(English version, please go below)
Decidí reiniciar los reportajes con un segundo reportaje a este músico que destila humildad, pasión y underground en serio. Tuve el placer de entrevistarlo en el 2007 y sin conocer mucho de el se ganó mi admiración. Nada de poses a lo Manowar o "verdadero"/"falso". El tipo AMA el heavy metal y parece que vive las 24 horas con el. Con ustedes, "King"
MARTIN GASA: King, es un gran honor hacer una entrevista de nuevo con vos luego de todos estos años. Empecemos hablando de DECEASED. ¿Qué respuesta tuvo el último CD “Surreal Overdose”?
KING: Muy buena. Como banda estamos muy conformes de como salió todo. La gente pareció engancharse también. ¡Estoy muy orgulloso de este álbum!. Es muy agresivo, me hizo muy feliz por todo lo que hemos atravesado en esos momentos. Pudimos lograr algo que salga bien en todos los aspectos.
MG: Tanto la banda como vos permanecen en la escena. ¿Cuál es para vos la clave de haberse mantenido tras lanzar muchos discos y seguir?. No muchas bandas pueden decir lo mismo, hablando especialmente de Death Metal
MG: Tanto la banda como vos permanecen en la escena. ¿Cuál es para vos la clave de haberse mantenido tras lanzar muchos discos y seguir?. No muchas bandas pueden decir lo mismo, hablando especialmente de Death Metal
K: Está todo en el corazón. En lo personal nunca perdí el amor por la música metálica. Ni un miligramo. Es una parte importante de mi vida. Mis sentimientos se mantienen igual 30 años después como lo son dedicación, sinceridad en este arte que elegí en la vida. No haría algo si no estuviera en ello al cien por ciento.
MG: Immolation, Incantation y Cannibal Corpse por mencionar tres aún siguen delante con la tradición del estilo. ¿Creés que las bandas más nuevas y jóvenes carecen de algo que las lleve a esta estabilidad y consistencia?
K: Sigo escuchando bandas nuevas esperando que una me impacte con el estilo e intensidad que me gusta. Desafortunadamente esto aún no ha sucedido. No estoy seguro si es sólo una cuestión de tiempo y lo que me gusta se ha vuelto algo del pasado, o no. Creo que el mundo se volvió muy acelerado hoy en día, todo se mueve más rápido que nunca en el pasado y en distintas direcciones. Esto no le hace ni un poco de bien a la música en mi opinión.
MG: Hablemos de tu otra banda, OCTOBER 31. Para serte honesto la descubrí muchos años después que chequeé DECEASED. Me impresionó el sentimiento y la vibración musical, mucha melodía y ese encanto de metal de los ochentas. ¿Cómo surgió la idea de empezar la banda?
K: A mediados de los noventas recibí un llamado de Brian Williams (Nota: Guitarrista de la banda hasta hoy en día). Quería hacer un show con su banda junto a DECEASED. Empezamos a hablar un montón sobre el viejo sonido tradicional, su sentimiento y decidimos arrancar un proyecto en conjunto. De allí escribimos canciones de puro heavy metal y la gente se enganchó. La banda es divertida, todos disfrutamos el crear canciones metálicas para salir a tocarlas a las legiones de metaleros donde quieran que vayamos.
MG: El disco debut “The Fire Awaits You” muestra todo este sentimiento. Las letras son muy diferentes a las de DECEASED pero la búsqueda de una canción con melodías es un denominador común en ambas bandas. ¿Cuál fue la reacción de los fans de DECEASED y la gente en general cuando lo editaron?
K: Quería “cantar” más en OCTOBER 31. Tantos años del estilo vocal con DECEASED en donde canataba siempre “arrrrrrrrrrgh” (N: Hace la onomatopeya del growl death metalero) me fatigó la voz pese a que lo dí todo. Algunos fans lo disfrutaron, a otros no les importó. Lo hicimos sólo por amor al heavy metal y nada más.
