Jack Starr: Keep the metal burning! (pt. 1)

NOTE: this interview was done in 2020.

An in-depth interview with Jack Starr was something I wanted to do for a long time but didn't know how to. The man together with David DeFeis founded (once) mighty Virgin Steele and  helped to forge epic and power metal. With VS, his own band Burning Starr and other projects he has released about 20 albums. How to not get lost in this ammount of records and not to miss something important in Jack's biography? Well, that wasn't an easy task, but I like such challenges! In result I got a list of around 100 questions and was thinking that Mr. Starr would tell me to go to hell with this list. But he was so kind to answer them all! Here is the first part of the interview where we spoke about Jack's first steps in music, his journey with Virgin Steele and everything else before the founding of Jack Starr's Burning Starr. 

Tragedy Divine: Revisions of power

The middle 990's weren't the best time for progressive/power metal. Yeah, the big names like Dream Theater or Savatage kept on carrying the flag, but so many bands of that era didn't get that level of attention they really deserved. Germany's Tragedy Divine were among them. I discovered their amazing album "Visions of Power" years later through the Sacred Steel connection. On September 29 Jolly Roger Records released vinyl version of this masterpiece, and that was a good reason to chat with Gerrit P. Mutz (vocals) and  Jörg M. Knittel (guitars) and remember how the album was created. 

Kent Smedley (Prodigy/Oracle/Eternal Odyssey): Music is my refuge

I wanted to do this interview for many years! Probably since I discovered "As Darkness Reigns" about 15 years ago. Everything about this album and the band was intriguing: the name (before that I knew only one Prodigy — that techno/electronic/whatever shit that was everywhere in the late 90's), the fact that two memebers of the band played with Iced Earth, and of course the music — intense, sophisticated, powerful, with top notch vocals. And there was almost no information about these guys! Then I befriended Kent Smedley (the mastermind of Prodigy) and Willian Wren (the singer), but it turned to be the same story: I decided I could do the interview any time. (I missed so many interviews because of this foolish way of thinking.) Then Kent's life became a nightmare because of issues within his family (more on that below) and William sadly passed away. Finally I took courage to ask Kent for an interview and he was so kind to say yes and to wait for a few month before I would find the time to complete my list of questions. I'm glad I did that and am thankful to Kent for his full and honest answers. Here you go! 

Skull & Crossbones: The art of sungazing

What can you expect from 4 members of Stormwitch who recorded very strong album ("Bound to the Witch", 2018) and then decided to split with the singer Andy Mück and form another band? You don't have to be as wise as Solomon to answer this question. Of course they play classic heavy metal — powerful but yet melodic! Don't let the name Skull & Crossbones to fool you — the band doesn't sing about pirates and seas, but still they have a lot to offer for all fans of Stormwitch, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest (you name it). So here we are chatting with Tobi Kipp (guitars), Tobi Hübner (vocals), Marc Oppold (drums) and Jurgen "Wanschi" Wannenwetsch (bass) about the band and their debuut album "Sungazer" which came out earlier this month on Massacre Records. 

Alkemyst: Through yesterdays lanes

France’s Alkemyst were one of the bands I discovered when I was on a power metal diet in my early 20’s. All I wanted to listen to back then were bands like Helloween, Rhapsody, Stratovarius, Labyrinth, Vision Divine, Angra and so on. And the labels didn’t let me down. The released every power metal album they could get a hold of, and I still have tons of catalogues and promotional sheets with that stuff. But even then, when the power metal scene was over flooded, Alkemyst caught my attention. High quality power metal with progressive touch from France? That was unbelievable! And they had Roberto Messina from Secret Sphere! Yes, they shot across the sky like a meteor, but they definitely left their trace! To be honest, I haven’t listened to  Alkemyst for years and didn’t know they reunited in 2016 and disbanded again in 2022, but my love to their music always has been with me. So a while ago I contacted Alkemyst’s master mind Arnaud Ménard to discuss the band’s challenging story. This is so far the longest and the most honest (I’d say brutally honest) interview I’ve done in 15 years. 

Chris Boltendahl's Steelhammer: Back to the roots

Chris Boltendahl is a pure work addict! He keeps himself (and others) busy and it seems no pandemic, flood or anything else can stop him. The albums he released with Grave Digger (2022) and Hellryder (2021) are not enough for him and here he goes with the first ever record of his solo band Steelhammer. And it's not just Chris and a bunch of guys who used to be around. The band consists of two ex-members of Oden Organ (Tobias Kersting and Lars Schneider) and one member of Iron Savior (Patrick Klose). A supergroup of Teutonic power metal I'd say. So here we are talking with Tobias Kersting about the album "Reborn in Flames".

Epidemic: The truth of what it was like

Note: the interview was done in 2015.

