HM Magazine, Issue #110 (Nov/Dec 2004)

Interviews with

THE

Slipknot Scott Stapp Throwdown Lamb of God Hopesfall In Flames Dan Dyer

SO&SO SAYS ISSUE THE HARD MUSIC MAGAZINE

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November, December 2004 • Issue #110

$3.50 USA / 4.95 CDN

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TA B L E O F C O N T EN T S

09

REGULAR Letters Hard news Morrow metal report Heaven’s metal

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FEATURETTE

From the editor Doug Van Pelt

WELCOME TO THE FIRST EVER “SO & SO SAYS” ISSUE OF HM MAGAZINE It was exciting earlier this year to see the book Rock Stars on God get published (Relevant Books), which collected 20 of these type of interviews from our pages. Over the years, we’ve collected over 100 more conversations, so there are plans for additional volumes to be published.

We also thought that it would be fun to have a special issue dedicated to this, so we scheduled 7 new interviews with noteworthy artists. Doing each interview, I make every effort to be low-key, but it is quite possible that two or more kingdoms collide when a conversation about Jesus and the truth is occurring. This idea makes So & So Says quite an interesting read.

We were quite surprised by some of these interviews. We didn’t purposefully handpick any of these artists based upon a foreknowledge of what sort of answers we’d hear. We just selected artists that were recognizable and were out doing something with their music.

One of the interviews turned into a tug-of-war with a record label, as we were kindly asked to withdraw the interview or at least edit out a large amount of spiritual content from the conversation. We politely refused. It almost felt like a band manager trying to talk us out of running a negative album review. While I hold relationships at a high value, I felt in this case like it was worth more to print the true conversation and lose a good working relationship than it was to compromise the story and salvage the relationship.

If it was a case of running a scandalous article about an artist’s failure/sin under the auspices of selling a juicy story at the expense of the individual artist or his family, I’d probably decide the other way… but this one has concluded with the label cutting us off and vowing not to work with us again. We say, “God bless ‘em.” and we hope we’ll be working with them again in the future. Wow, this “Editor’s Note” is usually meant to introduce the issue and give some insight into the creation of it; and I think that’s been accomplished this time! Enjoy.

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Sinai beach Jesus wept Mute math Denison marrs Toby mac Killswitch engage Chase pagan The chariot Day of fire Symphony in peril

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SO AND SO SAYS Slipknot Scott stapp Throwdown Lamb of god In flames Hopesfall Dan dyer

38 46 53 56 58 60 63

INTERMISSION Tom Junod Readers’ survey Columns

66 67 76

REVIEW Music DVD, book, & gear Indie pick

69 74 78

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10 L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R

EDITOR/PUBLISHER MANAGING EDITOR OFFICE MANAGER ADVERTISING SALES

included in future HM Email links how about a warning about extreme profanity? Thanks.

–Troy Tennard trevor39nelson@hotmail.com Ed – Oops! I’m guilty of not previewing a link on an e-mail newsletter that was sent out.

The images were previewed, but a bit of the text was overlooked. That’s not cool. We’re very sorry and it won’t happen again. For those that don’t know we had a email list, sign up for our main page at HMmag.com

ART DIRECTOR CONTR EDITORS

David Allen Judah Siegal, Greg Tucker Chris Wighaman, Kemper Crabb

CONTRIBUTORS

Eric W. Alexy, Chris Francz, Steven Losey, Dan MacIntosh, Daniel Markham, Matt Morrow, Brian Q. Newcomb, Jamie L. Rake, Jeremy Ritch, Bradley Spitzer, David Stagg, Stewart Stevenson, John J. Thompson, Darren Tindell Jr.

BACK PAGE PROOFREADERS

ALL APOLOGIES

DEMON HUNTER That was a cool article on Demon Hunter!

They are awesome. It was cool when they said that they would rather be labeled as Christians than anything else. Keep up the good work guys! P.S. Doug is not a wimp!

–Robbie Reece robbie@ncweb.com Ed – Thanks for the cool encouragement.

REDEDICATION Your magazine has helped me rededicate myself to Jesus. Prior to the July/August 2004 issue, I had listened to some really bad secular music. I noticed that Demon Hunter, who was the cover story, had used fake names on the self-titled debut album.

My walk with Christ was very much like that.

I considered myself a Christian, but I never exposed my faith to anyone. I later learned that once Summer of Darkness came out, the members of DH revealed themselves.

This sparked a fire in my heart to give my heart to Jesus once again. Just as the DH members revealed themselves, I did to. I am now showing people what I am all about and I am not shy of declaring, “I am a Christian whether you like it or not.” Your magazine has done wonders in my 15 years of God’s precious gift, and I hope you keep up the good work. In Christ, –Brett Moir brettedchicken@yahoo.com

I feel the need to say I’m sorry my letter on Demon Hunter and ZAO had such a negative impact on other HM Magazine readers. I don’t want to offend, insult, or hurt anyone. I never meant to judge either of those bands.

I’m not that kind of person. I love everyone in my life, and I love and pray for every band I know. I pray for HM, Tooth & Nail, and other Christian companies all the time because I love, admire, and look up to them. I love Zao so much I used to imitate their screams. I listened to samples of Demon Hunter’s first CD tonight at a local Berean bookstore and I didn’t have the lyrics, but I sure liked what I heard. I’m still really not okay with the title of ZAO’s new CD, but I still love them. They’re amazing and I thank GOD that they’re still around. I don’t think everyone is going to like everything that their favorite bands do, but that never has to mean that they have to stop liking their favorite bands.

–Mark Jones punkman@fcg.net Ed – Thank you for taking the time.

BLACK METAL MISTAKE The link to The Top 10 Black Metal Pics was rather funny. I actually laughed out loud. To see the ridiculous extents that many bands, who obviously do not know the Lord, will go to (get) attention is rather interesting.

However, if such links are going to be

Ed – Good idea. We are personally too strapped for time to put something like this together, but we’d probably sponsor such an event. Perhaps others will see this and get involved, too?

Ed – That’s amazing. Thank you for sharing.

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SCRIPTURE

MAILING ADDRESS

CUSTOMER SERVICE FAX ADVERTISING BOOKS & COLLEGES MUSIC GEAR EDITORIAL

David Allen Ashlee Allen, Eric Alexy, Vicki Bobick, Valerie Maier, Heather Norman, Carolyn Van Pelt “I am the Way, and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6) 6307 Cele Rd. #573 Pflugerville, Texas 78660-7543 877.897.0368 Service@HMmagazine.com 512.670.2764 Heather@HMmag.com 512.940.0744 Scott@AdolphAgency.com Bruce@AdolphAgency.com Dallen@HMmagazine.com DVanPelt@HMmag.com

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BENEFIT STEVE ROWE Why not have HM sponsor/promote/put together an extreme metal festival to benefit Steve Rowe? As you are most likely aware of, Steve’s health has been deteriorating lately, and his doctor’s bills are no doubt mounting. He had to sell his home recently and closed the studio he was so attached to.

I believe this would be a great opportunity for the Christian scene to show unity in Christ by extending a helping hand to a wounded soldier. The secular scene has promoted benefit concerts for some of their own (James Murphy, Chuck Schuldiner), so why not us?

–Lima, Ed LimaE@nibco.com

Doug Van Pelt David Allen Charlotta Van Pelt Heather Reynolds

HM Magazine is dependently owned and operated (Psalm 62) Printed in the U.S. PHOTO CREDITS

Slipknot (Neil Zlowzower) Scott Stapp (Frank Veronsky) Hopesfall (Mark Weiss) Dan Dyer (Cynthia Levine)

HM Magazine (ISSN 1066-6923) is published bimonthly for $15 per year by HM, 6307 Cele Road #573, Pflugerville, TX 78660. Periodicals Postage Paid at Pflugerville, Texas and at additional mailing office.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: HM, PO Box 141007, Austin TX 78714-1007 All contents copyright © 2004. HM contents may not be reproduced in any manner, either whole or in part, without prior written permission. For retail distribution, please call Ingram Distributors (800) 627-6247 (ext. 33501)

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HARDNEWS Quick & concise TANTRUM OF THE MUSE

THE SPIRIT THAT GUIDES US

BY JEREMY RITCH

BY DOUG VAN PELT

Stephen Mark Sarro, the infamous singer for Tantrum of the Muse has just finished a solo album, called Sympathy for the Living. After years of sitting around unfinished, it releases this month on Teki-Pyro Records. After two albums, numerous line-up changes, and temporary reunions, Tantrum is officially dead.

“I recorded the album improvisation style, staying inside of an apartment for 2 months - recording when I had an idea. When I would record that idea down I would then, build up more and more layers over the one founding idea, so nothing was pre-written. “ Check out the full interview on the HM website at Hmmag.com.

Good things come to those that work hard; which is exactly what this band has been doing.

Last April saw the release of a 4-track EP called Defence Mechanism, and a new full-length called North & South hits this month. Sally Forth handles the European distribution, Soulfighting Music in Japan, and Goodfellow Records will be handling the album in the States. October finds them on tour in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands (with a US tour planned next year). While not labeling themselves a “Christian band,” each of the members shares a Christian faith. “In our music we express who we are and what we think, which includes our relation with God as well as everything else.”

News bullets Extol entered Toproom Studio with engineer Herr Berge Finstad to record its fourth full-length album. The working title is Gloriana. “In order to create a heavier and more atmospheric Extol sound,” states the band, “we will mix the tracks in Aarhus, Denmark’s Antfarm Studio.” The new guitarists for the band are Tor Glidje and Ole Halvard Sveen. Tor played bass on the Undeceived album and he and Ole are considered the masterminds behind Lengsel. “We are deeply honored to have them in the Extol family.”

Mono Vs. Stereo just signed metal insanity band The Showdown.

Their debut album, tentatively titled A Chorus Of Obliteration, is being produced by Bruce Fitzhugh in Nashville.

Robert Randolph was featured on the cover of the September issue of Guitar Player. They also have a track (“The March”) featured on the Austin City Limits Festival 2003 CD. Lenny Kravitz, who cancelled his planned Fall tour with Randolph, has promised to fulfill those dates early next year.

Hand of Hope Records, headed up

by John Wylie (the owner of Eulogy Recordings) and Chris Brown (drummer for Evergreen Terrace), have just signed Jesse Smith’s new band, GODS. “Heavy, doomy gothic” is how their sound has been described.

Their debut album, recorded by Andreas Magnusson (Scarlet) should come out early next year. In the meantime, the band is independently releasing an EP. [cultofgods.com]

Dave Quiggle & Daniel Martin Diaz 01. This new book, Triginta Uno Dies, by Daniel Martin Diaz chronicles 31 graphite drawings in 31 days. His images intricately depict life, death and faith. It’s rare to find such quality work these days – especially covering such meaningful issues. ($35 at DanielMartinDiaz.com) 02. The New 10 Commandment series T-shirts and prints are now available online at davequiggle.com for $12. Each commandment has been represented symbolically and only contain a corresponding roman numeral. The only difficult part is figuring out which one (or ten) to buy.

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Society’s Finest will be touring in October with GODS and Austin’s The Kirby (featuring former HM intern and guitarist, Colin Hobbs). The Kirby is releasing a 3-song EP called Such As Cancer Is This Life – Movements One, Two, and Three.

Word of Mouth records have signed a deal with The Roosevelts. Its debut should be out in January. Meanwhile, they are touring with labelmates

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HARD NEWS 13

Mending Point and Adelaide this Fall.

Mortal Treason have been rejuvenated with personnel changes and are touring with Staple, Chasing Victory, and The Showdown. MT are writing for a new album, which they hope to record in January.

7-10 Split What a difference a bigger budget makes! Blessed by a bigger recording budget than previous albums, the guys in 7-10 Split were able to spend almost two months recording and producing their latest.

“It was awesome to have the producer’s full attention from when we were writing songs ‘till the day we were finished,” exclaims vocalist/bassist Jon Ladd. “Marc McClusky has a great ear for the catchier side of the music we were wanting to incorporate with our heavier side. The studio felt more like a hang out place – friends and fans stopped by daily and when one member was tracking the rest of us could listen in or play video games, watch DVDs, whatever – an amazing setting to record in.”

Ladd has always written songs about things that frustrate and anger him, and this album was no different. “The opening track, ‘The Battle of Shiloh,’ lashes out at the pastors/leaders/administrators at the Christian high school that EC (Hamilton) and I went to. They were extremely legalistic and their example basically taught me what kind of Christian to never become.” Other fodder for anger includes songs about “back-stabbing gals, liars, physically abused loved ones, struggling with faith, and the cancerous nature of anger.” But not every tune is full of rage, as Ladd and the band re-wrote a song

that he penned for his wife on his wedding day.

Musically, there’s a mixture of emotions to be found as well. “I like how we combined the poppy element of new school punk with the breakdowns and guitar riffs of hardcore/metal. It’s a good mix of everything we like about music – one minute we’re harmonizing and the next we are screaming our hearts out. If done right all these things can complement each other.”

The last year has seen the band included on the acclaimed Shut The Punk Up, Volume 3 compilation album (featuring the previously unreleased song, “Mighty #3”), as well as playing a show with Andrew WK. “The crowd accepted us with open arms and the AWK tour manager told us he’d never seen a local band get a crowd going that nuts during the beginning of the show. That meant a lot to us, and we gained so many more fans in our hometown from that show. By the way, Andrew WK is one of the coolest guys I’ve ever met.

Everyone should see him live before forming an opinion about him.” The next year plans to involve lots of touring to support Kill The Messenger.

7-10split.org

109 Retractions • Contrary to what was reported in Issue #109, the Gathering Grounds coffeehouse, where the 10-20 Underground Rock Show DVD was filmed, remains open.

• Chariot & Holland photo captions on page 18 reversed.

• Paycheck DVD cover on page 58 not actual cover.

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Some cool new industrial/electronic music to check out includes LA’s The Last Dance (who wowed the late night crowd at Cornerstone), indie band Bridgeshadows, Paradoxx (Cold Fusion), Situation (Kalubone), Lost In Place (Ballistic Test), and Simple Shelter (Ballistic Test) who toured with The Last Dance this summer. Their sound has been described as “NIN meets Duran Duran with a gothic tone.” Their album includes guest appearances from a member of Korn and Offspring.

Kekal has almost finished its new album, Acidity. The band promises that it’s diverse: “It is far from being one-dimensional, but still kept in the context of the band’s signature style.”

P.O.D.’s Jason Truby is releasing a solo acoustic record, called String Theory. Truby played 19 guitars, including the sitar. He appears in the guitar legend book, Between The Strings – The Secret Lives of Guitars,

by John August Shroeter.

Eisley is hitting the road with Snow Patrol. The full-length Eisley debut could come out as early as this month.

The Best of Sixpence None the Richer album features 18 songs, including three new songs and the rare Japanese single of “Kiss Me.” Although there’s cuts from the early This Beautiful Mess and The Fatherless and the Widow albums, many (6) are culled from various compilation albums and soundtracks.

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14 HARD NEWS

HARDNEWS Page fourteen News bullets

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Local clubs RIVER ROCK

Iowa City, IA - RIVERROCKIC.COM A new and unique all-ages entertainment venue in the heart of downtown and near the University of Iowa campus. “Our goal is to create a place where college students and others can form relationships, study, and discover great live music.” Acts cover a mix of alternative rock to harder acts like Staple.

Symphony In Peril’s new album will be titled, The Whore’s Trophy, inspired by Revelation 17.

Comeback Kid will be touring Europe with Champion for most of November. Look for their next album in early Spring.

Nodes of Ranvier, after touring with Caliban, Scars of Tomorrow, and Reflux, have been writing material for their next album (due out next Summer).

The 15 bands at Facedown Fest 2004 were filmed for a 2-disc DVD project.

Look for it in January.

Lucerin Blue has recorded its sophomore album independently. They plan on releasing it in early 2005.

During the Blindside tour stop in Little Rock AR, the Juanitas club was so packed that a second show was added. The Kick vocalist Louis James opened up one of the shows with an acoustic set. The Kick were later asked if they wanted to play an after-hours set, which they obliged, to which Louis added an acoustic covers performance – making for four sets in one night.

All Access is releasing its new pop punk album, titled Secrets, in October.

Skillet recently toured with Saliva, which included a sold-out show in their hometown of Memphis TN.

ROCKETOWN

Nashville, TN - ROCKETOWN.ORG This entertainment complex is massive. Like three venues in one, there is a fully stocked coffee house and snack bar, with tables aplenty and a decentsized stage; and then there’s an enclosed concert hall with quite the ample stage and sound system; and then there’s a huge skatepark. Started by CCM star Michael W. Smith, this place has it all. Designed not just as a “safe alternative,” but actually a place where kids would want to come. This 40,000 square foot venue epitomizes such a place. Shows vary from Bebo Norman to Death Cab For Cutie.

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Forever Changed is simultaneously re-releasing The Existence EP and hitting the studio to record a new fulllength album.

TFK’s debut, Set It Off, is being rereleased by new label home Tooth & Nail. It has been completely remixed, repackaged and features six unreleased songs.

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HARD NEWS 15

When Denison Marrs finished their new album, they took it to FedEx/ Kinko’s to overnight the masters to Ken Andrews for mixing. After guitarist Daniel Day left the package, an employee made copies and then bragged about it on the internet.

Yes, this music pirate was caught as a result. The new album releases October 26.

Mourning September are touring with Anberlin and Noise Ratchet; following these dates, guitarist Tony Chavez joins Anberlin as an additional guitarist on their tour with Story of the Year.

East West is hitting the studio with Dennis MacKay after touring with Disciple this Fall.

Underwater

BY DOUG VAN PELT Not to be confused with God Lives Underwater (Megaforce), this band once had the infamous Jesse Smith filling in on drums; and now they are set to make their own name a little famous. “We toured Europe twice this past year supporting Bleed Me Blue (Tribunal),” explains guitarist Matt Holmes.

“We started out on our first headlining tour of the US in March, but got in a huge wreck the second day of that tour and completely destroyed our van and trailer. We were extremely lucky; rolled 4 times going 65 mph and everyone crawled out of the van relatively unscathed. Finished up some demo work for Atlantic Records in May and have a new release that will be out in the next several months or so. It’s mainly comprised of all the demos that we have done since Bleed Me Blue – either for labels or on our own. We recorded all of them with the same guy that did our first record, so we are pretty pleased with how they turned out and really want to get it out so people can see how we have changed. It’s definitely a lot different than our older material.”

While not a “Christian band” in the typical sense of the label, this straight-forward rock band

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has its roots there. “Dan (Thomas, vocalist), Dale (drummer), and I were all in Boywunder, which was primarily a ministry band when we started it.

I know that I was all about it and loved the idea of becoming a ‘big Christian band’ and we did several tours with Solid State bands and did the Cornerstone thing multiple years in a row. Through all that stuff I kind of got a good glimpse into the whole ‘Christian scene.’ I found, more often than not, that a lot of Christian bands resented not only the fact that they were a Christian band, but that they had to deal with other Christians all the time.

I’ve met bands that are fake and use the fact that they’re Christian to sell more records. On the flipside, I’ve also had the pleasure of touring with a band like Underoath – a group of guys that really believed in what they said and truly tried to love everyone they met, because they really felt called to do so. I believe they are where God wants them to be and it shows. Basically, I’m trying to say that fusing religion and music is something you are called to as opposed to entitled to. We have all kinds of different beliefs represented in our band and a lot of our music is about the struggle within oneself to reach God and know Who He is, but I don’t know if that is necessarily faith.”

Blessed By A Broken Heart’s debut album, All Is Fair In Love And War, on Blood & Ink should drop this month.

Their label recently signed a distribution deal with Facedown Records, fusing two great hardcore labels.

Foreknown is hitting the studio to record Calm Seas Don’t Make Sailors.

Showbread’s T&N debut, No Sir, Nihilism Is Not Practical, was recorded with producer Sylvia Massy Shivy (Tool, Johnny Cash). Look for it on October 19.

Hawk Nelson taped an episode of American Dreams, where they portrayed The Who, performing “My Generation.” Lead vocalist Jason Dunn was stoked. “Just when you think you couldn’t be happier living a simple life, someone calls and asks you to re-enact a rock legend on American Dreams.” The band will soon hit the road for six weeks with Sanctus Real, Ever Stays Red, and Seven Places.

Underoath has hooked up to tour with Coheed and Cambria for its Fall tour.

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16 HARD NEWS

HARDNEWS Page sixteen New bullets

The Kick

BY JAMIE LEE RAKE The Kick’s Louis DiFabrizio says of his faith vis a vis his band’s general market legitimacy, “It totally relates. I want my band to be legit because my faith is legit. I wouldn’t be playing if it wasn’t where I’m supposed to be.”

Where his bandmates were, during our conversation, is fixing a flat tire on their travels opening for Blindside and mewithoutyou. First thing to come up in our chat is our mutual love for Little Steven. I’ve been listening to his Underground Garage radio show; the Orlando-based band came hairsbreadths away from winning the battle of the bands that would have given them a slot in the Steven’s day-long festival in August. Nonetheless, DiFabrizio beams, “One of the coolest things that happened because of the band is (being able to say) ‘Little Steven likes my band!’”

Figures that he would, too, what with The Kick’s earnest, effervescently rootsy power-pop. It’s a far cry from the members’ Dear Ephesus and Tenderfoot emo roots. Dropping a cussbomb in one song on their latest EP, Rumors Rumors, hasn’t necessarily endeared them to some of their Christian kin. The way DiFabrizio says “I think Christians can get a lot out of our band” and “I don’t want you to buy our record because we’re Christian” makes sense for a band that lives by example rather than legalisms and sings from experience.

Somewhere in our conversation the thought that Jesus probably meant something stronger than “crap” when He said raca comes up, but soon enough The Kick’s back on the highway making garage rock converts out of well, maybe other kinds of converts.

Roper

BY DOUG VAN PELT While the announced-in-advance end of über-ska outfit Five Iron Frenzy must have given him plenty of time to process the end of a better part of a decade’s worth of fun (and a little work); it sure didn’t take him long to begin a new musical venture. But don’t expect Roper to be either FIF2 or Brave Saint Saturn redux. “The new sound is somewhat pop-punk, with a heavy rock influence,” explains vocalist/founder Reese Roper. “Sort of Blink 182 meets Katrina and the Waves meets AC/DC. With this album, we really felt that our goal wasn’t just to keep the Five Iron fans, but to try and break new ground. So thematically, it is somewhat of an attempt to get more airplay on the radio. I still think that the lyrics are just as deep as Five Iron’s were, only this time they are a little more subtle. The topics happen to be things like: lukewarmness, lust, addiction, superficiality, shallowness of our Christian walks, some songs about girls, a bunch of funny songs, and a Shania Twain cover.”

By applying the lessons learned in his

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previous band, this outfit is likely to hit home with its serious side and still endear audiences with the fun stuff. “There are a lot of lessons I have learned from being in bands for the past 11 years. I hope that we can tour smarter and not get burned out. I want to have fun. I think the most important thing is to gather our strength from God every day, so that we will have something good to give others.”

Joining him in the fun this time around are: Stephen Till (Jeff the Girl’s husband) on rhythm guitar; Jonathan Till on bass; Jonathan Byrnside on lead guitar; and Nick White on drums. “We didn’t have time to put the band together before we got to the studio,” explains Roper, “so in the studio, Masaki played most of the guitar, Frank Lenz played drums, Frank’s friend Eli Thompson played bass, Ethan Luck (Supertones) played some smokin’ guitar leads, I played some Monosynths, and Phil Bennet (the keyboard player from Starship) played some Hammond B3.” A full Roper interview is online at hmmag.com

Third Day was one of the many performers at the recent Republican National Convention in NYC. They played the song “I Got A Feeling,” which brought a standing ovation.

Fruhstuck is planning to release both a rock record (in the Spring) and an orchestral album (in the Fall).

Celldweller has self-released The Beta Cessions (which includes 30 songs, instrumentals, demo versions of the debut album, and a re-recorded version of his last song as Circle of Dust, “Goodbye”); and a DVD of the “Switchback” video. That song was just released on the compilation CD that accompanies MacAddict Magazine.

Pillar was named “The Next Big Thing” by Fuse TV for their “Bring Me Down” video, beating out Taking Back Sunday. Their song “Rewind” will be used for an episode of Joan of Arcadia. They are also set to cohost MTV2’s Headbanger’s Ball at press time.

Relient K are releasing two albums on November 2 – a new one called Mmhmm and a deluxe edition of Deck The Halls, Bruise Your Hand.

The songs on Mmhmm are reported to be more “piano driven.” The Christmas album will be packaged with Two Lefts Don’t Make A Right…

But Three Do. If you’d like your band to play at next year’s SXSW music conference, get your application in! The deadline is November 8 for domestic acts. [sxsw.com] “Redeem the Vote” is another campaign trying to get as many evangelical Christians to register to vote in this year’s election. Building 429 and Pillar will be joining the cause.

Delirious? headlined an Olympic celebration in Omonia Square in Athens on August 14.

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18 M O R R O W M E TA L R E P O R T

Morrow Metal Report

Veni Domine

http://www.venidomine.com Veni Domine has long been one of the most respected bands in metal.

However, vocal problems for lead singer Fredrick Sjöholm and conflicts with their label, Thunderload Records, led to their fourth album taking about 7 years to release. Guitarist Torbjörn Weinesjö explains this Swedish band’s frustration. “When you live so many years with almost only bad news and there’s absolutely no light in the far end of the tunnel, your life changes. In a way it’s healthy because you really have to ask if this is worth it and what reason do I have for doing it. If I did not have God as my firm foundation I would have fallen, and yet it was close. It makes a man humble. It’s strange, I mean it’s only a CD you know, but still everything in life seems a bit lighter nowadays.”

The new album IIII: The Album of Labour was released in August on Rivel Records, and while the material is somewhat dated and the band would’ve like to have done things differently, they recognize that God had a plan. Weinesjö explains, “…I think we handled all the obstacles along the way and just kept our heads over the waterline. This CD has a depth and so many spiritual undertones. To me, this CD is a war in the spiritual world.”

Paramaecium

http://www.paramaecium.com Australian death metallers Paramaecium burst onto the scene in 1994 with what many consider to be the best doom album in Christian metal history. Now, five years after their third full length was released, Paramaecium is finally making waves again with their new offering, Echoes from the Ground.

The response from fans has been incredibly encouraging to vocalist and bassist, Andrew Tompkins. “When you work on something creatively for many years, it gets to the stage where you just have no idea if the

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material is any good. I couldn’t look at it objectively not only because I’d written it, but also because by the time it was finished I’d heard these songs hundreds of times. The response from reviewers and fans…has just been astounding.”

Andrew sites many reasons why the album took so long to complete, but the main reason was, “…writer’s block. I just couldn’t write the lyrics. I couldn’t work out the story. I just had bits and pieces until everything fell into place within a few weeks earlier this year.”

Tompkins urges that fans are welcome on their online forum where Jason De Ron and himself are willing to answer any of their questions.

The band is also seeking a label to license Echoes from the Ground in the US.

Sanctum

http://sanctum.coldmeat.se When it comes to industrial bands, one of the most highly revered is Sweden’s Sanctum. The band is now officially ten years old and with the release of their second full length Let’s Eat, the band that almost called it a day after the departure of two key members and other struggles, has now found new life. The group’s musical composer Jan Carleklev explains, “The actual work with Let’s Eat started about two years ago.

Before that we had struggled to find a way of working towards a new album with no success and were close to letting Sanctum die. But in the end, vocalist Håkan “Palle” Paulsson and I decided that we give it a last try. We locked ourselves in a studio and came out with a lot of new ideas, some tunes, and a direction for the new album.”

The biggest noticeable change in the band’s sound is the loss of female vocalist Lena Roberts. Carleklev comments, “We all miss Lena, her voice, lyrics, and her as a person. Unfortunately she couldn’t combine her life and Sanctum anymore. We can’t really make a living with Sanctum, so we all have daytime jobs. It became too much for her.”

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H E AV EN ’ S M E TA L 19

Metal tracks Heaven’s Metal Fanzine is re-launching as an underground zine. The debut issue (Heaven’s Metal #55, picking up where the title changed) will be the Nov/Dec issue with Gretchen on the cover.

• Lance King (ex-Balance of Power) has returned with a new power/progressive metal band – Pyramaze. “I think it’s my best work yet,” says King. It flexes his throat a bit more than the melodic songs of B.O.P., while still leaning heavily on melody in the right places. Intromental.com/pyramaze • Guitarist Keith Miller is finishing up another instrumental album following up last year’s Groove Train with Chalk.