MG: Otra cosa que me llamó la atención fue la inclusión de un cover “atípico”. Hablo de “Day Of The Saxons” de los Canadienses WITCHKILLER (El EP que se editó en 1984). Con DECEASED ya habían versionado muchas bandas conocidas y no sólo en en CD “Zombie Hymns”. En este caso ¿Por qué elegiste en especial la canción?
K: Siempre me encantó el tema y quería que la gente lo conociera así saben de donde viene la influencia musical en OCTOBER 31. La banda hace covers todo el tiempo y nos divertimos mucho tocándolos junto a nuestros propios temas.
MG: “Meet Thy Maker” (Segundo álbum) mantiene el “feeling” de heavy metal tradicional. Es muy obvio que amás este estilo. ¿Que hace en tu caso no sólo un músico del género sino un fan de metal?. ¿A tu criterio que es lo que debería tener una buena banda de heavy metal?
K: Melodía, poder, gancho e intensidad en la ejecución. OCTOBER 31 sólo es diversión para simplemente hacer canciones metálicas. Para mí la música heavy metal cuando se toca correctamente es la mejor en el mundo.
MG: METALLICA y MEGADETH son las bandas más populares del estilo, obviamente hay un montón más con un gran talento. ¿Puntualmente te gustan estas dos, sea su pasado como su presente?
K: (N: A King la pregunta pareció no gustarle… y contesta sin pelos en la lengua) Nunca me importaron esas bandas. Las encuentro a ambas aburridas, sin garra y poco convincentes desde que empezaron. Para mi siempre fueron una farsa, desde sus inicios.
MG: Van a lanzar otro álbum con OCTOBER 31. ¿Me podrías adelantar algunos detalles?. ¿Planes para girar?
K: Se va a llamar “Bury The Hatchet”. Saldrá en Julio por el sello HELLS HEADBANGERS. De nuevo puro heavy metal, y nada más. Habrá un cover de ICON esta vez y estamos buscando algunos shows por varios lugares dentro de los próximos 6-8 meses
MG: Algo que mucha gente desconoce es tu amor por las películas viejas. Sentite libre de compartir tu pasión por acá. Supongo que fueron una fuente de inspiración importante para vos a la hora de escribir las letras
K: Amo las películas. Crecí viendo muchísimos films de horror, y también me encantan las comedias dramáticas y así sucesivamente. Muchos tópicos surgieron mientras componía la música. Cuando algo te toca un nervio o una canción pide a gritos una temática. Los films además son un muy buen elemento de liberación.
MG: ¿Algún plan con DECEASED para los próximos meses?
K: Estamos trabajando en un nuevo álbum que se llamará “Ghostly White” el cual me insumirá el próximo año de mi vida cuando hablamos de salir con nuevos temas. El año que viene es el 30 aniversario de la banda y vamos a girar por todos lados.
MG: Por desgracia en estos últimos años perdimos a RONNIE JAMES DIO, CLIVE BURR y a JEFF HANNEMAN más recientemente. ¿Creés que cuando IRON MAIDEN o JUDAS PRIEST por citar dos se retiren habrá bandas con la misma “mística”?
K: (N: A diferencia de la de pregunta Metallica/Megadeth acá se enganchó) ¡No! (N: Enfático). Esa época lentamente se está esfumando. Los estilos más modernos y nuevos con sus bandas no tienen en absoluto esa magia para mi gusto. De ninguna manera.
MG: King, nuevamente gracias por tu tiempo. Voy a repetir la misma última pregunta de nuestra última entrevista: Tus DIEZ álbumes favoritos de metal/hard rock de todos los tiempos. Recuerdo que esa vez me dijiste que podía cambiar con el paso del tiempo.
K: A tope en mi mente hoy…
1) Uriah heep “Abominog”
2) Michael schenker group “MSG”
3) Black Sabbath “Mob Rules”
4) Vandenberg “Vandenberg”
5) Y&T “Mean Streak”
6) VoiVod “War And Pain”
7) Slayer “Show No Mercy”
8) Jag Panzer “Ample Destruction”
9) Queensrÿche “Rage For Order”
10) Blue Oyster Cult “Fire Of Unknown Origin’.
