff…the stuff from the beginning that determines if there is a middle and an end that was entirely ignored, it was obviously completely unfair to the fans, who are my fans as well, to get something so shallow. So after my dismay at that effort that still bears the logo of my work, and seeing what “Get Thrashed” was going to cover on the subject, I basically just filled in the blanks, combining all these things together, and there you go…

MM-What has been the response to your film so far?

RS-I’m absolutely blown away by how well it’s been received… all the old school crowd (especially the musicians) have been saying “FINALLY!…there it is…that’s how it WAS and that’s how we all FELT”. I’ve been told that the honesty and sincerity is what has made it so unique…that’s exactly how I was hoping this would come across…someone just said in another review that for the Old School, Born in The Basement is “A declaration of how we all felt”…I thought that was right on the money. Since we covered all the factual end in Get Thrashed, I HAD to “open up the hood” on what we were all about…So, I guess it’s cool because Get Thrashed sets up the Wikipedia-type stuff so the “New School” crowd has somewhat of a stat sheet, and Born in The Basement goes “under the hood” and tells the “WHY” and the “FEEL” part. All the musicians from the day have commented on the opinions I expressed, they’re really just me speaking for all of us, as we were all cut from the same mold…

MM-How long did the film take to make?

RS-Start to finish, about a year…it could have really been completed in 6 months, but I am (and was) usually working on multiple projects.


MM-Over Kill worked several years before getting signed to a label. What was the most shocking thing to you about being on a record label?

RS-I was shocked as to the amazing incompetence displayed by many of the companies and individuals working in it. Even though, at that time, Thrash Metal was just breaking out into somewhat of a “mass’ acceptance, some of the fundamental things in the business, Thrash or not, things like travel arrangements, album artwork, merchandising…were handled on a clueless kindergarten level. It took a while for things to get straightened out, not that they ever were totally right. Things in some aspects got a lot worse before they got better. It was shocking at how many records you could sell, how many t-shirts you could sell, how big your crowds were, and the tour manager hands you 15 bucks to live on. Even that 15 bucks was borrowed from the bank, the bank that is your Record Company. Everyone made money but me. The repeated term was “Such-and-such (meaning your album) hasn’t recouped yet”. Well, when your that young and supposedly on your way to living the rock-star dream, your response is “Wow dude, that sucks” in a full-on Jeff Spiccoli voice…I don’t think I even knew what the words “accounting” or “audit” meant, I just new that it was boring to me and I wouldn’t be able to pay attention to it. Unfortunately, musicians don’t pay attention to the business side of music until they’ve been burned by it, and mistakes have been made.

MM-In "Decline of western civilization 2: The metal years" there was a part about bands having flier battles where one band would replace another band's flier with their own. Did you run into any of that in the New Jersey/New York area in your club days?

RS-Yeah absolutely…there were some “high-visibility” areas like around the clubs in NYC, like the utility poles, sometimes around record stores and music stores too, but the toll-booths were a big one. You could see how many bands were putting there stickers on there at any given time because no one ever had the time to worry about perfectly overlapping or covering the band before you; you had to do it as fast as possible so you wouldn’t get caught….we would actually get it down to a science…man that was a lot of fun, especially when you drove through a different toll a few weeks later and no one covered you up yet…it always me feel like I was the headlining act of the Garden State Parkway.

MM-Before getting signed, about how many hours a week did you spend doing things towards promoting your band?

RS-WAY too many…Overkill was ALL I did. Seriously, I had spent WAY more time in marketing and promotion than I did playing the drums…it took me a while to realize this, but I had made the mistake of trying to delegate out some of my responsibilities, but that failed…big time. Hey, everyone has certain abilities, you know… Where a person might not be cut out for some things, they may excel in others…like Blitz’s lyrics were very imaginative, I thought. Gustafson learned to silk-screen in High School and DD used to book the shows and a couple other things, but I was consumed with the rest, and that was also because I DID NOT have a choice. Lori even had to do all the mail-orders and promo packages while I was on the road, and she didn’t really even know my parents that well…it was ridiculous when I think about it now.
When I had to drive somewhere, I would really only listen to our rehearsal tapes, a lot of which just had basic guitar parts or basic jams…I used to assemble most of our songs while driving. It’s referred to as the songs “arrangement”. I vividly remember who, what, where and when EVERYTHING was written, I think because it was kind of like things on my “to-do” list. Bunch of cool parts, but no songs, yeah, I did a lot of those song arrangements in the car, sometimes on the way to or from practice…I guess that was my first real experience in ‘multi-tasking”, and it wasn’t by choice, but I HAD to get it done.


MM-In "Born in the basement" you talked about your frustration with local cover bands of the time getting the best slots at clubs. How did Over Kill manage to break in and get better slots? Was it hard work over time or was their a few gigs that broke you through?

RS-It was a combination of both, but mostly just slowly….and I mean SLOWLY building up a fan base. I tried to do as much advertising (legal advertising, not “street” advertising) as we could afford. It was pretty much a matter of peoples’ curiosity getting the best of them when they saw an ad with us looking like five Alice Cooper wanna-bees and the vampire cape thing and my tagline on our ads was always “BEWARE…” People would never forget those ads, or the green logo, because they had never seen anything like that before, it was SO much different than everything else that was out there at the time. And on the music front, our fans…the same people who occupied the first ten rows of the early shows at The Palladium…Priest, Maiden, Motorhead, The Blizzard of Ozz…these were the guys that came to see us, and bang with us, because we were doing covers by all those bands. So, when you couple all these things together, we were doing something that was REALLY unique and just couldn’t be ignored.
But the hardest part initially was getting booked at all, because as I explained in the movie, we were playing covers, but not Zeppelin or Billy Squier or The Who…it was all from bands that the club-owners never heard of. I think that one of our biggest strengths was as an opening act. It really pushed us (like any opening act) to perform that much better. It wasn’t about pleasing the crowd, it was about stomping the crap out of the headline act, and that ranged from opening up for other cover bands to bands like The Plasmatics, Anvil, Venom, WASP…shows like that would always re-define our own energy level.




MM-Do you still have all or par of the cobblestone prop that went in front of your drum riser?

RS-Yeah, I have some of that stuff that wasn’t being used anymore, but I left most of it behind so they could use it. Actually, I left pretty much everything back there that I made, even the songs that were on the next record after I left was all stuff we had been working on, and a bunch of other ideas I had too…I don’t want to get into listing things, all you got to do is look and listen to the before and after, everything changed, very noticeably.



