A heavy metal blog filled with interviews from band members both old and new, along with reviews, info, and anything else I feel like talking or posting about metal related. All content created and uploaded by Olivia Franks. Thanks for checking it out! Enjoy!
A continuation of the article I previously did about bands I feel others overlook in the sea of metal, but for my own reasons I keep coming back to them over and over again, and have stayed with me through the years.
Rogue Male
An overlooked London band, in my opinion. They formed in '83, and dropped their first full length album "First Visit" in '85. I remember first hearing this track thinking it was great, and really liked how the vocals stood out from other stuff I was hearing at the time (mainly thrash and NWOBHM... I was a snob). This song below intrigued me, and so I listened to the full album, as it was still on youtube at the time... probably a little while after youtube came into being, actually. I liked them so much I went and found the record for dirt cheap because... well... read the title of the article.
There are some videos of interviews with them floating around on the internet alongside live clips, which is where I realized that the guy on the cover was supposed to be the dude singing and playing guitar in the band- Jim Lyttle. I was slightly confused at what I was seeing, but also amused. It was sort of a gimmick, the way they looked and dressed, but their music was up to par, and as long as that is the case, then for me it's all good. They released another LP after that entitled "Animal Man", much like their first release in keeping with the musical feel of it. Pretty enjoyable, but I think "First Visit" has a place in my heart it can't take, as I had heard it years later.
They reformed in 2008, and released "Nail It" in 2009. Did they? I wouldn't know, because I'm a scared little girl when it comes to giving old bands with new albums chances. Except Carcass. Good god, Surgical Steel is amazing. But, I digress- If you haven't heard Rogue Male before, you should give them a listen and consider dressing and acting like them....
Stormwitch
I don't even feel like this is bargain bin stuff, here. Stormwitch (which I just accidentally spelled "stormwich"... yum?) is definitely A+ stuff for me. Germany pumps out another amazing metal band from the apparent factory that seems to be deep underground there. These guys formed in '81, and released their first big'n in '84 called "Walpurgis Night", which is the more well known compared to the album I've embedded below, but I did put that album down there for a reason, but I'll get to that later. They went on to record 9 studio albums- Tales of Terror being their second studio album in '85. They ranged from '84-'15.
Now, again, I will be honest in saying that I haven't heard their most recent releases, but they had solid releases up until '89 to my knowledge. Everything I heard I liked, and maybe I shouldn't be so scared and go give them a listen along with Rogue Male, if not for the music, at least to satisfy my curiosity. Anyhow, these guys are some traditional- OR WHATEVER GENRE CALM DOWN- metal good for a go through if you'd like to hear some solid tunes for a few hours. They have a very Steve Harris bassline and tone in this album, as well. Enjoy! And if you already have.... Well then.... They're good, aren't they?
Sabbat
Ah, one of my favorite bands! Most people seem to really like the Japanese Sabbat. They're pretty good, just not quite my cup of tea, i suppose. If you do like them more than this one, that's cool, but man, I love this band. They have a constant lyrical theme it seems of mythical mischief, Paganism, and history- Three of my favorite topics! They execute each song so well in the story telling and in the music itself. The vocals were what got my me hooked after the first thrashy riff blew my mind, because sometimes with bands it can be that they have great riffs, but vocals that just lack that something special you're looking to pair with them. Not this band, oh no, Andy Sneap's singing and guitar playing go hand in hand with vocals like no other (In my opinion) and riffs to match- dark, beckoning, and almost hypnotizing.
I listened to this album so many times, and then I eventually moved on to their following release to "History Of A Time To Come" (1988), called "Dreamweaver", and let me tell you, I was NOT disappointed. They kept up the high expectations I had after hearing HOATTC. More stories, more insane riffage, more true thrash! If you're up for a wicked ride, and a sure fire way to get you in a thrashy mood (I've got a "thrash" count going now...), then look no further! Hit that play button, and treat your ears!
Also- I need this on vinyl. If anyone would like to gift it to me my name is Olivia Franks. Thank in advance.
Sword
Another band that it is a no-brainer to spew out my feeling for! Another in the line-up of bands that got me into metal- Sword of Canada! The first video I saw of them was actually the video for 'The Trouble Is". I was instantly wanting to hear more and proceeded, as I often did, to listen to the whole album, and went on to listen to their second and final release "Metalized". Now, most people I've noticed seem to like that release far more than "Sweet Dreams", grant it, the title ain't the best, but come on, it's what's inside it that counts!
I really enjoy both releases and feel they still hold up as strong as they did back then to me as they do now. I'm not sure why "Sweet Dreams' gets crapped on from some reviews I've seen, but it is actually my favorite out of the two, probably because I heard that one first, and later heard Metalized. I had/have a bad habit of giving one specific album/artist a listen to one too many times to the point of potentially annoying my husband. That aside, if you like some heavy metal with high octane, and high spirits, then give these guys a listen, you won't regret it!
Hexx
This band was introduced to me by my husband Aaron Franks. There was no question about it, they rule! Those vocals- damn! "Under The Spell" was the album Aaron showed me first, so I knew the vocals of Dan Bryant before that of Dennis Manzo on their first release "No Escape". I think that Dennis has a great voice, but nowhere near as notable as Dan's. Dennis' voice reminds me more of Jon Arch formerly of Fates Warning, while Dan's voice sounds like no other to me. That coupled with the pounding metal and evil songwriting made for a definite lasting impression left on me. I've found myself going back time and time again to listen to those two albums.
After those two, it went downhill for me. It seemed like they turned what was a volatile pulsing pile of metal talent into a volatile pulsing pile a dog poo... I had such high hopes when i turned on that album and immediately after turning it on, I promptly turned it off. Now do NOT get me wrong- I love me some classic death metal like Devastation, Morgoth, Cancer, Entombed, Bolt Thrower, Carcass, Dismembered, Nocturnus- you get it, but that.... That sounded like a bunch of nonsense to me, like they saw where they thought the 90s were probably going and thought- Yep! Let's pack it in, guys, let's just suck.
I might be being a bit harsh, and they were just trying something new, but after those first two albums, it was just a disappointment to me. Back to my main point here, this video below will blow you away if you haven't heard it before, and if you have, then you know what I'm talking about.
Warrior
This band is a bit iffy for me, but made the cut because their first album I thought was pretty unique in a way, and had some good tunes on it. They're supposed to be future based, and NO, I would not make up a whole other sub genre called "future metal" for this.... most sub genres to me are a waste of time. Metal is metal. Anyway, this band has some class and inventiveness in their craft, and no, I'm not saying futuristic stuff was unique for the time. In fact, I'd even say it was extremely overused in the 80s- but there was a certain charm and cheesiness about it that kept me sticking around wanting more. The perception of the future from then is funny to most people, I'd assume.
Warrior writes about alien attacks and fighting for earth, so if sci-fi themed metal is your thing- then this album is for you. The releases following this seem to fall short of me recommending them, to put it nicely. It seemed like they went from exploring the sci-fi future themed stuff to watching too many documentaries on the discovery channel on how farmer Jeb saw aliens land on his farm and tell him how the pyramids were built... I was not into "Ancient Future", which was their follow up release to the one I put Below "Fighting For Earth". I still feel the album stands out enough to mention here, despite the following releases not peaking my interest.
