Chris Holmes Interview Exclusive

Chris Holmes Interview Exclusive

Kenny caught up with the enigma that is Chris Holmes just before he hit the stage on his recent performance in Crymlin as part of his UK Tour. Sit back relax and have a giggle its the one and only Chris Holmes.

Thanks so much for taking the time to have a chat with me Chris!

 ‘No problem’

 Welcome back to Wales. Can you remember the last time you were here?

‘I’m not sure if I’ve ever been here’

I saw you in Cardiff with W.A.S.P. back in the day.

‘Oh yeah, I’ve played there, is that in Wales?’

Yes, Cardiff is the capital city of Wales.

‘You learn something new every day, y’ know?’

How are you, Chris? You’ve had a rough few years.

‘Yeah, I’m good, I was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago, going through the radiation and the chemo wasn’t fun. I finished treatment exactly a year ago. I’m still feeling the effects of the radiation, it was done in my neck, I can’t swallow too good. My voice is getting better, I sing now. For the last year on the road, the singer sang all of my songs, it was weird playing them without singing, but I’m gonna do them on this tour.’

So, your voice is much stronger now?

‘It hasn’t got any stronger, it’s just come back.’ I lost a lot of weight; I went from a hundred and twenty kilos down to eighty-eight. I’m back up to ninety-three kilos now.’

Tell me about lockdown Chris, were you productive? Were you writing music?

‘Yeah, I’ve got a bunch of music stored on a computer. In lockdown I recorded every song I ever wanted in my life from the internet. You can say that I bootlegged it, who cares about bootlegging? I never made any money from my publishing anyway. I sat for hours just getting every song and storing them on SD cards.’

Any new material from Mean Man?

‘Not right now, my computer went down. When I get that back up and running, I can record all the stuff and listen back and submit it to everyone else, depending on how I want to do the next album. Last album I did, it was actual people playing, the one before that I just programmed it all with Pro Tools.’

Have the rehearsals for the tour gone well?

‘Yeah, yeah, we did three days and we’re good.’

Tell us about your current band Chris.

‘I’ve got the same drummer I’ve had for about five or six years, Stephen Jackson, he’s from Carlisle, he plays in a band called Heartbreak Remedy, when Mean Man is in the UK, he plays for Mean Man. The bass player is a guy named Charles Lambert, he’s from Montreal and he speaks fluent French, I call him Chuck. We were going to tour together and then Covid hit, when Covid started dying down, Bam! I got cancer so we had to cancel everything. We did five shows in Canada together and I did a Q & A after a showing of my movie, the Mean Man documentary. I came out and I answered questions for around half an hour, and we played five songs. That was good. Florien plays guitar and sings back-up vocals.’

So, it’s a stable line up?

‘Oh yeah, yeah. Usually, I have some guys from the Wicked Jackals, but they had some shows booked during this tour, so what can you do?’

Are you looking forward to this UK run of shows?

‘Yes! I haven’t really played properly for a long time.’

You live in France; can you speak much French?

‘No, my wife does all of the translating.’

Do you miss living in Los Angeles?

‘No, I was just there recently. In Cannes, the police are really nice, in LA they’re pricks. I got tired of it; I was bothered every time I got in a car by a cop. Good cop, bad cop, I don’t give a crap. I got sick and tired of it, it’s the way that I look. I understand what black people must go through; I don’t think it’s very nice. They think I look like a drug addict criminal; I choose the way I look. To most cops in LA I look like a criminal and I got tired of it. In the UK I don’t even see any cops! The cops in France are cool, they don’t look at me like I’m a criminal. I was just back in LA for two days because my father had passed away, I had to go and take care of everything.’

My condolences Chris.

‘It’s the way it is, this planet. In a hundred years from now, this planet will still be turning, who knows what shape it’s gonna be in? But we’ll all be gone. I don’t miss LA, the rock music scene, just aint happening, it kinda died out in the Nineties, a lot of the clubs are closed, it was a better decision to leave.’

I’ve always wanted to visit LA, see the Sunset Strip, Rainbow Bar & Grill etc.

‘If you’re not from there, it’s probably fun to check it out, I was born in LA so it’s a lot different. I’ve been going to that garbage all my life. I didn’t come from out of state to make it in a band, I was stuck there, so it’s a much different situation.’

Were you pleased with the reaction to the Mean Man: The Story of Chris Holmes film?

‘Yeah, yeah, I’m pleased with it, it just shows, a few of my friends have said, it shows a different side to you Chris. Instead of sitting in a pool drinking booze, a lot of people have a vision of the way I am. If that’s all I did in W.A.S.P. I wouldn’t have played in W.A.S.P., I did a lot more than drink alcohol. I actually made it onto a stage once or twice! (Laughs) That’s not what most people think though.’