Km-guitarslinger.com • Ken Tamplin played the Republican National Convention on the night that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke.

Tamplin said, “It was fun playing for the Terminator!”

• Word is that James of Visionary and Ian Arkley (Seventh Angel, Ashen Mortality) are joining forces on a project.

• Drummer John Heald (Armada) went to be with the Lord on September 13 after a long bout with Fibromyalgia.

Armadarocks.8m.com • Iona will be filming its November 18 concert in London for a DVD release.

• Gary Lenaire (ex-Tourniquet) has a new “heavy, progressive, groove” band, called Cripple Need Cane.

• Terry H has left Jet Circus, which is now just Ez Gomer, along with guests, like Mikkey Dee (Motorhead).

• Speaking of guest musicians, Liberty n’ Justice are busy working on another all-star guest vocalist album, called Soundtrack of a Soul.

• Mexico City’s Revolution Metal Fest has added Stryper to the bill. This will be the first time Eric Clayton and Michael Sweet will be in the same room at the same time, and we’ll finally know if they are indeed two different people.

Revolutionmetalfest.com

A QUICK INTERVIEW WITH TILES DV: Tell me about your new album, Window Dressing.

Chris Herin: It’s a concept album about today’s visual culture – society’s fixation with superficial and transient values – elevating deception to an art form. All the music was written and organized to work as a complete listening experience from beginning to end – like a book. I think my favorite song on it is “Slippers in the Snow.” There seems to be a magical synergy between the music and emotion of the lyrics.

DV: How was it working with producer Terry Brown again?

CH: It was a great experience. With Fence the Clear and Presents of Mind he came in after the recording was finished. This time he was there for pre-production. He captured the atmosphere and ambience of the studio and kept our performances fresh, avoiding too many takes.

For the full-length interview with Tiles visit hmmag.com

Album reviews Dave Bainbridge - Veil Of Gossamer Iona’s guitarist has put together a breathtaking and beautiful album that fits right in between a solo instrumental album and an Iona masterpiece. Guest singers, such as Joanne Hogg, Mae McKenna, and Rachel Jones drape their angelic voices over much of the material like added instruments. Lyrically there are some insightful words on the joy that hides behind death. Another fabulous listen from a “camp” that simply doesn’t know how to release mediocre trash. [iona.uk.com] The Jelly Jam - 2 Ty Tabor’s latest musican supergroup (with Dream Theater’s John Myung and Dixie Dregs’ Rod Morgenstein) has just released a new one, which is a tad heavier than their self-titled debut. There was only one really noticeable sad relationship

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song this time, “You Don’t Need Me Anymore.” It’s interesting to hear this album alongside Jerry Gaskill’s solo album and the upcoming Dug album, which reflects the parts of the King’s X whole quite accurately.

Ulf Christiansson - Entertainers & Soldiers The famed lead vocalist of Sweden’s Jerusalem has returned with another solo album (his third). Musically, he continues some of the atmospheric, improvisational music that his band experimented with on the Prophet album. Vocally, he sings in a high register akin to Jeremy Enigk of Sunny Day Real Estate, which he briefly flirted with earlier on Prophet’s haunting ballad, “Berlin 38.” Brilliant work – lyrically and musically – but may disappoint old Jerusalem fans looking for the return of their heavy Thin Lizzy-like rock.

9/27/2004 3:57:52 PM

20 F E AT U R E T T E

SINAI BEACH

BY STEVEN DOUGLAS LOSEY Somewhere between melody and mayhem the music of Sinai Beach breathes. Through two solid years of touring, their first full length disc When Breath Escapes, and slots with the likes of Hatebreed, Living Sacrifice, and Meshuggah, the band has been through the fire while their sound has forged itself into a Ball Pein hammer. Hailing from Riverside, California, Sinai Beach is comprised of CJ Alderson vocals, Logan Lambert and Mike Risinger on guitar, bassist Jeff Santo, and drummer Mike Dunlap. While the band’s first two releases dripped with the sweat of a hardcore pulse, their forthcoming disc, titled Immersed, takes on a more traditional ‘old school’ groove.

“This is definitely the most heavy and chaotic record we’ve done,” said Alderson from a recording session at Trax East in New Jersey.

“It still has elements of hardcore and is incredibly heavy, but it’s not what everyone is doing now. It’s more what everybody did

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in the 80’s and early 90’s – like Pantera and Cannibal Corpse, with some Slipknot thrown in – bands that we listen to.”

While the band has played several times throughout the nation and even toured Europe and Peurto Rico, they’ve never shied away from playing secular venues or Christian festivals like Cornerstone. Surprisingly though, their experiences within the industry have taken Alderson back a bit. “I’ve got to get real here: Playing with bands like Hatebreed is much cooler then performing with Christian acts. With most Christian bands, it seems like there’s a lot of ridiculous rivalry going on. Who’s the better guitarist, who’s the better band? We’ve always called it, ‘Christian competition.’ It never seems to happen with secular bands. It’s kind of sad and it’s kind of ironic that we feel more accepted outside of the Christian scene.”

While Sinai Beach is a band dedicated to tearing people up with their heavy sound, their mere presence in an industry of ardent

unbelievers has sometimes been questioned.

After all, this is a band of musicians that Alderson passionately calls ‘devout’ in their faith. “Honestly, we should have nothing to do with things like guzzling beer everyday or doing drugs, or having sex with everyone or lying and stealing and hating. It’s about more than that, though. If we look at Jesus, He did none of those things but was always around the people who did.”

Even so, how is it that a band can spiritually survive the wickedness that exudes around them on the road? It’s no secret that one band member has on a Slipknot shirt inside the band’s debut. It’s no secret that the band cites Cannibal Corpse as a major influence.

How should these mixed messages be seen in the light of 1st John 2:15, which basically says, ‘be in the world but not of the world?’

“I’m not gonna lie to you. It’s tough on the road. Sin is tough. Temptation is tough. We stay accountable to one-another. The key is to be honest with each other. We are called to do this. When God calls you to do something, He’s going to use you in spite of yourself.

There are many kids out there – Christians and not – who have no idea that bands like us exist. They like stuff like Cannibal Corpse and Slipknot. Sometimes we need to draw them into our world through means like that.”

While Sinai Beach has played to diverse crowds over the past few years, the band has seen their share of Christians, while others have shouted obscenities and given the band the middle finger at the mere mention of God. “We’re not going to tear you down for what you believe or don’t believe,” Alderson said.

“We’ve never been a band that tries to please or impress any specific group. Everyone in this band is a dedicated Christian and that will always shine through in the lyrics. We cover questions that everyday people have, like, ‘If God is so loving why is this world crap?’ If fans don’t believe what we believe that’s fine.

Music is art and art is expression of yourself and your beliefs. It would be dumb to back down from what we believe to sell 10,000 more records.”

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9/27/2004 9:23:38 AM

22 F E AT U R E T T E

JESUS WEPT

an overall big picture. Here we are, as humans, stuck seeing what is in front of us today… or maybe this week. Then people die, we feel the loss. And Jesus experienced that loss, and even though He knew where He friend was going after death – with the full knowledge of eternity – it still brought Him to tears.”

So do how does a love and compassion like that like fit into the new album’s direct and grim outlook on society?

“We need to face things in order to change them. It is taking the good with the bad. The facts we don’t wish to face about our families, our people, our country: we must face.”

Doing so may evoke emotion, misunderstanding and confusion. But learning from pure love bends and changes things. Being able to see how Christ sees… only then can our transformation change the world around us.

God bless America.

BY DAVID ALLEN After the Erie, PA hardcore band xDisciplexAD disbanded, a new group was formed. With so much of their history rooted in the music, it’s hard for a group to quit cold turkey. So toss a guy around here and there and welcome Jon, Sean, Dan, Dave and Adam: the new five-man hardcore outfit, Jesus Wept.

HM had the time to sit down with Dave Quiggle for a good conversation. After discussing excitement that comes with a new band, I wanted to know how the response has been.

“The responses have been both positive and negative. It seems a few promoters feel uncomfortable putting them on the bill. The same type of problem has even surfaced at a few stores.

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“Just putting ‘Jesus’ in our name assures us that we won’t be on the radio. While all these hardcore bands are dumbing down the message and trying to reach a populous.

We’re going to go the other way. We probably won’t reach a wide base audience, and we’re not interested in that. It’s just not about how many kids come to the show.”

With a message to convey, direct expression has to be liberating. But does it have to be done behind such a blatant reference to Jesus Christ?

“We chose the name. We like the boldness.”

Just the name “Jesus” is certain to evoke various emotions in many people. What is your take on the band name, what does it mean to you?

“It’s so easy to paint an image of God seeing

“As soon as 9/11 took place, churches were full and everyone needed God. Then the immediacy started to wane. The weight of the situation died down and we’ve drifted off again.

“But we must realize that we, as a country, do not have a birthright. Why should we feel God is on our side? Will we go the route of Nebuchadnezzar, receiving warning after warning but not doing anything about it? Those were God’s people then, yet He allowed them to be taken captive. How are we any different?

“You may be hearing some negativity in this, but we need to face the good with the bad – so we can change. We must face society.

We can’t change something that we don’t see to exist.”

“As nice as it may feel to have, ‘God on our side,’ shouldn’t we be spending our time making sure we form to what His side actually is?

Forming ourselves to the only One able to change things.”

9/27/2004 4:00:26 PM

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9/27/2004 9:24:21 AM

24 F E AT U R E T T E

MUTE MATH

BY JOHN J. THOMPSON When hybrid alterna-poppers Earthsuit emerged at the dawn of the current millennium with their lab coats, yellow goggles and post-everything sound it seemed a page had turned in Christian music. Along with some contemporaries, Earthsuit’s debut on Sparrow Records held nothing but promise.

Disappointing sales and a difficulty in breaking the band in the Christian Music Industry led to their being dropped from said label, and eventual dissolution completely. As was the case with too many promising bands before them, Earthsuit wasn’t meant for this world. Co-leaders Paul Meany (the rapping guy) and Adam LaClave each started their own post-Earthsuit careers this year. LaClave’s Macrosick will bow later this year, while Meany’s MuteMath is already turning heads.

Interestingly, though Meany brought the hip-hop elements to Earthsuit, his new venture is completely rap-free. “I was ready to

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retire the rap,” Meany confesses from his home in New Orleans. “It didn’t feel natural; it was a phase I went through. Earthsuit was a good outlet for it, but I felt like it was time for something new.” Not all of the Earthsuit elements have left, though. Soaring melodies, reggae-fueled rhythms, inventive programming and cascading layers of sound all reappear within MuteMath to great effect.

One could argue that the smarter elements of the former band percolate in this new brew, but MuteMath is much more than just a new name for an old band. The songs came together at the tail-end of the Earthsuit era, but found their ultimate expression when latecoming Earthsuit drummer Darren King joined Meany to experiment with songwriting that moved outside of the Earthsuit style. “Darren and I had been writing songs before Earthsuit actually ended, but it was a new direction musically. We didn’t know if it would be a new Earthsuit or what we would do with it. Over time we just decided to start a new band.”

MuteMath began with some live shows and demos, but quickly caught the ear of friends in Nashville. One long-time fan of the band had been producer wiz Tedd T. who had recently launched a new label imprint through Warner Brothers called Teleprompt. MuteMath would become the upstart’s first signing, though not without some soul-searching.

“I was wary of signing a deal,” Meany admits. “It was very hard when we got dropped, to put that much into something just to have it end. I thought about just doing the indie thing. I got a bit wigged out about the business side of things.” However when Tedd T. approached Meany and King things clicked very quickly. “It felt like a match,” Meany explains.

Meany also desired a level of artistic control not all that common amongst the big producers and major labels. “A big thing was for me to be able to co-produce the record. I want to have my hands on every part of it; mixing, mastering, engineering...” The chemistry and experimental attitude translates in the final product with its rich tone, imaginative arrangements and expansive sound.

The experimentation and intensity is not limited to the studio either. The band’s live show has already built a significant buzz amongst industry cronies and Earthsuit fans.

Meany is the primary lyricist and despite the trials and travails that led to the formation of the band, the overall vibe of the songs is hopeful, vibrant and passionate. While personal songs can often come off as navel-gazing and vain, the words Meany construes offer catharsis with optimism. “All of these songs were an exercise in me emptying things out.

A lot are prayers. I felt like I was hitting the wall with a lot of stuff.”

The final result has Meany, King and guitarist Greg Hill rediscovering their enthusiasm for the power of great rock and roll. “I’m really pleased,” Meany says plainly. “It’s honest and genuine... I wouldn’t change anything.”

9/27/2004 4:01:09 PM

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25

DENISON MARRS

There are moments in every man’s life when he must answer to a higher calling and Eric Collins, vocalist/guitarist for the Lakeland, FL band Denison Marrs, had just such an epiphany recently. The word came down from on high that our phone interview would need to begin sooner than planned, because Collins’ Pizza Hut boss had summoned him to work early that day. This is serious business, folks, since nobody deserves pizza delivered cold. “I’ve been there the whole time I’ve been in Denison Marrs,” Collins delivers proudly. He now welcomes the recent arrival of a brand new Denison Marrs disc.

This self-titled offering differs strikingly from the band’s previous recording, Then Is the New Now. “For this CD, we didn’t really go after any kind of certain thing,” Collins explains. “Sometimes we have in mind ideas of what we’re looking for. (But) we just decided to let the songs go. We let the songs kind of write themselves, which contrasts with the last record where those songs -- for the most part -- were real tightly arranged songs. They were very to the point, almost.”

This new, more spontaneous creative approach can at least be partially attributed to the band’s recent addition of drummer Dean Lorenz. And Lorenz is “family” in more than just the band clan sense of the term, by the way, since he’s also Collins’ brother-in-law.

“He brought in a whole different feel, and just a whole different vibe for the writing and recording,” Collins enthuses. Certainly, Lorenz’s unique musical background helped contribute to this unique infusion, since he’s not exactly a percussion-instrument-only kind of guy.

“He’s a guitarist first, which is very different for a drummer,” Collins explains. “He’s just an amazing guitarist! Having a drummer that is so musical meant he could hear the songs for what they were; he could (also) hear all the melodies and the song arrangements.

And then he would write the drums to that, as opposed to a lot of drummers that only hear the measures and the timing. They’ll just go by parts. You know – verses, choruses, whatever,

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and how many measures and stuff. This guy, however, just kind of feels the song, which I really like. Instead of it being calculated, he’s going more on feeling. He’s not all schooled as a drummer, so he came in and just kind of did what the song needed.”

But even with this new blood, so to speak, “Denison Marrs” is nevertheless a relatively dark work.

“I think the record, as a whole, has a much darker feel than anything we’ve ever done,” Collins admits. “Our first record was real dark.

And our second record was lighter, but more spacious with a lot more room to breathe.

And then our third record was real tight and big. And this one is kind of spanning all three, which I think is cool. But it’s still progressing, as far as doing things we’ve never done before.

“Denison Marrs has just gone through a lot of stuff over the past years,” says Collins in explaining the new music’s darker feel.

“It’s just everything that musical artists go

BY DAN MACINTOSH through. It’s like a marriage: Things are very dramatic sometimes, and then things are very fun sometimes. We’ve stuck it through for so long, I think; much longer than most bands -especially on the level where we’re at where we’re not on radio and TV and stuff like that.

We’re still pretty much an indie band that tours across America.”

But even in his darkest hours, Collins still feels blessed to be the member of such a viable musical vehicle.

“The biggest thing for me, that I don’t take for granted, is that I do get to make music. We get to come together as people and create something out of nothing. And somebody is interested enough to put money behind it, and believes in us. It’s encouraging that I am able to do that, whereas other people don’t get the chance to do what they really want to do.”

9/27/2004 4:01:40 PM

26 F E AT U R E T T E

TOBY MAC

BY DAVID ALLEN

Toby Mac has released a new album entitled, Diverse City. Ever since DC Talk, he’s stretched out and made sure to keep his hands busy with writing, collaborating, producing and running a record label: Gotee Records. We had a conversation with Toby about diversity within the Christian music industry and his take on the Christian subculture.

There’s a photo of you with a Crucified hat.

Definitely. I had the deep blue one with Crucified in white. Yeah. Oh, I remember their stuff. It was great. I definitely enjoy bands like that...

Is selling hard music difficult?

Yeah, there are definitely people who do it better than us (Gotee). As a label our budgets happen to be bigger. So we’re signing pop bands whose sales are bigger. It’s a financial thing. A harder band gets on your label and you’re spending less money on them because it’s not going to be marketed to the same amount of people. Then they hear of another band that targets a broader audience getting a larger sum of money and it gets kind of faulty.

And artists get their feelings hurt without stopping to think of the business end.

Exactly. Where as, on the other hand, if a bunch of harder bands are on Tooth and Nail, they are all treated equally.

Tell me about the selection process for Gotee.

I have two A&R guys and, typically, they’re either pitching me stuff or I’m pitching them. Some of our bands are signed by our A&R guys, but most I have signed.

Do you enjoy that control?

I just like working with bands, you know?

I enjoy it. I know with Gotee we’re trying

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to develop a more eclectic roster. We’ve always tried, and have had an eclectic pop roster, but we’re trying to take a stretch to look at some harder bands. I haven’t landed on any yet – I’ve had a few near misses, but that’s cool. We’ll stand at the plate and keep swinging.

What’s up in the Christian music world?

I’m hearing some incredible music coming out of that subculture and I think the industry is allowing people to write about real life issues. At the same time they’re wrapping their arms around worship music.

Now, I think worship music is a wonderful thing. We all need it. But, at the same time, we need something for our lives and for our relationships with people in our lives that discuss the struggles. We need songs about hard times, about our victories and facing our victories. We need it all. And if everything in the Christian market were to be just worship, I don’t think we would be representing the full spectrum of a Christian world view. As far as diversity in the Christian market goes, we’re limping along. We may be gaining a little momen-

tum, but generally speaking it is a white subculture that likes acoustic based music.

That’s what gets played on the radio. That’s what seems to be selling in stores on a general level. There are a handful of select few that don’t fit that mold that are getting a little love. You know… I don’t think it’s a racist thing. I just think it’s that this style of music came out of white churches, black gospel music came out of black churches and I think we’re just beginning to open up to it. Maybe hip hop and hard music scares them a little bit. And they probably don’t understand it. But, you know, I have done well and it leads me to think we’re slowly beginning to open up as an industry. And, at the same, mainstream record labels are starting to embrace Christians who are in a band; this is a different perspective, which I think is amazing. So here’s my thing: I can talk about the philosophy behind this all day, but at the end of that day we need all of it. We need the Christian subculture, the Christians in the mainstream, and the worship music. We need hip hop. We need hard music. We need punk. We need it all. Let’s represent everything the body of Christ is.

9/27/2004 4:02:41 PM

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KILLSWITCH ENGAGE

BY DANIEL MARKHAM

Demon Hunter Summer of Darkness I like it. I think the album’s great. A little more diverse (than the first one) and easier to listen to, for me. I tend to skip over whatever I did (on the album), but it’s good. I have no desire to hear myself (laughs). They did a good job.

Incredible (artwork) layout, too. I think it’s a great looking album; great sounding album.

Just a good bunch of guys.

Underoath They’re Only Chasing Safety I’ve heard one or two songs off the new album. Liked it, but I have to really listen to it.

Zao The Funeral of God Everything else I have not heard, except for the Zao album, which I still don’t own yet. Me and a friend of mine manage bands and Zao is one of them (laughs) . . . and I still don’t have the album! You’ve gotta like that. I’ve got to hear it, but I don’t have it.

I’ve been a fan of Zao since day one. I actually have their first 7-inch. They did it with this band Outcast, from Ohio. That’s when I lived in Ohio. Actually, I think my whole band… my guitarist in this other band, Blood Has Been Shed, and we were in another band back in Ohio and we actually played one of the first – if not the first – Zao shows. Ages and ages ago. I got that. The first CD I got. The first tshirt. I got a ton of Zao stuff.

Killswitch was supposed to play with Zao five or six times, and every single time they never showed up.

We sent Daniel Markham onto Killswitch Engage’s bus as it pulled into Lubbock, Texas for an early show of their tour with From Autumn To Ashes, 18 Visions, and 36 Crazyfists. We told him to grab a tape recorder and get some off-the-cuff “reviews” of some current Christian hard music albums. We originally worked with their publicist to get a handful of albums in their hands, which the respective labels were glad to do; but the plan hit a snag:

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The publicist didn’t have a tape recorder handy and so the initial “review time” fell through. When we found a tour stop that was close to one of our writers, we set this meeting up. Only problem was that the albums didn’t make their way to the band’s bus. Their tour manager called back to the label and got a list of the albums in question handwritten on a napkin. Here’s what he ended up with:

They were a little notorious there for a while.

I’m a big Zao fan. (laughter) But everything else I have not heard. I think I’ve heard one song from Joy Electric. I don’t remember what it sounds like. Squad Five-O, heard the name. Haven’t heard the music.

Pedro the Lion I’ve heard of. Haven’t got to hear anything from ‘em yet. They’ve been around for a while, too. Most of these I’m just not familiar with ‘em.

9/27/2004 4:02:56 PM

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CHASE PAGAN

BY ERIC ALEXY Photo by Keven Estrada

Good 21st birthday presents: cars, houses, money, spending time with your family and friends.

An even better birthday present: A majorlabel record deal.

It may have been a day late, but this is exactly what former Tomorrows Rescue drummer-turned-singer/songwriter Chase Pagan got for his 21st. It came in the form of a phone call that could very easily change his life forever.

Just several months removed from his departure from TR (you may remember them

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as the impressive alt-metal act featuring exTravail members), Pagan was preparing to hit the studio with former Embodyment guitarist Andrew Godwin and keyboardist Brooks Tipton from Unwed Sailor to record his solo debut.

Well, things didn’t go exactly as planned.

“I sent Ross [Robinson] my demo,” Pagan explains, “and as crazy as it sounds, a few months later, the day after my 21st birthday, he called me and told me he wanted to record a record with me, and put it out on I Am/ Geffen.”

Yes, that’s that Ross Robinson, the one behind seminal releases from KoRn, Limp Bizkit, Glassjaw, At The Drive-In, and, most recently and perhaps most notable in Pagan’s mind, the latest record by The Cure.

“He really is a rad producer,” Pagan com-

ments. “He is not out for a hit; he is about the vibe. He told be me all I have to do is give him chills. That’s it.”

Pagan, alongside Robinson, Godwin, Tipton, former Glassjaw bassist “Manny” Carrero and Jane’s Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins, are currently piecing together what will become Pagan’s major label debut, an effort expected to be released through Geffen next year.

And while Pagan says the Jeff Buckley comparisons aren’t without justification, he too is unsure what to expect the final product to hold. (He actually cites Queen and the Beach Boys as two of his earliest influences.)

“As far as the way it’s going to sound,” he says, “who knows? I’m not going for a sound, [I’m] just recording and seeing what happens.”

9/27/2004 4:26:10 PM

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9/27/2004 9:25:40 AM

30 F E AT U R E T T E

THE CHARIOT “So it was strictly a God thing?” I press.

“Yeah, we all hang out. Norma Jean and all of us totally are best friends still. No guffs, no problems, no anything. Just strictly—” “—a personal thing from God?” I interject.

“Yeah,” he continues. “At the time, I totally believe God led me to do other things, and so I told (Norma Jean). I was just like, ‘OK, yeah, I feel like I need to get out of it,’ and they were like, ‘Cool.’ So I spent about a year just strictly going to church and praying and really doing awesome things. Then about a year after I got out of the band, God kinda led me to start something else up.” Enter The Chariot.

BY DAVID STAGG Josh Scogin yells. He yells a lot.

No, I take that back. Yelling is what my mother used to do to me when I was ill-mannered as a child.

Josh Scogin screams. And he screams a lot. He doesn’t do this because he’s angry at his father or because he has just stubbed his toe. In fact, after talking to him, screaming seems almost inherently contradictory to his principle-driven, optimistic nature. He screams because his band, The Chariot, plays hard-core music. It’s a genre dominated by, as Scogin says, “something about dying” or “something about death.”

Something Scogin, I will soon find out, is hardly representing.

“You ready?” Scogin asks me.

“Yeah,” I respond after originally asking him to tell me the name of The Chariot’s heavily anticipated debut album.

“OK.” Takes a breath. “Everything is Alive, Everything is Breathing, Nothing is Dead and Nothing is Bleeding.”

All I can say is, “That’s amazing.”

It’s this ridiculously long title that doubles as a figurehead for the band’s mantra. The Chariot tossed around a few other album titles (described by Scogin as “really lame” or “takes too long to explain”), but none that represented what the band wanted to convey until the 13-word sentence was decidedly agreed upon.

But don’t call it their purpose. Call it their principle.

“This isn’t our goal,” Scogin clarifies in regards to the record’s title, “but it’s almost

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an exact contrast to what you would normally hear some heavy band, you know, naming their titles or naming their band or song.

It’s just almost a direct contrast to that and so—” “—and that’s your goal. You want it like that?” I ask.

“I mean it’s not necessarily our plan to go out there and revolutionize anything, it just kinda came up. It just kinda happened.” Odd, considering he’s been in a band that’s revolutionized a genre.

Who leaves Norma Jean besides Arthur Miller or Joe DiMaggio? In their genre, Norma Jean—the band—is almost just as influential as the movie star was. Like the playwright and baseball player, Josh Scogin has flirted with infamy, and has also subsequently turned his back on it, and has left a Norma Jean.

Norma Jean, the movie star, was one of the most influential women of the century; a modern-day Aphrodite that thousands fell in love with. Norma Jean, the band, is one of the most influential hard-core acts to come around in the past years, releasing one CD under the ’50s starlet’s birth name in 2002, constantly touring and gaining a huge underground following. Scogin fronted the band in its infancy (back when they were Luti-Kriss), appearing on the re-named band’s Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child record. But after the CD’s release, Scogin disappeared.

Everyone wondered why. Scogin refers to this as “The Question,” but he doesn’t shy away from it; in fact, he answers it straight up.

“There was no trouble. I was just totally doing what I felt like God was leading me to do.”

Scogin has been reading a book aptly titled “Cash,” an autobiography of Johnny Cash.

He’s quick to say he doesn’t really listen to heavy music and that Johnny Cash’s music isn’t necessarily an influence (though he has been listening to it); it’s what Cash says that Scogin latches on to. “I mean, he talks about Jesus Christ, and he talks about how the world needs Jesus Christ, but at the same time, he’ll talk about how he’s failed and he’s just so open and realistic about it.”

Cash is a huge star; after his death, stars came out in throngs professing his influence on their lives. Scogin does not do this, though it doesn’t mean that the influence isn’t there.

He does this for another reason. He does this for principle. “He’s just a human being, obviously,” Scogin says. “He’s not to be put higher than any other human being—and I’m not even saying he’s a spiritual mentor or anything,” he says as we both laugh. “He’s just a guy. He’s stinking Johnny Cash, but yet he sings about Jesus Christ.”

The Chariot’s belief in life over death, inspiration in everything, it’s no coincidence that Scogin will tell me, “Jesus Christ is definitely the inspiration,” emphasis on ‘the.’ “Hands down, I’m more inspired by the things Jesus has done.” And it’s this that he hopes comes across in a war-torn hard-core scene. It’s this he hopes people will see when they come to a show and see them throwing their bodies across the stage, mangled and real.

“Look, we’re just human beings,” Scogin says. “We’re just five kids from Douglasville, Georgia that used to live one way, but we believe that Jesus Christ has impacted our lives. And if you have any questions, we want to talk about it.”