***Check back on Friday for part two.

Check out Mongrel

I got an e-mail asking me to check out this band so I did. Mongrel are from New Hampshire and do have a cd out called "Fear, Lies and Propaganda". They play a rather heavy, frantic style of punk rock that sounds pretty good to me. It's sort of early 1980's influenced with a real dive ahead approach yet they are very much in control and the vocals match-up well with the music. The production sounds solid enough and I enjoyed the overall energy level of the band. They have six tracks up over at their Myspace page so go over and check them out.


WWW.MONGRELBAND.COM

Check out Futile Attempt

I got an e-mail last week asking me to check out this band's Myspace page so I hopped over there and listened to them.The band is from California and a fairly heavy, but somewhat basic industrial style. The music is very thick and rich, but sometimes a little too plain to really pull you in. The vocals were alright, there were some spoken work and then crazy approaches as well. Overall they are moderately tight, but perhaps a little too safe to be as interseting as I was hoping they would be. They have five songs up so go over there and give them a listen.

http://www.myspace.com/futileattempttheband

Gypsy Pistoleros-Para Siempre

Bad Reputation
2008

This is actually a re-release of “Wild, Beautiful, Damned” with a couple of extra tracks plus it’s on Bad Reputation records this time around and there is new cover art. If you were living under a rock and didn't hear this one in 2007, well now is your chance to hear it and find out what you have been missing. The bonus tracks fit in nicely with the sound of the rest of the album and it actually does have a cohesive feel to it. It has been difficult for me to adjust to the difference in the track order though as I was so used to what came after what on the original CD. They stir 70’s glam, 80’s hard rock, punk, pop and flamenco music into blend that overtakes you from the get go. It doesn’t sound like an easy task and they not only do it, but they make it fun. There is none of the posing or styling that has plagued glam rock for so long, instead it’s just all out killer rock with lots grit and attitude. That’s exactly how it should be played and Gypsy Pistoleros might just be the best thing to happen to glam music so far this decade. I don’t say that lightly, but numerous plays of both versions of this album have convinced me that they are the real deal. Now they just need to keep a stable line-up and everyone needs to go out and buy a copy or two.

http://www.myspace.com/gypsypistoleros

Interview with Steevi Jaimz

Vocalist Steevi Jaimz is perhaps best known for his time in Tigertailz in the mid-late 1980's as he sang on their "Young and crazy" album. Since then he has also had his own band. I recently got to talk to him and see what he is up to.



MM-What are you currently working on?
SJ-We're currently workin' some acoustic bonus trax for the re-issue of my Damned if I do... record.


MM-What are some of the first rock albums that you really got into?
SJ-My dad actually gave me my first LP in the early 70's, it was Led Zeppelin's 1st. To this day I luv that record. Other early records I really got into were Black Oak Arkansas Raunch n' Roll, Foghat Live and Wings's Band on the Run!


MM-The first real band you were in was called Treason, can you tell us something about that experience?
SJ-Hahahahahahahahahahha, yeah, it was a NWOBHM band, we originally had 3 guitar players and we were really bad. Although, that band did morph into the ultra glam, and way ahead of its time Crash KO in 82, and that was a truly magic time for me personally.


MM-You were in a band called "Idol Threat" with drummer Ace Finchum in 1985 and that was in Colorado. What was that experience like and was it difficult adjusting to being in the states?
SJ-At first, yes, it was difficult. I'd really never been out of the country 'til that time. I sold all my belongings and basically moved over there. But the experience of it all was awesome, mid 80's in America and me comin' from a small village from just outside Oxford. A real culture shock, to say the least. All of a sudden i had MTV, with Crue, Ratt,KKobra et al, all blastin' out from the TV screen. My time over there was some of the best experiences i have to this day to be honest. Unfortunateley Idol Threat didn't take off, but to be fair it was a kinda semi covers band... All in all it was fukkin' great times!!


MM-What do you remember about the writing and recording of "Young and crazy" with Tigertailz?
SJ-Jeez, it's all a bit hazy ya know...First off, Young and Crazy was actually recorded twice. First time in Wales. Music For Nations signed us after that and we re-did a Second, that would finally come out as Young & Crazy. Recorded in Strawberry Hill, London. Most of the tunes for Y&C were written while I was livin' in a bedsit in Cardiff between '85 - '86... A lot of the tunes would come from riff tapes that Pepper made for me, and i would spend my time siftin' thru ideas and writin' to those that I liked and could work with. There was a lot of drinkin', partyin' and general madness goin' on throughout that recordin' if i remember correctly. Livin' Without You will always stick in my mind from those days though, as it was the first song we wrote as that line-up of Tigertailz. Still the best TTz song in my opinion. But i would say that I guess, hahahaha.


MM-What were some of the highs and lows of your time in Tigertailz?
SJ-Highs were gettin' signed after workin' our arses off for years. Headlinin', and selling out 2 nights at the old Marquee club in wardour street. And finally releasin' the record. My real low, was my slow spiral outta control on drink. My biggest demon!


MM-Were you surprised when you were put out of Tigertailz?
SJ-Hahahahahahahahahahaha. Not at all, it was inevitable. My drinkin' and notoriety was at an all time high. The guys in the band couldn't stand me and I couldn't stand them. So all in all it was for the best. Time had run it's course I'm afraid. I had actually quit the band a year or so before that, when I went for the vacant Tokyo Blade vocalist job. Not too many people know that happened.


MM-What were you doing in the 1990's?
SJ-Playin' all the dives that god created, playin' my music to the shoe starin' audience. Although in 1998 I did release my Damned if I do...Damned if I don't... record.


MM-What have you not done in your career that you would love to do?
SJ-Fukkin' ell, too many things to mention here, hahahahahahahahaha...


MM-How do you approach writing and recording differently now as opposed to twenty years ago?
SJ-Totally different...Back then I was a young kid, writin' tons of songs for fun. Workin' 'em hard 'til we had what we wanted. Now it's way more of a set kinda way way. Goin' into the studio and workin' on it there, and then recordin'. We still demo everythin' but I actually pay way more attention to the songs now. No drinkin into oblivion and hopin' it all turns out fine.


MM-What do you think are some of the best songs you have ever recorded and why?
SJ-You know I'm gonna say what I have done recently, hahaha...but it really is. The tunes we have now are way more superior than anythin' I've ever done before, in my opinion. Although, I'm still very proud of songs like Livin' Without You and Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. Those tunes were of the time, ya know. A time where everythin' was goin' on. The reason I think that new tunes like Amazin' and Somethin' good etc... Are great. Well, it's coz i'm finally happy with how they sound. In the past I've always been rushed to record stuff, or outta my mind drunk. Now though, I'm really enjoyin' what I'm doin' and how I'm soundin' on it. Just listen to it, I think you'll agree.


