Reporting for The Metal Voice on the East Coast Kenny Kessel sat down with Mr. Big Frontman Eric Martin at Daryl’s House in Pawling, NY doing an acoustic set on Dec 16 2021.
Martin spoke to him about touring with Geoff Tate, singing on the next Avantasia album, the legacy of Mr. Big, Rush and the passing of MR. Big drummer Pat Torpey plus a much more.
When asked if there are any new plans to work on a new Avantasia Album “I just sang on the new Avantasia record, I just did that me and Tobie (Tobias Sammet) and through Avantasia I got to be really good friends with Geoff Tate.”
When asked about the upcoming Geoff Tate Tour in 2022 ” Both of us are flying to Germany (Geoff Tate and Eric Martin) and rehearsing with Avantasia (End of May 2022 about). Then June, July, August 2022, about 15 shows with Avantasia. Now in between those things Geoff goes off to Ireland and I am playing all over Europe doing acoustic. I might be out there for three months in Europe. Then when I come home August 2022 I don’t know if I can say this or not but then I ‘m going to go out with Geoff Tate for three months in the USA.”
Canada’ The Metal Voice recently spoke to both Matt Barlow and Tim Ripper Owens (Ex Iced Earth) about the new upcoming album from Ashes of Ares entitled ‘Emperors and Fools’ via Rock Of Angels Records on January 21 2022. Tim Ripper Owens joins Barlow on the last track off the album called ‘ Monster’s Lament’. Both singers have never done an interview together up until now or on an album together.
In the chat Former Judas Priest, Iced Earth singer Tim Ripper Owens also gave quick update on the KK’s Priest happenings, he told The Metal Voice, “I’m going to head out to England eventually in the New Year and probably hang out with K.K. (Downing) and the guys and probably do some rehearsing. I know he (KK) has mentioned we are going to start to writing the new record, we might try to record it while we are waiting to go on tour. It’s not easy band to get on the road cause he (KK) is not playing small venues, he is only playing big venues.”
You can watch the whole interview here as well as read some of the Q and A below.
When asked Matt Barlow what he did differently music wise on this new album vs the last Ashes of Ares album? “The only thing I can say is the outcome of this record is a little thrasher a little bit more an ode to the stuff that I started cutting my teeth on in the 80’s and probably the same with Freddie Vidales (guitarist). Freddie has a diverse influence as well as everybody in metal and is influenced to some degree by Maiden. For me the Bay Area stuff was huge for me in the 80’s it was just hitting hard. Metallica just blew the roof off of it, it was just a giant flood. Testament, you got Death Angel, Forbidden on and on and on, some many thrashy bands. It was a really big influence for me when I was doing my first original band with my brother in Cauldron. We were very much influenced by the thrash aspect of it and a little bit of Pantera that kind of thing. So this record for me has a lot more of a feel of that thrashy Bay Area sound. I don’t know if Freddie would agree with me exactly but I think that it’s there I think people will definitely hear it. We really weren’t going for a polished sound either, we were just trying to make it pretty raw . Obviously I am still doing some layered vocals on the album but I hope people like it.”
