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Welcome to Slaughterama issue 38! This issue we are proud to present exclusive interviews with another 3 giant international Hard Rock and Heavy Metal acts. House of Noizz radio are assembling a list of the Top 100 Heavy Metal songs of all time, based on your votes! So make sure your input is counted so your favorite songs get played in the countdown! Go to www.houseofnoizz.com to cast your votes. You can vote as many times as you like! And houseofnoizz.com is also the place to go to hear the latest House Of Noizz radio show, available for streaming and download 24/7. And while youre there you can check out Noizzcam and read Slaughterama back issues (along with the latest one) for free! And if youre the Facebook type, there is a House Of Noizz group on there, along with Max and Is personal profiles, so check that out for regular updates. Catch you all next issue! Brendon Williams -Editor

Interviewed this issue:

Max Thrasher

The latest content updated every week House Of Noizz radio - streaming link as soon as a new show is available! Noizzcam - be the first to watch it every week! Check in with the guys as they go about their Heavy Metal lifestyles Death to False Metal... via Facebook!

Brendon Williams

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less than satisfactory with MANOWARs Joey DeMaio (see last issue), the Slaughterama team still had a bunch of unanswered questions. As most of them revolved around former members and bands which used to be on DeMaios record label, we decided to contact prime representatives from the opposing camp for their take on things. First up, we have Manowars cofounder, the legendary Ross The Boss!

Ainterview
fter our

So the big announcement is that Scott Columbus (MANOWAR drummer) is joining you as a guest on your upcoming tour, is that right? Yeah! I said you know what Scott? You gotta get out, man! You need to play. Youre a good drummer. So why dont you come and play some songs with us? So it does two things; it gets him out and shows people what he really can do on a real set of drums, and its just fun... have my old friend back there! So what happened? Did he quit Manowar? Yea, hes done. Hes done with the band. Had enough of Manowar? Well, its one of those things. yknow? What can I tell ya... You co-founded Manowar with Joey DeMaio. Did you ever want to go back in there and play with the band again? Patch it back up? No... To be honest with you Im not the one who controls that, so I never really thought of that. Since I left the band Ive been doing my own thing and Im having a lot of fun. I dont look back on things; I just have to keep going ahead. So the second Ross The Boss album is coming up. Is it going to be in a similar vein to the first RTB record? Yea, I think its going to be a progression on the New Metal Leader album. When the first album was done we really hadnt known each other for a long time. It was such a quick thing... from when we played together the first time at the Keep It True festival to the album release was 15 months, so now were more used to

each other, and we had a great, great songwriting period for the new record. Really fantastic songs. The first record sounded like you were going back to the Heavy Metal roots, like what you did on early Manowar records... Yea, I cant help it; I have that sound in m e

since I did invent the band, so its part of me. We dont purposely do that; the way these songs come out, they come out! And a lot of the time, theres bits and pieces that are similar to Manowar, but thats me playing so I cant help that. It seems to me that what you are doing is a progression on the direction that Manowar may have gone if you had stayed in the band, versus this orchestral, almost soundtrack stuff that Manowar seems to be performing these days. Would you agree with that? Yeah... well, I dont really listen to what theyve done. I hear bits and pieces of their new stuff, but we j u s t

forge on. We do rock n roll, epic songs and midtempo. May I ask you... what was the reason for you leaving Manowar in the first place? When two guys make a band like that, its almost like youre married together. And a lot of marriages end in divorce. Was there some sort of personal issue? No, it wasnt a personal issue. It was more creative... the direction of the band. He [Joey DeMaio] was pushing for something that I... yknow its been so long since that happened. A lot of things that were going down I just didnt like. I didnt like the Death To False Metal stuff, which really to me it just upset a lot of fans, a lot of potential fans. A lot of people that would have liked the band were completely turned off to Manowar because of that. I just didnt like it. Thats just my personal opinion. Well the question Manowar have had is Who are these bands? Name these bands! and it pretty much just creates a bunch of trouble... Well I come from the street. Im a rock n nroll musician and I was why are we doing this? I have a lot of friend in the business, and they were going Are you guys for real? Is this serious? Are you serious Ross? And I was like Umm... I had to keep trying to make excuses for that to people and it was tiring after a while, and he [Joey DeMaio] just kept going on and on and on with it. Bless them, theyre doing their thing, and thats cool, but... Are they serious? He was serious. Yeah.

