Here's the result of an E-Mail "talk" with the new "hopeful-guitar-twins", Dan DeLucie and Perry M.
Grayson (especially Perry comes down with some really long and interesting answers; great
work, guys!!).
SACRED
METAL-Page: Let's start with the most obvious question: the beginning of Destiny's End!
Tell me all about the founding! What are the aims you want to reach with the band?
Dan DeLucie (guitar): Brian, Nardo (Andi - bassplayer) and I were
in New Eden. We were having trouble with our singer and Denis Gulbey of Sentinel Steel
told us that James was in CA and we hooked up with him. He tried out and blew us all away!
Incredible voice! Later we kicked out Horacio because we had disagreements about the music
and what was being written for the next CD. I was friends with Perry and asked him to try
out. I knew he was perfect right away because of the awesome riffs he played for me. He
has made the band so much better than before (both the music and the attitude)!
Perry Grayson (guit.): Destiny's End was founded by the five band
members who played on BREATHE DEEP THE DARK: Dan DeLucie (guitar), Nardo Andi (bass),
Brian Craig (drums), James Rivera (vocals) and lastly myself on guitars. This came in the
aftermath of James, Dan, Nardo and Brian deciding to part ways with Horacio Colmenares.
Since one of us feel it's a accurate moniker for us and since Horacio wanted to keep the
name New Eden, we set about searching for new names. I think it was Dan who came up with
the full name, although I had some similar dark stuff in my list and so did Brian.
Basically, all of us felt that New Eden sounded too religious and not dark enough. All of
us wanted to play stuff that sounded darker, more "evil", with more ominous
imagery in the lyrics. Since I'm not religious, New Eden was the last name I'd like to
have for a band.
I'd been friends with Dan and his sister Linda for a while, but I
hadn't seen New Eden live--I always seemed to be out of town when they played--until they
played a gig opening for Fates Warning in late Aug. '97. I bought a copy of THROUGH THE
MAKE BELIEVE and the SAVAGE GARDEN demo from Dan before that, so I knew the material a
bit. There was some stuff on both recordings I didn't dig, especially "Now That You
Have Gone" (both lyrically and musically), but there were some tunes I did dig. I was
really impressed by the performance James, Dan, Brian and Nardo gave that night. While
hanging with Linda and my other friends we could tell Dan was bent out of shape about
something after their set was over. It was a very weird situation that night, because I
was standing there after the show chatting with Mike Grant (who was New Eden's vocalist
for a short spell after Victor Vaca left and before James came in) and Mike Bear (bassist
of Prototype) and then Horacio walked over to talk to Mike Grant. Horacio asked Mike Grant
what he was up to, and he pointed to me, saying he was going to be helping me out by
singing on my demo. Later I met James for the first time, who was very cool compared to a
lot of musicians I've met with massive ego problems. He's very down-to-earth. Little did I
know that the guys had decided they'd had it with Horacio that night.
Having spent almost a year without a band, I decided to just
record a demo under my band name of Obscure with my friends from other bands, namely Mike
Bear & Kragen Lum from Prototype and Mike Grant (who has done some work for Sentinel
Steel's forthcoming release Legendmaker, who are from Columbia). The truth is that I was
all set to record the first Obscure demo up until the day after New Eden gig; I'd already
started jamming with the Prototype guys and was just about to start working with Mike
Grant on lyrics and vocal melodies. I was going to have Vince Levalois (guitarist/vocalist
of Prototype) engineer the demo and finance it myself, but I never had to.
Dan's sister Linda called me to say that she and Dan had never
really heard me play, and that they wondered if I had a tape of my stuff. Unfortunately I
really didn't have anything presentable, as I'd never even recorded a full 4-track demo
with any of my other projects. So, Dan asked me if I could just come down to his place,
jam and learn some of the tunes. I went home and practiced non-stop on two tunes from the
SAVAGE GARDEN demo and "Under Destruction's Thumb" and went down to rehearse
with Nardo and Brian for two days, as Dan was sick. This led to daily rehearsals for
almost two weeks, until James came back from Texas and the guys welcomed me into the band.