(N: Casi el 95% no cambió)
MG: ¿Algo más que quieras agregar para la gente que está leyendo esta entrevista?
K: Sean ustedes mismos. No hay dioses no hay maestros, sean salvajes y libres. “Long live the loud!!!!!” (N: Se refiere al disco de EXCITER). Gracias Martín.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENGLISH:
I decided to restart my webzine including my second interview with this musician who exudes humility, passion and underground. I had the pleasure of interviewing him in 2007 without knowing much of him I started to admire his attitude. Nothing like Manowar poses like "true" or "false". This man loves heavy metal and seems to live 24 hours for it. Enjoy this interview with, "King"
MARTIN GASA: King, it’s a big honor to do an interview again with you since all this years. Let’s start with DECEASED. How was the response for the “Surreal Overdose” CD?
King: Very good. As a band we were very pleased at how it came out. And people seemed to really take to it too. I’m very proud of that record! It’s a very aggressive record and it made me so happy with all we went through at those times that we were able to make a record that worked on all cylinders.
M: Both the band and you still remain on the scene. For you, which was the key for release many albums and keep on going?. Not many bands can say the same talking about Death Metal especially.
K: It’s all in the heart. I personally have never lost one ounce of loving metal music. Its a very important part of my life. My feelings on keeping going 30 years later is dedication and sincerity in a craft I have chosen as my life. I wouldnt do something I wasn’t 100% into.
M: Immolation, Incantation, Cannibal Corpse to name only three still carry the flag of the style. Do you believe that younger and newer bands lack of something that lead them to this stability and consistence?.
K: I keep listening to newer acts and waiting for one to jump out at me with a style and intensity I love. Sadly it hasn’t come yet. Not sure if it’s only a timing thing and what i love has kinda become a thing of the past or not. I think the world goes so fast now and moves on to other avenues quicker then ever before. That doesn’t do music a bit of good in my eyes.
M: Let’s talk about your other band, OCTOBER 31. To be honest with you I discovered it many years after I’ve checked DECEASED. I was very impressed with the feeling and the music vibe, a lot of melody and 80’s metal sense. How did become the idea of start the band?
K: In the mid 90s i got a call from a guy (Brian Williams) who wanted to book his band with DECEASED. We started talking a bunch about the old school sound and vibe and decided to get a Project together. From there we wrote and created many songs of pure heavy metal and people took to it. The band is fun and we all enjoy creating heavy metal songs to go out and play to the legions of metal wherever they’ll have us.
M: OCTOBER 31 first album “The Fire Awaits You” shows all this vibe. The lyrics are very different from DECEASED but the search for a song with melody is a common factor in both bands. Which was the response of DECEASED fans and people in general when it was released?
K: Well I wanted to ‘sing’ a bit with OCTOBER 31. all the years of ‘arghhhhhhh’ style voice with DECEASED beat me up vocally but I gave it my all. Some folks enjoyed it, some it did nothing for them. We did it out of a love for heavy metal and nothing more.
M: Other thing that made me pay attention was the inclusion of a “strange” cover. I’m talking of “Day Of The Saxons” of the Canadians WITCHKILLER (The EP released in 1984). With DECEASED you covered many well known acts not only in the “Zombie Hymns” CD. In this case why did you choose specially this song?
K: I always loved the song and I wanted folks to know where we were coming from musically with OCTOBER 31. The band always covers tunes, it’s fun to us, along with our originals.
M: The second CD “Meet Thy Maker” retains the strong traditional heavy metal feeling. It’s quite obvious that you love METAL. In your case what makes you not only a metal musician, also a METAL lover?. Which elements for you should have a good METAL band?
K: Melody, power, hooks and a full on delivery. OCTOBER 31 is fun to create simple yet memorable songs of heavy metal. Heavy metal music to me when performed right is the best music in the world.
M: METALLICA and MEGADETH are the most “popular” names, but obviously there were many other bands with a huge talent. Do you like this two bands, both first years and present? Never cared for either of those bands.
