I was never really much of a fan of MARDUK until I heard this black metal masterpiece. Serpent Sermon goes down as one of the greatest black metal albums I’ve ever heard. From the collected chaos of the first track “Serpent Sermon” right down to the downright old school rawness of “World Of Blades,” this album showcases all that is good in the black metal universe.
Amongst the onslaught of blast beats and more down tuned tremolo picking, “Serpent Sermon” certainly owns the right for the album namesake. Mortuus’ vocals are gritty and menacing as always, providing the mood of the album. Blast beats are abound, and when the music slows down it stays heavy and satisfying. Which brings me to another aspect of why this release is superior to most other black metal releases. The clean tone of the guitars really bring out the very best sound throughout the whole band.
In ways I cannot properly explain, the intro for “Souls For Belial” has a retro tone that makes me think of late 80’s metal. But after that, it heads into a blast beat marathon that puts most other drummers to shame. The guitars don’t really do too much here except provide extra background sound for the vocals and drums, which are the centerpiece in this song. But then the thrash kicks in and is turned up to eleven on “Into Second Death” that sounds like old school CELTIC FROST if they took all and any groove out of it (think “Return Of The Eve” twice as fast). But the guitars stay at the backup post in the song, which I think should have been shown off a lot more.
Regardless of my gripes with the guitars, the core of this album is true and well done black metal. The guitars aren’t meant to be flashy or technical in any way, it does the job of providing the brooding atmosphere of which black metal is to be made by blast beats and menacing vocals. This album is a must have in any fan of black metal. It’s time to take down the “false” black metal and replace with this Serpent Sermon majesty.
With drums & guitars done in Cleveland OH, bass guitars in Vancouver, BC and vocals laid down in Tel Aviv, Israel; this is truly an internationally made album and band. Dirk Verbeuren (SOILWORK) is doing double duty with the guitar, it shows he’s more than just a drummer. He wrote the damned album! DEVIN TOWNSEND laid down some solid bass lines & Sven De Caluwe (ABORTED,SYSTEM DIVIDE) well, does what Sven does! The band has since added SHANE EMBURY from NAPALM DEATH as the new bassist for the next album, which they are already working on. Originally self- released last fall, it will be re-issued this summer by Tankcrimes in a special package. It’s grindcore at its best. Clocking in at 17 minutes long, it gets to the point on every song. Let’s check out Noistalgia right now.
If you get the physical CD, the booklet has one sentence introductions to each song, just so you’re not misled by anything. From songs about blast beats like “Blast Beat Barrage” and technological advances in“Digital Disaster”, you are also treated to all the social commentary you’d expect since this is just one big ole love letter to the genre. It basically says that in the name of the title track, “An homage to grindcore and noise”. As fun as short songs are, I do wish the song “In One Word” was longer. I would’ve loved to hear what other band names they could have tossed in there. Based on just the bass line alone, “Sustained Idiocy” just makes me want to punch something. Dirk’s SOILWORK band mate Sylvain Coudret, comes in and throws a cool guitar solo in your face on “Dead Meat”. “Fool for Life” is the longest track (4:06) and gives the album some added weight. It ends with a lovely rendition of “Bullshit Propaganda” in honor of the mighty EXTREME NOISE TERROR.
They managed to cram this album full of greatness in a short amount of time. I’m not sure if throwback is the right description for this, but this does make you remember the early days of grindcore (only with better production- thank you Devy!). With Noistalgia, BENT SEA came, saw and kicked ass. Not only did I like it, I bought it!
The thing about funeral doom is that it takes some facet of the sheer terror, bleakness, and beauty of existence and stretches it out into a swelling, breathing mass of pure sonic depressiveness and introspection. As for nautic doom, the sole purveyor of which seems to be Germany’s AHAB, with the possible addition of SEAHAG, it strives for the same effect, but replacing outright despondency and depression with epic tales of nautical beasts and seafaring melancholy that might well be interpreted as metaphors for the unrelenting loneliness, travails and isolation of modern life. AHAB’s latest full-length, The Giant, follows 2009’s The Divinity of Oceans with another mournful, slow, and doomy effort, crawling along like a man whose lungs are filled with salt water, the last warm touch of euphoria and the grim realization of the end striking all at once.