Dementia
Here's a slice of thrash from the past, for me. I had saw this album on sale on discogs for dirt cheap and thought "I guess... Album art is questionable, but I really like that logo". I don't know where the album was actually shipped from... I think Greece or somewhere like that, but whoever shipped it did not give a shit, because I remember it came in pretty much two pieces of one ply cardboard tapped together. Luckily it was intact, so I went up to my room and gave 'er a spin. I liked it a lot! I listened to it again recently, and realized I liked it a hell of a lot more back then. I mean, I still really liked it, but I remember telling people about them like I had just heard Metallica for the first time or something.
Some of the riffs are a bit repetitive, but it has history with me, and I still enjoy it for what it is- a decent thrash release from the 80s. If you've gotten this far in the article and haven't insulted my writing 60 times yet, then thank you. Even if you just skimmed it, thanks all the same, and let me know what you think of the bands and any thoughts you have on what my next installment should be in this series.
Some of my favorite bargain bin bands... what's that mean? Well, if you haven't gathered what it means, it just is "obscure" stuff most people listen to and say "yeah, that's pretty good.", but I love it. Here is my first installment of the soon to be small series. I will be writing an article about a few of these bands themselves in the future. Possibly all of them for their own reasons they are special and remain strong in my collection to this day.
Rage
This... now THIS I have listened to countless times, and was one of the first bands I got into when i started my metal journey what seems like many a year ago. They are a German power/speed metal band I grew fond of by hearing this song. I hadn't seen this video then, not sure it was on youtube then, but I did listen to their other albums such as Execution Guaranteed, Perfect Man, and Reflections of a Shadow. I haven't heard their latest stuff, although they're still active, and just recently released a new album that looks like I probably wouldn't be too interested in it, but you never know, I'll give it a shot. Either way, their classic stuff has a hard hitting punch that still keeps me coming back for more to this day. I've even got it on cassette!
Proud Existence
When my husband and I went to see the band Cauldron back in October Satan was with them, and Ian Chains asked if we had ever seen them live, to which we replied no, but I said I used to listen to them a lot and had a short time in high school when I listened to Court in the Act along with this here album back to back for some reason. I couldn't remember the name of the band, but described the album cover, and he knew what I was talking about. I hadn't tried to look them up in years, but the day after the Cauldron/Satan show I looked them up somehow, and found this, and it brought me back to that time of playing PS2 for hours, cheeze-it's, coca-cola, and sleeping a lot.... Those were the days... sort of. This album definitely still draws me in and holds me til the end, and if I can ever find it on vinyl or something, that'd be great. Ian said he heard of them from a CD they got in Greece from a street shop or something along those lines. Go listen to Cauldron if you haven't. Great music, and true metal dudes, and very nice ones, at that. That aside, this band from Holland came to form in 1980 as Pre-Existence, and then changed their name to Proud Existence, and only had this release in 1988. They split shortly after that. This album art is crap, but the music is choice.
Scanner
Yet another German power/speed metal band that is top notch, and among the first few bands I came across while heavily getting into metal. I remember seeing this cover and thinking it looked cool, and for some reason reminded me of one of the Darkness album covers, who are ANOTHER German metal band, a thrash one, at that who I am also a big fan of. Looking at the album covers now, I don't know what the hell 13 year old me was thinking their album covers looked like, but at any rate.... I Heard this album first, then looked into more of their stuff and listened to Hypertrace, which was their first album. They've been around since 1986, and are still going around playing today. Mainly at festivals, like most long time going on again off again bands. Classic power/speed metal, give them a listen if you haven't, they might be one of your favorites if you're into that type of metal.
Meliah Rage
This next band is from Boston, and has been active since 1987. They're classified as thrash metal, but I don't know if I'd consider them a specific metal genre. A lot of people seem to quarrel over that, but I never really went to deep into that conversation. When it's easy to categorize bands, sure, I'll identify them as that genre, but when the band tends to go between sounds, or just has a sound all their own, I don't like to dispute that much, and just think of them as their own thing in the heavy metal world. Which is what I think of Meliah Rage. Between this first album they had and the other powerhouse of an album Solitary Solitude, they have their own sound that'll knock you on your feet, and still leave me nodding my head today. I just recently bought a Kill To Survive shirt they released. Not sure if there's any left. And yes, Meliah Rage themselves did sell these. I don't buy bootleg shit.
Mysto Dysto
Now more people Probably know the other band this turned into Called Mandator that formed after the 1986 release of this album, which was the only thing they had released under the Name Mysto Dysto. I remember the name of the band sticking in my head, and would look them up whenever I didn't know what I wanted to listen to that day. I still listen to this gem... I probably don't need to keep mentioning that, I already said in the intro that the reason I'm listing these bands is because they've held up strong through the years for me. When I first started getting into metal I would write down bands from this youtube channel Wolfgangvonposerkila, or TheBurningOfSodom that made videos called "Thrash Metal Gems", and this was on one of them. I would write down all the bands on the list, then cross them out when I could remember several songs from the band, name of the album, and some info on the band. Yeah, that's stupid, so what? I loved it, and it helped me find so many great bands, and I wouldn't know these bands, or remember them, for that matter, if I hadn't done that. So here they are: Mysto Dysto. Check out Mandator if you like this stuff, too. They're a bit different, but still really good.
Powerlord
Maaaaan, this production quality sounds like ass, but it's the great kinda low budget sound that just adds to the sound! But what really matter is this slice of molten metal dripping with... well, awesomeness. The scream in this intro is ear shattering! I love the singer's voice whose name is unfortunately Dane Cook.... Yep. That shitass comedian wishes he had the talent this guy did. The band has since split up, and were (probably are, they didn't get shot off the earth upon disbanding) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The only release they had was the album this song is off of "The Awakening" in 1986 (good year, eh?). I wonder what those dudes are up to now? Probably have day jobs at some office with short hair and 5 kids or something. Either way, this is a great tune, off a great album in my opinion. That riff in this song is almost hypnotic...
Mezzrow
These dudes don't mess around when it comes to thrash metal. A lot of great metal has come out of Sweden, and this is certainly among them for me. I think they definitely deserve more people hearing this than the amount that have heard it. This whole album "Then Came The Killing" is great from start to finish. Great guitar tone, I might add, and pretty good production sound for a small band with only one release. They have since split, and have a brief reunion in 2005 for a festival, which there apparently was a DVD of that only the band distributed directly. I feel like they should have used the picture they used on the back of the album instead of the picture they used on the front. i remember seeing the music video and thinking they were cool, then looked them up and saw the name of the album, and looked it up to see a bland-ass picture on the front, but, hey, a lot of kinda obscure stuff has lame covers, and great music. It's better to be more concerned with the content itself, instead of the cover and looking cool and all that jazz. I need to get this on vinyl, still. Very powerful, full sounding thrash with whit and force. Check 'em out! That's it for this one, stayed tuned for more, and thank you for reading, and listening! If you get this far, let me know what you think on the facebook fanpage for Thrashdance Fanzine!
When you think of New Jersey (no, wait, I'm talking about metal, keep that vomit down) metal, you probably think Overkill and, Skid Row, and some garbage I'd rather not say... Yeah, it's not got much goin' for it, does it? WRONG! I'm from New Jersey, and there are some bands I truly love and admire from there. I feel they get overlooked quite a bit, and I'd like to show you if you already don't know them. I'm not saying you don't, because you very well might, but I just feel like for the sake of my homeland.... State... there are some redeemable qualities.