How is it, having your wife as your manager?

‘I couldn’t imagine, if I didn’t have her, I wouldn’t be doing this right now. I’d probably be sitting in LA, I’d either be in jail in LA, or I’d be sitting there playing with Pro Tools somewhere in a closet, doing nuthin’ trying to find some band in LA to play with me. I’ve tried and tried and tried, nobody will really play with me. When I did find people, they would want to be put on a salary, it’s all about money. I didn’t make any money in W.A.S.P., I never got my publishing, I didn’t understand how it worked when we signed the deal and all that stuff, I was taken advantage of by someone I considered at the time my best friend. I didn’t understand how the situation worked back then, nobody told me, nobody explained it to me. They knew that I didn’t understand it.’

Most musicians get into music to play music. Not to be an accountant.

‘You’re right, the accountants and the people that know what’s going on take advantage. It’s really sad, when I actually looked into what’s going on, it really jerks me wrong that I would actually be a friend to somebody like that. All these people say to me, God, you should be back in W.A.S.P., no, no. You screwed me once, you’re not gonna screw me twice. No way. I did go back to W.A.S.P. in ‘95, I was promised it was a whole different ball game, everything will be cool. No, it was the same crap as before, it was the same narcissism as before, I just hung out on my own and did my job.’

Who inspired you to pick up a guitar Chris?

‘Jimi Hendrix was my first. My second would be Johnny Winter, my Mom always listened to the Stones and the Beatles. I would like to say Eddie Van Halen, but I was already playing guitar by the time I met him. I met him way before he was in Van Halen when he was in Mammoth. He was probably a bigger inspiration than Hendrix because I was friends with him. Inspiration as in, using a Marshall, how to set your equipment up on stage, how to treat other people, very important. I was in a dressing room in 1987, Van Halen’s dressing room at the Omni theatre, snorting blow, guzzling down booze with Tony Iommi and Eddie Van Halen and who walks in? Blackie Lawless, thinks he’s our friend. Eddie looks at me and goes ‘Who in the fuck is this dickhead?’ and Blackie walks right out. Ed could see the bullshit with people, he could see who’s full of shit and who’s not full of shit. He knew David Lee Roth was the way Dave was, Dave was exceptional with his lyric writing and Ed knew it was worth having him around.

 I learned a lot from Ed, I’d see him play and just be envious, I wish I could play like that! One time we were at my house in Pasadena, I had just got this Marshall amp. This was before Sister and W.A.S.P. Ed was in the process of making the first Van Halen album. He was over, we were getting high on pot, some real good weed. I had my Marshall cranked and he was playing my guitar, he was doing some tricks and he goes ‘Chris, you’d better close your windows, your neighbours are gonna get mad and call the cops’ I was like fuck the neighbours! and I was hoping they would think it was me playing! He was so good. He knew the insides and out of his gear. I learned a lot of tricks from him. If it wasn’t for Ed, I wouldn’t have the sound I have today. He was a big inspiration. Hendrix was a killer entertainer though.’

You mentioned Tony Iommi, was he an influence?

‘I love Tony’s sound and the way he plays guitar, he’s killer. Those riffs. I can sit and play and come up with ideas easily though. I don’t like using an acoustic, it must be an electric guitar’.

What was your first guitar?

‘My sister had a flamenco guitar and I put some super slinky strings on it and bent the neck! (Laughs). So, you could say that was my first guitar, I then moved onto a Fender Jazzmaster, I didn’t have too many guitars, I got an Ibanez destroyer when I was sixteen or seventeen, Eddie Van Halen used it on the second Van Halen album, I had broken my back in a motorcycle accident, and I was laid up in hospital. Eddie came in and asked if he could borrow my guitar. I said well, I aint gonna be playing for a while, he goes ‘apparently not!’ Then I got an endorsement with Jackson, so I’ve never really bought many guitars.’

What was it like being a part of the LA backyard party scene back in the day? Did you ever play with other bands on the circuit like Van Halen etc?

‘Yeah, I met Eddie at a party when he was in Mammoth, he had a guy named Michael Stone on bass and Alex (Van Halen) was on drums, they were playing all covers. Sabbath, ZZ Top, Ed would sing. I used to play at parties too, that’s how it worked back then. If you were in a band, you would play at a party on a Friday and Saturday night. When we weren’t playing, we would go and see Mammoth a lot. That was fun, good old times. Do they have that here in the UK?’

No, we don’t have the weather or pools in our gardens!

