MARDUK/HYPOCRISY/DISSECTION

Marduk/ Hypocrisy/ Dissection Norrköping, Sweden 03.12.1993.

DARKTHRONE PROMO PHOTO

Promo photos for the album 'Under A Funeral Moon'

VENOM INTERVIEW … ARTICLE TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH (GERMAN METAL HAMMER, #5, 1985)

Courtesy of Fullmoon

ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW:

HEAVY METAL SPEED ATTACK

There is hardly any other band that has been subject to such mixed opinions as the group that coined the term „Black Metal“. They probably even have more opponents than fans. Nevertheless, the success of Venom is unstoppable. The new mini LP „Canadian Assault“ will probably go gold in Canada.

VENOM themselves say that they make their music the way they want and can. “If someone accuses us of not being good musicians, they may be right,” says drummer Abbadon. “When we recorded “Welcome To Hell“, we were on average 18 years old and did everything the way we thought was right at the time.“

We have always stick to this attitude. No producer talks us into the sound, we do what we want. If we felt like playing love songs, no one could talk us out of it. So I don’t understand why so many people complain about us. We don’t force anyone to listen to our records. We try to do our best for our fans, for those who don’t like us: piss off!”

The day before Venom flew to the US I was able to do the following interview with Cronos.

Who actually had the idea to start Venom and when was that?

“It was 1978. The idea came from Mantas, he started to organize everything and put together a final line-up. In the first line-up we still had vocalist Clive.”

Why did you guys fire Clive?

“Clive? Yuck! He suffers from a strange disease, I can never remember the Latin name, the abbreviation is A.I.D.S. Clive is now very famous in the homosexual scene of Newcastle. But enough of that , we want nothing more to do with him.”

How did you come to Neat Records?

„I worked at Neat and helped Fist with some technical things. We then wanted to do a demo, but Neat wanted to make a record of that crap. It took 2 days and there was ‘Welcome to Hell.’

How did you end up with your manager Eric Cook?

“He came to our first concert in Poperinge/Belgium. That was in 1982. Since we didn’t have a manager up to that point, we just took the first one to come. And suddenly there was Eric. He’s a bit fat, but he is a very good manager. We owe him a lot.”

How did your next gigs go?

“It was for two nights in April 1983 in New York. It went surprisingly good, although the show was bad. The power went out, my backline was burned out, etc. On the second night, all the pyros exploded at once, resulting in a hole in the stage floor. The guys in the front row had a lot of rags flying around their ears. After that came the 7 Dates of Hell tour, but everyone knows about that.”

How long are you staying in the US?

“The tour goes until the middle of May. The support acts are Slayer and OZ. After that, we’ll take a month’s break and then we‘re off to Europe. We’re also going to Poland this year. I think 2 gigs are safe, but I can’t say exactly yet.“

In an interview Celtic Frost said they got the offer to support Venom on tour. How did that happen?

„Celtic Frost? Shit. Who the hell said that? I mean, we want to offer people something for their money, including a good opening act. So last time we had Metallica and now Slayer. If CF say so, they are liars or they want to make themselves important. Once and for all, CF is shit. I would like to talk to them personally, let’s see if they are as stupid as they look in their photos. We will definitely be back in Switzerland this year, I’m looking forward to it already.”

How do you feel about the success of Raven?

“First of all, I have nothing against successful or commercial groups. But look at Raven. They’re wearing make-up and shit now. All that’s missing is garter belts, disgusting. Anyways, I gave them a present to congratulate them on their success. It was a big package. I took my mother’s lipsticks and Mantas sacrificed his girlfriend’s mascara. I sent the whole thing to John Gallagher.”

When is the new LP coming out?

“By the time this interview comes out, it should be available. It’s also coming as a picture disc, but a little later.”

What are your shows in Europe gonna be like?

“Unfortunately in Europe you’re not allowed to do what you want on stage. In the USA we have a huge pentagram above the stage. It will rise and rotate during the show. Most importantly, we have a lot of new pyros. The whole concert is a set of three different parts with different themes, you’ll see.”

Are you planning on doing a new video?

“Oh yeah, the title isn’t out yet, but I’m the lead. The whole thing takes place in a big room. The extras are 300 blonde women with big tits. I’ll f*** them all, and that’s it.”

Thank you, that’s it.

“No problem. Bye.”

WATCHTOWER (METAL OVERDOSE #1/1989)

Metal Overdose was a Greek fanzine written in English in the late 1980’s, and the precursor to the Eldritch Assemblage zine.

W.A.S.P (KERRANG, 5TH SEPTEMBER, 1985)

JUDAS PRIEST (DECEMBER 18TH, 1983)

Judas Priest on their way to the stage at Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, Germany on 18th december 1983.

MERCYFUL FATE (KERRANG #35, 10TH FEBRUARY, 1983)

THE STORY OF MANOWAR IN THE WORDS OF ROSS THE BOSS (DEAF FOREVER MAGAZINE #10/2016) TRANSLATED FROM GERMAN

10 page interview with Ross The Boss about MANOWAR's history from the beginnings to the split, conducted by Manuel Trummer (of Atlantean Kodex fame) in 2016 and originally published in German in DEAF FOREVER Magazine. The pictures down below in the article is not from the actual magazine. Courtesy of ”Zex” who translated this. 

The magazine is still available here from DF webshop. 

Please support printed media!

