Penetrator
The name Penetrator may
sound new to most of you, however, the musicians that consist the band
have a history in music almost as long as heavy metal itself. After the
release of the magnificent "Unleash The Fury" we had a really interesting
chat with the band's mainmen Bess Ross and Maxel Black. Let's see what
they told us...
1.OK!I READ IN THE BIO THAT YOUR MANAGEMENT
SENT ME, THAT YOU HAVE A LONG STORY IN THE METAL SCENE. SO, CAN YOU TELL
US IN A FEW WORDS, WHAT YOU DID BEFORE FORMING PENETRATOR AND HOW DO YOU
COLLABORATE IN THIS BAND?
Bess Ross : I started in the industry as a
professional guitar tech for Tony Iommi during the Never Say Die tour which
ended in 1981. I came home and started working with Anvil, helping them
out at shows. Later I started playing guitar with various bands, which
included recording with Brawl and Travelin War.
Maxel Black: I met Bess Ross at a Dio concert.
I was singing for the band Mastery at the time. I later went on to record
a CD with Maniacal called Sinkhole to Hell. It was produced by Eidolon
guitarist Glen Drover and featured harmonic highlights by him.
Bess Ross:Simon Vanderzand joined forces with
Penetrator as the drummer/Engineer/Co-Producer. We recorded the PENETRATOR
CD «Unleash the Fury» at his studio The Sound Lounge. Simon
has been playing professionally since the age of sixteen. His previous
recording acts include Static Eden and The Love Letter Refuge. David T
Green was the wildcard. He walked in straight out of an ad with his bass
in hand, just like the gunslinger he is and blew apart our brains. He still
remains to be our mystery man. Everyone one in the band has input into
the way the songs are written and recorded. The music and melodies seem
come at the same time. Maxel starts singing the second I hit a series of
chords and then the rest of the band follows suite.
2.AS I MENTIONED ABOVE YOU HAVE MANY YEARS OF
EXPERIENCE IN THE METAL SCENE AND THIS MEANS THAT YOU ARE NOT A BAND FORMED
BY YOUNGSTERS. SO, WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE WITH PENETRATOR? WHICH ARE
YOUR AIMS?
We want the world to hear our music and see
us play. We’d like to stir emotions, open minds and have people make their
own judgements. We want to paint the world with sound.
3.YOUR ALBUM HAS SUCH A VARIETY AND ALTHOUGH EACH
SONG INCLUDED HERE BELONGS TO THE CLASSIC HEAVY METAL GENRE, IT DIFFERS
FROM THE OTHER RELEASES. HOW DID YOU ACHIEVE THAT? WHICH ARTISTS AND BANDS
INFLUENCED YOU?
The list is just far too long to mention.
We decided it was going to be kitchen sink metal with no stone unturned.
We’ll try anything if it works. We just simply write what comes into our
hearts.
4.THE CD DOESN'T INCLUDE ANY LYRICS, BUT FROM
WHAT I COULD HEAR, I THINK YOU MAINLY SPEAK OF THE HEAVY METAL WAY OF LIVING.
AM I RIGHT? WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THEM? WHICH OTHER TOPICS INTRIGUE TALKING
ABOUT?
We write about life experiences, mainly ours.
We also deal with world issues and topics you read about in the news. But
once in a while we just write something totally off the wall, something
with a sense of humor. Maxel writes the body of lyrics, but we all toss
around the ideas of the songs.
5.THIS QUESTION IS FOR MAXEL BLACK: MAXEL, YOU
HAVE A GREAT VOICE WHICH SOMETIMES BROUGHT TO MY MIND SINGERS LIKE WAREL
DANE (SANCTUARY ERA), DIO AND ROB HALFORD. ARE THE ABOVE MENTIONED ARTISTS
INDEED AMONGST YOUR INFLUENCES? DO YOU LIKE SANCTUARY?
I take all the influences I have, which are
massive, and mix them all together like a painter mixing every tint, hue
and shade he can so he can create a new color, only to end up with the
color Maxel Black.
6.BESS ON THE PHOTO INCLUDED IN THE BOOKLET OF
"UNLEASH THE FURY", YOU WEAR A PUNISHER T-SHIRT. HAVE YOU SEEN THE MOVIE?
DID YOU LIKE IT? WHICH ARE YOUR FAVORITE COMIC HEROES?
No, I haven’t seen the movie. I use to read
comic books all the time. My favorites are The Punisher, Spiderman and
The Hulk. The Hulk is what Penetrator is all about. In your face fury.
Non-stop relent.
7.YOU HAVE A COLLABORATION WITH METAL QUEEN MANAGEMENT.
ARE YOU SATISFIED SO FAR? HOW DOES THE MANAGEMENT HELP YOU TO PROMOTE YOUR
MUSIC?
Betty does her best with the resources she
has. She books us into local shows and works hard to get our CD out to
as many people as she can. But there have also been a lot of other forces
at work. Other Promoters, booking agents, bar owners and even bands have
had a hand in getting us gigs. We also must not forget all the magazines,
DJ’s, and friends who all have contributed to our growing success. Most
importantly, we need to thank all our fans, who buy the CD and come out
to our shows. Without our fans, Penetrator wouldn’t exist.Thanks Betty.
We love you!
8.YOU OPENED A LIVE SHOW FOR EIDOLON. HOW DID
YOU FEEL WHEN YOU OPENED FOR SUCH A GREAT BAND? WHAT KIND OF PERSONS ARE
EIDOLON? DID THEY HELP YOU IN ANY WAY?
Excellent! Pat and Glen are friends of the
band. They asked us to open for them and we were honored. YES. They are
a great band.
9.WHICH ELEMENTS AND EMOTIONS DO YOU THINK THAT
YOU'D LIKE TO EVOLVE MORE ON YOUR NEXT ALBUM AND WHY?
More blood, more sweat, more tears, because
we are an emotional band and we do sing about real life issues.
10.IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD IT
BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
If it were an emotion: Desire.
As a painting: Explosions of color.
11.IF TIME TRAVEL WAS POSSIBLE, WHAT PERIOD WOULD
YOU LIKE TO VISIT AND WHY?
Bess: 1981, the year the metal scene started
to take off.
Maxel: 1969. I’d like to go to Woodstock and
see Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin and every band that played.
12.WHICH WORDS DO YOU THINK DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC
THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY AND WHAT PHRASE SUMS UP YOUR CAREER THIS FAR?
A comet streaking across a pitch-black sky,
and exploding like a ball of fire on impact. LUCKY!
13.DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR LIVE SHOWS OR FOR
TOURING? WHICH WILL BE THE NEXT STEPS FOR PENETRATOR?
Lots. Bring us to Greece! We love you! Penetration
for the Nation!
14.THANK YOU! HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK YOU ANYTHING
AND YOU'D LIKE TO MENTION?
Thanks for your interest. We look forward
to coming to your beautiful country soon and meeting you. We’d like to
take the opportunity to thank all our fans.
Nick “William_Kidd”
Parastatidis
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