Glyder-Playground for life

True Talent
2008

Glyder hail from Ireland and have often been compared to fellow countrymen Thin Lizzy. That comparison is fair enough and a good start at defining this band however that is by no means an end to what they accomplish. They are diverse in both styles and tempos and although there is a definite 1970’s classic rock aura, they also create and maintain a definite patient and even subtle quality that I really found to be very refreshing. Right from the start of this album they establish what they want to accomplish and they oh so carefully begin laying down the blocks as they just start building solid hard rock track after track. Even the production is very much tailored to their style as there a shockingly strong balance between a clean feel and just enough layers of a heavy rawness present to keep everything in check. Yes, Thin Lizzy are the main influence although I heard some UFO and even traces of Pink Floyd a time or two as well. Yet this is no retro tribute band because Glyder are doing enough to begin etching their own chapter in today's hard rock scene. Now I do have to admit that this album was certainly a grower because it took me numerous plays for me to completley accept and realize how good this album is. Largely I think this was due to the fact that I am not the most patient person in the world and I am used to a lot of music catering to me in that way by storming on and giving me the best parts first. Glyder are not that type of band on many tracks as they carefully lay down the groundwork and then make their way forward as they manipulate their music and forge ahead at their pace. It's a very tight web once you make it through, but they certainly go at it exactly as they saw fit. Really a fine album and despite the obvious influences they still seem relatively fresh due to their obvious love for this style.

http://www.myspace.com/glyder

Interview with Beatallica

What do you get when you cross the Beatles and Metallica? Well, in this case the answer is Beatallica the band who combines songs by the two artists mentioned above. A joke band they may be, but they have been going for seven years and have knocked a couple if EPs and the full length "Sgt. Hetfield's Motorbreat pub band". I recently interview bassist Kliff McBurtney to learn more about this band.

MM-Tell us a little about the history of your band.

KM-Kliff McBurtney, Lead Bassist here. I thought it best to give you the Wikipedia synopsis:The project was founded in 2001 by original guitarist "Krk Hammetson" and singer "Jaymz Lennfield". The EP A Garage Dayz Nite was recorded for the annual Spoof Fest concert held in Milwaukee, as a memento of that year's concert. A few dozen copies of the EP were handed out to friends. Later that year, one of those CDs made its way to Milwaukee resident David Dixon, who created a web page that included mp3s of the songs and named the band "Beatallica". The band was unaware of the webpage until Dixon finally met them in the summer of 2002, carrying a stack of fan emails from all around the world. Beatallica gave the webpage its blessings, and after further urgings from its internet fanbase, recorded the EP Beatallica, also known as The Grey Album, releasing it online on April 1, 2004. Later in 2004, the band (including bassist "Kliff McBurtney" and drummer "Ringo Larz") started to perform at live venues nationally and internationally, with a stage show incorporating elements from both Beatles and Metallica performances. They also played as an opening act for Dream Theater; Mike Portnoy even joined the band on stage for drums on one occasion. Beatallica would go on to perform with likes of Motorhead, Testament, Kreator, Sepultura, LA Guns and play huge summer festivals worldwide, including Milwaukee's Summerfest, Germany's Earthshaker Festival, The Netherlands' Kings of Metal festival, and Korea's Busan International Rock Festival. In 2007, the band's current lineup of Jaymz Lennfield (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Grg Hammetson (lead guitar), Kliff McBurtney (lead bass, backing vocals) and Ringo Larz (drums) went into the studio to re-record many of Krk and Jaymz' original songs and write some new compositions for their official debut Sgt. Hetfield's Motorbreath Pub Band.May 2008, marked the release of Beatallica's single; All You Need Is Blood recorded in 13 languages as a worldwide thank-you to the network of Beatallica fans known as Beatallibangers. The band added Belgium, Czech Republic, and Poland to the list of places they have toured.

MM-So what are you currently up to? Have you begun working on any new material?

KM-This Summer marked the Japanese Sony release of both Sgt. Hets, and All You Need Is Blood. We are currently working on album #2, whose name I can't divulge at this time due to legal concerns.

MM-You released “Sgt Hetfield's Motorbreath Pub Band” back in 2007. What was the reaction to it?

KM-Nothing but good news on that front. Everyone seems to enjoy the reworked, mastered tunes, as well as the new matierial on that album. The original release even went to #1 on the Japanese Tower records charts, prompting the Sony re-release.



MM-Did you ever get anyone who just didn’t get what you were doing or were angry with what you were trying to do?

KM-Jaymz (Lennfield) keeps a folder of all the hate mail and threats that we get sent to us. As of yet none have followed through. As a precaution though I have taken up Kung Fu to kick anyone's ass who tries to start shit.

MM-What are some your favorite tracks off of your “Sgt. Hetfield’s” album? Why?

KM-I always say that my favorite track is the Bass solo, primarily because no one else will. That segment of our live show allows me to creep inside our fans' brains a little and lets me showboat a bit. Beyond that I would have to say Cthulu for its creepy coolness, and Sgt. Hets/and the Reprise for the tight vocal harmonies.

MM-I believe most or all or most of you are in other bands as well as this one. So what other bands is everyone in and what kind of music do they play?

KM-Jaymz is in several, mostly Irish trad and Celtic rock ensembles.Grg is in an original rock band called CrumplerRingo, while not currently in another project, has played in various prog-metal groups.As for myself,(Kliff) I am with a punk group called The Crusties and also bassist for God in my church's Praise Team.Samples of all of these can be heard on our site, beatallica. org



MM-Is Beatallica the main project for everyone is everyone just trying to balance all their projects at the same time?

KM-Beatallica has grown to be some kind of monster starting from its humble joke beginnings to becoming an internationally touring outfit. We try to balance our lives as best we can under those circumstances.

MM-Do your consider yourself a tribute band, a comedy/joke band or just a rock or metal band? Or all of the above? Why or why not?

KM-I would say we are a rock/metal, comedy/joke, duo-tribute band. Or in otherwords the world's first Bash-up band. We do it for the love of both the Beatles and Metallica, and for the fans who won't let it go away.

MM-So what should someone who comes to see you live expect?

KM-I like to thrust my bass bayonet in fans' faces if they aren't thrashing hard enough. They should expect to come have a good time, drink a few beers, and have a laugh while jamming to cool tunes.

MM-Do you use any props or much of a set?

KM-Our props have been slowly disintegrating since our inception but there are gravestone crosses, a submarine, and I'm trying to sew back togeather the black meanie hand of doom. Those and more costume changes with each release keep us pretty busy moving shit around.



MM-What bands have you played with?

KM-Dream Theater, Testament, Motorhead, Clutch, Los Straightjackets, The Hidden Hand, The Punkles, OmegalorD, and many many more than I can list right now.

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

KM-Earthshaker fest in Germany, The Busan International Rock fest in Korea, Kings Of Metal festival in the Netherlands, Summerfest right here in our own hometown - Milwaukee, playing BB Kings' and the Bowery Ballroom in New York, to name a few.

MM-What are your thoughts on “Death Magnetic”?

KM-Thanks to Metallica for giving us more ammuntion, I call it job security. It is nice to hear a return to their heavier sound, but they should have included a Death Magnetic magnet with it.

MM-If you could only listen to three albums over the next month then what would you pick and why?

KM-Currently in my ipod playlist rotation are Adagio out of France, Symphony X out of New Jersy, and Learn to Speak Japanese. The first two because I really enjoy the balls out awesomeness of technical prog-metal bands like that. The last because Beatallica is hoping to make it over to Japan in the not too distant future.

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

KM-Come visit us on Beatallica. org or myspace/beatallica. Sign up on our forum and say hello to all the other Hybrid Children of the world. Come see us, and bang that head that doesn't bang when we come to your town!!! Then get us a beer, thrashing makes us thirsty!!!Cheers,Kliff McBurtney

http://www.myspace.com/beatallica

Early Man-Beware the circling fin

The END
2008

Early Man tap into the beginning days of thrash oh circa 1983-1985. They remind me of early Metallica and Anthrax with a few NWOBHM influences shining through at times as well. Back when thrash was first being developed NWOBHM was a very big influence as bands like Raven and Venom were once thought of us speed metal in the early days. At the same point acts like Metallica, Slayer, Exciter and others were taking what acts like Iron Maiden, Raven, Venom and others had done and sped it up and added thickness and more aggressive vocals. Why the history lesson? Well, these young guys from Early Man have managed to tap into a sound that I think a lot of the retro thrash bands of today have missed out on. That's the fact that solid, classic metal like NWOBHM that was really at the core of early thrash. I think a number of young thrash bands shoot for a late 1980's style and are content to just pump away and try to pretend it's 1988 and sometimes they just come off as a poor copy and they oftentimes lack spirit or soul. Early Man are not doing anything new, but they have a grasp on the raw root of this style and they pick it up, dust it off and parade it around in all it's glory. The four tracks here bring you focus into the hooks and the changes instead of just trying to soar off. Okay, the vocals need a Sure, it's twenty plus years after the fact yet it's still entertaining and they milk it for all it's worth.

http://www.myspace.com/earlyman

Sister Sin-Switchblade Serenade

Victory
2008

I remember those days back in the mid-1980’s when hard rock and metal could sometimes blur together and the music was very straight forward and the lyrics may have been cheesy, but there so instantly likable. Sweden’s Sister Sin are very much from that school of metal as they openly embrace yet master this style. This album has the solid vocals, big rhythms, catchy choruses and ripping solos that you expect from this kind of metal. At several points during “Switchblade Serenade” I could close my eyes, soak in the music and it wasn’t too hard to imagine this album having been made in 1986 instead of 2008 and I mean that in a very positive way. Their approach is basic yet highly effective as they pound and smash their way through yet they never lose their grasp on creating a fairly true metal sound. I would say the influences here include, but are not limited to early Motley Crue, Motorhead, WASP and maybe even mid-80’s Accept. The have a great handle on the pace of almost every song and they seem to shoot out each song rather quickly as there is very little down time and virtually no fillers here. My only real problem was that all five tracks from their 2007 “Smash the silence” EP are on this CD and I played that disc to death months ago. So that was a little disappointing that I had already heard five of the elven tracks on this disc. Out of the other six tracks one is a cover of Motorhead’s “Make my day” and although it’s a barnstormer I still felt a little let down by only getting five new original songs. Yet this is still a fantastic, solid metal effort in a year where there have not been enough bands attempting this style.

What's coming up?

I was watching Semi-pro with Will Ferrell the other day and although it's not a very good movie it did bring to mind a much better movie. Semi-pro had Jackie Early Haley in a bit part as a hippie, but seeing him reminded me of the great film Breaking Away from 1979. This movie would probably be in my top ten films of all time, but for some reason I have to get around to buying it on DVD. Maybe I'll get it for Christmas this year. Anyways I hope to have the following out this week.

Glyder-Playground for life and Weather the storm (maybe both on the same day)
Early Man-Beware the circling fin
Sister Sin-Switchblade Serenade
Those who bring torture-Tank gasmask ammo
Detente-History 1

plus interviews with...
Boneshaker
Beatallica

Plus last month I forgot to do a First Day Flashback so I'll make it up by doing two on October 1st.

Have a great week.

Witch-Damnation

Old Metal
2008

Through most of the 1980's Witch were a fixture of the LA metal/hard scene and were known for their hard hitting songs and wild live show. They opened for the likes of WASP, Grim Reaper, Loudness, Exciter and others. Plus acts such as Slayer, Lizzy Borden, Poison and Stryper all opened for Witch at one time or another. The only thing that escaped this band was unfortunately a record deal as they had interest over the years from Metal Blade, Atlantic and others, but for one reason or another they never got signed. However they did self-release an EP and a twelve inch single plus they recorded a few other songs for demos and other purposes. So all of those plus more are presented in this package which includes twenty tracks in all. The first five tracks are "The Hex is on" EP from 1984, but this is actually the version that was on the French version that was on Axe Killer records. The difference between this and the US version that I am used to is that the track order is different and the mix is actually louder and a bit more sharp. The sound here was solid metal not far off from early WASP or Lizzy Borden. Later on in the disc we get "Blond Alert" which was originally intended for "The Hex is on", but was left off and that's a shame because it's very heavy for them and it would have fit nicely with the other songs on the EP. We get the two tracks from the 1987 "Nobody sleeps" twelve inch and the band had changed guitarists by this point. The direction is a little different, "Can't take our rock" reminds me of a cross between Twisted Sister and some of Dio's lighter material while "Victory without pain" is far more melodic, but Peter Wabitt's thick vocals help elevate it a little. "1:45" is a moderately heavy track that was recorded in 1989 for a compilation that was released a year later. The last two studio tracks are "Take me away" and "Hit the road" which were recorded in 1988 and these demos were shopped around to various labels in 88-89. By this point the band was back to their classic line-up and although these tracks are not as heavy as the earlier material they might actually be tighter. The other nine tracks on the album are live songs recorded between 1983 and 1984. The quality on these songs vary from extremely rough to okay. The earliest tracks are really raw and difficult hear while the last three live tracks which are all "The Hex is on" material probably fare the best. These live tracks do afford fans the chance to hear some originals that they didn't do on their albums as well a pair of cover songs including Black Sabbath's The Mob Rules. The booklet includes a brief band history, photos, background on the songs and reproductions of some vintage fliers. The live songs are not the best, but the studio tracks are more than enough to satisfy and they show the talent that this band had. It's a shame they didn't get signed and have a chance to do more two decades ago because there is no doubt they had the sound, the look and the personality to get somwehere yet it never happened for them. However we do get this solid collection and the band is together again so who knows they may yet get their chance to do a full length album of original songs.

Level C-s/t

Locomotive
2008

This all female band from Cleveland have been in existence since 2002. This is the band’s debut and I gave it a few spins and kept coming to the same conclusion. Almost every track begins with a short burst of something loud and heavy. Yet in turn almost every track immediately tones down and the music shifts down into a low gear. It’s loud, real loud, but it’s just a shame that volume seems to be more of a focus than having a structure that really attempts to accomplish much. It’s as if they just dying to get at the instruments strap them on and then turn the volume all the way up. Yet after that last step they hadn’t really considered what to do next and there’s a lot of standing around just trying to hide behind a wall of loud, basic and ultimately predictable music. The best part about this band is undeniably the vocals of Christine Maynard as she possesses a strong set of lungs and a fair degree of presence. Although there are a few points where she comes across as trying a bit too hard, but that could be that much of the responsibility of creating any momentum has fallen on her shoulders. Level C has put forth an album that does very little that you have never heard before and not enough to make you want to hear it again.

http://www.myspace.com/levelc

Lesser of two evils

It's been a while since I pitted clunkers by two normally good bands so up this time is...

Megadeth-So far, so good, so what?

vs.