work with the Dictators. Is the band all done now? I would say its on hiatus again. There is definitely a personality problem in the band with Handsome Dick Manitoba and Andy, not at the closest points in their career now, but were on and off. We just recently put out some great stuff so you never know. There may be a shoot off band from the whole thing. So if the Dictators come back to life, would you drop the Ross The Boss band and go back? No. This band that Ive got right now is the real deal. Great stuff. Whats the chances of getting your band down here in NZ like you managed to do with the Dictators? Its my dream to bring the band all over, and I think we can do it. Well I think one of the reasons a promoter would be turned off bringing over Manowar would be due to their equipment requirements, which are just off the rocker really. Yeah, its too much. With Manowar we were always over the top with that. But you have to face reality sometimes and if you want to play... I just never knew why we couldnt play more with just a couple of amps and a set of drums and us, because the music was what was the most important part about the band to me. Not the other extraneous bullshit. It was widely publicized that the reason Scott Columbus left Manowar was because of some personal tragedy. Is there any truth in that? Absolutely no truth at all. Absolutely no truth. We were talking last week, and I said Scott! Youve had more personal tragedies than any other human being Ive ever met! How many times did your mother die? Not to be disrepectful... and hes laughing... They used him like a whipping boy! Its unbelievable. How many times can bad shit happen to one person? Every time something happened it was Scotts fault. Or something happened to his family, his son... HEAR THE COMPLETE UNEDITED AUDIO VERSION OF THIS INTERVIEW, FEATURING QUESTIONS TO ROSS ABOUT LEGENDARY CLASSIC PUNK ROCK BAND THE DICTATORS, COMMENTARY ON THE RAMONES AND THE ROCK N ROLL HALL OF FAME, CBGBS AND MORE AT HOUSEOFNOIZZ.COM. g

When two guys make a band like that [Manowar], its almost like youre married together. And a lot of marriages end in divorce.

Death to False Metal. Kill all the posers... Its hard to explain. With Joey its members only club. The only way you can like Manowar is if youre in the club. And that turned a lot of people off. Moving onto your

film review
Not to be confused with the new Twilight pisstake Vampires Suck, were checking out the similarly named Suck (Vampires Rock). This is the one with cameos from big named musicians such as Iggy Pop, Moby, Henry Rollins and of course, the legendary Alice Cooper! Along with Malcolm McDowell, the celebrity bit parts are the main reason to check the movie out, and without meaning any ill will towards the rest of the cast, are the only thing which makes the movie worthwhile. Whether thats because the other actors are doing a bad job is hard to tell because the big names are having so much fun playing their larger than life characters with gusto, that they steal every scene they are involved in. That even goes for Moby, who was hilarious playing a sleazy rock star. All up, this will be a good midnight movie in 20 years time, but for now it leaves the impression of being just another B movie which got lucky enough to pull some star power. K

by brendon williams

JJJK

TTears

he most epic band in the world are back with a new album The Frozen Of Angels, released on their new label, Nuclear Blast. Fans are counting themselves lucky because the band have been in the middle of a legal dispute with their former label, Magic Circle Records [operated by Joey DeMaio of Manowar] and there was always a chance that the music output from Rhapsody Of Fire could have been halted for a long time. So whats going on? Joey DeMaio wasnt prepared to tell us, so heres how Luca Turilli explained it...
Whats been going on lately? OK you know we still cannot speak about our recent past because actually the legal problems are not solved, so we cannot speak about what happened to us in the last year. But for us even if we have this kind of situation which is not so nice, now we are finally able to release something so for us its already a great miracle. Youre on a new label now, Nuclear Blast. You happy with the label? Absolutely. This is the perfect situation for us. There were many times we had the possibility to sign with them but it never happened because of wrong choices we made in the past. But now finally after so many years we had the chance to work together. And after having worked with them for six months I can tell you its the best company we could have ever worked with. Was the new album Frozen Tears Of Angels recorded while you were still on Magic Circle, or did you record it when you switched to Nuclear Blast? When we switched to Nuclear Blast, of course. So this split with Magic Circle happened before you actually recorded the album?

