Orange Country, California outfit The Deliverance have completed its first album, Revelation, but the group seems like seasons veterans of the music industry. Amongst its ranks is a man of great experience, Mick Kenny, who is better known as Irrumator in the English experimental black metal group Anall Nathrakh, Kenny wrote and composed all of The Deliverance’s music. Kenny’s music will blow the minds of black metal fans because it doesn’t contain an ounce of black metal…well, everything other than the keyboards. Keys and strings are often elements of European metal, in particular black metal, and while those aspects appear on Revelation, The Deliverance is far from being an extreme metal band. Still, they throw the occasional horned formation to the most evil form of music.
The Deliverance may be a far cry from a black or death metal band, but they present a unique version of the bands that comprise the So Cal area. Sure, the band has radio sensibilities. Frontman Grant Perry possesses a voice of gold, and his lyrics are certain to nestle down someone in your brain, and his voice is a major reason the group is often hears comparisons to Avenged Sevenfold. However, the electronic and classical facets of separate The Deliverance from all the wannabe, carbon copies that liter the Orange Country coast or anywhere else in this country.
Blistering.com spoke to Petty via cyber land. He enthusiastically filled us in on the making of Revelation, working with Mick Kenny and many of the intricacies that make The Deliverance a working band of great potential.
Blistering.com: Where/how did you get your name? Any chance you might comment on a city slicker’s “perty mouth” or ask him to drop his draws?
Grant Petty: A few years back, Mick Kenney thought up the name. He was looking for something that describes the feel and emotion of the music. One day it hit him, The Deliverance, a powerful description to a powerful sound. To answer the second part of your question, ha! Only Burt Reynolds!
Blistering.com: Orange County is a hot bed for modern metal/metalcore groups, and of course, Los Angles is the entertainment hub of the world. Has it been hard breaking from the mold in these oversaturated live markets?
Petty: Not really, we have focused a great deal of time and energy into perfecting our live show. We use backing tracks and Mike the drummer plays to a click track, so every thing must be extremely tight. Every band that is really worth their salt is a true showman on stage and in the studio. I hate a band that sounds great on CD but sucks live. This is the reason I believe we have had such a positive response from fans and critics alike. We bleed our souls out on stage; it's what makes us tick.
Blistering.com: Do you feel that your unique blend of modern metal/hard rock and neo-classical elements has helped you stand out in this large field of players?
Petty: Yes, it was not planed that way at first. We just decided on not limiting ourselves to just one style of music. If strings sound cool, use them. If a scream on the bridge completes the song, then scream. You’ll find no cookie cuter band here. We just use what feels right for that particular song. Although there are a great number of great bands and players in the world, there are also an even greater number of people. We just figured: Put out great music and let fate have it's way with us.
Blistering.com: How did you connect with Mick and what does he contribute to the band?
Petty: I met him though Craigslist. That site has saved my life more than once. Every job, band and recent car I have purchased has come from this site; I can't live with out it. I probably wouldn't have met Mick without it. Mick writes all of the instrumental parts—that’s right—guitar, bass, drums, keys, and strings. He is an amazing composer and performer. I write all the lyrics and come up with all the vocal melody ideas. Mick is a pretty busy guy. He has several other projects, and just got off tour as the touring guitarist for Bleeding Through. He also has a new project called Sorrows with the singer of Bleeding Through [Brandon Schiapetti]. It sounds great! With all of this going on, he doesn't actually perform live, but is a key member of the band as co-songwriter and producer.
Blistering.com: Certain tracks have an interesting contrast of spooky atmosphere, hard riffing and commercially accessible vocals. Were you trying to capture a diverse audience with these sounds?
Petty: We like many different bands and artists of all genres. We thought it would be killer to mix them together and just see what comes out. It took several attempts to perfect the guitar tone and riff style. I could not get Mick to stop re-recording the guitars. Every time I thought it sounded great, he would delete it. Finally, one day he called me and told me he had it. Skeptically, I had to hear it. Sure enough, he finally had it! We are defiantly trying to capture a diverse audience with the sounds we use. Originally, we had about thirty song ideas or so and just picked the best of the best. Some of them...ummmm, not so good and others you (me) are hearing.
Blistering.com: Speaking of atmosphere, you use classical strings on the third track. Who played these strings and why did you decide to incorporate them into your sound?
Petty: That would be Mick. We decided to use the strings because some of the greatest music ever written is classical music; there is something about the way strings pull your emotions in all directions. We just felt that the music has such a dramatic feel with strings and there is a timeless sound when we incorporate it with our music.
Blistering.com: Does Mick supply the harsh vocals? Aren’t you afraid of scaring away the emo kids with these biting voices?
Petty: No, I do all the vocals. I'm not really a screamer but I can do it if it is called for, and on this song, it is differently called for. Not really, if you look on anybody’s mp3 player, there are usually many different styles of music, even the emo kids. I have some many different types of music I like. I can't decide what my favorite style is. Mick plays in some extreme metal bands, if you listen to them and then listen to this, you would be shocked to think the same guy wrote it. I think people are open enough to listen to good music.
Blistering.com: Your voice recalls Howard Jones of Killswitch Engage. There is a lot of passion in your vocals. Please tell our readers about developing this emotive, sing-along style.
Petty: I haven't had voice lessons and I have only bought a few CD's my whole life, so the radio was my teacher. I have always liked stuff I could remember and sing to. That’s why I sing like I do. I am not really thinking about it, that is just how it comes out. As far as emotion goes, I have had a lifetime of extreme ups and downs. I have had my struggles with money, woman and drugs. Singing is the only way I am truly able to translate my feelings to the world.
Blistering.com: The production clearly outlines each instrument, yet there is still a mean streak to your guitar sound. How do you feel about the production? Was it what you wanted?
Petty: The album turned out better than I could have expected. We literally recorded and re-recorded these tunes eight times, until we got it to sound exactly the way we wanted it. I took almost a year to complete this album. We first recorded it on our own several time and just could not get it right. Our manager Frank Watkins bought in a producer by the name of Stan V. to help us tweak it to its fullest potential. Finally, after a few more months it came out perfect.
Blistering.com: “To stay the same is why we change,” is an interesting lyric. Does this reflect a desire to strive as individuals?
Petty: It actually means, for us as a 'people' to stay unified or ‘the same,’ we must as individuals change everything within ourselves. This song was written around the time of the last election. I am personally neutral politically, but I wanted people to understand that life is give and take.
Blistering.com: You list two videos on your MySpace page. Please tell our readers about making these videos.
Petty: It was a blast! Austin Anderson shot and edited both of these videos. Each of these videos took about three to four days and were shot at many different locations. My favorite was the shooting of "Dramatic." This video has eleven people in it at six locations. It took a few months to complete, but it was a real experience.
Blistering.com: Where does The Deliverance go from here? Do you have a tour planned?
Petty: We are on the shop now; our management is presenting the album to labels as we speak. The band is practicing constantly to perfect the live show, linking the elements of the album with the raw feel of a live band. We are also shooting a few web episodes of the band that will be out in the next month, so keep checking the myspace.com/thedeliveranceband page. We plan on touring in a few months.