9/27/2004 4:04:09 PM

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Zao Cool Hand Luke Boys Night Out Says Comeback Kid Poster Bro Danielson Mortification Heaven’s Metal debut Antestor Brandtson Pony Express Larry Norman (History) #109 mewithoutYou

Further Seems Forever What Unearth Says Zao Poster He Is Legend Mourning September 12 Stones Society’s Finest Hawk Nelson xLookingForwardx Seven System Rez Band (History)

#37 Sep/Oct ‘92 Tourniquet, Circle of Dust, Deliverance Poster #49 Sep/Oct ‘94 Tourniquet, Hardcore Special, Mortal, Crucified #50 Nov/Dec ‘94 Precious Death, MxPx, Scaterd Few, Blenderhead #51 Jan/Feb ‘95 Focused, Megadeth Says, PoorOldLu, The Blamed #52 Mar/Apr ‘95 Sometime Sunday, Strong Arm, Argyle Park #53 May/Jun ‘95 Prayer Chain, Stryper, Rob Walker, King’s X, Type O Negative Says #57 Feb/Mar ‘96 Michael Sweet, Blackball, King Diamond Says #59 Summer ‘96 Stavesacre, Supertones, Seven Day Jesus, GZR Says #60 July/Aug ‘96 Joel & Jade Hanson, PFR, Foreigner Says, Ghoti Hook #61 Sep/Oct ‘96 Precious Death (cover+poster), Black Eyed Sceva, poor old lu #63 Jan/Feb ‘97 Tourniquet, Bride, Focal Point, Prong Says, FIF #72 Jul/Aug ‘98 Squad Five-O, Saviour Machine, The Misfits Says #77 May/Jun ‘99 Pete Stewart, Stavesacre poster, Doug Pinnick #78 Jul/Aug ‘99 Stavesacre, Godsmack Says, Saviour Machine poster #82 Mar/Apr ‘00 PAX 217, Chevelle, Tourniquet poster, Bleach #85 Sep/Oct ‘00 Squad Five-O, Juliana Theory, Rackets+Drapes, Dogwood Poster #86 Nov/Dec ‘00 Living Sacrifice, Pillar, Underoath, P.O.D. poster #87 Jan/Feb ‘01 Project 86, P.O.D., Nickleback Says, Focused #88 Mar/Apr ‘01 Zao, FSF, Denison Marrs, Luti-Kriss, The Alarm, +CD #89 May/Jun ‘01 Mike Knott, N.I.V., Larry Norman, Get Up Kids Says, +CD #90 Jul/Aug ‘01 EDL, Stryper poster, Yngwie Says, Puller, The Blamed #91 Sep/Oct ‘01 4 P.O.D. collector’s covers, Dashboard, One-21, +CD #92 Nov/Dec ‘01 FIF, Relient K, Henry Rollins Says, King’s X, +CD #93 Jan/Feb ‘02 Girls That Rock, Extol, Meshuggah Says, Soul Embraced, +CD #94 Mar/Apr ‘02 Alice Cooper, Squad 5-0, Pedro, Craving Theo, Beloved, +CD #96 Jul/Aug ‘02 Norma Jean, Midnight Oil, Demon Hunter poster #98 Nov/Dec ‘02 Blindside, Dream Theater Says, Embodyment, Lost Dogs #99 Jan/Feb ‘03 xDisciplex A.D., Hopesfall, Extol, +CD w/PDF version of issue #100 Mar/Apr ‘03 Derek Hess cover, Top 50 List, Best of So & So Says #101 May/Jun ‘03 FSF,Starflyer,AgonyScene,Converge Says...ALMOST SOLD OUT! #102 Jul/Aug ‘03 Stretch Arm Strong, Biohazard Says, Figure Four #103 Sep/Oct ‘03 MxPx, Living Sacrifice Poster, Killswitch Engage Says #104 Nov/Dec ‘03 The Ugly Truth..., Johnny Cash, BRMC, Skillet, Thursday Says #105 Jan/Feb ‘04 P.O.D., Daniel Martin Diaz Poster, Kutless, Pillar, Hatebreed Says #106 Mar/Apr ‘04 Blindside, Readers’ Poll, FIF, T&N, Project 86, Thrice Says #107 May/Jun ‘04 Underoath, Pedro, Pillar, Eisley, Squad, Cannibal Corpse Says

9/27/2004 9:26:17 AM

32 F E AT U R E T T E

DAY OF FIRE salvation, which can easily get choked out of a life filled with too many worldly worries. We need this kind of reminder. We need a day of fire – again and again.

When he started to think about making music once more, Brown joined up with friend Greg Hionis, and the songs started coming. After getting label interest they went out to Los Angeles and recorded their self-titled debut as Day of Fire with producer Scott Humphrey (Rob Zombie). They hooked up with some world-class players for the album, including bassist Chris Chaney (Jane’s Addiction) and drummer Gary Novak (Andrew WK).

BY DOUG VAN PELT “He who is forgiven much, loves much.”

A loose paraphrase of Luke 7:47, the above line aptly describes people like Josh Brown.

Once an unashamed frontman for a band called Full Devil Jacket who threw himself head-long into “fulfilling the lust of the flesh to points of extremity,” he didn’t play any games when later confronted with his sin and the forgiving mercy of his Savior. While no one would wish the destruction and ravages of addiction on another, there is a silver lining in the cloud of hitting rock bottom: Things get a little simpler in the light of God’s presence.

Some might call it clarity, but the choice is pretty easy when the shallowness of earthly things is apparent and the love of God is within reach.

“When I was 11 my father explained the Gospel to me and I asked Jesus into my heart

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and I always knew that He was Lord. I never questioned that. What attracted me back to Him was…when I was about 23 I was just looking for hope. I looked around in my world for some kind of hope, and Jesus and His people had the word of hope in their mouths.

I was in a completely hopeless situation and so bound up in sin that I was looking for some sort of light.

“What attracts me to Jesus now is the excitement of being in obedience to God. It is the most rewarding and satisfying thing to know that you are doing what you were created to do.”

The results of this new life are as apparent to the casual observer as are his sleeved tattoos. This guy is in love with Jesus and full of newborn zeal. Mix that with his Southern boy charm, and it’s hard not to like the guy.

It’s refreshing to see this kind of youthful enthusiasm – bringing to mind the joy of our

The result is a solid sound that showcases some strong songs. The standout cut on Christian radio will undoubtedly be the worshipful “Cornerstone,” but the STP-fueled rockers like “Detainer,” “Reap And Sow” and “To Fly” will be more successful itching the ears of Cult, Alice in Chains, or Bush fans (Brown’s vocals aren’t too far away from a certain Gavin Rossdale). While believers will be prone to love and support this art, it is the listener of mainstream modern rock and metal that he intends to recapture. And besides the bright-eyed enthusiasm that rubs off after spending any amount of time around this fireplug, there is a phrase that keeps falling from his lips – “the word of hope.” This is what he wants to deliver to the current generation.

“We were playing to kids that were looking for acceptance and were trying to fill up a void, kids that dealt with rejection. I met people that were just like me, and I learned through that that my mission is to speak the Word of God, the Word of Life, the Word of Hope to those people. When I’m writing, I’m really thinking about the person that I used to be – the emptiness that I used to have and the hopelessness that I used to have. And I’m speaking to that hopelessness.”

9/27/2004 4:04:57 PM

USPS FORM # 3526, STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MGMT, & CIRCULATION

Publication Title: HM | Pub. # 1066-6923 | File Date: 9-22-4 Issue Freq: bi-monthly | # issues annually: 6 | Annual Subscription: $15 Complete Mailing Address: 6307 Cele Road #573, Pflugerville TX 78660 Complete Mailing Addr of Gen. Biz Office: 6307 Cele Road #573, Pflugerville TX 78660 Publisher Name & Address: Doug Van Pelt 6307 Cele Road #573, Pflugerville TX 78660 Editor Name & Address: Doug Van Pelt 6307 Cele Road #573, Pflugerville TX 78660 Mg. Editor Name & Address: David Allen 6307 Cele Road #573, Pflugerville TX 78660 Owner Name & Addr: HM Magazine, LLC 6307 Cele Road #573, Pflugerville TX 78660 Owner Name & Addr: Doug Van Pelt 205 Janis Mae Drive, Hutto TX 78634 Extent & Nature of Circulation: Total # of copies (net press run) Paid/Requested Outside-County Mail Subscriptions Stated on Form 3541 Paid/Requested In-County Mail Subscriptions Stated on Form 3541 Sales Through Dealers, etc and Other Non-USPS Paid Distribution Other Classes Mailed Through the USPS Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation Free Distribution by Mail Outside-County as Stated on Form 3541 Free Distribution by Mail In-County as Stated on Form 3541 Free Distribution by Other Classes Mailed Through the USPS Free Distribution Outside the Mail Total Free Distribution Total Distribution Copies not Distributed Total Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation

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10/1/2004 3:55:08 PM

34 F E AT U R E T T E

SYMPHONY IN PERIL

BY BRADLEY SPITZER Okay, maybe world domination hasn’t happened yet, but Symphony In Peril’s latest 48-hour trek to Europe may have provided the band the encouragement and momentum they need to begin recording their sophomore release this Fall, titled The Whore’s Trophy.

“The trip was amazing – all 48 hours of it,” said Shawn Jonas, front man for the group. “We literally flew in and flew right back out.

“It was far worth it. The people putting on the fest in Germany were so kind, they took care of our every need.”

Shawn, well known as the vocalist for Zao’s first two recordings (All Else Failed and The Splinter Shards the Birth of Separation), is ready to lay down the tracks for Symphony In Peril’s new album so fans can see their recent progression. “On this album we are able to spend more time writing and practicing.

On Lost Memoirs... we were a young band without any recording experience and were

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pushing ourselves to rush the album to get something in people’s hands.

Which worked, but we were not totally satisfied with the recording. The Whore’s Trophy will be a much more mature album musically and somewhat lyrically. Lyrically, I dove into more emotional topics like verbal abuse, divorce, and the effects on teens viewing plastic surgery. Musically, we are going a little more metal, but you will hear some glimpses of what made the last album what it was.”

The musical maturity of the group has come with time and a few adjustments along the way. A week after recording their debut album the drummer left the group, leaving them without a full band to promote the new material. After no luck combing the Columbus (Ohio) area for a replacement they jokingly auditioned their own bass player, Collin, who happened to be a real fast learner. Armed with a familiar face in a new place, the group then had to deal with a high turnover in the bass player spot, but recently began working with

Andy Richard / Capps.

Besides hitting up Europe this summer for a brief moment, the band expressed they had one of their most successful summers this year. “We played two of the three Cornerstone events and Sonshine Fest for the third year in a row. We played the HM stage with Zao at Sonshine, which was the first time I’ve seen them without Jesse Smith.

Out of all the fests the most enjoyable had to be Cornerstone NC. Those kids were ready for us and I feel that may have been our best performance of the summer.”

But curiosity got the best of me and I had to know why the upcoming album would be titled The Whore’s Trophy; Shawn was more than willing to explain. “God has moved in my heart strong since I left Zao. I left the band of my dreams because God was leading me into youth ministry and away from music…While involved in all these churches I noticed that whenever God wanted to move, the churches didn’t. None of the churches reached out to the lost, hurting, or hungry but always did for themselves first and the people second. They sure talked about it, though.

“One of the churches was so wrapped up in themselves and the prosperity message that they totally left out the message of hope and love from most of their messages.

“This brought my family and me to a place of decision where we decided we wanted out of mainstream ministry and away from that type of Church. God stirred in me since then to reach out to the Church just like Jesus did by standing up to be seen and speaking loud to be heard, but my way being the outlet of music. I am not saying I am right and that all churches are wrong. I am saying, something is not working and we need to fix it or the world will only see fake, confused, unbiblical Christians that are so wrapped up in themselves to really reach out to the lost and hurting generation.

“Some people that read this may think I am bitter and that I don’t want to have anything to do with Church, NO! I love to go to Church and I love churches that are truly led by God in their communities. I guess to sum it up: I hate church, politics, and religion. That is a part of the whore’s deception. A house divided cannot and will not stand.”

9/27/2004 4:05:32 PM

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9/27/2004 9:25:04 AM

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9/27/2004 9:30:11 AM

FEATURE 37

What So & So says The So & So Says feature officially got its start in HM Magazine back in issue #25 (“What Shotgun Messiah Sez”), but actually got its start with the first two issues of Heaven’s Metal Magazine, where I interviewed obscure guitar legend Uli Jon Roth and the hair metal band Prophet. I had to find out if these artists were Christians or not. I loved their music and their lyrics intrigued me a great deal. The only way to find out for sure, of course, was to go right to the songwriters. Turns out both of these artists had an outlook on the universe and spirituality that was anything but orthodox Christianity.

Prior to this time a free-press style publication called Cornerstone Magazine had often interviewed famous artists (like Ozzy Osbourne) and steered the conversation quite boldly to the topic of Jesus, often concluding the talk by handing the interview subject a copy of Mere Christianity by CS Lewis or a promise of, “we’ll be praying for you.”

While this style of “evangelism” was quite brazen and typical of much that goes on in “street witnessing,” it could also quickly turn into a messy and uncomfortable confrontation. However, handled with a little bit of tact, it ended up being a fascinating read. Once we started running this feature in HM, it quickly became our most popular section.

We called this section “So & So Says” as a way of signifying an ongoing series or regular feature, simply inserting the name of whatever artist we interviewed every time. Each one of these interviews usually hinges around a very unique set of two questions: “What do you think of Jesus?” and “What do you think about His claims to be, ‘the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by Me?’” These ques-

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tions seem to zero in on the heart of the matter. If the Bible is true, then this question is really about the most crucial any could ask (the only more important followup question would be, “What are you going to do about it?”). It is a litmus test of sorts, but not the kind that dogmas are built from. No matter what religious baggage anyone carries into the conversation or how many hypocritical Christians someone has witnessed in their life, none of that matters in light of what one thinks about the central person of all history – Jesus, the Christ.

The importance of this question is why we treat our interview subjects with dignity and respect, taking great care to accurately transcribe exactly what was said. No effort has been made to push them beyond the perceived comfort of the conversation. While conflicting philosophies will collide when confronted, it is quite possible (and most desirable in this setting) to be civil, kind, and pleasant.

We hope you enjoy the following interviews with Slipknot, Scott Stapp, Throwdown, Lamb of God, In Flames, Hopesfall, and Dan Dyer.

9/27/2004 4:06:26 PM

38 FEATURE

What SLIPKNOT Says SLIPKNOT QUICKLY MADE A NAME FOR ITSELF WITH AN IMAGE THAT WAS STRANGELY UNIQUE AND A FAIRLY BRUTAL METAL SOUND, AND HAVE SINCE BECOME MEDIA REGULARS. IT’D BE HARD TO COUNT THE NUMBER OF TIMES THEY’VE BEEN ON THE COVERS OF METAL EDGE, CIRCUS, REVOLVER AND GUITAR WORLD. THIS INTERVIEW STARTED OUT LIKE MANY OTHERS AND TOOK AN UNEXPECTED TURN OR TWO; BUT THEN THE REAL INTERESTING DRAMA STARTED. THEIR LABEL, ROADRUNNER RECORDS, ASKED US TO WITHDRAW THE INTERVIEW OR AT LEAST TAKE OUT THE PROPENSITY OF ONE PARTICULAR TOPIC OF THE INTERVIEW – FAITH. READ ON AS CHRIS FEHN (OTHERWISE KNOWN AS “#3”) SHARES WITH EDITOR DOUG VAN PELT ON THE PHONE.

What do you think about Jesus Christ?

Um, that’s a good question. I’d like to meet Him.

What do you think you’d say if you had a chance to sit down for a phone interview with Him? Um, ‘Can everybody up there see what I do every day? And, if so, I’ve gotta change some (bleep).’

(Laughs) What do you think about His claims to be “the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but

by Me?” Um, that’s… I guess that would be true for Christianity, you know. But there’s a lot of other religions out there. Sometimes it’s like, ‘Who’s to say who’s right or who’s wrong?’ I guess there’s probably one ultimate authority.

What, uh… Have you ever thought about how the grand scheme of things works out and how people will be held responsible for whether or not they checked out all the avenues of truth they had available to them or not?

DV: How do you like being known as the “stage right percussionist” of the band?

C: Ahhh, I don’t even think about it! (laughs)

Good deal. What kind of improvements do you think you guys have made as far as musicianship and just as a band with this latest album and the last couple year’s of experience?

Well, it’s just like anything you’re involved in – whether it’s sports or whatever. The longer you’re at it, the better you’re gonna get. We just evolve as musicians and as songwriters a lot over time. On this record it really shows. Just the maturity of things we wanted to do and the ideas that we wanted to come up with were just different from Iowa and the first record. We wanted to make sure we didn’t put out an Iowa Part 2, ya know?

Right. How would you explain or break down some of the evolution of sound?

I think we’ve always had our sound and we…any song we do is still Slipknot, and you can still feel that in every track. We are definitely unique in what we do. I think this time we spent a little more time on this record to delve into sounds and songs and stuff like that, so we were really able to dig in take ‘em to a new level.

How do you feel about the band Mushroomhead or any other bands that may be considered imitators of what you’re doing?

I don’t pay attention.

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Um, I think pretty much, you know, life in general is we’re all in this big, you know, lightning bolt. After you leave this place, you’re just on that lightning rod, man, and you’re going to the next place to check it out. And maybe if you sucked at it at this place you have to do this over again. Maybe this is Hell, you know? And, Um… But I truly believe that it doesn’t end here. And, if it does, then I won’t know the difference. Ya gotta believe in something, man.

What kind of evidence or experiences have kind of caused you to think that there’s something more than just what you see?

Um, I’d really hate to get into my personal life too much. But, Um, there’s been a lot of times where my (bleep) has been either should’ve been dead or, you know, should lead a miserable existence. And, uh, through certain things that I’ve come to in my life, I’m alive and life kicks (bleep).

Cool. Um, compare and contrast the benefits or any drawbacks of any anonymity. You know, wearing masks and whatnot.

Um, I don’t really know if there’s any drawbacks too much, because it’s really nice to have your personal life. It’s really nice just to go into a movie theater and watch a movie and not feel like you’re being stared at the whole time. So, I guess it’s all positive on my end. I guess a drawback would be if I really wanted to get into something, like get into a club or something, and I needed to use a little of that star power, I can’t use it. Cause it would be like, ‘Yeah, right. Like, you’re that dude.

Alright, see ya!’

What kind of thought goes into the concept of the band and the evolution of it and some of the theme and subject matter you guys tackle?

9/27/2004 4:07:23 PM

WHAT SLIPKNOT SAYS 39

Can you say that again?

Yeah, what has been some of the thought behind creating the concepts of the band’s image as well as maybe some of the lyrical themes?

There’s a million thoughts, man. Because we’re totally in control of everything that we do as far as the masks and the coveralls and the stage set and everything. We’re such a hands-on band, because if we left it up to a lot of people, it would just be total cheese. So we make sure that we have total control about what the kids are gonna see every time. Because we know what we would want to see. And therefore we try and put that out – as we would want to see it.

How risky did you feel it was at the beginning and when did you kinda feel like, “Hey, this is working?” And what was that like in those formative times when you were trying something new and different?

It was awesome, man, because we just did not give one (bleep) at all.

And we still really don’t. It’s like, ‘This is so great to be able to play on stage and do whatever I want to do at any time and not have to answer to anybody or any corporate bull(bleep) about, ‘No, you really need to just calm down and do this like we say and you’ll be rich and blah, blah, blah…” We just never succumbed to that. We just constantly did what we wanted to do and the kids, you know, just took ahold of it, because they know it’s real and honest. And you can’t really beat that in this world anymore.

How was your experience in Laurel Canyon – being around some of the old, uh, places where some of the 70s rockers had done so much music?

It was cool, man. Once in a while I’d think about that. I’d be going up to the house or whatever, and I’m like, ‘God, Morrison was tripping his balls off driving up this same street,’ or whatever. It’s cool that we’re at that point in our careers where we can go to some of these same places and record in these places where the greats stayed, ya know? So, it’s definitely an honor. And we’re always looking out for their ghosts to show up and say, ‘Hey, you need to play this that way.’

(Laughter) Cool. What sort of challenges do you face as a percussionist when there’s another percussionist and more than one drummer, per se, in the band?

I don’t know, man. It’s cool like that. We don’t ever feel that way. It’s kind of just like pounding out an underlying heavy that most bands don’t have, you know what I mean? And we all work really well together, so there’s never any ego involved when it comes to writing or tracking. We just do a thousand things and whatever the best thing is that comes out that helps the song without clouding it up is what we go with. Shawn and I and Joey have a great relationship that way.

Can you explain in basic terms an example of writing one song together and who does what and how it kind of comes to be something where everyone’s putting their fingers on it?

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There’s a lot of different situations. Like mainly somebody will have a riff and they’ll be playing that and everybody will just kind of add their own spice onto it, you know? And then it’ll get changed around and sometimes it’s off that. That same riff will get beaten by a better riff and changed around and stuff. And sometimes, you know, someone will just be jacking around and sitting at the table, tapping the ketchup bottle, you know? And someone will go, ‘Oh, that beat’s bad!’ And then we run in there and kind of start screwing around with it and (it) just kind of evolves. Like I said before, everybody just kind of throws their own personality into it, you know, and it just becomes what it is.

Cool. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of having, you know, so many people in the band?

Advantages? It’s like there’s a lot of dudes to hang out with, you know?

And a lot of stuff to learn from a lot of people. You’re waiting on nine guys. Sometimes you’ll show up at rehearsal ready to roll and somebody’s, like, forty minutes late. We don’t start without all the dudes there, so it’s kind of like… The time factor’s a little crazy sometimes.

But, for the most part, I couldn’t see it any other way – which is cool.

Makes sense. What sort of legacy would you like Slipknot to leave behind?

I think we’ve already left one. We’re here forever, you know, and some kid in 4,000 years can get online and go, ‘Hey, what the (bleep) is this band?’ And check it out. So, it’s already in place. We just want to make sure we keep it going as long as possible.

Isn’t that crazy to think about the internet being around 4,000 years from now?

Isn’t that nuts? Some kid, who doesn’t even… There’s a stack somewhere else who’s going to know about The Knot… That kicks (bleep).

That’s cool. What are your favorite places to play, and why?

Um, I really like America, because I know where I’m at, you know what I mean? It’s where we’re all from, obviously. European crowds are killer.

Japan is a really cool place to play. All our kids are cool, because they’re fans, you know? No matter where they’re from, they love the music and they love the band, so it’s an intense experience every night.

Any interesting or unusual experiences to, uh, to describe that involve Jagermeister?

That tour went really fast, man. It was, like, trippy fast. It was like Fear Factory and Chamaira. They’re great bands and great guys. I think that’s why it went fast, because it was actually really fun. It was good for us to get back, ya know? We played clubs on purpose, you know, just to get back to the roots of everything and just throw it down. Basically, it was a blur.

Where is the line for something that you could do that would be cheesy? What defines that line of being, uh…

Unmasked. That would be cheese.

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42 FEATURE

What’s one question you’d always wished that a journalist had asked you?

Um, I don’t know, dude. They’re getting better every day, ya know? (laughs) I don’t know.

What do you think Jimi Hendrix would actually be doing now if he were still alive?

Um, probably producing.

There’s a really cool band that was called Living Sacrifice that was out for several years, and…

Yeah, that’s one of ‘em.

Yeah, the last five years of their existence they had two drummers and it added a really cool sound.

Yeah, I totally know what that one is.

What kind of sounds do you think he’d be pulling?

What’s that?

What kind of sounds do you think he’d be pulling out of people if he was producing?

Probably the greatest guitar tones ever.

You’re probably right about that. Have you ever listened to any Christian heavy metal bands? And if so, what are your thoughts?

Um, yeah, I actually have. Um, is this a Christian magazine?

Yeah, if uh… That’s always a weird definition to put on anything, but, uh, we cover predominantly what’s considered Christian hard music.

Yeah. Cool. Well, what, uh, sort of thoughts or, uh… If you’ve put together kind of a world view of how you see the world, uh, how have your thoughts about God changed over the years, and why?

I’m a lot closer to Him now than I was back then.

And I think that has a lot to do with the band itself, because, you know, like, before then it was just like a normal existence. It was like, I grew up in the church and everything and my mom played the organ in the church. Church was just screw around time for me back then, you know what I mean?

Yeah.

at.

Cool. I can relate. It’s funny. I was watching a Bill Cosby DVD this morning and he talked about… He was doing the drunk skit, and the drunk is hugging the toilet: “Oh God! Jesus, get me out of this and I promise I’ll never drink again.” And everyone can laugh about that, because you know how shallow that promise is, you know?

Totally, man. It’s right off the tongue. ‘Sheww!’

Then, of course, for some weird reason, things work out and get better, and then you’re right back at it. You know, and the whole time God’s up there laughing his (bleep) off, going, ‘Hey, I’ll just sit here and wait for you, then.’ Cause it is all loving.

Have you seen the movie, The Passion of the Christ?

I have not been able to watch that yet. I think about it all the time, but I don’t know if I could handle that beating. Some guys in my band have watched it, and I asked them about it and they were like, ‘Dude, you’ve gotta watch it.’ But I’m really not into 40 minutes of an (bleep) kicking. So, I’m still working on it. One night I’m going to watch it with some people that I really love and trust, ya know, and see what it’s all about.

It’s just HM?

I had friends there. We’d do the business, ya know.

We’d do what it took to hang out afterwards. But now it’s like… Through all the travels that I’ve been through and all the people I’ve seen and all the things that I’ve gone through in my life, I know for a fact that there’s some guiding force that has my back. Because, uh… I don’t know. It’s something that I grow more and more into every day, and become closer with, because sometimes that’s all you have. You know what I mean?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Cool. Have you come across some really weird philosophies? Like, especially considering, you know, some of the people that will come to Slipknot shows… I’m sure that you run into a weirdo or two every now and then. What are some weird philosophies you run into?

Oh. Right on!

Otherwise, it’s pretty self… Self-will is a pretty heavy deal. God gave us free will. That’s bad for a lot of people. And it used to be bad for me, because my self-will. I was all me, me, me. It was all about, you know, whatever. All those bad things in life that, you know… But now it’s cool, man. I’m straightening all that out. I have a relationship with something other than myself that gets me through it, man.

I don’t know, man. There’s a lot of people out there that…sometimes I think that they believe in something just to have something to believe in, like selfproclaimed witches or warlocks that come around.

I always keep ‘em at arm’s length, you know, because I just don’t think I’m… Since I don’t have enough knowledge about what that’s all about, I’m not going to let them get into my (bleep), you know what I mean?

That’s cool. You mentioned sometimes it being all you have and sometimes, like…

You just nailed it, you know? Sometimes, with the distractions of life and just how we’re wired as people, sometimes we need to be at a place where the only thing we have is God. It’s like a wake-up call.

Yeah.

Oh, right on! I thought this was FHM.

Ha ha ha! Different mag. Close.

What is the name of the magazine?

HM.

That is funny.

That is funny, because I totally didn’t answer those questions because I thought it was that (bleep) magazine. That’s funny. Yeah, I’m like a totally religious dude, man. And I hold back on that.

Oh really?

Yeah. But anyway, I can’t remember the names of them, but I have a friend who’s really into that scene. Actually, I’ve got two friends that really are and I can’t remember the names of the band, but they were just… They were totally heavy, man.

And, um, it doesn’t matter to me, like… It’s just the whole vibe of a band. It doesn’t matter if they’re satanic or Christian or whatever, because I don’t really let music effect me in that way.

Uh-huh.

Like, I don’t run out and slaughter goats just because the song was heavy. Same situation. I have heard a lot. I just don’t remember the names, because I usually get ‘em in bulk from my friends, ya know?

Oh, cool.

And I just throw ‘em in. I’m like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah.’

It’s all good.

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Yeah, totally. There’s been a lot of times where things get really heavy, but you just…you pray to God to help you out, just because you think He’s some kind of magician. Like, ‘Well, God, if you get me out of this one, I promise I’ll…’ Whatever. And then you go right back to it, because, you know, it’s kind of an unexplainable, trippy thing. But once you quit trying to explain it, and just jump in with both feet, which is called faith… Once you do that, you’re straight, man. And you’ve opened that door just a little bit. You know, get your foot in there. Once your foot’s in there, you know, whatever comes out of that is unmeasurable. Yeah, man. That’s where I’m

So I kind of… Any time I kind of hear about other things and religions like that, I kind of put up a barrier, man, because I like what I got going. I don’t want somebody to whip out some weird voodoo spell on me real quick, where every time I get in my car the door falls off. (laughs) I know that’s not true, but just since I don’t have that… Since I’m relearning about those things in my life, I don’t want to have anything get weirded out, if you know what I mean.

Yeah, I can relate. There’s a couple examples in my life that, uh… I may not know everything about it, but there’s a couple areas that I have kind of a healthy fear, like, uh, one is there’s this… There’s a concept called “blasphemy of the Holy Spirit,” so if people start joking around about God or Jesus, but if they start joking around about

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WHAT SLIPKNOT SAYS 43

the Holy Spirit, I get kind of weird. And, I think of all the things that man can do…

That’s all the same thing. You know what I mean?

Yeah, the Trinity. Yeah.

So, if they’re joking about one, they’re joking about ‘em all.

Yeah. I try to stay away from that.

Right.