MM- What are some of your favorite albums of 2007?
SJ-Not really got any particular faves from then. But here's a few of my faves from 2006. Hope that'll do for ya... Hardcore Superstar (S/T). Crash Diet (Rest in Sleaze). My Chemical Romance (The Black Parade)

MM-Pick the band from the following pair that you prefer and briefly state why.

SJ-

Guns and Roses or Motley Crue
Both...Crue for the attitude and the Too Fast For Love record. And GN'R for the awesome Appetite for Destuction record


Slade or Sweet
Again both. Can't separate 'em, I grew up on both bands, and they were fukkin' excellent!!


Faster Pussycat or Poison
Neither, didn't really dig either of those bands. Not my bag at all...Sorry.


Alice Cooper or KISS
Alice Cooper in the 70's was superb, as was Kiss. Both are a little lame now.


MM-What advice would you give a band just starting out today?
SJ-DON'T DO IT!!! Hahahahahahahahahahaha. No, seriously, who am I to give anyone advice.

MM-Anything else you want to say about your band or your music?
SJ-Yeah, just go check out some of the new tunes on our Myspace page. And get ready for the release. It'll definitely surprise one or two people I know that.
Thanx guys. Take care. Steevi.

http://www.steevijaimz.com/

www.myspace.com/steevijaimzband

-Thanks to Steevi for doing the interview.

Check out Villain

I got an e-mail from a member of Villain to check out their band on Myspace. Villain are a hard rock/glam band hailing from Spartanburg/Chapin, South Carolina. They have three tracks up over at Myspace. I like the guitar tone overall and I defintely like the direct approach and the quick changes. The drums kind of sounded the same on every song, not bad yet a little dull. The vocals were hit and miss as there were parts that worked and parts that fell flat. I also think that the vocals didn't always flow well enough with the music. Now that the last part could just be something that could be fixed with production once they get to the next step. I like the spirit of the band and the fact that don't sound just like one particular band. However, I think they need to work on tightening things up a bit and getting everything to getting everything to mesh together a little more. So hop over there and check out their tunes.




http://www.myspace.com/villainrules

Heavy Metal Jukebox

It's time for the jukebox, I list three songs and you pick the one you like the most. This time it's a trip back to 1988 so here are your choices...

Cinderella-Gypsy Road
Guns and Roses-Patience
LA Guns-Sex Action


***Which one do you choose?

What's coming up?

I have been enjoying the playoffs so far and watching a lot of Battlestar Galactica as well (the original series of course). This week I hope to have out the following.

Reviews of...
Gypsy Pistoleros-Para Siempre
Byzantine-Oblivion beckons

Interviews with...
-Steevi Jaimz
-Rat Skates

plus...
Heavy Metal Jukebox
and hopefully a profile of an up and coming band (although I am not sure who it will be yet)

***I don't keep up as well as I should with what all new releases are coming out. Although thinking about 2008 I think I am most interested in releases from these bands....
Acid King (supposed to happen)
Heaven and Hell
The Sword
Ninth Moon Black
Testament
Slayer (looks possible that it will be this year)
At War (if it happens)
I am sure others will pop up that I will be interested in, but those are the top ones for me right now. I won't run after the new releases from Metallica or Judas Priest, Whitesnake were never that special for me and I grow less interested with Dokken the longer they postpone their new album.
What releases that are scheduled for 2008 are you most interested in?

Interview with Mike Chappel of Sweet Cheater

Sweet Cheater were playing around the Boston area in the late 1980's and early 1990's. They recently reformed and released a really solid album called "Eatin' ain't cheatin'" on Perris records back in early 2006. I recently got to talk to vocalist Mike Chappel to find out more about the band's history and their future.

MM-When and how was Sweet Cheater formed?
MC-Sweet Cheater was formed in the late 1980's. Tom Flaherty and Chuck Star Leger formed the band over a few year period. They made changes along the way, fine tuned their skills, hired Chuck's little brother Tommy and bassist Mark Rahilly.I met Tom and Chuck Star in Salisbury Beach Ma. I was playing in a cover band called Maniax. They had a limo, great hair, the whole package. They played a demo of Summer and I thought it was pretty good. I recorded a few tunes with them in Rhode Island. It was tough for me for a while. My cover band was my job at the time and schedules started to be a problem and I had to make a choice and I chose Cheater.

MM-When and why did the band break up?
MC-When the band broke up in 1995, I think?. We were at the top of our game. There were no real warning signs. I was shocked, we were all frustrated with the way things were going with the labels. We fired our manager, and things just started to go downhill.

MM-Did you get any interest from any major labels?
MC-There was quite a few major labels interested. MCA was at the top of the list. Mark Dean (Wham) was following us around for a while. We found out later on that our management was looking for more money then the label was willing to give. We finally were offered a deal with Music for Nations and we turned it down.

MM-Why did you turn down the offer from Music for Nations?

MC-We turned down the Music for nations contract because we were looking for a major label. Our management had us thinking big, in the millions and we believed it would happen too. It was a massive letdown for us. It was a big reason why we broke up. Looking back we should have taken the deal and worked our way up the ladder. It's a long road, when you are at the top is when it's hard. You can only go down from there.

MM-What was the metal/hard rock scene like in Bostom back in the late 1980's-early 1990's?
MC-The Boston Scene was Rocking! 1,000 bands. We were lucky and we were playing the best bills at the Channel and Narcissus. Extreme was on the verge of something big. You had to bring your "A " game every night. We would always hit the clubs and make as many friends as possible. Big hair was a must! Image was important.

MM-What bands did you open for?

MC-We were playing with Extreme a lot. They were selling out every night. We have played with Cheap Trick, Kix, Savatage, Foghat, Guess Who, and a ton of other hair bands that came and went.

MM-How did you manage to get such good opening slots like with Extreme? Did you know someone or you just promoto your band a lot?