AHAB’s music conveys the subtle yet massive, tempestuous power of the seas. Tracks like “Further South” come on slow and unassuming, calm yet despondent, with a clean, ringing guitar tone and thoughtful sung vocals that look into the endless deep blue that gives way to black. The sound is expansive, moving into low, croaking gutturals and bludgeoning, distorted sludge and chug—the danger lurking just below the surface. Still, it remains introspective, returning to the mournful clean vocals, like OPETH on a doom trip mixed with the almost subsonic gutturals of LOSS.
“Aeons Collapse,” at the long end of AHAB’s spectrum at over 12 minutes in length, though most songs hover around the ten minute mark, begins with haunting whispers that draw into a tortured yell, like a lost man calling out for rescue, trapped within endless time falling in on itself. The shouting becomes half-sung in places as chords ring out, bent and dissonant, basic but powerful. AHAB utilizes a strong economy of riffs. If something is worth saying, it’s worth taking your time to say it—maximum impact, minimum waste, even in an epic. The glassy clean guitar tone plays off the guttural lows that echo as though captured in a subsurface cavern, while minimalist lead work adds depth. The sonic quality is pristine, and the plodding drums are given room to hiss and boom because the room is there in the music’s slow, viscous crawl.
There’s a touch of MY DYING BRIDE in the clean vocals as well, as can be heard on “Deliverance.” Then “Antarctica the Polymorphess” slogs through the mire of the depths, taking us from dark to light, bottom to surface, with a song as a story of tragedy, horror, and lament that is hugely moving. Everything is given ample space to develop, as it could be three to four minutes before the vocals are even brought in. “Fathoms Deep” brings more of the same, with a passage not unlike the Twilight Zone theme at the song’s halfway point, and another take on the guttural vocals—a vibrating growl rather than the usual croak.
Folk harmonies take over at the beginning of the title track, the album closer, which captures the slow swell of the oceans, desolation, the unknown, with glistening clean guitar highs like sun reflecting off dappled waters moving into slow, sludgy lows. The Giant is music to lose yourself in the infinite possibilities of Challenger Deep, or to close your eyes with the headphones on and contemplate the slow descent to the Marianas Trench. There’s a long way down to go, and the nautic doom of AHAB plots the endless course.
HUNTRESS is currently located in Highland Park, California, and has been signed for less than a year. However, they have shared the stage with several high profile acts within metal. HUNTRESS has previously appeared alongside TURISAS, ALESTORM, HOLY GRAIL, and DRAGONFORCE. Front woman JILL JANUS was a Manhattan DJ for years before helping create HUNTRESS. Janus is joined by lead guitarist Blake Meahl, rhythm guitarist Ian Alden, Drummer Carl Wierzbicky, and bassist Eric Harris. Harris is the former bassist for SKELETONWITCH, and Wierzbicky is formerly of DARKBLACK, while Meahl and Alden played for Southern California band PROFESSOR.
As someone who spends way too much time on the feminist blog Jezebel, I was curious to see what they “were all about.” Looking at the promo photos of Janus makes it obvious that she is supposed to be the entrée of the band. The other members of the band are her side items. They are the lukewarm baked potato, a piece of Wonder Bread, slightly wilted iceberg lettuce, pie with Pillsbury crust. The members of HUNTRESS have been interviewed as saying they define themselves as “straight up heavy metal,” but, in actuality, they are straight up repetition. Once you’ve heard the title track, “Spell Eater”, you have a good idea about what the rest of the album is about. ”Spell Eater” is the first track, and, without a doubt, the “radio single” of the band. It is catchy and energetic, with fast tempi and chugging instrumentals. In fact, HUNTRESS likes chugging guitars so much that they included them on almost every other song. If the guitars weren’t chugging, they were tremolo picking in duel harmonies. The drumming got the job done, and that was it. ”Senicide” follows the title track and contains another orderly musical bundle of a catchy intro, verses, and a chorus. I know that vocalists have certain keys that they prefer to sing in, but HUNTRESS used the key of D minor on every song on the album. By the time one gets to “The Tower”, all of the musical ideas are repeated one more time, because why not? It could be concluded that they have no plans on sounding like the next OPETH, but the variety of tempi, rhythm, and instrumental technique in Spell Eater was too narrow. According to their website bio, Janus was an opera singer during her teens, but her vocals nowadays are far from ideal. As someone who has taken pedagogy classes in classical voice, I found her voice strained; my larynx hurt for her. It may be very difficult for Janus to continue doing vocals as a touring band several years from now. However, I must applaud them for their energy level. Though I would not go out of my way to listen to this album, it made a decent soundtrack to my morning run. Videos of the band reveal that they would be a fun live band to see. Thrown into a tour package, I would find myself saying “why not?” and bobbing my head along silently to their set.