Metallica-And justice for all


Gasp, Metal Mark how could say that these two bands deserve to be in this column? Well, the short answer to that question is that both these albums were highly disappointing when they came out twenty years ago and neither has aged all that well.
Now for the background on these two albums I think the story would really start in 1986 which of course was when Metallica released Master of Puppets and Megadeth released Peace sells. Both were fine albums, both elevated the bands to higher levels and many fans were thinking that these were going to be two of the real leaders in metal's future. Metallica had to endure the loss of bass player Cliff Burton before the end of 1986. They brought in Jason Newsted from Flotsam and Jetsam to take the spot. They finished the Master of puppets tour and then put out their punk and metal cover album the $5.98 EP in 1987. By early summer 1988 their highly anticipated follow-up to Master was soon to be ready, the band hit the concert trail on Van Halen's Monsters of rock and the new album was going to come out in early fall. Megadeth's Peace sells sold well after it's release in 1985 and the band toured into 1987. The band hit some problems as both guitarist Chris Poland and drummer Gar Samuelson were out and Megadeth's former drum roadie Chuck Behler and guitarist Jeff Young were brought in to replace then. The band was back in the studio and the new album emerged early in 1988. Both bands had line-up changes before these releases, but expectations were still high and that's why it was so hard to stomach the underwhelming albums that both bands put out. Metallica's album was a big, lumbering concoction with a definite lack of heaviness and edge. Megadeth had established a definite style on their first two releases yet their third album was all over the place with some heavy songs, but also some contained some head scratchers as well. Let's get into the categories and see who is going to take this one. Just a reminder that in a Lesser of two evils featuring veteren bands that the Originality/production category is replaced by the Disappointment factor category.



Vocalist-So it's James Hetfield against Dave Mustaine in this round. If Hetfield's vocals are off from previous albums it's largely because of the change in musical direction. I think he tries to sound like he means business, but it doesn't take on this album. You can grind your teeth and try to sound like you mean it yet it rings a bit hollow on several songs here. Mustaine perhaps had a more unique style and sounded even better on Peace sells than he did on the debut. However he's far more uneven this time around. He sounds strong at times, but then mutters and comes across as more subdued at other times. Tough match-up, but I think ultimately Mustaine varies his style enough to pull this one out.

Point to Megadeth

Guitarist-So it's the duo of Hammet and Hetfield for Metallica going up against Mustaine and Young for Megadeth. For Metallica, the guitar style is similar to previous albums although slowed down. It's still heavy, but not as heavy as it should have been. Some of the solos hit and some are sloppy. While I normally think that Dave Mustaine is incredible, he was hot and cold this time around. Jeff Young is alright and perhaps gets treated a little unfairly because his one album wasn't one of Megadeth's best. The best guitar parts by the Megadeth duo are either very basic slightly watered down takes on the style that the band was so good at on the previous albums. Close but...

Point to Metallica


Rhythm section-Let me first say that I think Jason Newsted did great work on Flotsam and Jetsam's "Doomsday for the deceiver". Yet for some reason on this album the bass cannot be heard and although that is the fault of the producer it will hinder Metallica in this category. Dave Ellefson is an underated bass player and even though this album was not his best, he still does well enough. Lars Ulrich fares better than Newsted and probably beats Chuck Behler who was maybe the most ordinary drummer to ever sit behind Megadeth's kit. Still I can't get past not hearing the bass.

Point to Megadeth

Disappointment Factor-This is a tough one because both albums were very disappointing. However I think this category ties in with the one below. Master of puppets was a better album than Peace sells, but I wasn't thrilled by the $5.98 EP. Still Metallica had moments on this album that worked, but they went over far too often by trying to create some epic and it turned out dull. Megadeth had problems just figuring out where to start on several songs. Ultimately I can still today take AJFA a little more and I still shake my head more whenever I think about SFSGSW.

Point to Metallica

Who rocks more-Perhaps "who bores the bejeezus out me less" would be a more appropriate title in this case. I think the biggest problem with Metallica on this album is that they go on for too long, but the biggest problem with Megadeth is that there are too many tracks where they just never do much at all. So before I get as long winded as a Metallica song, I will say that they do a better job of having some rock parts here. No, they don't follow-up on them as well as they should have, but they are doing more than Megadeth.

Point to Metallica


So Metallica pulls it out in this battle of the albums that should not have been. I still often refer to Metallica's album as "An injustice for us all" and Megadeth's release could easily be summed up if they left off the beginning and middle of the title and just called it "Megadeth-So what?"

D.OA.-Northern Avenger

Sudden Death
2008

D.O.A. has released their 12th studio album just in time for their 30th anniversary. Thirty? Wow, can that really be true? I guess so, hard to believe though as I remember first hearing and becoming a fan of theirs back in the 80’s and they seemed kind of like a newer band at the time. Founder/vocalist/guitarist Joey Keithley has always been the real deal in my book, he has kept true to the punk rock sound, lyrics and spirit that he had three decades ago when this band began. Not a lot of surprises on the new album as the lyrics include both political and humorous leanings. The music has quite a few barnstormers and a few where they take their time as well. Okay the playing is tighter as years ago they wouldn’t have been able to change up the pace as easily as they do now. Also Northern Avenger was produced by Bob Rock (Metallica, Motley Crue) as he does a fine job of bringing to sound to the forefront with losing any of the natural edge. D.O.A. has always had a knack for bringing out the rock in punk rock yet they have always kept focused and grounded about delivering the kind of lyrics and feel that they want to bring to the label. Punk rock as it once twenty-twenty five years has changed and now you get a lot of variations and some are fine, but others are more watered down. So it’s great, even refreshing to hear a band sticking to their roots and putting a strong rooted, heavy punk rock album.

Clash of the album covers

Here are your choices.





Running Wild-Black Hand Inn






Grave Digger-Excalibur



***Which cover do you prefer?

Uli Jon Roth-Under a dark sky

SPV
2008

As I scanned the back of the CD case before listening to this disc my eyes took in the listing of ten tracks and then one of those was broken down into three chapters and the final track was broken down in no less than a dozen chapters or parts. Suddenly I felt like I did back in college when my professor plopped down copies of Moby Dick on every one’s desk and informed us that we had four days to read it and write a ten page paper. Yes, I was expecting to be a bit overwhelmed by this album just due to the number of tracks and the number of musicians contributing as well. I am most familiar with Roth for his time with the Scorpions back in the 1970’s, but now he plays a rather neo-classical style. There are a number of people contributing to this album including vocals from Mark Boals, currently of Royal Hunt, and Liz Vandall, ex Sahara. Roth plays all guitars, bass and keyboards on his creation. I am sure that the attention here was to build moods and no doubt there are some definite ideas behind this release. Listening to this album would be kind of like doing a long dot to dot puzzle but finding out in the end that it doesn’t really form a picture. The vocals and orchestral and choir parts do a great deal of floating and wandering around yet they never quite contribute enough to really construct anything very definite to latch on to. Much of this album just swirls about with sounds coming and going although it’s very light and spacey at times with far more fog than substance. At times I wasn’t sure if I was listening to many songs or just one long, giant track that was going to meander on forever. Now Uli Jon Roth does tip in with some guitar passages of course and some are quite stunning because he far more about tones and feeling than about flash and dash. Yet the length and format of this album sets it up to be a huge creation and what’s really inside is a lot fluff and go around with only a few assorted moments that really accomplish much. I can appreciate having grand ideas, but you should only do so if you plan or seeing through the entire project and to me this album just a bit too thin and long-winded for my liking.

Interview with The Exalted Piledriver

Piledriver (now the Exalted Piledriver) have an interesting and somewhat unusual background story. They released two albums back in the mid-1980's and then Piledriver moved on to other things. However a few years ago he got a band together again and now they set to release another album this fall.


MM-I am sure that many of have heard the story, but can you please briefly tell us a little about how this band and “Metal Inquisition” and “Stay Ugly” came to be.
PD-In the early summer of 1984 I was asked by a former band mate, Leslie Howe, if I would like to do some metal vocals for a recording project called Piledriver that he was producing. I was told that Metal Inquisition was going to be an album that would be released worldwide, but that there would be no band... it was just a recording project designed to capitalize on the burgeoning thrash-metal movement. While I wondered a little bit about the ethics, the simple fact that my voice would be heard on an actual album that would be available in actual stores worldwide won out quite easily. I was 23 years old and anxious to get my career going full guns. Unfortunately for Leslie and me, the Record Weasel who put it together decided that he didn't want to put any money into it, keeping us under the impression that sales were not good due to piracy, etc., and keeping all the money for himself. He was even ripping the fans off by taking their t-shirt money and not sending any t-shirts, a problem that still pokes its head up to me to this day. Thank the record Weasel, folks! I had nothing to do with it!!! He then expertly sweet-talked me into doing it two more times, for the Convict- Go Ahead Make My Day and Piledriver- Stay Ugly albums. I thought he was telling me the truth when he told me he would make me a star. Yeah. I became famous for being a fake-band singer and famous for being ripped off by a Record Weasel more than any other artist since the 50's!!! It's been a long hard battle beating down these labels.

MM-I think I first heard the song “Metal Inquisition” on the radio in 1985. When were you told that the first album was getting some notice?
PD-I knew it was getting noticed that very year because of all the interviews I was doing for it, all the magazines with full articles and even cover shots and center spreads. And all the stores stocking it. And all the metal radio shows playing it. The only negative reports were from our lying Record Weasel whose expertly golden tongue kept us from knowing the truth.

MM-How shocked were you?
PD-Um... not shocked at all! I knew it was a benchmark album, and tried my damnedest on my own to put a band together to legitimize it.

MM-Did the band ever do live shows back then or not?
PD-No. I never did get a band together at the time. I would have the bass player and the drummer while we searched for a guitarist. We would find one, work a few months, then lose the drummer to a paying job. Find a drummer, lose a bassist. Find a bassist, lose a guitarist. It was a looooong period of ebbing, flowing, changing, arranging, that sadly, never panned out. At the time, people were quite wary of the over the top bdsm imagery, and the (offensive for that time) lyrics. Back then it was next to impossible finding musicians that could get down with it all... egos prevented them from even thinking of performing in masks and stage-names. Nowadays, musicians seem to get it, that the music and the image are more important than 'look-at-me' self-promotion from within a band.

MM-Who designed that crazy helmet? How many of those things do you own?
PD-During the dinner meeting at the Westin Hotel in Ottawa where I signed my first bullshit contract, the Record Weasel, Leslie Howe and I were discussing what Pile should look like, and I drew him up on a napkin as we chatted. The Record Weasel then went to George at LeatherCraft (now Northbound Leather) in Toronto to make it real. There is only ONE Piledriver outfit, and it's getting trashed. It was never really designed for actual touring use... it was just for photos. It really should be retired, but, it wasn't cheap to create, and I can't afford to make another, yet. Hopefully it will last the cycle of this album and touring, because I really think the fans want to see it, the original outfit. For the next album and tour, we are planning an update of Pile's outfit, to bring him into the current century.

MM-What were some of your favorite tracks off of those two albums and why?
PD-Ok... this is easy! Alien Rape is my favorite off of Metal Inquisition, because I've always been a fan of big, bloated, long-ass power metal songs. I love the sci-fi lyrics, and the variety of riffs n' grooves. The sound effects. The vibe. To me, it's a perfect song. Close second there would be The Piledriver if only for my hilarious accidental burp at the end. On Stay Ugly, I would have to say The Executioner. It's a really fun song to sing, to get all growly n' sickly, then get all aggressive and beastly... really fun to sing! The Fire God is a close second there.

MM-What were you doing after “Stay Ugly”?
PD-I had finally gotten a working version of a band lineup by '87, and I was working on what was supposed to be the third Piledriver album, Shock. During the mixing sessions, the Record Weasel dropped by to see how it was coming along. When I was told that there would be no cash advance (I demanded one, since I hadn't received shit for the first two albums) I told him to leave the studio, that I wasn't going to be ripped off again, that this was no longer a Piledriver album, that the band was now called Dogs With Jobs (a band name I had in my back pocket for years), and that he had "no business being in our session, GET OUT"!. That was it. I had shut down the Piledriver bullshit machine. I then re-wrote and re-recorded 80% of the lyrics to de-Piledriverize it, make it more normal, and shopped it as Dogs With Jobs - Shock. (One of those songs, Road Pigs, has been returned to it's sickly Pileriffic glory, and is on the Manifesto album!) Canadian independent label Fringe Product picked it up, and also released Dogs With Jobs second album Payday. I hear you may still find copies of DWJ albums on e-bay. Not the greatest productions, but, I really love the material. Real from-the-heart-metal.

MM-At what point do you decide to resurrect this band? During the 1990’s were you getting fan mail or anything like that? Did people still know who you were?
PD-These questions actually all tie together. In 1995 I finally got a computer and internet access. I figured out what a search engine was, and for the hell of it typed Piledriver into the search bar... I was shocked!!! Not only were the fans out there, but they were still rabid! Site after site, I was amazed.Once I put up my own website (sofa-q. com) the message came in loud and clear -"Come back Pile, we NEED you!" After a few years of being prodded by the loyalest of the loyal, and at the behest of my dear, departed friend and manager Ray Wallace, I began the process of writing new Piledriver material, resurrecting 2 old unused Pile songs, and assembling a band. Again, it's been a loooong slog of auditions and short tenures, but, Piledriver has finally coalesced into a solid, tight, unbreakable unit. Together now for almost two years, a new record in my band!! And truly, if this lineup doesn't work out, NONE will. There is a trust, love, respect, and bond between the four of us that none of us have ever experienced in a band before. No question, the chemistry is there, and it shows in the music.



MM-Your new album “The Metal Manifesto” is due out soon. Please tell us a little about it and when’s the due date?
PD-The Metal Manifesto is hitting you smack in the face this coming Halloween!!! I think this album fits right in between Inquisition and Ugly, and while mostly old-school and Pile-icious, it's definitely a step forward. Since I only try to please myself when writing, I'm sure that the fans will enjoy it, as it's not extremely different from anything I've ever done, just recorded on more modern gear. I tried this time to get it in-yer-face and tight... Ugly was really loose and noisy, and I wanted to get back to the precision of Metal Inquisition... but with some Ugly dirt tastefully smeared on top. Some fans may be disappointed by the lack of Satanic imagery, oh, well. Unfortunately, in order for me to believe in a Satan, I would have to believe in a God. I believe in neither, so I can't justify singing about them. In fact, there's a song called God You're Stupid II that says everything I need to say on that subject. There's a juggernaut of a fighting song called Battle Axe that I'm dedicating to all the men and women fighting for what's right in the world. There's sex, gore, anger, violence, and my twisted humour that I can't seem to hide no matter how I try to be serious and dark. It's like a 'silliness curse' has been put on me. I blame my exposure to Monty Python at an early age. And, of course, there's a metal-anthem in the title song. We recorded the tracks ourselves to make sure no-one watered us down in the studio, and we strong-armed none other than Neil Kernon to mix it. We're really happy with it, and are sure the fans will be too!