MC-We got a lot of the big shows because we knew the guy's in Extreme, everybody knew everybody. It was alway's a big party and we always brought in a lot of women, all the guy's wanted to go where the women were. The clubs were aware of the money they made when we played and it all goes hand in hand. Sell drinks, get gig's and we did do a lot of self promotion at first, but After awhile everybody knew us. We played and they came, it was pretty easy for us. Other Boston bands wanted to play with us so they would advertise they were playing with Cheater. John Osterlind, who was a big radio personality in Hartford Conn. was a big help. he would hype all our shows and he was playing us in prime time. We were the hottest band from Boston to Hartford and we were the luckiest band around. Free airtime, free advertising, but it was a real blow when the word started to travel that we split. I could not go anywhere without having to talk about it and I felt like we had let so many followers down. It was the hardest time of my life. I never take anything for granted anymore.

MM-What did you guys do after Sweet Cheater broke up?
MC-After Cheater broke up I played in a few bands in the Connecticut, Western Ma. scene. I had a band called Kid Justice. Jimmi Bell and BJ Zampa from the House of Lords were great guy's to play with. I later had a 70's tribute band with Paul Romenko from Shadows Fall and I even had a band called ChappelTom Flaherty still believed Sweet Cheater would someday make a return. He did a lot of recording and producing bands in the Boston area. Chuck Star and his brother Tom played in a bunch of beantown bands like the Skillet Liqours and Fighting Cocks. Mark Rahilly was playing in a Tuxedo wearing Wedding band. Something I've alway's wanted to do, great money! Lot's of hot women!

MM-How did you come to reform and record an album?
MC-I got a call from Tom Flaherty one day. I hadn't spoken to him in years. it went well we both realized how much Sweet Cheater meant to each other. Tom invited us all to his house for a reunion. It was great to see the guy's again. A reunion show was planned. We played a small room at the Paradise in Boston. We packed the house with familiar faces and old friends. Even some who heard the stories but were too young back in the day.We played for over 2 hours and Sweet Cheater were back. Later that week we signed with Perris records. We always believed our music stood the test of time so did Tom Mathers from Perris. He had seen us with Cheap Trick a few years back.
There wasn't much to do for the first release. Just artwork, thank yous and out it came "'Eatin aint cheatin". The name came from my so called "rules" when you’re on the road. Please don't tell my wife.

MM-What are you currently working on?
MC-We have been working on the new cd for a while now. No shows are scheduled so we can concentrate on recording. We have been trying different and new ways to record. So much has changed form they way we used to record. We really want this to happen and we want it to be something WE most of all can be happy with. Most importantly, unfortunately Chuck Star has left the band. He is a most major, founding member, chief songwriter, and most of all our friend and brother. We still love him dearly and always a part of Sweet Cheater. There will be some new material and some Cheater classics. We are producing it on our own and we have matured a bit. Not so much about fast cars and excessive drinking, anymore. We have a slew of ballads we have to choose from too.

MM-Is there any difference between playing now and back then?
MC-We all have to try to stay in shape since the old day's, but it's not as important as it used to be. Our hair is just a little shorter, and thinner!. We know were not going to be millionaires from playing music. We all know our lives are better making music together. We don't travel with a big light show, no huge P.A. anymore. We can't afford the road crew we used to have and we don't make the money we used to. It's fun, kid's in Japan or anywhere in the world can listen to us now. Who knows what could have happened?As far as doing things different, I wish we would have stuck it out longer. You take out your problems on the one you love. They listen. We stopped listening. I

MM-Do you think hard rock is making a comeback?

MC-I'm glad to see our style of music is making a comeback, it's fun music. I'm glad Van Halen and other bands like them got back together. I know they are not what they used to be but it still makes people happy. Music has been angry for a long time, I know because it killed all us 80's bands.

MM-Is there anything else that you want to say about your band or your music?

MC-I can promise Sweet Cheater will give you an honest effort to keep the ship straight. I hope sometime in 2008 we will be listening to a new cd. I don't have any seceret's on the music bizz, but I know being a good person goes along way. You have to care what your fans think. Care about your band. It all matter's. You will miss it when it's over. You will probably reunite 10 years from. Then you will understand.

http://www.myspace.com/sweetcheaterband

-Thanks to Mike for doing the interview.

Aces Wyld interview

Aces Wyld are a young band that hail from Alxandria, Virginia. I recently interviewed them to find out what they were up to. They got together and answered these questions as a group so AW will stand for Aces Wyld. So the band members are:Dan Johnston(Throat) - Niels Vilhelmsen(Guitar) -Jared Scherer(Guitar) - Clint Greenlee(Bass) - David Anderson(Drums)

AW-Sorry this took so long, we all got together and wrote down our responses on a piece of paper and it disappeared so we had to do it again. We think Clint ate it...

MM-This band has been around for about a year. How did the band come to be?
AW-David and Clint started out drummin' and bassin' and went through a couple guitarists before finding Jared. After writing a few songs without a vocalist we met up with Dan. We first discovered him surrounded by a flock of girls at a party wearing ripped up jeans and a Motley Crue T-shirt and immediately decided he was the guy for the job. Shortly after recording our first EP it became evident that another guitarist would really add to the over all kickassery of our band and around that time Niels, whose band had just broken up, contacted us about joinin' Aces Wyld. He Jammed with us and we were totally blown away and so the line up was set.

MM-Who are your musical influences?
AW-Not only our musical but life influences are as follows:Fast Women, Fast Cars, and Free Pizza.In that order.

MM-How would you describe your music?
AW-Louder than Hell, hard rockin', ass kickin', sexy, Wyld, Party Music.

MM-You are from Alexandria, Virginia. What's the music scene like in the Northern Virginia/DC area?
AW-Its uh... Well.. Not really our style. We'll just leave it at that because we'd like to continue getting booked around here haha. Seriously though it can be an advantage because we're one of the only younger bands playing this kind of high energy rock.

MM-You have a new EP coming out. Tell us a little about it.
AW-Our first EP, which we just recently recorded, has been "out" for a little while now but we can't really afford to duplicate it professionally. We've basically been duplicating them ourselves so theres a bit of a shortage. Also now that we have Niels we want to have recordings with him on them and we have a lot of new material so we're going into the studio soon to make a new album. Hopefully we'll be able to afford the duplication by then and be able to get this one out there more. Please... somebody... give us free money!

MM-Have you had any interest from any record labels?
AW-Not so far... You wouldn't happen to know any would you?

MM-What are you going to be doing in 2008?
AW-With any luck We'll have that new material recorded and we hope to be doing some touring by summer.

MM-What bands have you played with? What's the best show you have played so far?
AW-The biggest act we've played with so far was Rhino Bucket, but the best show, surprisingly, was this show we played at this random high school summer camp thing. These kids were chanting "Aces Wyld" and fighting over drum sticks and shreds of clothing, it was great! They had to bring security in to clear out the crowd haha. I guess that was the first show where we felt like real rock stars.