The Story of Manowar in the Words of Ross “The Boss” Friedman

With the parting of Ross the Boss and Joey DeMaio in November 1988 ended one of the greatest creative runs in the history of heavy metal. As if in trance, MANOWAR had recorded four immortal classics in only two and a half years: “Battle Hymns”, “Into Glory Ride, “Hail to England” and “Sign of the Hammer”. After the ambiguous transition album “Fighting the World”, the epochal “Kings of Metal” ended the creative triumphal march that founded the renown of MANOWAR as the loudest, grandest, most excessive, ostentatious, controversial and - for many fans - simply the best heavy metal band of all time. The attempt of a story.

>>Baby I was born to play music, I’m the man with the screaming guitar!<<
In the Beginning, There Was Innocence

Ross sits in front of me, wearing glasses and a black shirt. The legendary guitarist has just celebrated his 62th birthday. He loves to talk, and his likable “Noo Yawker” accent immediately wins me over. Only once during our three long talks, Ross seems upset. Angrily he tells the story of how AFM records shipped out his solo debut “New Metal Leader” (2008) with a sticker saying “Best Heavy Metal Album since Kings of Metal!”. His artistic integrity and independence are important to Ross, and rightly so. For his involvement with the punk pioneers The Dictators, he is held in high esteem by the rock community – beyond his role in MANOWAR. Countless co-operations, from Anthrax to the punks of The Nomads to rock ‘n’ roll bands like The Spinatras shaped his life. His most recent “baby” are the power metal heroes of Death Dealer. Furthermore, the Ross-The-Boss-Band is preparing to tour again, this time with American musicians. Ross cannot accept a standstill. “My motto is: songs, songs, songs. And when you have written all these songs, you continue: with songs, songs, and more songs.” It is precisely this manic energy and the need for rock that catapulted MANOWAR in only six years from a backwater rehearsal room to the rock ’n’ roll Olympus

.>>We met on English ground …<<
A Fateful Encounter

At heart, it is Ronnie James Dio who has to be named the father of MANOWAR. On May 18th 1980 in the City Hall of Newcastle, during the Black Sabbath UK-Tour, he established contact between Ross and his pyrotechnician Joey DeMaio. Ross had recently taken over the guitars for the French tour support Shakin’ Street: “At that time, Joey was part of the Black Sabbath crew. Ronnie told me to talk to Joey, that he’d be great bass player and that music-wise, he’d be on the same wavelength as me. Since I always did what Ronnie told me, I approached Joey, and we immediately connected.” It wasn’t only their common New Yorker origins that brought together Ross and Joey so quickly. In 1980, after a rash of failed projects, both were looking for new musical challenges. In each other, they found the perfect partner with the definite will to make it big. Aside from Shakin’ Street’s major label debut that Ross had recorded in 1980, his main accomplishments at that time were the first three albums of the legendary Dictators. However, Ross’ musical biography didn’t start with Punk, but with the first violin in the orchestra of his North Bronx school. Beatlemania, the Rolling Stones and B.B. King brought him to rock music and revealed to him the magic of the electric guitar.

Ross cracks up laughing when he remembers the name of his first high school band: Total Crud. Equally obscure: his involvement with the hard rockers Lyre, who only released three rare 7”s; “It Could Be You”, “Hungarian Rocksody” and “Mirror, Mirror”. Joey could look back at a quite similar career. 400 kilometers north of New York, in the provincial town of Auburn, Joey had initially also started to play guitar at the height of the Beatlemania, before John Entwistle and Jack Bruce brought him to play bass instead. His first major gig took place on Broadway, when he played bass in an early production of the musical “Godspell”. Together with the hard rock band Feinstein’s Thunder he released the powerful single “Midnight Lady” and the Buddy Holly cover “Slippin’ and Slidin’”. Thunder nearly meant the end of Joey’s career, when during a bass solo the pyrotechnics set his costume on fire. Joey was hospitalized for two months due to his severe burns, and only through extensive therapy for his hands could he retain his playing skills.

Another rather unusual musical episode was when Joey and his former schoolmate Eric Adams joined the salon band Looks and toured the hotel bars of the state of New York. 1984, Joey remembers that time in Sounds magazine: “That was the reason we wrote‘All Men play on Ten’! Eric and I had been playing in a Holiday Inn-Band. After three weeks I said: ‘That’s it! I’ll never brush my hair again, I’ll never turn it down again, or use smaller equipment!’ We were fired anyway. For some reason the guests didn’t want bass solos for dinner.” Loud amps, no compromises and the absolute will to hit it big – no wonder that Joey and Ross immediately connected: “After the Dictators, I wanted to do something bigger, with more power and energy. A band like The Who, or Cream, or a classic power trio. Joey wanted the same. He was a great fan of Mountain and Grand Funk Railroad. At one point, we started jamming in Black Sabbath’s dressing room. Even back then we loved to play it loud. As soon as Sabbath were on stage, we let rip. When they had finished their set, Ronnie burst in, roaring ‘What the hell?? Have you guys lost it?!’ (laughs) We then started doing it every other night. That’s how MANOWAR got started."