Its difficult to say this because the legal situation is still chaotic, you know? So I cannot tell you one date, because the situation is not solved. We hope that we will soon be able to announce that everything was finalized between us. Do you plan to tell fans everything about what happened once this is all finished? No, in this case it will probably not be possible because if you reach a settlement; you cannot speak because this is [often] part of the settlement. The new album is multi-sided. It seems like a milestone. You dont really get bored with it; theres a lot going on... I think this is the result of having so much time between Triumph Or Agony and this new one. After every production you have some songs you can modify and use in the following album. But having so much time, we realized that we werent satisfied 100 percent [with that material], so we decided to compose everything from zero. To me, the word EPIC really sums up the band. When you think epic movies, you think

Lord Of The Rings... and when you think epic metal, you think Rhapsody - do you agree? We think we set the standard for this kind of [music]... you know its called Hollywood Metal and Filmscore Metal... whatever you want, you know? For Nuclear Blast its simply the symphonic metal we created in 1997 with our first release, so everyone has their own interpretation, but surely, independent from definitions, for sure I dont think there exists a band more symphonic than us. Legendary actor Christopher Lee is doing his own Metal album, isnt he? Yes its fantastic; Im so curious to listen to it because he was also influenced by Rhapsody, so we are really waiting for it. What was it like working with Christopher Lee? It was a great honor for us. It was the highest point in our career. I remember enjoying Lord Of The Rings; the movie was a new standard set by Peter Jackson... finally something serious appearing on the big screen and telling about the fantasy world. We were totally in love with this; we loved to listen

 k there in dont th d more I an . sts a b exi han us t phonic sym

to the original voices, not the overdub in Italian, and we discovered that Chistopher Lee apart from being a great actor and having a great charisma also had a wonderful voice; very deep, very emotional. And so we thought it would be fantastic to have him - but it was more of a dream. Then the dream turned into a reality thanks to the fact that at that time Christopher Lees intention was to be known by a wider audience, especially younger because hes known by everybody for the Dracula movies, so making Lord Of The Rings, then eventually becoming the narrator for Rhapsody allowed him to have a wider audience. We were lucky because right at theat moment it was his plan. The name of the band isnt Rhapsody anymore; its Rhapsody Of Fire... can I ask what happened with that? Yes no problem! Its related to other legal problems, but we can talk about it. Immediately after the release of our first or second album, the guy who discovered us got a letter from this American guy who said he had registered the name so we could not use the name, but nothing really happened. But after we started selling in the United States in a big way, the problems came back. This guy wrote again in a heavy way, with a lawyer and all that stuff. In the end we had to reach an agreement definitively, and the great fact is that paying a lot of money at least we had the possibility to keep Rhapsody, because I think if you had constricted us to take away that word, probably it would have stopped the band. So its no relation to the Australian girl band called Rhapsody? No. I dont even know about it! Absolutely never heard about it! This is an American guy playing hip hop or something. Anyway you can tell this band of girls that they can do nothing in the United States because of this guy! g

The Glam heroes RATT are back with a new album! Infestation that was released earlier this year is their first record in 11 years, so we just couldnt miss an opportunity to ask the lead singer Stephen Pearcy a few questions. With all due respect to Stephen, though, interviewing him was like pulling teeth, so dont blame us, if his answers are rather on a brief side.

So what youve been up to lately, Stephen? Were doing some shows and getting out on the road. The new album, Infestation is out and judging by reviews its been very positively received. The response has been very good, very good! It sounds like a bit of a comeback to the roots... Yeah, I think its somewhere in between the Invasion of Your Privacy and Out of the Cellar albums. The world tour is in the way, so when are you coming down to New Zealand? Im not sure. Were doing a few festivals in Japan, Sweden and Europe, so well see. You went to Australia a few years ago... Yeah, we did, and it was great! I had a great time. Im just looking forward to getting out and going back there again. New Zealand, Australia its all relevant to me. Ratt reunited back in 1999 for one album and then it all fell apart. So how stable is this reunion? Is