The bottom line: HUNTRESS has sparing moments of catchy songwriting, but doesn’t exhibit the creativity to make this an album something to revisit years later.
We do not own the copyright on this extremely kickass piece of art!
Have you ever listened to MERCYFUL FATE or a KING DIAMOND album and thought the amazing story telling in those songs would translate to a kick ass graphic novel? Well you are not alone! Graphic artist Mark Rudolph had this same idea and from there it grew until it became a full-fledged project. Entitled Satan Is Alive: A Tribute To Mercyful Fateis a result of a fascination with the band an a love affair with metal music. Not only is this a really cool idea, with the KING himself playing shows again and mounting a comeback, this will be essential for fans to own. To fully bring it to life, Mark has started a Kickstarter campaign so he can properly produce the book in a form worthy of the awesome content. He has not only recruited some of the top artists in the field but also a who’s who in the metal world to bring his vision to life. With just under a week left to the campaign, Metal Army America decided to touch base with Mark, whose art you have no doubt seen in fine publications like Decibel in the USA, Metal Hammer UK, Marvel Comics and other places about the project.
MAA: What inspired you to create the SATAN IS ALIVE project?
MR: I had just adapted an H.P. Lovecraft story into a comic and really liked the process, so I was listening to Mercyful Fate drawing one day and thought “these lyrics would make a rad comic.” A few emails later, I drummed up a lot of interest and it just kind of exploded. I’m mostly known for my metal-related illustrations and I’ve always wanted to do a “metal” comic, so this kind of satiated everything in one book.
MAA: How did you begin assembling the talented writers and artists?
MR: I met Tom Neely last year at a show in Minneapolis and briefly discussed the idea with him and from there it snowballed. I started emailing people and before long I had amassed a pretty impressive list. Even artists I’ve never met before seemed to be really into the idea and no one said no. This whole project is a visual tribute album to Fate and it’s clear in the art, that there is a lot of love in Satan is Alive.
MAA: Why raise money at all to produce physical copies and why choose Kickstarter as a platform?
MR: Physical books still mean a lot to me. As much as I like technology, I like the immersive experience you can only get from a printed book. I am offering PDF copies as well, but the goal is to have nice offset book. I’m using Kickstarter since I’ve had good luck with it in the past. I think it’s a great way to get niche projects funded without forking over all the money yourself. Like my last campaign, I had nearly the whole book completed before I even started the fund raising. I think that’s an important step to let potential backers know you are serious and not just throwing out ideas and hoping some will stick. I think that’s a lousy way to use the service. As of this interview the project is already several hundred dollars over our goal with 7 days to go.
MAA: What are some of the reward tiers you are offering for backers?
MR: Original art, hardcovers, co-publisher, retail bundles, prints and commissioned art. I try and keep it related to the book and not just “extra junk”. The book is the most important part, so I feel the incentives should enhance the book if anything.
MAA: I believe metal fans will be most familiar with your illustrations in Decibel Magazine. (your cover with DANZIG riding a wolf in 2010 is still my favorite issue). Where else can people see examples of your work?
MR: Haha! Thanks. My site cvomics.com has a ton of examples of my work (also portfolio and store), but I also do monthly illustrations for Metal Hammer UK and I’ll have an 8-page story in Henry & Glenn Forever and Ever #2. I’ve also done a bunch of merch design for bands like COALESCE, HELLMOUTH, BEAST IN THE FIELD and many others.