>>And we all knew what we had to do …<<
World’s Loudest Flatmates

The musical energy between Ross and Joey in 1980 must have been breathtaking. Without any financial security through other jobs or bands, they quit Sabbath and Shakin’ Street to fully devote themselves to their new, big project. “Joey lived in my flat in New York, and we immediately started to write songs. Our first tracks were ‘Shell Shock’ and ‘Battle Hymn’. A good friend of mine was Bob Currie, back then a big shot at EMI. I invited him to my flat and we played our songs to him. He couldn’t believe how the two of us managed to sound like that. It was so loud and heavy we sounded like an entire band with drums and everything. We played ‘Death Tone’, ‘Fast Taker’, ‘Battle Hymn’ and some other songs we had written. That was just Joey and me. We didn’t have a singer, we didn’t have a drummer, and we had never played live. We didn’t even have a name – but we had the support of Bob Currie, one of the most important people with EMI.” With a little front money from EMI, Joey and Ross went to Auburn in 1981 to record a two-track tape with “Shell Shock” and “Battle Hymn” on it for the negotiations with the label. EMI immediately signed them. Meanwhile, the dynamic duo had grown to be a full-sized band. On drums, Carl Canedy of The Rods helped out. Vocals were taken over by another old friend of Joey’s from the Auburn scene: Eric Adams. If you measure musical success with chart positions, Eric was number one in theMANOWAR camp. As the singer of the Teenie band The Kids, the eleven year-old Adams had entered the Spanish hit parade with the single “Lovin’ Everyday” in 1965. But when Joey brought the Ian Gillian-Fan and former bandmate from Looks to join MANOWAR, Eric was working as a butcher at a major meat market – and was commonly known as Louis Marullo. “He had two sons named Eric and Adam. He took these two names on as a stage name. Back then, pseudonyms were not uncommon with musicians in New York. I also didn’t act as Ross Friedman, but as ‘Ross the Boss’. Family names that can be associated with a certain ethnic group don’t sound very mysterious. Take for example Gene Simmons. He didn’t go on stage as Chaim Witz, because it would have broken the theatrical rock star image. It was similar with us. Marullo, Friedman – that didn’t fit the Barbarian image we had chosen. In fact, it didn’t fit anything. (laughs)”

With the Liberty/EMI major deal in their pockets, Ross, Joey and Eric – still without a drummer or a name – had a quick start. What wonderful times for musicians: the label sent the band for six months to Florida, where they were to rehearse, write songs and record the first album – apartment, pool, rehearsal room, equipment and all expenses covered. Producer Joe Foglia (later sound guy for the TV shows “Miami Vice” and “Scrubs”) established contact with drummer Donnie Hamzik, and also the band name dates back to the Liberty-financed Florida era: “Originally, our favorite name was Pax Romana. ICBM – Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles – was also up for discussion. (laughs) One day, our technician Dawk blurted out: ‘Manowar! How about Manowar?’ Joey and I looked at each other and just said: ‘That’s it!’ Because it reflected our attitude. With the tons of equipment that Dawk had set us up with, we felt like being at war anyway. The name also embodied our fighting spirit: Manowar was the name of a famous racing horse that is today regarded as America’s most successful show horse of all time. Then, it also means battleship – a very strong image that translates well into the language of heavy metal. We were in Florida, we had a band, we had a name, and we had a major deal. Ready to start at last.” Meanwhile, Bill Aucoin, famously known as the “Father of Kiss”, had taken over the management of MANOWAR and, through sappy interviews and a razor sharp profile, tried to establish the band as the new Kiss. One June 7th 1982, “Battle Hymns”, with its mighty cover art and immortal title track, was released. Every second of it made clear that these were no amateurs at work. Being 28 years old, Ross, Joey and Eric brought a massive amount of stage experience to the band. Because of their original sound, Joey’s innovative bass play, Ross’earthy riffs and the one-in-a-100 year voice of Eric Adams, the press immediately celebrated MANOWAR as a new hope for American metal and as a substantial answer to “the new British bands”. Shortly thereafter, MANOWAR played their first live show at Club Summers on the Beach in Fort Lauderdale – naturally with full equipment. It should remain their last gig at the location. The place had to be renovated afterwards.

But Liberty had anyway booked a complete US-Tour as opening act for Ted Nugent. What started out as a triumphal march – MANOWAR outacted the Headliner night after night and pulverized U$ 20,000 worth of pyrotechnics at every show – ended suddenly. After only three dates, “The Nuge” kicked the young New Yorkers off the tour: “When we were unpacking our equipment, the other two acts started looking like a children’s birthday party” laughs Ross. With their support slot, also the deal with Liberty was gone. There had been a change in the upper management, and the sales of “Battle Hymns” fell short of the expectations. Their rapid ascent was followed by an equally sudden downfall. The fall from major label-heaven traumatized the band. From that time on, MANOWAR staged themselves as outcasts, fighters against the industry and false metal, and the only real metal band (alongside Black Sabbath). In countless excessively immoderate interviews, the band spoiled their chances with labels, magazines and other musicians rather early. With their fans however, MANOWAR allied to form a sworn, quasi-religious community – until this very day.

 

>>Four sworn to vengeance, see the hate in our eyes<<
An Extra Helping of Attitude