MM-Who else is currently in your band and where did you find them?
PD-In 2005 I headed out to legitimize Piledriver with a band of alcoholics, and that didn't work out too well. In fact, the stresses of trying to be a 'world-class' band with such non-functional people drove me to a nervous breakdown, hospitalization, and me completely quitting the business after a show that April 29th here in Toronto, when the alco-bastards ruined my music worse than they ever had in previous shows. I couldn't go on, I needed the fans to hear Piledriver, not drunken, sloppy, out of tune, barely recognizeable imitations. I felt that I had done everything I could, and that perhaps it just wasn't meant to be. It just wasn't supposed to be that damned hard to pull off. I then poured myself into my day job, determined to put the bullshit of the heartless music business behind me. 2 months later, I got a phone call. It was a guitarist who was answering an old ad I had placed looking for a guitarist half a year earlier. I began to explain all the above, how I was done with it all... by the end of a 4 hour phone call, Kinky Pork Cream had completely turned me around, re-ignited the fire in me, and with his drummer Glace Frothfritter and my bass player Lobo Elf Snort, we set out to be the band that Piledriver was always destined to be! Here we are, two years later, having brought Pile across eastern Canada, the northern States, and into Germany, Italy, and Greece, about to release what I think is our crowning glory! I've never been more happy in a band situation, and I truly cherish the great relationships we all have. I'm sure we'll last for a good, long time. Professionals all, and funny as hell, no addictions either, so it's ALL good!

MM-What should someone who comes to see you live expect?
PD-Well... first off... we're all faaaat bastards!!! That's usually a bit shocking for them... hey, I ain't 23yrs old no mo! I'm a fat, OLD bastard! As such, you won't see us flinging and running ourselves around the stage like we did when we were kids! But... you can expect a tight, dynamic, powerful band! You can expect tons of great old Piledriver favorites! You can expect lots of slammin' new tunes too! Every once in a blue moon, you might get lucky and catch us destroying some crappy cover song fer laffs.

MM-What are some of your favorite shows that you have played in recent years?
PD-One that definitely stands out was our appearance at Keep It True Festival in Lauda-Koenigshofen, Germany. I was EXTREMELY hung over (not used to drinking like Eurofreeks), my voice was shot ragged, but... that crowd sang every word to every song, even the new ones, headbanged like maniacs for our entire set, and truly made us feel accepted. Sheer magic for me. I croaked like a frog, and they didn't pelt me with rocks!!! They actually enjoyed it!!! Another was at Up The Hammers fest in Athens. Definitely the most rabid crowd we've played to outside of Quebec City. Maniacs!!!! It was definitely the hottest damn stage I've ever been on, but, the breeze from the headbangin' freeks in front kept us quite cool and comfy! Manolis has a great lil' fest going there, and we can only dream of being invited back again.Besides the costumes do you have any props or sets that you use on stage?No... no budget yet. I do have lofty dreams, though! If we could tap even a small percentage of them for stage, we'd really have something. For now, I rely on my innate ugliness and disgusting fatness to get me by, ha ha!



MM-Are you hoping to tour much for the new album? If so do you when and where you will be playing?
PD-Indeed! We want to paint the entire planet Piledriver Black!!!! We are starting to get a Summer2009 tour of Europe together, that will hopefully be 10 times as large as our Auf Grosser Fahrt '07 tour, and hopefully take us up into Scandinavia as well. We've not had much luck with American promoters yet, only a few gigs have happened. Hopefully the release of the album will open more doors for us there. Also, we are reaching out to promoters in Japan and Australia.

MM-What do you hope to achieve with your new album?
PD-I hope to please my loyal fans by not straying too far from what I've always done, while sneaking in a bit of modern production and sensibility. And I hope to gain new fans, of course! Numetal kids and wiggers need to hear old-school metal, even if only to educate them, if not influence them.

MM-What kind of music are you currently listening to?
PD-Like I always have, I listen to as much variety as I possibly can. I'm not just a metalhead. I love ALL music if it's done well. It's a shame that many people paint themselves into such stylistically confined corners, like "I only listen to SymphonicDeathThrashTrashMetal, everything else sucks". So sad. I couldn't live on just one style of music. I mean, do you live your life experiencing only one emotion? Music is such an amazingly diversified language, why limit yourself to hearing only 5 words? Sure, I looove hamburgers, but I also often eat club-sandwiches, shish-kebabs, and wonton soup!!! Same with music. So, what's currently in my cd player? My Metal Manifesto, ha ha ha!!! But the disc that was in before it was Spewgore. Before that, Joe Jackson's Symphony #1. Before that, Fight-War Of Words remix/remastered. Before that, Jason Becker. Before that, the Mentors. Before that Delirium Tremens. Before that, Iron Maiden. And no single day could go by without me listening to AT LEAST ONE Frank Zappa piece. I could go on, but... you get the picture... mostly metal, but not all.

MM-Is there anything else that you would like to say about your band or your music?
PD-Naah. I would hope that the album and live shows will tell you what I've not said here. I hope that people will see the honesty in my efforts to bring the Piledriver properly to life for them. It's too funny to me when people say I'm 'cashing in' or 'selling out'... wouldn't one need to be making lotsa money for that to happen... ha! I'm still playing for peanuts and working a day job. I'm still 3,000 dollars in debt from bills from our April'07 tour! If that's selling out, what the fuck??? Also, I think many people are wondering about the name change to The 'Exalted' Piledriver, and why it's changed. Well, in my absence, no less than 4 different bands have usurped my great name, and instead of wasting money fighting them all in courts, I simply plucked Exalted from the lyrics to help delineate me from such lesser bands. What else? Most of all, I need to thank all my loyal fans who have not forsaken me over the decades, and trust that I will give it my all to bring them the Pile-beast they always dreamed he could be, until I die onstage from my various fat-old-bastard health problems. It should be a fun ride for all of us!!! Will you be there the night Pile croaks??? Hope so!!! Ya wouldn't want to miss THAT!!!

http://www.myspace.com/theexaltedpiledriver

Villain Interview

Villain are an up and coming hard rock act from South Carolina who show a lot of promise. I recently got to check in with them and learn more. So after reading the interview make sure that you hop over to their Myspace page and check out their tunes.

Hello, please introduce the members of your band.

We got Robert Falsetti on vocals, Wes Brown on drums, Justin Stenji on bass, and Eric Perry on guitar .



Tell us a little about the history of your band.

Been playing for about a year and a half and just got Falsetti on vocals since about late April.



What are you currently working on?

Recording 3 new songs, 2 of which still need to be written and one is a ballad, the other is the title track for our debut album "Sleaze on the Roxx"



Who are your musical influences?

We all like different music but yet we still enjoy the same things. Eric: is influenced by Randy Rhoads, and glam metal. Justin: dudes that look like chicks. Wes: early Ozzy, Black Sabbath, rush, and motley crue. Falsetti: everything from Aerosmith to ZZTop, to Nickelback, Motley Crue and Incubus and Crossfade.



What is your band doing that’s going to get you noticed?

We dont give a fuck what anyone thinks we just go out and kick ass.

Have you had any interest from any record labels yet?

Yes we've had people check us out.

How important is it to you to get signed at this point?

It's a plus, but were doing this cause we love it. Nothing else counts to us. music is all we do and girls.



Would you ever consider doing a self-released album if you didn’t get signed?

Thats what we're working on now, Motley Crue created Leathur records and released "Too Fast For Love" on their own label, then Elektra bought it out and we're gonna do the same thing if we have to.



What are some of your songs about?

Sex drugs and rock n roll.



Where do you get the ideas for your songs?

From personal expirience.



Who have you opened for?

The Cute Leppers, Sick sick sick, The Scurvies, Examing Emma.

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

Probably our first show because we got alot of positive feedback, we were talked about on the radio, and the first show at New Brookland Tavern with Falsetti.



What should someone who comes to see you live expect?

Expect the unexpected. You're not going to think your going to see a great band in a shithole club, but then you hear us.

Where do you hope to be three years from now? On tour.

If you could only listen to three albums over the next month then what would you pick and why? Falsetti: "The Long Road" Nickelback, "Make Yourself" Incubus, and our own cd because they are my fav. albums
Justin: Diary of a madman, Appetite for destruction and Rest in sleaze.
Wes: Ozzy's tribute, Rez, Push it by Salt and Peppa
Eric: Blizzard of oz, Diary of a madman, Red white and crue.

What do you think about the current hard rock/metal scene in general these days? Is it improving or not? Why?
Its getting worse but in Sweden its getting better.

Pick the band from each of the following pairs that you prefer and tell why.
Bang Tango or LA Guns:
Which LA guns?
Ratt or Twisted Sister:
Ratt
Motley Crue or Guns and Roses:
Thats a fuckin hard one!
KISS or Ozzy: Ozzy for sure, but KISS for a show.

Is there anything else that you would like to say about your band?
We're bringing back Sunset blvd in the 80's.

http://www.myspace.com/villainrules

Boneshaker-s/t

self-produced

Not to be confused with Wisconsin based metal trio Bone Shaker, this particular band hails from France and play a rather straight, bare knuckle style of hard rock. The first thing I noticed here was of course how much the vocals sound like Bon Scott. Although AC/DC may be an influence on the music as well, I think they do an admirable job of establishing their own style despite the obvious vocal similarities to Bon Scott. The music is wired up and often fairly fast as they play like they have something to prove and a fire in their bellies. On their four original tracks they don't often give you much time to think as they kick in the doors and just stomp forward. It's heavy, it rocks and they know how to take charge of the pace and keep everything bouncing and grooving along with enough twists to keep it sounding fresh. This is a slightly odd album in that it has four originals and then three AC/DC covers, naturally all from the Bon Scott era. So they tackle "High Voltage", "Sin City" and "Shot down in flames" as their trio of choice. Their versions are faithful to the originals and good enough, but I didn't get a sense that they put enough of themselves into these songs. That's kind of a shame because the four studio tracks did enough to show me that they had their own sound, but they didn't apply it much to the cover versions and doing a different take on a cover is what to me makes it worth doing. Still a very decent album as they rattled out some strong hard rock with a real sense of confidence and a great deal of grit.

http://www.myspace.com/boneshaker64

Crash Kelly-One more heart attack

Warrior
2008

When I look at this album cover my mind immediately recalls the front of Alice Cooper's classic "Schools Out". Well these guys don't sound like Alice Cooper yet vocalist/guitarist Sean Kelly's band wear some other 70's hard rock influences on their sleeves. I easily hear some Thin Lizzy, KISS, Cheap Trick and others yet rather than go for a straight retro sound these influences are occasionally mixed with 80's hard rock as well. Unfortunately instead of being a smooth, even blend it's more of a collision as the two styles don't quite mix well enough. I certainly think that Kelly has a fine voice with a decent range, but too many songs tend to be far too polished. They show some hints of shooting for hard rock grooves yet too often the case tends to be that everything gets coated in a big sugary shell that smooths down any edges that may have existed. Pop hooks are one thing, but I get the impression that part of this act wants to be hard rock and the other wants to accessible pop rock and the end result isn't really enough to appease fans of either style. The talent is evident here and they even get some guest help from the likes of former G-n-R guitar slinger Gilby Clarke and former Whitesnake/Quiet Riot bass player Rudy Sarzo, but the direction seems a little confused to the end result is really just a somewhat bland sounding album.

Megadeth-Set the world afire

Capitol
2008

Megadeth certainly seem set on keeping their name out there what with having released a studio album, a boxed set, a live CD, a live DVD and now this anthology all in about a two year time frame. This two CD set has 35 tracks spanning much of Megadeth's long and varied career. I got into Megadeth in 1986 when "Peace sells" was released and immediately became a fan. I was drawn in by Mustaine's unique vocals and the finger bending riffs, they were different from other thrash bands of the time. My favorite albums are "Rust in peace", "Peace sells" and "Killing is my business" because those were the albums where they showed their edge and bared their teeth a lot more. Those were the albums where Megadeth were at their best at creating these winding, slightly offbeat tracks. "Countdown to extinction" in 1992 was a good album, but it most certainly spelled the beginning of Megadeth's attempt to establish a more mainstream metal sound. Then the next decade saw them issue a series of albums that had them slowing down and settling into more basic material. The first disc in this set does have mainly earlier material starting with "Mechanix" from Killing is my business and ending with a previously unreleased demo version of "High speed dirt", the final version of that song would of course end up on "Countdown to extinction". We get a lot of their signature tracks like "Wake up dead" and "Hanger 18", but no real surprises. Disc 2 picks up on more "Countdown" material beginning with "Skin o' my teeth" and continues into some of their later material with again not a great deal of surprises. The final two tracks on the last disc are live versions of "Symphony of destruction" and "Peace sells" both recorded at the Cow Palace in 1992 and this version of "Symphony" was previously unreleased in the U.S. Okay, this is a decent package, but I can't help but wonder why there are only three songs from "Peace sells" included yet the far more uneven "So far, so good, so what?" gets four tracks and the fantastic "Hook in mouth" isn't one of the four. The biggest question here is why they felt the need to release this collection when the huge majority of the material was included on the "War Chest" boxed set from 2007? Actually the single disc "Greatest Hits" from 2005 also includes much of the same material as this set although "Set the world afire" of course has more. Releasing multiple best of, greatest hits and anthology type albums in a relatively short amount of time is something that seems to occur more and more in recent years. Still if you don't already own all of these studio albums or the boxed set then it may be something that you want to track down.

What's coming up?

I was watching Back to school with Rodney Dangerfield the other day, a fine movie for sure. I got it for $5 at the Wal-mart bargain bin. I had never actually seen the whole thing before. This was one of those movies that seemed to be on tv a lot in the 1990's and I would always turn it on like halfway into it. My daughter lost her first tooth this week, the weather has been nice and we are just trying to keep everything going. This upcoming week I hope to have out...

Interviews with...
Villain
Piledriver
Boneshaker

Reviews of...
Boneshaker-s/t
D.O.A.-Northern Avenger
Uli Jon Roth-Under a dark sky
Crash Kelly-One more heart attack
Level C-s/t
Megadeth-Anthology: Set the world afire

and

if I can get to it I'll do a lesser of two evils featuring two well known metal acts.

Have a great week!

Top three

I think at some point I did top 25 lists for hard rock/metal vocalists and drummers, but never got to bass players and guitarists. For now I just give you my top three for each instrument.

Vocalists
1-Rob Halford-Easy pick, the range and the power for such a long time.
2-Ronnie Jame Dio-Amazing and highly consistent over the course of a very long career plus he has been golden with every band that he has been with.
3-Bruce Dickinson-Incredible voice, he had added another dimension to Maiden when he joined.

Guitarists
1-Hendrix-He did more in his first album than other top guys have done in twenty years of work. Plus it all just seemed to come so easy for him
2-Tony Iommi-He didn't just play heavy, he created and defined heavy metal guitar.
3-Adrian Smith/Dave Murray-Yes, they go as a pair. Incredible players who just seem to be pulling out a nearly endless supply of riffs

Bass players
1-Steve Harris-No doubt on this one. He has those fingers flying and he doesn't even look at them. Fantastic.
2-Geddy Lee-Just interesting bass parts right from the start of their career and then he just got better.
3-Geezer Butler-Killer sound, just bending those parts and like Iommi he knew that the tone was more important than the speed.