‘Oh yeah, we definitely had the weather. Sometimes we would get a friend to go to a gas station and call the police. They would come and bust the party and we wouldn’t have to play too long, we could just party! (Laughs)’

What was your biggest achievement as a member of W.A.S.P.?

‘Probably just staying alive…that really is my biggest achievement. I really didn’t give a crap back then; I burned the candle at both ends. When I was young, there was no say no to drugs, if you didn’t do drugs and alcohol, you were an outcast. I’m from California, born and raised in Pasadena, all my friends did drugs. I don’t even want to get into it, I was really stupid. I’m still here, that’s my biggest achievement. How many records did W.A.S.P. sell? I don’t really care, I have some gold records, they’re in a box somewhere at my mom’s, I don’t really give a shit about it because I look at them as a reminder of getting ripped off, rather than I sold 250 million records or whatever. To me that’s a bunch of crap, because I didn’t get any of my publishing so I really couldn’t give a shit. It’s sad, it’s sad. That’s something that at the age of fifteen I would have died for, a gold record? That was my dream. When I got it, I didn’t get what’s supposed to come with it, a nice house, cars and all that stuff. I was always in the dark, that’s the way it is. It’s sad that that’s what that bands about, it’s all about just the money.’

What are your memories of the Ronnie James Dio charity project Hear N Aid?

‘It was horrible. I knew Jimmy Bain well, a year before he died, he said, Chris, we personally asked your management if you could come and play guitar and they said that you had other obligations and couldn’t. Did you see me playing guitar on there? You know why I didn’t? It’s because of one man’s jealousy, I went to sing on there, yes, I sang on there because I went with Rod (Smallwood) our manager and Blackie Lawless. Jimmy Bain asked FOUR times and they said I couldn’t play; I had other obligations. That came from Blackie Lawless himself, he was jealous, didn’t want me being seen better than him. That’s what happens when you work with a narcissist. That Hear N Aid thing is a crock of shit to me, a bunch of crap. It was nothing but a jealousy thing. I don’t care what people say about that, when Jimmy told me that, we were great friends, we hung out together, he said we asked your management four times, I said, why didn’t you just ask me personally Jimmy? He said, we didn’t know how to get hold of you.

 Do you know why I did the Decline of Western Civilisation? Penelope (Spheeris – Director) called me personally. That’s why I did it. She didn’t call the management, she talked to me personally. She knew somebody that knew me, if she had talked to management, of course they would have said no. You know how many times I’d be on the road, this is about 1998, I found a bicycle in Switzerland and before soundcheck, I’d wake up on the bus, we were staying on the bus instead of hotel rooms. I would ride the bike around, come back play the show and then at night we would do a meet and greet, I never got paid any money for them, but fans would have to pay to meet us. A photographer I knew says, Chris, where were you today? I said why? He said, we requested an interview for you personally and management said you got other obligations. I was like, I was off riding my bike, I could have done it. It sucks that somebody keeps you down, its sad. That’s why I hate that whole situation.’

You’ve been referred to as the American equivalent of Lemmy on numerous occasions, and you worked closely with Philthy Animal Taylor. Tell us about that.

‘Philthy is one of the reasons I sing. A lot of people hate my voice, but Phil was one of the reasons why, if it wasn’t for my wife and Phil I wouldn’t have done my solo albums. He was a big inspiration for me, he taught me how to use Pro Tools and how to put drum tracks down. Phil was one of the coolest musicians I ever met in my life. He was famous but had a heart of gold. He didn’t like fake people, he didn’t like assholes, he wouldn’t even talk to ‘em. Believe it or not, he was a very quiet person.’

When you left W.A.S.P. in 1991, you formed a band called Psycho Squad, do you think the grunge movement was instrumental in the band not taking off?

‘We all drank, you know, they weren’t signing bands like mine with the kind of music I did, they weren’t signing anybody at that time. Bands like mine couldn’t get a deal, grunge was happening, and I didn’t play grunge. It was a great band, if it was a few years before that it would have been good, but it was the wrong time.’

You seem to be happiest when you’re playing guitar, do you feel that playing is the most important thing to you?

‘Yeah, my first wife was pregnant, and I wanted to do music more that raise a kid, my mom told me that if I stay around then the kid would get in the way of your music and ruin your career. I made a lot of sacrifices. I just enjoy playing, watching people enjoying themselves and enjoying the music you know? Now, a lot of people see me, I’ve been doing this for forty years, I play a certain way, I’m the only guy on the planet that plays like I do. I got my own sound, and some people still enjoy watching me play. I’m not schooled at music at all, I’ve learned what a major and minor chord is (laughs) I play by feel.