Without the cash flow from Liberty, not only manager Bill Aucoin made off; Donnie Hamzik, who didn’t share MANOWARs no-holds-barred approach, also had to leave the band. With their U$ 12,000 payoff, Ross, Joey and Eric entrenched themselves in their Auburn rehearsal room and swore to strike back. Their campaign of vengeance found powerful support: “Scott Columbus sat down at the drumkit, and after three seconds we knew he was going to be our new drummer. He had a tougher punch than every other drummer I ever played with. Scott didn’t know fear. I love that. I am a punk rocker from New York, and I like guys with attitude. He got behind the drums and just blew us away.”The wheels started turning again when MANOWAR got the attention of Jon Zazula. In 1983, the epicenter of American metal formed around his shop Rock’n’Roll Heaven in New Jersey and his label Megaforce. With Metallica, Anthrax and Overkill, the former stock broker had some of the hottest bands of the time on his hands. When he heard the demos of “Into Glory Ride” – among them an early version of “Brothers of Metal” – he took charge of the release and organized a series of live shows as well as an appearance on Nickelodeon, a children’s TV channel. In gratitude, they signed the recording contract with their own blood. “Into Glory Ride” was released on July 1st 1983 and poses until today the central monument of epic metal. The songs are mightier and more dramatic. The rock ’n’ roll edge of “Battle Hymns” only shows itself on the opener “Warlord” (the intro was “performed” by Joey, Eric and Eric’s girlfriend …). Scott’s iron punch lends hymns like “Gloves of Metal” a hammering drive. The power of MANOWAR – and “Into Glory Ride” proved that once again – lay in their originality. No other band, neither back then nor today, had that unique sound. Out of the “Battle Hymns”-sessions, also “Gates of Valhalla” made it onto the new record: “Our advantage was that whenever we were in the studio, we recorded many songs that ultimately didn’t end up on the album. From the phase between ‘Battle Hymns’ and ‘Hail to England’, there are dozens of unreleased songs. One of the first pieces we wrote around the time of ‘Battle Hymn’ and ‘Shell Shock’ was called ‘Golden Ride’. It was never used. On another demo from that time was a track called ‘The Meeting’ and another one with the title ‘The Will to Kill’. That was in New York, before Carl Canedy. My friend Rich Fazio helped us out on drums. Joey should still have all these tapes.”

With the legendary cover of “Into Glory Ride”, also MANOWAR’s image came more to the point: “When we were living in Florida, “Conan the Barbarian” was released. We were blown away: ‘Hey, that could be us!’ (Ross imitates Arnold Schwarzenegger). We wanted to be exactly like that! The sheer power … The women should look up to us, and our foes should tremble before us. That was the image we wanted.” Despite receiving spectacular critiques, “Into Glory Ride” ultimately failed to facilitate the leap over the Atlantic. On the eve of the planned European tour, the tourbooker’s sister was killed in an accident. The tour was cancelled. Frustrated, MANOWAR left Megaforce and signed with Music For Nations in London, who had already licensed “Into Glory Ride” for the European market

.>>The quest for the grail, to England we sail …<<
On the Zenith

No phase in the band’s history documented the creative power of MANOWAR as insistently as the time following “Into Glory Ride”. The secret of steel: absolute professionalism and unconditional devotion to the music. In only six days, the band recorded the two (!) classics “Hail to England” and “Sign of the Hammer” (with the exception of the title track) in November 1983. At Toronto’s expensive Phase One Studios, star producer Jack Richardson flawlessly succeeded in casting MANOWAR’s pounding live sound on vinyl. “Blood of My Enemies” and the satanic epic of the century, “Bridge of Death” (later imitated by Quorthon) are absolutely singular until this day. No other band ever succeeded in combining melody, pathos and heaviness in such perfection. A big part was played by Eric Adams, who in 1984 coruscated at his artistic peak. With the support of Music for Nations, MANOWAR finally broke into Europe. The “Spectacle of Might” tour in 1984 made for many anecdotes. Already after the first show ensued the legendary fallout with supporting act Mercyful Fate, whereupon – as legend has it – King Diamond bestowed a curse upon MANOWAR. It didn’t hurt. For MANOWAR again managed to switch to a major label with worldwide distribution. 10 Records, a subdivision of Virgin, took over the band business and released “Sign of the Hammer” on October 15th 1984. Before, Virgin had sent the band to the horribly expensive Manor Studios in Oxford to add one more song to the seven already completed in the sessions with Jack Richardson. Under the aegis of Oliver Platt came thus the title track into being. It is remarkable how Platt managed to imitate Jack Richardson’s sound, so that on the album, no rift between the material from the two sessions can be heard. Tracks like “Thor (The Powerhead”), “Mountains” and the apocalyptic “Guyana (Cult of the Damned)” finally established MANOWAR firmly on international stages. No less than two extensive tours through Europe followed; the “Sign of the Hammer”-Tour in 1984/85 and the “Hail To Europe”-Tour. “We played many venues we’d never been to before, the Hammersmith Odeon among them. We also got the offer to open for Whitesnake. But they said we could only perform if we wouldn’t wear our leather outfits. We said: no, we don’t think so.” Still: in Europe, MANOWAR had found their second home.

Drums of Doom
The Curse of Technology

After a – for the band’s standards – unusually long hiatus of approximately three years, “Fighting the World” was released in 1987 – and met mixed reception. The commercially arranged album marks a departure from its barbarian predecessors. It is not only a transitional musical work, but was also marked by the tensions that were beginning to take hold of the band. The extensive touring for “Hail to England” and “Sign of the Hammer” was followed by the old game. 10 Records dropped the band. Via an acquaintance, Ross established contact with the major Atlantic Records. But Atlantic had no interest in buying a pig in a poke. With a small budget, MANOWAR entered the studio to record a demo. Together with producer legend Eddie Kramer (Woodstock, Jimi Hendrix, Humble Pie), a whole range of new songs were developed: “Courage”, “Number 1”, “Brothers of Metal” and “Blow Your Speakers”. The last two tracks were sent to Atlantic as a two-track tape, who subsequently signed MANOWAR. The 1986 version of “Brothers of Metal” is circulated on the internet today and clearly outshines the official “Louder Than Hell” (1996) version. “Courage” and “Number 1” were later also used by Joey on “Louder Than Hell”.