Gothic Slam
First up is a bit of north jersey, from Jersey City (clever name, eh?) the band Gothic Slam. Formerly known as Stryker, with no notable releases aside from a demo in '86 that was passed out probably from home recorded cassettes. They reformed and changed their name in '87 to Gothic Slam, and relocated from Union City, NJ, to the aforementioned Jersey City, NJ. They were signed at first to Torrid Records (Who also had Mucky Pup(?), Tension, Hades, and Exodus for the album Bonded By Blood singed to them, but the label no longer exists), then for their second album, were signed to Roadracer Records, which has since changed its name, and had the parent label Roadrunner Records, which might sound more familiar. I'm not sure about any prominent tours they did, they might've been around NJ and Philly, but nothing I could find. They had only 2 studio albums including their first in 1988 entitled "Killer Instinct", and their second "Just A Face In The Crowd" (featured below), and that was it. They're not my favorite on this list, but i feel they make the cut, and I like to sit down and listen to them from time to time. Pretty decent production quality for a not so well known band. There are some solid and catchy riffs throughout. The vocals are decent, as well, although they hafta be the slight downside to me. Give it a listen if you haven't!
Faith or Fear
Now we're heading up in the ranks. This band is one of the first underground bands I got into when I first started listening to metal. I'm not sure how I came across them, probably the same way I did most bands I love now: Youtube. You know how it goes, you listen to some Vicious Rumors, you see all these awesome looking covers for band's albums on the side in the suggested area, and you listen to some of your future favorite for hours on end. I had heard "Punishment Area", and my first thought was "Punishment Area? Couldn't have thought of a better name? Sounds like where you tell your kids they're gonna end up when they draw a horse on the wall or something...". But then.... then I heard the opening riff to the first track on the album, the title track. It starts off with guitars, then the drums and bass come in. My pupils more than likely dilated, and I immediately wanted to hear more. The powerful vocals, the good drum work, the hammering solos. Shortly after hearing the title track, I listened to the whole album, then promptly looked up the record on ebay or discogs, and bought it. Now that I think about it, I couldn't get to a record store at the time, although I feel I might've found it if I went a little north to some flea markets, since they were from NJ, but alas, it came from the magik of the internet. Anyhow, it spun for hours and hours on my Dad's old record player, and eventually the record/cassette/CD player my Dad got me for my birthday (Thanks Pop!). It never seemed to get old for me, and still holds strong to this day. Quick side note: I asked Bobby Blitz if he liked them when I did a meet and greet for Kreator and Overkill (Yeah, I payed for that shit, don't judge me), and he replied "Yeeeeeah! I mean... it's not like we BBQed on the weekends or anything, but I like them! A shame about the bassist CJ." CJ was the bassist, and after their second reformation, he collapsed onstage unfortunately and passed away. They are marked as "still active" on metal archives, which is a website I use soley for info, they're dicks when it comes to submitting bands *cough cough* Blood Curse *loud angry cough* and writing reviews, for which i tried countless times, and had good form, and proper grammar, yet these assholes writing half asses reviews about how albums suck get okayed..... but ANYWAY... You know what? Check out Faith or Fear if you haven't. They are a good listen and worth your time, I believe and deserve more praise for their past contribution to metal. On a parting note, they had two full length albums, "Punishment Area" being the first, coming out in 1989, and another entitled "Titanium" which came out in 2012, both coming out on Lost and Found records, which seems to have a current roster of Faith or Fear.... and that's it. They had a few notable bands on them in the past such as Tokyo Blade, Forced Entry, Firehouse (keep the vomit down...), and Acid Reign, among others.
Hades
Here is band that has to be my favorite on this list. I can safely say, I've even listened to them more than I have Faith or Fear. Obviously, not because I don't like Faith or Fear, seeing as how I put them on this short list, and have all that written up there, Hades just takes it up a few notches in my book. Same deal with how I came across them as how I found Faith or Fear, searching on the obscure side of youtube. The first opening notes of album "If at First You Don't Succeed..." were ingrained in my mind first thing.... the eerie guitar sets you up for the blistering riffs and absolute gold on drums, along with the icing on the proverbial cake: the vocals! Those of you familiar with Alan Tecchio, that's who is belting out these awesome lyrics. Yep! That dude that sang for Watchtower, and Seven Witches.... which you might see on here.... even next perhaps! You'll never know unless you keep reading or scroll down! Back to the matter at hand: Hades. After hearing the opening track "Opinionate!" I was hooked. Those drums always mezmorized me, later when I purchased the record (same way as "Punishment Area"), I found out the drummer Tom Coombs was a drum teacher in NJ at the time. If he were still around, I would definitely take lessons from him. Whereas I don't understand why the hell Dave Holland of Judas Priest had a drum school.... "Hey kids, here's how to hit the high hat, snare and kick in succession until the song is done. 300$ please". They lyrics are another thing I really enjoy from this band. They don't just play to play, they have a message, and i can definitely relate it to. A lot of their lyrical content is about how destructive and violent money can make people and has, that you should think for yourself, pretty much a "wake up and smell the flowers" kind of idea. Now, that's nothing new, but it's all in the presentation, and power of the music behind it, which all falls into place and hits hard with this album. Everything still rings true today, and has been one of the main albums I go back to countless times today. They have 6 full length albums, the one I'm speaking of being the second one to come out in 1988, the following records span throughout the years, the last one coming out in 2001. They're still on the same record label they've always been on: Metal Blade. So I say to you, check these guys out, because they are a powerhouse of hard hitting heavy metal from New Jersey that won't disappoint, and if they do, then... I don't care, I still think they're outstanding.
Seven Witches
See? Just keep on reading, and you'll get to it... Oh... you scrolled down? ...Alright. Well, in any case let's get to it. Now I know I had mentioned Alan Tecchio was in this line-up at some point, but it's not until later in their carrer he showed up, as he did vocals from 2005-2007, and then from 2011-2012. So don't be saying "mmmm gurl where them Alan Tecchio vocals?!" when you listen to the song I link below, which come from their first album entitled "Second War In Heaven" from the futuristic year of 1999. The band Formed in 1998. I'm noticing a trend so far in all the bands I've listed... they're all christian and write about christian themed topics in their lyrics. What was in the NJ waters then? Not that there's anything wrong with that, just saying, you can still be Christian and not shove it in everyone's face and have awesome music to go along with it. Seven Witches writes about Christianity in their songs, among other topics, and make their message loud and clear from the unyeilding power in the vocals from Bobby Lucas, who sang for them from 1999-200, so a 2 year singing stint in Seven Witches. He didn't go on to do anything else to my knowledge, if you know of anything he did, let me know down there in the comments (*gasp* there's a comment section?!). Their singer changed up quite a bit from album to album, along with a few member changes, aside from who I am guessing is the founding member on guitars: Jack Frost, who also had a solo project called "Frost Bite". and played for "Poets and Madmen" tour for Savatage on a two year tour (that bit of info was provided by my awesome Husband Aaron). Johnny Kelly, their drummer at the current time was also in one of my favorite bands for a while, Danzig, along with a few others such as Type O-Negative, and Black Label Society. So he's seasoned in that aspect. Enough with being fed facts, how about the sound? If you are into classic power metal, this is definitely for you. The vocals are pure power, the riffs are aggressive, while still staying clean, and have an overall feel of maybe something of a Liege Lord feel to them combined with an almost Queensryche feel. If you'd like some catchy tunes that have power and purpose, give these guys a listen.