MAA: Any final message to the fans contemplating a donation to SATAN IS ALIVE
MR: With all the recent interest in metal history (Look at Bazillion Points, Choosing Death, etc) I wanted to add to that rich wealth with something totally different. If I really devoted the time, I’m sure I could write a book about a band or a genre, but being more of a visual guy, I thought doing a visual love letter to one of my favorite bands would be more apt. I can’t really think of another metal-related anthology book that’s filled with such a diverse group of artists either. I really need to thank everyone involved that’s made this book possible. If I did it by myself, it would have been about 30 pages and not nearly as rich. With the whole group it feels much more metal!
Mark Rudolph has many works in print, including this book!
You can learn more about the project and donate on the Kickstarter page.
There are bands happy to exist in metal eager to carve out a little niche for themselves and stay there. There are bands that spend their careers catering to the whims of their fans or changing to gain a wider appeal. GOJIRA is a band that does neither of these things, yet somehow manages to be in the elite of artistic ideals, yet maintain a growing, popular following. I prefer to think that all credit due for this goes to the band, rather than the changing tastes (for the better) of the sweaty masses of metal fans. No matter, GOJIRA has crafted another masterpiece album that again defies convention and changes the course of heavy music. Just as they have done with each release of their career.
L’Enfant Sauvage translates from French as “The Wild Child”, but the title is not meant in a strict literal sense. The feral nature of humanity and their constant affect on their surrounding world is closer to the real concept of the piece and it is in that savagery that the music and lyrics are represented to the fullest on this album. All of the colors and emotions that make up the struggle of life, become articulated from the intro seconds until the very last notes ring out. The opening track “Explosia” comes with the trademark sound of the band intact. Syncopated riffs, over the top drumming and vocals that have brutality and melody together seem like they are in the DNA of these guys. Then there is the little hook of the repetitive harmonic lick that flows in and out of the song. Double time blast beasts, swinging grooves and impressive guitar work really punctuate this great opening salvo. The title track follows next and is equally harsh. Intricate melodic riffing captures your ear and I doubt anyone can hear this song and not bang their head in agreement to the beat. The early star of the album is drummer Mario Duplantier. As expected, he has turned in one of the top drumming performances of 2012 on this album. Of course in tandem with the talents of his brother Joe, they are the driving force behind the band. “The Axe” is another face melting track with a stellar main riff, top-flight vocal lines and deep lyrics. I can just envision entire crowds screaming along with the chorus live. In the same sense of the best modern metal bands, GOJIRA doesn’t need to rely on guitar solos to express different themes, they just come up with textural guitar work to bring in other flavors and sounds. “Liquid Fire” brings more of the same power and majesty you are accustomed to. To offset the driving beat and impressive guitar work is the return of the vocorder heavy lines that dotted the bands’ other releases. This brings in the prog influence which always goes hand in hand with their sound. This shows that you don’t have to get softer to change sometimes, just weirder.
When the band is finally done kicking your head in from four tracks in a row of punishment, “The Wild Fire” changes things up. With a whimsical tapping riff and a light beat, this little interlude warms your ear up for what comes next. “Planned Obsolescence” might be the best over all track on a perfect album. GOJIRA makes potentially raw chaos sound coherent with clever writing, tempo changes and dynamic sweeps in the singing. The interplay of the guitar parts between Joe and Christian Andreu is also sublime. Intense and full of little surprises, this is the best kind of writing elite metal bands have to offer. “Mouth of Kala” grinds out riffs and pummels, but never plods tempo wise. In addition to the standard rough hewn verses and sing-along chorus parts, there is a cool mellow section that lulls you into a chill space before decimating you again. “A Gift of Guilt” switches things up once again with a slightly lighter chorus and more tapped out central riffs, which is another Duplantier perfected technique. The verses are a heavy as anything that has come out this year on a record. “Pain is a Master” is another killer tune too. “Born In Winter shows the true prog face of the band. This is a track that could pass for a TOOL or even a new RUSH song if you didn’t know what band it was. For any other band this could be a misstep, but again and again this band takes chances that ultimately pay off. More than half the track is gone before a massive chorus comes in, but when it does, it rules. Bassist Jean-Michel Labadie, often the unsung hero of the group gets to shine here and on a few other tracks with his tasteful playing and thick tone. “The Fall” closes out the album in epic style. Brutal vocal flourishes are blended with yet another powerful, modern dirge of a riff.