Apart from the simple songwriting, for instance in “Carry On”, it was the polished sound of “Fighting the World” that alienated many fans of the band. The working practices of MANOWAR had started to change considerably: “A problem had arisen while touring. We couldn’t hear the drums on stage anymore, mainly because our amps were so damn loud. Through Dawk, we found Vince Gutman, who had worked for Prince and Bruce Springsteen. He had developed a trigger system for drums that he used to produce those big artists. So around that time, we started to work with triggered drums when playing live shows. At the studio, Vince then brought along a device called Synclavier. He explained that we could use it to develop drum tracks and edit them on the computer afterwards. In the studio, I like to work conventionally, but Joey insisted that we also use the digital drums for recording. On ‘Fighting the World’, Scott already didn’t play the drums anymore.”

The disagreement surrounding the legendary “Drums of Doom” also reveals that the mood in the band increasingly deteriorated. Especially Scott, who was now not heard on the finished albums anymore, suffered from the changed recording conditions: “Scott wentthrough with all of that because he was a good guy, but I know how unhappy it made him. He also hated playing live with a triggered system. Scott wrote some of the drum beats, and he also recorded some cymbals. But the drum tracks were created with the Synclavier, on the computer. That started a pretty negative psychological development with him. He felt depreciated and said he was probably good enough for the stage, but not for the studio anymore. It really preyed on his mind.” A weakness of the album also lies in that you could hear in many songs how MANOWAR struggled with the still unfamiliar digital technology. Particularly striking is the awkward programming of the absolutely identical sounding hi-hats on “Holy War”. Despite all its deficits, “Fighting the World” was MANOWAR’s final breakthrough in Europe. Until today, the album that is regarded as one of the first metal albums with a fully digital production, sold 300,000 units in Germany alone. The impressive sales and an unrelenting tour schedule notwithstanding, the band earned little money with it: “Joey and me held fifty percent of MANOWAR, respectively. Of the money we earned with the band we paid Scott and Eric. The rest we put in new equipment. Joey never needed much himself, because he lived with his parents in Auburn. But I had to pay for my apartment and my car. So from the beginning of MANOWAR on, I worked in parallel in construction. We controlled the works at the highways. I can imagine many people find that hard to believe, but if you live in New York City, you need a lot of money. What I earned with the band was never enough to survive.”

>>They were the Metal Kings!<<
Divorce Amongst the Gods

After some successful touring (i. a. with Motörhead), MANOWAR retreated again to record their magnum opus “Kings of Metal”. Even though Scott Columbus again can’t be heard on the album, the result sounds more confident than the unsteady “Fighting the World”. Exceptionally aggressive hymns like “Hail and Kill” or “Blood of the Kings” reclaimed lost ground. Furthermore, no other band at that time would have dared an overwhelming, megalomaniac bombast track like “The Crown and the Ring”. In sum, “Kings of Metal” is a masterful work and one of the most lavish metal productions of the 80s. Again, Universal Studios in Chicago and the digital skills of Vince Gutman assumed responsibility for the complex sound. But as the band had come to terms with the altered circumstances ofproduction, their disagreements concerning the songs were on the rise: “I never liked “Grandfather, tell me a story …” (imitating the voice). Another song that really upset me was “Pleasure Slave”. I told Joey that we definitely shouldn’t release this song. He just said: “Yes we do.” My opinion didn’t count anymore. Right up to the point where I realized how things were going to turn out.” But disputes between the two heads of the band also flared up on another front. Just like “Fighting the World”, “Kings of Metal” flopped in the USA. Ross thinks he knows the reasons: “Our albums flopped because we never toured the US. That finally broke our back. Joey just didn’t want to tour without full equipment. I suggested to him that we just take two full stacks and play every damn club in the USA. Anthrax did it, Metallica did it, Slayer did it. Joey refused. Then the whole bullshit with ‘Death to False Metal’ started. The fans had already begun making fun of us. You can’t go and tell a fan ‘If you like Manowar, you can’t listen to Slayer, Metallica or Anthrax anymore’. All that hurt us immensely, and it estranged us from the scene.” The end came shortly after the completion of “Kings of Metal”, still before the planned European tour: “’Kings of Metal’ came out in autumn 1988. I was really enthusiastic about how great the album sounded. Then one day my phone rang. It was Joey, he said he was in New York and wanted to talk to me. I suggested he’d come over so we could share a beer, have some fun. He then said it was time for me and the band to part ways. I asked him: ‘What’s now with the four kings of metal? You couldn’t have picked a worse timing, Joey, could you?’ That really hurt. But it is probably like a marriage. We started the band as partners, and then we drifted apart. I am proud of my time with Manowar. Joey and me were like Yin and Yang. But the Yin can’t ying without the Yang. (laughs) A prize fighter can’t win with only one fist. But fortunately I have all my other bands. I couldn’t be happier.”

Translated from German by ”Zex"

Written by Manuel Trummer for DEAF FOREVER Magazine #10 (02/2016). 
GET A PHYSICAL COPY HERE

OBSCURITY (CASCADE #1, 1988)

Article from Cascade. It was one of the premiere Thrash/Death (and some HC) fanzines of Sweden, run by none other than Tomas "Tompa" Lindberg of Grotesque/At The Gates fame. One previous issue was made, then under the name Thrashin' Deluge. This issue went for $169 on eBay.

 

FLOTSAM & JETSAM (METAL MANIA #1/1989)

MARDUK - IN LEAGUE WITH SATAN? (BACKSTAGE #18/1993)

Backstage was a Swedish fanzine announcing themselves as ”Supporting Swedish Rock”. It was written in Swedish, but here’s a translate article for you. The color photo and the video of Marduk down below was not in the original article.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

Lately, the media has shown great interest in death/black metal and its possibly satanic orientation. In Norway, there is an association within the black metal genre called Den Svarta Cirkeln (which is also the case in Sweden, albeit to a lesser extent), where bands such as Mayhem, Darkthrone and Burzum are leading. The latter includes Count Grieshnack, or The Count as he is better known, who has created big headlines for, among other things, allegedly burning down eight Norwegian churches. In my opinion, the whole thing is absurd and has little to do with music, but since it is a “hot” topic, I decided, at the risk of receiving a lot of crap, to find out a little more.