Attacker
Now here is one that I know a lot of you know, but not sure if people know that they're from New Jersey. A lot of great things have come from New Jersey. I can honestly say I wasn't aware until not too long ago they were from New Jersey. I had listened to them a bunch previously, then found out and was pleasantly surprised. The album I've posted below is their first, hitting the scene in September 1985. There must have been some awesome shows back in the 80s in 'Jersey, because a lot of these bands were on Metal Blade records, as Attacker was on the first record "Battle At Helm's Deep" and seemed to jump from label to label on their albums in years to come. They finally settled on Metal on Metal Records from Italy. They are currently still with them, with their last release coming out in 2016. Now their debut one is the one that caught my eye, and ear, as it may have for many. The cover sticks in my head, and is the one I think of when Attacker is mentioned. It's a bit goofy with the guy fighting the... Dragon lizard thing's face looks a bit melted, but hey, I can't draw, so who am I to talk? Thankfully the record is infinitely better than the art on the cover. The vocals are unique to me in that they are strong while having a slight raspiness to them, while grabbing your attention til there is silence at the end of the album. The guitar is loud and proud with sharp clean solos, and qaulity drum work. They are one of the true 80s power metal bands, not what people think is power metal today: just shitty messy garbage riffs riddled with bad synth work. No, this is the meaning of power metal: it makes you want to stand up and shout... or at least picture that in your head, and it has a powerful sound, as I believe the meaning of power metal is. At any rate, here's their first release, if you haven't heard it, take a listen, and if you have, listen AGAIN! Because it is a great release, from a great band.
I could go on for this list, but for now, I will leave you with a thank you and plenty of time to listen to these gems. There may be a second installment of this type, so as usual, stay tuned!
Was the resurrection of Viking something that came on suddenly, or had you been thinking of doing it for a while? Was it hard to get a hold of everyone, and were they up for it immediately?
For years I had never considered it, really didn't think anyone was interested in hearing from Viking again. Then a series of things happened that led to Matt Jordan and I talking about the reality of doing it again. Although we tried numerous times and various methods, we were never able to get Brett or James to respond at all. Now, Justin Zych (Formerly of Argonaut, Valhalla, Vindicator, etc.), and Mike Gonzalez (Dark Angel) are the members of the band that joined upon the reuniting of Viking, how did they come to be in the band?
I usually don't like it when bands continue on without the original members. To me, Kiss was always Ace, Gene, Paul, and Peter, and Slayer was always Tom, Kerry, Jeff, and Dave. But when it became apparent that Brett and James weren't going to participate, we didn't want that to stop the momentum of the new material coming out, because it was clearly very Viking. So we tried to "keep it in the family," by recruiting Glenn Rogers (Deliverance, Hirax) who had been our stage manager through the 80s and had always been a great friend of Brett's. We didn't know what to do about bass, and originally had a local guy filling the spot. Then, by sheer coincidence, Gonzo (Mike Gonzalez of Dark Angel) texted Gene out of the blue and Gene was all, "You'll never guess where I am right now... I'm in the studio recording the new Viking album!" Gonz immediately asked if they had a bass player. The next day, we were on the phone and working out the details of him being in the band full-time. This was great, because he was as close in the family as we could imagine. Our second Viking show (Nov 21, 1986 at the Whiskey A Go Go in Hollywood) was opening for Dark Angel on their Darkness Descends album release show, which was Gonzo's first show. And the bands had been friends ever since that night. Then Glenn had to back out because he had joined the re-formed Heretic. I met Justin through a mutual friend and he was already a Viking fan and a MONSTER player. He showed up to the first rehearsal fully prepared and we've never had to look back. And as anyone who's seen us live knows, he has made Viking shows even more insane.
Photo by Robert Escue
Your first band, Tracer, had one demo entitled "Sudden Death", that included three songs that were never really used again, to my knowledge. Thoughts on that demo?
First thought: It was terrible! But at the time, we were pretty happy with it. It's so dated now, but we did get "Militia of Death" resurrected when Viking first got together. That song is really the only reason we have the demo for sale in the Viking Merch Store (shop.vikingthrashmetal.com). It's great for fans to see the major influence that Brett had in directing our sound and our speed from where we were in Tracer into the early days of Viking. The transition of guitarist, to singer/guitarist happened after Tony Vargas (or Tony Spider at the time in Tracer) left Tracer, and Viking was in formation, how was that for you?
They really were two different entities. Tony was only there for the demo - we never did any live shows because we couldn't find a decent vocalist who wanted to stick around. And at some point, we broke up. I definitely wasn't a transition from one to the other. Specifically, the change from guitarist to singer/guitarist was initially fairly difficult. Fortunately, the music I was listening to at the time were the first albums from Slayer and Metallica. So I took cues from those singer/players as to how to fit vocals in with riffs. Sometimes it's a piece of cake, other times (like with pretty much every song on the new album), it takes a LOT of work to be able to play and sing together. What stage name Ronnie Devious from the Tracer days... What was up with that?
That stage name actually started in the band before, which was the Hags. When I was asked to join that pretty popular band in the Orange County punk scene, I needed a stage name. And there was a kid at school who absolutely hated me, always saying things like, "That Ron Daniel is so devious!" At the time, I was seeing the band Witch quite a bit in the clubs, and their guitar player was "Ronny Too", and I thought "Ronny Devious" had good assonance. Your last name, Eriksen, was also used by Brett, but he wasn't, and isn't your blood relative, reason for that? And do you go by Ron Daniel, for that reason?
Eriksen was another stage name. Brett and I both decided to use it and do the "brothers in a band" thing, since there were a million bands that had no story, nothing for the magazines to write about. So it was just two unrelated guys - Ron Daniel and Brett Sarachek - who took on stage names.
Photo by Robert Escue
What brought about the name Viking for the band? Who did the logo design, and are you still fond of it to this day?
I don't remember exactly how far into songwriting we were at that point. I know we'd done "Hellbound" and resurrected "Militia of Death". I do remember having an epiphany of simplicity one day and calling Brett on the phone and excitedly telling him, "Let's just call it 'Viking' and we'll be the Erickson brothers!" He immediately agreed, but specified that we spell Erickson the Danish way, as "Eriksen". Matt Jordan drew up a logo out of stone and horns and we all liked it immediately. Our first stickers were made from that first drawing. You can see it on the cover of our 1986 "Do or Die" demo on our website's music page (vikingthrashmetal.com/music). I wasn't at all happy with the interpretation of it that the painter did on the first album, so I drew a new "official" penciled version of it before "Man of Straw" came out and James airbrushed the horns. Unfortunately, that one got pretty well ruined on the "Man of Straw" cover. But we've salvaged it for the re-released, the stickers, and of course for the new album "No Child Left Behind". As a graphic designer, I really don't like the logo, only because it creates a giant blank space at the top between the horns. We've slightly shortened the horns from the original, but it still can be a pain to design around. What are the memories that stick out the most to you while you recorded your first album "Do or Die", and where did you record it?
We recorded the first album at Adamo's Recording in Westminster, California. Gerry (Adamo, owner/engineer) didn't do rock music, much less thrash metal, but I was stupidly concerned about proximity to my house. (When we'd recorded the demo, I'd slept on Brett's floor in Redondo Beach so we would get to the studio first thing in the morning. I woke up with a sinus infection, and the demo's vocals suffered for it.) So the choice of studio was ONLY based on it being close to my house. We'd recorded the Tracer demo there, and that should have clued me in. But I was a teenager who couldn't be convinced I wasn't always right, so that was that. The difference was obvious. When you listen to Chuck Rosa's engineering of drums (he did Abbatoir, Laaz Rockit, etc.), they sound a million times better on the demo than the drum sound we got on the album. Since he wasn't a metal guy, when we would tell Gerry "make it heavier," to him that meant "turn up the bass frequencies." The album was a disaster, top to bottom. The only reason it has survived as one of the classic thrash albums is because the songs are so strong. You guys were on Metal Blade records after "Do Or Die". How was that? Did they give you good treatment, and did they promote the band well?