Drummers
1-Neil Peart-Just all over the place and he adjusted his style to suit the many sound changes of Rush and he still sounded no matter what he was playing.
2-John Bonham-Superb rhythm and style and he grew as a player as well.
3-Bill Ward- The most underrated member of Sabbath. On those early albums he was destroying those drums, a big heavy hitter who along with Butler really laid
down that heavy backbone for Sabbath's prime albums.

Keyboards?
Well, Jon Lord is undoubtedly the best organ/keyboard player in hard rock/metal, he was just everywhere and really added such depth to those classic Deep Purple albums. Other than him I can't think of a whole lot of keyboard players who were that outstanding. Some of the guys for Uriah Heep had some moments and Tony Carey was fantastic on Rainbow's Rising, but not a lot of lot people who really stand out that much.

There you go.

Todd Rundgren-Arena

MPCA
2008

The career of Todd Rundgren has certainly had some highs and lows creatively with the majority of the highs having occurred some time ago. On this his 19th studio album he said it would be a return to “riff-oriented guitar rock” and that’s sort of true. This is generally a rock album, but it’s a moderately wide range of styles and results. We get some 1980’s style pop-oriented rock, some hard rock and some songs that surprisingly even flirt with being metal if you can imagine that. I am all for changing the pace and mixing things up, but the overall feel of this album is a bit awkward. More than anything the success of each song seems to depend a lot on how comfortable Rundgren sounds. Quite honestly it’s the heavier tracks that ultimately suffer here as saying the vocals sound “forced’ on most of the heavier tracks is a vast understatement. Many of the lighter tracks are perhaps rather safe, but the vocals compliment the music to a far greater extent. I had just about written this off as a mediocre album at best, but then the final three tracks “Mountaintop”, “Panic” and “Manup” all show a sense of purpose and control that was lacking on the previous 10 tracks. It’s still a rather average album as a whole, but those last tracks are certainly worth checking out.

Wrench in the works-Lost art of heaping coal

Facedown
2008


The fact that this release is on Facedown records plus the band name and cover lead me to know that this was going to either metalcore or hardcore with some metal elements pushed in. Wrench in the works actually lean more towards that second style with a fairly aggressive hardcore approach as the primary sound. It’s certainly not bad at all, but it’s all too typical for the most part. The vocals growl and go along with some aggression, but nothing really stands out. It’s a bit like instant coffee, it looks and sort of tastes like coffee yet it doesn’t quite have enough bite or strength to really satisfy. The most original part of the music is the occasional swirling guitar passages that come and go rather quickly. At first these parts provide some promise because it’s the most original aspect of this band’s music. Yet these passages are a little too low in the mix and fly out of the picture like a shooting star and we never get enough time to really absorb them. That’s a shame because that was an angle that could have helped this album. As it stands it’s slightly above average as a whole, but not all that distinct or original.

Interview with Jim Warmon of Witch

Witch were very much a part of the 1980's LA scene. They played many of the big clubs with a lot of the top bands of the day. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing bass player Jim Warmon to find out about their past and the possible future of this band.

MM-Hello, what are you currently up to?

JW-Well me and Punk have been working on a couple of projects. Witch and Punching the Clown.PTC is basically an offshoot of Witch, It’s the music we both love performing, basically hard driven backbeats with a melodic vocal…..Anthem rock comes to mind. As far as Witch goes it’s a labor of love to reunite with these great musicians and to re-visit the material. We (Witch) got together over the Labor day weekend to begin re-hashing the material. It took about 4 tunes to shake off the cobwebs and by the second day of rehearsal the band sounded better than ever! It looks like we’re gonna be doing a Halloween special at Elsinor stadium, then the plan is to head off to Germany for a series of festivals……everyone’s very excited and looking forward to getting back out on the road. BTW…..the Punching the Clown stuff is available for free downloads off either the Myspace Punching the Clown icon on my page or off the www.witchtheband sight under the records and CD’s tab. Take a listen…..I’d love to know what you think!

MM-Now you are originally from Minnesota. When did you move to LA? Did you move with a band to make it or did you go out hoping to find a band to join?

JW-Actually I hail from Boston, Home of Tom Brady and the greatest team ever assembled the “New England Patriots” I came out cause I was hearing about this band called Crue and the buzz they were generating in LA. This was/is exactly the kind of band I wanted to be part of.

MM-What bands were you in before Witch? Were they all hard rock or metal bands?

JW-I started out getting my feet wet with a band called Messenger. Great studio band but they had no desire to play out live, sooo the writing was on the wall for those guys as I couldn’t hang with that for long. Then I jumped into a group called Jekel n Hyde….Good band more along the metal lines I was looking for and they gigged their balls off……But I was still looking for “:THAT BAND” My Band….ya know? For some reason I ended up with all the chicks in that band and it started causing a few problems when band mates girlfriends started calling me in the middle of the night ya know? ….Just for the record….I never fucked any of my band mates chicks….that was until I got in Witch that is….then all bets were off! (Witches Bitches were model quality and who the hell could say no to that?)

MM-Now I believe you were offered the job in Witch before they started playing shows and you turned it down. Why?

JW-Yeah, that’s true. I actually hold the record for the dumbest bullshit ever pulled by anyone ….well I think me n Vince Neal are tied for that mistake! I had just joined Hyde and was pretty comfortable with their playing when Pete the singer from this brand new group walks in like he owns the place and hands me a note. (I thought it was weird cause I kept seeing him in the front row at all the Hyde gigs before this happened) I guess he was scouting me for the new group. Anyway he hands me this note in front of my band so I had no choice but to read it……it was something like, fuck this loser shit come jam with me n Punk in Witch! I turned it down and Pete told me I had just made the worst mistake of my life……he was right!! The reason I turned it down was I had actually jammed with Pete in Messenger for a little while and the guy was a total flake, So I thought yeah right, this guy again huh? But it turns out he just wasn’t into Messenger at all and in retrospect I can’t blame him…..we were both looking for that “Special” something that can’t be defined…..It’s either magic or not.

MM-So then you accepted the second time they offered the job right? Why did you accept that time and is there a story that goes with it?

JW-Oh Yeah, Well just for yuk’s I went to Witches opening debut……it was like Ozzy meets Motley!! And I shit right then and there …I shit! Oh my God I have turned down the biggest best band I have ever seen……I was bummed to say the least. But then I began hearing rumors that the band wasn’t getting along with their second choice…..Hmm….maybe all is not lost. I was getting phone calls from their manager Johhny Schultz owner booker of the Woodstock (a freaking great club in Anahiem that really should get credit for starting all this great music that began coming out of the O.C. Johhny was like ….they hate this guy man…..they want him out of the band ASAP…..So with Johhny’s insistance I was re-offered the gig……Punk drove up to my place, I hopped in his van and off to Hollywood we went. I had 3 days to learn the entire set and choreograghy and then play a sold out Troubador gig. Life got good baby, real good!

MM-What were your thoughts when you were you first joined them? Were they different from other bands that you had been in? If so then how?

JW-My thoughts were there is a God! It’s very, very hard to describe a band that has “that magic” something……you basically have it or you don’t…Witch had it period”! There were no rules to this thing called Witch….it was a hundred miles an hour 24/7….literally all the whores, guns, fire trucks and narcotics you could ever want. Again….life was good brotha!The thing with Witch is….these guys were for real…..a perfect example was at a Witch gig, we would wonder over to Rikk Fox’s dressing room (he was in Sin at the time) and they were sitting around cutting out buttons and making promo stuff like it was family night or something…..then you go over to our dressing room and the place LITERALLY WAS ON FIRE!!!! No shit….I don’t know how we never burned a place to the ground cause we set just about everything on fire…..I think Great White (A band I have always loved, Great guys to!) got a really bad bad shake out of that whole Rhoad Island club fire thing…..hell they weren’t even known for using fire…..whereas we had the fuckin fire department following us around from gig to gig! God I love Jack Russel's voice and Mark's guitar playing always reminded me of George Harrison….Great Band! Again guns, whore’s and fire trucks man…..it was fuckin crazy!

MM-How fast were things going like during your first year in Witch?

JW-I’ve been asked this before honestly the best answer I got is: Imagine being loaded into a gun and fired into the air…..that’s what Witch was like! From being the featured band in feature films, to centerfold Hustler shoots and anything and everything in between…..giging our asses off, constantly on the road, constantly in the studio……the old cliché of sex drugs and rock n roll desribes it perfectly…..Hanging out with Crue, Ratt, Wasp, Van Halen….Jesus it was nice!

MM-So by like Spring of 1984, you guys were getting some notice. Slayer and Lizzy Borden opened for you at one point. What were your thoughts around that time?

JW-Slayer was always pissed that they were never the headliners at all the gigs we did together, We did the culver auditorim gig with them opening and we had to be separated in order to reduce the backstage fist fights. The thing is …it was based on record sales and we were out selling the shit outta them at that point. (interesting point to note: I talked with Axel Rose at a party a while after the Appetite for Destruction album came out and he told me that he was at the Culver show….working security!!) I remember Slayer was gigging at a club about 300 yards away from us and they were all over the radio saying shit like…"There’s gonna be a Witch burning tonight”……turned out we out drew them 3 to 1 that night…..I remember a Wolf and Rissmiller Country Club gig where we had Poison and Stryer opening….if ya know the country club the stage is about 10 feet up in the air….So Poison opens the night by Brett walking straight out and off the front of the stage BAMM!!!!LOL!!! They carried him out on a stretcher with a broken collar bone!......Ya gotta remember “The Hex is On” was outselling Kiss and Dio in Japan at the time (granted it was Kiss’s Elder days so I’m not sure how impressive that was) but it was nice to know that as I am a lifetime KISS Aholic!!

MM-Why did you guys not get signed back then?

JW-Man good question and it’s gonna take a little splainin Lucy! First of all we were offer’d a deal with “Combat” Metallicas first label but out management company (who it turns out needed us wayyyy more than we needed them) would not allow it. So we talked with Brian over at Metal Blade…very cool deal. Brian offered us everything including the kitchen sink! We closed a verbal deal with Brian and gave him our word that we would sign with him. Again Tapesty Artist’s (our management would not allow it) They had us by the balls with their F’n contact that we all regretted signing! They were holding out for a deal they had in the works with Capitol that never materialized. So we had to walk away from Brian…a move we regret to this day! Brian didn’t get what the hell the problem was and has put a ton of resources into signing his new band Witch……I think Brian is still mad to this day! Guess what…..So are we!!! Later our management company were shot dead by a guy who went crazy on them……to be honest, my first thoughts were….Wow, somebody beat me to it!!@We fired the management company as soon as the contract expired by refusing to renu with them but the damage was done! Same kinda thing happened with Atlantic, Epic….and everyoine in between……it’s takin' me years to get over all that shit…..man, fucking paper pushers running the careers of artists is just inherently bad for the art itself……you have to realize these manager bastards are out to line their own pockets……nothing more!

MM-Why did you break up in 1985?

JW-Had no choice, Punk was in trouble with the law and was going to jail and contractually we couldn’t perform without him. Yet the band had several commitments to complete….so he had to be let go…..something none of us wanted to do but there was no other option for the band at the time.

MM-The band reformed and added two guitarists in 1986. Do you think that version of Witch was as strong as the previous version? Why or why not?

JW-The 2nd run of the band was technically much better than the first. It had a great energy but you never forget your first love, that being the first and original lineup that took the bull by the balls and ran with it! Also ….and this was a biggy for me, the material started to get softer with the 2nd lineup…..fuck that!

MM-Were things as crazy with the late 80’s version of Witch as they were in say 1983-85? Why or why not?

JW-Yeah the crazy aspects were always there, but again nothing can top your first time thru!The guitar players were kinda like the guys in Sin that I mentioned earlier…..a little girly for my tastes but the deal vreaker was when they guitarists submitted a song called LOVE LOVE LOVE? They were quickly replaced. (David Ezrin son of Bob) was brought in at that time and pretty much had the same results…..David just lacked the killer instinct to survive in Witch. So it was back to Ronny on guitar (who was currently jamming in Max Havoc) and all was well with the world again.

MM-What were you doing that was getting you noticed in what was a very competitive scene?JW-What set Witch apart from the crowd was the fact that this wasn’t an act….these guys were the real deal…..that turned out to be a DBL edged sword cause a lot of the labels were afraid to sign the group cause they didn’t wanna be responsible for someone dieing out there on the raod……we basically frighten’d them. We had Crue old stage setup (they gave us their gear when they signed with Elecktra). Our look was freaking unreal combined with the heavy music we were dubbed the world first Death Metal Glam Band…..fire/fog….again it was more magic than any other single thing…..again and I can’t say this enough…..you either got it or you don’t….Witch had it!

MM-You guys used some pyro on stage quite often. Who got caught on fire? Didn’t a ceiling once catch fire as well?

JW-Every member of the band went up at one time or another…everyione except Pete! (lucky bastard) I remember one gig….Ozzy had just given Ronny 2 new outfits to wear…..custom leather shit…..really nice….really expensive…Ron missed rehearsal the night before the show and Punk was so pissed he changed the fire ques with the road crew……needless to say Ronny was standing directly over one of the pots when it went off on que….(the new que)He completely went up in flames…..the guy was hurt bad…..his outfit was burned almost completely off his entire body…..anyone else I know would have gone straight to the emergency room….but Ronny just had his tech wrap a towel around him to cover up his exposed everything and he completed the show….(note: he went up during the first tune and finished the entire set before going to the emergency room for treatment). You gotta understand Witch was tough man, these were dangerous guys and people got hurt…..mostly US!!!! We did the Stardust ballroom and got sued by them for using fire, the stage mamager for the club was on top of us all day screaming and threatening us that if we use any fire they’d pull the plug and we’d never play there again…….We assured her that we were not like that and would never dream of using fire! The crew didn’t like this to much so they DBL’d the pyro explosions…….there we are, the band just starts playing when the first blast goes oiff…….BAM!!!!The flames reached about 30 feet into the air catching the stage curtains and riser on fire….the blast was so powerful that the can the blast was loaded into shot off the stage right past me and tagged the clubs stage manager in the chest blowing her off the stage and down a flight of stairs where she lay for quite some time……can you say “Law Suit”?

MM-What are some of your most memorable shows with Witch?

JW-Honestly, All of them….every last one. Fucking insanity in a bottle baby! New Years with Great White, Roxy with Mallice, Troub with WASP…..there’s a freaking book to every F’n one of them man….that’s actually why "The hex is on" was released on OTT Records….over the top…..way over the top.

MM-Is there anything that you wish that you had done differently in your music career?

JW-YES!!! Truly and honestly I wish we had the balls and the experience to fire the fuck out of our management company when they told us not to sign with Metal Blade……Tapestry Artists along with some broad name Jennifer should have been sent to the curb as the incompetent hacks they were….I truly believe that had we honored our commitment to Metal Blade and Brian Slagel…..we’d still be with them to this day…….But as I said earlier …some crazed gunman got even for us!