The phone was not quite steady in my hand when I called Morgan “Mogge” Håkansson, guitarist in the Norrköping band Marduk and an outspoken Satanist. I didn’t really know what to expect, but my fears were unfounded. Mogge turned out to be a talkative guy who is not afraid to stick his chin out with his controversial opinions, which he has to stand up for himself.

When we spoke, the band was about to fire singer Andreas Axelsson, who also plays guitar in Edge Of Sanity, because he has too much to do elsewhere, which makes it difficult for Marduk to rehearse. Instead, guitarist Devo Andersson will take over the vocals. Devo was previously in Gravity, who, among other things, participated in a compilation EP and released the demo “Magic Doom”. Alongside him, he has the one-man band Overflash, which, among other things, participates in the “Extreme Close-Up” album. Other members are Joakim Grave (drums) and Bogge Svensson (bass).

— We formed in September -90 after my previous band Abhor broke up, says Mogge, who also plays in Abruptum. We looked for members until I got everyone together. Then we rehearsed all spring 91 before we went in and recorded our first demo, “Fuck Me Jesus”, that summer. In the fall we played a lot of shows, including with Stillborn, Seance and the American band Suffocation.

MARDUK - In league with Satan? 

“DARK ENDLESS”

In 1992 Marduk got in touch with the newly started Swedish label No Fashion Records who turned out to be interested in signing them. The debut album “Dark Endless” was recorded over five days in the Hellspawn studio, owned by Danne Swanö (Edge Of Sanity + any number of others), in Finspång but was not released until early 1993. Mogge says that the delay was due to problems with the cover.

— We got Dani Vala, who was in Sweden’s first black metal band, Obscurity (which has since been re-formed), to paint the cover. He has had exhibitions in New York, among other places.

When we speak, the album has only been released in Sweden so far, but a lot is in the works.

— The album has sold 2-3000 copies in Sweden alone. Then No Fashion got a distribution contract with SPV, who has ordered 4000 CDs to start with. In addition, Tomas Nyquist, who is behind No Fashion, has set up an office in the USA so the album should be released there at any time, says Mogge who simply calls their music black metal, and mentions influences such as Venom, Possessed, Kreator and Norwegian Mayhem.

At their gigs as well as in all the photos the band takes, they use face painting, so-called corpse paint. Mogge says that it stands for hate.

— It belongs to Black Metal in a way and is a part of total empathy.

Something that is surprising, however, is that Marduk, unlike most other black metal bands, does not use artist names.

— This is largely because there are so many people who abuse it, explains Mogge. Venom had their names, Quorthon and Euronymous (Mayhem) are also okay, but then there are those who have such fucking stupid names that it becomes a big joke or mockery of it. There was someone called Ace Gestapo Necrosleaver Of The Chalice Of Blood or something like that, and then there is someone called Nuclear Holocausto Of Blood Invengeance. There is nothing serious behind such names and then you might as well skip it.

PRONOUNCED SATANIST

Then we steer the conversation towards Den Svarta Cirkeln and Satanism. Mogge tells us that in Sweden there are currently three bands that are part of Den Svarta Cirkeln, namely Abruptum, Marduk and Dissection. Without hesitation he also admits that he is a Satanist while explaining that he is the only one in the band who is.

— The others have the same opinions to some extent and stand for that philosophy, but they are not Satanists.

So you claim to be a serious Satanist. What does Satanism stand for, to you?

— I consider Anton LaVey and his “The Satanic Bible” to be frivolous. Those books are a big joke, although many people classify it as Satanism. He wrote “The Satanic Bible” in the late 60s and tried to influence people’s perceptions. It is a book of peace and a big joke. I stand more for the ancient path and have the Bible as a starting point because that is where it comes from. So he came in 1969 and wrote a book about how man’s freedom thinking is Satanism, but they don’t really believe in anything. They believe in the power of man while I believe in a power that is not human, a force that has existed throughout time. It is not some kind of human inner force but a force that just exists. Compared to it, you are just a little piece of shit. They try to make it appear as if you should be your own god. I would never encourage anyone to do that for people to be slaves and follow a leader. It has always been that way.

What does The Black Circle stand for? And what are your goals?

— The absolute war against Christianity. We will spare no means, we will kill if we have to.

Don't you think it is starting to cross the line of what is distasteful and defensible?

— No, there are no limits, says Mogge, who is starting to get excited. If you have enemies, there are absolutely no limits. Who is to set those limits in that case? We do not follow any laws or limits.

SVAR DIREKT, OUTDOORS AND BICYCLES

When we spoke to the TV show Svar Direkt, these things were just brought up in one of their programs. Something Mogge laughs at:

— They think they've mapped something out but they don't know a damn thing. I was offered to be on the show but I ignored it because I knew there would be idiots there. I'm damn glad I wasn't there because it was just old drug addict punks. They didn't know what they were talking about and just sat there and raved.

Actually, this kind of negative publicity can't be good in the long run for this type of band. You're not exactly making it easier for you to be accepted.

— We don't give a damn if we're accepted. It doesn't actually matter to us because more and more people will follow us.