Singular in vision, particular of taste and supremely talented; GOJIRA is nearly unrivaled in modern metal excellence.
SickDrummer.com, Perseverance Holdings and our friends at Relapse Records are among the sponsors of the DEATH TO ALL TOUR which kicks off tonight in that most metal of cities San Francisco, CA. The tour celebrates the life and music of CHUCK SCHULDINER of DEATH. With DEATH and later CONTROL DENIED Chuck blazed an innovative trail in music and has been followed by nearly every death metal that followed in his shadow. This is not an exaggeration, but widely acknowledged and not just by his peers and loved ones, but by many bands both from yesterday and the present. Performing music from a career spanning set list with be an all-star group of Chuck’s former band mates and giants of death metal like GENE HOGLAN (Individual Thought Patterns/Symbolic), SEAN REINERT (Human), STEVE DIGIORGIO (Human/Individual Thought Patterns), Scott Clendenin (The Sound of Perseverance), PAUL MASVIDAL (Human), Shannon Hamm (The Sound of Perseverance), and Bobby Koelble (Symbolic). Handling vocal duties will be by Steffen Kummerer of OBSCURA and Charles Elliott of ABYSMAL DAWN/BEREFT who are both greatly influenced by Chuck. Some of the guest artists who will join certain shows are RICHARD CHRISTY of CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED (ex-DEATH), Alex Skolnick and Chuck Billy of TESTAMENT, Paul Ryan of ORIGIN, Craig Locicero of FORBIDDEN, Travis Ryan of CATTLE DECAPITATION,Trevor Strnad and Ryan Knight of THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER and Emil Werstler of DAATH/CHIMAIRA. GORGUTS will open most of the shows.
Not only will this be a celebration of Chuck’s life, but will help make a lasting impression for the future at every show. Each night is a benefit show to raise awareness for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund which provides support to career musicians in need of support while facing illness, disability or age related issues. This cause hits especially close to home for Chuck’s family and friends and one he’d gladly support. Please come out to this rare opportunity to pay tribute to a legend, see an amazing collection of talent and hear some songs that haven’t been performed anywhere since DEATH was active as a band. Please come out to support this tour and support live music, especially underground bands.
DEATH TO ALL 2012 TOUR DATES:
6/22/2012 – The Regency Ballroom – San Francisco, CA
6/23/2012 – House of Blues – Los Angeles, CA
6/26/2012 – House of Blues – Chicago, IL
6/28/2012 – Irving Plaza – NYC, NY
6/30/2012 – The Beacham – Orlando, FL
*Postponed until 2013* 7/01/2012 – The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
*Postponed until 2013* 7/03/2012 – House of Blues – Dallas, TX
USA and Canada peeps (only), we’ve got your last chance to win free tickets to see the SHOCKWAVE 2012 TOUR from Metal Army. It will be this MondayTODAY on our Facebook page. We appreciate everyone who has participated so far so thank you for supporting us. We’ve listened to you folks after the last round and to make things easier on you, the last stage of the contest will be on our Facebook page. No private messaging, no hoops to jump through, other than a trivia question. Check our Facebook page at 12 Noon TODAY (6/25) PST to enter to win. Yes, it will still be a trivia question, because we can’t make it that easy, now can we? I think not! If you want to see FEAR FACTORY, VOIVOD, CATTLE DECAPITATION, MISERY INDEX, HAVOK, along with, LAST CHANCE TO REASON, & THE BROWNING. Check back here often, Like us on our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter too and share with all of your friends to increase your chances of winning.
A while back we caught up with metal drumming legend Richard Christy to discus his band CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED, his lengthy career in metal and of course to reminisce about his time with CHUCK SCHULDINER and DEATH. Richard was really down to earth, gracious and humble. He deflected most credit or praise about himself and instead talked up his peers and band mates. Since CWOTD is playing The ORION Music And More Festival this weekend and the Death To All Tour also kicks off today, we thought it was a good time to share this lengthy chat.