Ratt back for good? Y e a h , well, the first thing that kept us coming b a c k , regardless legal and p e r s o n a l problems w a s a l w a y s the music. And thats what really matters in the longer run. Infestation sounds like a very energetic record, like a second wind for the band. It feels good to play together again, it really does. It feels like we just walked out of 1985 or something, you know. When you started the band, what influenced you? Well, it was definitely Zeppelin and Blue Oyster Cult, Sweet, Sabbath thats what I was influenced by. In Motley Crues biography, The Dirt Ratt is mentioned to be playing Judas Priest covers in the early 80s...

Yeah, thats right. Motley and Ratt go back a long way. We used to hang out together and call ourselves The Gladiators - we always supported each-other. If you werent doing music, what do you think youd do? Id drive race cars. I sponsor drag racing and Ive been involved in racing for quite some time. Did you ever go head to head with [Motley Crues] Vince Neil, whos known for his passion for cars? Actually, Vince and I got our racing licenses together. We have done some races together, like celebrity racing, yeah. Therere quite a few celebrity reality shows, like the Osbournes, or Bret Michaels Rock of Love. Ever thought of doing something like that?

I dont feel the need to do anything like that. I dont want to drag out the dirty laundry, and Im married, so I dont need to go on a love show. Whatever I do has something to do with Rocknroll, so why would I get involved in that, you know. Originally you were from San Diego and then you moved the band to LA... Yeah, we moved to Los Angeles in 1980. It was a lot easier to make it in LA, I knew it. I used to come to LA to see Van Halen in 1979, and I knew the scene was a lot bigger. So when the Grunge hit in the early 90s, how difficult was it for Ratt to stay afloat? Well, fortunately and Unfortunately, Ratt broke up in 1991 and I wend to do something else, that being Arcade with [Cinderellas drummer] Fred Coury, so we were never caught up in that as a band. And when we got back together in 1997, we were checking ourselves out and never really noticed

what was going on around. But when you were with Arcade, would you say it was more difficult to operate in that environment? No, not really, because I was just trying something different, trying to be more creative. Thats why I got that band together, to try different styles of music. I was getting bored, you know. That first Arcade record was great to make! It was a new experience, we were trying something different and we had great time doing it. What do you think about the state of affairs in Glam and Hard Rock these days? There seems to be a bit of a revival going on with bands like Steel Panther and Vains of Jenna. Yeah I jammed with Steel Panther before, but theyre more of a mockery on the 80s scene, you know. Vains of Jenna, they opened for us... I dont mind, you know, theyre doing their own thing... It seems like theres no rock stars anymore, no personalities like Bon Jovi or Poison...

Thats why I think more people are interested in our sort of music. Because that element is there and its not going anywhere. What do you think about the Internet then? Is it helping or is it hurting music? I think its helping. I mean, how can it hurt? Well, would you mind if some kids would go and rip Infestation off the net instead of buying it? No, because if they wanted to get it, theyd go and buy it. So whats next for Ratt? Whats next is we gonna get out there and start playing all over the world. We needed to take care of an unfinished business, and thats what were doing right now! g

DANZIG Deth Red Sabaoth

2010 Evilive / The End

HELLOWEEN 7 Sinners

2010 SPV / Steamhammer

Danzig is one of my favorite musicians. Ever since I first heard his unique voice I have been a huge fan. 1996 - 2002 saw Glenn masking his vocals with industrial filters, which I felt was a terrible mistake. It seems that others thought the same because since 2004s Circle Of Snakes, the famous sound is back! This album is packed with killer tracks and great, catchy hooks. In particular, the single, On A Wicked Night is a fantastic song. All up, Deth Red Sabaoth is an immediate classic, and a welcome addition to my collection. JJJJK Review by Brendon Williams

Like most Helloween fans, I prefer the old stuff, but I still listen to the odd newer song too. So what do we have here? To be honest, the new album from the Power Metal icons sounds pretty much how I expected; lots of fast, straight ahead numbers with the odd measured twist here and there. Not much development in Helloweens sound overall, but that aint a bad thing; why mess with a winning formula? JJJKK Review by Brendon Williams