They must have done their job right, since people all over the world got ahold of our album. As far as treatment, everyone was always friendly. We were clueless about almost everything, so it would have been nice to have someone hand-holding and explaining everything and what we should be doing, but that really is the job of a manager, and we never had one. Any notable tours that had lots of great crowds and memories from the tour following that album?
We had no idea what we were doing. No one told us to tour on the record, so we just kept playing all over Southern California the way we had been. Crowds were getting bigger, but like I said, we had no manager, so we wouldn't have known how to book a tour or anything. We didn't even know how to get t-shirts made. We were 100% clueless at that point. What were you heavily influenced by in the 80s, and do they still hold true to how you shape your sound today?
I spent all of high school listening to AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Dio, and just about every local L.A. band out there. Steeler, Ratt, Witch, Armored Saint, Ruthless, etc. When I got ahold of the Metallica demo, and later Slayer's "Show No Mercy" and Venom's "Black Metal", those are what mostly shaped how I thought music should be played. Sure, I can sit down with an acoustic guitar and write a song, but as a guitar player and lyricist, the Viking thing is really all I know how to do. Being a thrash band from the Los Angeles area, you had a lot of surrounding bands, Dark Angel, being the one Viking seemed to be the most involved with, how did that happen?
We made friends that first Whiskey show. By coincidence, I had also bugged Goldenvoice enough that we got the opening slot on the Megadeth show that was at Fender's Ballroom in Long Beach two weeks later. Dark Angel was on that bill as well, along with Sentinel Beast. So we had two shows together in two weeks. After that, Jim (Durkin), Gene (Hoglan), Brett and I, were always hanging out in some combination. Any other thrash band we knew usually happened by making friends with them at the parties that were always happening at Jim Durkin's apartment.
Did the progression of metal and the scene itself intrigue you while Viking evolved(ie, death metal, grindcore, crossover, speed metal), or were you immersed in your music?
I was never really exposed to a lot of music in the scene. I remember liking Testament's "The Legacy", Forbidden's "Forbidden Evil" and Artillery's "Terror Squad". But I was never a collector of music, and was busy with Viking. When I left Viking and moved away to Oregon, I totally lost track of the metal scene. I missed the rise of Pantera and of all the genre splits that happened. To this day, I can't tell you the difference between Death Metal, Doom Metal, Grindcore, Industrial, etc. I just know what I like and what I don't. I don't like Cookie Monster vocals, and I don't like stuff that's so technical I can't follow it or headbang to it. I don't like blast beats that are so fast I can't even tell what's going on. I don't like opera-sounding show tunes. I love heavy riffs, great vocalists, and lyrics that aren't banal and stupid. I'm just an oldschool metalhead who likes good metal, whatever that may mean to me. The second studio album Viking had, "Man of Straw", was recorded in 1989. Did it take long to come up with that material, or did you already have it ready at that point?
Before "Do or Die" came out, we had already played enough live shows to realize what fans responded to and how to arrange songs to orchestrate that. Plus, Gene had been challenging me to go deeper with my lyric writing. He never gave me words, but he challenged me in ways like, "You're an eloquent guy, so instead of just saying you're splitting a skull with an axe, why don't you describe how it feels to rip the jawbone from a man?" So the lyrics got less "demons and battles" and more topical and descriptive. So we were writing a ton of new material, and really wanting to get the second album out there, especially because we knew the first one was getting such bad reviews for the sound quality of it. What was the idea behind Man Of Straw, and was it reflected heavily in the album art? Whose idea was it, or was it collective?
The Man of Straw is an unstable schizophrenic. He looks into the mirror and sees someone completely different. Something angry, something horrifying, something destructive. We had the artist incorporate some of the other song themes into it as well. So it's snowing outside for "Winter", the guy has a wedding ring on the wrong finger for "Creative Divorce" and there's a helicopter crashing for "Twilight Fate". Incidentally, a lot of fans thought we somehow prophesied the 9-11 disaster on that album cover. But that is a helicopter, not a plane . I think most of the album cover idea came from me and Matt Jordan. Ultimately, it was John Zeleznik who put it all together in such an awesome way. He was fresh out of art school at the time, but then went on to become a very famous artist, doing high-profile work like calendars for Heavy Metal magazine and cards for Magic: The Gathering.
Photo by Robert Escue
How did the recording of that album go? Did you have better gear this time, did it take long in the studio, you know, things like that.
"Man of Straw" was so incredibly different. We had the legendary Bill Metoyer () engineering for us, and Gene Hoglan was our drum tech. We recorded it in multiple studios, each chosen for their strengths. We weren't pressed for time, and we wanted to do it right this time around. The band agreed that I would produce, which basically meant we let Bill do his thing, and whenever there was a choice he wanted us to make, I would make it. Other than a few minor mistakes, notes out of pitch, etc., I'm still very happy with that record. Was Man Of Straw well received to your fans at the time, and how do you feel it holds up today?
I don't remember the exact timing, but I left the band shortly after "Man of Straw" hit the streets, and moved out of state. So I never heard from anyone what the response was. Years later, I've heard so much great response that I imagine it was well-received. However, the most common adjective used to describe the album is still "underrated." As far as I'm concerned, it's a great record and I still like listening to it. What eventually lead to your departure of Viking, and what did you do in your absence?
That would be a long and philosophical answer. The short version is that the life I was trying to live as a new Christian wasn't going to be compatible with the Helstar tour we were about to go on. I looked for a replacement for me so that the band didn't have to disintegrate, but couldn't find anyone.
In my absence, I didn't pick up a guitar for over a year. I started studying the Bible at a high-college level and eventually became a teacher. What were your thoughts on the track released after you left Viking called "Abortuary", and the general idea of how they sounded?
"Abortuary" was the only song we had completed for the third Viking record. I had written it while Brett was on the Dark Angel "Leave Scars" tour using an Alesis HR16 drum machine. We would have no doubt refined it once Brett returned - Brett and I always tweaked each others' songs in rehearsals for various reasons, and they were almost always better for it. (I think I made the song "Man of Straw" worse by changing the intro from a chromatic progression into an actual musical key, but other than that they were always better). Anyway, "Abortuary" was a snapshot of an early, unrefined tune. When Lost & Found Records said they were re-releasing "Man of Straw" and asked for bonus material, that was all I had to offer them in terms of "new" music. It sounded just like I expected it to sound - a cheap four-track cassette recording with a cheesy 80's drum machine.
After the years of being gone from Viking, and seeming to break away from the band itself, what made you want to start the band up again?
For years, Glenn Rogers had been telling me I should resurrect Viking. But neither Matt nor I had really given it much thought. Then a record company contacted me, asking for anything at all they could release. I had already given "Abortuary" to Lost & Found Records, and had nothing else to give them. That started my brain down a path of what new Viking material would sound like, and what it would be about. Things just sort of snowballed from there.