MAA: At what point of making the first record did you know you would do a follow up?
RC: As soon as we were mixing the first album I started writing music for the next one. I always knew we were gonna do several albums. This was something I came into this as a long term project. I didn’t wanna do just 1 album and that be it. It’s something I believe in and I love jamming with Tim, Steve & Jason. Its really something I looked at as a long term thing and also Metal Blade was really excited about us doing several albums with them so as soon as we finished mixing the first one, cause I was so inspired by the process of the first album with how well it turned out, so I jumped right into it. I knew by writing that early into the process while mixing the first album, I knew I’d have plenty of time to write something better and more epic then the first album.
MAA: Did you set out to write a more musically challenging second record??
RC: Well I definitely knew I wanted it to be longer, cause that was one of the only complaints I heard about it the first album. They loved it but it was very short, they were bummed out there wasn’t more music. Which is a good thing! It kind of left them wanting more. But this time I wanted people to have plenty of music where they couldn’t say ‘oh, it finished before I was ready for it to’ so I wanted to make sure it was a much longer album, but at the same time make sure the songs were really good. We weren’t putting in music just for the sake of it being a longer album. I wanted to make sure that we did it right and luckily, because of me writing the music while mixing the first album as I did, we had plenty of time and everything flowed really well.
MAA: What is the difference between Jason Suecof the producer versus Jason Suecof the band mate?
RC: He was the first person I called to be in this band. I’ve know him since ’99 and we’ve been jamming together ever since we met. Actually we’ve been writing music together right around that time he was building his studio as well. I know how amazing of a musician he is in addition to being an amazing producer and I was excited that now here’s a band that he can play guitar AND produce! People get to hear what a shredder he is and he has got such an amazing ear for music I really excited he’s a well known producer now. I always knew there was something special about him his a really talented guy. He’s a massive part of the sound of this band.
MAA: Are their any modern metal drummers you appreciate and follow?
RC: Absolutely!The drummer for JOB FOR A COWBOY (Jon Rice) is incredible! The drummer for THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER (Shannon Lucas) is amazing! There’s so many great drummers these days and it’s amazing that drummers are still pushing the boundaries of what drumming can do. George Kollias from NILE is one of my all-time favorite drummers and when you watch him, it doesn’t even seem humanly possible some of the stuff he’s playing. I remember meeting him when he was a young kid when DEATH played Greece and now he’s an incredible drummer. It’s inspiring to see how far he has come and there’s also a lot of drummers I admired growing up that are still incredible like Dave Lombardo & Charlie Benante. I saw The Big 4 show at Yankee Stadium and they were just amazing! There are so many great drummers still doing it. Mikkey Dee is still amazing in MOTORHEAD and a lot of the drummers at the Drummers’ Collective where I rehearse. I’ll walk by a room and hear a drummer shredding and I almost wanna go in and ask them who they are and what they do, but I don’t wanna interrupt them. (laughs) It’s really cool to see younger drummers being influenced by people like Pete Sandoval (MORBID ANGEL) and people who also influenced me.
MAA: I was at The Big Four too. I think Charlie Benante just keeps getting better!
RC: Dave Lombardo too! He did the “Angel of Death” drum solo and added this really cool snare thing that blew me away! It’s 10 or 15 seconds longer than on the album. He did this thing with the kick and the snare (imitates the sound of a complicated drum fill) that blew me away. It’s cool and inspiring that no matter how long you’ve been at it, you can still improve and get better. So watching guys like him and Charlie Benante, that inspires me.
MAA: You did limited touring on the first album. Any chance we will see the band hit the road more to support the new album?
RC: Yeah, were in talks to do some shows this year and hopefully we can make everyone’s schedule work! It is tough and I totally understand that. That was one of the things I took into account when I formed this band. I didn’t want one or two members of the band waiting around for everyone else to do something. I choose guys that have jobs and are as busy as I am. So we totally understand that if someone has some kind of scheduling thing where they do a show or tour. Hopefully we’ll have some announcements very soon. Were talking about doing some festivals in the US and Europe and hopefully some in South America and Japan (Editor’s note: this interview took place before ORION Music Fest was announced). I’d be totally psyched if we could do a ton of shows!