Matt tell us about Ripper Owens Contribution to the Track on the album called ‘Monster’s Lament’ “We were bouncing the idea of Tim working with us on the last record on this song, so this song is basically a hold over from the last record. This was Freddie’s creation. He composed it, he wrote the lyrics for it, I did the vocal melodies then took my idea to Tim and he rocked it out, he put his Ripper signature on it. I think fans are going to dig it , it’s me and Tim doing what we do and highlighting what we highlight in our voices. I think the song lent itself to being a really cool dark story. If I am playing a character this is probably the biggest A hole character I played in a song. “
Tim tell us about working with Matt on this song? “We have been friends forever and always talked about it and Freddie reached out to me to do it and it was a no brainer, I didn’t even have to listen to it I knew it was going to rock. Our voices go so good together, they are different yet we do the same thing. I would love to do more with Matt as well. It is so much fun. It was such a great song to do and I look forward to doing other songs. I would describe this song as a journey, it takes you in, it’s like watching a movie except listening to it. The song has a lot to it just brings you in, it is really something great”
When the two were asked if they would ever consider doing a show together “I think that would be an amazing thing, that would be fun, we don’t live all that far from each other but it’s hard with schedules but I think that would be a blast, it would be awesome. “Ripper
TRACK LIST: 1. A City in Decay (Intro) 2. I Am the Night 3. Our Last Sunrise 4. Primed 5. Where God Fears to Go 6. Emperors and Fools 7. By My Blade 8. What Tomorrow Will Bring 9. The Iron Throne 10. Gone 11. Throne of Iniquity (CD Exclusive Track) 12. Monster’s Lament
Ashes Of Ares: Matt Barlow – Vocals Freddie Vidales – Guitars, Bass
Guests: Drums on all tracks by Van Williams Keyboard intro composed by Jonah Weingarten 1st solo “The Iron Throne” by WileyArnett of Sacred Reich 2nd solo “The Iron Throne” by CharlieMark 2nd solo “Monster’s Lament” by BillHudson Guest vocals “Monster’s Lament” by TimRipperOwens Keyboards “Monster’s Lament” by BrianTrainor
Canada’ The Metal Voice recently spoke to both Matt Barlow and Tim Ripper Owens (Ex Iced Earth) about the new upcoming album from Ashes of Ares entitled ‘Emperors and Fools’ via Rock Of Angels Records on January 21 2022. Tim Ripper Owens joins Barlow on the last track off the album called ‘ Monster’s Lament’. Both singers have never done an interview together up until now or on an album together.
When asked Matt Barlow what he did differently music wise on this new album vs the last Ashes of Ares album? “The only thing I can say is the outcome of this record is a little thrasher a little bit more an ode to the stuff that I started cutting my teeth on in the 80’s and probably the same with Freddie Vidales (guitarist). Freddie has a diverse influence as well as everybody in metal and is influenced to some degree by Maiden. For me the Bay Area stuff was huge for me in the 80’s it was just hitting hard. Metallica just blew the roof off of it, it was just a giant flood. Testament, you got Death Angel, Forbidden on and on and on, some many thrashy bands. It was a really big influence for me when I was doing my first original band with my brother in Cauldron. We were very much influenced by the thrash aspect of it and a little bit of Pantera that kind of thing. So this record for me has a lot more of a feel of that thrashy Bay Area sound. I don’t know if Freddie would agree with me exactly but I think that it’s there I think people will definitely hear it. We really weren’t going for a polished sound either, we were just trying to make it pretty raw . Obviously I am still doing some layered vocals on the album but I hope people like it.”
Matt tell us about Ripper Owens Contribution to the Track on the album called ‘Monster’s Lament’ “We were bouncing the idea of Tim working with us on the last record on this song, so this song is basically a hold over from the last record. This was Freddie’s creation. He composed it, he wrote the lyrics for it, I did the vocal melodies then took my idea to Tim and he rocked it out, he put his Ripper signature on it. I think fans are going to dig it , it’s me and Tim doing what we do and highlighting what we highlight in our voices. I think the song lent itself to being a really cool dark story. If I am playing a character this is probably the biggest A hole character I played in a song. “
Tim tell us about working with Matt on this song? “We have been friends forever and always talked about it and Freddie reached out to me to do it and it was a no brainer, I didn’t even have to listen to it I knew it was going to rock. Our voices go so good together, they are different yet we do the same thing. I would love to do more with Matt as well. It is so much fun. It was such a great song to do and I look forward to doing other songs. I would describe this song as a journey, it takes you in, it’s like watching a movie except listening to it. The song has a lot to it just brings you in, it is really something great”
When the two were asked if they would ever consider doing a show together “I think that would be an amazing thing, that would be fun, we don’t live all that far from each other but it’s hard with schedules but I think that would be a blast, it would be awesome. “Ripper
TRACK LIST: 1. A City in Decay (Intro) 2. I Am the Night 3. Our Last Sunrise 4. Primed 5. Where God Fears to Go 6. Emperors and Fools 7. By My Blade 8. What Tomorrow Will Bring 9. The Iron Throne 10. Gone 11. Throne of Iniquity (CD Exclusive Track) 12. Monster’s Lament
Ashes Of Ares: Matt Barlow – Vocals Freddie Vidales – Guitars, Bass
Guests: Drums on all tracks by Van Williams Keyboard intro composed by Jonah Weingarten 1st solo “The Iron Throne” by WileyArnett of Sacred Reich 2nd solo “The Iron Throne” by CharlieMark 2nd solo “Monster’s Lament” by BillHudson Guest vocals “Monster’s Lament” by TimRipperOwens Keyboards “Monster’s Lament” by BrianTrainor
Jimmy Kay along with Queensryche singer Todd LaTorre interviewed former Ozzy guitarist Gus G about his new Instrumental solo album ‘Quantum Leap’ which was released October 8, 2021 via AFM.