Photo by Robert Escue
When all the members you got together met up, did you all hang out first, then find a practice space and get to writing a new album, or did it all just happen while playing old tunes or something?
I actually just started writing, and talking a lot with Matt. We're on opposite sides of the country, so an early rehearsal wasn't going to be practical. Where was/is your practice space?
I'm based in Fort Wayne, Indiana now, so we practice in a warehouse that our guitar player Justin has. He's in a number of bands, and needs that much space for everything he does. Was the response to Viking coming back a shock to you, and were you happy with how things were going, and did you feel comfortable with the situation at first?
I was frankly astounded at the reaction. I really didn't think almost anybody cared about Viking. But when we put up a Facebook page and immediately started getting hundreds, then thousands, of followers, I saw that people were interested in what we had done all those years ago, and in what we were planning on doing.
The recording of No Child Left Behind started in 2011, if I recall correctly, and it was released in March of this year (2015). Was the length of time all recording, and mixing, and all, or were there technical issues or something that you had to work around in that time before release?
The writing didn't take long at all. I initially wanted to get this out very quickly, and once Matt's schedule made it apparent that I could delay or have Gene step in, I thought it was important to keep the momentum going. Gene's collaboration provided that springboard that I no longer had without Brett, so that turned out to be a very good thing. We couldn't get bass recorded until about 4 months later, but then the real delays started happening. I won't go into all the details, but it was a string of really difficult obstacles. The two biggest ones were my mom unexpectedly dying, and several computer issues and Pro Tools issues that hamstrung us for months at a time. The title of the album "No Child Left Behind", to what was it referring, and was this topic thought up and important to all the band members?
Ever since "Man of Straw," the band has always left lyrical content totally up to me. In this case, "No Child Left Behind" actually has multiple interpretations. On the surface, it is a play on words between the controversial law that the US Congress enacted to somehow "fix" our education system, with Viking invaders storming a village and leaving no survivors. But there are deeper interpretations for it, including what our prison system does to underage criminals.
Now that brings me to the recent tour you just finished up a few days ago. What started that tour, and how did you recruit Possessor to go on the tour with you guys? Did you hear them somewhere and think they were awesome and really cool guys?
Our tours start with events we get invited to, and we build road trips around them. In this case, we were asked to play the NYDM Spring Bash in Milwaukee, so we had Signature Riff book us a two-week tour leading up to it. We didn't know Possessor at all, and never met them until the night of the first show in Cleveland. Within a few days, we were becoming friends, and by the end of the tour we were all genuinely sad to be going our separate ways. We'd gladly tour with them again anytime - to a man, they are fantastic people to be around.
Did you have good turn outs to the shows, and were the responses as good as you had hoped?
Turnout to shows mostly depended on the night of the week. As we expected, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays had fantastic attendance, whereas Sundays and Mondays generally stunk. The response to the band is consistently great. Although it is interesting to see the personality of the metal scene in various cities. Some crowds wouldn't start a pit even if you paid them, and others you can barely get them to stop between songs! Any moments you feel stand out among others during the the shows you played and afterwards?
For me, the most impacting times of the tour are the interactions with fans who we've had influence on over the years. I remember being 13/14 and building my musical foundation with certain albums, and when I hear from guys that they did the same thing with Viking records, I am deeply impacted in my heart. Especially when it's guys who went on to create their own music. That just blows me away every time. Was this the first full length tour you had done after reforming Viking?
This was the longest run we've done so far. I think the ones we've done before have been about five shows each.
What was your favorite place to play, and why?
That's an impossible question. Some venues treat bands great, some cities have amazing, rabid fans, and sometimes it's just a magical combination of things. There were a couple cities that really stood out, but I wouldn't want to discount the others.
The last fews weeks of the tour seemed pretty hectic with the sudden leave of Justin, and replacing him on tour with Shaun Cothron (Acheron), along with suddenly getting bronchitis. That must have been rough, but how did you find Shaun so quickly, and how did you cope with the bronchitis (which didn't seem to affect your vocals in my opinion)?
I appreciate the fans who complimented the vocals on the tour, when I was operating at 10-20% of my ability. But I think they were probably just caught in the adrenaline of the intensity of the show. In reality, I was pretty devastated to not be able to deliver vocally the way I know I can night after night. I learned new and interesting ways to deliver the songs and it seemed to satisfy. As for Shaun, he is an amazing player and a fast study. We had been keeping in mind that with Justin's baby due just a couple weeks after the tour ended, we might find ourselves up a creek. Which we did, and we had a tentative plan. We did miss a show, but Shaun flew in to Atlanta and we picked him up and started going over things immediately. Any favorite bands you have from the metal scene nowadays, and what are your thoughts in general on the metal scene now?
I really don't follow the scene closely at all. First, I'm afraid of my brain picking up other bands' sounds and riffs, and I really want to keep myself on the Viking path as purely as I can keep it. So I really don't hear much in the way of bands. However, the other night I caught a lot of Deceased's set and those guys have some monstrous riffs and such a fantastic frontman. I met King Fowley afterwards, and he gave me his favorite CD from the band's discography. I'm really looking forward to devouring that. I promise to try not to steal any of their riffs! As for the scene in general, it's difficult to see live concerts not getting the attendance they did in the 80s. I'm thankful for all the clubs in Southern California that didn't have over 18 or over 21 rules - I was able to go to shows four or five nights a week. But fans need to step up. Seeing your favorite band on YouTube a few days later isn't the same for you, and sure isn't the same for the band. We do this for the fans, and we really need you to show us that we're not doing it for nothing. In closing, what would you like to do next with Viking, and are you happy with where you are right now with your life and the band?
I'm rarely happy with where I am in life, but that's my own mental issue. As far as what's next for Viking, we're hoping that some larger festivals take notice of what is happening with us and see the kind of show we give crowds. Regardless, we will keep playing live for fans as often as we can, whether there's 30 of them or 30 thousand.
This is an interview I did for Brad Hull of Froced Entry; one of the first "underground" 80s thrash bands I got into when I was 13 or so (I'm now 23); Forced Entry. Enjoy! And don't forget, I was about 19 or so, cut me some slack. I asked some idiotic questions and asked in odd manners. Just concentrate on the answers.... that's the cool part. Anyway, enjoy.
We all know of the impact that the bay area thrash movement made on the underground world, and is still renowned by all of the metal world today, but what about Washington? More specifically, Seattle. There were some hard ‘n’ heavy bands out of there, Metal Church, Sanctuary, Bitter End, etc. But there was always one that seemed to be slightly overlooked, and I think that’s just wrong. That band is Forced Entry. They had blistering riffs, hard-hitting lyrics, and an overall aggressive controlled sound to them a lot of people have yet to hear. The guitarist, Brad Hull is still out and about thrashin it up, and I thought it would be most excellent to get a chance to talk to him about what he’s been doin’, and what he has done. He’ll also give you a good feel about what Forced Entry was about, and their musical style. Take it away, Brad!
Photo by Side Kick
So let's dive into this first off by finding out what you've been up to nowadays. You recently left your Metallica tribute band Blistered Earth, and I believe you went to Sanctuary from there? Am I missing anything, there? And what was the reason for leaving Blistered Earth?
BRAD: “I’d rather not talk about the reasons why I left Blistered Earth. Let’s just say they were trying to do something that I didn’t agree with. But yes, I have been the touring guitar player for Sanctuary for the last two years. I actually started playing with Sanctuary before I left Blistered Earth. In fact, Blistered Earth’s current guitar player who replaced me, filled in for me when I went to Greece with Sanctuary.” How'd you end up in Sanctuary? I know they were, and still are, in the Seattle metal scene, but have you known them since they started or did you guys start hangin a few years ago or something?