Since Mogge knows Greven, I can't help but ask what happened to Christofer in Therion. He doesn't say much more than that there is more to it than what has come out in the media, but he adds:

— Therion has been in the studio and recorded Venom's "Witching Hour" in some kind of blues rock version just to tease them in Mayhem. If something happens now, it wouldn't be so strange...

To get back to the purely musical side, Marduk has signed with the French Osmose, who have a more or less worldwide distribution. By the time you read this, their new single should be out. On the back you'll find a cover of Venom's "Hellchild".

— Originally it was supposed to be on a compilation album, but we didn't want to be on it when we found out that there were a lot of bands that were going to interpret Venom in funny versions. Originally, the intention was for bands that were really inspired by them to be on it, but now there are a lot of rock and punk bands that are going to be on it. It was meant to be a real tribute album, but it won't be when they make fun of Venom.

The band's second full-length album, "Those Of The Unlight" will be released this fall and Marduk may make a European tour with Norwegian Immortal in conjunction with the album's release.

— The new album will slaughter "Dark Endless". It will probably be a more varied album where what is fast will be faster and what is heavy will be heavier. We also have an eight-minute atmospheric instrumental song.

Some of the topics that have been addressed are difficult to handle, while there are always different opinions about everything. Here, at least Marduk has been given a chance to speak.

TIAMAT (RSSS FANZINE #1, 1992) ENGLISH TRANSLATION

The RSSS fanzine or Räser Snigelns Skall Skav (Untranslatable), a Swedish fanzine that was not a pure metal fanzine had an interview with Tiamat in 1992 when they were still a Death Metal band. You can read it here in an English translation. The pictures in the article wasn’t originally published in the fanzine.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

In these times of evil, where you're stupid if you bet someone that there aren't 50 Swedish DM bands, it's hard to hear what's what. Entombed poses in Okay, then you'll be a little tired of the development. Nothing new is heard unless you throw on Tiamat's latest LP. You're clearly impressed that they manage to make DM that doesn't sound Morbid Angel/Entombed. Clearly worth listening to, and it's actually one of the few new DM vinyls I think is good... It's as hard not to listen to it as it is to stay sober on a Friday night. It knocks you over like a six-pack of Danish dynamite. The guys experiment with most things and you clearly hear a lot of classic mixed with brutal DM, all in a blissful mess of sweat and other bodily fluids. The record is as fun and mysterious as a study visit to Tuborg's beer brewery, and if you get a taste, you'll be happy to go there more than once. We talked to the band when they were here in Malmö a while ago.

The innersleeve to the debut album ”Sumerian Cry” LP (1990)

 

Where do you get your inspiration from?

— From everything, everything you listen to, everything you do, everything you see, anything. You think something is cool so it sticks in your head and then maybe you do something with it. You don't think about it, it just comes subconsciously.

But there are a lot of classical influences on the record, right?

— I don't listen to classical that much, there's a lot of stuff that's nice too. You listen to some other music that is in turn inspired by classical music. A lot of hard rock is influenced by classical.

What's it like being at Century Media?

— It's good when it works. There are things I would like to change, like arranging things in good time. As soon as something happens, they're out at the last second. They'd rather see that when things go wrong, they fix the problems afterwards. Instead of making sure there were no problems, it's really hard sometimes, especially when you're going somewhere. The good thing is that they're really serious, they have a pretty good budget. They can invest in the band, and there's quite a few staff so you get pretty close to them, good contact. What shows both their good/bad sides are the covers. They spend a lot of money on design, so the layout is nice. Then there are misspellings and stuff. They can't seem to do everything right. If they did everything right, they'd be really good, but I wouldn't want to change.

Tiamat ”Sumerian Cry” LP (1990)

If Earache had called and wanted to sign you, would you have jumped on it?

— Well, Entombed and Morbid Angel aren't big because they're on Earache. They're big because they've done well, the music is good.

What's it like to be out and about, is it what you had in mind?

— It's really fun when it works. It's also less fun when it doesn't work out. Like when our bassist was stuck in Helsingborg, he had been given different tasks than we had...

How do you think DM has changed since the start?

— It's fun that it's going well because I'm playing by myself. It's fun for all the guys who play in bands, but sometimes it gets a bit much. Maybe all the bands that release records today shouldn't do that.

What do you think about it growing out of the underground?

— It's sad when there's so much talk about money all the time. When bands that have been friends for like 5-6 years, really close friends and helping each other, suddenly start fighting with each other. Like not wanting to talk to each other for some shitty money. I don't want to say any names, but there are fights going on between some bands in Sthm. We're not involved in any fights, we're friends with the ones we've been friends with all the time. But if this continues, we'll have to throw ourselves into the fray, and it's fucking sad. It'll be more of a competition, like a big band coming to Sthm, Death, Sepultura or whatever, and then it'll be a local band. And we say that, for example, Grave gets to play. I don't get angry, I'll be happy if they get to play, it's fun for them. But it's more and more like: "We've sold more records than them, so why can't we play?!". I'm fucking uninterested in that.

Tiamat ”The Astral Sleep” LP (1991)

Do you want to call Tiamat and other DM underground these days?

— It's not like that anymore, no matter how hard you try. You can't say you're an underground band anymore. We haven't sold that much so we're underground. Not like Entombed, they're on the list and stuff. They play some kind of underground music, but Entombed is hardly underground anymore.

If you became as big as Entombed, would you keep your attitude and stuff?

— I hope so, I have done so far anyway. But I would like to earn $ from music. I don't feel like working, but I want money so I can live in an apartment, eat food... like a regular month's salary. I wouldn't mind earning a lot of $. If I could, I would. Happy. But I'm not going to sacrifice anything to do it. We record albums with what we want to release, then we'll know how it will sell. If we ever sell that many records, then it's only right that we should have money for it. I mean, who else would? It's not right that the record company should make millions off us, they do anyway. If we sell so that we made a million, then I would be proud.