ROSS THE BOSS Hailstorm

2010 AFM Records

g to do n omethi s do has roll. r I hateve th Rockn W wi

LORDI Babez For Breakfast

2010 Sony BMG

Im sure everybody has heard Lordi by now, so youll know what to expect here. Big 80s inspired Hard Rock anthems with a strong cheesy horror element. My only problem with the band is that their music seems to be a getting very predictable now, which makes it begin to get a little boring to listen to. And I think the band is also aware of this because you can hear in this album they are trying to change it up (I love the keyboard work). This album is a must for Lordi fanatics, and for everyone else it may just seem like more of the same. JJJKK Review by Brendon Williams

Listening to this album was tough. Ross The Boss (co-creator of Manowar) is a legend, and Manowar will never be the same without him. Likewise however, Manowars singer Eric Adams really needs to be the singer for this heavily Manowarish album because Ross has a guy whos only average doing vocal duties, and listeners cant help but compare him to Manowars legendary singer. So how can you find a match for Adams? You cant, so kudos to Ross for doing what he could with what was available to him. I wish for Ross to rejoin Manowar one day. Until then, this is close as it gets! JJJKK Review by Brendon Williams

MURDERDOLLS Women And Children Last

2010 Roadrunner

CRADLE OF FILTH Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa

2010 Peaceville

If youre expecting the same type of quirky, campy material from the original Murderdolls album, watch out! This album is somewhat more complex and serious. Even so, it is a great record in its own right. The lineup change is odd, and looking at the cover it appears to be the Wednesday and Joey show now. In my opinion they should have called the new incarnation something other than Murderdolls. Still A grade stuff though!!! JJJJK Review by Brendon Williams

After a brilliant Godspeed on the Devils Thunder, rather a mediocre record. Yes, its very professional, very fast (as Paul Allender promised) and very Cradle Of Filth. Pretty much everything youve come to expect from this band, but somehow lacking in originality. To be honest, I wont be able to tell the difference between Venus and, say, Thornography. Which is sad, because the whole affair started to look very promising! Unfortunately, average at best. JJJKK Review by Max Thrasher

V/A The Crimson Covers A Tribute to W.A.S.P.

2010 Remedy

KATAKLYSM Heavens Venom

2010 Nuclear Blast

AMORPHIS Magic & Mayhem

2010 Nuclear Blast

ABINAYA Corps

2010 Rebel Music

This is the album which should have never been recorded - let alone released. A bunch of rather mediocre bands trying to re-create the magic that is W.A.S.P. with disastrous consequences. While some of these artists simply seem to be not up to the task, others just outright rape classics like Blind in Texas, Neutron Bomber, Forever Free and The Idol. Theres some truly God-awful stuff here I wish I never heard. On the other hand, it reminded me once again, why those old bands were so great and why so many young bands never make it anywhere. Because theyre shit thats why! JKKKK Review by Max Thrasher

Chunky!!! Canadians drive it home again! Except this time around its a mix of Gorefest (think catchy Death) and old In Flames (melodic leads). And an Iron Maiden-ish out on A Soulless God. Not in the annoying nu way, but just a really nicely written and executed Death Metal, very heavy and punchy. Its amazing how some albums can grab you and hold you from start to finish, and this is one of those albums. Very well done! JJJJK Review by Max Thrasher

This album is a collection of re-recordings from Amorphis first three albums. As a massive fan of the Elegy record, I was excited to find four tracks off it on the new CD. All up this is an excellent compilation CD, and a great way to revisit (or experience for the first time) a chunk of the bands history. However, I dont know if its just me or not, but I found Tomi Joutsens vocals to be lacking the colour that Pasi Koskinen (original singer) brought to these songs, in particular the ones from the Elegy album. JJJKK Review by Brendon Williams

Id describe this CD as Coal Chamber and Soulfly go to France maybe with a few with more singing parts. Its good stuff, but for anyone living in NZ I dunno if itll be worth the effort tracking down a copy of the album. Youre better off going to the bands myspace and checking them out there. If I was French or knew how to speak French I would probably really love this stuff, so if you have a French connection, knock yourself out! Quite cool. JJJKK Review by Brendon Williams

