Wayde:
G’day mate! How’s it going today? Fully recovered from Evil Invaders III?
S. Berserker:
Well, due to my ridiculous delay in answering these questions, I'd say that yes, I'm more than fully recovered now.
Wayde:
Before we get too deeply focused on the killer new Assaulter release, could you give myself and the readers a bit of a run down on what you’ve done in the past up until recently? Basically just; what bands you’ve been in aside from Assaulter, what you’ve released up until this point etc. etc.
S. Berserker:
Well, prior to Assaulter I played for a few years with D'666. It wasn't 'til a few years later that I started Assaulter. Thus far, with Assaulter, we've released the following:
• 'Proselytiser' - Demo 2005
• 'Omnipotent' - Demo 2006
• 'Subservience' - 7" 2008 (Iron Bonehead Productions)
• 'Salvation Like Destruction' - 2008 (Pulverised Records/High Roller Records/Iron Bonehead Productions)
• 'Beware the Wounded Beast' - Split 7" with Trench Hell 2009 (Iron Bonehead Productions)
• 'Boundless!' - 2011 (Poison Tongue/Metal Blade/High Roller Records)
Wayde:
What was it like playing with Destroyer 666 back in the early 2000’s? Did you play on any if their releases, if so, which ones? Did you have some great experiences back then?
S. Berserker:
It was great. Like a whirlwind. I think when I'd joined, you could definitely see that the band was on the verge of breaking out of Australia. 'Phoenix Rising' had just been recorded, and there was the talk that the band needed to get overseas, to which we were all in agreement with. And there laid the strength in the idea - We all wanted to, and were committed to the idea of moving to Europe. I think essentially we all had the same goals and it meant a communal decision, and well, the proof is there. The opportunities came in spades and the name spread. As far as recordings go, I was involved in 2 7"s and the 'Cold Steel' LP. Great times and they're still great mates.
Wayde:
Moving on from D666, when did you form Assaulter? Was it more of a one/two man band at first, or have you always been a three-piece? What are some of the bands influences? What elements go into writing an Assaulter song?
S. Berserker
Assaulter came to be, really, with the release of the first demo 'Proselytiser'. It was just me, and a session drummer, and to be honest, it was not a very well thought out demo - But it did turn out better than I'd expected so I decided to run with it and TRY and form a band. A proper, working band. As it turns out, we've rarely had a solid line-up after all these years, but that's just how the dice has been rolled. Music wise, influences are fairly varied and there's no blue print per sé - Basically we tend to shake up influences from primitive Death Metal, Thrash and straight up Heavy Metal. There are other influences too. Songs have skeletons, which are broken, re-arranged, smashed, shattered and pieced together again.
Wayde:
While on the subject of influences etc, I’d like to know, what are some of your favourite bands? What do you blast from your speakers on a day to day basis?
S. Berserker:
All time favourites would be Metallica, Sodom, Mercyful Fate, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Megadeth, Judas Priest amongst others. Lately you'll hear anything from Danzig, Dropkick Murphys, Grand Magus, Nifelheim, Dead Can Dance, Primordial, Trench Hell, Rose Tattoo, Stellamara, The Devil's Blood, Ghost, Irfan, Necröfuck etc. etc. etc.
Wayde:
What’s the story behind the doomed headless angel that features on the artwork for every Assaulter release? I’m guessing it carries some symbolism relating to iconoclasm? Would that be correct, or is there more to it?
S. Berserker:
Yeah, on one side of the coin, you're right. Iconoclasm. I remember being in the ruins of Ayutthaya in Thailand and one of the main temples had had most of the Buddha statues beheaded by what I believe were either the invading Burmese or Khmers in the 18th Century. Very powerful. So I got the idea from that - The ultimate blasphemy. As well as that, it represents absolute power by a faceless Iron Fist - Akin to the idea of Big Brother in Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty Four', or, more obviously, mankind's favourite prick, 'God'. By the way, we dropped the 'Headless Angel' thing for 'Boundless'.
Wayde:
I noticed there was a big progression from “Salvation Like Destruction” to “Boundless”. The music seems a lot more influenced by German thrash metal and Mercyful Fate, as well as a lot of straight up heavy metal (I get an 80’s metal vibe in a long of the more midpace moments) rather than old-school black metal a la Dissection which I heard more of in the first album, and there are some obvious middle eastern influences used as well as more melody than on Salvation. Was this a natural progression, or did you intend to move towards this type of sound?
S. Berserker:
A natural progression, whilst purposely trying to expand. If that makes any sense? There is certainly a lot of mid-paced fare on 'Salvation…', and some of those HM styled riffs, but we wanted to draw them out more for 'Boundless' and allow for more room for Hellfinder's leads, which to me, are a strength of the band. Basically we wanted to concentrate on our strengths and strip back the songs in attack and scope. No matter how you look at it, we released our strongest album by a long shot and the next LP will be even stronger. Forward, onward.
Wayde:
What song would you say that you’re most proud of writing? What’s your favourite Assaulter tune? My favourite off the first album is “Between Gods and Men”, classic track! Off the second it has to be “Perpetual War”.
S. Berserker:
Ha! 'Between God and Men' is originally from the first demo - The only song worth revisiting from that I think. Well, I do like the style of the more sprawling songs we have, and the song I'm personally happiest with is 'Slave to King'. It came out great, and it's due to songs like this and 'Between Gods…' and 'The Eternal Soldier' and 'Glory Alone' that I get frustrated with the simple 'Thrash' tag - Consider these amongst the faster songs and it's pretty obvious that we have some varied ideas. There'll be more of this avenue in the future……
Wayde:
What are your thoughts on Australian metal? What bands are you into? Do you think we have a pretty solid “scene” over here?
S. Berserker:
Yeah, for sure, it's definitely gaining an (un)healthy stride again! Just look at the Evil Invaders Festival in June - What a great collection of killer fuckin' bands! It's a shame no one really gives a shit outside the circle, but glory to those in the know! Would be great to get a tonne of our bands overseas and get them kicking in the teeth of the European and American audiences!
Wayde:
My neck is still wrecked after seeing you guys at Evil Invaders III the other night, are there any plans for more gigs in NSW? What about Aussie gigs in general? Any plans for international tours?
S. Berserker:
Beware of the 'Under The Axe' tour coming to the East Coast in December with Canberra thrashers Hellbringer. Next stop 2012 - Europe. Fuck!
Wayde:
What are some memorable and/or funny stories from your musical career that you’d like to share? I’d imagine you’ve had some great times over the years!
S. Berserker:
Mate, too many to mention. Drinking with Judas Priest in Austria was most fucking fantastic. It was a large festival (bill-wise), with around 4000 people there, Motorhead, Judas Priest, Savatage, Enslaved, Behemoth and a tonnes of others - Had a killer weekend, hard partying and raising hell and then to top it all off, we end up sinking cold cans with Priest out the back. Barely anyone else about. Was killer. Then there was a festival in Sweden - 2HEAVY4U - Put simply, that was chaos. Drinking, fighting, playing, carrying on and any other manner of shit (literally) and compounded by me being hit by a car in a paddock whilst I slept. That's the theory anyway………. Assaulter will have a tonne of stories in the near future I'm sure.
Wayde:
Alright, well I think that’s it for this interview, thanks a lot for the chat mate! Any last words?
S. Berserker:
Aye, cheers for your support. Always appreciated. EVERYONE get to the UNDER THE AXE tour in either Brissy, Sydney or Melbourne in December and cut loose. Really cut loose.
No comments:
Post a Comment