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

Quiet Riot or Twisted Sister

Quiet Riot they freaking rocked with Randy and I had know them well before they broke in LA. Twisted was nothing more than a carnival of guys that were typical of bands of the day……they were all image and no substance…..again see earlier reference to Sin…

Guns and Roses or Poison

I admired Poison for what they were able to pull off…..Me n CC used to exchange earings we stole off of bitches we’d fuck’dBut my hats off to Axl and Guns cause when they were faced with the same shitty management bufllshit he straightend them right to fuck out by saying fuck you were signing with Geffen period…..if he had allowed the standard shopping around bullshit that happened to us they may never have done anything. Plus they fuckin rock yo!

Ratt or WASP

Love both bands…..know them both well but I must say WASP was thee best metal band I have ever heard period!@ Witch was never humbled by any other band and had even less respect for all the pussies out there at the time but WASP was one group that delivered….they were for real! Best vocals in the world award goes to Blackie, Ronnie James and Peter….The 3 best singers I’ve ever heard in my life!!

KISS or Motley Crue

Kiss, hands down……Crue to me never really delivered….the guitar playing was weak as was the vocals…..Tommy and Nikki were of the killer variety but of all the bands that broke….why Crue? I don’t get it.

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

JW-Just that it’s been a pleasure to get a few things straight out there. There’s been a lot of print that gets some of it right but mostly not. As I said earlier I’m in the writing stage for the next PTC disc and am hoping to submit it to Metal Blade and a host of others to see if we can get a new disc out in the not to distant future. Old School records founder King Fowley has already offered to release it or the next Witch disc that we’ll be entering the studio to record in early December…So just remember“THE HEX IS STILL ON” BRUDDA

http://www.myspace.com/jimwarmon

http://www.myspace.com/witchtheband

Toxic-Fear

Rocksector
2008

These guys hail from Norway and are not to be confused with 80's New Jersey thrashers Toxik. That first line was all that I really felt comfortable about writing after several days of trying to work something out. That's right, I was sure of that one line and that was about it. I started working on this review days ago, I played it several times and then scrapped what I started writing. I agonized over it, okay maybe that’s an exaggeration because writing reviews is fun and agony is not so I never truly agonized over writing a review. Perhaps I was puzzled, yes that’s a little more accurate but that doesn't totally explain it. I played this CD getting an immediate sense of kind of 90’s metal at first yet I know that wasn’t completely accurate and something was nagging at me to keep listening to this to try and sort things out. The sound here is basic in that the music being played is not exactly complex yet the influences were a trifle more difficult to pin down. After like seven plays I began sweep the smoke away and see what was really going on back there. I think at the heart of many of the songs presented here is a large of chunk of 70’s metal maybe Sabbath for one as a prime influence. Then perhaps even some hints of Bang and Pentagram but more 1980’s Pentagram. I think I was at first lead in one direction by the sharp production, but really once I was able to concentrate the realization came to me that these guys are far more subtle than they at first appear. Okay, maybe I am riding around in circles here, but it’s like they come on with huge bursts and then once in the song they settle into a somewhat different direction that’s far more winding. They also go through definite shifts as the guitar is the focus and then they cut to where your attention is riveted on the vocals and each part just drags you along. The more I listened to this CD the more I realized that they were doing so much and I also became much more appreciative of what they were accomplishing. It's like opening a small present and getting far more than you first imagined. On several occasions Toxic start out like a pounding type of band, but then they turn and become far more of an involved, storytelling kind of band. Both aspects work with each other and they manage to present a strong balance as well. This was a tough nut to crack as far as me trying to interpret all that was happening yet it was certainly worth all the energy and time I spent on it. Now I know what they are doing and with that realization I can continue to reach in and really enjoy the precision and all of the aspects that these guys tied into this one.

http://www.myspace.com/toxicnorway

Defiance interview

Defiance formed in the mid 1980's and were very much a part of the Bay Area thrash scene. They have reformed and I recently spoke with bass player Mike Kaufmann to find out more.



You have a few demo tunes posted on your Myspace. Are you shopping those around? Any label interest so far?

Yes, we had interest from a few different labels and we ended up signing with Candlelight Records in August.


Metal Mind released your box set last year. Now Product of society has come as a single release and I know that Void Terra Firma is set to come out in the Fall. Have you had much say in the re-issues as far as bonus tracks? Have you gotten much response to these re-issues?

We've had an excellent response to the re-issues. In fact, Metal Mind is one of the labels that offered us a contract to do a new album. We also provided them with all the bonus tracks and I personally came up with the concept for the cover of the Insomnia box set.

In the late 1990’s the band name was changed to “Under”. Why the name change and how different was the music at that time compared to the albums you did as Defiance?

Doug Harrington (RIP) and I decided to change the name to Under because the new material sounded nothing like Defiance. It was more of a heavy groove oriented type of band. Our tuning was also very different from Defiance.




You did some demos as “Under”. Did you get any label interest at that time?

Yes, we were ready to sign with Metal Blade Records when the band broke up because of personal and musical differences. I was the main song writer in that band and a couple of the guys wanted to change our style to a "Foo Fighters" alternative rock style of music (Doug Harrington had already left the band to focus on his family and career). This was absolutely not what I wanted to do and I felt it was best to just dissolve the band rather then compromise the kind of music I wanted to play.

How and why did the band come to reform in 2005?

The resurgence of thrash metal along with so many of our fans, old and new, writing to us about doing another album. This caused us to have a meeting in 2005 where we all decided that we wanted to re-group and do another album.

If someone had never heard your music before could only afford to buy one then which one would you recommend?

I would have to recommend Beyond Recognition because it had the best production and the songs were more diverse than any of the other albums. That said, Void Terra Firma was my favorite album that we did.

What were some of the first albums that you really got into?

All of the Black Sabbath albums; Iron Maiden (1st two albums); Merciful Fate - Nuns Have No Fun EP and Don't Break the Oath; Accept - Restless and Wild, Scorpions - Virgin Killer and In Trance...to name a few.

How competitive was the Bay Area thrash scene in the late 1980’s?

It was rough sometimes. We really had to make sure we went to all the local shows to get our name out there. It was easier after we signed with Roadrunner and released our first album.

Was it difficult to get signed in a crowded scene like that?

We were very lucky that our demo fell in to the hands of Monte Conner at Roadrunner Records. We had interest from another label but Roadrunner was pretty much the only one we considered signing with. Monte flew out to meet us and we knew that he really loved our music. I think we just kind of had to wait our turn to get signed. When I think of the Bay Area thrash scene back then I think there was kind of an order in which all the bands got signed:

Metallica
Exodus
Testament
Death Angel
Vio-lence
Forbidden
Defiance
Heathen

I know I'm leaving some out but, to me, there were 7 or 8 thrash bands that made an impact and we're very proud to be one of them.

What are some of your more memorable shows?

The Blood Bath was one of our first shows and it was probably a big reason we got signed. We were pretty much unknown so I decided to promote my own show with Legacy (now Testament) headlining and us taking the support slot. I rented out a hall in Oakland and it was crowded way beyond capacity. Some guy cut him self up and there was blood all over the floor and the stage. To this day, people still ask me about that show.

We also played the very last show at The Stone in San Francisco. It was the only time I know of that all the Bay Area thrash bands played together for one gig.

Another one of my favorites was a show we played with King Diamond at The Omni. We didn't know how the crowd would react since most were there to see The King but we had a great crowd response. It's always great to play with a band that you grew up listening to.

There's so many other memorable shows it's impossible to name them all.

Do you have any regrets in your musical career?

I have no regrets at all when it comes to Defiance. We were and still are like a family. I regret how some of the things worked out in my other band "Under" but you learn from your mistakes. I allowed one member to ruin the band and I should have replaced him when I had the chance.

What kind of music are you listening to these days?

I listen to all kinds of music. I still love old Metallica and Slayer as well as Machine Head. I guess when it come to thrash metal I like most of the Bay Area bands. I also listen to classic rock as well as some of the newer metal.



Pick the band from each of the following pairs that you prefer
Anthrax or Megadeth

Megadeth

Dark Angel or Death Angel

Death Angel Forbidden or Vio-lence

Both of these bands are good friends of ours and I think they're both great. We toured with Vio-lence and got to know them very well. We also played many shows with Forbidden and they're friends of ours too. I think I'll have to say I like them both equally.

Iron Maiden or Judas Priest

Iron Maiden Is there anything else that you like to say about your band of your music?

Yes, our new album will be our best yet and will be dedicated entirely to our late guitar player and best friend Doug Harrington.



http://www.myspace.com/defiancemetal

Overcast-Reborn to kill again

Metal Blade
2008

There are two very interesting aspects about Overcast before the album even starts. The first is that this band actually started out way back to 1991 and the second is that Mike D’Antonio of Killswitch Engage and Brian Fair from Shadows Fall were part of this band. To me that’s interesting because we oftentimes think of metalcore as a very new sound or trend. Yet there were acts cranking out forms of this style back in the 1990’s, it’s just that musical trends were different and many of these acts were embraced as strongly as strongly back then as they have been during our current decade. Metalcore this may be yet it’s immediately obvious than these guys pulled elements of styles that they liked and were capable of playing at a high level. That last part sounds like it should be rather automatic yet too many acts don’t follow that rule. Overcast give a good hard kick in the gut style that pulls in hardcore, death metal, thrash and even some classic metal parts. Perhaps the most important part of this album is that they sound equally comfortable handling the various styles. They also do a fine job of keeping all the gears in motion while still making most of the parts really count. There are a few forgettable moments where they glide rather push, but those moments tend to be brief. So due to the connections of some band members this band got to finally do what they wanted to years ago and they take advantage of the opportunity.

Clash of the album covers

Alright it is...



Cirith Ungol-Frost and fire

vs.

Manowar-Kings of metal




***Which cover do you prefer?

Metallica-Death Magnetic

Warner Brothers
2008

So Metallica return with their first album in over five years and expectations have been raised due to Rick Rubin's involvement plus various promises and predictions that they would go back to a heavier style this time around. Despite their album sales over the last say 17 years there are still plenty those fans yearning for the band to go back to being a metal act once more. So the whole things starts with a heartbeat before launching into the opener "That was just your life". This is a choppy, punchy kind of middle-weight track very much reminiscent of "And justice for all" material although you can hear the bass and it doesn't drag as was the problem with muc of that album. "The end of the line" comes up second and again this offering is also similar to "And justice for all" in style. It's a bit more deliberate and takes some time to build up the momentum yet the structure is tight and they maneuver through it fairly well. "Broken, beat and scarred" sounds a good bit along the lines of the previous two tracks, but with sharper turns and they stretch out their wings a bit more as you can feel the comfort level from them growing a little here. By this point in the album we have heard more metal crunch in these three songs then we have from any Metallica album in some time. "The day that never comes" trickles out slow and light and my first thoughts were "Black Album". However after a few minutes I realized it was actually quite a bit more like "One" in the pace changes yet obviously it wasn't as surprising or interesting although we get a big burst of solos well into the track. Not quite as solid as the previous tracks yet in the long run it does work as a decent change of pace at this point in the album. Then we come as big of a knockout punch as this album delivers in "All nightmare long". It is not only the heaviest song here but also maybe the most original track on this album for what that's worth. While the previous songs all sound directly like something Metallica has already done, this song has them taking the sound they created and running crazy with it. If the album had ended there then we might be talking about a return to form and length-wise they maybe could have stopped as it's about 40 minutes in already. "Cyanide" comes on with a large and simple twisting-riff and although heavy enough it just meanders around way too much and we get the first filler track of the album. Was anyone excited when they heard that "The Unforgiven 3" was going to be included of this disc? I kind of doubt it and although they try had to handle in a way that's respectful and not too gaudy it just comes across as being more than a little pointless. It's okay with a fairly tempered sound yet a sequel song in principle tends to be limited and we get a track that's slightly warmed over at best. "The Judas Kiss" initially starts to pump on with a fairly promising riff although the drums sound a little bland. This song does a lot of restrained rolling around for a few tenuous moments, but at times they shoot out a little and more than anything they keep the fire burning enough to maintain my interest. It's not as strong as the first half of the album because it stays a tad too tied down for me. Still it keeps the ship afloat as the two previous tracks were starting to pull the mood down. "Suicide and redemption" is a swirling instrumental that sounds like a jam that includs parts that could have been used to make the basis for a few songs. The problem is here the parts are just a bit too disjointed for it to really flow. It just seems a bit too much like someone said "hey, we used to do instrumentals so let's do one here, but we'll keep it loose so it won't sound too planned out". It's alright, but on an album this length I think the overall feel of the album would have been better had they saved it for another time. The closer "My apocalypse" is a galloping cruncher that churns and chugs on it's course. The guitar sound here seems a little less heavy than on the earlier tracks for some reason. Still it's a very concise pounding style that succeeds in ending the album on a high note. So a complete return to form it is not. I am still scratching my head as it seems like most of Metallica's career has been about moving ahead and doing what they wanted (that doesn't mean it was always good). Yet now they suddenly feel the need to really borrow from their past on the majority of this album. Do they really care that a number of fans think they should sound like they did in the 1980's? I doubt it yet much of the material here tries to reach back in time and recapture some of those moments. It is a metal album which makes it the first one for them since 1988 and it's actually overall a decent album that might continue to grow on me even more. Still those fans still standing around in their faded "Master of puppets" shirts, wringing their hands and waiting for a total return to form might have to wait even longer, but I wouldn't hold my breath for it.

Switchblade Suicide-s/t

Self-produced
2008

A lot of younger hard rock seem to be very into using the 80's scene as a template and unfortunately in some cases that means concentrating on image more than the music. Fortunately this young band from Worcester Massachusetts obviously spent much more time sharpening their chops than they did picking out their outfits or styling their hair and that's certainly an admirable trait. Since there are only three tracks here I think that it will be easiest to do a track by track breakdown. The opener "Stop your bitchin'" starts out like an AC/DC styled riff, but it stretched out a bit and the emphasis is switched up just enough to make it their own. The vocals are really gritty and actually contain some honest to goodness soul which really help sell this one. "Life fast, die young" reminds me a little of 70's KISS at the start, but it quickly gets way heavier and again we get this stretched out sound that really works. The vocals are strong and the flow is severely tight with all the instruments sounding in and grinding along. The final track "Rock 'n roll" might be the best song on the album. They reach back in time and pull out a riff that sounds like in tumbled right out of the late 1970's yet they quickly step things up a notch and they make the sound their own and never miss a beat. Really this is down and dirty hard rock with a firm attention to detail and I have no doubt these guys could really bring it live. My only complaint is that it's only three songs, I was really hoping for more and it's little to difficult to judge a band by just three songs although I certainly enjoyed the whole CD.


www.myspace.com/myswitchbladesuicide

What's coming up?

So the first week of the NFL season came and went. Tom Brady's season ending injury may very well change the outlook of the AFC. However only a couple of AFC teams played worth a crap last week. The Broncos have to play a real team this weekend although the Chargers are a little banged up. Hurricane season continues, the presidential race is heating up and I guess it's begun to feel a little like Autumn here and there. I am trying to keep up with my kids, work and reviews and what not to the best of my ability. I have begun to figure out my top 25 albums of 2008 so I won't be scurrying to compile it all in December. Of course it will be a work in progress so that if good albums come out here in the final months of the year then I can just insert them into the list and adjust the rest accordingly. Anyways, this week I hope to have these topics out.