And the same goes for witchcraft. God doesn’t actually make it a point in the Bible, at least, to say, “I hate this. I hate that. I don’t like it when you do this.” But He actually does make it a point to get into witchcraft and say, “I hate this stuff,” and so I kind of think that if He goes out of His way to say, “I forbid this. Stay away from it,” then I kind of, uh, have a healthy respect and kind of do stay away from it.

Yeah, because it’s just the unknown. You know?

I don’t know if there’s ghosts. I don’t know if there’s…like, all that kind of stuff, man. Because I know that the power of the mind is pretty strong.

And you can talk yourself into believing when you’re a kid that there’s a monster under your bed.

So I don’t really know how much there is, as far as trippy things like that, but I do know that something has my back; which I choose to call God. And it’s like, that’s the one thing I’m okay with believing in.

But I don’t want to… Yeah, like you said, with all that stuff… I don’t really want to find out. (laughs) You know?

Yeah.

Like, ‘I wish I would have never done that! Now I’ve seen the other side!’ Or whatever, you know. You’re brainwashed.

Right. I half wrote a song one time about the concept of somebody who kept begging God, “Let me see the spiritual realm.

Open my eyes so that I can see the invisible world.” And he kept bugging God, over and over and over again. Finally, God relented and said, “Okay, for 24 hours I’m going to give you spiritual eyes and it’s going to start tomorrow at 7 o’clock and it’ll end the next day at 7.” And the guy wakes up and he just freaks out and before an hour is over he’s begging God to take his eyes away. He wants to go back to normal, because it’s so intense. And I kind of believe that it might be the way it is. If we could see the invisible world, it might freak us out pretty hard. But that’s just a thought. I don’t know.

Yeah, I’ve totally thought about that, too, dude. Because God is willing to grant things to you that you need for every day. Right? Like every day I have food. My family’s cool. My band’s cool. Therefore, with His help I win, basically. But, of course, you always want to pray for things that you think would be cool. One of those things being, ‘Hey, well, I think I could handle it if You showed me what the deal is – what the real deal is. I won’t be scared.

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I’ll be able to handle it. I won’t tell anybody.’ That’s another one of my famous little things I put in there.

But yeah, but I’m pretty sure that if we were able to handle that, then He would. But we’re not. Otherwise it would already happen. Maybe also, maybe if you knew what was going on outside of this world, that you’d just kill yourself and go there because I imagine it’s probably the most beautiful thing ever.

You’d be like, ‘Screw this, dude. I’m outta here! See ya on the other side…’ There’s a lot of things, for me personally, that I’ve gotta work out in this world to even be considered to enter that kingdom, you know?

I can relate. Another concept that’s kind of similar for me is God’s grace. Like if I don’t know how to go through my grandmother getting cancer and dying, but once I get into that situation, it’s like God gives me the grace to handle it. I didn’t have that understanding or grace or knowledge before, but once I’m faced with those situations, it’s like, you know, God has my back and He gives me the grace to face it and deal with it and the strength to stand up and go through it; whereas you would think, ‘I could never make it through that. If that happened to me, I’d be dead.’ But, when I’m in the situation, I get the grace and it’s like only because I need it do I get it.

Yeah, He never gives you more than you can handle on any given day. As many times as you think it’s overpowering and way too much, you can always make it. And that’s through the grace.

That’s cool. Being in the business that I’m in and being an adult and grownup and everything, I, uh, I don’t get offended easily.

And some people do. Some people, when they hear a cussword, they just freak out; or some people, when they see something gruesome or weird they get wigged out.

But, like, when I was at Ozzfest last weekend in San Antonio and I see, like, t-shirts that say “The Passion of the Ozzy” and a big picture of Ozzy smiling, I personally don’t think that God gets too… I don’t think anything surprises God and He probably gets a lot less offended about things than we give Him credit for sometimes. But what’s your take on a lot of the imagery you see in rock and roll and metal and some of the evil imagery and pentagrams and just various stuff? What’s your take on it personally and how do you think maybe God feels about that stuff?

I think 95% of those people that make that stuff or are in those bands have actually no clue what that means, first of all. So, 95% of it is total crap, and it’s just all about metal. And that’s just like a part of, like, the quote/unquote ‘metal scene.’ The pentagrams, the goats, and the upside-down crosses and all that stuff, you know what I mean? Because it draws a certain type of listener to that music – which it did for me when I was a kid. But I’m totally not satanic.

But if I saw that on there, I knew it would be heavy.

Regardless of what the content was, I wanted fast drums and fast guitar. And I knew that that was a given getting those kind of records. So, for me it was more like a cheat-sheet. Because, you know, as a kid maybe you only had nine dollars and you’re looking at a thousand cassette tapes… And I want something heavy, and I see, like, Venom or something. You know what I mean? Then I’m in, because I know I’m gonna get something. I’m not gonna get cheesed out and get some Culture Club record for my 9.99. I’ve only got one shot and Mom’s giving me 15 minutes in the record store. So therefore I think it’s all… You know, it’s funny, but God has a sense of humor. Mine does anyway. He has to – watching my life! He’s up there laughing his (bleep) off most of the time at the stuff I see and the stuff I go through. He knows that stuff’s already there anyway. So, it’s just all about taking it for what it is and, you know, kind of off-the-cuff, you know what I mean?

Well, cool. I kind of sense that you’re in a search process and you’re honest and I think that that’s probably a really good place to be.

Yeah, man. Totally.

Cool. If there’s anything I can ever do for you, man, I’m at hmmagazine.com. I’d be glad to help. Well, is there anything that you wanted to address with this interview or about this album or what you’re doing right now as a band?

Yeah, we’re just so glad to be back together and on the road. That we’re basically stronger than we were at the beginning, because now we know what it takes to tour. We know what it takes to be on the road away from our families. Once we’ve put all of that into perspective and everybody kind of knows our routine, just the shows are better and the music’s better. It’s all coming together, you know, for the good.

Cool. Well, right on. I’m serious – if there’s anything you ever need, just give me a shout.

Likewise.

Hopefully, we can hook up sometime on the road. I’m in Austin.

I look forward to it.

Take it easy, Chris.

You, too, man.

Thanks.

Bye.

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46 FEATURE

What SCOTT STAPP Says OVER 30,000,000 ALBUMS SOLD. CREED NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION, EVEN IF THEY EXIST NO MORE AND EVEN IF THEY ARE OLD NEWS. EVER SINCE SITTING ON THE MY OWN PRISON RECORD AND NOT REQUESTING AN INTERVIEW UNTIL AFTER IT BLEW UP, AND THEN GETTING THE “SORRY, THERE’S ALREADY TOO MANY INTERVIEW REQUESTS AND WE CANNOT GRANT YOURS” REPLY FOR THE NEXT SEVEN YEARS, THIS INTERVIEW HAS BEEN ONE THAT I’VE LOOKED FORWARD TO DO. TO COINCIDE WITH HIS FIRST POST-CREED SINGLE FOR THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST: SONGS INSPIRED BY ALBUM, HIS LABEL SCHEDULED SEVERAL INTERVIEWS, INCLUDING THIS ONE.

Well, as a Christian, I believe that, and I’ve chosen to have faith in that and believe in that. Again, that’s my belief system and that’s the religion that I chose to believe in and so I have to, as a Christian, take what He said and believe it all the way. I can’t… I’ve chosen to believe everything He said as the Way, the Truth and the Life. And, you know, if someone chooses not to believe in that, that’s their belief system. But, for me, the way I live my life – that’s what I choose to believe.

How does it feel to make statements like the ones you just made when you compare that to a couple years ago with the press and media…

Well, I’m in a different place. A couple, three or four years ago, you know, I was in a band and people always asked us questions based on what the band’s belief was, and what the band felt was right. So, when I answered those questions, or when Mark did, we were answering in a unified voice as four individuals. My beliefs were one of those belief systems. See what I mean?

Yeah.

Doug: What did you think of the movie, The Passion of The Christ? How did it impact you?

Scott: Well, it was, at first disturbing. I mean, it was very graphic (and) violent. But it was also very humbling, so to speak, in terms of looking at it as – I’m a Christian, and that’s the story about Christ and what He did for me, based on my faith. It kind of put things in perspective for me in terms of, you know, when I’m down on myself or when I’m complaining or when I think I’ve got life bad or I got it tough, and look at the sacrifice that He made. Look what He gave up and look how He showed how He loved us and, you know, it ended up being inspiring. In that I can deal with what I’ve gotta deal with, because the foundation of my faith – look what He had to deal with. And it’s kind of inspiring.

Makes a lot of sense. Well, what do you think of Jesus Christ?

What do you mean?

Uh, well, as a person. What’s your opinion of Him? Ah, I mean I love Him. I think He’s the greatest example of true love and pure love that ever existed in the world. And He’s also the greatest… He’s kinda like my hero. He showed the ultimate in no fear and power, in that He was willing to give up His life for what He believed in and who He loved. And that’s the ultimate sacrifice. And so all I can do is admire that, and also admire that level of commitment and that level of belief. That’s where I’m at with that. That’s a simple question to say, but so tough to answer, ya know?

(laughs) Yeah, it kinda boils down to Him in a lot of ways.

What do you think of His claims to be, “The Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by Me?”

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So, as a unit we weren’t a Christian band and, you know, we did share those belief systems; but now that I’m solo and someone asks me what I believe, you know, I’m not answering as a unified voice. I’m answering for me personally. And that’s a major reason in how it’s changed.

Good deal. Well, how does it feel from being the number one best-selling rock band in the world to kind of being a punching bag in the alternative music press?

Well, I don’t live my life based on other people’s opinion.

Good for you.

And nobody can take away my achievements and what I’ve accomplished, and no one can take away my fans, and all the positivity that they’ve shown us and given us. And I think a lot of that comes with success, man. You know, anytime anybody’s extremely successful and gains fame in the United States or even in the world, they’ve got 50% of the people that love ‘em and 50% of the people that hate ‘em. And you can’t live your life based on either one. You’ve just gotta be who you are. If being in Creed wasn’t cool, I’ll be uncool for the rest of my life.

Yeah, I’ve always said that, ‘The bigger you get, the bigger target you become, too.”

Yeah. And I just know that everybody that I meet, that I spend time with, and that was a fan of my band really, really is awesome and has nothing but great things to say. And even if they don’t like a particular song or don’t like this record but like this other one better, I respect what they have to say and also understand that I don’t write music for them. It starts off with me. I write it for me and for the guys and for us to get off on and for us to jam out. And, you know, I think that if I wrote for other people and I wrote for success and for fame, then all those opinions would matter. But, of course, we listen…and I will always listen to things that my fans have to say and respect positivity

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WHAT SCOTT STAPP SAYS 47

and respect negative criticism, because, you know, if you don’t respect both then…probably you’re not giving respect and then you’re not respected. But, I just have to keep doing what I like to do. And, you know, I’d be doing this whether it was on the radio or a record company didn’t want to put my songs out on CD, I’d still be writing music and playing music at some capacity. So, basically, my success was liked by the owners of my record company, who were actually pretty much the first Creed fans outside of Tallahassee, Florida and then a lot of people in the world, after they put it out, liked it. But, that’s just a snapshot of my life and a time in my life as an artist. If it doesn’t get any better or it doesn’t continue on, you know, I’ll still be happy and I’ll still enjoy making music and doing what I do. You can’t predict the future. You can’t.

That’s tough. You’re asking hard questions.

Sorry, man.

(laughs)

…and allegations about swimming naked in pools in Miami and…

What was that?

Swimming naked in pools in Miami and…

Really? Who did that?

Say what?

Who did they say did that?

Uh… you.

That’s the first I’ve ever heard of that. Well, I mean, I might’ve swam naked in my own pool. Is that wrong?

That’s alright. Hey, this is, like, my 50th interview today…

Yeah, it gets to be a drag…

No one’s asked me these, so that’s cool.

Good deal. Well, I want to applaud the way you have honored your son in public and your relationship with him.

Thanks for doing that. It hasn’t gone unnoticed.

Oh, thank you very much.

What motivates you as a father? What are your plans for his future?

Well, I mean, the best thing that I can do is to love him unconditionally and just give him love. And the other thing I can do is be a good example for him. You know, I think a lot of people, when they have kids, it changes the way… It kinda makes ‘em mature a little bit and you’ve always gotta realize there’s little eyes watching you all the time. He’s a boy and he wants to be just like his daddy and sometimes I make mistakes and I do things and, of course, he emulates them. And that becomes part of who he is, so I’ve just gotta kinda be able to admit that I’m wrong and I make mistakes and kind of grow with him. But he definitely holds you to a higher standard. And, uh, you know, I’m a single father and I raise him without the help of his mother at all. Um, she’s elected not to be involved in his life, and I think one of the biggest things that I want to do as a father is be there for him – to help him understand that and help him in any way, shape, or form. If he wants to figure that out, however he wants to deal with that, and just try to always be there for him and not be so involved in my career or in other relationships or in anything that takes me away from being the father that I should be. I put that as a big responsibility and it changed my life forever. And, I tell ya, it’s the best thing that ever happened to me and probably one of the only reasons I’m alive right now; because I was on a path of making stupid mistakes and self-destructiveness and… You know, sometimes I wonder if I wouldn’t have been so fortunate to be alive if he wasn’t born. It really shapes you up.

I’ve heard some trash talk that Creed was sued for “sucking” at a Chicago show…

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Yeah, I don’t know if I wanna hear about that, though (laughs).

I’m just saying that, you know, at 3 o’clock in the morning if I wanna go out in my hot tub, I might’ve been naked. But, whatever. That’s part of fame, brother. It’s just… You’ve always got people that want to tear you down and people that are jealous and resentful and other people that just wanna make money, which is what happened in that Chicago show. I mean, if two people didn’t like the show and thought we sucked, which I’m sure they did. Then giving them their money back for their tickets and, you know, their money back for parking and trying to, if they wanted anything, in terms of free CDs or whatever to make their lives better, they’d take it. But saying you sucked, two individuals, and suing you for two million dollars is a completely different thing.

Is that what they did?

Yep. And I think that just goes to show that these people wanted attention and money. It’s just like that Tigger guy. Disney got sued because this lady said that Tigger touched her daughter’s breasts, so she sued ‘em for, like, ten million bucks. Now, it’s one thing to try to, you know, if someone’s wronged you, to get the guy fired and reported to the police, but where did ten million bucks come from? That’s the same with our show. Is, you know, it’s one thing to get your money back and be refunded because you didn’t enjoy the experience, but it’s another thing to say you hated it so much you feel like you should get paid two million bucks for the hour and a half that you were there.

Yeah, we used to have all that kind of behavior sequestered in California, but now we’ve got it in Chicago and Orlando…

Ah, it’s everywhere, man. It’s everywhere. And, you know, people watch you like crazy. If someone saw me get in my hot tub naked, they were probably spying on me. So, whatever. I’m a human being like everybody else. I try to live the most normal life that I can. And, you know, but people are always going to look at people that are in the public eye with a microscope and judge you and analyze you. Basically, it drives a lot of people to never want to go outside. And never want to be around other people, because they’re so afraid of rumors and

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50 FEATURE

to do for the rest of my life, but definitely when it comes to my health and my safety and also what’s around me and, ‘Does it make me happy?’ Because you’ve got to be a happy individual for your kids.

If you’re depressed and lonely and down in the dumps, that’s definitely going to affect how you are as a father or a mother and the kind of example you are setting for your children. So, in every area of my life – spiritually and mentally, physically – he’s had an impact on me.

Cool. How are you writing songs now?

Alone? With a collaborator? How’s that going?

negativity and just depressed. Well, I don’t care about that kind of stuff. People can say whatever they want and, you know, if I did something, I’ll admit it. I’ll be the first one to tell you, but I’ll also be the first one to tell you if it’s not true.

You kind of touched on this already, when you talked about your son kind of giving you perspective. What kind of stuff have you survived the past couple of years? How did you survive? Are you surviving? What caused this? How did you recover?

Well, I had a lot of health issues in 2001 and 2002.

I had pneumonia during the Weathered tour, they discovered two tumors behind my sternum during the Weathered tour. I had a nodule on my vocal chord and couldn’t sing. They put me on this Prednisone treatment. It’s a steroidal anti-inflammatory to take away the swelling, so I could continue to perform. It made me retain water. It bloated me up and it also has a real depressive side-effect. It kinda makes you depressed and down and kind drives you into a hole. It makes you kinda isolated. I was making all those sacrifices and staying on tour, because I didn’t want to let anybody down and I didn’t want to let the fans down. I was under a lot of pressure from various groups and various people to continue and whatever agenda they had was fulfilled. And, you know, my son… I kind of got caught up in that for about 8 or 9 months and I really wasn’t

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thinking about my long-term health and what was best for my son. I could’ve had some serious things go wrong during that period of time and left my son without a father. So, how he’s put that in perspective is reminding me that everything I do has an impact on him. And even when I’m trying to be a superhero and make everybody happy; which is what I got caught up in, because there was so much negative criticism and so many people around me that I later learned it was resentment. That was the basis of their feelings: jealousy. I was trying to make everybody happy and what I’ve realized in life is you can’t make everybody happy. You’ve gotta do what’s right for you and for your family and people that love you. I did that, but then I kinda snapped out of it for about a year and was just, like I said, trying to make people happy, and kinda when I had to reflect, I was like, ‘You know, I owe it to my son to take care of myself and to do what’s best for he and I. He’s also effected how I approach all kinds of situations. Like, I tell ya, I don’t get in a car without a seatbelt, because if I get in a wreck, I wanna be safe. All these little things, where you start… There’s a reason for you to be alive. There’s a reason to live. And it’s a damn good reason. He’s affected every area in my life in terms of me as a human being and how I conduct myself and how I live my life. Now, that’s not to say I’m not going to make a mistake. That’s not to say that I don’t screw up and do dumb things, which I’ll probably continue

Usually I sit down on a piano or on guitar and write.

I’ve got a friend of mine, named 7 Aurelius (Murder Inc), that really is a songwriter and a producer.

Also I’ve got some friends in a band called The Tea Party from Canada that…sometimes I’ll write with them and a lot of times I’ll write without them and then bring them what I’ve written and say, ‘Hey guys, what do you think of this? Learn this.’ And then they’ll kinda play it and expound on it and add their own flavor until we all love it. And so, I enjoy working with other artists. I enjoy getting their take.

But 90% of what I do comes from me first. Occasionally there’ll be something that I love so much that one of my friends does or someone I’m writing with does, and I’m just like, ‘Man, we’ve gotta go with that.’ Sometimes that’s the greatest stuff. A lot of it comes from me and I take it to them and say, ‘Hey, what’s your take on this?’

What kind of sound do you think we’re looking at for your new album?

We’re looking at a groove-oriented rock record.

With a classic sensibility. A lot of my influences are Zeppelin and Black Sabbath and old school classic rock. But I really like the groove-oriented rock. You know, the rock that, when you’re driving in your car kinda makes your head bounce a little bit. I like that, and I like the classic feel, too. So, that’s where we’re headed.

Back when you were growing up, where there any Christian heavy metal bands you listened to? Any magazines like Heaven’s Metal or anything that you, uh…

You know, I’m sure a lot of people say this, but I couldn’t listen to regular secular rock music in my life. Stryper and Petra, stuff like that. U2, also was a band that I convinced my parents were a Christian

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WHAT SLIPKNOT SAYS 51

band after they took Stryper and Petra out, because those electric guitars were evil. So, I convinced them that U2 was a Christian band (chuckles) and they probably were the most predominant influence in my life as a songwriter and singer, aside from Elvis. And then The Doors, in my early twenties, were a huge impact on my life. Just in terms of how I approached lyric writing. And that it actually did matter for the song, which is something that, unless you are a lyricist, you don’t put a lot of thought in…

There’s a lot of guitar players in the world that think lyrics don’t matter. They’d just throw anything in there and, as long as the music’s good, the song’s good. I think with Creed, me and Mark really believe that there needed to be a completeness in terms of the music and the lyrical content and what was said. If you look at all those artists – U2 and The Doors – they both really cared about their lyrics, so I think that had a major impact on me. At the end of the day, Elvis… My three greatest influences of all time and that shaped me as an artist were Elvis, U2, and The Doors.

Wow. Crazy, huh?

Not a bad combo.

Elvis was huge, though, dude. He was it until I was, like, 14.

Do you have a lot of his records?

Um-hmm. That’s all I could listen to. My mom loved him. I used to have dreams about Elvis when I was a kid – that I was at an Elvis show and Elvis stopped the show, pointed at me in the back of the audience, called me up to the stage, and then when I got up, I took the mic and started singing and I took over the show.

Awesome!

Crazy.

Have you seen the movie, Bubba Ho Tep? No, I haven’t.

It’s kinda rough, but it’s hilarious. It’s got an Elvis guy in there.

Really? What’s the name of it again?

Bubba Ho Tep. It’s a mummy/Elvis/horror movie.

Oh my god, dude. Sounds like a trip.

There was a Christian speed metal band that sounded like Slayer, called Vengeance Rising…

know him?

They sounded like Slayer? That’s awesome.

You’re talking about Joshua Brown… Okay.

Yeah, really intense. They went through some changes and whatnot and the other four members of the band – after the singer quit or was fired or whatever – they reformed as a band with everybody minus the singer. Which pretty much tells a story that, ‘Hey, this relationship is severed.’ Alter Bridge apparently is the original members of Creed with a different singer, so…

He’s born again. We’re doing a story on him in our next issue.

Well, I was shocked that they brought Brian (Marshall, bassist) back. I’m happy that Brian came back. It was actually my idea. When we were rehearsing to do a fourth record, you know, we were all starting to drift apart and one of my ideas was, ‘Listen, if we’re gonna do this fourth record, let’s call Brian up and see if he’s doing okay, first of all.

If he’s doing okay, let’s get all the original members back together and let’s do this fourth record.’ I think that, initially, Mark was gonna do a solo record – just himself. And, basically, that idea was changed by various situations and the label. And so I had already decided to move… Since he was doing his solo record, I was gonna go do mine. To be honest with you, the original plan was not having a new singer, but it was initially going to be Mark singing and Mark playing. And I went in a new direction, and wanted to work with a band called The Tea Party, so it was more convenient and easier for Mark to just ask Phillips and Marshall what they were doing and see if they wanted to work with him, based on my decision. I know what it appears to be, but it’s a lot different than what it appears. And Mark always liked the singer that they have right now.

He was in a band called Mayfield Four. They used to open for us. Mark really is into metal and really likes those high, high singers – that eighties kind of vocal. When they heard that I was working with The Tea Party, they knew that that was inevitably going to happen. Just like I knew that if Mark ever decided not to sing for himself on his solo project, then I figured that he’d get a singer just like that, and I figured that it would be him. So it made sense.

That’s kind of how it all happened.

Yeah, yeah…

Awesome…

And he sounds like he’s doing great.

Awesome, man.

There’s a band called Kutless, that’s a Christian band that sounds like they’re trying to be like Creed, so if you ever want to hear somebody trying to sound like you guys, you ought to pick that up.

That’s cool. I love all that stuff, man. And that’s good to hear that Josh got saved.

Yeah, he’s a fireball, man.

I kinda had a re-commitment of my life in the last two years and just kind of me coming to grips with my upbringing and re-learning love, so to speak. A lot of people have asked me today in interviews if what ‘Relearn Love’ was about and I was kinda talking to somebody and I said, ‘You know, I never thought about this, but it’s kind of about becoming born again. I mean, what do we do when we become a Christian? We ask Christ to change our heart. In that song, I’m asking Christ – if that’s the way you want to hear it – I’m asking Christ to retrain my heart and to change my heart. And so I think ‘Relearning Love,’ from someone who grew up a Christian is almost like rededicating your life.

That’s kind of where I’m at right now.

Alright. Well, man. Have a great day Scott. I enjoyed talking to ya.

Alright, take care.

I wanted to tell you a couple things real quick: Joshua Brown from the band Full Devil Jacket…

Yeah, Josh is with Big Dismal right now. Do you

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ads_pg52.indd 1

9/27/2004 1:37:53 PM

WHAT THROWDOWN SAYS 53

What THROWDOWN Says THROWDOWN IS CAUSING QUITE A BUZZ IN HARDCORE CIRCLES, NO PUN INTENDED, WITH ITS INTENSE PIT ANTHEMS AND PERFECT METALLIC GROOVES. INSANE SETS ON EVERY TOUR AND FESTIVAL APPEARANCE ONLY MAKE ITS STATUS GROW. IT’S A PRIVILEGE TO TALK TO A BAND LIKE THIS, WHO KEEP IT REAL BY PRIORITIZING THE FAMILIAL ASPECT OF THE HARDCORE COMMUNITY THEY ARE PART OF. READ ON AS BASSIST DOM MACALUSO SHARES WHAT MAKES HIM SMILE.

Does that answer your question?

Yeah, it’s open ended and I think you answered it pretty accurately – based on what I’ve seen at shows lately and changes over the last decade or so. How ‘bout blood and spit and flying limbs and people knocking into each other?

What has changed along the lines of that and what is your perspective of being on stage and looking out and seeing maybe somebody getting pretty beat up?

First off, how would you describe the community of hardcore? Specifically, as much details as possible.

Since I’ve joined probably it’s drastically changed. I mean, we were a lot more hands-on about ten years ago, doing fanzines, making vegan food, having literature, things like that. Everyone was really an active part of the hardcore community, with different beliefs, as far as vegetarian and straight edge, religion, a lot of things like that. A lot of people brought their political views to the table. Now hardcore is a lot more…I’d say it’s a lot bigger. The lines are a lot more blurred between genres and people take a little more of a back seat, I would say, to a lot of what’s going on in hardcore, and they just show up to shows and things like that. So, from a band perspective, there’s positives and negatives to both. But I think that’s the main difference from what I would say is going on with hardcore right now.

What are some factors that may or may not cater to or promote a family attitude?

One good thing about hardcore, that is true throughout the rest of the globe, actually, is that hardcore kids are community and really closeknit. It’s not uncommon that a band will go out on tour and stay at someone’s house that they don’t know, and they just met at that show that night. That happens with a lot of bands. I think that’s something that keeps hardcore together and close-knit, because in a lot of other genres you don’t have that kind of closeness from a band/fan relationship. If you go, you can tell that there’s less of a barrier there, as far as the band and the fans, per se. There’s people walking around in the shows and a lot of interaction. There’s just not that stigma attached, I think, like is attached to other genres.

Right. What about…

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As a person I don’t like that, you know? I get pretty bummed out when I see fights or I see people getting hurt beyond something that’s just like a scratch or a bump. Hardcore has always been . . . when I was a kid and not playing in bands, I was stage diving and dancing and doing all that kind of stuff, so I’ve had my bumps and licks and things like that. I don’t know. I think that, when you play a more aggressive style of music, regardless of where you come from and what your ideals are, there’s going to be some people coming with the wrong attitude and things like that. One good thing about hardcore, for the most part, a lot of people – it’s pretty close-knit and a lot of people know each other in their respective scenes, so there’s a lot of respect in that regard. If someone’s getting hurt or if there starts to be a fight or something, it’s usually broken up pretty quickly. It’s discouraging to have to see some of that stuff, but on the same token, it’s kinda come to be expected over time. It’s not uncommon to see something like that.

How would you describe the feelings you have when the crowd… I’m changing the subject here – I’m not talking about violence. How do you feel when the crowd goes nuts and they’re just moving?

That’s a really good feeling. On a positive note, when you take a hardcore or a punk show or a metal show, for that example, I’d say a hardcore has the best positive energy partly because of what I was talking about – the crowd is familiar with each other to a certain extent, and also there is like a common bond and they know why they’re there, for the most part. You can’t capture that energy, I don’t think, at a metal show or a punk show. It’s really a great feeling.

Yeah, I agree. That’s a good way to describe that. So, you know, being based out of Orange County, how far back do you go with the OC hardcore scene? And what are some of the bands that you grew up around or were influential to you?

When I was getting into the scene, specifically…it’s actually funny coming from a Heaven’s Metal quarterly or whatever your publication (is called) that I got into Christian hardcore first. So, a couple of my friends were getting into bands like Unashamed and Focused... And P.O.D., actually, was one of those bands at the time. So, that’s how I got into hardcore, and I branched off into other sects of hardcore, as far as, like, straight-edge and other things like that. Those are some of the bands that I first heard, and were able to go to shows.

Cool. Did you ever get a chance to see some of those massive shows with Focused and The Crucified?

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54 FEATURE

I’m really excited in what I’m doing in life and what God’s called me to do. I think this is my calling. If I can be a light for just one person on one tour, it’s worth it to me. And we have interactions with so many different kinds of people that... I just think it’s a great thing.

Uh, yeah. I saw ‘em at different churches and things like that. It was cool. Unashamed is probably my favorite at the time. I was pretty big into that Tooth & Nail scene.