I knew these guys had a deal in the works with Metal Blade, and playing in a signed metal
band is something I've been pursuing for almost a decade. Looking back, I figure someone
else would have been nervous as hell (I was to some degree), but I was very honest about
what I was looking for in a band and just gave it my best effort. Theday after James came
back we all set the gears in motion by visiting our new lawyer. It seems Horacio had been
sitting on two contracts for six months...
I can sum our goals up pretty easily: to play honest, intelligent
heavy and melodic metal without compromising our creativity, to tour for our fans across
the globe, to keep the flag of metal flying high in the U.S. (and the world) and hopefully
to be able to make a living playing the music we love. To be playing metal when I'm as old
as the guys in Maiden, Priest and Sabbath is also a goal.
SACRED METAL-PAGE: Have you made a
demo-tape before you've recorded your debut or how do you come across Metal Blade? For me
it was a great decision! What do you think about the production from "Mr. Metal" Bill Metoyer?
Dan: Bill is a great guy and great producer!
Perry: No, we didn't record an official demo to shop with Metal
Blade. The rest of the guys sent a recording of James doing vocals on a few New Eden songs
over there before I was in the band and the Metal Blade chaps saw them live, as well. Mike
Faley at Metal Blade was James' manager in Helstar, and when James came out to California
in '97 Mike checked out what James was up to band-wise. There was a band James worked with
in San Diego before New Eden that was in the Pantera vein, but Metal Blade didn't like
them. Once they heard New Eden with James they were convinced, though! We actually had two
deals to consider, Metal Blade and Nuclear Blast. Obviously, we decided to go with the
Blade, due to the cool relationship we had with Mike Faley and Bill Metoyer. Right after I
joined the band Mike came down to our rehearsal studio to check us out, which really
showed me he had genuine interest. We later found out that Horacio took the Nuclear Blast
deal.
Bill "Lord of the Board" Metoyer is definitely a cool
guy and engineer to work with in my book. He's very relaxed and patient, and I think he's
done some excellent work in the past. Bill's work on Fates Warning's AWAKEN THE GUARDIAN
is probably my favorite mix and recording job. Bill's a cool producer as well; he has a
great ear for tuning. Brian Slagel came in and helped Bill with the mix, and I feel that
Brian really has a killer ear for how to make an album sound big and heavy. They're both
cool guys, and I admire them both for staying in metal for so long.
SACRED METAL-PAGE: I know that three
members played in New Eden (by the way: "Through The Make Believe" was my
"debut of the year '97"...) before D.E. has been founded. I'm very interested in
knowing the circumstances of the split with Horacio Colmenares. I know that he would
continue under the banner of New Eden, but everywhere I'm reading that D.E. is the
"follow-up" to New Eden. Please give some kind of explanation to these
situations!
Dan: Like I said above, we did not get along when it came to
songwriting. We wanted to be a team and he did not. His new music was not too good either.
We dropped the name New Eden so we would not have any problems with Horacio (even though
Nardo thought of the name). Bringing Perry into the band has been the best thing for us in
all aspects. His music and guitar playing and lyrics are so much better than Horacio's. We
are a much better band now.
Perry: I talked a bit about this before and I can add a little
more, but not much. I really don't know Horacio at all, and I don't have any bones to pick
with him about anything. Because I'm looked at as his "replacement", he may not
be too pleased with me. But that's not my fault. I always go to see shows when the true
metal bands come through L.A., and we see Horacio and his wife Irma pretty often at these.
Personally, I hate to see band feuds going on in metal, and I don't like seeing people
fightingbecause their other band members decided to part ways. I don't know Horacio, so I
can't be pissed off at him for any reason. And as far as the name New Eden goes, I never
liked it to begin with. The other guys in the band new him well and therefore have vastly
different opinions, so I'll leave it up to Dan to fill in the blank spots. I only know
what they've told me, and from I've heard it wasn't too pleasant being in New Eden. If
there's one thing I can say about Destiny's End it's that we all enjoy playing music
together. We look forward to rehearsals now, but I'm told before it was quite the
contrary.