Reviews of...
Wrench in the works-Lost art of heaping coal
Todd Rundgren-Arena
Switchblade Suicide-s/t
Metallica-Death Magnetic
Overcast-Reborn to kill again
Toxic-Fear

Interviews with-
Defiance
Villain
Jim Warman of Witch

and possibly a Clash of the album covers

***Stay dry, watch football, listen to metal and enjoy the week!

Interview with Cream Pie

Cream Pie are from Italy, they released an album called "Dirty Job" and they played some dates in the United States back in the Spring. I recently interviewed them to learn more. Everyone in the band chimed on this so they are Rachel O'Neil (voice), Nikki Dick (guitar), Phantom (guitar), Michael Drake (bass) and Brian Kent (drums).

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT THE HISTORY OF YOUR BAND

NIKKI: Everything started in 2004 when I ran in this guy called Joey Florenz and discussed putting together a rock band. After many line up changes and some songs written, finally in 2006 we teamed up with Michael Drake and Brian Kent and Cream Pie was formed. In 2007 we recorded a live demo called Live Crime conteining 4 songs and we went on tour through Italy. In dec 2007 we started to record our self-produced debut album Dirty Job released on march 2008 and featuring 11 songs. In march and april 2008 we've been on tour in the States where we played 8 shows through Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee and where we were invited for a radio live interview in Columbus, Ms. But Joey didn't come with us on tour in the States so we hooked up Rachel O'Neill (voice) and Vito Losito (guitar) in substitution of Joey's double role. After the Usa tour Joey left the band so Rachel joined for good and we teamed up with another guitarist named Phantom.



WHO ARE YOUR MUSICAL INFLUENCES?

NIKKI: Well mmm... GnR, Motley Crue, LA Guns, Skid Row, Velvet Revolver, Sex Pistols.....and so many other bands...My fave artits are Izzy Stradlin, Axl Rose, Robin Fink, Tom Kiefer, Buckethead, Keith Richards, Slash, Steven Adler, Tommy Lee...I'm sure I'm forgettin' somebody but I really like Micheal Jackson too.

RACHEL: I've been influenced by all the rock's masterpieces such as Sebastian Bach, Axl Rose and Michael Matjevic of Steelheart...but I've put something mine in my attitudes...

PHANTOM: ummm...Guns N Roses, Crue, Stryper, Megadeth, Pantera, X Japan...

BRIAN: Guns N' Roses, Motley Crue, Aerosmith, Kiss, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Ramones

MICHAEL: I'm inspired by bands like Guns N' Roses, Kiss, Wasp and musicians like Malmsteen, Nikki Sixx, Blackie Lawless, etc…



WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON?

NIKKI: We're are writing lots of new cool songs for another album that we hope to start to pre-produce real soon in the next months. We're also writing a story board for our first video and schedulin' some gigs here in Italy for december and a new American tour on the east and west coast for the next spring in 2009.



WHAT HAS BEEN THE RESPONSE TO YOUR "DIRTY JOB" ALBUM SO FAR?

NIKKI: Well there are so many reviews about Dirty Job all over the world and they are all more than positives. We're so glad that people is enjoyin' our work. That means we did it very well. We sold lots of cd's and t-shirts during the American tour so that means people likes our shows too. We're really happy about how the things are goin'



IN WHAT AREAS DO YOU THINK THAT YOU STILL NEED TO IMPROVE?

NIKKI: I think a musician never ends to improve, so we always should try to improve and do everything to improve our live shows too. Is very important to make a good show for the people that come to see us.

BRIAN: I think that a musician everyday can improve himself if he has passion, patience and he does practice, and if you do fix some objectives you have to do everything to catch em up.







WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE SOME OF YOUR BAND'S BEST SONGS? WHY DO YOU LIKE THOSE?

NIKKI: Omg! I really don't know. You know I wrote all the songs on the album so I should like em all! And I do!

RACHEL: I really love the song "Whore". It reminds me about a girl I met...so I really like to perform that song on the stage.PHANTOM: I love Leave In Coma, Whore, Long Leader and Hungry For Mayhem! I really like to play those songs!BRIAN: I really like all the Dirty Job's songs, but I love "Whore" so much!MICHAEL: Everybody in the band put something in the songs that we play. And like in every artist creation there's always something that an artist likes more than the others, for example my favourite "Dirty Job" songs are Hungry for Mayhem, Zip It, and Long Leader.



WHAT WERE SOME OF THE FIRST ALBUMS THAT YOU REALLY GOT INTO?

NIKKI: GnR Appetite for Destruction for sure is the first album I ever heard. Than, Metallica Black Album and Load, Ac/Dc Back in Black and something from Iron Maiden and Nirvana too.PHANTOM: The first album I've listened to is Megadeth's Cryptics Writings, then I ran in Gnr with Appetite For Destruction and it changed my life! BRIAN: Metallica Garage Inc., Korn Freak On A Leash, The Early Days of Led Zeppelin.MICHAEL: The first album I got into is Malmsteen Fire and Ice, then Van Halen and Appetite For Destruction too.



OBVIOUSLY YOU LOVE 1980'S HARD ROCK/GLAM BANDS. WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS SO GOOD ABOUT BANDS FROM THAT TIMES COMPARED TO BANDS FROM OTHER DECADES?

NIKKI: Surely first the songs, than the sound, the attitude and...mmm yeah the girls!BRIAN: I think they've had more attitude, and they were so shameless and loudness!







HAVE YOU HAD ANY LABEL INTEREST YET? HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO YOU TO GET SIGNED AT THIS POINT?

NIKKI: Yep, we have some American labels interested in us and we're in negotiation with em. We'll see what will happen. It's very fuckin' important to get signed at this point cuz well we're workin very very hard to make it happen. We wanna play our music worldwide and we want many people to hear our tunes. We're workin very hard on the songs and on the internet to promote Cream Pie.Our website (WWW. CREAMPIEROCKS. COM) and our myspace (MYSPACE. COM/CREAMPIEBLUE) are full of updates everyday and every minute and we do like to interact with all the people and the fans over there. We already have a large fan bases in the States. Our street teams are workin good over there and now people is startin' street teams in Europe too. We have some fan pages too and the fans are really supportin' us promotin' Cream Pie everywhere in the world. We're also participatin' to this Crue Contest where only one winner band will share the stage with Motley Crue next year and they give so many and more opportunities. So I'd like to thank all the people and the fans that are supportin' us and that are voting for us. Thank you very much!! And I'd invite everybody that is readin' this interview to go on our websites and check out how to vote. It's really easy and it take just a few seconds. It's unitll september 28th so hurry up! Thanx!



WHO HAVE YOU OPENED FOR SO FAR? WHO WOULD YOU LOVE TO OPEN FOR?

NIKKI: We'll get the chance to share the stage with some very good bands soon. But now I can't say anything else;) So stay tuned...

BRIAN: I would like to play one day with Motley Crue, Rolling Stones, and Guns N' Roses. -



HAVE YOU PLAYED MUCH OUTSIDE OF YOUR COUNTRY YET?

NIKKI: Told ya, we've been on tour in the States last spring (we'd like to thank who brought us there and all the people that accomodated us in their own house...you know who yall are!) and we're plannin' to come back there next year. Our idea is to move there soon. More news are comin' soon. Very soon!







DO YOU PLAY ANY COVER SONGS LIVE? IF SO THEN WHAT?

PHANTOM: we're currently playin' Nightrain (GnR), Animal (Wasp), and We Don't Celebrate Sundays (Hardcore Superstar)



PICK THE BAND FROM EACH OF THE FOLLOWING PAIRS THAT YOU PREFER:

- Faster Pussycat or LA Guns

- Guns and Roses or Skid Row

- Motley Crue or KISS

PHANTOM: L.A. Guns - Guns N Roses - Motley Crue

NIKKI: GnR, LA Guns, and Motley Crue

BRIAN: The guitarists same answer

RACHEL: How can I pick one of those??? Anyway... I can try with LA Guns, Skid Row and Motley...

MICHAEL: LA Guns, Guns N' Roses, and Motley Crue



- IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT YOU LIKE TO SAY ABOUT YOUR BAND OR YOUR MUSIC?

NIKKI: I'm so fuckin' excited about the new stuff we're writin'. The new guys (Rachel and Phantom) are doin' very good. And I promise you will be shocked when you will hear the new songs! We really have clear ideas about our future...

RACHEL: I just would like to say that Cream Pie's songs are the best soundtrack to make love, to party or just to getting wild...we are perfect for any use...

PHANTOM: I'd like to say so many things, but I have no time for that...the only thing I can say now is that we believe in rock n roll, we love what we're doing and we're surely doing it f*****g well! trust me!!

BRIAN: We're not the perfect kind of guys that you would pick up for your daughters!!! MICHAEL: We're so determined about our objectives. We're doin everything with all of our abilities. So sign up this name 'cause you'll hear about it so many times!! CREAM PIE!!!



http://www.myspace.com/creampieblue

Walls of Jericho-The American Dream

Trustkill
2008

In recent years bands flying under or being stamped with the metal core label seem to have been popping up like dandelions in my yard during the spring. Some are about as likable as well, yet other acts manage to bring the best of metal and hardcore and rise to the surface. Now this album comes on the heels of the band’s “Redemption” EP which wasn’t completely met with open arms by many fans due to the change in direction. Apparently they are back on track now or the EP was just something they wanted to get out of their system. Walls of Jericho rip into this one like they have something to prove and maybe they felt that way after some of the responses to “Redemption”. No matter the motivation, they bring out a heavy surge of sounds with plenty of control and enough twists and turns musically to catch my attention. Now on the other hand the vocals are unfortunately a bit more pedestrian, not bad yet not all that thrilling either. I guess they are in tune with the pace of the music and there is aggressive attitude, but they are a little muddy and don’t quite rise to the level of the music. However I do have to give credit to the stellar production on this album and the attention to detail. It’s not only vibrant and clear, but has exactly the amount of echo on certain parts to really give it the depth it needed and deserved. Certainly an album that proves that metalcore hasn't run it's course yet.

Top 25 hard rock/metal bands

I used to do a lot of lists here on my blog and I once did my top ten bands probably over a year ago. I thought that it was high time that I set down and grind out my current top 25 bands. Now when I say current I mean as of right not because it could very well change some next week. Here are my top 25 favorite hard rock/metal bands for what it's worth.



1-Iron Maiden
2-Black Sabbath
3-Motorhead
4-Led Zeppelin
5-Rush
6-Van Halen (Roth-era)
7-Judas Priest
8-Hanoi Rocks
9-Armored Saint
10-Pentagram
11-Alice Cooper
12-WASP
13-Lizzy Borden
14-Deep Purple
15-Jimi Hendrix Experience
16-AC/DC
17-Anthrax
18-Slayer
19-Scorpions
20-Cinderella
21-Dio
22-Helloween
23-Mercyful Fate
24-Acid King
25-Budgie

There you go.

Interview with Danger

Danger are a glam band from Sweden. They have been going at it for a few years an recently released their "First Touch" EP which sees the band getting even better. I recently got to interview vocalist Jesse Kid to find out more.




Tell us a little about the history of your band.

The band was formed somewhere in 2003. It was a heavy metal band, in style of Iron Maiden/Judas Priest & Helloween in the beginning. Danger did a couple of really good cd’s (Keep Out & In Control). I was not in the band at that time.
I met Rob at Sweden Rock Festival 2006 and they were looking for a new singer, so I jumped in after a few weeks. We started real hard to make our own songs in a sleazier/glam rock style.. and the gigs were flowing in real good, quite fast. Then we were like grown together (sounds disgusting)... So we made more songs, many gigs. Just like we do right now.

Who are your musical influences?

My influences are Steven Tyler, John Norum, Joey Tempest, Michael Monroe, John Fogerty, Marc Bolan and David Bowie. There’s many of them.

What are you currently working on?

I’m working on a few new songs. But I’m also making some new graphic arts for our flyers, posters and coming merchandise stuff. I think it’s fun and interesting with pictures, colours and layouts.

I was recently enjoying the new tracks on your “First Touch” demo. How do you think that you band has progressed since you first started out?

I think we have grown in our way of making music..I mean it’s a quite big difference between.. lets say ”Playin’ The Game”, ”Spread Your Legz and those two or three recent demo’s. Of course they are really good songs, but you can really feel the awesome development. That’s because Rob and me work damn good together when making songs.. He’s like a brother, we think the same…well most of the time hehe =).

In what areas do you think that you still need to improve?

Guess we need to improve the stage-details.. like bigger stages, explosives, a killer stage design and fuckin' more blazting lights on stage. That will fit awesome to our music and performance. Cause that's mainly what it’s all about.



What do you think are some of your band’s best songs? Why do you like those?

I love them all. But one of my favourites are Midnight Teaser.. It's a cool groove and it makes me happy.. even thou the song is all about a stripper, who drained my wallet haha.

What were some of the first albums that you really got into?

It was Twisted Sister with Stay Hungry and Europe with The Final Countdown…. AND of course Guns N Roses with Appetite For Destruction.

Obviously you love 1980’s hard rock/glam bands. What do you think was so good about bands from that time as compared to bands from other decades?

I really LOVE the 60s and 70s music as well, cause that's when it all started. But I think the 80s had the glam and more funny music.. I get the feeling that people were happier, the hair was cooler, lovely clothes, more details everywhere…and a big point is of course that I grew up with that kind of music.
The 90s had many good band, unfortunately the glam/sleaze style died cause of Kurt Cobain.. then he killed himself, how ironic. I like the twenty first century so far.. it’s rockin n rollin!

Have you had any label interest yet? How important is it to you to get signed at this point?

We have a few labels that are interested in us. We think its very important to sign! We feel no rush thou. Let’s see which label it’s gonna be. We’re all open for great deals ;)


Who do you think are some of the best unsigned glam bands in Sweden right now?

Difficult to say, it’s many great bands.. I have to pass on that one.

Who have you opened for so far? Who would you love to open for?

Yeah we opened for Hardcore Superstar here in Sweden in July, it was fun.. and some bands before that are Heaven’s Basement, Crazy Lixx, The Pleasures, Babylon Bombs …and yeah it’s a buch of them.





We’re aiming for the headline! ;).

It would be a fuckin blazt to open for Kiss, Mötley Crüe or Aerosmith!

Do you play any cover songs live? If so then what?

No, we don’t play covers

Pick the band from each of the following pairs that you prefer

Ratt or Twisted Sister

Both are awesome bands, would be really bad to choose one of them.

Pretty Boy Floyd or Tigertailz

Also both killer-bands.. I listen to them all the time.. can’t choose one.

Crash Diet or Vains of Jenna

Two big Swedish bands that have really made it so far. I think they both KIKK AZZ!

Aerosmith or Motley Crue

Those bands are the source to this music we’re making.. Would be a big failure to pick out one of them.

Is there anything else that you like to say about your band of your music?