Yeah, I saw a few of those shows. The Crucified was starting to get, like, a thousand people at their shows.

Yeah, yeah. Definitely.

Well, speaking of Christian bands and whatnot, what do you think of Jesus Christ?

Um, I’m actually… I’m a believer. Not many people know that, I think. And it doesn’t come out necessarily through all of our band expressions and things like that; but, one, I’m not a lyricist, so I can’t always be, you know, advocating that to it. I don’t know.

I was real excited to do this interview, because I think I would have the chance to speak freely as far as this is concerned…

Uh, huh.

‘Cause in most other interviews and things like that, it’s never really made an issue. People like to focus on the fact that we’re straight-edge or draw from pretty generic interviews, so for me this is an opportunity to speak freely about what I believe and stuff. So, I’m happy about that.

Cool. What do you think about His claims to be “the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by Me?” I definitely agree! That’s the standard that any Christian that, you know, holds to be a Christian has to believe and go through. So…

Have you ever faced an attitude, like coming from a grandmother or some attitude like that, “Well, a Christian acts this way, and they have tattoos that look like this, not that,” and “their album songs are…”

Do you ever face that kind of criticism or… narrowmindedness?

Um, I would say prejudices like that on a personal level. Not so much on a band level, because I have tattoos or whatever. And just in my daily life. But I would think not so much on the band aspect, because like I said, our band doesn’t necessarily seem to promote the Christian lifestyle and therefore we don’t get pegged on a lot of people. I guess it’s kind of under the radar. So, we don’t receive a lot of criticism as far as what our band ideals or what we’re expected to live up to are, I guess.

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Cool. One thing that I’ve appreciated, you know, starting out as Heaven’s Metal and being a metal magazine and the whole revolution of new music in the 90s and all the changes, I really completely appreciated the no façade, no image and just the “You’re acceptable for who you are as you are,” kind of “come as you are” kind of attitude – especially with punk and hardcore… and I think in a lot of ways that does mirror Christianity or spirituality in a way, because those kind of philosophies shouldn’t be snobby and I thought it was great how the old music scenes crumbled apart and the snobbery kind of died with it, which I thought was kinda cool. Do you see anything similar?

I think with our day and time, I mean, you see a lot more people growing up with different politics and things like that and our generation – there’s a lot more, I think, acceptance having to do with Christianity. Although they are the same ideals and the same Bibles that, you know, our grandparents were reading 50 years ago, I think a lot has changed to help overcome them. And basically, what you said, unite people together and less prejudice and things like that. Yeah, I definitely see that as a positive thing.

Well, tell me about your experience. You played Hellfest recently, is that right?

Yeah.

How was that?

Good. Hellfest, we played, like, the last three or four years. One thing that was kind of a disappointment was this year it seemed like it was kind of a competition or something…like it was a right of passage to have a black eye this year, like it was something… A lot of people were walking around, kind of proud to have that. I can’t judge, and I’m not there to say whether that’s right or wrong, but I was a little disappointed in the fact that it’s being taken to that level and things like that. I don’t know. Our set and our… Every year that we play it’s a great experience – to draw that many people from, now, around the world at one point in time; and to have people sing along and things like that.

I think it’s a great experience. I was just a little disappointed on the side note, as far as the…I don’t know what I’d call it, I guess.

I think it’s amazing how…I’ve been to dif-

ferent parts of the world and seen shows of this vein and it’s amazing how so much is common across cultural boundaries.

There’s some differences, for sure, but there’s a lot that’s the same the whole world over, and that’s pretty awesome.

Yeah, most definitely. We played in Japan, Australia, and all over Europe and… Yeah, like I said, a lot of … how that can carry over into a lot of different cultures is amazing to me. A lot of different cultures don’t live in the same respect that we do on everything on a day to day basis, so the fact that hardcore music can unite people together in a common bond like that is pretty cool.

Right on. How do you survive the road life and tour after tour after tour and just hopping off of one and onto another?

It’s different. It’s definitely not for everyone, I think.

Right now, actually, my body’s kind of feeling some of the effects and I have to go see a doctor this Thursday. Beyond that, I think it’s a great life. I’m really excited in what I’m doing in life and what God’s called me to do. I think this is my calling. If I can be a light for just one person on one tour, it’s worth it to me. And we have interactions with so many different kinds of people that . . . I just think it’s a great thing.

Well, on a personal note, I would like to, uh, you know, pat you on the back and say, “I totally support what you’re doing.” I think it’s exciting to … just for anybody to look around them and see whatever field it is – whether it’s the law profession or the medical profession or science – to look around and see a believer doing what they do in a given field is exciting. It’s very much needed and I think it’s a like the call of being salt and light in the earth, you know.

Yeah, definitely. I’m reading right now The Purpose Driven Life and one thing that really helped me out was, “There’s no perfect profession, and ministry is relative to what you’re doing in life.” He said that, “If God’s put you in a position where you’re using your talent and you’re helping people, then you’re ministering to the world.” I think that was really strong, because for me I always thought that . . . you know, I had that preconceived notion that ministry was a pastor or a youth leader or something like that; where that’s the only profession that you could really live up to having God look down and smile on you, ya know? But I’ve just recently come

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WHAT THROWDOWN SAYS 55 to think that that’s different. So, that’s pretty cool.

That’s cool. I’m glad for you. Um, without prying too much in the personal, I’m curious as to what kind of injuries or ailments you’re seeing a doctor for. If the road life is responsible…what kind of insight can that bring to other readers, ya know?

I don’t know if there’s much insight. About two months ago, right before we left on the Ozzfest I was hospitalized for… I came right back from Europe and coughed blood for, like, three days. I thought it was something like food poisoning. They didn’t have a diagnosis at the time. That’s what they kinda brushed it off to. Since then I’ve been having some, like, other effects and stuff like that. I’ve had recurring stomach problems over the past few years or something. So, it’s something that…I don’t know. I feel that I’m, like, very spiritually immature – the more that I learn about God. So, I’ve recently been asking Him to heal me and comfort me and things like that, ya know, like a young child would.

And I’ve come to realize now that, you know, that might not be the right thing for me to be asking, so I’m just kind of riding it out and I’m going to see a specialist this week and see if there’s anything that I can get taken care of. I don’t know if that much pertains to what’s going on as far as the band is concerned. Like I said, it’s just personal struggles and things like that that I’m going through.

Yeah, it sounds like it might be some sort of virus or bug. I just think it’s kind of cool sometimes to highlight the reality of sometimes the touring life can wear you down, and when you’re tired the resistance to disease is lowered usually.

Yeah, it definitely could be. My mom thinks it’s something like exhaustion and it getting my stomach hurt. But I don’t know. I really don’t know. I’m kinda taking it one day at a time, I guess.

Well, tell me about the Together Forever United DVD. It’s been in production since we started. Our first show we’ve had video footage and I’ve made it a point to film on every tour we’ve done and most festivals and things like that. It really… It does the best job at telling a story, as far as what Throwdown is about. Rather than just having a DVD of a live performance piece, it’s really more of a biography.

I’m pretty proud of it. I think it turned out pretty well. It’s mostly, you know, us on the tour. On tour life and having fun and different interactions with people and different scenes and things like that. It’s cool.

Excellent. I look forward to seeing it. It’s always nice to have footage that goes way back and covers a span.

“And then Dom, in September of 2004 went to the hospital…” That’ll be the climax where the band faces the problem. (laughs) Right, right.

I really like those, too. It’s funny how sometimes there’s like a formula where they all … almost like a situational comedy: you’ve got success, story, problem. At some point in the middle there’s a problem and it focuses on it.

I don’t… I mean, I think every band encounters problems. It’s five guys or four guys who are basically in a relationship with each other, trying to work things out from five different angles. So, you’re bound to have some sort of drama, I guess you’d say.

What are some of the inter-personal conflicts that you wouldn’t mind sharing in a public manner that you guys have had as a band? (pause) Let’s see…what can I share? It’s not always peachy. I think with every band… The writing process usually goes pretty well for us, as far as what we come together and we know what we’re doing on that regard. Sometimes people butt heads.

Our old singer and current new singer used to butt heads quite a bit. I think it’s a personality thing with them. A lot of times you need people to sometimes agree to disagree, because you’re trying to have… like I said, you have five different opinions staring into one pot, trying to pull in these different directions. It doesn’t always work out, so sometimes the people that can take a back seat to an argument work out better in bands, I think. When you have too many people that are stubborn or want their way, it gets difficult sometimes. I know that’s a pretty vague answer to your question, but I don’t know how much I should delve into things with the other guys…

know, Revolver called you guys, “One of the future of metal bands” to look out for…

Yeah, I mean, it’s actually really really weird for me to hear that, because we’ve always looked at ourselves as a hardcore band. We were talking with Lamb of God, because the tour was shaping up to be Lamb of God, Children of Bodom, and us and some other band that was more metal-based… I think it was Mastodon or something at the time, and we were like, “Yeah, we’re gonna go over terrible, you know, we’re a hardcore band,” and this and that. “Metal guys won’t appreciate us.” Coming from those guys, hearing that, like, “No way! You guys are a great metal band. Kids will eat it up.” It was really… It was pretty cool to hear from someone that’s really out there doing what we respect in the metal world, ya know? As far as the fusion is concerned, I mean, it’s been that way since working on up to the past 15 or 20 years, you know, since the Cro-Mags and things like that. I don’t know. I think it’s great. I think it was a natural progression for hardcore to take and for metal kids now opening up to listen to hardcore bands and are singing more about positive things and issues – concrete issues – rather than blood and guts or whatever – some other metal bands talk about mindless stuff, like, or awfully abstract stuff. I think that’s great that the metal kids are being able to open up to that some.

I agree, too. One little side question: Have you heard of this poet named Bradley Hathaway?

Uh, it’s not familiar. I don’t know.

He’s on tour with Blindside right now. He’s like a slam poet and he has this one poem, called “Hardcore” (“The Annoying Hardcore Dude That Goes Too Far”), and he makes fun of the whole emo scene and the tight pants. I thought you might get a kick out of knowing that he drops your name there.

Gotcha. How do you feel about touring with Norma Jean?

Cool.

I’m excited. We have done select shows with them before and I’m a fan of their music as well. Their shows are always good. I think that we’re pulling two pretty different crowds, although it’s a hardcore base crowd. I think us and Norma Jean are pretty well diverse. So, I’m excited to do that. Right now, unfortunately, we’re going to miss a couple of the first dates based on some factors right now that are getting worked through. Other than that, I’m really excited to tour with ‘em.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

When you tour with Lamb of God and if you ever talk to one of their guitar players, Mark, I did an interview with him at Ozzfest about a month ago. It was a pretty good conversation about spiritual things and whatnot.

Yeah. I’m always a fan of those VH-1 Behind The Music and things like that. After you watch any of them, you can empathize with ‘em and, you know, it kinda comes to life – (and you can) appreciate whoever it is you’re watching. I think that’s kind of the style that we did, I think.

Cool. He’s a pretty cool guy.

Cool. Well, hopefully three-fourths of the way through there won’t be that voice,

Well, speaking of metal, what is your take on metal being fused into hardcore? You

Pretty down to earth. You don’t always expect real intense metal from Richmond, Virginia, but they bring it.

Yeah.

This has been cool. (Editor’s note: in flipping tape over, part of his answer was missed here) …a Christian-based band or anything like that, but when I found out, like, the members of other bands or when they carry the message or things like that, I felt like I could associate with them and I would be excited about that. Bands like Killswitch Engage, with their last singer and, you know, things like that, where you didn’t really know for sure. I thought it was cool, so I’m happy to be a part of this. Thanks for the interview.

Likewise. If we get a chance to meet up in Austin, I’d sure love to hang out and have some dinner with you or something.

Cool.

I’ll be on the lookout on those tour dates and I’ll try to hook up.

Alright. Sounds good, man.

God bless you, Dom. Alright, thanks.

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56 FEATURE

What LAMB OF GOD Says LAMB OF GOD HAS BEEN TERRORIZING AUDIENCES WITH ITS PRECISE AND TIGHT SPEED METAL FOR A FEW YEARS NOW, AS THE NUMBER OF IMPRESSED SPECTATORS GROW WITH EACH NEW SHOW. ENJOY THIS RARE SIT-DOWN FACE-TO-FACE INTERVIEW WITH GUITARIST MARK MORTON, WHICH TOOK PLACE IN THE DINING AREA BACKSTAGE AT OZZFEST. IT WAS A SMALL YET REAL CHALLENGE TO KEEP MY EYES FOCUSED ON MARK WHEN PEOPLE LIKE TOM ARAYA WAS WALKING RIGHT BY US ON HIS WAY OUT.

How does it feel to go through that era and look around you and have that lack of stuff to do?

I don’t know. It wasn’t so bad, because there was other stuff going on musically, for me at least, that I found interesting. I got into the whole touch-n-go thing, discord thing and all that angular kind of raw punk, for lack of a better word. There’s a lot of aggression in that, so it filled the role – it filled the void. And ultimately I think it wound up being a positive, because I and each of us as individuals bring those outside influences to our music. I think that’s why…hopefully why…we’re unique. Because we incorporate influences and styles and techniques that aren’t necessarily specific to metal or even always found in it.

Why don’t you drop some names of some bands that you were into before your band?

DV: Tell me about the new album…

MM: I feel it’s our most sophisticated record yet, our most controlled record. We always say, and we still do, “That we want every record to be very different than the one before it.” It’s never one-upmanship with our albums, it’s trying to make a completely different character and a different personality and capture the snapshot that is what we sound like at that minute that we sat down to write songs. That’s what we’ve done again, and we’re really, really proud of it. It was constructed under a pretty intense time schedule, but it was a challenge. We wanted to push ourselves to rise to the occasion. Walking away from it, before an album hits the stores, or one is sold, whether it’s sold one or a million, it doesn’t matter, because we’re excited.

Cool. How did you get so fast, playing-wise? And how do you keep up your speed? How much of a challenge is that?

I think coming out of the late 80s/early 90s thrash era, which was the metal that impacted me as a player and influenced me... The heroes were there, you know? It was Dime and it was Slayer and it was, you know, Hetfield, and Mustaine. Those guys set the bar, so we just aspired to it. Luckily, we’ve been interested and focused enough to be around long enough to see it come back on this level. It’s incredible.

We were doing it anyway. We weren’t doing it for money or magazines or DVDs or anything like that. We were just doing it because it was the music that… In ’95, nobody was playing metal. You know what I mean? A couple handful of bands, a couple of the ones I mentioned.

You couldn’t get to a metal show. You couldn’t buy a new metal record every Tuesday or even every other Tuesday. It wasn’t happening. So that’s it. Necessity is the mother of invention. It wasn’t happening, so we just put the full effect to the basement and made our own metal, ya know? It’s what we’re still doing.

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Shellac, The Jesus Lizard, Mule, Breadwinner, Superchunk and Sonic Youth and that kind of stuff. Fugazi, certainly. Drive Like Jehu... All these bands just brought an element of noise to the table and made noise musical. If you took away Fugazi and Jehu, you know, these bands made noise musical. That’s an element of what you’re seeing now when you hear Meshuggah or us or somebody doing these completely dissonant chords that musically don’t necessarily make sense, but they add a texture and a vibe to the music that’s undeniable, you know? At least from my perspective, that’s where that (bleep) came from. It was Fugazi bringing out that, beating up the hell out of guitars.

The sonic energy that was created from that was as frenetically scary as any riff you can play, you know? That’s something that we bring to the table. That’s what I’m hoping.

Do you think that you guys being in Richmond and Fugazi being in the DC area and that location have anything to a scene…

Probably. If we were from Seattle, we may not be talking to you about Fugazi. We’d probably be talking about The Melvins or somebody else.

I’m sure it had something to do with it. Even in Richmond there’s a real… there’s bands you never even heard of. There’s so many bands in Richmond, so isolated and not leaving town and not caring to leave town that influenced us. A band called Sliang Laos that I’m sure you never heard of. If I took you to the bus and played it for you, you’d be like, ‘Oh yeah, I hear that in Lamb of God.’ It’s like we straight copped their stuff, because those were the guys we were going to see in our local bar. They were never gonna be rock stars or be in any videos or anything. They were still slaying. Breadwinner and The Alternatives. It’s like local Richmond bands that (had) a HUGE influence on us. As much as Pantera or Slayer or anyone else.

How was it putting the DVD together?

It was fun, man. It was easy. We film everything. We’re always taking pictures and rolling cameras and stuff, just for our own fun. So, when it comes time to do a project like that, it’s real easy for us to do, because we literally have to hire people to watch everything we’ve shot, because we don’t have time to watch it. So we literally employed people to watch through our archives of footage and find good stuff, and then we take a look at what they’ve got and we start pulling stuff. So, it was

9/27/2004 4:12:07 PM

WHAT LAMB OF GOD SAYS 57

simple. We can keep it cheap that way, too. There’s not a lot of production costs when you’ve got everything in a closet somewhere. There’s always a camera rolling. You come on our bus and you’re going to be on a camera. And we’re filming something.

Right, that’s kind of the surface level; but when you boil it down to the tenets, there are some that are universalistic, like…

Well, you know. Most of it’s not happening, but the five minutes that are out of those five hours of tape…it’s pretty funny stuff.

Sure, but what good do they do if they’re not applied? And they’ve never been applied. No one ever seems to agree. No one gets down to that level. So, they’re worthless. They’re worthless unless they’re employed – and they’re not. They’re just words. It’s like Winnie The Pooh or something.

Do you ever watch your own footage to give yourself performance tips and stuff?

Have you ever seen an example of somebody employing their faith in a way that seems legitimate to you?

A little bit. Less now than I used to. I think now, I’ve been doing it long enough to know when a good show happened and I know what I need to do. But yeah, we still reference ourselves, you know. We’re older than some of these kids out here. You know what I’m saying? We want to make sure we’re hanging in there and keeping up. We definitely take a look at what it looks like and what it sounds like. We’re focused on it at every level – be it creative, songwriting, performance, production, merchandising, you know… Everything. Every aspect of it. We’re a real hands-on band.

Sure, I think people do every day. I think you and I probably do twenty times a day, but it doesn’t seem to be changing the world. It’s all about living as righteously as you can by yourself; and not trying to impose or influence anybody else, because that’s when you cross the line. You do your thing; and that’s as much as you can do. It’s not going to stay unless… If everybody did… right, it would.

Good idea.

One thing I’ve seen is that some people get caught up in the fact that…

Is this a religious magazine?

What do you think about Jesus Christ?

What do I think about Jesus Christ? I don’t know a whole lot about Jesus Christ, really. I was fortunate enough to be brought up by parents who were religious but left it up to me to decide, like, that for me. I literally remember… I very specifically remember being an adolescent and asking my father if he believed in God. And his answer was “Yes,” and that was it. That’s as far as it went. Looking back on it now, that’s pretty heavy; because here’s his son asking him about religion and all he says is, “Yes,” and that’s it. ‘It’s an open door, explore it yourself,’ so… I think it shaped my views on spirituality in general. It’s the most personal element of your existence, I think. That’s how I treat it with people. But I don’t know a whole lot about Jesus. I haven’t studied it.

That’s the chief end or the chief focus of it…

Sure.

…but in every issue we interview somebody that’s not part of that realm, like in this issue (points to one on table) it’s Boys Night Out and we’ve done Dimmu Borgir, King Diamond, Extreme, Kiss, Metallica. It’s always a…

It’s fascinating.

It’s a good read, because who doesn’t want to know what Bono or somebody thinks about God? Right.

There’s a quote that He’s attributed with, that says, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by Me.” What do you think of that?

Uh, you know, this sounds like Christian rhetoric to me. Every religion has their stand and their lines and their tenets, you know what I mean?

If you create your own then you don’t have to pay attention to those.

If it’s a historical context, apparently He said it to Jews, who tried to pick up rocks to stone Him and kill Him as soon as He said it… It was kind of a ballsy statement. You don’t tell a Jewish person, you know, “I am the Way,” unless you are implying that you are God. So, that’s the problem with all these religions – really, for me. Is that, while they’re all founded on wonderful principles and either one of them can be an amazing set of righteous rules to live by, they’re all so exclusive and there’s no room for each other. That’s always been my big turnoff by organized religion. It’s more of why I’ve gravitated towards a sort of personal inner sense of spirituality rather than paying some teacher 80-grand a year to delegate my relationship with God. It doesn’t make sense to me.

Do you think you’ll mirror kind of your dad’s approach with your own children some day?

I don’t see why I shouldn’t. I think that’s the most noble introduction to religion one could ask for.

I’ve studied several world religions and… most of them agree at one point on the surface, like “Be nice to each other,” the golden rule…

Well, maybe in yours or in tenets, but not in practice. I mean, we’re in the middle of a war of civilizations right now. So, it’s pretty naïve to think of it as anything but.

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So, I always try to… One thing I do is, uh, for 19 years, is I print what you say word-for-word. I don’t try to put you in a hole or put you in a place. I just let you express yourself and I print what you say word-for-word, instead of paraphrasing and, uh… It’s like anything: if you treat somebody with respect and dignity…

And furthermore… In that context, I’m only speaking for myself. It’s important to note that my band, despite the images, names or anything, it’s not a political party. It’s not a church group. It’s not any of those things. Each of the five of us have remarkably different views on God and religion and its place in our existence. Remarkably different, across the spectrum. And that’s fine, because, like I said, that’s the most personal part of you. So, why should I care?

What would be a good description of a context where you and your bandmates kind of get into that kind of thing? Randomly or…?

Into what? A discussion about that?

Yeah. Where, obviously, you’ve been friends with these guys for…

For years… Yeah, how long? 15 years? 12 years or something like that.

We talk about what’s going on. I’m not going to sit down with John and talk to him about God or what I prayed for or whatever, like that.

You know what I’m saying? It’s not something to talk about. Not for me anyways.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 65

10/1/2004 4:13:28 PM

58 FEATURE

What IN FLAMES Says WHEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO INTERVIEW IN FLAMES CAME OUR WAY, IT WAS AN EASY CHOICE, SINCE THIS SWEDISH BAND IS ONE OF THE PREEMINENT METAL BANDS IN TODAY’S SCENE, WITH A CRUSHING SOUND AND IMPRESSIVE LIVE SHOW. LISTEN IN AS DOUG VAN PELT TALKS WITH BASSIST PETER IWERS.

ably Colony to Clayman; and Reroute to Soundtrack. So I don’t think the evolution was so big from Reroute to this album. We basically just went on in the same recipe we had been doing the last couple years and trying to add more ingredients to it. A lot of people always say we change so much in between records and we don’t sound at all like we did ten years ago. Which is true, but at the same time, we don’t want to stand in the same footsteps. We don’t want to do exactly the same thing over and over again, because then it gets boring for us. When we play these songs live, it needs to be interesting for us, it needs to keep us on edge as well as when we write them. Because we’re going to be listening to them for many, many years, and we can’t really think about what people are going to think—if we’ve changed or whatever—we just have to write whatever is natural for us at this time. I think it’s less of an evolution from Reroute to Soundtrack than, say, if you just took Reroute away and you had Clayman to Soundtrack; it would be bigger for us. All of the albums are very important for us. We couldn’t take, like, a giant leap from Colony to Soundtrack. We have to have all these records in between to kind of get us where we are today.

What would be your opinion on perhaps why Sweden and Norway are cranking out so many good technical death and black metal bands?

DVP: How are things going with you right now?

PI: Me personally? I’m doing excellent. We got back from the States and the European tour like a week and a half ago. Since then we’ve been doing some European festivals like Wacken Open Air, Hultsfred, and Rock Machina. We came back from a show with Metallica in Berlin yesterday, and right now we just have a lot of European festivals going throughout the summer. We try to play them, go back to land for a few days and then go out and play again; it’s not like we go on tour for a few weeks. We just do a few shows and then go back home and do a few shows and go back home. Nice way of doing it; I think it makes us get into the performance even more than usual.

Cool. Well tell me about Soundtrack to Your Escape and how it turned out for you and any sort of interesting stories about the creation of it.

Well, uh, it was basically done starting last year in May; we went to Denmark to write the record. We had a bunch of songs written, song ideas, and we just basically brought our equipment and our gear and just jammed for two weeks, drinking beer and just relaxing as much as we could. Getting away from home, from all the interruptions and our cell phone calls and our obligations with everything that we have to do, we just moved into this cabin by the ocean in Denmark and wrote the record. Put the riffs together into songs until we felt that we had made something that was even better than the last record. For us, at least.

Cool. How much of an evolutionary step do you think this album is from Reroute to Remain and how much of a progression do you think it’s been?

I think that if you look on the old albums you can probably pair them up: you have The Jester Race and the Whoracle set as one pair; then prob-

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I get asked this question about 500 times and I still don’t know the correct answer (laughs), but I can only speculate and I think that, first off, since we’re so far away from the American market and as far as music television it’s not so big here so we don’t have any particular trends to follow. We don’t have any big bands that influence everybody, ‘cause then a lot of bands might sound the same, if you ask me.

There’s usually two options: people either get involved in sports, or they get involved in music … Basically, around here it’s very small and we have these youth places where everybody can hang out and help each other out. It’s not like a rivalry, (where) you see somebody getting bigger then you get mad or anything like that. If one band goes well, then they take the next one with them. It’s support: help each other out, influence everybody. I think that’s the same thing with Norway.

We just do it the way we feel like doing it without getting any inputs from too many bands from other countries, getting influenced from all the thrash scene and from the death metal scene or anything like that.

But not too much. I don’t know. I don’t know what the correct answer might be. It’s fascinating.

There are regional scenes around the world and that can be located as one of them. What do you think about the person of Jesus Christ?

The person of?

Yeah, what do you think of Jesus?

I don’t know. I have no particularly big beliefs in any religion. If somebody would ask me which one I belong to, I would say Christianity, but I’m not like a religious person. I don’t attend church or anything like that. If I pray, it’s definitely towards a God. I don’t know if it’s THE God that Christianity talks about. We’re not a religious band at all. It’s not about—it’s only about the music for us.

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WHAT IN FLAMES SAYS 59

Yeah. There’s a claim of Christ that He said He was, “the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father but

by Me.” You kind of alluded to it about being THE God. What do you think about that claim?

trouble—what do people in Sweden think of America, the political scene and just their role in the world, as the “leader of the free world?”

No. We’ve played with some Christian hardcore bands in the U.S., but you know there’s nothing—not good or bad experience at all.

I don’t do anything for the band. I’ll tell you my own personal opinions.

I like America – as far as going there and playing and I like people that I meet there. I don’t like some political people, I won’t say who, but most people can figure it out, because I think this person is extremely ignorant towards the rest of the world. And I mean, I’m not going to go full into it, because like I said before, I’m not a political person, I’m not a religious person, though I have some feelings about it and I think that a lot of important people in America should look outside of America and see that there’s more in the world than America, and maybe stop believing all what they say about your country and start actually taking influence from other countries in the world, also.

There’s another band called Jerusalem from Uppsala, I think.

It’s always cool to get perspective from other parts…

I have no opinion at all. Like I said, I’m not a religious person to the extent to where I discuss anything in the Bible or anything like that. I have my own personal beliefs and I agree with some stuff in some religions and some in other religions, but basically I believe in myself and my family and hope to keep them safe, that’s all. I don’t have anything to say regarding religion.

Have you had much experience with Christian rock bands?

Yeah, yeah, I know the name.

And then Blindside is doing really well in the U.S. right now.

Yeah. It’s nice for everybody regardless of what religion or what political view you might have; it’s all music and as long as you don’t force your opinion upon anybody else, then it’s fine. I don’t care at all whether you want to call yourself satanic guy or Christian guy or you know, whatever – as long as you stick to your beliefs by yourself and you don’t practice them in front of anybody else.

I think a lot of people these days are learning that they don’t like salesmen. Like, you go to a music store you don’t want a salesman following you around trying to sell you everything; but somebody who can just be real. Like, if you want a salesman there, it’s great. He’s there to help you buy the shoes or the music or whatever.

Yeah, exactly, yeah.

You mentioned some of the older stuff as far as the tones and the gear you like to use, what are some of the things that inspired your sound?