Along with Vio-Lence, Forbidden Legacy/Testament and some others Epidemic were part of the so called second wave of Bay Area thrash metal. The band managed to record three awesome albums, play dozens and dozens of gigs but remained relatively obscure, the band for die-hard fans of thrash so to say. But who cares when it comes to the quality of music? These guys delivered severe blend of thrash and death metal, and that's all that matters. Epidemic's bass player Mike Bodine remembers his path with Epidemic. 

Overlord SR: The power of metal

Damn! There are so many new releases every year, that it's easy to miss really cool ones. That's what happened to the latest Overlord SR album "Prepare for the King". I managed to get my hands on it only this year. The band is still going strong and kikicng asses of all USPM fans. Wildman George Koerber took the time to tell me about the album and shared some stories from the glorious past of the band. 

Refuser: Heavy Metal is a mindset

Greeks' love for metal is well known. They have shitloads of awesome bands (Firewind, Stray Gods, Battleroar, Enerald Sun, Suicidal Angels, Rotting Christ, War Dance, Sarissa — that's just a few ones from the top of my head), plenty of labels, Up the Hammers festival and so on. So I wasn't surprised when I bumped into another heavy metal outfit from Greece — Refuser. The thing that did surprise me was the quality of their debut effort. It is a well-written and diverse record for all fans of Warlord, Virgin Steele (I mean their classic albums, not the latest ones), Manowar and Queensryche. Of course I couldn't overpass this album and got in touch with the band to discuss eerything related to their impressive debut! 

EvilDead: The second coming

Note: this interview was done in 2021

“Sometimes they come back” — it’s not just a classic horror movie but also a classic of the music industry. Bands that were dead for ages get back together. Some of these reunions become successful, and bands release new albums and tour regularly. In other cases the old problems (personal clashes, music differences etc.) show up very soon. American thrashers EvilDead make the second attempt to come back. This time for real, and the album “United States of Anarchy” proves it. Rob Alaniz (drums), Karlos Medina (bass) and Robert Rangel (lyrics) explain what made the band rise from the dead once again.   

Paradox: We still have fire in us to go on

Note: the interview was done in 2017. 

The story of the German thrash metal legends Paradox lends evidence of the idea that a band’s name can be fateful. They were considered as one of the promising bands in German metal. Two brilliant albums released in the 80’s lived up these advances but the band wasn’t able to nail down this success. A paradox? A big one! Even after the comeback in the late 90’s the band continued to face unexpected twists of fate: incredible albums and cardinal line-up changes, serious sicknesses which almost sent Charly Steinhauer, the mastermind of Paradox, to skies and his wins over the Grim Reaper. One of the latest paradoxes in the career of Paradox is another line-up change after awesome release “Pangea” (2016). This time Charly decided to team up with the original members of the band and put out the sequel of the album “Heresy”. Enough reasons for an interview with Charly I guess. In the first part of the interview we spoke about the years of 2000—2016 and the second part with questions about 1983—1991 will follow!     

Circle of Silence: Reconquering the crimson throne

Note: this interview was done in 2018. 

It took 5 years for Circle Of Silence to release their third full-length album “The Crimson Throne” but it was worth the wait by any means. The new CD is perfect and the band has improved every aspect of their music: songwriting, performance, sound production, visual representation. So I decided to talk with the band closely about this masterpiece.  Guitarist Christian Sommerfeld answered the questions.  

Sanctum: Not just players but musicians

Being a metalhead is like an addiction. Once you've tatsed this forbidden fruit, you want more and more: more new CDs, new t-shirts, new albums by favorite bands, limited re-issues and of course new bands which you haven't heard yet! Thanks to metal Gods, there are labels like Arkeyn Steel, who keep on digging in metal underground and bring long gone and forgotten bands back to life. One of these bands is Sanctum. To be honest, I discovered their EP "Believers" only when it was re-released in 2020, but it excited me as much as did the very first heavy metal albums I heard around 20 years ago. So here we are talking with Ray Babula about Sanctum! 

Running Wild: Uder Jolly Roger

 Note: this interview was done in 2017

In 1987 Running Wild released “Under Jolly Roger”, the album that changed everything not only for them but for the whole metal scene. It helped the band to find its own image and stand out against the crowd of groups who sang about Satan. Years later all sorts of folk, heavy, power, death and God knows what else bands adopted piratic image too. Anyway, Running Wild managed to record an outstanding album which sounds exciting and fresh three decades later. Majk Moti (guitar) and Stefan Boriss (bass) remember the making of this gem.

The Lightbringer of Sweden: The battle rages on!