MAA: What do you think of the DEATH reissues?
RC: I love them! The Human one is incredible! There’s a lot of stuff that Sean (Reinert) does on the remix that you couldn’t hear in the original mix. A lot of tom stuff that comes out, like in the chorus of “Flattening of Emotions”. I love that they’re (Relapse) re-issuing these albums, it just sounds amazing, especially the bass! I was glad they turned the bass up on Human! The bass is incredible on that album, but you can hardly hear it on the original mix. It’s cool that Jim Morris has went back and remixed those albums. They sounded incredible back then but now you can hear so much more of it, there’s way more textures in it.
Richard played on TSOP album and two live albums with DEATH.
MAA: Who is a better boss Chuck or HOWARD STERN?
RC: Oh, they’re both awesome bosses. Its an honor it be involved with two of my idols and you know, I can never really compare them. I mean Howard I’ve been a fan of since 1993 and Chuck I’ve been a fan of since 1990 when I first heard Spiritual Healing. I’m very fortunate to be involved in both and it’s two totally different spectrums. One is music and one is entertainment and so I’m very lucky that I’ve had both as bosses. I’d never be able to choose, I love them both. They’ve given me so many great opportunities and I’m very thankful.
MAA: Do you ever think about your legacy in the history of metal?
RC: I’m very honored to be have played in the bands I’ve played in and to have toured the world with like DEATH, ICED EARTH, DEMONS & WIZARDS and INCANTATION. I’m very lucky when I was in my 20′s I got to travel the world and see a lot of stuff and have fun and play a lot of big shows. It’s amazing when I think back, but at the same time I wanna keep looking forward and not settle on things I’ve done. I look at people like PAUL MCCARTNEY, who puts out new albums. He’s a guy who’s pretty much the most influential person in music ever, him and JOHN LENNON and he’s still writing music and putting out albums. He still loves it and he has the passion for it and he doesn’t settle on what he’s done. That’s kinda of how I look at it. I’m thankful for what I’ve done, but now I wanna keep doing more. With CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED, I’m lucky enough to be able to write the music and the lyrics and before I definitely had a say in what I was doing in the bands I was in before. For this band I’m able to even write the riffs and things like that. It’s a totally new thing for me and I’m really excited by it. I’m honored by all the bands I’ve ever played with. Everyone always asks me what my favorite drumming performance of mine is and its definitely The Sound of Perseverance by DEATH. I was practicing five hours a day when we recorded that album and I was at the top of my game. I don’t know that I’ll ever be that good again. So I look at the album, when somebody asks me what is my proudest moment in drumming and it is definitely that album.
Chuck was Richard’s best friend, a legend and a great cook!
MAA: Do you have any good Chuck stories to pass along?
RC: He was such an incredible person, he was my best friend. He had such a great sense of humor and people always want to hear a funny Chuck story. There’s so many stories I have of Chuck its hard to choose a favorite. I just love the stories of us just writing music and practicing at our rehearsal space in Orlando. There was this guy named Dave who owned the place, he was a big furry, harry guy. He would walk around in a robe with nothing under it and Chuck & I would just laugh every time we would see this guy. He lived at the rehearsal space where we rented. We’d go down and pay our rent and he’d be in this hot tub. (laughs) We’d go to Chuck’s after practice and Chuck was an amazing cook, and he also made homemade beer. He made some of the best beer that I’ve ever tasted. I have so many good memories of us doing that and watching Saturday Night Live, then listening to some vinyl albums. He had such a huge collection. We’d listen to amazing stuff like RIOT, IRON MAIDEN and WATCHTOWER. He was just a fun guy, he had an awesome sense of humor. He loved his family very much. I still stay in touch with his family. There’s just too many memories to whittle it down to one. He really was just the most talented musician I’ve ever met, he was my best friend and I miss him every day.
MAA: Thanks for sharing that!