Plus Gus G also shared his thoughts on Ozzy’s first four albums.
When asked which of the first Two Ozzy albums (Randy Rhoads era) he prefers “I cannot really pick which one I like more. The biggest hit of course is on the first album (Blizzard of Ozz) ‘Crazy Train’ but the second album (Diary of a Madman) is the one that I was exposed to first. From an emotional side, that was the first album I heard from Ozzy. They both have my top spot. What made the Randy Rhoads’ albums so special was a combination of things, it was the way he blended a European flavour of playing with a classic American rock style. Randy Rhoads was able to play metal riffs and leads and kind of put them in a sort of pop rock song format for the radio. What Zakk Wylde had said was that Rhoads was like the prototype of the modern metal guitar player and I really agree with that statement. There are just so many things that made Randy Rhoads special.”
When asked about his opinion on Ozzy’s Bark at the Moon Album “The title track, it has to be one of my favorite Ozzy songs and when we played live with Ozzy we opened the shows with that and it was fantastic,”
What about The Ultimate Sin? “I love the song ‘Shot in the dark’ and there are also a lot of hidden gems on that album too like, ‘Lightning Strikes Again’, ‘Killer of Giants’. I Remember telling Ozzy how I liked the album and he told me how much he hated the album because it was a bad period in his life and he didn’t like the mix.”
About Quantum Leap Quantum Leap was assembled in pieces, featuring new compositions and material taken from Gus’ “riff vault”, where he stores unfinished ideas and revisits them when he’s able. The album started as a full-on solo outing, with Gus programming drums and playing guitar, bass and keyboards, but a chance encounter with drummer Vincent Velasco – who volunteered his services and subsequently blew Gus away – opened up the production. Producer / engineer Dennis Ward, who was responsible for mixing and mastering Quantum Leap ended up laying down bass tracks on eight of the 10 tracks.
Unlike many instrumental albums, Quantum Leap doesn’t feel like a musical root canal or long and drawn- out brain surgery. Each of the 10 tracks are solid and compact musical ideas, with Gus’ guitar acting as the voice. In this respect, writing Quantum Leap was a challenge because he is so used to writing in a specific formula utilizing vocals. He found himself falling into the loop of overplaying a few times during the production because of the lack of vocals, but was able to overcome the problem once he acknowledged it.
“When I first wrote ‘Exosphere’, for example, there were so many things going on in the track but it wasn’t saying anything,” says Gus. “I really needed to have the guitar taking a vocal approach. I knew that if I just kept the playing technical it wasn’t going to be enjoyable. So the playing isn’t always about technique, and once I found the formula it was easier to create melodies for the record.”
“I’m a guitar player and I cannot stand most instrumental guitar albums,” he adds. “The classic are the classics, but very rarely do I get into them because after the third track it just seems like an endless guitar solo where everything that sounds the same. That’s something I wanted to avoid on Quantum Leap and I think I succeeded in doing that.”
GusG. (Guitars), Dennis Ward (Bass, Vocals), Will Hunt (Drums)
The Metal Voice’s Jimmy Kay and Alan Dixon recently interviewed legendary songwriter and bassist Bob Daisley (Rainbow, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath) about his Book ‘For Facts Sake’. Bob has appeared a few times on The Metal Voice going in depth about his career with Gary Moore and his court proceedings and time with Ozzy.