 

Almost 3 years ago these Swedes (and one German) debuted with the album “Rise of the Beast”. To be honest, it was Herbie Langhans, who caught my attention. I am his fan since Seventh Avenue’s “Tales of Tales” (1996), and I decided to give “Rise of the Beast” a spin… and was hooked immediately! So I was looking forward to the “New World Order” album. The band has strengthened its line-up with the new guitarist Carsten Stepanowicz and taken its music to the new level. To me “New World Order” is already one of the best albums of 2023! Lars Eng, the main driving force of the band, speaks about the making of the “New World Order”.

Dragonland: To the stars!

There must be something in the air in Sweden, that makes power metal bands who werent active for 10 years, come back with new albums: Freternia, Insania and now Dragonland. Last year these guys released their 6th album "Power of the Nightstar" and I contacted Elias Holmild (keyboards) and Jonas Heidgert (vocals) to discuss it in details. 

Interview with Robert Woning from Dead Head

Note: the interview was done in 2022

Vendetta: Back in black

According to Encyclopedia Metallium, there are more than 10 bands called Vendetta. But to a die-hard fan of Teutonic metal like me there is one and only Vendetta, the band that released iconic albums “Go and Live…” and “Brain Damage” back in the 80’s. Earlier this year the quintet released its new effort “Black as Coal” — solid piece of thrash metal — and I contacted singer Mario Vogel to talk about new songs, new members and all that. 

Chemical Annihilation: Out of nuclear ashes

Note: this interview was done in 2022.

The best thing about metal underground is that it is like a bottomless pit. No matter how many bands you have already heard, there are more to discover. Despite my passion to thrash metal I somehow missed Chemical Annihilation until they released "Ressurection" album in 2022. I immediately fell in love with their raw type of thrash and contacted vocalist/drummer Mike Pfau for an interview. 

Atomic Opera: The music made for eterniry

I want to begin from afar (and show off a bit). I was one of those people who approached Ed Aborn, the drummer of Siren, in 2016 for a possible interview. After a week I got an answer from Ed and that was a 65-page book about the early days of Siren! One thing led to another, and Ed rebuilt his friendship with the singer Doug Lee, they resurrected Siren, played some shows in Europe and recorded an album in 2020. What all this has to do with Atomic Opera? As you may know (or may not) the guitarist Hal Dunn played in Siren in the early days and later he and his mate Todd Grubbs joined Ed and Doug to play the abovementioned shows in Europe and record the album. Somewhere along the way they decided to bring back to life their band Atomic Opera, which Hal founded after leaving Siren in the 80’s. Glad to be in service, guys! So here we are talking to Hal and Todd about the story of Atomic Opera and the making of “Time Warp”, the band’s debut album which came out in 2021. 

Dieter Wittbecker (Pyracanda): “Fun was always important for us”

Note: this interview was done in 2018

Pyracanda is a well known band among Teutonic metal fans. Their debut album “Two Sides Of A Coin” is a nice example of high quality speed/thrash metal. Apart of that, the band was a stepping stone for guitarist Sven Fisher who later would join Rage and record with them the “Black In Mind”, “End Of All Days”, “XIII” and “Ghosts”. Although Pyracanda split-up after the second (and not very successful) record “Thorns” (later note: after the interview they reunited and played quite a few shows and currently work on a new album), the musicians carried on in Ilex and G-Reizzt. Stay Heavy had a chance to discuss all these and many other themes with Dieter Wittbecker, bass guitarist of Pyracanda, Ilex and G-Reitz.

Zeljko Knezevic: The dawn of Grinder

 

A well needed trivia. I’ve always been a huge fan of Grinder which I consider one of the finest thrash bands from Germany. Their “Dead End” pleases me more than some better known albums of Kreator, Sodom, Destruction or Tankard. I’ve done a couple interviews with Andy Erguen (one you can read here and one I’ll post soon in the blog) and in 2014 I was asked by one Russian label if it was possible to reissue Grinder’s demo “Sirens”. One thing led to another, and the owner of the label asked if Grinder’s first demo “Scared to Death” was available for reissue too. I need to say, that this demo is very rare and I had to bother Grinder’s original drummer Zeljko Knezevic and a friend of the band Timo to digitalize the demo and send it to the label. We also did an interview for the booklet of the upcoming CD. Everything was ready… and nothing happened. The label postponed the reissue for various (I suspect fake) reasons and the interview was buried on my hard drive. A while ago I managed to find it. So here is the story of the very first steps of Grinder told by Zeljko the Shellshock!

Frank Ullrich (Living Death, Holy Moses, Grave Digger): In search of perfection

For me Frank Ullrich needs no introduction, and shame on you if you are not familiar with his name! This humble man recorded some classic albums with such monsters of German metal scene like Living Death, Holy Moses, Grave Digger, X-Wild along with some smaller bands. So when I found him on Facebook, I immediately asked him for an interview. Frank kindly agreed and gave full answers to all my (sometimes unecessary) questions. 

Judicator: Being artistically honest is the key

NOTE: the interview was done in 2018.