Obviously Slayer. You know everybody says (them), and that’s true. I grew up listening to Slayer and I still love them. They’re one of my favorite bands. Metallica, basically everything all the way up to the Black album. I like that album, too, then I’m not such a bigger fan of their latest records. What else? Iron Maiden, of course, same thing. Everything up til Seventh Son, which some people really like. Me personally, I like Def Leppard a lot. That probably influenced me into getting into this music. As well as Anthrax—there’re so many bands to mention, there’s so many good, good bands that I still listen to their old stuff, and some of their new stuff. You know, I like the new Anthrax stuff. They’re always gonna be good. And, I listen to lots of weird, different music. I like Steve Vai a lot. I like Primus. I like, you know, West Coast music…

All of these different bands inspired me in different ways. Some of them inspired me in practicing a hell of a lot when I grew up and trying to become as good as possible on my instrument, and some of them just inspired me to play music. Some of them just inspired me to act the way I act, you know? When you meet people, like the guys in Iron Maiden, and you find that they are very, very nice guys even though you can meet other people that are far less successful and they’re acting like (bleep). Meeting these huge bands and seeing how nice and down to earth they are – that’s very inspiring for the music business and for myself, because I always try to be down to earth in whatever we achieve. There’s no reason to try and act like an (bleep). But some people think so…

I wanted to ask you a question about America and the perception of America—and you can either answer it from your personal opinion or if you want to just kind of divorce yourself from being a spokesperson for the band and getting in

Yeah, that’s what I think, but I really like to play over there. I like to be in America, I just think that every country needs to learn from everybody else. There isn’t one country that’s perfect anywhere in the world. Everybody needs to take influence from other places and other people and that’s something that little countries—not only America—need to learn.

You got that right. Philosophically speaking, do you think you would place yourself on the side of relativism, that it doesn’t matter what you think or believe or do, as long as it doesn’t infringe upon my rights is where you put yourself?

Or would you say there are some absolutes, like “do not murder” and “do not physically harm somebody else” is absolutely wrong no matter what?

Yeah. I think so. I mean, of course, there’s an old saying: Act towards other people the way you want them to act towards you, which is really something to live by. I’m not saying that I’m pro-war—I don’t like wars—but I’m not saying that it would be so easy to create war and peace either (…) Maybe some people, some people down the road can’t be reasoned with. It’s really a difficult situation and a really difficult thing to judge anybody. I try to live by the way that … I try to treat everybody as equals. I try to be humble until somebody gives me a reason not to be.

What do you think—if you could forecast the future of music, specifically rock or heavy music or trends—where do you think the music scene’s going?

Into more aggressive. Definitely. A lot of bands getting influenced by the Scandinavian scene in the American scene and adding their hardcore riffs to it and making it a little bit different and more aggressive, but it seems to be going really well. There are some bands, like Hatebreed, Chimaira and Killswitch that I personally really enjoy and I think they’re really, really good. They get influence, maybe, from our type of music and some other more hardcore punk music, punk bands.

That makes them get a big following, but at the same time, opens the doors for bands like us that are from a different area, so it’s like basically we might influence some of them, and they help us to build our scene over in the U.S. I think lots and lots more people are appreciating ours and all of this kind of aggressive music. We can see from our touring, from each year that we come back, we’ve been playing for more people every time so far and it seems that a lot of people really appreciate aggressive music. Even over here.

Cool. They say punk’s foundation was political, a backlash to Great Britain’s government, and others say black metal’s foundation is rebellion against the church, or trying to create music that is inherently evil, that Christian musicians can’t create. Do you think there’s any truth to that?

CONTINUED ON PAGE 65

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9/27/2004 4:13:17 PM

60 FEATURE

What HOPESFALL Says HOPESFALL DOESN’T NEED MUCH OF AN INTRODUCTION FOR READERS OF HM MAGAZINE. WHAT’S UNUSUAL ABOUT THIS BAND, HOWEVER, IS THAT THEY ONCE FIT VERY BOLDLY AND NEATLY INSIDE THE CHRISTIAN HARD MUSIC SCENE AND NOW THEY, UH, DON’T EXACTLY FIT INTO THAT SCENE. READ ON AS AN INTERVIEW WITH LEAD VOCALIST JAY FORREST WAS HANDED OFF TO BASSIST DUSTIN NADLER [WITH DESCRIPTIONS IN BRACKETS].

record – and it’s just because of that reason – the touring and the road was so much. And they didn’t want to do it anymore. They weren’t cut out for it. As far as tips are concerned, I don’t know if I can really tip on the road – like how it works or how to survive. It’s like either you have it or you don’t sometimes. The way that it works out is you get with your four other people that are with you or however many people are in your band – with your crew and stuff – and it just works, you know? You guys are all on the same page. You all have the same goals, and you’re mentally prepared, and I think that’s just how it goes. It just works. You have to be able to live with the people that you’re doing this with. [the sound of two other people talking in the background is audible at this point, probably other cell phone conversations…]

DV: The new album is very melodic and clean. Why don’t you tell me about it? How do you feel it has progressed from The Satellite Years?

DN: Um, obviously, the points that are up front, like the song structure.

We did more singing than what The Satellite Years had. James has really explored that side. He knew he’d be happier doing that, so we sat down and just started writing, coming up with the songs. We paid more attention and gave more regard to vocals; whereas The Satellite Years wasn’t so much. It was kind of guitar riffs put together and vocals were thrown on top. Whereas, on this one, we kind of structured around thinking of a vocal line and a vocal melody on top of it. So, that was the definite difference, and it was a big change – not only to listen to, but to write as well. It was good for us. Maybe this is more grown up. A little bit more mature? We’re all very proud of it. We like the way it turned out. We wish we could have a little bit more time, but it wasn’t permitted, which is understandable for how long The Satellite Years has been out. It was time to get another record out. So, we made it happen and it turned… It was kind of even a surprise to us. It was good. We’re all very proud of it.

Cool, cool. It sounds like a really accurate description of the differences and the vocals being the focus of the album . . . really did make a difference.

Yeah, yeah.

How have you guys survived non-stop touring? What are some tips or advice you’d give to other musicians? [laughs] Let’s see, where to begin? For The Satellite Years we toured for a solid, like, fourteen months. It was non-stop. Because of that, to be quite honest, there’s two different members that are on this new

110_says06_hopesfall.indd 1

I think, for us to be able to do this – I love each and every one of the guys in our band and that works with us. So, it makes it easier on that aspect. And you’ve gotta be in it for the right reasons, you know?

You’ve gotta be prepared to take the good with the bad – at all times.

It’s not all sunny days every day. That’s what you have to understand and prepare yourself for. What we do is we just go out there to play music. To be quite honest, we’re all extremely passionate about it.

Like, we love what we do. We really, really do. So, on those bad days or going through those bad times, we don’t let it get us down too much, because we remember why we’re out here. We remember why we’re doing it. So, as far as any tips are concerned? Just keep your head up and remember why you’re doing it. You know, think about things before you do it, before you go out and whatever. That’s about it.

Cool. How do you describe your music to a stranger you meet on the road? What are the positives and negatives of making music that is current and somewhat [pauses] uh, trendy? And I don’t mean that as an insult!

Oh. Okay. Um… [seems to be processing the question] The music…

I would just say… You know what? To be quite honest, I don’t… We don’t… I never really get in-depth when people ask, because no matter what you say, each and every individual is going to paint a different picture in their head. So I just say that we’re pretty much a heavy melodic rock band. I know that can be very vague, because that could turn out to be a bunch of different things, but more than anything I would just encourage them to listen to it and then I usually say what our influences are, like Failure and Hum and the Smashing Pumpkins, the Deftones. Bands that we listen to that we really love. I hate to say that we sound like other bands, but let’s be honest, you know? All bands sound somewhat like another band, so it’s like… I usually just say we’re a heavy melodic rock band and I say some of our influences and I kinda let ‘em see for themselves. If that captivates ‘em enough, hopefully they’ll go pick up a record or something.

Cool. That’s a good way to describe it. What do you think of Jesus Christ?

Um.. Let’s see… Personally… Um, is this, uh… Is this a personal question or is this as where Hopesfall stands on this?

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WHAT HOPESFALL SAYS 61

Uh, personal. I mean, who can answer for a band? If you wanna answer for both, that’s fine.

It wasn’t an attempt to label you as a Christian band or not or… You know what I mean?

You know what? I’ll answer personally. I know, because Hopesfall as a band is definitely not a Christian band. There was a time when it was, I guess. And it was there and it was a part of it, but…um, as of now, Hopesfall is not. But me personally? I would say that, at this point in my life, I have this big gray area with that. For me… I don’t understand why a lot of things in life happen the way that they do and I haven’t…

It’s my own fault, but I haven’t taken enough time to secure my faith in anything really. So…

Yeah, I know. I know. Uh. But it’s like… So, do you have… Say you’re…

I’m sorry. It’s really hard to hear. I’ve got, like, four other people on the phone right now. It’s tough to hear your questions sometimes. Could you repeat the one that you just asked?

[sound in the background, like someone is interjecting, like someone is telling him, “Say no... It’s HM Magazine.” The pieces of background conversation I can pick up seem interesting…]

I don’t know where I stand with that technically. I just know that I don’t want to bear witness to anything else for people, on the outside looking in, and to look up to in that aspect – in the Christian aspect, in the Christian world or whatever. So, I… I personally… It’s a big gray area. I don’t have a stance on it. I’m pretty much right in the middle, so…

It wasn’t a question. It was just a statement. Saying that I wasn’t asking if you were a Christian band or not, and I kinda know that Hopesfall has kinda changed as a band.

So I wasn’t trying… I just wanted to let you know that I wasn’t trying to paint you in a corner. I just wanted to ask you a couple questions about God and then go on.

Yeah, and I didn’t think you were. But it got so… [phone cuts for a split second] We want away from that label, like we don’t… We’re not that and we don’t consider ourselves that, so it’s really hard to even answer those questions. Umm. [sounds distracted]

Are you still there?

Yeah, I’m here.

That’s a good, honest answer. What do you think about His claims to be “the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by Me?”

Describe for me the story of how your van and equipment were stolen. How this discovery took place, what happened next, etc.

[conversation going on in background] I’m sorry. Say that again.

Okay, we were in Dallas, Texas. It was some time in September, I believe. We played our show up in Dallas and we went back to our hotel room, where we were sleeping for the night before heading off to, I believe Austin was the next date. And so we were asleep, went to bed, woke up the next morning and our van and trailer were completely gone. Like somebody broke into it and drove it away –the van, the trailer, everything... We called the police. It was a nightmare, to be quite honest. We thought the band was probably going to break up.

It was an extreme amount of equipment stolen. It was everything we had. So we called the police and to no avail, nothing really happened.

We decided to stay on the tour. We talked about it and we were like, ‘If we go home we’re going to be in trouble, you know? Like, we’re just going to let this eat at us and it’s really going to kill us. So, if we stay on tour, which I feel was really the right decision for us. We borrowed equipment from our friends. We were out with The Juliana Theory and Celebrity and a band called Copeland. We borrowed equipment and stayed on the tour and just kept doing it, because we knew that if we went home that we would just be so depressed and so out of it, so we finished out the tour that we were on; which was pretty crazy.

We didn’t have a thing to our name, but we just stayed on the road.

And when we went home, we kind of just dealt with it. We sludged through it, ya know? We pinched every penny and made every sacrifice that we could make to keep doing this – to get…to raise more money and raise funds to reimburse our equipment, so that was about it. It took me… We did have a couple heads get recovered, but they’re still in Dallas. They were found on Ebay. We have to show up at court and make an appearance or something from the band, and we haven’t got the opportunity to do that, so they’re still just sitting down in Dallas.

That was about it. We started fresh. We started new. We have all, like, about year-old equipment now. We’re still feeling the repercussions of it. It’s terrible. It’s still hanging over our heads with the financial thing and all that. It was tough. It’s extremely difficult for any band to endure.

I guess we just did it. I don’t know how. We just wanted to keep doing it.

What do you think about His claims to be “the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by Me?” Um. It’s… [pauses… someone is saying something to him, as if they’re telling him what to say. He turns to them and says] Wha? Do you… [more indecipherable conversation. Parts are understandable, such as: “No, man. …we’re not a Christian band. It’s not about being…”]

I’m sorry. Hang on just a second. [Turns to Jay] Do you want to take this? [Huh? No. I don’t care.] Okay. Sorry. The rest of the guys were talking.

This is the only other question. I’ve got two questions about God and this is the second of the two, so… [sounds as if we’re all aware that more than he and I are listening] Um, yeah. Where we stand on that? We’re just not a Christian band. I mean, I can tell you my personal thoughts on things. [interrupted by, “You don’t have to do that.] Yeah, I don’t… We… As it stands, we’re a rock band. We like playing rock music. As far as affiliating any sort of religion or Christianity into the music, we don’t do whatsoever. Umm… Where we stand personally is, uh, is none of… Is our own personal thing and I can try to explain it to you, but I don’t have a strong enough belief and a strong enough faith in it to even make, you know, make probably as much sense as to where I stand. So, as far as that’s concerned, we are a rock band. We like playing rock music.

If people like listening to it, then more power to them, tune that out, whatever. We just like what we do. We enjoy doing it and that’s what it is. It is what it is – it’s music.

Cool. Yeah. And to paraphrase, I wasn’t asking if you were a Christian band, because I knew that the band had changed and was not. But, uh… A lot of the interviews I do, I like to ask people what they think about God [conversation going on in background again, for the duration of my question/quote]. You answered very honestly and I thought that was cool.

Wow. Well, good for you guys – that you could keep going, man.

Yeah.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 62

[“…talk to you about that…”]

110_says06_hopesfall.indd 2

9/27/2004 4:14:14 PM

62 FEATURE

Well, what do you think are some of the chief obstacles that people face that keep them from being honest and vulnerable with one another?

Some of the chief obstacles that people face that keep them from being honest and…

Vulnerable… …vulnerable from one another?

Yeah.

Is this in everyday life, or does this have anything to do with the band?

Uh, it doesn’t have much to do with the band, except for some of the lyrics seem to be like, uh… Some of the lyrics could almost parallel a longing for more honesty, for more…

So, you mean, through the lyrics?

No. I’m talking about life in general, but the way that it’s associated to the band is some of the lyrics kinda pointed me in this direction when I was figuring out questions to ask.

Oh, okay. Yeah, no. I mean… Would you like to talk to Jay about that? To get another opinion?

Because he’s our vocalist. He’s right here. He could…

Uh… I don’t know.

If you’d like to. You could ask him the same question, and get some of the other band’s opinions on it. Would you like to do that?

Yeah, is he off the phone?

Yeah, he’s right here.

Okay. Hello, Jay? JF: Yeah.

Hey, it’s Doug Van Pelt with HM. Hey, what’s up, man? How you doing?

Good. How are you?

Alright. What was the question? I’m sorry.

Okay. What do you think are some of the chief obstacles that people face that keep them from being honest and vulnerable from one another?

The chief obstacles that keep people from being honest and [phone cuts for a moment] what?

And vulnerable to each other.

What are the chief obstacles? I think… [phone cuts out again in a pulsing manner]. It’s like one man’s greed. It’s like him putting himself before others. I think that’s why things get messed up, with relationships and people and just the way people interact together, you know?

What are ways to promote honest dialog and become more transparent as people?

More transparent with people? I guess just uh,

110_says07_DanDyer_continued.indd 1

kinda like opening some sort of line of communication where people can start being honest with each other. It’s like… Sometimes being brutally honest is, like, hard. Man, I don’t know. Just trying to sort of, like, think about doing things for other people. You know? It kinda just goes back to the question before, I guess.

How has playing in other countries impacted you as a person?

Oh, it’s great. I think it’s a really good thing that I think a lot of people should do. Just to go up and experience other cultures and learn about people. I don’t know, it’s just human. It’s kind of fun to find out that other people in other places, they go through a lot of the same things. But, being from the States, I think it’s good to go over and embrace other cultures. I just know that, if you just stay where you are at one time, I don’t know… You can become pretty ignorant as well to what is going on. It’s good to embrace something else. You learn a lot about yourself, just as much as you do about other cultures. It’s cool. It’s definitely something I think people, if they ever have the chance, should go do.

Yeah. What are your favorite bands to play with?

My favorite bands to play with? Umm, I don’t know. Let’s see… I always like being on tour with Every Time I Die. They’re a lot of fun to tour with. Like, right now, we are out with a band called Vaux and Arkham and, seriously, those bands are awesome. It’s real refreshing to be on tour with bands like that. They’re just down to earth dudes. They rock. Let’s see. I don’t know, there’s a lot. We’ve been a pretty fortunate band where we’ve had a good time being on tour with most all the bands that we’ve been out with. I feel very blessed and fortunate.

Good. [loud cursing and shouting in the background] What are your top 5 to 10 CDs that you need to have with you when traveling?

Oh man! Gotta have Downward is Heavenward

by Hum. Gotta have Machina by the Pumpkins, and you have to have all the Pumpkins records.

Let’s see… Appleseed Cast, Low Level, Volume One. That’s a good record.

when you start touring heavily, it’s just the way it works. We’re very fortunate to be very close to everybody that’s in the band. When I came in, I’d grown up with these… Jonathan was my roommate and I’d already played… Me and Adam, who is in the band right now, have already played. He’s the original bassist for Hopesfall.

That’s the group at home that we all grew up together with music and just always hanging out.

I don’t know. It felt right to come into the band.

It’s fun to get an opportunity like that.

Still there? Still there? [cell phone cuts off. Jay calls back in 5 minutes] I’m sorry, man. We’re just in the middle of traffic and we probably hit a gray area.

Not a problem. I figured that was probably the deal. Were you in the middle of something when we got cut off?

I don’t know. I was probably chewing your ear off about something mundane or unimportant. I don’t really know.

Nah, this is interesting.

Yeah, it was just, uh, when some things in the band kinda changes... We all have something like that, but when it doesn’t exist amongst all members, it’s not your band. The band has the right to believe, but we always, like… It’s kind of where we are. I never really know what makes a Christian band anymore.

It’s kind of a funny label, sometimes…

It is. It’s like emo. I don’t understand that one, either.

For sure.

Well, cool. Is that pretty cool? Where are you guys based out of?

We’re in Austin, Texas. I’d love to hook up next time you’re in town and say hello.

Absolutely. If you can just contact one of us, or contact Eric. We’ll try to work it.

I’ll try to make sure you get copies of this magazine.

That’d be awesome, dude. Appreciate it. Take care, Doug.

You too, Jay. Thank you.

Yeah, I like them a lot.

What’s a good record, Dustin? Did you say Hum and the Pumpkins? The new Code Seven. White Pony, Deftones. Jimmy Eat World. Every Time I Die. That’s about it. I’ll jam on that idea.

What was it like coming into the band when you did and obviously changing the nucleus and the, uh, I don’t know, the reputation or labels of the band… What kind of transition was that like for you?

Well, I think we’ve been a pretty fortunate band.

Like, when we go on tour, it’s definitely like…

We have new members that come in and out

9/27/2004 4:15:40 PM

WHAT DAN DYER SAYS 63

What DAN DYER Says SOMETIMES, ALL A JOURNALIST CAN DO IS CHRONICLE HOW A CERTAIN SONG OR ALBUM IMPACTS HIM. WHILE IT WOULD BE EASY TO SAY, “DAN DYER IS GONNA BE A HUGE STAR,” THERE ARE TOO MANY FACTORS OUT OF THIS WRITER’S CONTROL TO MAKE SUCH A PROMISE. SO LET’S STICK WITH THE SIMPLE FACTS: OF WHAT LIES BENEATH IS BLOWING ME OUT OF THE WATER. AFTER SEEING THIS ARTIST PERFORM AT HIS ALBUM RELEASE PARTY IN AUSTIN’S RENOWNED ANTONE’S CLUB, IT’S APPARENT THAT I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE GETTING INTO THIS MAN’S MUSIC. AND LET’S NOT FORGET LENNY KRAVITZ, WHO SIGNED AND PRODUCED THIS ARTIST FOR HIS NEW LABEL. SO, LISTEN IN AS DAN DYER AND EDITOR DOUG VAN PELT SIT DOWN AT A LOCAL CAFÉ FOR AN INTERVIEW.

the day, just be thankful that I’m here at all – involved in whatever I’m doing, whether it’s a problem I’m having or whether it’s something great, like, just the opportunity to be involved in any of it.

That always just lightens me up right there. Just, ‘You know what?

No matter what it is, I’m here.’ I don’t know, it just takes me out of whatever seriousness I’m in. Obviously, having a kid will do that as well. Having my daughter, who can’t quite play yet or anything, but I can see that coming along with that and just really getting to kind of feel her childhood. That experience will probably make me even a bigger kid.

DV: What sort of things make you reflect on or bring you back to being a “manchild” or makes you feel like a little boy again?

DD: Well, obviously referencing the lyric from “Great Ocean.” The whole “manchild” thing to me is just… For me, the older I get, I just find that I don’t really… Obviously I do, I become more mature and wiser, but the other side keeps getting younger and becomes more and more of a child, and even understanding what that means. Not childish, but just the things I’d equate with being a kid, like being imaginative and inquisitive and not taking things so seriously – and just maintaining that. From the simpleness of sitting down and daydreaming to being into playing video games or whatever, and just having a good time. I don’t know, I just feel like it’s what I am. There’s definitely a part of me that you’d definitely call “the man,” you know, to be protective. If you mess with me or something like that, within the man is definitely going to come out. I feel like I can handle myself. I feel like I’m a responsible person and all that, but then there’s the other side, which I think it’s a balance of just a total child. I mean, the business I’m in allows a lot of that to happen. The more people I meet, and outside of the music business, the more I find that. People that are just…I think a good life is one that you can … at the same time have an overall enjoyment of just being alive and doing what you’re doing. I think that’s very child-like. You don’t worry about things necessarily that we tend to now. That’s just a constant state of being.

How do you purposefully maintain child-like innocence?

The biggest thing I do is just stop. Stop and take a second and just appreciate. Kind of be in the moment, whatever. And take a second to stop and gain a little perspective and just, at the end of

110_says07_DanDyer_continued.indd 2

In today’s world you don’t often find people that will stop and be thankful for what they have, who they are and where they’re at. What do you think instilled that in you or inspired that in you?

Well, I think myself, personally, I’ve always been a thinker. I’ve always liked to think about certain things, certain problems. I’ve spent a lot of time with God, with the concept of God, with religion and certain things that have always just been issues to me that I’ve struggled with. Struggled with in a sense that all the explanations and all the viewpoints and all the – even religions…

There seemed to be a unity there, but then what I was hearing people say didn’t make a lot of sense to me. It seemed like it was all too complicated to me. I think getting into that and thinking about it and really spending a lot of time turning it over in my head kind of brought me to the idea of “a moment.” What a moment to me means, which is… It’s pretty. It’s really indefinable, but for lack of a… You really can’t say anything from our language – a moment, and really appreciating that and appreciating the power of it. I think there’s a lot philosophically that resides in the idea of a moment. The more I got into that and understood it or whatever, the more I have appreciated it and tried to have a sense of “step back” and enjoy that.

That’s pretty cool. Why do you think a lot of us are afraid to “go lay down in the river?”

Uh… Well. I think people are afraid of change. I know people are afraid of change – for a lot of different reasons. We use religion as a reason and people are brought up in a certain way and are told a certain thing and a lot of ‘em have to live this existence and are almost forced to believe certain things as kids. You don’t really know any better and you’re not necessarily developed enough to question. And when you do question. When you finally get around to the position to actually be able to say that, “Something about this doesn’t feel right.” Part of the teachings that brought you to that point almost forbid you to challenge a lot – to challenge the question. Whether literally, whether it’s literally the religion that counts…whether it’s your family or the people around you – your peers and all that stuff that challenges you. For you to bring it up would be blasphemy or would be sinful or whatever, and so I think a lot of it is related to that. People are afraid to change.

That’s pretty heavy, but it could be as simple as a haircut. You get used to something and you get comfortable with something ¨

9/27/2004 4:15:53 PM

64 FEATURE

and to leave it behind is a scary thing that’s risky.

I think, you know, people get attached to things and they’re too afraid to try – to live outside of what they’re used to. That concept can be as big as you want it to be or it can even be literal – like somebody’s afraid – they can’t swim.

Somebody doesn’t know how to swim, so they don’t even want to… I know people like that, who won’t go in the water because they don’t know how to swim. I know how to swim. I’m assuming you know how to swim. It’s not a difficult thing. It amazes me. It amazes me that if they were to step in the water, they would sink. They’d get in there and they’d just freeze up. And, of course, they’d sink like a 20-pound rock and just further strengthen their fear. I don’t know if that answers your question or not. It’s kind of rambling on.

It touched it, for sure. I think it’s a beautiful song. It’s a fantastic selection for a single.

I guess it’s going to be the first single, according to your website?

Yeah, they kind of messed that up, because “Great Ocean” is actually the first single. “…Of What Lies Beneath” we released early for Rock the Vote. That song in particular, I think could be construed to that current political situation. It could definitely be construed as a political statement, so we released that song in conjunction with Rock the Vote. But I think it had the effect of a tree falling in the forest. No one knows who I am, so… But it’s out there. It’s been out there for a little bit.

What do you think of Jesus?

What do I think of Jesus? (pauses) Well, I think that Jesus is probably one of the most misunderstood figures in history – just straight-out misunderstood. As far as that’s concerned, I think Christianity is one of the most misunderstood philosophies. Mainly, or partially because it’s been, you know, any philosophy people can bend to their desires and their own ends. But I think Jesus is probably – not was – probably.

I think he was a very enlightened human being. On par with… I can’t even say that. I think he’s a very enlightened human being. I do believe… (pauses) My philosophy of what’s possible pretty much is limitless. Because I believe us as human beings and the world we live in – I think it’s just truly limitless. I think that religions in general create limits. Sometimes there’s a

110_says07_DanDyercontinuePG64 .indd 1

matter of control. Sometimes there’s a matter of helping people to trust, to maybe realizing the limitlessness of what we’re capable of. And I feel that rarely somebody comes along that truly understands that. And not only understands that, but has the ability to truly wield it in a way.

You know, that you could say somebody might do something that you can’t believe they just did. Something that’s not possible. But it’s only not possible because you think it’s not possible.

It doesn’t mean it’s not possible. If somebody has got the presence of mind or the character and spirit to not be contained by what’s possible and not possible, uh, it’s a rare occasion.

I don’t think he’s been the only person, but…

I guess there’s been a few. A few – meaning a handful – that have and have done extraordinary things and did have an extraordinary message. I don’t know. I think he was an extraordinary figure. And I think… And most of the stuff I read in the Bible I can say, “Yeah, I understand what it’s trying to say,” and most of the time it’s not what people are saying it’s saying. In my mind…

I think very highly of him. Am I a Christian? I am a Christian if the definition of that is, “Do you believe in Jesus Christ?” Do I believe Jesus Christ is our Savior? I don’t necessarily… The concept of that, uh, is not necessarily… Yeah, I could say, “Yes,” but that’s not totally truthful because I think we could all be saviors in our own right if we had the, uh… I don’t know how to say that. It wouldn’t be… It would be a very rare thing. It would take a lot of work. Meditation is a very key practice to even touch… Even touching on any of that stuff. But through meditation, and Jesus – he was very much into the practices of meditation and fasting. Anybody that’s gone through that realizes that it’s a different world. It’s literally a different world. The world feels different. The rhythm of the world is different. It’s almost, you know, that mimic… For lack of a better word, there’s other dimensions out there that we can tune ourselves into. I don’t think it’s as simple as that, but the concept is better explained that way. I’m rambling on again.

But yeah, I think he was an extraordinary figure, absolutely, and I think his message is actually right on. It’s just been twisted and people take things literally that shouldn’t be taken literally and whatever. I’m not against religion or Christianity at all. I think anything that inspires somebody to be spiritual is a good thing. It’s just that most people screw it up.

Mmmm-hmm. I can see that. It sounds like you’ve considered . . . not only considered His message, but His miracles.

Absolutely.

What do you think about His claims to be “the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by Me?” Absolutely, but again – that’s something that people take literally, and it’s not a literal statement. It means (pauses). When somebody…

First of all, you can’t even relate to him as a normal human being the same as he; because his perspective is completely different than anybody else’s, because he has… He is living on a whole other level – a whole other plane of existence.

His whole perception of the world is completely different than pretty much everybody else’s. So when he says something like that, you can’t take it as though I said it to you, because we’re too close on this plane of existence and how we view the world. Even if we’re not, relatively speaking, we are. You know, because I’m not sitting on a mountaintop with no one around and in this other world. If I were, I wouldn’t relate to you in the same way. I’d have a different perspective on this. I’d look at this stuff and it would be odd and interesting and my speed and all that stuff would be completely different. So, when he says something, he’s speaking… It might as well be another language, you know? His meaning of “I” isn’t the same meaning of “I” as you – I don’t mean you literally – that you perceive “I” to mean. His meaning of “Me” is not the same meaning of “Me” that you would perceive. His meaning of “Father” is not the same meaning as you would perceive “Father.” It’s something completely different. It’s just a means of speaking. Basically, Christ explains something to people that you can’t explain.