SACRED METAL-PAGE: For me, "Breathe Deep The Dark" is definitely (until now...) the debut of the year. It
stands in a row together with albums in the tradition of Sanctuary, Helstar, Iced Earth,
Steel Prophet, New Eden, Death ( the guitar-work!) and Omen. Do you like all the old
Metal-stuff and how would you describe your own style of music?
Perry: Thanks! Sanctuary, Helstar, Iced Earth and DEATH are all
favorite bands of mine, and that's definitely a compliment being mentioned in the same
breath. I've been a metalhead most of my life, and I really dig old stuff because that's
what I grew up on. Hard to believe, but Los Angeles radio (KMET) first exposed me to metal
when I was only about six or seven years old. I cut my teeth on Kiss, AC/DC, Scorpions,
Aerosmith, Blue Cheer, Sabbath, Maiden, Priest, Rush, Def Leppard, etc. So, that's where
my background is. I love old metal: Diamond Head, Witchfinder General, Sortilege,
Queensryche, Savatage, Mercyful Fate, Warlord, Armored Saint and stuff in that vein. I
really dig the whole double-picking/technical thrash movement; that's what I was listening
to in my early teens (old Metallica, Megadeth, Testament, Exodus, Forbidden), along with
bands like Death, Kreator, Sadus, Hexx, Coroner, Forced Entry, Carcass and the like.
Progressive stuff like Watchtower, Death (from HUMAN on) and Cynic just blows my mind, and
I'm constantly listening to them.I think our style is a mix of the old stuff with a
modern, heavy sensibility to it. I'm definitely not into repetition or blatant rip-offs.
You can tell who our influences are, though. Most of my favorite band's today have a
similar approach to us (Death, Nevermore and Iced Earth). We're heavy, fast and dynamic,
but we're still very melodic and song-oriented. D.E. doesn't rely on tuning down to be
heavy. Before D.E. I used to tune down either a half step or a whole step most of the
time, which is definitely cool. Since the rest of the guys never really did that, it's
something we haven't experimented with yet. But Metallica (of old--I loathe the new) and
Forbidden (before DISTORTION) also showed us that you can still be heavy in plain ol' E. I
still love listening to bands like Death who tune down. We're true metal, and that's all
there is to it. You won't see us playing something else, because this is the music that
flows in our veins. I've always believed that metal is a music that purveys melody with
strength, a music that allows one to express one's true emotions and explore things of a
dark nature positively without being afraid of what anyone's going to say about it. Life's
hard, the world's not a 100% "happy" place, so why should music lack aggression
or be monotonously happy?
Because I dig a lot of heavier bands, I definitely brought that
to Destiny's End. The rest of the guys listen to their share of heavy stuff, but my roots
are a bit heavier because I'm the youngest (at 23) and was most exposed to the thrash
movement. But I like metal, period, and I'm not into shoving it into a million different
categories. I believe heaviness is only used to its fullest potential with melody and
tightness. I explained to the guys when they asked me to hook up with them that I
enjoyplaying stuff that's heavier and darker than New Eden, and they had no problem with
that. And, to me, just because a band tunes down and copies Pantera that doesn't make them "heavy".
You mentioned Omen. I like 'em, but I do like other early Metal
Blade bands more. Metal Blade's a label with history, and I grew up buying their stuff:
Cirith Ungol, Sacrifice, Anacrusis, Armored Saint, Slayer, Trouble, Flotsam, etc. Some new
albums I'm listening to at the moment: Prototype's '98 CD CLONED, Iced Earth, Arch Enemy,
Blackstar, Savatage, Kreator, Mercyful Fate and Sacred Steel (YEEEESSS!!
-Michael.).
SACRED METAL-PAGE: The cover-artwork
is fantastic, too and fits perfectly to the music of D.E. How did you come across such a
great picture and what does it mean for you?
Perry: Rainer Kalwitz is the artist. James had a bunch of samples
of Rainer's work, including one he had in mind for the next Helstar record, which of
course never happened. We all saw that one and wanted to use it, but it turned out that
someone else bought it before we could, so we actually decided to commission Rainer to
paint us an original based on the imagery in our lyrics.