This time Bob talks about the making of Black Sabbath’s ‘Eternal Idol’, convincing Motley Crue not to fire guitarist Mick Mars, plus writing with Steve Vai for Ozzy and a lot more
When asked about the making of Eternal Idol “I have never really worked with Tony before this album. Tony is great, I love his playing, his writing, his sound. Everything that he plays is a classic riff, they just pour out of him and they are just not throw away riffs, they are all really really good valid riffs. It was great for me. I enjoyed it, it was 1986. Eric Singer was on drums and Eric and I got along very well. Ray Gillan was the vocalist (at first). We all got on fine. “
When asked if he wrote the lyrics with Ray Gillan at the time “Ray had some scratch lyrics written and a couple of the others put bits in. A lot of them (lyrics) weren’t that great. They asked me to write the lyrics for the songs, which I did. There are some lines I left in there of Ray’s. “
When asked about the exit of Ray Gillan “I don’t know the full circumstances cause I wasn’t with the band at that point but when Ray left I don’t know if there was a fall out or what happened between him and management or Tony or whatever it was. But his vocals have already been recorded but they didn’t use them because they knew that they were replacing him with Tony Martin. So they got Tony Martin to re-do everything and released it that way. It went for years and years without anyone hearing the Ray Gillan’s version. They were Ray Gillan’s melodies and phrasing and that is what came from Ray’s heart. Tony martin did an admirable great job of replacing what Ray had done. The initial thing came from Ray. When you hear Ray’s version, it’s the version.”
When asked if he got paid for Eternal idol “I did get paid but I was weary of the whole situation because I knew everyone was unhappy and I thought why go into a situation plus I was very happy working with Gary Moore at the time. I think the Sabbath album Eternal Idol is underrated and is a very good album.”
When asked about a seance he did with Randy Rhoads during the Blizzard of Ozz Era “That rehearsal place was reputed to be haunted and it probably was, there were little things that happened and I wrote about them in the book. I think one night we were in that mood and we would sit down and have a seance and we did the letter and numbers and the glass and all that. Some things came out. It did say things to Randy (Rhoads) that freaked us all out. We threw all the bits of paper and numbers and glass into the fireplace and put salt on the table. Cause it was not a good vibe and it was not good news and was not a good prediction, it was pretty awful.”
When asked about the time he and Steve Vai tried to write an Ozzy album “That was an honour as well and it was great but it didn’t really work out for Ozzy and Steve Vai for whatever reasons. I don’t know the full details. I was at home and I got the phone call will you come and co-write the next album (Ozzy). I loved the idea of working with Steve Vai and Ozzy together. So we went to Steve Vai’s studio in L.A. and we began putting down tracks with Steve on some of the stuff and then we went to New York and began writing and rehearsing in the Sony studios. But then all of a sudden it all fizzled out, the plug was pulled. I’ve got some recordings from those sessions. It was mostly me, Steve Vai and the drummer Deen Castronovo a very good drummer.”
When asked how he convinced Motley Crue not to fire Mick Mars “That night after the show Mick Mars went on our Bus (with Ozzy on the Bark at the Moon tour) and I went on their bus so I was the only one from Ozzy that went on their bus. And they were having a meeting. What they were planning on doing was getting rid of Mick and getting another guitarist in and they asked me for my opinion. So I said if you want my opinion for what it’s worth I would say do not try to fix something that is not broken. I said I have seen it before with Lee Kerslake in the Blizzard of Ozz. I said you got a chemistry there, you got a functioning unit, Mick Mars is part of that don’t Fuc*k it up. Don’t do it. I think I saved Mick that night cause they were serious about getting someone else. Mick was good for the band, he was part of the sound of the delivery of what they did.”
THE ROCK ALCHEMIST – Italian Rock Band from Turin with a strong sonic identity that blends modern rock with progressive, hard, alternative, and pop elements!
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