 My guitar sound is a really clean guitar sound, it’s got distortion, there’s ways of overdriving your equipment without getting white and pink noise. If you ever went to a Motorhead concert, now there’s white and pink noise! So loud and distorted but that was Motorhead! Phil Campbell is coming down tonight, we’re old time LA birds of a feather. He’s always treated me with the utmost respect.

Chris, on behalf of RPM Online, thank you so much for your time. Have a great gig tonight and enjoy the rest of the tour!

‘Thanks man, appreciate it.’

Bandcamp

The Mansters – ‘The Lessons In giving Up’ (Loyal Blood Records)

The Mansters – ‘The Lessons In giving Up’ (Loyal Blood Records)

Influenced by the punk and hardcore Norwegians THE MANSTERS have released a demo, three EPs and a full-length album since their inception in 2006.

Now in 2023, seven long years following that self-titled debut album, the five-piece group from Tønsberg are back with a new full-length album titled “The Lessons In Giving Up”, and it’s out on Loyal Blood Records. 


Recorded by Ruben Willem at Caliban Studio Storsjøen, ‘The Lessons In Giving Up’ is a high-octane blood brother to Fellow Northern Europeans The Good The Band And The Zugly. The band manages very nicely to harness that raw aggression of punk with the pummelling fury of hardcore and some speed metal thrown in for good measure. It’s been a style for decades now and trying to perfect it is hard many have tried and failed with some of the finest exponents of this style currently being Clowns from Australia and TGTBATZ.

Eight songs are on offer here kicking off with the frantic ‘Welcome To Hell’ with its pounding tempo and uncompromising style its a blinding opener and I love the stabs before the solo enters the frey like a chinook helicopter blade slashing and slicing. But hold onto yur strides kids because ‘Panic Boy’ turns up the pace and is off like a freakin rocket.

The bass grunt on ‘Underdogs’ gives you time to take a sharp intake of breathe before we speed off again in a flurry of drums bass and guitar. It’s a short but oh so sweet records with some variety – its not all thrash til you die they’re not savages for Gods sake. ‘Walls’ is a slower beast but is prowling round your speakers like some pissed off grisley bear weating to pounce. The melody on ‘Walls’ is an earworm you welcome. ‘Give Up’ is a frantic melodic slice of punk and again I love that bass sound they’ve hit on as it punches its way to your attention- ‘Give Up’ is a beast.

The final three offerings follow a pettern – pound – pound and pound again as the listener submits and throws themselves around to some mighty fine punk rock hardcore crossover. If you’re looking for some blood pumping top notch harn n heavy punk rock then The Mansters are your band. Get on it and give them some love and tell em the RPM boys sent you. They’re waiting

https://www.facebook.com/ManstersTBG
https://www.facebook.com/loyalbloodrecords

Wulfskol/Hexella – ‘Burn With Us’ (Split album)(Goat Throne Records)

Wulfskol/Hexella – ‘Burn With Us’ (Split album)(Goat Throne Records)

When Dom ‘Death Metal’ Daley sent me the promo over to review the Wulfskol/Hexella album that has been split between both bands, I assumed they were from deepest, darkest Europe. Their publicity shots make them look like a cross between Venom and your dad’s mate Dave from down the pub (wearing leather and studs obviously). Turns out that both bands are from the USA and they are pretty darn good at what they do.

I’ve stated before that my limit in heaviness stops at bands like Pantera, Death, and maybe a little bit of Obituary. I was never a big fan of the death grunt vocal style but being a drummer, I was into guys like Gene Hoglan and Sean Reinert for their sheer intensity and superb technique. This album features five tracks from both bands with each throwing in a cover version (Wulfskol do a good version of Slayer’s – ‘Evil Has No Boundaries’ and Hexella throw in Bathory’s – You Don’t Move Me (I Don’t Give a Fuck). The production values for both bands is muddy and unclear, I think this adds to the charm though and even though I’m struggling after a few songs I can hear that both bands are more than capable.

Wulfskol kick the album off with ‘Deliver Us to Evil’ which gives more than a nod to hardcore punk in its delivery. ‘Violator’ is a more mid paced affair with some lovely playing from drummer Hector. It slows right down to doom pace before dying off with some soloing from guitarist Zike. ‘Demon Lust’ has a Danzig feel to the music, just imagine Danzig with John Tardy from Obituary on vocals and you’ll be in the right ballpark.

Hexella kick off the second half of the album with the extremely noisy ‘Midnight’s on Fire’ A full-on metal intro with horses, wolves, and thunder (Bad News spring to mind?) makes way for screams and extreme riffage. Next track ‘Weapon’ is another assault on your ear drums with blast beats a plenty. By the time I get to the next track ‘Derramando Sangre’ my head is a bit fried lol. As I mentioned earlier, I’m no death metal aficionado but I really do appreciate how talented you must be to write and play this stuff. Both cover versions are executed well, and they fit right in.