MM-It sounds like you have done a lot for only having been around for a year. Is that from constant work, good breaks or a combination of both?
AW-We've definitely put in a lot of hard work, but it usually doesn't feel like work. We just all have a lot of drive and thats mainly because we really love doing this. Of course we've had our share of good breaks too though such as getting that spot on 98 rock. Thanks Lindsey!

MM-What is it that Aces Wyld are doing that sets you apart from other bands on the scene?
AW-We play high energy hard rockin' music and we do it well. We also have killer stage presence and we like to get the audience involved so basically when people come to an Aces Wyld show their guaranteed a good time.

MM-Where do you hope to be in 2010?
AW-Passed out on a beach in some exotic country surrounded by naked super models. So basically huge rock stars.

MM-Pick one band from the following pairs that you prefer and briefly say why you picked that band.
AW-
Motley Crue or Van Halen
Yes.We couldn't decide, both kick so much ass.

Kix or Ratt
Once again out answer is simply: Yes.Both are totally ass kickin'

Aerosmith or KISS
And yet again our answer is: Yes.Decisions are like.. hard n' stuff.

Rolling Stones or The WHO
We decided The WHO. We like the 'Stones too its just that more of us like The WHO. They were louder and crazier. We like loud and crazy.

MM-Is there anything else that you want to say about your band or your music?
AW-Lock up your daughters, lock up your wives and hide the beer! Aces Wyld is Cumin atchya!

http://www.myspace.com/aceswyldband

***Thanks to the guys from Aces Wyld for doing this interview.

Vinyl spotlight

Here are two albums that have really nothing in common except that I own them both. Nothing real rare, but one is pretty good and one is a little interesting because of who is in it.



This is Billion Dollar Babies-Batttleaxe and it was made in 1977 and was on Polydor. I bought this used from a co-worker for $3.00 in 1992. I never heard of this project before my co-worker mentioned it. As you may have guessed from the band name there are ties to Alice Cooper. Indeed 3/5 of this band is made up of 3/5 of the original Alice Cooper band as drummer Neil Smith, bassist Dennis Dunaway and guitarist Michael Bruce (who also sings on this release) are all part of Billion Dollar Babies. Overall the music is just alright as it's much more pop oreinted than early 70's Alice Cooper, but I was interested enough in it and the price was low. The cover looks like it could have been a Scooby-Doo villain, "zoinks, it's the hard rock phantom!".



Next is Testament's Live at Eindhoven EP from 1987 and it was released on Atlantic and Megaforce. It was a European release, but fairly easy to find around the late 1980's. I saw it when it first came out, but for some reason always bought something else because even though it was an EP it was going for about $10.00. Then around 1989 the record store at the mall was clearing out a lot of their metal releases on vinyl and I picked it up new for $4.00. It's a pretty solid recording that I still play from time to time.

The Ocean-Precambrian

Metal Blade
2007

This is actually a two disc set and each disc has it's own title with disc one being Hadean/Archean and the second disc is entitled Proterozoic. A two disc set for a studio album might seem a little overwhelming at first, but really it was done because each disc was meant to be a separate entity and indeed they are. The band's name is fitting given that their sound is very vast and constantly in motion. The Ocean have been compared to everyone from Isis to Mastodon and those comparisons are not wrong, but they are not entirely accurate either. Basically they are a death metal band, but they go far beyond that genre by bringing in elements of jazz, various progressives elements and even just some odd tones. Unlike other progressive bands, they don't do a lot of blending of sounds or at least not for long period of times. The sounds are more separate and perhaps more deliberate in their approach. What I liked most about this album was the band's control and confidence to let sounds and notes hang for a while to really get the most out of everything that they were doing here. The approach is very much of a band building the songs in layers rather than throwing everything into the pot. They also seem content to let the songs go in different ways as some fly on, some smash and some just kind of float out there for a while taking you with them. It works although you may have to be a little patient at times due to the nature of their approach. My only real gripe was that the vocals are mainly so typical death metal style that it doesn't completely do justice to the music. Really a fine album from a band that seems to be forging their own path.

http://www.myspace.com/theoceancollective

Big Cock-Motherload

Driver Wild Music
2007

My problems with Big Cock's debut "Year of the cock" were that the vocals sounded tired, the music was generic and somewhat flat, the production made it sound like a demo tape and the lyrics were silly and lame. Their second album which was self-titled saw a definite improvement in the production and slight improvement in the vocals, but it was still a rather weak effort considering that vocalist Robert Mason (Lynch Mob, Cry of Love) and guitarist David Henzerling (King Kobra, Lizzy Borden) had been decent performers in most of their previous projects. Those albums seem to just be centered around the big oh so hilarious joke of their band name and the lyrical theme of "we have penises and we like to talk about them a lot".
So the big question for me going into this album was is it any better than the other two? After several plays, I will say that indeed this is a much improved album. Mason's vocals are extremely powerful and almost always spot on with everything he attempts here. The band obviously took a different musical approach and they choose AC/DC as a basic model. Not anything new, but they bring their own touches as well plus the playing is certainly far tighter than the previous two albums. The music meshes together and the pace changes are fairly fluid. I have absolutely no complaints about the production because it certainly is sharp in every possible way that it could be. Now I am afraid that the lyrics are the same old juvenile rot yet everything is else is so much improved that it doesn't matter that much. It's very much sounds like it could have been done around 1990 due to the style, but it's overall a likable album with minimum baggage. So I would say that this album would appeal to fans of AC/DC, Rhino Bucket, Bullet Boys and King Kobra.



http://www.myspace.com/bigcockrocks

Sister interview

Sister hail from Sweden and they have been around for over two years. I recently checked in with drummer Cari to find out more about this band and what they are up to.

MM-Tell us a little about your band?

Cari- Sister is a four piece, shock rock n' roll band from Sweden.. The band is about two years old and we've recorded three demos.

MM-What are some of the first rock albums that you really got into and why?

Cari- Oh shit.. very hard to tell. Of course it is all those classic rock albums from bands like Kiss, Guns N' roses, Mötley Crüe and stuff like that. I think if I should choose some special albums that has been really important to us as a band, if i should try to please everyone of us, it's Stakk Attakk from Wrathchild UK and Deadboys In Trash City by Alleycat Scratch.

MM-You changed bass players back around the beginning of the summer. How is the new line-up working out?