BITTER END Guilty as Charged

2010 Deathwish

EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF Te Pae Mahutonga (The Southern Cross)

2010 Deadboy

RHAPSODY OF FIRE The Cold Embrace Of Fear

2010 Nuclear Blast

FORBIDDEN Omega Wave

2010 Nuclear Blast

With such a cool title such an awful record! No disputing that NZ bands are some of the most technical in the world, but polished performance isnt everything. Songwriting is what really matters in the longer run and theres not much of that here. A couple of cool intros, but then they melt into one long, pointless blastbeat with no melody. No hit here, nor anything to remember the album by. Perfectly executed, incredibly poorly written. Sorry. Next. JJKKK Review by Max Thrasher

Violent old-school Hardcore/Thrash from Texas (not to be confused with the band from Washington that was active back in the 90s). Reminds in parts of Nuclear Assault, Anthrax, Biohazard, and (somehow obviously) Black Flag. If you like this kind of music, Im pretty positive youll love it! Fast, angry, dirty, but at the same time very nicely produced stuff. It would get a little repetitive after a while, if not for a magical instrumental Suenos Muertos thrown in half way through. Very nice. JJJJK Review by Max Thrasher

ACCEPT Blood of the Nations

2010 Nuclear Blast

WHILE SHE SLEEPS The North Stands For Nothing

2010 Small Town

Well now! These fellas really are back on track again now that they are with Nuclear Blast and not tied up with Magic Circle! The second release from ROF this year, The Cold Embrace Of Fear is listed as an EP, but with 7 songs (or acts) and clocking in at close to 36 minutes, its practically an album. It is very much an orchestral work which includes voice acting (as well as narration from Christopher Lee), but there is some singing here and there as well. It is a very nice, pleasant CD to listen to. Highly recommended. JJJJK Review by Brendon Williams

Forbiddens first album in 13 years proves to be an impressive effort. So if youre one of those who misses old school metal, then grab this album and get an earful of genuine 80s Bay Area Thrash! Especially for fans of bands like Exodus, Heathen, Death Angel, Testament... you get the picture - this one should be sitting on your shelf of classic Thrash records! Its no nonsense, all action, headbanging goodness! Well done Forbidden for not only reforming successfully, but releasing a good solid album! JJJKK Review by Brendon Williams

EQUILIBRIUM Rekreatur
2010 Nuclear Blast

SWASHBUCKLE Crime Always Pays

2010 Nuclear Blast

Enter Accept 2010, with their first studio album in almost 15 years. Mark Tornillo is filling in for Udo and is doing a fine work of it. He is not exactly a Dirkschneider clone, but close enough to fit the overall sound of the band. Some very strong material here like Beat The Bastards and Teutonic Terror, which will undoubtedly please the fans. A good, quality listen you wont regret picking up. JJJJK Review by Max Thrasher

I dont even know why Im wasting time on this. This is a kind of stupid-as metalcore even metalcore fans hate. Actually, is there even such thing as metalcore fans? I dont know. What I do know is that Im actually using this CD as a coaster right now. Absolute zero. KKKKK Review by Max Thrasher

Pretty darn awesome! I would explain the sound as Finntroll on Prozac. My favorite song on the album is Die Affeninsel which translates to The Monkey Island - and its pretty clear that the song is a nod to the legendary and classic adventure video game series of the same name. Some say this record is nowhere near as good as their last album Sagas but I never heard that, so Im glad that I cant critisize the album in that way. LOVE their use of MIDI. I say get it if you like Fintroll and need cheering up :) JJJJK Review by Brendon Williams

Its Pirate Thrash, and it sounds as such. While my Pirate Metal of choice is Alestorm, Swashbuckle are certainly pillaging and plundering on this one! There seems to be no shortage of pirate themed bands setting sail these days, but the good news is that none of them seem to be outright clones of each other. Swashbuckle is a good one for Thrashers to listen to when theyre on the grog with their mateys for the evening! And with piracy so popular these days, these fellas are sure to be around for a long time to come! JJJKK Review by Brendon Williams