If you are into power metal and listen not only to the veterans of the genre like Gamma Ray, Blind Guardian and Helloween, then you probably have heard the name Judicator. This American act has released its fourth album “The Last Emperor” and it rules! Tony Cordisco (guitars) and John Yelland (vocals), two founders of Judicator, agreed to discuss the making of the new album, guest appearance of Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardian), lyrical concepts of the albums, songwriting process and much more.

Archnid: Dead but not buried

Thrash metal undeground is like a bottomless pit - the more you fall into it, the deeper it is. So even after many years there are a lot of bands to discover. It just happened that I bumped into Arachnid's self-titled demo just a few years ago. Needless to say, I was really impressed! So the bend went to my "cross-questioning" list and after a while I got a chance to speak with the guitarist Paul Nicholls. As they said, seek and ye shall find. 

Enforce: We could have been right up there with the greats

Matt Rudzinski, the owner of Divebomb Records, definitely has that rare talent to find obscure bands who played top notch music! Enforce is one of these bands which I discovered through Divebomb Records in 2014. You know this feeling when your package has arrived and you can’t wait to grab the CD and put it in your record player. As soon as the song “I’ll Walk Alone” started I fell in love with this tune! Even after two years I listen to the compilation “The Final Sign” very often and each time it’s like the first time! So it was a logical step to get in touch with Nick Ellingson, the guitar player and god-father of Enforce, who used to play in another cool band from Baltimore — Have Mercy.

Leviathan: The monster is rising again

NOTE: The interview was done in 2018

Colorado based progressive metallers Leviathan have released a new album with an odd title “Can't Be Seen by Looking: Blurring the Lines, Clouding the Truth”. Well, this band has always been whatever but obvious and predictable. The new album is a good example of that — long, complex (but not complicated) and thoughtful songs hold attention during 53 minutes and when it’s over the first thing you understand is that you want some more. The album promised to be something special also because of the mighty Mark Zonder who laid down the drums and Brazilian singer Rafael Gazar who took over the vocal duties. I've got in touch with the band’s mastermind John Lutzow to enquire everything about the making of the new album.

Interview with Peter Masson and Chris F. Brank (ex-Grave Digger)

 

Grave Digger were one of the bands which turned me on heavy metal. I was 14 and listened to various music trying to figure out what suits me better. I was already into Maiden and Helloween and then I heard "Tunes of War". Remember that demonic roar in the beginning of "Scotland United"? I literally shitted my pants and thoight, "Wow! That IS my music!" I became a life-long fan and of course I loved "Heavy Metal Breakdown", "Witch Hunter", even "War Games" and "Stronger Than Ever"! For years and years I asked myself: "Where is Peter Masson, the guy who wrote or co-wrote all those anthems from the early albums?" The search was over in 2021 and Peter agreed to answer my questions about his past life with Grave Digger and other projects he's been playing with. His colleague and band mate Chris F. Brank also contributed to the interview!  

Shadowkeep: Pure Metal Strikes Back!

NOTE: this interview was done in 2018

After successful album “The Hourglass Effect” British band Shadowkeep went on a very long hiatus. It took 10 years to return with the new album which is called plain and simple — “Shadowkeep”. The core duo — Nikki Robson and Chris Allen — managed not only to keep the rhythm section (Stony Grantham — bass, Omar Hayer — drums) but reinforce the band with the world premiere singer James Rivera. “Metal Majesty” is checking on how the things are going in the Shadowkeep’s camp and Nikki Robson is answering.

Interview with Jappe Myllyvirta of Excalion

In the early 2000's, when Excalion released teir first album, they were called the new Stratovarius. Yes, they had everything to become "the next big thing" from Finland, but for whatever reason that didn't happen. Did it stop them? No way! The band kept on releasing new albums on a regular basis and all of them were good - inspiring European power metal with a lot of melodies and great musicanship. The new album simply entiteled "VI" keeps that line. I've got in touch with Excalion's mastermind Jarmo "Jappe" Myllyvirta (thank you to (Angelo Mora of Scarlet Records for making this possible!) and with some help of Tero Vaaja (ex-guitarist of Excalion who still helps the band with lyrics) we discussed everything related to the making of "VI". 

Interview with German speed metal band Calderone

Back in the 80's Germany produced a lot (I mean A LOT) of excellent speed metal bands who combined fast riffs with catchy melodies. Some of them became well-known but many of these bands remained obscure. Calderone, the band from Berlin, broke up just after one EP but what an EP that was! I did this interview with Chris Mosch (drums), Marc Alexey (guitars) and Jorg Franke in 2015. A lot of things have happened since then (the band released full-length album "Full Metal Injection", for example, and Jorg Franke rejoined Calderone just a few days ago), so go to Calderone's official FB page to check out the latest news. Below you can find an interesting jorney to the days where it all started!