Cari- Yes, we did. The change has just helped us out in a lot of ways. Of course, in the beginning it was a disaster but i think we've learned to deal with problems that we couldn't do before and so on. And best of all, we've now got Rikki in the band and we fuckin' love him. He a great musician and totally fits into the band in every way.

MM-Have you gotten any interest from any record labels?

Cari- Yes we have, but not from any interesting label. I mean, we want the real deal and not some shitty label that just gonna give us problems, then we rather stick to the underground. You know, i see a lot of bands nowadays that give away their music to some shitty "record label" just because they think it sounds cool to be signed. I mean fuck that! They will get nothing but trouble and their music will never be heard anyway. It is 2008 and the music industry is not what it used to be and there is still people out there thinking that once you've got signed, you automatically gonna make it... That is unfortunately not the case.

MM-How many original songs do you guys have now?

Cari- We have ten songs recorded right now and a lot of more songs that's aren't done yet and recorded.

MM-What are some of your songs about?

Cari- Life.. and to stand up for yourself.

MM-What cover songs do you play live?

Cari-Oh, that's an interesting one. We love to play covers. Usually we play one cover on a gig. I mean, fuck this stupid proudness that bands have that only play your own songs. We wanna party! We've played songs from Alleycat Scratch, Faster Pussycat, Wrathchild UK, Pretty Boy Floyd, Mötley Crüe and stuff like that. Our favorite is our version of The Primitives - Crash. We also have a song that we only play at one place in the world.. The Paunchy Cats club in Lichtenfels, Germany. Hehe;)

MM-How do you think this band has progressed during the two years you have been around?

Cari- Well, everything has gone really really fast and that's the way we wasn't things to be. We won't slow down.

MM-You played some shows with Crashdiet and Panzer Princess not too long ago. How did that go and do you have any interesting stories from those shows?

Cari- Yeah, it was great. Going from one city to another with people you just love and playin' and drinkin' all the time, that's what it's all about. A lot of crazy nights with women, booze, fights and party.. When you put it/us all together, it can't end up good!

MM-There seems to have been a huge outpouring of 80’s style glam bands coming out of Sweden in recent years. Why do you think that is?

Cari- Well, I don't know.. I just think it's like the best thing that ever happened to mankind, so I love it! Of course Crashdiet were the ones that started this whole rodeo.. So let's say thanks to them and hope that this shit is gonna be bigger then ever!

MM-What bands would you love to open for?

Cari- Of course it would be cool to play with all of those old LA sleaze bands from the 80's and so on. But right now it would be awesome to get over to the US and open some shows for Vains Of Jenna and just make the Swedish sleaze get bigger. I fuckin' love what they are doing over there.





MM-What sets Sister apart from other glam bands of today?

Cari- Shit... everything! I mean, we're doing this shit die hard and we're ain't gonna stop untill we're totally satisfied, and believe me, that will take time.
A lot of bands take music as a hobby or whatever. For us, it is everything. Our life.

MM-What do you hope to accomplish in 2008?

Cari- A lot of things. New songs, merch, gigs and all kinda stuff. We're planning to get to the US to play some this summer. Hopefully, the right record label will contact us so we could record and release our debut album.

MM-Pick the band you prefer from the following pairs and tell why you picked that band.

Cari-

Motley Crue or Ratt

- Oh, hate this shit.. Well, i have to say Motley.. Just because they are Motley, they have it all.

Poison or Warrant

- Poison! I've never liked Warrant that much,, Poison were cool. Warrant just feels lame.

Hanoi Rocks or New York Dolls

- Oh, hard one... I love both bands.. But i think that Hanoi Rocks wins in the end. Hanoi's music is just magic.

Faster Pussycat or Pretty Boy Floyd

- Faster Pussycats attitude and PBF's look.. If you got that combination, you don't have to write good songs at all.. you'll make it anyway!;) Two awesome bands.

MM-Is there anything else that you would like to say about your band or your music?

Cari- Be sure to check us out on our website and on Myspace. Spread the word of Sister and come see us live! Take your mother with ya;)
Thanxx to all our fans out there you make sister grow as a band everyday and we love you!

http://www.sisteronline.net/ (under construction at the moment)

http://www.myspace.com/sisteronline

Take care!
/Cari, drummer of SISTER

Thanks to Cari for doing the interview.

Clash of the album covers

Just tell which album cover you prefer.


Dokken-Tooth and Nail (1984)

vs.


Judas Priest-British Steel (1980)

So which cover do you prefer?

Dirt Mall-Got the goat by the horns

Daykamp
2007


This is the debut album from "The world famous Dirt Mall rock & roll band" or at least that's what it says on the inside of the CD case. Judging from the album title and the liner notes I immediately liked the band's sense of humor, but the real matter at hand was what was the music like? Well, it's a somewhat low-key, stripped down approach that mostly incorporates elements of 70's hard rock, plain rock and older punk rock influences. The influences blend together pretty well because they take their time and don't try to force things too much. I love the guitar sound as it's smooth yet thick enough that it has an edge to it. The vocals work nicely too as Johnny Anguish sounds a little like a cross between Bon Scott and Metal Mike Saunders of the Angry Samoans. The overall effect of their music is that it manages to be both familiar enough that you are drawn in right away yet at their best the songs are just slightly different enough to make you really notice them. It's obvious that they are comfortable with what they are doing and that's a big plus. The downside here is they become a little too repititious at times and sometimes they don't have enough hooks down the stretch. This gives the impression that they are running out of ideas before the end of the song. It only happens a few times, but it's a slight drawback. My hope is they keep working at it and maybe add some more of the humor into the mix as well.

http://www.myspace.com/dirtmall

Brain Police-Beyond the wasteland

Small Stone
2007

This is the fourth album from Iceland's Brain Police who have been around for about a decade now. It took me about five seconds of listening to this album to realize that this band was another stoner type band who are hugely influenced by Black Sabbath. It seems like almost all bands in this genre tend to draw from that legendary outfit. However that wasn't the end to this album and it took quite a bit longer to piece together the rest of their influences. After listening to the entire disc twice I can hear some definite traces of The Cult mixed in and some Soundgarden as well and the overall effect is somewhat like Kyuss to an extent. Both more so in the vocal department than in the music. The music has the deep, semi slow sludge that Sabbath started, but they lean a little away from the doom aspect at times and opt for a more even flow at certain points. At best they get into some passages that blend well with some rather impressively strong vocals. They also do enough to differ the paces and approaches of most of the tracks. The biggest downside is that unlike Sabbath there aren't too many times where they just peel off riffs out of nowhere. Like a number of bands in this style tend to rely too heavily one or two major riffs per song. With the slower pace that combination can lead to the song being repetitive and running out of steam before the end of the track. That unfortunately happened on a few tracks of this release. It's certainly a good one though and they easily manage a sound that is somehow both and dense and subtle at times. It's far from overwhelming, but undeniably catchy and worth a listen as the Brain Police crank out some raw and dirty rock songs.

http://www.myspace.com/brainpolice

What's coming up and top ten bands

I can't believe it is 2008 already, but it is. So I am just trying to adjust to the New Year and keep up. I am trying to keep up with reviews, sending out and pulling back interviews plus trying to come up with new ideas and angles here and there.