The cover of the album, essentially, is Rainer's interpretation
of the lyrics for "Breathe Deep the Dark", which I wrote with some help from Dan
and James. What you're seeing is a shadowy figure standing high above a ruined city, long
after the Earth has succumbed to a cataclysm. That figure is the character who's narrating
"Breathe Deep the Dark", an outsider who lived his life alone by his own
statutes away from the masses.
SACRED METAL-PAGE: Could you give me
short comments about each and every song and their lyrics?
Perry: The whole album deals mainly with individuality and
seeking immortality through various means...
"Rebirth" is about someone getting a second chance to
attain the goals they set for themselves, mainly because James has a second chance after
Helstar with Destiny's End and the rest of the guys now have another chance after New
Eden.
"Breathe Deep the Dark", which I talked about
before, is about a guy who in choosing to live his own way is exiled from the world of men
and accepts this. The lyrics are a narration about how he has watched "those who they
called men" destroy themselves,and how he now revels in the dark art (such as books)
which survived the cataclysm. I dedicated this one to the memory of three fantasy authors
who influenced me most: H. P. Lovecraft, Frank Belknap Long and Clark Ashton Smith. Some
of the lines were directly inspired by lines in the work of all three weird literary men.
The song is both about individuality (living life by what one believes in) and seeking to
be immortal. "Sorcerers departed" refers to those authors, people the narrator
remembered long after the rest of the world is dead. On another level, this also has to do
with metalheads: we delight in music that's dark and heavy, and we'll delight in that
darkness even if the masses don't accept what we do. I had most of the lyrics for
"Breathe" written before James started working on the vocals with us, but he and
Dan really helped me out by adding a few cool lyric lines of their own.
"Idle City" and "The Fortress
Unvanquishable" were inspired by an old short story ("The Fortress
Unvanquishable Save for Sacnoth") by Lord Dunsany that I read several years back. The
story's one of the most bizarre and epic fantasy tales (pre-dating Tolkien's LORD OF THE
RINGS, I might add), involving a sword-bearing hero on a quest to vanquish a fortress
which was constructed by the nightmares of his townspeople. Since telling the story word
for word would be too cliche a metal song, I chose to write the lyrics to say "don't
be afraid to dream or indulge in fantasy". I believe dreams and fantasy keep us sane
individuals, and so did Lord Dunsany. At first I didn't think James was going to be able
to fit the word "unvanquishable" into the song--so I didn't ask him to when I
sent him my lyrics--but he managed to do it. For those who aren't into reading,
unvanquishable means not capable of being conquered or defeated. James came up with some
killer vocal melodies for this one right off the bat when we sent him a tape, and he added
a few cool lines after I explained the gist of Dunsany's story.
"Clutching at Straws" is about people who's just fool
themselves, who make up excuses to cover every one of their own shortcomings, those whose
vision is totally blurred by what they falsely believe to be true but isn't.
"Under Destruction's Thumb" is yet another cautionary
tale of where the world might be headed in the hands of politicians and weapons of
mass-destruction. James has tackled this subject many times before in the past. The lyrics
conjure up images, for meat least, out of George Romero's 1971 film THE CRAZIES.
"Sinister Deity" is about how not to seek
immortality: through exploiting others. James drew some of the inspiration for this tune
from the movie SCARFACE. It's about a drug-lord who thinks he can become god-like if he is
able to control other people by getting them addicted, etc. Pretty straightforward.
"Unsolved World" is a comment on dealing with the
harshities of reality and the unknown , the fact that some day we'll all evetually die.
It's James' statement about living in the "real world" in the 1990s.
"Where Do We Go?" follows up where
"Unsolved" left off. James wrote these lyrics, too. It's about the question all
human beings have: "Where do we go when we die?" It could've been miscontstrued
as religious, but it isn't. Note the "For the one's who've always lied" line.