If your favourite flavour is HEAVY then this album will be right up your street. Burn with Us is available now via Goat Throne Records. Buy Here

Rainy Days & Tigertailz

Rainy Days & Tigertailz

When Metal Collides…

Tigertailz welcome phenomenal hard-hitting Power Quest / Dendera front man Ashley Edison as their new vocalist.

It’s said certain metals cannot be mixed, they cause corrosion. Surely this is true when trying to meld together a power metal vocalist and the UK’s most prolific Glam Metal band?

Jay Pepper: ‘Some things should never happen, and yet when Ashley came to the studio and began singing ‘Sick Sex’, the mountains in Wales started to rumble, an earthquake was happening, and his voice was causing it! From that moment I knew people had to hear it. Ashley singing Tigertailz songs is like a jet engine running on Nitroglycerin!’

Ashley Edison: ‘I am SO excited to be joining the legends in Tigertailz! A band that not only inspired so many but still put on a hell of a show! When I was with Jay singing Sick Sex, everything just felt right and fell into place perfectly! The guys have been so incredible to work with and I can’t wait to get going on some exciting future projects together!’

The Sick Sex single is available digitally from all usual outlets.

Click here to listen on Spotify. They also announce our first live show for 2023. The Underworld, Camden, London Saturday June 3rd 2023.

Tickets available here.

Charger – ‘Warhorse’ (Pirates Press Records)

Charger – ‘Warhorse’ (Pirates Press Records)

Having initially seen large numbers of Charger T shirts at punk shows here in the UK, before checking out their debut 7 track EP/mini album released back in 2019, and thinking it was pretty damn decent,  I can honestly say that I never realised that Rancid’s Matt Freeman, along with Jason Willer (from Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine), and Andrew McGee (from Wired All Wrong) were the people responsible for conjuring up the no-nonsense metal onslaught that the band specialise in.

I mean, I know Lars Frederiksen has dabbled with the odd AC/DC/Rose Tattoo riff over the years with The Old Firm Casuals, but Charger are full-on “rock out, with your cock out” (if you know, you know) heavy metal, specialising in the type of metal Hell’s Headbangers would have (dismembered?) kittens over, so perhaps that’s what initially threw me. Although knowing who is behind the unholy (yet rather splendid) racket Charger produce is neither here nor there at the end of the day, because if you like early ‘80s metal (think Motorhead, think Anvil, think early Tank and think Chariot) then you are going to absolutely love the band’s 11 track full length debut album, ‘Warhorse’.

“Fast and frantic” is the default setting for Charger, and for most of this record I’m in serious danger of having the worst case of headbanger’s neck I’ve had since the Youth Club Discos of my early teens. Tracks like opener ‘Devastator’, ‘Will To Survive’ and ‘Running Out Of Time’ simply thunder along, middle finger in the air and taking no prisoners in the process. Elsewhere there’s a whiff of early ‘80s Saxon in the riff that introduces ‘Rolling Through the Night’ and just a hint of Nashville Pussy at their dirtiest during ‘Stand Fight or Die’, all custom built to soundtrack your wildest of parties.

Its only when Charger switch direction slightly, venturing more into the dungeons and dragons world of metal, via album closer ‘Sword Of Dio’ and (with the aid of the air raid siren guest vocals of Jake Nunn from Hell Fire) on ‘Summon The Demon’ that I find myself drifting off. It’s not that the tracks are bad you understand, it’s just I’m not really a huge fan of that metal sub-genre, and I’d much rather have preferred to have heard a few more four to the floor barnstormers along the lines of ‘Forsaken Soul’ or the Motorhead chug-a-thon of ‘Black Motor’ instead.

Released on multiple formats on 18th March 2022 via Pirate’s Press Records, ‘Warhorse’ is a fierce slice of metal and perhaps one of the most radical sounding Rancid associated side-projects to date. Now someone get Charger out on the road with Midnight and give us THE metal gig of 2022.       

Buy Here

Author: Johnny Hayward

Sweet Oblivion Featuring Geoff Tate – ‘Relentless’ (Frontiers)

Sweet Oblivion Featuring Geoff Tate – ‘Relentless’ (Frontiers)

Sweet Oblivion is a project that was put together by Frontiers Music guru Serafino Perugino around two years ago to give veteran metal vocalist Geoff Tate another musical outlet. The self-titled debut album was written, performed (apart from vocals) and produced by DGM guitarist Simone Mularoni and was well received in metal circles. This time around another Italian metal legend Aldo Lonobile (Secret Sphere, Timo Tolkki’s Avalon, Archon Angel) has taken the reigns. Tate has been much more involved with the song writing on this latest effort and there is plenty here that fans of classic Queensryche (and classic metal in general) can sink their teeth into.