This week I hope to have reviews of the following out.
Dirt Mall-Got the goat by the horns
Brain Police-Beyond the wasteland
Big Cock-Motherload
The Ocean-Precambrian

plus
Interview with Mike Chappel of Sweet Cheater
and
Another segment of Clash of the album covers

About once a year I like to re-evaluate my top ten band's lists (yes, I am very list oriented). Anyway here is the list of my current top ten favorite bands.
1-Black Sabbath
2-Iron Maiden
3-Motorhead
4-Rush
5-Van Halen
6-Led Zeppelin
7-Judas Priest
8-Armored Saint
9-Alice Cooper
10-Pentagram

****Do you have a list of your top ten favorite bands?

Grand Stinker

I have done ten "Lesser of two evils" over the last year. So I took the albums by the ten losing bands and listened to them again (shudder) so I could rank them. So here they are from ten counting down to the Grand Stinker at number one. In parenthesis is the band they were defeated by.

10)Steelheart-s/t (defeated by Firehouse)
Not a bad album, but just uninspired music with fine vocals. Probably the closest Lesser of two evils battle.

9)Jackyl-s/t (defeated by Pretty Boy Floyd)
Second rate AC/DC that did rock a little, but suffered from being unoriginal. Also the only band to get swept in Lesser of two evils.

8)Danger Danger-s/t (defeated by Britny Fox)
Decent vocals and okay music, but just didn't stand out much.

7)Keel-The right to rock (defeated by Stryper)
Now we get into the bad ones. Poor vocals and thin music sink this one.

6)Vixen-s/t (defeated by Kik Tracee)
The vocals are okay, but just very run of the mill music.

5)Europe-The final countdown (defeated by Winger)
Keyboards and lack of hooks just made it sound really flat.

4)Trixter-s/t (defeated by Warrant)
So bland and typical that I forgot what it sounded like the first time around.

3)Vinnie Vincent Invasion-s/t (defeated by Nitro)
Vinnie blasts solos everywhere, but they have no feeling or rhythm or focus. Nothing else about the release helped much either.

2)Kingdom Come-s/t (defeated by Zodiac Mindwarp)
What a snoozer, like Zeppelin only without the hooks, feelings, style, charm, great vocals and sense of timing. So maybe it wasn't that much like Zeppelin after all.

1)London-Don't cry wolf (defeated by Odin)
This one has out of tune vocals, limp guitars, scattered writing and even weak production. Ding, ding, ding we have a winner or a Grand Stinker as the case may be.



Now it wasn't all bad because by doing these I realized that the albums by Stryper, Pretty Boy Floyd, Firehouse, Steelheart and Winger were better than I remembered them being.


***Lesser of two evils will continue this year only instead of just hair bands there will also be more metal bands plus solo albums as well. The likes of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath and AC/DC will all be featured in battles this year. I will again shoot for ten during the year and then a Grand Stinker at the end of the year. So keep coming back to check them out. The first Lesser of the new batch will be out soon.

Lesser of two evils

Okay this is the last Lesser before I throw the ten losers into a pit and rank them (as if they weren't rank enough) so I can determine the Grand Stinker on Friday. So we have...



Nitro-O.F.R. (1989)


Versus



Vinnie Vincent Invasion-s/t (1986)

Let's have at it then.

Vocals

So we get Jim Gillette of Nitro versus Robert Fleischman for VVI. Jim Gilette is likely the best and worst thing about Nitro. Best because his over the top vocals and insane range are at least interesting however it can be way too much. At times he has a glam voice a little similar to Taime Downe of Faster Pussycat. Then there are times where he hits these high notes that sound like Kind Diamond singing while getting hit in the balls by a hammer. Gillette may be somewhat annoying and over the top, but what he is not is boring and that's largely what Fleischman is. Fleischman can sing, but the range is a little too high to be pleasant and he just never does enough to be either interesting.

Point to Nitro

Guitars

Michael Angelo for Nitro taking on Vinnie Vincent. Now if the guy with the four neck guitar is more subtle in his playing than you know that something is wrong. The guy with the four neck guitar (Angelo) is indeed far more in control of his solos and for the most part has them where they should be. Vincent pulls out solos here, there and everywhere with very little control or sense of style. Yes, he's fast, but he's missing a sense of rhythm in his solos and that is so vital. He really seems to think that quantity is more important that quality and that is just not so.

Point to Nitro

Rhythm section

For Nitro it' s bass player TJ Racer and drummer Bobby Rock versus VVI bassist Dana Strum and drummer...uh, yeah the same Bobby Rock. Since it's the same drummer on both albums there is really no difference. The drum tracks are simple and plain, but alright enough. I rarely hear the bass on either album so...

Tie, no points awarded

(FYI-Bobby Rock was also in Nelson so he obviously had one of the worst track records of any drummer I know of)

Originality/Production
Originality? Well, neither band is doing a whole that needed to be done so that kind of makes that half of the category pretty worthless. Production is probably the best part of the VVI album because they obviously spent some money on it and it helps the overall sound some for what it is worth.

Point to Vinnie Vincent Invasion

Who rocks more?

Truthfully it was difficult to stick with these songs long enough to really determine this category too much, but I think that Vinnie Vincent's lack of songwriting skill and addiction to hearing his own solos doomed his band. Nitro's rockin' moments were few and far between, but they were there and there were even a couple of songs that were almost kind of okay in a ridiculous, spandex wearing, glass breaking vocals, big cotton candy hair kind of way.

Point to Nitro

Nitro win it at 3-1-1 in a battle that tested my patience and my eardrums.

So the Grand Stinker will be announced on Friday as I will rank all ten of the losers from the ten Lesser of two evils that I have done.

***Special thanks to Bob Vinyl for loaning me Nitro and recording me VVI so I could do this segment.

Hate Junkies interview

The Hate Junkies hail from Hollywood and have actually been around for over a decade. I recently got to interview guitarist Rustee Cassanova and bass player Eric Becica and find out more about their band and what they are up to.