RC: You’re welcome. He was really humble too. He was a metal fan as much as anything else. I remember us getting to meet KING DIAMOND in St. Petersberg, Florida years ago. We were such huge KING DIAMOND fans. Chuck had never met or seen KING DIAMOND before. I hadn’t met him either, although I saw MERCIFUL FATE live before. And Chuck knew Andy LaRocque, so he was gonna introduce us right before the show. I have an awesome picture of Me, Chuck, Andy and KING DIAMOND. I remember that night, it was so cool. Chuck was just as nervous as me to meet him. It was like two legends meeting for the first time and for me to be a part of it, it was amazing. There was another time we were going to play Italy for the first time. When Chuck walked off the bus there were like 200 kids waiting for DEATH to arrive. It was like THE BEATLES had showed up. Chuck thought it was really neat! Then we walked a couple of blocks to eat, these kids followed us and chanted Chucks name the whole way in the street. Then all these kids pressed their faces against the window of the restaurant. Chuck got a real kick out of that! He was a metal fan as much as he was a metal legend.
MAA: Thanks for being cool and thanks for your time!
RC: I’m just like every body else, I’m just a metal fan. I’m no different then anybody else, everybody is equal as far as I’m concerned.
Richard is rumored to be appearing at the New York date of the “Death To All” Tour on 6/28.
(Thanks to Richard Christy and Metal Blade Records.)
Ok, so more than one person reading this site is going to say “why are they featuring GOTTHARD, who cares about them, they aren’t metal”. Well maybe they’re right based on what metal is in 2012, but this is a band that is extremely popular all over the world. They play all of the bigger festivals in Europe, and are the most successful act to hail from Switzerland. They are consistent chart toppers, having eleven straight number 1 albums, and selling millions of albums worldwide. How many “cult” or “pure” bands can do that? Are they more AOR than MASTODON? Yeah, you’re probably right with that assessment, but they aren’t exactly RHIANNA either!
Firebirth is their first release in three years, and the first after the tragic loss of their lead singer STEVE LEE. For those of you that don’t know, Steve died in a freak motorcycle accident, 50 miles outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. I have to assume the title comes from the fact that the band was forced into a re-birthing process of sorts. On a side note, I have always found it interesting when fans of a band are in an uproar over the switching a lead singer, as opposed to someone dying, and the band moving forward with a new component. Why is one usually accepted, while the other isn’t? People seem to forego the notion that musicians are humans, and humans are in and out of relationships, namely marriages all the time. Why is this accepted for the most part with someone’s personal life, but not in a band atmosphere?
Getting back on point, Firebirth is chalked full of anthems, a few ballads, and what you would expect to hear from an AOR band. The musicianship is there, but so are all of the cliché’s you have come to expect as well. I already mentioned the ballads, but ever since SCORPIONS, and later BON JOVI started using a talk box, it made it a necessity to use the effect on ever album that sounds remotely like the latter band. As a result you’ll hear it on the track “Right On” which is a mix of BON JOVI, and Dr. Feelgood era MOTLEY CRUE. The track n’t the strongest on the album, but it is solid none the less. And let’s be honest, there is nothing new under the sun, so if you can pull something off that’s entertaining, and maybe tips your hat to your influences, why not? It isn’t a carbon copy rip off, which would be worse in my opinion, and quite frankly there are enough bands doing this at the moment. Ripping others off, or ripping themselves off in an effort to rekindle past glories (if they even exist).
The strongest tracks on the album are the first two, “Starlight” and “Give Me Real”. The opening track sounds as if it should have been on the logical follow up to DEF LEPPARD’s Adrenalize. The second track “Give Me Real” is one the heaviest track on the album, drawing influences from old school WHITESNAKE. “Fight” probably takes the title as the heaviest on the album, and is another solid track off of the album. “Yippie Aye Yay” is a country flavored track that could honestly land them on CMT, or on any of the poppier country stations out there. “The Story’s Over” is a mid-tempo bluesy track that showcases NIC MAEDER’s range as a singer. “S.O.S.” or Saint or Sinner, is another mid-tempo rocker that mixes a blues influence with some 80s hard rock shredding.
Firebirth is a nice return to form by the band after having to deal with such a difficult situation. Although new lead singer NIC MAEDER doesn’t sound exactly like STEVE LEE, he does a good job at filling such a difficult position. The band isn’t doing anything new here, and this is in line with previous albums they’ve released. That said, it is a must listen for anyone that is remotely interested in AOR.