"The Obscure" was inspired by three short stories
by Frank Belknap Long ("The Flame of Life", "Giants in te Sky" and
"The Timeless Man"). It's about whether an artist (musician, writer, etc.) will
be remembered after he or she dies and how not to be remembered (by being a greedy,
arrogrant person). An artist's work may been buried beneath the surface, but he seeks
immortality by wondering if those who are around after he dies dig up his creations. This
is directly about how people like myself have keptthe memory of neglected fantasy authors
like Long, Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith alive by delving into obscure places to
uncover their work. I had most of the lyrics except the chorus and bridge since my high
school years. James helped me out with the last few words we needed.
"To Be Immortal" on the surface sounds like it's
told from the point of view of a dictator ruling over his land with a tyrannical hand, but
it's really about a musician sticking to his integrity and following his vision to the
edge of success. That's theone tune Brian wrote on the album, and I'm really pleased with
his lyrics.
The Japanese bonus track: "Thief of Life" is a
tune that was mainly written by Nardo. Dan and I liked this story "The Finnegan"
by Ray Bradbury and sent it to James to write some lyrics. This one's basically just a
horror tale about a large trap-door spider who lures human victims to their dooms in
Chatham Forest. Bradbury wrote a lot of stories taking place in Britain or Ireland, as he
spent some time over there while writing the screenplay for MOBY DICK. This one isn't the
most poignant story from Bradbury's pen, but it was fun. James helped us fill up a gap in
"Thief" by humming a melody that led to the chord progression for the bridge.
SACRED METAL-PAGE: I'm not quite sure,
but is it true that I know "Sinister Deity" from an old Helstar - demo?
Perry: "Sinister Deed" was an old title James had for a
song. He refined the lyrics, changed a word in the title and used them to replace the
existing lyrics for the old New Eden tune "The Hunger". "The Hunger" was just another song about a vampire. Since there have been a lot of songs in that vein
(no pun intended), we decided to take another route.
SACRED METAL-PAGE: What can I expect
from D.E. playing live? Do you have the opportunity to play enough gigs in the US?
Dan: We have a lots of energy live ... You will feel it. We LOVE
to play live!
Perry: So far we've played two gigs in Texas and one in L.A.
since forming D.E. We'll be returning to Texas to open for Mercyful Fate in San Antonio
and Houston Aug. 14-16. Beyond that, I'm hoping we have a chance to do a U.S. tour with
one of the bigger true metal bands. As far as Europe goes, there has definitely been some
talk with Metal Blade about our coming out, and I can speak for the whole band in saying
that we're dying to play Europe. Any gigs we can get we're happy to play. We enjoy playing
shows, especially with other true metal bands. Sometimes it's hard to hook things up just
for an odd show, because James still lives in Texas and the rest of us are all in Southern
California. But that won't hurt a tour.
SACRED METAL-PAGE: What do you think
about the Metal-Scene in the USA compared to what happened here in Europe or in Japan?
Perry: Well, I haven't been to Europe or Japan, so I haven't
experienced the scenes over there firsthand. But I do know that Europe and Japan have
never abandoned metal and that it remains huge in both places even though it has waned in
the U.S. I think that Europeans and Japanese really know what's up when it comes to music,
and I respect their dedication and how they disregard a lot of the media crap.
Here in the U.S. right now a lot of uneducated "critics" and industry types have been referring to bands like Korn, Coal
Chamber and the like as metal, and I think that's totally wrong. No offense to the bands
themselves or the people who like those bands, but that crowd doesn't have the same vision
as true metal bands. Just because downtuned guitars are present, someone automatically
labels that stuff metal here in the States, and that just isn't flying with me. That is
NOT the "new metal". Metalhas survived almost 30 years, which means it isn't a
trend (temporary). The people who listen to metal have very little care for appearance
(most of us are clad in jeans and t-shirts), and we're not in competition to see who can
wear the baggiest pants, who has the fattest wallet-chain or how many body piercings we
can amass.
At the same time, I'm really pleased that some of the veteran
bands have stayed true to their vision and have survived all the media blitzkriegs that
have been shoving products (not music) down people's throats here in America. I couldn't
be happier to see bands like Death, Iced Earth, Savatage (even though Criss Oliva's gone,
they're still at it!), Nevermore and Jag Panzer and the like still at it! And unsigned
bands like Prototype, too.