BRAD: “I’ve known the guys in Sanctuary for 20+ years. In fact, I used to go over to drummer Dave Budbill’s house and play board games, like Hotels or Life. In 1992, they had a US tour lined up and their guitar player Sean Blosl quit the band and left them hanging. I heard about it and asked if I could try out. I went over to the other guitar player’s house (Lenny Rutledge) and learned the majority of their songs in about 3 hours. Fortunately, I was already very familiar with their tunes. So that helped a lot. Then I did that ’92 tour with them.” How've the gigs been for you? Any crazy times or yarns you'd like to spin to the readers?
BRAD: “The gigs have been AWESOME. Packed houses. Lots of support from the fans. Crazy times? On our first trip to Greece, we were in Thessaloniki and our hotel was about 45 minutes from downtown. We got to the city at about 2 pm their time. Hung out and drank and actually ran into a few fans who were going to the show the following night. Around 10 pm everyone else was tired and wanted to get back to the hotel. We got on a city bus, but I didn’t want to go back at all. I was having so much fun! So the bus went about 2 blocks and I asked Lenny what time Lobby Call was. He said 9:30 am. The next time the bus stopped, I told him, “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow!” and jumped off the bus. I proceeded to walk around Greece drinking Heineken on the streets (You can buy a 16 oz Heineken for 80 cents Euro in these little kiosks on every street corner). I wandered around a few hours catching the nightlife and stumbled into the club called 8-Ball, that had a metal band playing. When the show was over, I was outside smoking a cigarette. I asked this guy if he had any weed. He said, “I’ve got some hash.” So we went back to his and his girlfriend’s apartment with a bunch of other people and smoked hash and listened to her play classical piano for hours. I got up at 7:15 am, wandered down to the bus stop, caught my bus back to the hotel, made lobby call by 9:20!”
Is Sanctuary planning on coming out with any new material?
BRAD: “Yes! They just recently signed to Century Media, have been writing a lot of new songs, and I think we’re slated to record in August/September. Album titled “The Year the Sun Died.”
I noticed you were playing a '96 Carvin DC127 in a few pictures, is that a new addition, or an old reliable?
BRAD: “Bought it in ’96, so you could say old reliable.”
What's your favorite guitar you've used and what makes it so nice?
BRAD: “My white ’92 Gibson Explorer. It just plays really well, stays in tune better than any guitar I’ve ever known, and the tone is incredible. When we played Barge to Hell last December, I was told by three different sound guys (from other bands on the ship) that I had the best guitar of any band that tour.” Any guitar you've yet to snag and shred that you've been wanting for a long time?
BRAD: “Nope.”
What are your thoughts on the modern metal scene? Are there any bands you really like that are newer?
BRAD: “I don’t listen to a ton of new music, so I’m not really that familiar with all the new killer bands that are coming out. I’m kinda old skool I guess. Gimme ‘Reign In Blood’ or ‘Ride the Lightening’, Led Zepplin or AC/DC, and I’m happy.”
-Alright, now for some Forced Entry talk!-
How did you, Tony Benjamins, And Colin Mattson meet and were you guys all into the same kind of music?
BRAD: “I used to play soccer with Tony when we were 7 years old. Then when I was about 16, and had been playing guitar for a very short time, someone told me Tony could play “Another Thing Coming” solo note for note. So I walked over there with my buddy, knocked on his door, and said, “I hear you can play “Another Thing Coming” solo note for note!” We went down into his room and he played it for me. It was okay. Not really note for note. But we jammed a little bit and things clicked. So we decided to form a band. We went through a few drummers and then met Colin at a keg party. He came over to jam and we all hit it off good.”
“…Because we get letters every single day from people who say they saw the video, or their friend bought the album but they can’t seem to find it in any record store!!”
Before Forced Entry was named that, you guys were Critical Condition, was that your first band?
BRAD: “Yes. In Critical Condition we were a five piece. Tony played guitar at that time. We had a different bass player and singer. In fact, we had several different bass players and singers. As we progressed as a band, the bass players and singers just couldn’t keep up. So Tony switched to bass and then we went through a couple more singers. Finally, we just said Fuck It. Booted the last singer to the curb and decided to sing ourselves.” Where’d the name “Forced Entry” come from? Or why did it suit the band?
BRAD: “When Quiet Riot came out with their second album, Condition Critical, we felt it was too close a name to Critical Condition and didn’t want to be associated with them in any way. Tony came to us with a list of names he thought up and we picked Forced Entry because we were determined to force our way into the music scene.” Was Combat Records a good label to be on in those days? Did they treat you guys well and all?
BRAD: “Combat was an okay label to be on, but we were happy just to be on any type metal label. They treated us okay in the beginning, but we had really poor distribution. We couldn’t even get distributed in Europe. As time went on, they got worse. We switched to Relativity for our second album (Combat was a subsidiary of Relativity). They got our videos played on Headbanger’s Ball and I remember the Vice President calling to say, “Your video for Never a Know, But the No has been played on MTV more than any other Combat band. Aren’t you guys happy?” Tony told him, “NO! Because we get letters every single day from people who say they saw the video, or their friend bought the album but they can’t seem to find it in any record store!! What good is it being played on MTV if your fans can’t even buy your record?” We also had a tour lined up with Cannibal Corpse and Carcass and our label would not give us one penny of tour support to do the tour. Thanks, guys.”(quick intrusion from me (Olivia): Holy hell that tour would have been awesome!! Heads would have exploded. Re-reading this now, and completely forgot he said that.... I don't remember a lot of these interviews. Haven't looked at them in a while.... back to the interview.)
Who was the one who wrote most of the material for FE, or was it usually a collaboration thing? I know you and Tony liked to switch back and forth with lead vocals, which is a notable touch added to the music.
BRAD: “It was a collaboration. I’d say musically, probably 50/50, me and Tony. As Tony was a guitar player initially, the stuff he wrote was on guitar. He wrote a bunch of the guitar parts as well. Tony also wrote a majority of the lyrics. On occasion, one or the other of us would come to the band with an entire song written, but that was fairly rare. We liked to collaborate.”
In the video “Macrocosm, Microcosm” you were goin’ to work on a solo walking down the sidewalk. Was that your idea? And how many people gave you crazy looks?
BRAD: “Yes, it was my idea. ALL of them gave me crazy looks. I also played that solo with no music. I just played that solo walking down the street, not even my guitar plugged in.” Who’d you get to do album art on the albums?
BRAD: “I can’t recall. I wanna say David Betts was the art guy at Combat/Relativity, but he commissioned artists to do the album covers. You could probably find the artists names if you looked at the albums.” Did you guys ever hang out with Metal Church?
BRAD: “Not really. Run into them at clubs here and there, occasionally, but they were from South Seattle and we were North End.”
I’m guessing one of your favorite bands is Metallica, since you were in a Metallica cover band, do you remember when Cliff Burton passed away and how you felt about it?
BRAD: “Yes, I remember when Cliff died. I basically thought, “Fuck. There goes that band!” Fortunately, I got to see them on the Ride the Lightening tour in 1985 at the Moore Theater.”
Are you still proud of your work in Forced Entry, and do you still pick up a guitar and jam out to some FE stuff every now and then?
