THEIR THIRD ALBUM IS FINALLY AVAILABLE VIA PURE STEEL RECORDS AFTER ALMOST 25 YEARS SINCE THEIR PREVIOUS ONE, DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR, NOW TO KNOW SOMETHING MORE ABOUT THIS NEW CHAPTER, OVERTURE TO MADNESS, I'M TALKING TO THEIR SINGER GEOFF MCGRAW AND THEIR LEAD GUITARIST JEO SIMS. LET'S FIND OUT!Hi Joe, hi Geoff and welcome on the Bible of Metal! 25 years have passed since the release of your previous album, how are you living your turning back?
JOE - It's A LOT better situation now than it was back when Axemaster last released new material (1991 "5 Demons"). The band now is the best one I have ever been a part of, everyone is a great musician, but what is just as important is that they are also great people. Plus I am in a much better place in life than I was back then, in a far better state of mind so I can really enjoy this whole situation. Because of all this, everything that happened back when Axemaster was active before seems like it was a lifetime ago. Things are a lot different and I'm a lot different, a lot better!!!! So, not only do I think "Overture to Madness" is the best release that I have ever been a part of, but because of the way things are now, Axemaster has a much better chance of being A LOT more successful than it ever has been!!!!
Geoff - Hello, glad to be here.
When have you started working on your new Overture to Madness?
JOE - It took quite a while, I started writing the songs that would end up on the album more than 5 years ago. It took a lot of extra time mainly because I produced and mastered the album in my home studio and I did not have any experience at doing a professional release on my own. So there was A LOT of trial and error, but I was lucky enough to have 3 different pro producers who helped greatly by telling me things I needed to do or not to do (especially one named S.A. Adams), that helped a whole lot. I put the extra time and effort needed in production because I knew that a release with demo quality sound was not going to help us a whole lot in this day and age (back in the 80's things were much different!!!). Unless everything was totally pro I knew we would not be able to have the album put out by a quality label which is what we really needed to move forward. Plus, I always believed that the quality of the songs themselves made them to where they deserved to be released with a good sound!!!! It also delayed things that we had to replace singers halfway through, so we had to find the right person (Geoff!!!) and he had to re-write all the lyrics.
Geoff - The lyrics were all written and recorded starting early/mid 2013 , and finally completed when our guest vocalist, Juan Ricardo of Sunless Sky, for "Epic" was selected in early 2014.
What was your main inspiration during the writing of the songs for your new album?
JOE - What inspires me above anything else whenever I write is a true love for metal. I'm addicted to heavy metal, it's been my main passion in life for a good 35 years, so it means a WHOLE LOT to me to write as kick ass of material as I possibly can so other people can enjoy rocking out to my music the way I have with my favorite tunes since I was a kid. This release is extra important to me because I think of Axemaster as my baby, and since this was the first release of new material by the band since like 91, it means even more than a usual release because it defines us as a current project. So I put even more time and effort into writing these songs than I did for any release I was ever a part of. I really think the extra work shows through on the whole album!!!!
Geoff - My writing of the lyrics was inspired by many different things. Probably the biggest was a personal event that was the culmination of many years of frustration, anger , and my inability to make changes in it. Because they were all written within the months following that event there is a lot of genuine anger and pain in many of the lyrics on this album. I also drew inspiration from suffering debilitating migraine headaches, as well as my love for novels, video games, and history.
How would you describe Overture to Madness?
JOE - Musically, I see the material as mainly a mix of doom and thrash. It has the very dark riffs and feel of doomy bands like some Sabbath and Candlemass; but it also has the energy and quicker, crunchy guitar of non-speed metal thrash like early Metallica and some Slayer. There is also a small hint of more "traditional" metal like Iron Maiden and earlier Savatage. Overall, a WHOLE lot of time and effort went into every little detail of writing, performance, and production of every tune. During the entire process of doing the album, from the very start when I was writing the music up through final mastering, it was a major goal of mine to make sure there would be no "filler" songs on it. So many albums have a few really killer songs but the rest are (at best) very ordinary and average. I put a lot of work into making sure that ALL the tunes on "Overture to Madness" would be as kick ass as possible.
Geoff - Honestly I think the title sums up the feel of the album perfectly, there is a lot of songs that question where the border between sanity and insanity lies, not in so many words but in the feel and intent. For instance, how far are we as people are willing to go and what event might push us over the edge.