MM-Tell us a little about your band and how you formed?
Rustee-Well the Hate junkies Originally Formed in 1996 me and a High School buddy Tristan Davis formed the band out of the ashes of our former bands Shotgun Wedding and SexSick. We were tired of all the Grunge shit out there. We wanted to go back to our Rock n Roll roots. Well we played for a while. Things went great but after a year we parted ways. So I formed the band with several line changes until I hooked up with a friend Marky DeSade from the band Revl'on Red. We got a stable line up and now are ready to make history.
Eric-I have known Captain Anarchy for 10+ years and have been in competing bands. I had always thought this guy is one of the best front man I had ever witnessed! When I saw the ad for the Hate Junkies looking for a bass player I replied (look no further I am your guy). Luckily for me, they took the Captains word that I can do the job.

MM-Who are your influences?
Rustee-I am totally into Johnny Thunders and Stiv Bators.
Eric-My influences as a bass player are King John Entwhistle of THE WHO, John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, Terry Butler of Black Sabbath, Chris Squire of Yes, John Glasscock of Jethro Tull, Bill Wymann of the Stones and Dee Dee Ramone, and I play most like Entwhistle.

MM-What are you currently up to?
Rustee-We are playing tons of shows in So. Cal getting ready to branch off to the rest of the states

MM-Any plans to record soon?
Rustee-We will be finishing up our new CD "We are So Abused" in January to February
Eric-We had just recorded a song called Beauty for a movie called The Beauty of Marilyn's Mole. As soon as we can afford to record again we have 4-6 new songs just about ready to go.

MM-This band has gone through a lot of line-up changes. Why is that and are you fairly stable now?
Rustee-Well I gotta put it like this you have to drive a lot of cars before you buy the right one.

MM-What bands have you opened for?
Rustee-We just opened for the Bullet Boys last week.

MM-So what advice would you give to bands just starting out?
Rustee-Get Management and play shows.
Eric- The best advice I can give to any new band is Do Not let your guitar players ego to get in the way of the whole bands creativity. Write all you can, try new parts until it sounds great, and most of all do not play the same songs for more than 1 year unless they are recorded and your fans want to keep hearing them.

MM-What's the LA club scene currently like? Do you think it has picked in recent years?Rustee-It is alright but not as good as it was in the 80's.

MM-Who do you think are the best bands in the LA scene today?
Rustee-There are a lot of great bands out there two that come to mind as great up and comers are "The Hitz" and "The Prostitute Mary's"

MM-What are you doing that sets your band apart?
Rustee-The energy and we are a whole package not just 5 guys in jeans and t shirts

MM-Pick the band from the following pair that you prefer and briefly tell why you picked them

Alice Cooper or New York Dolls

Motley Crue or Hanoi Rocks

Ratt or Poison

Slade or Sweet

Rustee-WOW Thats a Hard question cuz I love em all But the Dolls, The Sweet and Hanoi would top my list.
Eric- Alice Cooper & New York Dolls, Alice has the most under rated band ever! Every record is great in evory way. The Dolls were genious with their song writing as well, arrangements 10 years ahead of their time, meanwhile back in the states besides Screaming J Hawkins and Little Richard, Alice Cooper band was the original Glam and Metal band!

MM-Is there anything else that you want to say about your band or your music?
Eric-I am very happy to be a Hate Junkie because they let me be myself and do not restrain me in any way.After all its just about being in the moment having a great time and the brother hood of rock'n'roll.
Rustee-Just Help Spread the HATE, Tell a friend about the Hate Junkies. Cuz you’rE gonna have to face it "YOUR ADDICTED TO HATE".

Thanks to Rustee and Eric for doing the interview.

http://www.myspace.com/thehatejunkies

Vinyl spotlight

I promised a new feature for 2008 where I take pictures of some of my vinyl and tell briefly about them. I decided to lump together two picture disc LPs because I got pretty good deals on both.


This is Judas Priest's "Sad Wings of destiny" made by S.P.I. in 1983. I bought this at a big annual yard sale type event back in 1992. I bought it used and I think it was about $3.00. I also bought about ten other albums from that same person and all were bargains and this may have been the most expensive album I bought from them. I listened to it once when I bought it and have not played it since. One of the guys who was selling was someone I knew of who was a bit of a weirdo in high school. He didn't recognize me and kept looking over my shoulder telling me stuff like "that's an import" or that's a "picture disc" like I didn't know and that going to impress me. His brother who I had also met before and liked watched what I was picking out and would say stuff like "dude, that it a great ablum and I hate to sell it, but I need the cash".


This is Black Sabbath's Paranoid made by Zeema records with no manufacturing year listed. I bought this new for half price at a record store that was going out of business in 1989 and I believe it was about $5.00 before tax. I played it once when I bought, but have not played it since. That day I had enough to buy one album and I debated between this and a picture disc of Quiet Riot's Metal Health. I chose Sabbath and came back a week later hoping to get the QR disc, but it was gone. I think I made the right choice though.

Happy New Year!

Thanks for reading my blog and I hope to continue to crank out more writing on metal in 2008. No guarantee on how good it will be, but I will try my best to make it interesting and keep progressing with my writing.

Gang Green-You got it

Metal Mind
2007 Re-issue



Boston's Gang Green had been around for awhile by 1987 and they had established themselves as a highly charged up punk rock band. However by this a number of punk rock bands were starting to add a more metal sound to their music. The metal parts are more slight here than bands like DRI and Suicidal Tendencies who embraced the metal or crossover sound more openly. Gang Green maintain much of the full throttle punch that made them such an enjoyable band to listen to. In those days when I was in high school there was a metal crowd and a punk crowd and at first it was hard for me to accept a band that was perceived as a "punk band". Largely because I started out on metal and was just so centered on those style bands, but the quick realization was that there wasn't a lot of difference between some forms like speed metal and hardcore. Both were fast, heavy guitar oriented music that pounded away with normally aggressive vocals. That's largely what you get on this album although I actually prefer their previous LP "Another wasted night" and it's probably the best album of their career. Unlike a number of their peers whose lyrics were oftentimes very serious and centered on political and social topics, Gang Green focused more on skating, beer and oftentimes tongue in cheek views of of various odd topics. Yet they pulled it off because they blazed forward without hesitation pulling the listener along with them. This is still an enjoyable album today twenty plus years after it's initial release. Metal Mind's re-issue features a booklet with a history of the band.