The idea is simple but effective, give Tate a vessel that echoes his early work with Queensryche. Let’s be honest here, anyone who is going to listen to this is a fan of the Ryche and they want to hear Tate in a familiar setting. Tate has one of those “Marmite” voices (I happen to love his voice) but I know plenty of people that aren’t fans.

His legacy is a strong one though, Queensryche were a multi-platinum selling band at their peak and they have influenced many with their “Thinking Man’s Metal”.  This project isn’t all about nostalgia though, there are some other musical influences at play here. There are elements of classical music as well as crunching riffs and European power metal. Tate sounds fantastic throughout the album and seems to have a new vigour to his voice. This is easily up there with his best vocal performances since the Empire album back in 1990.

The album has a similar direction to the debut and the change of producer/song writer doesn’t seem to hinder the material at all. Tracks like the single Strong Pressure, Remember Me, Let It Be and the fantastic Aria with Tate singing in Italian all hit the target. They are well crafted and performed, and the band who include Lonobile on guitar, Michele Sanna on drums, Luigi Andreone on bass and Antonio Agate on keyboards can quite easily be overlooked due to the emphasis being on Tate. Of course, without Tate there would probably be no Sweet Oblivion, even so, the band should get some well-deserved kudos.

Strong songs, great production and fantastic artwork makes the package a desirable one. Tate is back on top form, and the Sweet Oblivion name may even see the day when they won’t need the Featuring Geoff Tate tag.

Buy Sweet OBlivion Here

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Author: Kenny Kendrick

 

 

 

 

Annihilator album pre sales and Euro tour dates

Annihilator album pre sales and Euro tour dates
Album Pre-Orders Available From Today  here


ANNIHILATOR– A name that should not need an introduction in the METAL World but, for those who need one: this is a METAL band that started in Canada in late 1984 and since then, ANNIHILATOR has been touring and releasing records (selling millions of Albums to date), non-stop, for 30 years.  January 24, 2020 marks the release of their 17thStudio Album, BALLISTIC, SADISTIC.

The belligerent and pugnacious first single, “I AM WARFARE”, is available now and can be streamed here
Cited by bands in the likes of Megadeth, Pantera, Dream Theater, Children Of Bodom, Lamb of God, Opeth, Trivium and many, many more as having some influence on their music, guitarist/vocalist JEFF WATERS (Annihilator’s founder, producer and song-writer) and ANNIHILATOR have continued to tour the world, year after year, whilst consistently putting  out high-quality true-metal music.
Written, performed, engineered and produced by none other than Waters himself, BALLISTIC, SADISTIC was recorded at the brand new, state of the art, WATERSOUND STUDIOS UK, in Durham earlier this year.
“Almost every artist, initially, loves the songs they create. They are like your babies! In my case, it is difficult to be the main writer/producer and stay fresh, come up with new ideas or make old one’s better and I am well aware of that. Since “we” love what we do, we can be blinded to just how good or bad a song or record really is. Time will tell.  Press, fans, band members, label, etc… They ALL will tell you what they think and, in their own ways, they are usually right!” Said Waters. “In this case, I throw that nonsense in the garbage and can tell you that we have made a record that is angry, technical, back to the first 3 records vibes and it is going to be difficult to continue writing another record after releasing this one!!  Best record I’ve made since 2005’s Schizo Deluxe and I think many will argue that this new one is in the top 3. From the ‘Stonewall-esque’ track “PSYCHO WARD” to the haunting “I AM WARFARE”, the pissed-off “THE ATTITUDE” to the aggression and old-school technicality of “OUT WITH THE GARBAGE”, the record is like this: take the Alice, Neverland and Set The World On Fire records, make them angry, combine the old-school production with modern hi-tech studio gear, then add the best guitar work I didn’t know I still had in me, and you’ve got the best we could possibly offer. I honestly cannot wait for everyone to hear this.”
It takes a long time to reach legendary status, and no one can dispute that ANNIHILATOR and Jeff Waters are inspirations, teachers, legends and a force showing what hard work and love of your craft can bring to the world.  It’s about the music. Nothing else.
BALLISTIC, SADISTICwill be available as a Limited Edition Digipak, Coloured Vinyl and Digital formats.
Unstoppable and relentless, ANNIHILATOR will now embark on a 43 date, 18 country, European Tour, which will kick-off at Newcastle’s Riverside on October 12th.