When we headlined in Houston, I was totally amazed to see the big
club totally packed. It really made me feel warm and welcome to see so many hungry
metalheads out to see us, especially since the U.S. has been so fickle with metal in the
past several years.
People are famous for saying that a form of music is going to
make a comeback when the movement is already at hand. The rise of true metal has already
begun, and those who aren't merely concerned with talking about what's going to happen
will actually be able to be a part of it. Whether or not metal ever gets as popular as it
once was in the U.S. I'll still be playing it. To sum it up, I think the Europeans and
Japanese are much less concerned with trends than the Americans are.
SACRED METAL-PAGE: What does Heavy
Metal personally mean to you? Do you like cliches like Manowar uses them or is it
important to transport a certain message?
Dan: Metal is the best music in the world. Metal has been in my
life ever since I have first discovered it with Kiss, and AC/DC then Iron Maiden. I have
always loved it and will never stop. I agreed with what Manowar says but I don't think we
need to repeat that. We are trying to do something that isours and not copy another band's
message.
Perry: Heavy metal has grown to be more than a music, it's a
lifestyle. As I've said before, it's about playing music that allows you to express
yourself positively, letting out this creative energy without hurting other people. Sure,
our music's aggressive, but it's not blind aggression or just an attitude to show how
angry one is. Metal is an aggressive music with melody, where musicianship matters much
more than image (if image is involved at all). Some other forms of so-called music are
just a facade for people to "act cool". Metal, to me, doesn't necessarily have
to conjur up images of heroes on horses riding into battle bearing swords. Some bands use
the heroic fantasy motif to their advantage without being too cliche, but not many in my
opinion.
That whole macho heroics thing is not my cup of tea. But I
do believe playing metal--being metal--shows inner strength. As metal musicians you won't
see us up on stage whining, saying self-defacing things ("I suck...") or giving
a lethargic, slouching live set. Metal is definitely not a phase that kids go through when
they're growing up. I have a number of friends who are much older than I am who were
listening to Maiden, Priest and Sabbath when the stuff was originally released and still
are. I also don't consider metal to be an offshoot of pop music, as it's not meant solely
for public consumption. Metal has more in common with classical music than the average
person is willing to admit. As for myself, I don't use music (metal) as an excuse just to
go out and party crazily; I'm in it for the music. And even if I never get paid a cent for
what I play, I'll still let the metal flow for as long as I'm able to.
SACRED METAL-PAGE: What are your daily
jobs, how do you earn your money? And what are you doing in your free-time?
Perry: I'm not currently working a "day job", but I've
had many of them in the past. Recently I was selling guitars and amps in a local music
store. Before that I was a word processor. When I was given the chance to join D.E., I
concentrated almostly solely on my music and didn't get another temporary job until after
we were finished recording. I hate having to work a day-job, and I hope some day that
playing music will allow me to earn just enough to survive comfortably. Realistically that
only happens for a few. So, I'll probably go back to word processing or, even better,
perhaps I'll get some editing assignments. I've been trying to get some students to teach
guitar, but haven't gotten any yet.
Which brings me to what I do in my spare time besides playing
guitar: I'm a total bibliomaniac and have been reading for as far as I can remember. I've
been writing (horror and fantasy) longer than I've been a guitarist. After a while I
became an editor, as well. I founded my own small press publishing business about five
years ago. I call it Tsathoggua Press, which sprang from a creature named Tsathoggua in
the writings of Clark Ashton Smith . I publish a weird fiction zine called YAWNING VORTEX
and have put out several booklets by and about the neglected masters of horror fantasy
like Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Frank Belknap Long, William Hope Hodgson, Lord
Dunsany. Like my music, this is a labor of love. I don't really make any money from
Tsathoggua Press, and I'm perfectly happy just getting the stuff out there for people to
enjoy (just as I am with my metal). For another small press I edited a collection of
Long's stories, and I'm currently working a bunch of other projects both
for Tsathoggua and other publishers. I've written two novels (unpublished) and heaps
of short stories and poems. Some of my short stories, poetry and essays have been
published in various small press magazines in the U.S. and U.K. I even wrote and co-edited
Dan's metal newsletter NETHERWORDS with him for one issue. If folks dig my lyrics, they
might be interested in finding out more about Tsathoggua Press through my web page:
http://www.creative.net/~alang/lit/horror/tsathoggua_sht
When I'm not reading, writing and editing, I enjoy book and
record hunting, watching old (especially Italian) horror films and hanging with my close
friends. I also try to take in as many cool metal shows as I can.