For the entire Q&A of this interview, log on to HMmag.com

9/27/2004 4:16:39 PM

SAYS CONTINUED 65

CONTINUED FROM LAMB OF GOD PAGE 57

the example I was given and it worked out pretty well for me, so…

I remember two of the most traumatic moments of my life – and this is, like, real personal for an interview – I was a kid, about 11 years old, trying to share my faith with relatives. And my Grandma Daisy in Kansas was bursting into tears. She was so upset I was trying to talk religion with Grandpa.

It was like, “Politics and religion you don’t talk about.”

What’s it like being in Richmond? Is it kind of like emo country right now?

Yeah...

And that happened with my fi fth grade teacher. I was trying to hand out pamphlets to my classmates. That had a profound impact on me. Six months later I was nowhere near that kind of person anymore – probably because of those events. Trying to influence people and having it backfire…

Sure. Maybe if you want someone to . . . take them to the light, you know, ask that they do or something. I don’t know. I’m not a Christian, you know what I’m saying? But it might work better than a flyer or something.

It’s like anything, man. It’s like a really small town.

It’s been there for so long. You know everybody that likes music or hangs out or whatever. A close-knit group of friends … and they’re real proud of what we’re doing. And we don’t have to work anymore.

What kinds of jobs did you guys have when you were doing it part-time or whatever?

I was a roofer for, like, six years. Chris, our drummer, is a computer programmer and tech guy. John, our bass player, is a bartender. Willie did some roof work and some building cleaning, whatever. Construction, that kind of stuff... Just whatever you can do to get to leave for tour for eight weeks and come back and either have your job or find one that’s like... It’s just whatever you can to facilitate you playing music. That’s what it was all about. That was always the first priority, even though we know, or thought, that we’d never make any money at it, you know? It didn’t matter. It’s like what we did for our own personal sanity.

Yeah. I’m 41 now and my life’s gone different than back then. Some people I’ve seen get kind of misled, I think, and try to… They ignore one to try to influence others. And if you’re not focusing on yourself, then what good is your word…

What do you think led to choosing the name Lamb of God?

I think people… This is just an observation, but I think some of the more missionary type people seem to get like a rush out of almost maybe a messiah-thing, about showing people the light and stuff.

That’s not where it’s at. That’s not where it’s at at all. It’s not about how many gold stars you get.

It just works. Coming off… We were called Burn the Priest before that. While that had a meaning in a lot of the things we talked about. It was about somebody controlling your relationship with God. But that got kinda lost in the shock value of that name. We started realizing that this was going to be sort of a long-time venture, you know. It’s going to be bigger than us playing a bar on Friday night for free beer. It was going to be wild, with coverage. We’re doing records. We’re touring. We really wanted a name that we felt that we could get behind and reflected us. Reflected more who we are as people… And while it’s misconstrued as sort of a Christian name, we thought it was pretty appropriate to use religious iconography and symbolism and that kind of thing. It’s been part of heavy metal since it started. Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Slayer… Everybody employs that kind of symbolism, so that should make it good. I can’t believe no one was ever called that name before, you know what I mean? It was so obvious. It’s a great name.

Or scalps on your Bible belt…

Yeah.

I have an interesting take on raising kids.

I’ll share to get your feedback. I’ve got two kids and I’ve decided to take a different approach to that, because I think that the silent approach... In some ways, no choice is a choice. If you never tell anybody about…

And believe me, I’m not trying to say your dad was a bad guy or anything, but honestly I think if you kind of preach by example a “no choice,” then you’re still pushing a choice. You’re kind of telling people that religion is a not very important choice, you know? So I’m not going to take that approach to let my kid decide when he’s 18 what religion he’s going to choose. My children go with me to church and we’re not forceful…but gentle and loving instruction.

Not freaked out Bible-belt bashing stuff.

But anyway, I just wanted to throw out another viewpoint on the whole thing.

I certainly wouldn’t condemn anyone for raising their children to believe what they believe, you know? It’s your choice, man. It’s just, uh, I went by

110_page65sayscontinued.indd 1

The standard answer is we thought collectively it was a great name for a heavy metal band.

Awesome. It’s definitely got a ring to it.

Yeah, it’s a rich, symbolic name.

Yeah.

Is there any question you always wanted to be asked in an interview?

No, I can’t say there is. Although I’ve enjoyed this one.

CONTINUED FROM IN FLAMES PAGE 59

No. I think a lot of people believe it, and if they believe it, sure. But you said it yourself: Look at a band like Blindside. They might not be as aggressive as any black metal satanic band, but at the same time they have this energy that you can’t recreate just because you have certain religious beliefs or anything like that. It’s just all about music and then the lyrics might be dark or they might be extremely positive, whatever, depending on which religion you say you belong to; but I think in the end it’s all music. Everything was built from blues in rock and roll to begin with, it’s all taking different directions…

From the conversation that you and I have had, I would say that we both love music, that we’re both really into music. Some people may not treat music or art as being important. Why do you think music/art is important?

Because it’s a universal language. Even if you’re from Africa or you’re from Israel or you’re from Sweden or from the U.S. or wherever, we can always share something. We can always appreciate the beauty of art and we can appreciate the beauty of music and there can be, like, six different nationalities enjoying the same show or the same painting or the same classical piece or whatever. It’s music. It’s a universal language.

What do you think is the purpose of art, if there is one?

I don’t know. It’s probably the same thing as music: Trying to express your feelings.

Cool. Is there anything in particular in your life that makes you pray or look towards a higher power?

You know, I have a personal life, I have friends, families that I love and care for. I pray that they will always be safe. Stuff like that.

Good stuff. Is there any question you’d hoped that someone would ask you?

No, I think you pretty much covered everything (laughs). I don’t know, it’s always nice to talk about something different than all these usual questions that you get. If I do 200 interviews, then maybe 180 of them are basically the same questions. And I don’t always understand why the people ask them.

But it’s very interesting to answer something different like this one.

Cool.

I don’t know about any specific question.

Well, I certainly enjoyed talking to you today.

9/27/2004 4:17:11 PM

Tom Junod Esquire writer at large

66 I N T E R M I S S I O N

BY DAVID STAGG It’s daunting writing about a writer. A writer (me) talking to another writer (Tom Junod), thinking that he’s thinking what I would be thinking if it were me being interviewed. It’s like a mini-competition; couldn’t the writer Tom do a better article on himself than the writer David?

Nah, he’s a down to earth guy... at least that’s what I tell myself. I mean, he gave me his cell phone number and told me to call him. That’s not very princess.

Then again, he’s Tom Junod, writer-at-large for Esquire Magazine. He’s written tons of prolific articles, including ones on Nicole Kidman (which started one rumor that it was his fault some actor named Tom Cruise and her broke up) and Kevin Spacey (which ticked Spacey off, spurning him to call the article “dishonest and malicious”).

Does all this make him a celebrity? Does he have insider connections?

Does he have Nicole’s phone number in his cell phone? Does he call her Nicole?

It’s a lot of worrying for nothing except a few grey hairs: As soon as I get him on the phone, I realize he’s human just like everyone else; the first thing he does is put me on hold.

Tom Junod is in Boynton Beach, Florida, a retirement community of a town sandwiched between Palm Beach to the North and Hollywood to the South, where I have incorrectly guessed that all the houses are all crazy colors.

“This is real Florida,” Junod corrects me. “It’s all identical, white, stucco houses with people with white hair living in them.”

He’s actually there helping his wife with some personal issues; her mother passed away recently and they’re taking care of the estate. He even gave the eulogy at her funeral.

Though he doesn’t talk much about his mother-in-law, he does talk at length about spirituality—very common in times of death—and his own beliefs in particular. I ask him to tell me a little about himself, and immediately he dives head first into his synthesis of writing and God. “I’ve been writing for so-called ‘men’s magazines’ for I guess the bulk of my writing career,” Junod says. “If you take a look at any of the stories that I’ve done, I think that you’d be surprised at how often I mention God in them.”

His first major article was called “The Abortionist”—it won a National Magazine Award—where he profiled an abortion doctor, but, as he admits, it’s kind of hard to talk about abortion without talking about God. “I’ve been wrestling with belief and non-belief in the pages of men’s magazines now for eleven years.”

I guess it’s only fair, then, he begins our conversation delving into spirituality. The article that is the catalyst for my conversation with Junod is one called “Jesus 2004,” a tongue-in-cheek, sardonic and surprisingly accurate look at Christianity today that ran 6,000 words in Esquire’s May 2004 issue. The title of the article itself represents the current infatuation of America with the biggest celebrity in history, making it sound like he’s on tour, parading through our movie screens and now DVDs. The man that launched a thousand magazine covers is also the same man that fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish.

Welcome to Jesus the Celebrity.

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“It was (Esquire editor Mark Warren)’s idea that if we were going to try to profile the most powerful and influential man in the country, we should try profiling Jesus,” Junod explains. “I tried writing a profile, I had tried writing out of my own belief and disbelief, I had tried a profile again and it just didn’t seem to go anywhere.”

The end result—a Q&A-style conversation—did not go without a response. To some Christians, the conglomeration of the nearly perfect theological views presented and, at the same time, a slight poking fun at the Jesus of the Magazine Covers, put them off. They would say Junod interviewed all the wrong people (the far-left, the fundamentalist right), a point Junod goes out of his way to clarify that he really didn’t. They would say he skewered the normal American tendency to interpret Jesus through their own imagination. ”If you ask people about what’s important to them about Jesus,” Junod begins, “a lot of the evangelical people basically say, ‘Well, what’s important to me is in the Gospels,’ and that’s about it. And then when you get them going—especially when you ask questions about Jesus’ humanity and how they perceive it and how they see it—the normal human play of the imagination starts in.”

Read: There’s not an overwhelming amount of time spent in the Gospels telling us Jesus’ favorite band, what he and his buddies did after the high school football game on Friday night. Did Jesus ever get grounded?

To most, it would seem a trivial point. The guy took on the sins of the entire world to save anyone who would accept him. But what if it was how Jesus acted that God really wanted us to see? That the whole cross thing overshadowed the true point: the way Jesus treated people?

“One of the important parts of coming to write that story,” Junod says, “as I wrote it, looking at my daughter, and I was asking her, I was asking myself when—and if—I could tell her that she, just by being human, was an irredeemable sinner whose only hope of redemption came from the agency of a God who suffered the torment that she was essentially meant to suffer… That just seemed like such a perverse thing to tell a child at any time.”

And whether or not you believe that Jesus is the only way to salvation, or that the way you treat your fellow humans is enough justification, it’s still up to the individual to find out for themselves, synthesize the information, and deal with it in the appropriate manner.

“I think I’ll tell (my daughter) about Jesus,” Junod says, “but the dogmatic Jesus who is the only avenue to salvation I think she’ll have to find out for herself.”

9/27/2004 4:17:57 PM

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9/27/2004 4:18:12 PM

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9/27/2004 4:20:04 PM

ALBUM REVIEWS

69

Album reviews

69 ALBUMS 74 ENTERTAINMENT 75 BOOKS & GEAR

MUTE MATH RESET

U2 and Radiohead… How much have they changed the musical landscape we have today? To say “a bunch” would even be an understatement. The pressure that those artists face must be incredible.

Even innovators are expected to better themselves and raise the bar each time they create. And any artist that dares to approach the sound of these two acts, even if to pay tribute, usually faces scorn in return. Take Delirious? and their sonic similarities to U2. To their credit, though, it can be said that they’ve taken that obvious inspiration and ever-soslightly tweaked it to make it their own. When I had the privilege to see this band Mute Math perform in Nashville earlier this year, I was turned on my ear and offered a taste of musical joy.

Their wildly ecstatic performance, complete with new technology and left-brain approach to live performance (widely separating themselves on stage, a guitarist that seemed to take his cues more from a computer monitor than looking at his drummer, for example, and an auxiliary member that was playing something like a Sony universal remote control, all the while accentuated with Paul Meany perched at a grand piano, vocalizing along to some Sting-like adult rock / world music accompaniment – emoting such soul and emotion that I thought he might burst)... I felt like I’d just witnessed a new breakthrough for Christian art/music. But it also worried me, too. I was concerned that this “innovative” approach might ring too close to Radiohead’s infamous SNL performance, which included the playing of an operator switchboard-looking device. Experimental rock cannot exist as a genre…or can it? Maybe Yorke and company really have created their own unique genre unto themselves.

Review by Doug Van Pelt

Rating system 05 04 03 02 01

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CLASSIC FABULOUS SOLID SUSPECT AMISS

Anyway, I was spoiled by this live performance. Whenever I heard someone reference Meany’s old band, Earth Suit, I thought they were crazy. This guy had moved on past that previous band (or so I thought), so why bring them up? I couldn’t get enough of what I’d seen and heard, and this could be a bad thing, because that is the kind of magic I wanted to hear ¨

9/27/2004 4:21:39 PM

70 A L B U M R E V I E W S

on this record. Yes, I can hear the hypnotic straining electronics a la “Everything In Its Right Place” all over this title track. I can hear the reggae-tinged world beats in “Peculiar People” and I can hear the chiming atmospheric sounds and long, held-out notes in the vocal delivery of “OK,” but something’s wrong. I’m also hearing the cheese I ignored when I heard the name Earthsuit. I’m hearing a little bit of pop bounce. Oh, please give me annoying static over that pop bounce any day! There’s moments on this 7-song EP, of that I am glad; but I am disappointed that this experiment didn’t push conventional boundaries more. Perhaps I feel like commercial success (in the twisted sense of the Christian “contemporary hit radio” format) was a consideration… when success on a much grander scale could have resulted if the “wild side” were left unbridled.

I was expecting much, much more from this “debut,” so I’m disappointed in that aspect – but I’m certainly going to keep an eye on each release and jump at any nearby concert opportunities.

[TELEPROMPT] DOUG VAN PELT

JESUS WEPT SICK CITY Formerly veteran hardcore band xDISCIPLEx AD, Jesus Wept has embarked on their new venture with one thing in their favor: they’ve been playing together for over nine years.

Saddled with experience in hardcore and metal alike, Sick City effortlessly combines the frenetic brutality of old school hardcore with modern hardcore’s more metal-influenced sound to create one distinctive style that is unmistakably Jesus Wept.

Brimming with intense breakdowns (“Thank God There’s More To Life Than This”) and blazing guitar solos (“Mankind Scumbag”), this seven-song EP has one admiring its technical metal—which, thankfully, doesn’t diminish the hardcore roots—as well as appreciating the simple and direct messages from a persuasive Dan Quiggle. The title track, “Sick City,” boasts rabid vocals and catchy hooks accompanied by a rock-your-heart-out metal sound.

Adding to Sick City’s originality (though perhaps sacrificing quality), “Thank God There’s More To Life Than This” is unlike anything else on this album, or, for that matter, from this band. Invariably repeating its title lyric. The song, if nothing else, gets its point across. “One Hand In Hell” excels in hardcore fashion. Trading off heavy guitar work and upbeat drums with deafening vocals, it is, by far, the hardest track on the album—and easily the best. This debut release features more variety and originality than Jesus Wept could have hoped to achieve in a first release. Without a doubt, the band has picked up where xDISCIPLEx AD left off.

[STRIKE FIRST] DARREN TINDELL, JR.

CHEVELLE THIS TYPE OF THINKING I’m not the first person responding to the current state of metal music to quote Shakespeare, from Macbeth: “it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound

110_reviews_font.indd 2

and fury, signifying nothing.” And, I won’t be the last. ‘Tis the nature of the ugly beast; metal, like most traditional forms, is often in a state of regression, desperate for revival, reinvention and rescue.

Since first appearing, with Point #1 in ’99, this band of brothers, Chevelle, have made the most of the their own brand of “sound and fury,” while signifying little. Progeny of the angsty, post-Nirvana garage pop/rock of the early 90’s, the band found its commercial groove with ‘02’s Wonder What’s Next, while benefiting from generous mainstream alt.rock airplay of “The Red” and “Send the Pain Below.”

Little has changed on This Type of Thinking. The Loefflers step up with crunchy guitar grooves that work toward angry rant style choruses. If the lyrics seem vague and unfocused, the music is precise, gritty and earnest. Maybe a tad too earnest, a tad too predictable. Maybe if the song’s words were a little more forthcoming, we’d be just as pissed off as Pete when he screams and rants and raves, but without a narrative that matters, a story to connect with, it’s just one more tempest in a tea-cup.

This is the third disc from Chevelle, but it has the feel of a sophomore effort, trying to recreate what worked the last time out, not pushing the envelope, not risking much. Oh there’s that stutter-step bridge in “Get Some” that hints at Primus, but the music does little to define itself as unique and genuine.

It remains a rock radio retrospective: here’s more of what worked on the radio last year, instead of something new, vital, something we’re excited to play, something that will expand your horizons.

As ‘sound and fury’ goes, Chevelle has lived up to all expectations… but I really get the feeling that they’d like to be saying something, not merely signifying nothing. [EPIC] BRIAN QUINCY NEWCOMB

DEAD TO FALL VILLAINY & VIRTUE After replacing three members from the lineup of their last album, the band has regrouped with new blood and has proceeded to unleash a monster album that combines brutal hardcore with lethal melodic death metal. While this is not the most groundbreaking album, it combines passion, pummeling breakdowns, Swedish-styled metal riffs, a good dose of blasting, and semi-to-guttural growled vocals that leaves your head spinning by the end of song ten. The band is just as biting lyrically as musically. The title track declares, “As you claim the embrace of angels/Your intentions are too dark to speak/Like a wolf in sheep’s clothing/You pretend to be part of the flock/And somehow you convinced us all/That you are something you’re not/Those words and actions tear us all down/And you’re not content ‘til everyone around/Is with you in that hole you’ve dug for yourself/Die alone in that hole by yourself/This is where I draw the line/Sever all ties/With no regrets.” Stellar production and illustrious artwork round out what is a metalcore album that I can actually say I enjoyed from start to finish.

VARIOUS ARTISTS THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST: SONGS Sincere tribute to the theme of Mel Gibson’s instant-classic or multi-genre gala to instigate WindUp’s special projects imprint? Yes. Parent label’s acts deliver roughly as expected: Big Dismal rocks like a northerly Third Day (twice), while a Creedless Scott Stapp affirns his status as the post-grunge Neil Diamond. P.O.D. transcends a possible Staind impersonation, if barely. MxPx with Blink 182’s Mark Hopus get stretched themselves becomingly. Readers of this mag might not care, but Brad Paisley and Sara Evans’ stab at epic country balladry works as well as Kirk Franklin and Yolanda Adams’ channeling of The Art of Noise (whoo!). Alt soul gets better representation by BeBe Winans and Angie Stone’s tagteam than a hookless Lauryn Hill.

Elsewhere Third Day, MercyMe and Steven Curtis Chapman work better together than y’may think, operatic hottie Charlotte Church gets kinda Amy Lee-ish (a decent thing), and new guy Dan Lavery ain’t bad at the neo-singer/songwriter thang. Is the Honoree impressed? Ask Him when you get there, hey? [LOST KEYWORD] JAMIE LEE RAKE

Editor’s Ratings DV

DA

Mute Math Reset

02*

02

Jesus Wept Sick City

03

03*

Dead To Fall Villainy & Virtue

04

04*

Various Artists

The Passion of the Christ: Songs

02

02

Istra

One Cold Way

02*

02

Cush S/T

01*

01

Day Of Fire S/T

02*

02

Larry Norman Christmastime

02

02

Monarch

03

02*

The Grandeur That Was Rome

[VICTORY] MATT MORROW

9/27/2004 4:22:04 PM

ALBUM REVIEWS

ISTRA ONE COLD WAY Southern California Melodic Hardcore?

Check. Independent Release? Check.

Musical stylings along the lines of Trustcompany, Blindside, Tool, Project 86? Check. A good mix of vocal presentation? Check. Final verdict: Istra has the right blend of music and vocals (and tons of energy) to win over their fans in the lower half of the Terminator’s state. Don’t be surprised if you see their name around after another release or two, because things are looking up for these young pups. If these boys have a solid live show, they need to hit the road and convince the rest of us in the 49 states that they’re the next big thing..

[CROSSWALK] BRADLEY SPITZER

CUSH S/T Cush is a great band and a great concept. This being their fourth release and third self-titled, perhaps this will go down as “the green album.” When looking at their output, the debut and the first Spirituals EP are easily their best. These last two albums, unfortunately, just keep lowering the bar. While the performances on this one are good, the audio quality brings this one down. Based on song titles alone, this one really looks good on paper, but the rawness of this bootleg-quality recording ends up just being bad.

[NORTHERN] DOUG VAN PELT

BEN HARPER & THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA THERE WILL BE A LIGHT Last Christmas, the best new holiday album came from the Blind Boys of Alabama (Go Tell It On the Mountain, Real World Records), joined in duets by Aaron Neville, Mavis Staples, Tom Waits, Chrissie Hynde with Richard Thompson, and George Clinton with Robert Randolph. Formed when lead singer Clarence Fountain was ten-years-old, The Blind Boys have a 64 year spanning career that has only in the last couple decades earned them a place among rock and pop’s elite. Ben Harper sat in for a couple songs on the band’s last regular studio disc, “Higher Ground,” which had Robert Randolph & the Family as the back up band. This time, Harper is the principle collaborator and producer, but make no mistakes, this is old school gospel singing, and Fountain and his remaining Blind Boys are the main attraction.

Ben Harper has often included a gospel song, or a rocked out version of his childhood Sunday School memories, most notably “Picture of Jesus” from his last studio outing, Diamonds on the Inside. Here, surrounded by authentic soul men of a bygone era, Harper provides most of the songs, but lets Fountain, Jimmy Carter (not the Pres.), and George Scott & Co. deliver the goods.

Aside from a satisfying instrumental featuring some smokin’ slide guitar (“11th Commandment”)

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and a few other fine solos thrown in for good measure, the arrangements are lean and vocal driven. Satisfying, Harper’s originals “Take My Hand,” “Where Could I Go,” “Church House Steps,” and “There Will Be a Light” all stand up next to familiar Gospel classics like “Mother Pray” and “Satisfied Mind.” Two non-goodnews gospel numbers warn of the end of the “Wicked Man” and the threat that rhymes with “Well, Well, Well.” Still it’s an up-tempo, soulful vocal harmonizing, foot-stompin’ jubilee that no gospel music fan will want to miss.

[VIRGIN] BRIAN QUINCY NEWCOMB

DAY OF FIRE S/T The super-tight production and A-league musicianship on the self-titled debut by Day of Fire screams “experience” loud and clear. This is no new band.

Though at times it might sound like what we all expect the Scott Stapp solo record to sound like, the bottom line is that this is serious, world-class arena rock with punch, power and swagger. Stapp will be doing great if he can pull something like this off.

The experience that gives this debut disc such an accomplished sound was hard earned. Followers of the rock scene probably remember some buzz building for a Jackson TN based band called Full Devil Jacket back around the turn of the century.

A major-label deal with Island/Def Jam Records and gigs opening for Metallica, Creed and others, as well as a spot at the Woodstock 99 debacle had some enthused media-types calling Full Devil Jacket “The Creed of 2000.” Their video was on MTV and their faces were in rock rags all over the place. Lead singer Joshua Brown took it all very seriously, including his drug habit and self-destructive tendencies. Not bothering to wait for the Behind the Music episode, Brown skipped straight to addiction, prison and total loss. In rehab he found God, got clean and decided to leave Full Devil behind. Several years later he re-emerges with one of the brightest modern rock records the Christian market has ever seen.

Sure, there’s a lot of Creed here; along with quite a bit of Nirvana, Pantera, Bush, Nickelback and even some Disturbed. Arena rock has never been the realm of total musical uniqueness. But with all of the elements combined, including some fun, almost glam hooks, accented by occasional screaming hardcore vocals and even some playful 80s nods, this is a deep record. With Scott Humphrey (Metallica, Motley Crue, Rob Zombie) producing, bass tracking by Chris Chaney (Janes Addiction,) guitars and drums by Phil X and Gary Novak (Allanis Morissette, Andrew W.K.,) it’s obvious this is no cheap effort. Openers “Through the Fire,” “Detainer” and the worshipful “Cornerstone” are as slick and corporate as rock comes. But deeper in songs like “I Am The Door,” “Reap and Sow” and the riff-soaked “To Fly” bring a dose of diversity not found on any Creed, Twelve Stones or Nickelback record. Brown’s voice handles the Stapp

71

droll well, but also soars when called upon. The songs are well crafted rock fare and the overall package is seriously impressive. The accomplishment extends into the lyrical department as well. While definitely strong and bold with their message of dependence upon Christ, trust in God’s protection and a need for personal guidance from the Spirit, Brown remains relatable and transparent and never preachy. Though the odds of them breaking beyond the Christian community seem slim with Essential Records as their home, it certainly won’t be for lack of goods. Within the underground, groups like Pillar, Kutless and Jeremy Camp may have just been served. The bar is rising. Day of Fire may technically be a debut, but Brown’s rock pedigree is obvious.

This is modern stadium rock at its finest.

[ESSENTIAL] JOHN J. THOMPSON

LARRY NORMAN CHRISTMASTIME What’s a November/December issue without a Christmas album review?

While just about every major label has come out with Christmas albums during this season, one with Larry Norman’s name on it will always get some attention. While it’s somehow annoying to find repeated tracks on current releases, how can you knock him for putting the great title track here? While ancient carols like “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem” and “Do You See What I See?” get rocked up, they are done so in the classic sense of 70s rock of this artist’s heyday. The instrumental medley of “Carol of the Bells” and “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies,” on the other hand, is more akin to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Overall, it should bring some much-needed Christmas joy to the many fans of this man’s music, but is not likely to draw in new fans due to an experimentation or expansion of his “signature” sound. Like almost every Norman album in his vast catalog, reading the liner notes alone is often worth the price.

[SOLID ROCK] DOUG VAN PELT

MONARCH THE GRANDEUR THAT WAS ROME Be it via Ben Folds, The Scissors Sisters or The Swift, piano is definintely back as a pop/rock instrument. Monarch just don’t opt for the keyboard but an entirely orchestral effect (and occasional analog synyth’) on The Grandeur That Was Rome. Yearning vocals befit grandiose arrangements and lyrics that sound to be going through the course of a broken relationship, with occasional imprecations to the Almighty for restoration. Amid all the majesty and pretensions to epicness (good ones, mostly), “Wasteful” sounds like a lost Cure or Weather Prophets single. The result of emo kids listening to Left Banke records or a subversively unpunk way to bridge the chasm between Carol King and Dashboard Confessional? Works for me. Today, anyway. [NORTHERN] JAMIE LEE RAKE

9/27/2004 4:22:26 PM

72 A L B U M R E V I E W S

ALICE COOPER THE EYES OF After three thematic concept records that saw the enigmatic symbol of the evil of rock and roll explore his reawakened faith in Christ and his corresponding shift in worldview, Alice Cooper re-emerges on The Eyes of Alice Cooper in old-school style. But fear not, Christian, the Coop hasn’t flown the flock, not even close.

With production by the acclaimed Mudrock (Godsmack) and a blistering band backing him up (including Eric Singer of Kiss fame on drums, Eric Dover of Slash’s Snakepit and Imperial Drag, Ryan Roxie and Chuck Garric,) Cooper hits a ringing home run with the perfect balance of humor, spookiness, aggressive rock and classic hooks. Though occasional flourishes of horns and B3 add some great texture, it’s a basic garage band churning out the tunes this time.

Standout cuts include the comical laments “What Do You Want From Me?,” and “Man Of The Year,” the rollicking auto-bio-rocker “Detroit City,” and the requisite horror tune “This House Is Haunted.” The closers, “I’m So Angry” and “Backyard Brawl” capture the banality of boredom and violence perfectly via snarling near-punk metal, while “The Song That Didn’t Rhyme” is just plain hysterical. Rock is rarely as fun as this.

Though not as obviously thematic as The Last Temptation, Brutal Planet or Dragontown, there is a thread if you look hard enough. Cooper has always referred to “Alice” as a character symbolic of various elements of humanity. With “The Eyes” as a window to his wicked soul, these thirteen tracks take turns exploring a rebellious, self-serving worldview that too many people will relate to.

Everything is covered with a cloud of awareness, though. Nothing is as it seams. The most specific reference comes via one of the record’s heaviest tracks “Spirits Rebellious,” where Alice lays out a theologically solid understanding of the human condition and his place in it. Good stuff.