DANGER is on a roll now, we’re gonna make many many new fans and we’re gonna make them love our music until the end of time. Watch out for coming surprises ;)… Rock n roll will always remain, whatever the sick azz people say…!



http://www.myspace.com/bestdanger

Clash of the album covers

Here are the choices...


Savatage-Power of the night

vs.


TT Quick-Metal of honor


***Which cover do you prefer?

Time has come-White Fuzz

Regain
2008


Germany’s Time has come are like some sort of crazed mechanic who scavenge for bits, parts and scraps of vehicles, these guys pull from various styles, noises and other assorted bizarre sounds and then they meld them together. Much like a hastily constructed vehicle, it may not be smooth or pretty yet it runs strong and turns your head at first and then reels you in. It is at that point when you begin to realize just how crazy and ultimately how clever these guys are. They are very aggressive and certainly very sure of what they are doing so these two aspects allow them just gun it and drive forward. Although they don’t just go forward, they swerve and rip and change up the speed with little notice. It’s a rather dark and moody album as a whole, but that seemed to dawn me more after the album ended than during it. The most common music style is sort of grind type sound, but there are so many other styles and pieces twisting and turning around and during the same time that it certainly wouldn’t be fair to just call it a grind album. There is also something of a live feel to their music like they are improvising and just going with a flow of some sort. Perhaps that’s more of a just a sign of how comfortable they are with what they are taking on. It’s maybe not something I could listen to all the time, but I could see myself really getting deep into it given the right occasion.

http://www.myspace.com/timehascome

The Rotted-Get dead or die trying

Metal Blade
2008

This British band was formerly known as Gorerotted and in addition to the moniker change they also touched up their sound. Actually they gave it a rather well-needed overhaul with some successful results. I expecting a large mass of of buzzing grind and while there is some of that, it's tempered, mixed and shuffled amongst other sounds. We get some old style death, thrash and even some confidently played classic metal parts all wedged in are various points. Sometimes the styles are mixed together and on other tracks they opt for mainly one style for the entire song. The vocals are still somewhat limited in range, but they know enough when to bring the music up a notch to keep pace revving along. It took a few tracks to really get a sense that they were comfortable with all they were trying. Not every attempt worked to the same extent or on the exact same level. Yet the important thing is the took a risk and really tried to grow as musicians and even doubly so as writers. Not every gear flowed smoothly and not every piece was in place, but the Rotted certainly did enough to show they are certainly not limited when it comes to skills and ideas. They not only mixed styles and tempos, but they also switched up the tones and that's the kind of change that really helps their music to grow. It's also something that not enough bands playing this style of music take on. Certainly better than I was expecting and it's always refreshing see a band really put forth some effort to expand their horizons.

Automan.ca-Pocket Change

Unkle Dunk
2008

One of if not the most influential and copied bands in hard rock history is without a doubt AC/DC. Many acts have copied them over the years with various degrees of success. This band features former Killer Dwarfs drummer turned singer Darrell Millar at the helm. Well, Automan.ca surprise me with their subtlety because they tackle a basic straight forward rock sound a bit differently. Most bands who subscribe to this style of hard rock tend to hit it fast and tie things up rather quickly. They guys take their time and milk the grooves for all they are worth and it’s a gamble, but it works more times than not. The eight tracks here are listed are broken down with half listed as being “side one” and the other half of course listed as belonging to “side two”. I am not sure if this was done because they are vinyl enthusiasts or because they thought the two halves were musically different from one another. They are not exactly re-inventing the wheel here, but they do manage to lead us an enjoyable ride through some raw and easy to like hard rock tunes. They could have taken a few more gambles perhaps it does feel a little safe at times. Yet the major strength of this band is that they can take a simple song structure and spread it out where it feels very complete and they manage to sustain their energy through the entire length of the track. I don’t think this a particularly easy task, but they seem to have the skill and patience to pull it off. Automan.ca manage to thrive on the simplicity of their music rather than be limited by it, the end result is a very decent album.


www.myspace.com/automanca

Stoner Rider-Three legs of trouble

Trustkill
2007

“Come on and let up, we’re on the road to nowhere”. Thus starts “Rush Hour” the opening track on Stone Rider’s release and while I think this album was a trip, it certainly didn’t go nowhere. I am not sure exactly what I was expecting here from this band, but I think they delivered quite a bit. They brought out bits of AC/DC, Guns and Roses plus some definite thick old, fuzzed out 70’s style riffage as well. Stone Rider tends to jab a bit more with numerous mid-level type hooks rather than going for the big knock out punch. I think that approach suits them because there is very little gliding here as plenty of songs see the band working steadily to maintain the momentum throughout. The most important aspect of that approach is that makes seem really tight as a whole. They keep pumping out rhythms and ideas while working steadily to stay in motion. It’s a bit of a deceptively busy album because not many of their parts are particularly that involved by them, but the many little bits and attention to detail make the songs feel very filling in the end. The only real complaint I had was I would have like to seen a little more energy at times because towards the end there were a few songs that just felt like they were being a little too careful. Stone Rider have put forth an album that has them sounding very comfortable with what they are doing and they deliver in giving fans a whole lot to soak in.

What's coming up?

The best news of the week is of course that the NFL season is beginning. The Redskins losing was a great way to start the season. My Broncos play the Raiders they better in or else they may not even finish at .500 which is where I think they will finish this season The worst news of the week was the passing of animator Bill Melendez. The man worked for Disney, Warner Brothers and then did many of those great Peanuts classics that we loved and our children are still enjoying them. This week is catch-up week for me as far as reviews are concered because I have several that have taken me awhile to get to. So this week I hope to have out....



Reviews of...
The Rotted-Get dead or die trying
Mad Juana-Accoustic Voodoo
Automan-Pocket Change
Walls of Jericho-The American Dream
Stone Rider-Three legs of trouble
Time has come-White fuzz



Interviews with...
Cream Pie
Danger



and maybe a Clash of the album covers or a Lesser of two evils.



***Have a great week.

Daylight Dies-Lost to the living

Candlelight
2008

Melodic/death-doom outfit Daylight Dies seem to know a great deal about structure and pace, but unfortunately not so much about conveying emotions. The technical skills of the players are solid in a rather matter of fact style that only carries the material so far. The job on conveying any real excitement or aggression seems to have placed primarily on the skills which quite honestly are just fair and very standard. There are few tracks where the pace is altered some and the vocals are a bit more clean, but not really enough to pull me in. These guys also get doom thrown in as a label, but as a fan of doom the music here just feels like semi-progressive metal slowed down. Doom is more than just slowing down the tempo, it’s about a feeling and a certain tone. I don’t find a whole lot of that present on this recording. This is a style of music that should be getting pumped up and enthused yet the only action I felt like taking was to skip to the next song. Perhaps a little above average, but it houses far more filler than substance for my liking.

Interview with Ann Boleyn

Ann Bolelyn is perhaps best known for her time fronting Hellion. Recently she has taken on being vocalist for Detente at a number of reunion shows. She is also the founder of New Renaissance records and I recently got to ask her about all of the above.

MM-Hello, I hope everything is going well. What are you currently up to?

AB-I just got back to the USA after doing some shows in Germany. So at the moment I am pretty busy. In addition to singing I also am a lawyer and still run New Renaissance records. My practice specializes in civil rights and litigation, so that is a very demanding area of the law, and many serious cases. Also, I am busy with New Renaissance records, and in trying to maintain the legacy of the bands that make up the label. Right now I am re-packaging the old releases, doing limited edition re-issues, and then getting the music up on I-tunes and similar sites. New Renaissance records just re-released the first album by Soothsayer, and we are waiting for the Medieval cds to arrive at the moment. When I am not working with the law firm or New Renaissance I am watching sports. I am a big sports fan.



MM-How did you come to get the vocalist spot for Détente for their reunion shows?

AB-As you know, Detente's first album "Recognize no authority" was re-released a year or two ago. After that, Detente had a lot of offers to do shows, but as you know, their singer, Dawn Crosby died in 1996. Last summer, Steve Hochheiser called me and asked if I would be interested in doing some shows with them and I said yes.



MM-You recently played with détente in Germany. What was that experience like?

AB-Playing in Germany was a really great experience because I had never before played in Germany. I have heard for many years about how great the fans are in Germany---and I was not disappointed. Not only were the fans really enthusiastic, but it was great to talk to people who really knew the history of the band. The German fans were very smart when it comes to metal. Also, there were people who came to see us from many other countries, as well. That was really cool and is something you do not experience in the USA. There were some people who came from as far away as Canada, Ireland, Denmark, and Spain. That was really great. It is really an honor to play shows in front of people like this.



MM-You also played the Tidal Wave festival in San Francisco a few weeks before that. What was that festival like? Were the audiences in America and Europe different from each other in any way?

AB-Before the tidal wave festival last July, I had never been to this festival. But, it was really fun and I’d like to do another one.For detente, this was really a warm-up show. Tidal wave was the first time Detente played together in front of people. So we wanted to perform early. If you look on you-tube and see the videos, you can see that there are ladders on the stage, and that the promoters were still setting up the banners when we were playing. That was okay by us. We were playing on borrowed equipment and just wanted to do a show and get the feeling of playing in front of people. After we played, I stayed for the whole day. There were a lot of really good bands. I especially enjoyed Exodus, Hirax, and Attitude Adjustment. I was especially surprised by Hirax. I had not seen them in many years and they were much better than I remembered.



MM-I know that you are scheduled to play with Détente at the Martohell festival in Spain in October. Will you be playing any other dates in the near future with them?

AB-I understand that we may be teaming up with some of the U.S. bands we met in Europe to do some more shows in the USA. There is talk of doing a west coast tour with dates in Portland, Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco, and maybe Sacramento. Both myself and Detente have myspace pages. So as soon as that is confirmed, it will be listed on those web sites.



MM-Has there been any talk of doing any recording with them or is it just the live shows for now?

AB-Yes, there has been talk about recording. I love playing music, so I am always up for it. However, Detente is not my band, and what happens with it really is up to the original band members.

MM-Any plans to resurrect Hellion in the near future or re-issue any Hellion cds?

AB-There have been a lot of offers for Hellion to do festivals. However, I will not do a Hellion re-union and be the only member from the band. I am in contact with both Ray Schenck and Chet Thompson. One or both of them need to be not only involved but excited about a hellion reunion in order to make it happen. And, naturally, I’d like to have as many of the members that recorded on the albums as possible. A reunion will probably happen at some time. But, I do not know when that will be right now. As far as re-issues, New Renaissance will definitely be re-issuing "The black book" and probably "Will not go quietly." Plus, I have had so many requests for t-shirts and patches, I am looking into doing that too.



MM-What are some of your best memories about being in Hellion?

AB- One of my best memories of hellion course was working with Ronnie James Dio. He is a great guy and I will always be thankful to him and his wife, Wendy Dio, for the opportunities we had. Also, I am still proud of the tour we did in the U.S.S.R. back in those early days, bands like ozzy, motley crue, or the scorpions would to Russia, play a show and fly home the same night. Hellion was the first U.S. band to actually tour in the U.S.S.R. to do such a tour took a lot of work and there were many people who made it happen. Valeri Gaina, who was the guitarist of the Russian band "Kruiz”, played a big role. Back in the 1980's and early 1990's "Kruiz" was the biggest metal band in Russia. So we toured with them. It was really an amazing experience. Some of the shows I did were in the country of Georgia. I remember going to the airport in Moscow and being told that Georgia had just withdrawn from the U.S.S.R. because the U.S.A. did not have an embassy with Georgia which was a new country; there was no guarantee on our safety. This really frightened the rest of the band members --- and they decided to go home. But, I had done some much work with Kruiz and the promoter to make the shows happen, I made the decision to go on and do some shows with Kruiz any way, and at least show up. The experience was really amazing. It is sad to see what is happening in Georgia now.

MM-What was the toughest part in being Hellion?

AB-The hardest part of being in hellion was that in America in the 1980s there was no chance of getting a major label deal with a metal band with a female singer. This caused so many problems for the band. The members of Hellion including myself knew many of the local bands that had got major deals, and had made a lot of money. When you are working so hard, and drawing as many, if not more, people as the other bands that are getting record deals, it was very hard to keep everybody in a positive mood. I remember Wendy Dio telling everybody that she had tried as hard as she could to get hellion a major record deal, and that the major record companies were not interested in Hellion as long as the band had a female singer---even if Ronnie James Dio was involved. Either Hellion had to play the pop-rock style---or if we wanted to stay a metal band then Hellion needed a male singer. Another thing was that the female-fronted bands that did get signed in the late 1980's were all marketed in a way that took away from the music. I remember seeing Lorraine Lewis crawl around the floor and act like she was having sex with a band member on one of the videos she did for MTV. In my opinion, that video was really insulting to both Lorraine’s band...and Loraine’s singing...which was actually pretty good. It was like the record companies were telling everybody: "if you have a female singer, she had better act like a stripper." The message being sent to the young fans was awful, as well. But, in those days, the industry really did not want to know about a female performer unless they could use the sex aspect for marketing. I remember when a manager who had worked with van halen told me that he wanted to manage Hellion. After we started talking, he gave me his business plan. First, he wanted me to get fake boobs. This idea was rediculous, because I had been a pin-up model since the 1970s--even though it was something I did not promote at all in Hellion. So the idea that I needed to have bigger boobs was just stupid to me. Also, he wanted to fire Ray Schenck (guitarist) because he was "too tall." Ray was the person with whom I wrote all the songs---so that was rediculous. But this was what the band faced. Eventually, the male members decided to get a male singer and start a new band which was called "Burn." Then I formed a new "Hellion," which did the "Screams in the night" album and the same thing happened again, with that band getting Mandy Lion and becoming World War iii. The changes in the line-ups were what killed Hellion. That was the hardest problem. Back in those days, females in metal bands were regarded as just a gimmick.

MM-Tell us a little about when you founded New Renaissance records? What were some of the most difficult aspects about getting the label off the ground?

AB-I founded New Renaissance for a number of reasons. I’d pressed our demo into an EP and had sold loads of it, especially as exports. The distributors came to me and asked if I could bring them more of the same kind of music. Since I didn't have the money to put bands in a recording studio, I started out with compilation albums. Then I did the full length albums. As you know, new renaissance put out some of the first recordings of bands like Sepultura, Bathory, Morbid angel, Flotsom & Jetasm (with Jason Newsted), and lots more. The most difficult part of running New Renaissance records was getting paid.



MM-Is there anything that you wish you had done differently back in the 1980’s with the label?

AB-Now that I am a lawyer and have a lot of experience there are a lot of things I would have done differently. However, at the time, considering what I knew back then, I believe I made the correct decisions based on the knowledge I had, and based on the idea of trying to do the action that was honest and morally right.



MM-I know there was some trouble with a number of New Renaissance titles being put out on bootleg cds and going for high prices on eBay. Are you still dealing with that? Has it quieted down or is that an ongoing problem?

At the moment, my main job with New Renaissance records is to preserve the legacy of the bands which recorded on the label, and preserve the label's catalogue rights. Naturally I am also involved in protecting bands right to their names as well. Many of the new renaissance records bands are back in action and doing shows. Even if a band only earns a small royalty, this is important to the band, and royalties can also help fund their performing at festivals or recording in the future. As an attorney I have the ability to sue people. I have made it very clear that if anybody tries to sell bootlegs in the USA I will sue them. People know I am damn serious. So there is not too much of a problem with bootlegs in the USA.