K: Find em both dull, lifeless and just lame from the start. Both come off as phonies to me
M: You will release a new record with OCTOBER 31. Could you tell me some details about it?. Do you have plans to tour?
K: It´s called “Bury The Hatchet”. It will be on Hells Headbangers records in July. Its more pure heavy metal and nothing more. We do a ICON cover this time look out for sporadic shows all over the place the next 6-8 months.
M: Let's change the subject for a moment. Something that many people don’t know is that you're a big fan of old movies. Feel free to share your passion here. I asume that they were a lyrical inspiration for you.
K: I love movies. Grew up seeing so many horror films and I also love my drams comedies and so forth. Many topics come up while writing music. Something touches a nerve or screams for a song about a subject. Films are such a great reléase.
M: Any plan with DECEASED for next months, King?
K: Working on a new album called “Ghostly White” and that wil lconsume the next year of my life when talking of creating new music. Next year is 30 year anniversary of the band and we will gig all over.
M: In these last years unfortunately we lost RONNIE JAMES DIO, CLIVE BURR and JEFF HANNEMAN more recently. Do you believe that when bands like IRON MAIDEN or JUDAS PRIEST to name two decide to quit will be bands with the same “mystical”?
K: No! The era is slowly fading away. The newer styles and bands don’t have the magic to me. Not in the least.
M: King, thanks again for your time. I will repeat the same last question of our last interview…. Please, your TEN favorite metal/hard rock albums of all times considering that you said to me that this “Top 10” may change a little bit with the pass of time.
K: Off top of my mind today..
1) Uriah heep “Abominog”
2) Michael schenker group “MSG”
3) Black Sabbath “Mob Rules”
4) Vandenberg “Vandenberg”
5) Y&T “Mean Streak”
6) VoiVod “War And Pain”
7) Slayer “Show No Mercy”
8) Jag Panzer “Ample Destruction”
9) Queensrÿche “Rage For Order”
10) Blue Oyster Cult “Fire Of Unknown Origin’.
M: Any final words for people that are reading this interview?
K: Stay yourself. No gods no masters. be wild and be free!!!! Long live the loud!!!!! Thanks Martin
I decided to restart my webzine including my second interview with this musician who exudes humility, passion and underground. I had the pleasure of interviewing him in 2007 without knowing much of him I started to admire his attitude. Nothing like Manowar poses like "true" or "false". This man loves heavy metal and seems to live 24 hours for it. Enjoy this interview with, "King"
MARTIN GASA: King, it’s a big honor to do an interview again with you since all this years. Let’s start with DECEASED. How was the response for the “Surreal Overdose” CD?
King: Very good. As a band we were very pleased at how it came out. And people seemed to really take to it too. I’m very proud of that record! It’s a very aggressive record and it made me so happy with all we went through at those times that we were able to make a record that worked on all cylinders.
M: Both the band and you still remain on the scene. For you, which was the key for release many albums and keep on going?. Not many bands can say the same talking about Death Metal especially.
K: It’s all in the heart. I personally have never lost one ounce of loving metal music. Its a very important part of my life. My feelings on keeping going 30 years later is dedication and sincerity in a craft I have chosen as my life. I wouldnt do something I wasn’t 100% into.
M: Immolation, Incantation, Cannibal Corpse to name only three still carry the flag of the style. Do you believe that younger and newer bands lack of something that lead them to this stability and consistence?.
K: I keep listening to newer acts and waiting for one to jump out at me with a style and intensity I love. Sadly it hasn’t come yet. Not sure if it’s only a timing thing and what i love has kinda become a thing of the past or not. I think the world goes so fast now and moves on to other avenues quicker then ever before. That doesn’t do music a bit of good in my eyes.
M: Let’s talk about your other band, OCTOBER 31. To be honest with you I discovered it many years after I’ve checked DECEASED. I was very impressed with the feeling and the music vibe, a lot of melody and 80’s metal sense. How did become the idea of start the band?