BRAD: “Yes, I’m still very proud of the stuff I did in Forced Entry. I like to think that it stands strong today against the music coming out. On occasion, I do go back and play some of the stuff on the album. We had talked about doing a reunion, so I really started trying to get it down. That shit’s hard to fucking play!”
The band split up after the EP “The Shore” was done with in ’95, if I got my info right, there, was it hard trying to pump out an album, and what became of Tony and Colin?
BRAD: “The Shore came out in ’93. What was hard was trying to find a label to pick us up after we asked to be released from Relativity. It seemed like every label out there was trying to find another Nirvana. We stopped playing in ’95 as a band because we didn’t just want to keep playing the same songs over and over and be a band like Foghat that used to play huge arenas and are still slogging on the road playing shitty bars. We wanted to die with a little dignity.”
Over the years, do you feel like your guitar style has changed or that you’ve progressed a lot? Anything you’ve done that’s changed your style or anything?
BRAD: “My style has changed slightly. I don’t think I’m as aggressive as I was in my youth. If anything, I’d say I got shittier because I wasn’t forcing myself to play at my top level constantly.”
Was the scene cool in Seattle? There was Bitter End that was a pretty fast-pace technical thrash band as well from there; did you guys hang out a lot? I’ve seen flyers from shows where both bands played together.
BRAD: “The scene was awesome in Seattle! We were good friends with the majority of the bands in town. For the most part, we all played and partied together on a consistent basis. There was a lot of love and support for the other bands, while there was still competition. There was also a lot of respect.” Do you have any strange or crazy memories from touring around with Forced Entry?
BRAD: “Before we signed to Combat, CBS was courting us in Los Angeles. After we went to our business meeting with them, and scarfed down triple cheeseburgers and $8 milkshakes, they decided they’d rather not sign a band like Forced Entry. Later that night, we were walking back to our hotel from The Whisky and the A&R Rep threw an empty beer bottle into a bus stop. It smashed all over the place. This bum came out and started screaming at us, so we kinda roughed him up a little bit and went on our merry way. About three blocks later, he popped out of this alley way, cradling like five 16-ounce Coke bottles in his arms (when they were still made out of glass). He started throwing them at us and was missing by a long shot. He was kind of running away from me, and I was gonna git em, when he fished his own pint bottle of Night Train out of his inside pocket. He smashed it over my head, then pulled the old Hockey Maneuver on me, pulling my shirt up over my head, and proceeded to rake the broken bottle up and down my back. I was cut up pretty bad. We walked a block and a half to the hotel. My head was gushing blood. So I got undressed and into the bathtub. Tony had recently taken a first aid class in college and started applying pressure on the deepest cut in my back. They called 911. When the paramedics got there, they pulled me out of the tub and put me on a gurney. There was blood five feet high around the bathtub area. I remember one of the paramedics saying, “We gotta get this guy some blood!” and the other one says, “We don’t even know what type his is!” and then the first one said, “I don’t care!” They stretched both my arms out and put these huge needles in each of my arms, and took my ass to the hospital. I got 106 stitches, and they wrapped me up. Got back to the hotel about 4 am, and about 8 am we had these two chicks take us to Disney Land. Cuz we got some free passes from CBS as some sort of “consolation prize” for not signing us. It was awesome freaking all the little kids out with the stitches in my head, and my hair matted in blood!”
“Fuck you, we’re gonna drink ALL your beer!”
There any other instruments you play, or anything you have a passion
BRAD: “I also play the bass in a classic rock cover band called The Hitmen. It’s a good excuse to go out and party and get paid, plus we have a really good singer and guitar player. I like playing the old Journey and Van Halen and shit like that, with three-part harmonies. Outside the world of music, I love my dogs. I have a pit bull named Cujo. Best dog ever, totally sweet. And I’ve got an awesome girlfriend that lets me do what I want to do musically, and supports me totally in my music career.
Did someone grow up on a farm from Forced Entry, or did I just hear an odd rumor?
BRAD: “We used to practice on five acres in a suburb of Seattle called Mountlake Terrace. We had horses, pheasants, peacocks. In fact, our band room was a converted chicken coop. It was also cool because it was zoned differently from the city, so we’d throw these huge parties and the Mountlake Terrace cops couldn’t do shit! They had to bring the sheriffs out, which rarely ever happened.”
Any back story for the song “We’re Dicks”?
BRAD: “We played this show with a couple punk bands in Tacoma. We ran out of beer, so we started drinking one of the other punk band’s beer. They came in and started getting all pissy with us. So we said, “Fuck You, we’re gonna drink ALL your beer!” Then sat there and drank it in front of them. Then one of the guys said, “Fuck you, you guys are just a bunch of dicks.” About three months later, we were booked at that same venue and found out that punk band was on the bill again. So the night before the show we were at practice and Tony said, “We should write a song about those guys.” So we wrote them a lovely tune to remind them how much of pissy little bitches they were. Fuck em!”
Another song I wonder about is “Never a Know, But the No”. Those are some pretty heavy lyrics, was that about a specific happening with someone? You sang the vocals on that song, so I’d imagine you wrote the lyrics for it.
BRAD: “I did write the lyrics, but Tony wrote the title. It was nothing about anything specific that happened in my life. I just wanted to touch on the topic of verbal abuse.”
What’s your favorite band? And are there bands that would seem odd for you to like to other people who know what kind of music you play?
BRAD: “Really? Favorite band? Can I give you a few? Led Zepplin. AC/DC, Van Halen, Metallica, Slayer, Black Sabbath. KISS. I know I’m forgetting about 50 of em, but that should do ya. I like all kinds of music, but I don’t really listen to music that much. If it’s a good band, with some merit, I probably like it. Except U2. I fuckin hate U2.”
I admire that you kept the long hair, and are still doing what you love. A lot of dudes who’ve been around the metal scene for a while kind of give it up because the lack of money, and not a stable life and blah blah blah, but you’ve kept the metal flowing without yielding it seems. What kept your spirits up all these years? Do you still feel as passionate as you did in the 80s about making music?
Photo by Foto Jagla
BRAD: “I actually cut my hair, all the way, super short in about ’96. Kept it that way for about 10 years. But I wasn’t really playing. In fact, I quit playing for about 10 years to raise my son. When I got an offer to join a band in ’06, I got up on stage with my short hair and thought, “This is some fuckin bullshit.” So I started growing it back out again. What kept my spirits up? I just like to play fuckin music and bang my head! I’m not as passionate about writing music now as I was then, because I haven’t had as much opportunity. So far, I haven’t done any writing with Sanctuary. Hopefully that will change in the future as I continue to play with them. I’ve got a few ideas and a couple complete songs written.” Let’s wrap this up with a bit of a quintessential well… wrapper upper: What are your plans and hopes for the future? And what are your thoughts on your life as a musician so far?
BRAD: “I’d like to continue doing what I’m doing. Hopefully be in a position to write some more killer music for the world to hear. Of course, get up on stage and bang my fuckin head! Cuz that’s what I really love! I wish I’d made a lot more money doing what I love, but I can’t complain. I’m still able to play and tour the world and do things that millions of other musicians might never have the chance to do. Can’t complain at all, but I still like to sometimes….LOL….”
Thanks for your time, Brad!
BRAD: “Thank you so much, Olivia, for seeking me out and giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts with your fans. Horns up, BITCHES!!”
Photo drawn by Mortuus Art
I know the names will contradict the material, but I like this picture a lot and wanted to include it.