Could you tell us more about your first single taken of Overture to Madness, Sanity's Requiem?
JOE - I think the tune is a good example of what I mentioned before about "thrash meets doom". Most of the song features crunchy guitar with a really thrashy edge, but the chorus riff has a very dark style/feel, like something Tony Iommi might write. Even though the chorus guitar is very doom metal without crunch, it stays consistent and fits well with the rest of the song because the drums stay the same basic style (mid-paced thrash) through the whole tune. I think that kind of change in a song really helps to keep it from getting boring like it could be if we did the same exact type of thing throughout. While it was still in production, we played songs from the album for a very select few people and got very good feedback about "Sanitys Requiem", which is one reason why we used it for the video.
Geoff - This is the song that got the whole feel for the album rolling for me. Sanitys Requiem is about the journey into madness, watching the beast rise from within yourself and take over "This clawed monster I see". Eventually falling so far that return from madness is impossible "Sowing darkness eternally". Friedrich Nietzche is quoted as saying "Battle not with monsters lest ye become a monster; and if you gaze into the abyss the abyss gazes into you.". I took a spin on this and included the spoken word portion "Stare not too long into the abyss, else the abyss stares back into you", I think this is true. If we spend too much time focused on the core of things that are bad within ourselves, we are consumed by them and become those things. Sanitys Requiem is about that fall into the abyss.
What does Crimson Haze talks about?
Geoff - Crimson haze is a combination of things, but essentially it comes down to a vicious beating. It's a depiction of the animal that lives inside everyone of us, and what would happen if it ran out of control after someone hurt us badly enough. What if, after a betrayal of sufficient magnitude, that animal emerged and literally obliterated the person or persons that caused such hurt? This song is also about a type of madness.
Who do we have to thank for the cool artwork?
JOE - All the artwork was taken from a couple paintings that were done in the 1600's by a guy named Pieter Claesz from northern Europe (I don't remember what country he was from). I did some edits on them and suggested to Pure Steel that we did everything in B&W. They were really cool about doing most of the things I suggested overall. We did originally have an artist who was going to do the cover, but he ended up quitting the project not long before our deadline so I put a lot of hours into trying to find art that fit with the album title. I really hit the jackpot on that one because I love the way everything looks!!!
Will you release a new single from Overture to Madness?
JOE - We might, I would definitely like to at least do a video for another song. But before we do we want the album to get around more and get as much feedback from fans as possible about which are their favorite songs. Of course we have our personal favorites, but in my experience, the songs from a release that end up being the most popular are often not what the band members would pick as the best. So before we consider promoting another certain song or possibly doing another video, we need as many opinions as possible because we want to go with what the fans want!!!!!
Geoff - I'd like the next single to be something that those who have listened to the album like and want to see a video of. Usually it's the other way around, where the artist and label choose that. I'd like to break that mold.
What are your plan for the next future?
JOE - In the immediate future we will be mainly promoting the album as much as possible and playing as many good shows as possible. We will also keep writing new material, we already have a few new tunes that may be on our next album and plan to record a couple of them. There are also a couple other very cool things that might end up happening in the not too distant future, but I don't want to those possibilities until they are more of a sure thing. Fans who are interested in staying up to date should check our website or Facebook page from time to time to see what's happening with us!!!!
Geoff - Like Joe said we have been busy writing again already. At this time we have 3 new songs and 2 rearrangements of classic older tunes. 4 of those are being included in our live set. I hope we hit the road soon and keep working on the next album, that's what I would like to do.
Would you like to leave a message to the readers?
JOE - Thanks for checking out the interview and I hope you will give our new album a listen! The band has a long history going back to the mid 80's and has a few older releases that you can read about and hear selected material from on our website. You can also see us on Facebook. We thank all our great fans for your kick ass support of Axemaster for all these years. You are the best, we have you to thank for being were we are today and will never forget that, YOU RULE!!!!!!
Geoff - I'd like to send a thank you to all the fans out there that kept the name of Axemaster alive for so long, because of you I am able to be a part of something very cool, and I look forward to meeting everyone of you that I can.
We have come to chew bubblegum and kick ass.....and we're all out of bubblegum.
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