The other guys in the band all have day jobs. Brian and Dan are
pretty stable in careers they want to be in, as far as that goes. Brian's married and has
a daughter; he spends a lot of time with his family. James has a son, too.
SACRED METAL-PAGE: Can you give me a
list of your ten all-time-favorite pieces of music? What were your biggest disappointments
from your favorite bands?
Perry:
1. Death - SYMBOLIC (But EVERYTHING from them is a favorite.)
2. Fates Warning - AWAKEN THE GUARDIAN
3. Iron Maiden - THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST
4. Metallica - RIDE THE LIGHTNING
5. Savatage - SIRENS
6. Sortilege - HERO'S TEARS
7. Cynic - FOCUS
8. Watchtower - CONTROL & RESISTANCE
9. Witchfinder General - DEATH PENALTY
10. Warlord - DELIVER US & THY KINGDOM COME
(i.e. THE BEST OF WARLORD)
There's too much stuff to consider here, but those are some
faves. A few disappointments: Metallica's LOAD & RE-LOAD, Dream Theater's FALLING INTO
INFINITY, Forbidden's GREEN, Maiden's VIRTUAL XI, Helstar's MULTIPLES OF BLACK (that rap
song bugs me).
SACRED METAL-PAGE: How old are the
songs on "Breathe..."? I mean, do you wrote some new stuff yet?
Dan: We have lots of ideas for the next album both in the music
and lyrics. Everyone has new ideas. There is no shortage of new material!
Perry: With the exception of "Sinister Deity" and
"Unsolved World", we wrote and arranged a good part of the material on BREATHE
in 1997. Nardo wrote those two several years ago, and Brian arranged them with Nardo and
James rewrote the old lyrics. I had "Idle City", "Fortess", "The
Obscure" (formerly called "Flame of Life") and "Breathe Deep the
Dark" before I joined the band, but we rearranged some of the riffs.
"Fortress" and "The Obscure" go back to the days when I was playing in
a band with Mike Bear (bass) from Prototype and before.
We've written some new stuff here and there; there are lots of
ideas floating around in our heads. A few pieces we have actually jammed on a bit, but
we've been concentrating a lot on rehearsing the BREATHE material for a tour. I still have
some songs with very rough arrangements from my Obscure days and before that we're going
to try to use along with new stuff.
SACRED METAL-PAGE: My favorite
interview-game is to ask for some comments to some key-words I've written down. I hope it
doesn't bore you too much...
MTV
Dan: does not exist to me anymore
Perry: They're not about music (at least in the U.S.). Towards
the end, HEADBANGER'S BALL actually had some cool shows with appearances by Dream Theater
and the like. And they actually played Death's "Lack of Comprehension" and
"The Philosopher", which was cool. I remember once when Mille Petrozza from
Kreator was on the show, and Rikki Rachtman was trying to put all kinds of words in his
mouth, because he didn't speak English too well at the time and hadn't been given such
huge media exposure before. Stuff like that pissed me off...
Germany
Dan: the true home of Metal, I hope I can see it someday
Perry: Can't wait to visit! You really know what metal's about!
Brian Slagel
Dan: a true believer in Metal
Perry: He's been very cool to us so far, and I really respect his
opinion on most things in metal.
Helstar
Dan: brilliant band
Perry: Killer band. I remember hearing them when I was in my
early teens for the first time. I was blown away. The first four albums crush! BURNING
STAR and NOSFERATU are my faves.
Trends
Dan: don't care
Perry: In a word: bullshit. I'm not a follower and I'm not
interested in the latest "product" or "package" that's being pushed.
German bands
Dan: so many good ones
Perry: Cool stuff! Kreator comes to mind.