SEE ANNIHILATOR (JEFF WATERS, AARON HOMMA, RICH HINKS & FAIO ALESSANDRINI) ON TOUR:
12 OCT – Riverside –  Newcastle (UK)
13 OCT – Slay  –  Glasgow (UK)
15 OCT – Rebellion  –  Manchester (UK)
16 OCT – Steelmill  –  Wolverhampton (UK)
18 OCT – Pumpe  –  Kiel (DE)
19 OCT – Tivoli  –  Bremen (DE)
20 OCT – Zeche  –  Bochum (DE)
22 OCT – Luxor  –  Köln (DE)
23 OCT – Victorie  –  Alkmaar (NL)
24 OCT – Hedon  –  Zwolle (NL)
25 OCT – Biebob  –  Vosselaar (BE)
26 OCT – Underworld  –  London (UK)
27 OCT – Le Petit Bain  –  Paris (FR)
29 OCT – Illyade  –  Grenoble (FR)
30 OCT – Le Metronum  –  Toulouse (FR)
31 OCT – Santana 27  –  Bilbao (ES)
01 NOV – Sala Mon  –  Madrid (ES)
02 NOV – Rock City  –  Valencia (ES)
03 NOV – Razzmatazz 2  –  Barcelona (ES)
05 NOV – Locomotiv –  Bologna (IT)
06 NOV – Legend Club  –  Milan (IT)
07 NOV – Kofmehl  –  Solothurn (CH)
08 NOV – Kaminwerk  –  Memmingen (DE)
09 NOV – Explosiv  –  Graz (AT)
10 NOV – Boogaloo  –  Zagreb (HR)
11 NOV – SKC Fabrika  –  Novi Sad (RS)
13 NOV – Havana Club  –  Tel Aviv (IL)
15 NOV – Fuzz Club  –  Athens (GR)
16 NOV – Principal Club  –  Thessaloniki (GR)
17 NOV – Joy Station  –  Sofia (BG)
19 NOV – Quantic Club  –  Bucharest (RO)
20 NOV – Form Space  –  Cluj-Napoca (RO)
21 NOV – Barba Negra  –  Budapest (HU)
22 NOV – Szene  –  Wien (AT)
23 NOV – Kwadrat  –  Krakow (PL)
24 NOV – Proxima  –  Warsaw (PL)
26 NOV – Lido  –  Berlin (DE)
27 NOV – Colos Saal  –  Aschaffenburg (DE)
28 NOV – Hirsch  –  Nürnberg (DE)
29 NOV – F-Haus  –  Jena (DE)
30 NOV – Substage  –  Karlsruhe (DE)
02 NOV – Red Club  –  Moscow (RU)
03 NOV – Club Zal  –  Sankt Petersburg (RU)

For tickets visit: annihilatormetal.com

Produced, engineered, edited and mixed by: JEFF WATERS at WATERSOUND STUDIOS UK
Additional engineering and editing by RICH HINKS

ANNIHILATOR ARE:
Jeff Waters (vocals/guitar), Rich Hinks (bass), Aaron Homma (guitar), Fabio Alessandrini (drums)

FOLLOW ANNIHILATOR on: Facebook  Instagram   Twitter  Website

Slayer – 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 – 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗢𝗻 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 6

Slayer – 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 – 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗢𝗻 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 6

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 – 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗢𝗻 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟲𝘁𝗵 – Uncompromising and unmissable, this one-night-only event features the short film paired with a full concert performance and a cinema-exclusive welcome from the band.

Find your nearest screening and book tickets online at https://www.slayer.film

For nearly four decades, Slayer’s onslaught has proven them to be the supreme thrash-metal band on the planet – the band that other heavy acts are measured against and aspire to. With their place in music history secure, Slayer – Tom Araya, Kerry King, Gary Holt and Paul Bostaph – in conjunction with Trafalgar Releasing, Nuclear Blast Records and Prime Zero Productions, will unleash the Slaytanic offensive on the big screen when “Slayer: The Repentless Killogy” debuts in movie theatres around the world on November 6, 2019. Uncompromising and unmissable, this one-night-only event will feature the short film paired with Slayer’s entire performance filmed at its August 5, 2017 concert at the Los Angeles Forum.

Revenge, murder, bloodshed and retribution. “Slayer: The Repentless Killogy” short film was written and directed by BJ McDonnell, who conceived and directed the three brutal music videos – “You Against You,” “Repentless,” and “Pride in Prejudice”- for Slayer’s final studio album Repentless (2015).