MM-What do you think about the metal scene in general today? Is it improving or not and why?AB-From what I’ve seen in the past few months the metal scene is doing great! I think people are fed up with being told what to listen to by the major record companies. I think that myspace. com and youtube are really helping the scene.



MM-What kind of music are you listening to these days?

AB-I listen to all kinds of music. But mainly I listen to 70's hard rock and metal and thrash.



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

AB-I just would like to thank everyone for their support all these years. If anybody wants to say hi, I have a page on myspace under the name “Ann Boleyn.” also I have a web page for new renaissance records at: http://www.newrenaissancerecords.com/



http://www.myspace.com/officialannboleyn

http://www.myspace.com/detenterna

http://www.myspace.com/officialhellionsite

http://www.myspace.com/newrenaissancerecords

Medieval

New Renaissance
1986, 1987, 2008

In the mid-late 1980's metal bands were popping up in the cities and the towns and all were pushing and striving to get noticed, recognized and get signed. Unfortunately many bands who deserved recognition got overlooked in this crowded sea of would bes and never weres. In my book the best 80's metal band you probably never heard of was a three piece from Kalamazoo, Michigan called Medieval. I first heard their unbelievably crunchy "World War IV" on New Renaissance's Speed Metal Hell compilation back in 1985 and I was in awe by that one track with it's off the wall solo and scattered pace. They signed to New Renaissance and released a self-titled EP in 1986 and then the ever so aptly named "Medieval Kills" in 1987. Unfortunately they didn't get the kind of or amount of recognition that they so justly deserved back then. However now at long last New Renaissance has released Medieval on CD so we get the EP, the "Medieval Kills" LP and three new track all on one disc. Even though I already have the two albums on vinyl I still opened this sucker like a four year old kid on Christmas morning, ripping that plastic off and anxiously put it into my stereo. Ah, I was greeted with music that is as good and perhaps even as fresh as it was twenty plus years ago. Tracks like the anthem "All knobs to the right", the pulsing "Reign of terror" and the blood boiling "Epitaph" are just a few of the killers on this disc just dig and plow forward. Medieval had a style that's a little difficult to put a finger on because they were following their own drummer to some extent. I think of them as a basement metal band because I have this image of the three of them back in the 1980's playing a raw, stripped down combination of metal and punk rock in one of their basements. I imagine windows rattling from the sound as they crank forth this sound that brings in parts of Motorhead, the Dead Boys and their own ideas into the riveting blend that they put forth on those two albums. "Medieval Kills" is slightly tighter and has stronger production than the EP, but every song in worth hearing. The three new tracks were recorded in 2007-2008 and the sound is something of a combination between Medieval's old sound, early Metallica and maybe even some spurts of Pentagram as well. The new material is slightly heavier and perhaps a little more metal, but really thick and certainly along the lines of the band's work from the 1980's. So Medieval and New Renaissance deliver in a big way with the best re-issue so far in 2008 which has been a year rich with quality re-issues already.

http://www.myspace.com/medievalkills

Netherbird-The ghost collector

2008
Pulverized

Netherbird were founded in Sweden back in 2004 and this is their first release for Pulverized records. It’s a bit of a blend of a couple of forms of metal mainly focusing on black, doom and even some classic style metal. There are lots of screeching guitars, mostly well placed keyboards, a slight theatrical feel and vocals that vary between flowing growls and some of the cookie monster variety as well. The melodies in both the music and the vocals seem to be a large focus for this band. They handle and maneuver the melodies enough to catch your attention. They keep everything heavy enough plus they rather hold everything together rather admirably considering the different sounds represented here. The less coherent vocals get on my nerves a little, but I have never quite taken to that style. There are a few points where music could have come up a little volume wise, but overall the production helped a lot. It’s not going to bowl anyone over, but Netherbird have released a fairly compact and consistent album.

White Chapel-This is exile

Metal Blade
2008

It didn’t take me long to absorb what this band is about and yes that does mean that they are fairly limited in what they do. It’s kind of deathcore with more death metal leanings than hardcore, but both are there although I am not sure that either is complementing the other in this case. Many of the songs have some potential at the beginning with a few guitar melodies here and there, but those are mostly swept away rather unceremoniously by a wall of clicking and clanking mess. This band has three guitarists, wait, can that really be correct? Three guitarist? How many guitarists does it take to make uninspired, bloated noise? Well, the answer here is three and unfortunately the joke is on us the listener this time around. I tried hard to reach in and focus on some promising parts in this sea of repetitive chaos, but there wasn’t a whole there other than at the start of a few tracks. The drums just fall in line with a similar kind of faceless, frantic chugging as they pushed just to keep up rather than to really help define anything. The vocals are a little better as is certainly some depth to them and they probably could have been ever better with some stronger music to follow. “This is exile” is a fairly mediocre gust of wind that blows in, blows out and it’s rather difficult to really remember that much about it because they don’t really succeed at or attempt to really create that much.

Clash of the album covers

It is...




Guns -n- Roses-Appetite for destruction

vs.



KISS-Rock and roll over

***So which cover do you prefer?

Extreme-Saudades de rock

Open E
2008

Extreme return with their first new record in 13 years and they bring back the harmonies, stellar guitar parts and funky bass that had been their trademark back during their original run. It's entirely the same though as before they had this sound that was at times showed influences of both Queen and Van Halen. On the new album there is far more of Led Zeppelin influence popping up throughout the album. My first time through this left me feeling a little confused because it sounds like Extreme did back in the day yet at the same time it doesn't. Huh? Well, all the features I mentioned at the start of this review were indeed present. Songs like "Star" and "Run" for example are musically and vocally along the lines of what we might expect yet the overall feel is perhaps a little less bouncy and maybe even not as upbeat. In the end that's okay because it still works just in a different manner. This album isn't exactly more involved than any of their previous albums, but they do widen the field a little by really attempting a broader range in how they approach most of the songs. That's not to say that every track works, but it's a good effort. They really took a stab at not just a comeback, but they obviously wanted to show some growth as well. I can't help but shake the feeling that they seem a little reserved at times, but that could just be a case of trying to shake off the dust from not having recorded with one another in such a long time. Of course it wouldn't be an Extreme album without a few ballads and most of the ones here work rather well. This isn't an album that was easy to take to in just one listen, but it's a grower and a few listens are in order. It's not exactly where Extreme were at their peak and it doesn't really pick up where they left off. Yet it gives a healthy serving of most worked in their music years ago plus they certainly give us some new sounds to chew on as well.

The Dead End Kidz interview

The Dead End Kidz hail from Mineola, New York and remind me of late 1970's hard rock with a sound that's a bit of a mixture of AC/DC, KISS, Ted Nugent, UFO and Thin Lizzy. I recently got to interview vocalist John Erigo to learn more about this band.



Hello, please introduce the members of your band.

Alrighty then! The Dead End Kidz have got Michael LoBianco on Guitars/Backing Vocals, Kevin Edell on Bass/Backing Vocals, Scott Carlson Guitars, Tom Mahalko Drums/Backing Vocals and some guy named John Erigo trying to sing! LOL!

Tell us a little about the history of your band.

Well, Tommy, Scott and myself started out in a cover band called BASKET CASE. Eventually 2 members of that band left, and we decided to not only stay together, but we agreed to start writing songs. We added the remaining players through the audition process. Michael was actually our first bass player because he was friends with our at-the-time guitarist Marc Weiss. Marc left the band, Mike jumped on guitar and my old friend Kevin Edell came down to check us out and liked it so much he wanted to join. We've been kickin' ass ever since then!

What are you currently up to?

Well, we had some plans for the Summer, but they kind of got side tracked(more on that later!). So, for now we're doing all we can to promote the cd and get it out there so everybody knows who we are. We are hoping that towards the end of 2008 we can get some quality gigs. So, we're concentrating on doing interviews like this one(thanks for having us!), airplay on radio/internet stations, and reviews on websites and in magazines.

Who are your musical influences?

Me, personally? For me first and foremost it is KISS. They were the first band that opened my eyes to LOUD rock n roll. I also enjoy mostly older stuff like Van Halen, AC/DC, Ted Nugent, Thin Lizzy, UFO, Riot, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Aerosmith. The Metal head inside me loves Metallica, Anvil, Raven, Saxon, Accept. The Japanese person inside me loves Loudness, Anthem, Seikima-II, Canta, X Japan, Siam Shade. I love lots of different kinds of music!I just recently got into Turbonegro, Danko Jones, The Hellacopters. For OUR influences as a band, lots of these bands would come up. Others would include Rush, The Cult, The Black Crowes, and so on and so on.

What is your favorite decade for music and why?

That's a tough one. I am sure after listening to our new cd UNFINISHED BUSINESS, it seems obvious that it's the 70's. But not the early 70's, more of the mid to late 70's. Before there were so many sub genres and before Hair Metal. Music was pure and full of rock n roll attitude and wasn't diluted into who's hair sticks up higher, and all the bulls**t that came later on in the 80's.





What do you think about the hard rock/metal scene in general today? Is it improving, on the decline or about the same?

I would say the music scene in general is cool today. A lot of people complain about file sharing/downloading, but the internet has made it so easy to find new bands, that in the old days, you would've had no clue that they existed. The truth is that most bands can not make money off of album sales anymore, so it's back to the old "make money on the road" attitude. There are so many bands to discover!

I didn’t see any upcoming shows listed on your Myspace page. Do you any in the works?

Ah, now we get to the "later" I referred to earlier. We were planning on some Summer gigs, but in June I was diagnosed with a huge kidney stone. I have been undergoing treatment for it ever since. I won't go into the details, but my present condition is very uncomfortable and annoyingly painful. So.....I am scheduled for surgery in early September, and hopefully I can resume with DEK by the end of that month and we'll gear up for some ass kicking for the end of 2008!

Do you play any cover songs live?

Well, that depends on how long of a set we get. We have in the past played a bunch. This past April, one of our staple cover songs was released on a tribute cd. We did our version of Ace Frehley's NEW YORK GROOVE on the cd "Lick It Up:A Millennium Tribute To KISS". The cd was put out by Versailles Records and can be found on Amazon.com, or you can cruise to our myspace page www.myspace.com/dekmusic to hear it. We've also been known to do songs like COLD GIN(KISS), TOO HOT TO HANDLE(UFO), CAT SCRATCH FEVER(TED NUGENT), JAILBREAK & DANCIN' IN THE MOONLIGHT(THIN LIZZY), LIT UP(BUCKCHERRY), TOYS IN THE ATTIC(AEROSMITH)just to name a few.

What do you think is your band’s greatest strength?

The way we approach songwriting. I really think it's important as a vocalist to really have the musicians happy with the music before the lyrics/vocals are added. We write as a group, and the process is right for us. They build the house, and then I paint it.

In what area(s) do you think that you still need some work?

Well, personally I wish I was a better vocalist--I think every singer thinks that way. I couldn't point ANY flaws in my bandmates because they just kick ass and amaze me all the time.





Are any of you in other bands or musical projects as well as being in the Dead End Kidz?

It's DEK or bust for me! Kevin has been in a cover band called JERRY AND THE NEWCOMERS and he also had gigged a short while ago with his old band NINJA.

You have a whole lot of friends on Myspace. What else are you doing to get the word out about your band? Is it helping to get you noticed?

I think I touched on it before. We are not JUST concentrating on myspace, although it is easy to because it's free! Like I said, old school marketing. I have been writing to radio stations and websites, magazines, anybody who'll listen. We're trying to blitz every media outlet we can.

What goals do you have for your band for the near future?

The main objective, as always, is to get our music out there so as many people as possible can hear it. From there on out, it's up to them to decide our fate. Hopefully the people that have encountered The Dead End Kidz have enjoyed what they have heard. We've gotten like 99% positive feedback so far, so we must be doing something right!



Pick the band from each of the following pairs that you prefer and tell why.

Are you kidding me?! DUDE! This is going to be impossible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Scorpions or Van Halen

Ugh---I have to go with VH just for the legacy. Klaus, Rudolph, I LOVE you guys but VH wins this one.

Aerosmith or Ted Nugent

Oh man, you suck! LOL! For me personally, it's Uncle Ted, but for the rest of DEK we'll go with Aerosmith. How's that?

Thin Lizzy or UFO

Oh you didn't! These 2 bands BOTH produced what could be agrued as THE BEST live album of all time. Thin Lizzy's LIVE AND DANGEROUS and UFO's STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT. For me, I have to pick Thin Lizzy because of Phil Lynotts amazing songwriting. Kevin Edell(DEK Bassist) and Scott Carlson(DEK Guitarist)will pull for Michael Schenker and the old UFO.

AC/DC or KISS

Now that's just not fair! I said it before, it has to be KISS for me, the rest of DEK would probably pick AC/DC, but it is a tough call.


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

I would like to thank you for showing an interest in THE DEAD END KIDZ. We really do appreciate the exposure. For anybody that hasn't heard of us, or has never heard our music--all we ask is you give us a chance. If you like hard driving, no filler, loud, guitar crankin' ROCK N ROLL, you'll enjoy DEK. Buckle up that seat belt and get ready for the ride! Thanks!



http://www.myspace.com/dekmusic

Joetown-Pills and ammo

Self-produced
2008

On Joetown’s Myspace page under the sounds like sections it says “Bon Scott fronting Van Halen!!!” Wow, that’s a pretty bold statement and it would be even cooler if it was actually true.
There seem to be a number of bands today who see themselves as some kind hard rock avengers and they make claims that they are bringing “real” rock back. Connecticut’s Joetown seem to include themselves in that category although not exactly new because guitarist/vocalist Joetown (Joe Delaney) has had this band going for over a decade. The music is a bit scattered as far as influences as they draw a fair amount from the 70’s with some big, muted riffs crawling on at times, but they bring in some sounds from the 80’s and 90’s as well. To be fair let’s go with the positives first, the guitar tone as I eluded to decent with an above average amount variation. I would also add that the over all production is quite good and the rhythm section of bassist Keefer and drummer Cbone get more attention than some of their peers playing a similar style. Now the other side of the coin is that the vocals of Joetown (the person) peak at fair and bottom out at dry and annoying with mot of the tracks falling closer to that second category. Also if this album were lava then you could easily get out of it’s way because the flow is weak and scattered for the most part. They seem to often hit upon a nice meaty hook rather quickly, but then they seem to through up their hands because they don’t quite know what to do with or where to go from there. So we get left with a lot meandering and shuffling of the same riff for several minutes. For a band who seem big on wanting to rock they seem awful on unsure of exactly what they should be doing, Still they hit on good tones, the energy level is present more than it’s absent and they attempt to mix up the styles some. “Pills and ammo” falls slightly above average yet I wish they had more substance to go with their often striking lead riffs then they might be in business. For right now they sound more like a band with a decent shell, but not a whole lot inside.

http://www.myspace.com/joetown