Hatchet
By:
The San Francisco Bay Area - aka ground zero to the Golden Era of Thrash Metal - is starting to explode once again. It seems like in the past year more notable thrash bands have caught the collective ear of the heavy music world than there have been in recent memory. The youngbloods in Hatchet: Marcus Kirchen (vocals), Julz Ramos (guitar), Sterling Bailey (guitar), Dan Voight (bass), and Alex Perez (drums) are at the forefront of this new movement, but not by choice. They just happen to be good at pumping out some killer thrash tunes.
Now many of you may be wondering, “What does thrash still have to offer? Isn’t its heyday over? St. Anger is not the thrash I know and love.” It turns out Hatchet shares many of the same frustrations as the everyday metal-lover. Founded in 2005, the soon-to-be-bandmates felt there was a need for someone to put a fresh perspective on what many had said was a tiring scene. These growing musical irritants were the main fodder to their subsequent formation and evolution.
Now with their debut album, Awaiting Evil (Metal Blade), about to be released, they’re known as one of the few bands trying to bring a once lauded form of metal back on the map as a style that should be both feared and respected in equal measure.
Before letting the music speak for itself Blistering had a chance to pose a couple questions to Marcus and Sterling to give their opinions about what it’s like to be a band on the frontline of a possible metal resurgence.
Blistering.com: The San Francisco Bay Area has started a long line of amazing thrash bands on their paths to greatness. Being from the same location, your name is constantly held up next to the likes of Metallica and Testament among others. Is it burdensome to be routinely compared to those names or do you relish in it?
Marcus: We are very influenced by those bands, but we definitely have our own take on how we play thrash. I think by listening to this album, it proves that we aren’t just here to copy our influences and rehash their music. We all put a lot of thought into how we write our songs. We feel we are definitely writing a new chapter in the history of thrash metal. We want to be proud of our music and not look back and say, "FUCK! I was trying to hard to copy this" or something like that. It’s more like going with the organic flow of what we were feeling at the time.
Sterling: I think Hatchet sounds like Hatchet. We definitely take a lot of influence from band such as Testament, Exodus, Metallica, and Vio-lence but we don't want to be copies of them. We want to be unique and do something new. It's an honor for us and many other bands from the Bay to carry the torch of thrash metal.
Blistering.com: How does it feel being one of the few bands helming what's being called the New Wave of Bay Area Thrash?
Marcus: It is a great accomplishment. It shows that bands like us are planting the seed in everyone’s minds. We have watched this scene grow from nothing. And now there are some excellent bands coming up all over the Bay Area. Also, since we do have our own unique style of playing it is a bit encouraging for other bands to express there originality, and I can definitely say that the personality of each band is proving to shine.
Everybody knows each other here, from before we had bands. We knew each other from drinkin' beers in the parking lot before gigs, and goin’ to parties together. Now that we are all playing in bands and doing shows it’s a trip to see more kids who are picking up on it. Us and bands like Fog of War, Devastator, and Dekapitator, have really shown the younger kids that they can set up shows, and do there part to help it all grow. It’s all really inspiring to us!
Blistering.com: Playing such visceral music in a recording studio must be vastly different than at one of your chaotic live shows. How did the recording process go for your debut album Awaiting Evil?
Marcus: [Awaiting Evil] was our first experience as a band in a real recording studio. All I can say was that the vocals came out so aggressive and perfect because I had just found out that I would be put on an extensive court probation program a couple hours prior. I was pissed and you can really here it in some of those parts. I wanted that to come out and I felt very happy with the results! Now that I look back on it, I am proud of myself. It’s the first recording I've ever done where I can hear my vocals and actually dig them!
Sterling: We decided that we should record the songs all together instead of everyone doing there own separate takes. I think by doing that it gives the album a lot more energy and aggression. Since it was our first time in a studio, I was super nervous about playing all the tracks perfect but in reality, that is almost impossible. We didn't want to use a click track so we made sure that every song was really fast. Now, when I listen to the CD songs like “Frailty,” [they] sound almost too fast.
|