How much have you sold so far?

— I don't really know, I would guess that the latest is around 30,000. Most in the USA and Germany. In Sweden about 2-3,000.

If you had released the record in -85, do you think you would have sold as much then?

— No, but like if we had released an record in -85 and were still around today, we would have maybe sold 150,000.

What do you listen to today?

— Mostly old stuff like Iron Maiden, Saxon and stuff that was good 5 years ago.

Do you think real hard rock will die out? Nowadays, there's almost only punk or death metal?

— It's always like that. People are influenced by a style of music and then the next generation comes along and adds something of their own, so there's always new styles. For me, it doesn't matter if it dies out. I don't have a huge demand to see them live. I don't give a damn whether Saxon exists or not. I still have those Saxon records, and I'll probably listen to them when I'm 70. That way it'll never die out. I went to see Saxon last year, there were 400 people there and like 2 long-haired people. Most of them were 25-30 years old, short-haired and knew all the lyrics. 5 years ago they were small and long-haired. So that's why it lives on, but you don't notice it.

Tiamat ”Clouds” LP (1992)

What do you think the music of the future will be, can it be "worse" than now?

— I think all styles will be mixed. You can already tell when hip hop fans start listening to Entombed. Like hip hop bands with death metal lyrics or death metal bands with hip hop beats.

What should your kids listen to to drive you crazy?

— I can't imagine that happening. They should be allowed to listen to whatever they want. The only thing would be if they played something with very racist lyrics. Then I would ask them to tone it down.

What are your lyrics about?

— They're not about that much. More like thoughts and stuff. Quite a lot about death and what happens after death.

That's it, thanks to Johan and the others in the band.

”… WE’RE GONNA DIE!”

“I was afraid for my life, I was with Mike [Einziger, guitar] from our band, and we watched like the first handful of songs, and we were like, ‘We gotta get out of here, we’re gonna die. I don’t wanna die at a SLAYER concert.’ Which would make me a terrible SLAYER fan, by the way. If you’re a real SLAYER fan, you’re down to die at one of their shows.”

Click here to read the whole article at Metal Addicts!

NUCLEAR ASSAULT (METAL HAMMER #2, 1987)

DIAMOND HEAD (1982)

Found in a NWOBHM group, but don’t know from what magazine.. Lots of info about the early days and the build-up to The White Album. The guys had just signed to MCA and this article gives a great potted history up to the release of Call Me (MCA 1982).

SOUNDS ABOUT RIGHT! 😂😂😂

 

WHAT IS PROTO-METAL?

Heavy metal owes a heck of a lot to Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and perhaps most notably, Black Sabbath. The so-called unholy trinity were arguably the first generation of true heavy metal, but the narrative we’re used to hearing – that they singlehandedly forged the genre on a diet of blues and rock – is not the whole truth. It’s the sort of watered-down simplification of events that makes it easier to skim over everything pre-1969 when writing a feature or introducing a documentary on the genre, but whilst it’s not exactly untrue, it conveniently sidesteps a host of bands whose influence on all things heavy has been lost to the ages.

Metal has no ground zero, it was not born out of nothingness in 1970. Nor is it quite as simple as Jimi Hendrix > Cream > Vanilla Fudge > Blue Cheer > Steppenwolf > Grand Funk Railroad > Sabbath. Like all genres, it has its influencers (f**k I hate that word today), and it took time to fully take shape. One could even argue that metal wasn’t a true entity until NWOBHM came into being. Indeed, the question of who gave life to the first fuzzed-out heavy riff has no discernible answer, and in truth, what qualifies as metal here is somewhat subjective. Regardless, though, it’s indisputable that towards the tail-end of the ’60s, the initial blueprints for metal and its seemingly endless list of subgenres were forged. Amongst this time, a host of bands played around with the heavy rock that would become metal, helping to push it ever so slightly closer to its hellish final stop.

Many of these bands have been lost in the mists of time, so we’ve taken it upon ourselves to scour some forgotten pages of rock literature to uncover some of metal’s forgotten pioneers.

/ Text by Astral Noize (with my edits)

SOME OF THE PIONEERS

This is an ongoing project, I have dedicated a separate page that is continuously updated with new pioneers and albums to discover.

So if you’re interested in where it all started?

CHECK IT OUT HERE!

TOAD THE WET SPROCKET (TEENAGE DEPRESSION, #13, 1981)

METALLICA ”… AND JUSTICE FOR ALL” AD (METAL FORCES #31, 1988)

 

DEATH ANGEL (METAL FORCES #31, 1988)

 

CHRIS HOLMES & DAN SPITZ (1987)

Chris Holmes of W.A.S.P. with Dan Spitz from Anthrax at Donington, UK 1987

OZZY OSBOURNE (METAL HAMMER #2, 1987)

ACCEPT - LIVE AT HAMMERSMITH ODEON, LONDON, UK (JANUARY 29TH, 1984)

January 29th, 1984 Accept closed out their Balls To The Wall UK tour at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. There's a below average audio audience recording from the show (listen below). Only for the die hards!

Setlist:

Fast as a Shark

Restless and Wild

Love Child

Turn Me On

Breaker

London Leatherboys

Princess of the Dawn

Neon Nights

Losers and Winners

Son of a Bitch

Balls to the Wall

Head Over Heels

Flash Rockin' Man

Starlight

Midnight Highway

Burning