Tori Amos
Dan: I like some of her stuff, some I don't, great voice
Perry: Heard of her, don't listen to her. I do listen to
non-metal stuff, and I do like some female vocalists. Ever heard of the Norwegian prog
band WHITE WILLOW? I think Aneke from The Gathering has a cool voice, as well.
"A Pleasant Shade Of Gray"
Dan: I love it!
Perry: For some a let-down, to me a masterpiece. I really admire
what Fates has done for keeping metal intelligent. The stuff may not be too heavy, but it
sure is experimental and progressive.
Death
Dan: awesome, I love them
Perry: My favorite band of all-time. I can't wait to hear THE
SOUND OF PERSEVERANCE. I heard some stuff Chuck Schuldiner was doing with Control Denied
(he's not borrowing any of that material for Death) because Chuck asked James to sing for
him a while back.
I really have a lot of respect for what Chuck has been doing;
he's really evolved as a musician. I started out much the same way as he did, and I've
always strived to grow musically. Chuck's lyrics are really poignant.
Virgin Steele
Dan: from Long Island like me...marriage part 2 is cool but a
little light and poor production
Perry: Don't have any of their stuff, but I'm definitely aware of
them.
Jon Oliva
Dan: great!! I love Savatage
Perry: One of Dan's and my favorite vocalists of all-time. He has
this rough, aggressive edge to his clean vocals that's just so powerful. I still love
Savatage, even after the tragic loss of Criss, and I'm glad Jon's involved directly with
the band again. He's one of the few addicts who cleaned up their lives in this field. I'm
glad. The loss of his brother must have really been tough for him.
Labyrinth's "Return To Heaven
Denied"
Dan: Excellent
Perry: Don't have it yet, but I have heard it. Impressive stuff.
I'm glad Metal Blade signed them.
Metallica's "Load" and
"Re-Load"
Dan: Shit, they are scum to me now!
Perry: A total joke. I'm not going to waste space on such
let-downs.
Bruce Dickinson's "Accident Of
Birth"
Dan: great vocals...boring riffs
Perry: A decent album that I might pick up one of these days. I
saw Bruce live last year with Adrian (whose playing kicked ass). I'm not really into
Bruce's new image, but he's still a great vocalist and he puts on a show with energy.
Slayer's "Diabolous In
Musica"
Perry: I've been into Slayer for a long time, but this one really
didn't do it for me. I feel like there are some Slayer songs on the album, but also stuff
in the vein of Korn and Coal Chamber. Paul Bostaph's a great drummer, and I totally dig
his work with Forbidden.
Iron Maiden's "Virtual XI"
Dan: yuck...sad
Perry: Where there were some points on X FACTOR that I dug, I was
pretty disappointed by this one. I just feel like Blaze is not getting the job done, and
the band's just going through the motions. What's up with the soccer photos?! At least
Dave Murray still shreds...
SACRED METAL-PAGE: Do you have some
funny anecdotes happening in the surrounding of the band (gigs etc.)? Who's the most crazy
guy in D.E.?
Perry: A local critic reviewed our last L.A. show, and instead of "Sinister Deity", he wrote "Sinster Betty". Betty must be pretty
horrific looking!? Then, when we were getting our photos from the album shoot developed,
the developing place printed the label on the package to read "Destiny's Child".
I didn't know who Destiny's Child was until I flipped through the newspaper and noticed it
was a top-selling female R&B group. Maybe we can score a hit with the first a capella
speed metal tune. Not!
Nardo, hands down, is the wildest guy in D.E., as I'm sure
he'd tell you himself. I'm pretty quiet and prefer reading, watching horror flicks and
hanging with friends to partying.
SACRED METAL-PAGE: Now it's up to you:
say whatever you want, it's your turn now!
Perry: Thanks for giving us the opportunity to speak to the
European metalheads and the rest of the world! We appreciate your dedication to metal and
look forward to playing live for you soon! Metal's alive as long as we are...
Now
it's up to you, fellow readers: CHECK THEM OUT!! They are really worth it!!
(c) 1998
Michael Kohsiek