The uninitiated will struggle a bit with the idea that what “Alice” says is not actually what Alice believes. Taken in context the songs paint a frightfully realistic study of delusion, anger, selfishness and sin in general. Besides that, they just plain rock.

[EAGLE] JOHN J. THOMPSON

BABYLON MYSTERY ORCHESTRA ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN Like a bad science fiction novel, sometimes you just have to check something out for curiosity’s sake. This album, the second installment from this conceptual metal artist, has plenty of intrigue built into the storyline – a tale about the sons of God that slept with earth women. Using extra-biblical texts and Genesis 6, a case is built to show that the music in the days of Noah was the same crowdstirring, drummed up rock music of today. Talk of the mysterious Nephilim and the end times always make for interesting conversation, but this is an album and the music must stand on its own or fall

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flat, right? I’m afraid this heavy metal album, with its slow beats and thudding drums has a fatal flaw that won’t rescue it from warranted mockery – the vocals are just awful. [SELF] DOUG VAN PELT

PARAMAECIUM ECHOES FROM THE GROUND It’s been five long years but Paramaecium’s fourth full length, Echoes from the Ground is finally here! The disc opens with the song “Night Fears Morning” and the opening violin drips of sadness before the brutal guitars kick in a short time later. After this opening, you instantly know that this is the Paramaecium that you’ve so dearly missed during these five silent years. The song incorporates clean vocals

by Andrew Tompkins that fit the mood of the song perfectly. I love the droning and haunting chorus of “Night....fears.....morning....”, that actually starts its first word at the same time as the last word of the verse. The album continues to impress throughout as Tompkins gives a good dose of both clean and deathly growls. Musically, the band spends their time mixing the very brutal with the dismal, while maintaining a fairly slow to mid-paced tempo throughout. They also utilize some fantastic soprano vocals that mix great with Tompkin’s vocals. The album closes with, “Echoes”, which is a mega-slow doom metal feast that leaves you wanting more.

Lyrically, the band presents a very interesting story of an English academic student from the 1860’s who travels to Palestine in an attempt to verify the historical accuracy of the scriptures, and to seek out a firm justification for his own faith. All his searchings lead him to discover that the truth was in his “aged heart within.” Great storyline that was much more refreshing than the same old rehashed subjects that many other bands sing about.

I must say that I’m very pleased with this new Paramaecium offering. Echoes from the Ground is a disc that will definitely not disappoint long time fans of the band. Welcome back mates!

[VERIDON] STEWART STEVENSON

ELUVEITIE VEN Now THIS is what I’m talkin’ about!!

Hailing from Helvetia (Switzerland), Eluveitie is a 10-piece band that plays an absolutely stunning brand of Celtic pagan metal (in style only).

Why do they need ten members you may ask? Well, aside from your standard electric guitars, drums, and bass, the band also incorporates the acoustic guitar, fiddle, tin/low whistles, Irish bagpipes, Irish flute, hurdy-gurdy, bouzouki, bodhrán, and Helvetic bagpipes. What is even cooler about this band is that some of the songs are written and sung in a reconstructed form of the more or less forgotten language: Helvetic Gaulish.

While the background of the band is a very interesting story, the music takes center stage on this disc. The band captures the listener’s attention

from the very first moments and refuses to let go.

Whether they are passionately weaving a web of Celtic and folk-influenced soundscapes or whether they are unleashing a metal barrage, the band is always focused on creating an atmosphere that you can’t help but be in awe of. Production and packaging are fabulous, and lyrically the songs seem to be pretty neutral. According to the band they are about the Celtic clan of the Helvetians and Celtic topics in general. All in all, I absolutely love this EP -- a fabulous effort by a very talented band that you’d be crazy to overlook. [FEAR DARK] MATT MORROW

MAVIS STAPLES HAVE A LITTLE FAITH Though not possessed of the one-name recognition some r&b and soul gospel divas own, Mavis Staples ranks pre-eminently in both genres. Best known for her work wth her dad and siblings as The Staple Singers, La Mavis is no newbie at solo work. After two ‘90s outings for Prince’s Paisley Park imprint, she’s back to a rootsier round of covers and orginals on Have A Little Faith.

Editor’s Ratings DV Alice Cooper The Eyes of

DA

02* 02

Babylon Mystery Orchestra 01 On Earth As It Is In Heaven

00*

Paramaecium

Echoes From The Ground

03

02*

Eluveitie Ven

02* 02

Mavis Staples Have A Little Faith

04

03

Veni Domine

IIII: The Album Of Labour

03

02

Sympathy Arcane Path

04

02

Society’s Finest

Love, Murder and a Three Letter Word

03* 03*

Inked In Blood Awakening Vesuvius

03

7-10 Split

03* 02*

Kill The Messenger

02

9/27/2004 4:22:50 PM

ALBUM REVIEWS

NEAL MORSE TESTIMONY LIVE (DVD) Nobody does this – but this guy doesn’t follow convention, does he? Here’s a live concert DVD that’s not just a simple “greatest hits” setlist by the artist. This thing acts as a concept show, featuring a performance of each track of his similarly titled solo album, and in album order, for crying out loud! The players from the double-disc album made this tour (including star drummer Mike Portnoy) a tight aural spectacle. At times they sound like vintage Kansas, with multiple vocals, woodwinds, strings, and standard “rock instruments” synchronized like a Swiss time piece.

Visually, it’s a treat with a full stage and lots of bright lighting. Neal orchestrates the show well, adding personal touches from his real-life testimony that ring with authenticity. The lengthy tour documentary on disc 2 (along with 3 bonus songs from the Spock’s Beard and Transatlantic catalogs) round out the tour with a behind-thescenes viewpoint that, although shot with handhelds, adds that up-close dimension very well.

If you ever wanted to see how an artist labors to somehow work in concert with God, here’s a textbook vantage point. Of special interest are a few impromptu jams of Beatles’ classics in odd settings. If you’re not a fan of prog rock, this lengthy experience will torture you, but the fans got over four hours of material to digest and enjoy. [RADIANT/METAL BLADE] DOUG VAN PELT

7-10 SPLIT KILL THE MESSENGER This CD is confusing. People walking past my office thought I was listening to a compilation album. While some songs are expansive, the pop attempts come off as modern rock – but with a few screams. Blending styles well is difficult, and there are sparks of solidarity here, but this release spreads itself too thin. Again, it is possible to merge elements of different genres, but this attempt is abrupt, sporadic and drastically changes with each track. It’s hard to enjoy an identity when the entirety of the album sounds like a mixtape. My opinion? Based on all of the formats attempted, there are two songs that work very well – in fact, they work incredibly well. Both are hardcore/metal and both encourage me to hope for 7-10 Split to fix its focus.

[NEW SCHOOL] DAVID ALLEN

Titular track sounds a mite like the John Hiatt/Mandy Moore hit, but isn’t. Throughout that and eleven other numbers bespeaking her decidedly activist faith, this may be as perfect an Americana album as someone not labeled alt country can record.

Her folk-gospel beginnings get an updating on The Carter Family’s “Will The Circle Be Unbroken,” and she does Rev. Gary Davis’s legacy right in her rendition of “A Dying Man’s Plea.” Elsewhere, she’s potently confessional on “Forgive Me” (ooh, that bass!) and “God Is Not Sleeping” and singing her father’s moral heirlooms on “Pops Recipe.” In a better world, Mavis’s Faith would be heard on gospel, blues, Southern soul, womyn’s music and progressive folk radio. On today’s over-niched airwaves, this is worth seeking regardless where and if you hear it. [ALLIGATOR] JAMIE LEE RAKE

Invocation. Sympathy has also recruited the talents of Tim Roth and Rob Doherty of Into Eternity to play lead guitars on three different songs. Musically, lone member Derek From takes a very similar approach to Invocation with his extremely aggressive brand of technical death metal. Only on Arcane Path he seems to take it up another notch. The music is even more lethally heavy, faster, and more extreme. With blasting galore, grinding and brutal guitars, and just plain sickening growled vocals...

Sympathy continues to rage upon even the most expecting of listeners.

If you were a fan of this band’s last album, it’s absolutely certain that you will fall in love with this disc. Fear Dark Records has a fantastic talent in Sympathy. They would do well to push this band wherever possible, cause anyone into great extreme metal should snatch this up in a heartbeat.

[FEAR DARK] STEWART STEVENSON

VENI DOMINE IIII: THE ALBUM OF LABOUR Finally. After all these years, Veni Domine fans finally have in their hands, the album that many (including those in the band) thought would never see the light of day. My first exposure to Veni Domine was in 1992, and ever since then I’ve highly revered every album they have released. Now on Rivel Records, the band releases their fourth full-length disc, IIII: The Album of Labour. Where Fall Babylon Fall was more epic and dramatic, and Material Sanctuary was brutally heavy and doom influenced, their third offering, Spiritual Wasteland, traveled a more technical, progressive, and experimental route. This new offering continues the journey that Spiritual Wasteland began in the sense that, although the band retains its overall identity, they push the envelope of experimentation while at the same time becoming more accessible with the incorporation of more modern sounds.

Fredrik’s vocal problems over the last few years really don’t seem to cause much of a problem here.

He does seem somewhat harder to understand, but with that Swedish accent that has always been a little bit of an issue. Musically, the band is as impressive as always. The heaviness mixed with the technical proficiency easily sucks the listener into their world of metal.

My biggest complaint would be the sometimes “heavy on the treble” production. Other than that, music, vocals, lyrics, and packaging are terrific.

While Material Sanctuary will probably always hold the title as my favorite Veni Domine album, this is an excellent return for the band and it should undoubtedly please fans that patiently waited all these years. [RIVEL] STEWART STEVENSON

SYMPATHY ARCANE PATH On Sympathy’s newest album Arcane Path, the biggest thing that one will notice is the much-improved production. We are still not at perfection, but this is leaps and bounds above

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73

SOCIETY’S FINEST LOVE, MURDER AND A THREE-LETTER WORD If this trend continues, we have everything to look forward to from Society’s Finest. Allow me to clarify: The band that suffered a thousand setbacks has finally released new material. The first half of Love, Murder and a Three Letter Word are four new songs from the Texas quintet, while the remaining five is a remastered version of Private Conflicts and Suicides. The trend goes like this: The first half of this CD is solid. It’s metal. It’s fast. It’s smart. It’s really fast. It’s also a step above its second half, the material that’s being re-released. Read: Society’s Finest is getting better.

The band welcomes back former Zao singer Joshua Ashworth and he not only breathes life back into an old EP, but also more life into an already explosive band that has proven to never give up.

This newest “compilation” is metal through and through, fast and uncompromising. The first half is the best I’ve heard from Society’s Finest in their history and proves that Love, Murder… is the tease we all needed to tide us over as we await a true new full-length said to be ready early next year.

[HAND OF HOPE] DAVID STAGG

INKED IN BLOOD AWAKENING VESUVIUS Pretty decent pulse-quickening mix of old school hardcore and modern metal which breaks down into melodic parts at a few points. Honestly, I find it difficult to comment much on this genre because it seems awfully overdone and is incredibly commonplace. The main point of interest is the melodic yet brutal guitar work that lays the foundation for the pretty typical vocals to lie on top of. Being just five songs long, this is the perfect mix for any hardcore/metal junkie looking for a quick fix while getting ready for work.

[STRIKE FIRST] CHRIS FRANCZ

9/27/2004 4:23:17 PM

Entertainment reviews DVDS, BOOKS & GEAR 02 GARAGE DAYS

FOX VIDEO

While director Alex Proyas (I, Robot, The Crow) showed some restraint during the sexual scenes, it was still gratuitous, and the profanity is constant.

Getting past these rough edges, however, reveals a hilarious, feel-good flick about life as a struggling rock ‘n’ roll band in Australia.

03 REDEMPTION 01 THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST FOX VIDEO In another unconventional and bold move by the confident director, Mel Gibson, there’s not a single DVD extra here – just a movie. Some speculate that the maximum bit rate (a la Columbia Tristar’s “Superbit” DVDs) transfer delivers a sharper picture (less likely to show pixelation, “ghosting” or “ringing” around high-contrast areas, like on-screen text or intense detail, like hair) and spectacular audio (with a choice of 5.1 DTS or 5.1 Dolby), but uses up all the disc space in return. The absence of the “goodies” places emphasis squarely on the film, which is appropriate.

For years many cried that no film ever accurately depicted the torture that Christ endured; but no more, as Gibson just raised the bar. This movie has the intense power to leave an indelible impression. For me it was four scenes: crushing the serpent’s head;. the flashback sequence of Jesus making a table (what a statement about excellence, hard work and craftsmanship!); his mother’s memory of Him falling down as a little boy; and the rebuke of a thief for hugging His cross. As much as the suffering came through, so did the resolution and purposefulness of Christ.

While it’s premature to tout this as the greatest film of all time or even as good as Brave Heart, there are glimpses of Gibson’s signature, like the image of the serpent wafting through the crowd, which mirrored the vision William Wallace had of his wife during his execution scene. All in all, this is a must-own DVD, even without a single extra.

The film is that important. DOUG VAN PELT

SPIRITUAL RELEVANCY %

04 NEVER DIE ALONE

NUDITY / SEXUALITY

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FOX VIDEO

Another redemptive story, but it’s shrouded in street thug roughness. “Part devil, part priest,” drug dealer King David (DMX) comes back to his East Coast town to make amends, but gets slaughtered instead. A reporter discovers his memoirs on cassette as the movie rewinds for the king’s account.

05 TWISTED

PARAMOUNT

Like Double Jeopardy, Ashley Judd brilliantly plays a newly promoted Homicide Inspector that becomes the suspect in her first case. Her character’s impulsive, loose living becomes a liability that’s common in cop movies, but not for her gender. The whodunit chase keeps ya guessing right ‘til the end.

06 CSI MIAMI

PARAMOUNT

Unlike the original series, this one avoids most of the gratuitous swearing, but certainly retains the medicinal gore in the microscopic close-ups. Often accompanied by audio commentary, a few episodes do well to shed light on the individual characters. Even repeat viewings are entertaining here.

07 MILLENIUM

FOX VIDEO

Like Profiler and CSI together, this Chris Carter (X-Files) series offers a cool but less-than-compelling experience. The subject matter is gruesome and oftentimes intriguing, but perhaps the pacing and characters were the cause of its demise. One of those cases when substance over form lost the game…

08 HARSH REALM

FOX VIDEO

Another failed Chris Carter series for fans of his thrillers. While offering an interesting storyline, this series didn’t achieve the believability required to keep viewers. Scott Bairstow plays a military man that’s ready to settle down to civilian life, but his last assignment in a virtual simulator turns nightmarish.

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OBSCENITIES SCENES OF GORE

FOX VIDEO

Jamie Foxx plays Stan Tookie Williams, who went from the Crips’ gang life to death row to writing children’s novels and Nobel Peace Prize nominations.

This is his story, and its theatrical run has already inspired a true-life Bloods/ Crips truce in Newark NJ.

238 7

9/27/2004 4:24:58 PM

EN T E R TA I N M EN T

75

The Christian Culture Survival Guide

Matthew Paul Turner must have fooled a lot of people. As an editor at CCM Magazine, he gave the impression of someone as OK with the evangelighetto subculture as its ideal reader is.

Matthew Paul Turner - Relevant In The Christian Culture Survival Guide – tellingly subtitled The Misadventures of an Outsider on the Inside – he views through eyes tempered by bemusement and jaundice a demimonde rife with (pseudo-)spiritual peculiarities. He’s vulnerable enough to relate his own struggles with different congregations and pastors while finding himself culpable for some of his own dissatisfaction in finding a suitable church. Readers of this review may especially resonate with what Turner sees as contempo’ Christian music’s lack of creativity and mixed feelings over the plethora of Christian bookstores’ Jesus junk. Though not the uproarious take on its subject matter that The Door Magazine (or HM?) might prefer, Turner gives a gently satirical nudge in the gut of a church not often willing to poke fun of itself while also revealing the author’s own discoveries in his faith walk. Jamie Lee Rake

How to Make it in the New Music Business

The music industry has changed over the last few years. With the proliferation of digital technology, the ability to create and sell music has become increasingly more accessible. This book Robert Wolff directly deals with current production, marketing and public relational issues available to any, if not all, artists. It’s about making and selling and doing so knowing all the options to be had. From recording issues, to record deals; instrumental choices to copyright information, Wolff dives in and loads up the reader with more than enough DIY action to get any motivated band into action. While every chapter may not fit all readers, no stone is left unturned. Just don’t let it overwhelm you, rather pick and choose what gems to keep from this great resource. David Allen

iPod 20gb, Apple

NFL 2K5

Apple has added better functions to an almost perfect form. With the touch wheel taken from the Mini, and improved battery life, this fourth generation iPod improves upon an already wonderful audio player. We appreciate the new audiobook features and quicker shuffle option. The support for an Apple lossless format rounds off the best additions and is perfect for those who appreciate sound fidelity. (DA)

Xbox, Playstation 2 - ESPN Football junkies like me have gotta love this action. Features include a post-game show, including highlights and an interview with your star player; and an easy-to-use “Basic Training” allows you to learn all the controls. The X-box version, which boasts just slightly higher resolution graphics, also has some “video instruction,” which uses animation to show control tips, etc. Both include simple and easy-to-read printed and on-screen manuals.

Online play via the internet (broadband recommended, of course) is amazing. It’s a little more demanding than its Madden counterpart, but uses pretty much the same skills. Sega’s trademarked “First Person Football”™ is a blast. The best part about both of these game versions is that it’s priced to sell (look for sales at your favorite location). (DV)

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iPod MINI 5gb, Apple There are many 5gb audio players these days, but all pale in comparison to the aethestic of this little beauty. About the size of a business card, but thicker, the Mini sports a skin responsive touch wheel and an almost instant play back. Although 5gb will not neccessarily hold an entire collection, it serves as the perfect portable gadget to listen to what you want, wherever you want it. Highly recommended. (DA)

10/5/2004 4:01:00 PM

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9/28/2004 12:22:26 PM

DEVOTIONS 77

Devotions with Greg Tucker

I guess I learned to trust God the day we ran out of toilet paper.

It was a warm July Sunday in 1992, and I put a tithe check in the offering plate that morning realizing that my act of obedience would move us from “almost broke” to “certifiably busted.” Then, as if to underscore our poverty, one of my little boys entered the room to announce our latest emergency: We were out of toilet paper.

Perfect.

Initially panic ran through my mind. Then frustration. I pulled my wife next to me and cried out, “God, you know we’re trying to trust You with our money; we give 10% of our income to the church just as You commanded. But now here we are in need of something important and we can’t even afford to get it. We don’t have a clue where to go from here.” Then after a long, reflective pause I added, “But God, You’ve never failed us yet. Our trust is in You.” Just a few hours later we heard a strange noise outside, and opened the front door to discover our house had been [drum roll, please] toilet papered! And by amateurs, too! There were half a dozen rolls that had barely been touched, so at 10:00 at night my wife and I were scrambling around, picking each one up, saying, “Thank You, Jesus, thank You, Jesus!”

God explained the principle so clearly in Malachi 3:10, when He said, “Be faithful to pay your tithe, and see if I don’t open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing you won’t be able to hold it all.” As a young Christian it was hard for me to give God 10% of my income each week, but eventually I realized God’s promise is real. I learned it the day we ran out of toilet paper.

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Real quick with David Allen

It has been difficult for me to listen. I hear the words of Matthew 11:28 echo over and over... “come to me” ... but still I hold back.

In every area of my life that I am not truthful, I sidestep those words. While some people spout off excuses, I just act like the calling doesn’t exist. That or I try to come partly, occasionally. But it never seems to be legitimate.

You see, when we are told “come,” we have to realize that in order to do so something must happen. Whatever it is that stands in the way of communication with our Lord has to be removed. How can we be open with God when our sin alters our words and vision?

The Holy Spirit will show us what to do. Which, you can pretty much count on, will require an upheaval of whatever it is in our lives preventing us to get through to Jesus. And the stinging realization is that we will never get any further until we are willing to do exactly what is required for us...

Remove that which blocks us from Jesus Christ.

Pardon the repetition, but it’s the only way to go to Him. The stronghold(s) that weigh us down can be pointed at all day, but will not be moved unless we are willing to let God do so in the first place.

You cannot right what is wrong or purify what is impure. You cannot remove your own sin and decay. You cannot change your past. You cannot redeem yourself, let alone the world.

But you can let go of control and come.

9/28/2004 12:22:46 PM

78 I N D I E R E V I E W S

PICK OF THE LITTER Children 18:3 Being the runner-up two years in a row at Club 3 Degrees’ New Band Tournament helped get these guys on the national radar a little bit, but trust us – this band is ready to rock it nationwide. While these three siblings are all young, they’ve already got that veteran swagger that makes ‘em instantly cool the first second you see them onstage. A few touring dates into the South this Summer is helping spread the buzz. They haven’t recorded the perfect album yet, but they’ve already dialed in the sound, which is especially hot when sis bassist Lee Marie Hostetter switches off with lead vocalist/guitarist David Hostetter Jr, blending new school with old quite nicely.

Children183.com

Bridge Shadows

Prescription

Industrial and electronically-influenced metal. Fast and gloomy, not slow and doomy, it’s still dark-sounding. Probably too speedy and guitar-dominated for the dance club goth queen, but smartly-placed hooks and attitude in the vocals make this stand out. Fans of the post-Weapons Deliverance will find something to sink their teeth into.

Porthaven.com

This groove-oriented melodic rock band (Kutless meets Tool meets Jimmy Eat World, with the obligatory distorted screech) puts its best foot forward in the first two tracks of Drawn to the Twilight, a 16-track musical stuffing. Not a consistent listen to the end, but the band shows they’ve got something going on just 2 tunes into it.

Rxtheband.com

Fairfax Tony Loeffler Out of left field and into your shirt pocket like a contraband Cuban cigar, Tony Loeffler is an unexpected choice, but darn if he doesn’t nail that Latino musica with a lil salsa flavor (and Spanish lyrics) above his flamenco finger picking.

Landarecords.com

These guys rocked our first ever HM “New Issue Release Party” in Austin (hey, it’s cheesy, but just a good excuse to party) and did it with strength and hooks. All the pulsing bass hooks and emo pop crashing choruses are here. Without reinventing the melodic rock sound, Fairfax still makes a strong claim that begs for radio airplay.

Fairfaxnation.com

Kerri Pomarolli

L-60°

I know what you’re thinking: “Christian comics suck. They can’t hang with a normal standup comedian.” This Christian gal finds a way to be matter-of-fact about her faith (many times a central theme to her pieces) and be invited on The Tonight Show and all the A-list comedy clubs in LA, where she moved to pursue her career goal – Trophy Wife. She’s also written a book, If I’m Waiting On God, Then What Am I Doing On The Christian Chatroom?

Sassysingles.net

Super clean almost to a fault, L-60° is a Swedish import that brings the rock slow and melodic style. Some of the vocals are hard to bear, but the swirling hooks in the musical bed are virul to a degree.

L-60.com

Peter Nevland Peter’s band, called Birth of the Spoken Groove is, at it implies, a musical accompaniment to some really cool slam poetry. This guy also joined us onstage at the HM party last month. He’s animated, smart, and extremely funny.

Spokengroove.com

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Liptocoal These hard working guys from Indiana have honed their heavy groove metal sound to quite a nice melodic strain, avoiding nü-metal but not venturing far from old school chunk/riff metal. “Big Rock Show” almost sounds like a Stavesacre tune.

Liptocoal.com

9/27/2004 4:26:52 PM

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9/27/2004 9:53:52 AM

80 HARD MUSIC HISTORY

This group changed it all for Christian hard music, and they did it in a way that was refreshingly “pure.” These four young guys from Southern California (Michael and Robert Sweet, Oz Fox, and Tim Gaines) did not grow up under the shadow of Larry Norman, Resurrection Band, or Petra.

They didn’t all go to a Rez show and get inspired to form a harder band. No, these guys grew up listening to Kiss, Van Halen, and Judas Priest, and were immersed in the Hollywood metal scene of the early 80s. Born again after learning how to wow an audience, their obedience to the call for surrendering their music to Jesus came in a garage – void of any molds or formulas on how to do this.

Some of us metalheads and critics were slightly perturbed that this young band didn’t have much of a clue about the history and legacy that had gone on before them (Sweden’s Jerusalem, Canada’s The Daniel Band, Rez, Norman, Petra, Rick Cua), but that didn’t matter to these guys or their music and live performance. In fact, it probably made it better and uniquely their own. While musical comparisons to Loudness and Scorpions could be made, Stryper quickly forged a signature sound that set them apart from their Hollywood peers (Quiet Riot, Motley Crue, Poison). They trusted Jesus with their careers and reputation and watched a world hungry for something different eat up their sound. No offense to their Christian rock predecessors, a biting aggressive metal sound wasn’t ever performed with this kind of intensity and world-class sound under the banner of Christ until Stryper.

Capitalizing on their knowledge of the heavy metal scene, they tossed things out to their audience; and, in typical fashion, the audience clamored for whatever was thrown in their direction from a rocking stage – a drumstick, a guitar pick, a sweaty towel, a Bible…? While more than one cynic took offense to this offering, it was truly a genius move for the culture they were part of. Zealous to share their newfound faith, what was going on here was genuine and free from the control of any previous generation. People caught on. Their shows got bigger. A church called Sanctuary was born out of the genuine need to follow up on the many new converts coming at Stryper concerts. A handful of fanzines were formed (including this one). Bands like Barren Cross, Bloodgood, Saint, and hundreds of others followed in their wake. A movement was born – the Christian heavy metal movement. And it was good.

One thing that often gets overlooked by those trying to understand Stryper’s success was the quality of each song.

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STRYPER

BY DOUG VAN PELT Stryper truly understood the importance: good songs get remembered. In the same way that it’s impossible to judge whether or not Kiss would have made it out of New York without their makeup, we’ll never know if Stryper without their bold stance for Jesus would have broken out of the crowded Southern California scene they rocked in. But few would argue that their songs were not quality enough to stand on their own.

Seeing Stryper before The Yellow And Black Attack at a club like Anaheim’s Radio City was a real treat. The Sweet parents were there running a small merchandise table. The audience sang along to many of the unrecorded songs, pumping their index finger up in the air for the big chorus line that chanted, “Jesus is the Way!” and all eyes never left the striped ones for the duration of the show. Songs like “First Love” and “From Wrong To Right” stood out, proving that the band was going somewhere. The following winter the band had wrapped up their first full-length, Soldiers Under Command, and made their way out of Southern California for a small tour through Texas.

Heaven’s Metal Magazine had yet to launch, but its future editor

9/27/2004 4:27:51 PM

HARD MUSIC HISTORY 81

was tapped to pen an article on the yellow & black phenomenon for The Daily Texan newspaper at the University of Texas, which helped pave the way for this publication.

One other overlooked factor behind Stryper’s success was a hungry young record label that pushed hard. In addition to keeping a publicist named Rick Orienza busy full-time, the label understood the craze of “Limited Edition” releases, featuring bonus live songs, interviews, colored vinyl and picture discs.

Fans love this stuff, and Enigma was smart enough to take advantage of this.

Stryper’s lone ranger reputation wasn’t accurate, as they helped to innovate the “road pastor” concept (thanks to Michael Guido, who has since helped out bands like dcTalk and P.O.D.). Stryper embraced the Christian rock world they operated outside of,

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but also became a huge target for criticism. Jimmy Swaggart railed accusations at them on his program, the CBA industry apparently banned the original artwork for the double platinum release, To Hell with the Devil, and all you-know-what broke loose when Against the Law came out with rumors of the band “going secular.” It wasn’t easy being Stryper, and they admit to making mistakes, but with God’s help they started a movement still being felt today. To top it off, they are still occasionally touring (and putting on a terrific show), with the recent and upcoming releases of a live album and DVD, respectively.

Two tribute albums, a book, a couple fan conventions, numerous websites, a VH-1 Where Are They Now? segment, and two best-of albums only begin to offer the recognition this band deserves for what they were used by God to do. In their own way, they certainly changed the world.

9/27/2004 4:28:20 PM

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Lord, Liar or Lunat Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by Me.”

If that claim is not true, then the man who said it is either a liar or a lunatic. If he’s a liar, then he’s not a great prophet and he’s certainly no “good teacher.”

If His claims are neither false or misguided; but true, then we are obligated to bow down and revere Him as Lord, Master, Authority, and God.

If he thought he was those things, but he wasn’t; then he’s just delusional – a crazy man.

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9/27/2004 4:38:22 PM