The “Repentless Killogy” motion picture begins with the powerful short narrative film that brings together the music of Slayer and the grisly story they wanted to tell. Opening with the trilogy of music videos assembled as one chronological storyline, we are introduced to the narrative’s main character Wyatt, a former Neo Nazi associated with “The Hand Brotherhood,” a gang whose signature mark was a bloody handprint left after a murder had taken place. Prior to the first music video, Wyatt had left the gang after he fell in love with Gina. The two had gone into hiding to escape his gruesome past and start a family, but The Hand Brotherhood was not going to allow that to happen, and Gina, pregnant with their first child, was savagely murdered as Wyatt was forced to look on. The film then segues into the present-time narrative that sees Wyatt on the run from law enforcement and the Nazi gang, but now dedicated to eliminating The Hand Brotherhood and seeking retribution wherever he can.

“The Repentless Killogy” stars many of the actors who appeared in the original video series: Jason Trost (“Beats of Rage,” “Hatchet III”) as Wyatt, Danny Trejo (“Machete,” “From Dusk Til Dawn”), Richard Speight (“Band of Brothers,” “Supernatural”), Derek Mears (“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”), Jessica Pimentel (“Orange Is The New Black”), Tyler Mane (“X-Men,” “Halloween !!”), Bill Moseley (“The Devil’s Rejects,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2”), Caroline Williams (“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2,” “Sharknado 4”), and Sean Whalen (“Twister,” “The People Under The Stairs”).

Part two of “The Repentless Killogy” features Slayer’s entire live set performed at the Los Angeles Forum on August 5, 2017, and was directed by Wayne Isham who has directed videos for artists including Metallica, Foo Fighters, Michael Jackson, Kelly Clarkson, and Britney Spears. Presented in front of one of the most striking stage productions of the band’s career, Slayer performs fan-favorites including “South of Heaven,” “War Ensemble,” “Mandatory Suicide,” “Dead Skin Mask,” “Raining Blood,” and “Angel of Death.”

Kid Klumsy – ‘Singing Our Souls’ (STP Records)

Kid Klumsy – ‘Singing Our Souls’ (STP Records)

Released to coincide with their recent appearance on the Pavilion stage at Rebellion 2019 ‘Singing Our Souls’ is the second EP from Kid Klumsy the Coalville based five-piece who like to mix metal with punk and feature Weab ex-singer with Dirtbox Disco on lead vocals.

It still doesn’t feel quite right writing “ex singer with Dirtbox Disco” after Weab’s name but having seemingly not been happy fronting the band for quite some time at least here on the six tracks that make up ‘Singing Our Souls’ he sounds much more comfortable singing songs he’s written with his new bandmates.

I’d actually only heard a few older tracks by Kid Klumsy ahead of the recent Rebellion show and to be honest live they seemed to be much more metal than punk, but here on ‘Singing Our Souls’ the balance does switch back more in favour of the punky side of the street.

Lead track ‘Mr. Right Man’ is built on the type of thunderous uptempo guitar riff Dirtbox made their trademark and rumour has it is apparently autobiographical with Weab telling the story of how his larger than life clown figure became something he grew to hate, and true to that ethos Kid Klumsy are very much a jeans and T-Shirt band.

‘Slob’ is up next and this track is much more metal tinged especially on the double bass drum driven chorus breakdowns. ‘Dislexic Monkyz’ meanwhile is perhaps the most Dirtbox sounding track of the six on offer, largely because of Weab’s singing and even given the wacky subject matter it still manages to contain a really catchy hook.

‘Love Is a Battery Field’ is another tune that sticks in the head this time due to the infectious gang backing vocal whilst ‘She’s A Fuck’ is ostensibly a song about a stalker that is built on a thumping Krist Novoselic bass foundation which then adds huge slabs of 90s metal guitar to build its overall structure. Weab is also pushing himself into new areas vocally on this track and I for one certainly like this almost Ricky Warwick meets Dave Gahan style he has developed.

‘Singing Our Souls’ closes up with ‘Maisey’s Song’ a mid-tempo rocker that doesn’t really go anywhere and for me it’s the weakest track here.

Having been a fan of Dirtbox Disco since the days of their first EP at first I wasn’t exactly sure what to make of Kid Klumsy, in fact even after a good few plays of ‘Singing Our Souls’ I’m still not entirely sure. The EP does have the odd flash of brilliance and it certainly is great to hear Weab singing in styles he wants to sing in; it’s just I can’t help but miss that larger than life clown of old you know.

However, with extensive tours already booked both here in the UK and internationally and Kid Klumsy seemingly growing as songwriters the more they are together, I think I’ll reserve full judgement for when the debut album drops, in the meantime though ‘Singing Our Souls’ is certainly an interesting appetiser if you don’t mind a bit of metal mixed in with your punk that is.

Author: Johnny Hayward

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