K: In the mid 90s i got a call from a guy (Brian Williams) who wanted to book his band with DECEASED. We started talking a bunch about the old school sound and vibe and decided to get a Project together. From there we wrote and created many songs of pure heavy metal and people took to it. The band is fun and we all enjoy creating heavy metal songs to go out and play to the legions of metal wherever they’ll have us.
M: OCTOBER 31 first album “The Fire Awaits You” shows all this vibe. The lyrics are very different from DECEASED but the search for a song with melody is a common factor in both bands. Which was the response of DECEASED fans and people in general when it was released?
K: Well I wanted to ‘sing’ a bit with OCTOBER 31. all the years of ‘arghhhhhhh’ style voice with DECEASED beat me up vocally but I gave it my all. Some folks enjoyed it, some it did nothing for them. We did it out of a love for heavy metal and nothing more.
M: Other thing that made me pay attention was the inclusion of a “strange” cover. I’m talking of “Day Of The Saxons” of the Canadians WITCHKILLER (The EP released in 1984). With DECEASED you covered many well known acts not only in the “Zombie Hymns” CD. In this case why did you choose specially this song?
K: I always loved the song and I wanted folks to know where we were coming from musically with OCTOBER 31. The band always covers tunes, it’s fun to us, along with our originals.
M: The second CD “Meet Thy Maker” retains the strong traditional heavy metal feeling. It’s quite obvious that you love METAL. In your case what makes you not only a metal musician, also a METAL lover?. Which elements for you should have a good METAL band?
K: Melody, power, hooks and a full on delivery. OCTOBER 31 is fun to create simple yet memorable songs of heavy metal. Heavy metal music to me when performed right is the best music in the world.
M: METALLICA and MEGADETH are the most “popular” names, but obviously there were many other bands with a huge talent. Do you like this two bands, both first years and present? Never cared for either of those bands.
K: Find em both dull, lifeless and just lame from the start. Both come off as phonies to me
M: You will release a new record with OCTOBER 31. Could you tell me some details about it?. Do you have plans to tour?
K: It´s called “Bury The Hatchet”. It will be on Hells Headbangers records in July. Its more pure heavy metal and nothing more. We do a ICON cover this time look out for sporadic shows all over the place the next 6-8 months.
M: Let's change the subject for a moment. Something that many people don’t know is that you're a big fan of old movies. Feel free to share your passion here. I asume that they were a lyrical inspiration for you.
K: I love movies. Grew up seeing so many horror films and I also love my drams comedies and so forth. Many topics come up while writing music. Something touches a nerve or screams for a song about a subject. Films are such a great reléase.
M: Any plan with DECEASED for next months, King?
K: Working on a new album called “Ghostly White” and that wil lconsume the next year of my life when talking of creating new music. Next year is 30 year anniversary of the band and we will gig all over.
M: In these last years unfortunately we lost RONNIE JAMES DIO, CLIVE BURR and JEFF HANNEMAN more recently. Do you believe that when bands like IRON MAIDEN or JUDAS PRIEST to name two decide to quit will be bands with the same “mystical”?
K: No! The era is slowly fading away. The newer styles and bands don’t have the magic to me. Not in the least.
M: King, thanks again for your time. I will repeat the same last question of our last interview…. Please, your TEN favorite metal/hard rock albums of all times considering that you said to me that this “Top 10” may change a little bit with the pass of time.
K: Off top of my mind today..
1) Uriah heep “Abominog”
2) Michael schenker group “MSG”
3) Black Sabbath “Mob Rules”
4) Vandenberg “Vandenberg”
5) Y&T “Mean Streak”
6) VoiVod “War And Pain”
7) Slayer “Show No Mercy”
8) Jag Panzer “Ample Destruction”
9) Queensrÿche “Rage For Order”
10) Blue Oyster Cult “Fire Of Unknown Origin’.
M: Any final words for people that are reading this interview?
K: Stay yourself. No gods no masters. be wild and be free!!!! Long live the loud!!!!! Thanks Martin