Interview with Mathieu Rondeau of Warsenal

Recently I had the chance to talk with vocalist/guitarist Mathieu Rondeau of the Canadian band Warsenal. For those of you who don't know the band you're missing out! Warsenal plays a killer brand of thrash metal and their 3-track demo (see link below) was one of the best thrash EPs I've heard in a very long time! I want to thank Mathieu for taking time away from his schedule to answer a few questions.

Andy-Could you introduce the band for us please?

Mathieu Rondeau-Warsenal is 3 pieces Thrash/Speed Metal band from Montreal, Canada. We’re together since 2011, in October if I well remember.
Mathieu Rondeau – Guitar and Vocals
Francis Labine – Bass Guitar
Antoine Turcotte – Drums 

Andy-How did you guys form and where did the name Warsenal come from?

MR-I started playing guitar at 14 and my best friend Francis started playing bass about a year later. We were playing thrash covers together with a drummer, but a year later he quit the band saying we were too crazy, destroying and burning stuff in his house where we were practising. Then, in 2011, we met our actual drummer Antoine in a party. The next week we planned jamming together playing a cover: Slayer – Antichrist, but we never played it and started composing songs right away. That’s how Warsenal was born. And our name comes from “The Arsenal of Megadeth”. We are big Megadeth’s fan and we wanted to put arsenal in our name, ‘cause we felt it fitted well with the music we are playing, but finding a name that is not already taken is a real pain in the ass, so I came up with the idea: War Arsenal, but I found it hard to say and not sounding so good. So as I was writing War Arsenal down on a paper, the idea came clear: Take off the “Ar”. All the band members agreed that it sounded good and here we are: Warsenal. 

Andy-Your sound is deeply rooted in thrash metal. Who influenced you guys both as a band and personally?

MR-We have many influences that go from: Thrash to NWOBHM, Punk, Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Classical Music, Blues, Jazz, etc. But for me my top 3 bands influences would be :Megadeth
Black Sabbath and Annihilator. And my major personal influences would be:
For guitar: Dave Mustaine, Randy Rhoads, Jeff Waters, Tony Iommi, Jimmy Page
For voice and lyrics: Dave Mustaine, Paul Di’anno , Marcel “Schmier” Schirmer, Denis “Snake” Belanger, Jim Morrison, Johnny Cash 

Andy-What has the response been like for the demo so far?

MR-The response for our Demo has been really positive and we are more than happy about this, it give us hope that we’re on the right track and that we gotta keep going that way. 

Andy-Where the furthest place you've seen reviews appear for your demo?

MR-The furthest place I’ve seen a review appear would be in Morocco. 

Andy-Who are some of the bands you've shared the stage with?

MR-Some big names that we have shared the stage with: Skeletonwitch, Barn Burner, Cauldron, Exciter, Violator, Sabbat (JPN). 

Andy-What's the furthest from home you've played?

MR-The furthest from home we have played is at the True Thrash Fest in Osaka Japan Ferbruary 10^th 2013. 

Andy-Any shows that stick out for you?

MR-And that show in Osaka was the sickest show we have ever played. Those Japanese people were crazy headbanging, stage diving and circle pitting during all our set. Kind of 80’s style gig. And I remember while playing Unstoppable, 4 people got on stage and one of them put his arm on my shoulder and started headbanging with me and then the 3 others did the same, so that was a kind of small “headbanging chain” and when I started singing they all jumped back in the crowd. That was a magic moment. 

Andy-Given the chance what band (past or present) would you kill to play with?

MR-Megadeth 

Andy-Fill in the blank time. Warsenal cannot hit the road without...

MR-Warsenal cannot hit the road without … beer! 

Andy-Personal choice-Metallica or Megadeth?

MR-Megadeth 

Andy-Iron Maiden or Judas Priest?

MR-Iron Maiden

Andy-Black Sabbath with Ozzy or Black Sabbath with Dio?

MR-With Ozzy

Andy-If you could sign with any label who would it be? 

MR-For our first record we would like to sign with: Nuclear Blast, Earache Records or maybe Metal Blade.

Andy-Is there any new material you guys are working on? 

MR-We are now composing some songs for a future album. We have 7 songs done so far. We’ll probably compose 2 more and we’ll be ready to record an album. 

Andy-What's the chances fans see a new demo or album from Warsenal in 2013? 

MR-If everything goes right, we plan on releasing an album in 2014. But we might put another song or 2 online ‘til then. 

Andy- Where can people find out more about Warsenal?

MR-We just putted a small bio on our Reverbnation site. Here’s the link: http://www.reverbnation.com/warsenal  And for future news or upcoming gigs it will be on our facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/WarsenalOfficial 

Andy-Any parting shots?

MR-We are Warsenal 

We are the future
We are your future

Review of Warsenal's demo:

http://metalmark.blogspot.com/search?q=Warsenal-Demo